As we all recommend our own stuff I’m after a digital radio. Nice and plain no alarm or clock face. Mainly R4 and 6 of course. Wood style one or retro would be nice. £100ish or under, nice sound, what have you got.
Kitchen radio is currently one of these
It's good. Does the job. Also, wipe clean surface which is handy given location!
Pondering a replacement, though, so will watch with interest!
Mrsmidlife asked for exactly this for Christmas. We got an own brand John Lewis Aston. Simple, decent sound, retro case. Can't see it listed on their website today though.
I picked up one of the John Lewis DAB's but it wouldn't get signal where I wished to place it, returned it and picked up a UE Boom and downloaded then the TuneIn Radio app and its worked fine for years, currently sat here with the BBC sounds app playing via it.
Or get a smart speaker instead. Much better range of radio stations, and no problems with crappy DAB signals.
Google Nest Mini is £30, pretty decent sound from a neat little thing, can be wall mounted.
We have two Roberts DAB radios, neither retro styled but the quality of the sound and ease of use are excellent for both. They seem to get a signal anywhere in our house without the aerial being extended but that might just mean we have a good DAB signal.
I have a Pure DAB/FM/Alarm clock but I've just bought a second Nest Hub to replace it.
We have a pure DAB radio for the kitchen. Can’t remember how much it was but it’s fab. No problem with DAB signal.
Our bedroom alarm clock tho is an ancient Pure DAB which mostly displays random numbers on the screen, and we rarely use the radio. I want to replace it with an echo dot but I don’t know if I want a listening device. Managed to hold off so far #tinhatmode
It is this one: https://www.pure.com/uk/dab-radio/products/evoke-h2/oak - £99!
I've a Pure DAB, was in a fire sale of a local electronics shop going out of business...
It does what I want which is Radio 3,4, 6, and R5 for the footie. and LBC when I want to hear what the nutters are ranting about. Doesn't listen in to me and report back to the Lizardy overlords, and I don't have to talk to it to make it do what I want. Even my partner can get it to play 1970's nonsense when she comes over. Perfect.
LBC when I want to hear what the nutters are ranting about
..and then the internet for the transcript.
This one.
It's £42.99, looks a bit wooden, has two speakers and now sits in the shed bringing me 6 music or occasionally podcasts via the bluetooth built in.
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This has served us perfectly for about 11 years.
Good signal collection and clear sound.
Roberts Stream 93i here, does DAB, regular and wifi. It just works 🙂
Pure one in the kitchen, but now I've turned the garage into a Faraday cage with foil backed insulation board, I used a smart speaker in there,which is way better because it has access to t'interweb.
Pure it is. One that plays CD’s for extra old person coolness. Thanks all.
You might want to check out the reviews on Amazon before you rush in.
Pure Evoke Flow here - have 2 of them. One was a present for the wife when she was my girlfriend and the other was a cheap Gumtree purchase a couple of years ago. They sound great but the BBC changed the listen again protocols for budget reasons so they don't do that any more which is a shame but they do both DAB & internet radio.
I'm not sure if there's a current version but I'd certainly look at one again if I needed a replacement
Only issue is the LCD display which fade over time - replacements are available from China but not from Pure which is a little frustrating. Then again they're 10 years old+. Who else supports tech that old?
Pure Evoke S1 - Wooden one. Occasionally packs up.
Pure Evoke S1 - With the leatherette finish. Leatherette finish is falling off. Display has died.
Pure Move - On/Off switch broke. Fixed under warranty. Pop up stand held on with duct tape.
Had a Mk1 Pure Evoke - It died.
Pure. Look good. Shit quality.
I've got the Pure Evoke-3
Can't even remember when I bought it, sometime around 2007 i think.
It's on for about 12hours a day everyday.
it has lost it's channels two or three times in the last two years and needs a reset.
last time it happened a couple of days ago it lost all the BBC channels which don't seem to come back.
I don't mind though because their constant newsreels were becoming depressing.
Look at Goodmans for retro DAB.
https://www.goodmans.co.uk/sound/digital-radios.html
We have an older version of this:
https://www.goodmans.co.uk/heritage-connect.html
Ours is DAB/Bluetooth/Aux, no Wifi. Sounds decent too.
We have two Roberts DAB radios, neither retro styled but the quality of the sound and ease of use are excellent for both. They seem to get a signal anywhere in our house without the aerial being extended but that might just mean we have a good DAB signal.
Exactly the same here, bought a Roberts Unologic years ago and liked it so much, we bought another one for upstairs. Easy to use, utterly faultless, put rechargeable batteries in and you can run them off mains or battery. Maybe not the loudest, but otherwise, fantastic bits of kit.
We accidentally replaced all our radios with Echo dots, did have a Pure radio in the garage for a while but the signal was a nightmare. The dot is cheaper, more reliable and a much better sound. Don't think we'll ever buy a dedicated radio again.
I live in a week populated area, but being surrounded by hills, all I can get is the BBC channels.
I'm quite happy streaming from a phone to a BT speaker though. Not interested in smart speakers
Got a Makita dab site radio for work though
exactly the same as derek starship ^^^, Pure Evoke 2.
got the extended battery too, itll go all day in the garden for barbies etc.
We have 5 DAB radios in the house:
PURE Bug
PURE Tempus-1S
PURE Evoke H2
PURE Siesta Mi
Roberts Revival RD10
All work well and sound good, apart from the Siesta Mi which is a bit tinny.
The Bug was won in a competition in about 2004 and is still going strong. The other 3 PURE radios are used as bedside units and have various alarms. The Evoke is bluetooth as well so can be used as a speaker.
The Roberts Revival is the coolest though. It is gorgeous. No alarms or bluetooth but decent sound and runs off mains or battery. If you don't want alarms or bluetooth I'd go for something like this.
Dab radios are now languishing in the back of the cupboard and various Amazon echos doing a better job all round.
Friends of mine have some sort of smart speaker powered by Amazon - I just smile inside when round their place and they spend five minutes trying to get Alexa to play something specific, and it either ignores them or plays whatever it thinks they asked for! If I was going to go that route, I’d buy either Apple HomePods or the Ikea Sonos-liked speakers, then I could just play my own music via Remote from my phone, or the radio via BBC Sounds or TuneIn Radio.
I do have a couple of DAB radios that I’ve had for some years, one’s just got Digital Radio on the front, it’s a retro-style with faux wood, I think I got it from somewhere like Sainsbury’s or Curry’s/PCWorld, and a plastic DAB radio/iPod dock upstairs that’s my alarm clock. Again, years old, possibly Curry’s again, can’t remember. Both work fine, but if I’m on my own in the house, like at present when the g/f is at work, then I just use the sky box and select 0120 for 6Music -that’s if I’m not playing music from my phone with headphones on.
We have a Roberts and a Pure, neither of which are used as we now have Google minis.
We accidentally replaced all our radios with Echo dots
How do you accidentally do that?
Ha ha. Typical STW.
What digital radio do you use?
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We have loads. New cheapies seem mostly better than old expensive ones as the technology changes.
Several Tesco jobbies which are OK till they're not. Pure alarm radio which occasionally needs the off and on treatment. A small Sony £40 portable which is excellent and comes out on jobs with me. Can also sit on the centre console of the car or van and play through the aux.
My main sound system is a Yamaha with MusicCast. This has DAB and streaming internet radio. The sound is significantly better on streaming for 6 music. Alternatively put BBC Sounds on the laptop, phone or tablet and play through a separate speaker. My Minirig is great for this.
Pure one elite here.
12 years old.
Lived in our kitchen all its days. Its used most days.
Never been an issue.
Would buy again.
we have a pure evoke H3. its great....looks good and is fairly compact. was about £100. However, its pretty small in terms of sound, although it is very clear and crisp the bass isn't really there. If you have a bigger room for it to go in it wont fill it. I also have a creative rechargeable blutooth speaker and the BBC sounds app on my phone which I use paired together a lot. depending on what you listen to (very handy combo if you just listen to BBC) this could be a good option as well since you will probably get a very good bluetooth speaker for about£ 50-60
Ha ha. Typical STW.
What digital radio do you use?
It often makes sense to explore alternatives beyond the scope of a given question. If someone asked "what iPhone for knocking in nails?" would you recommend an iPhone X or suggest they look at hammers?
I'm not seeing much reason to recommend a DAB radio over a smart speaker in 2020 unless you're a luddite or have a ropy Internet connection. It doesn't get much simpler than "Alexa, play Planet Rock" or "play some Val Doonican on Spotify." It can be cloth-eared occasionally, but setting default services helps with this.
It often makes sense to explore alternatives beyond the scope of a given question. If someone asked “what iPhone for knocking in nails?” would you recommend an iPhone X or suggest they look at hammers?
Absolutely agree. I was being a bit sarcastic Coug's.
Thought I'd show you my retro/contemporary solution to CD player / DAB radio.
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I’m not seeing much reason to recommend a DAB radio over a smart speaker in 2020 unless you’re a luddite or have a ropy Internet connection.
Unless, of course, one already has DAB radios around the house that work perfectly well, and cost significantly less than pretty much any smart speaker on the market!
Neither of my radios, both of which are eight to ten years old, cost more than about £60; I’ve yet to see a smart speaker for less than about £150-200, and I would find it difficult to recommend to anyone who just wants DAB stations pay more than I did.
I’ve got a perfectly good internet connection, and I’m perfectly capable of turning a bloody radio on and off, I don’t need it to be ‘smart’, I’ve got a phone or an iPad for that.
Neither of my radios, both of which are eight to ten years old, cost more than about £60; I’ve yet to see a smart speaker for less than about £150-200, and I would find it difficult to recommend to anyone who just wants DAB stations pay more than I did.
£29 for a Google Nest Mini. Or 2 for £49.
We have an Amazon Echo, and a couple of Dots elsewhere.
While they're good for some stuff, the radio will randomly cut out and it's driving me mad. Signal seems OK and a phone on Tune-In or BBC Sounds will carry on without issues.
- so I'd advise caution with them. Maybe the Google things are better?
Have an old Evoke Flow but the screen dimmed over the years, I replaced it & it's dimmed again. Software updates were also annoying - it would stop working until you attached it to the PC, downloaded & installed the update.
Wondering now about just having a speaker and driving content off the phone. Either that or a super-simple radio.
I’ve yet to see a smart speaker for less than about £150-200
You've not looked all that hard for a few years then. As CraigW says, you can get both Amazon or Google devices for less than your £60 DAB radio. An Echo Dot is £25 currently.
I would find it difficult to recommend to anyone who just wants DAB stations pay more than I did.
Aside from your cost argument being moot, yes, if you "just" want DAB stations then sure. Or with a smart speaker you can play DAB stations, BBC Sounds, Apple Music, Spotify, TuneIn (free radio from around the world), and many more. Or you can pair it to your phone via bluetooth and stream your extensive iTunes library to it.
And that's just music playback, one of many things it can do.
I’m perfectly capable of turning a bloody radio on and off, I don’t need it to be ‘smart’
You sound like my dad back when I was a kid, when he was buying a TV and I was excitedly badgering him into getting one with a new-fangled remote control.
Or with a smart speaker you can play DAB stations, BBC Sounds, Apple Music, Spotify, TuneIn (free radio from around the world), and many more
Its a bit shit at playing dab radio without an internet connection.
The joy of radio is it doesn't need an internet connection.
We've had one of these in the kitchen for quite a few years now Old Bose Wave and a John Lewis DAB radio alarm clock for the bedroom. They work for what we want in those rooms although if I was buying a digital radio / tuner device for a room these days I would be tempted to go for a some sort of streaming or Bluetooth speaker as they are a lot more versatile. Hundreds of radio stations to choose from although the quality does vary quite a lot and doesn't come close to having even a reasonable hi fi. In the study I just use my laptop to stream (usually Spotify) and use these Bluetooth speakers (R1700BT which I really like. Mrs BC has an AudioPro Bluetooth speaker she streams to from her iPad and then, attached to the hifi I have a Pioneer streamer which I will sometimes use to tune into radio stations.
Just blow the budget and get a Raurk R1, you’ll thank me.
