Best Digital Radios
Sangean DPR-45
Bought one nearly a year ago. "Tinny" sound and changing the bass/treble sounds does not help much in this respect. I've only used it in DAB mode but… Read more
noticed that recently on some stations the sound cuts out momentarily. Loses pre sets easily esp. if it has to be turned off and shifted to another room. Need also to continually change the aerial around. Never had this sort of problem with other radios before this. Apparently putting in batteries helps but I only use it with electrical cord. Overpriced IMO. I am looking to buy a different brand.
Panasonic RF-D10GN
Very easy to program – Great product. Price is reasonable. Very basic and easy to use. Sound quality is good. Everything you need, battery option or 240 v option. Maybe one year warranty is a bit tight. Happy with purchase price $94 from Harvey Norman, Fyshwick ACT. Show details
Sony ICF-506
SONY AM FM RADIO ICF-506 – Great radio, good reception. Only downfall unable to find replacement antenna as broken,
Liquid Ears Wake Dual Alarm Clock Radio
Awful alarm quality for the price - and I'm not the only one here – One of the buttons didn't work from brand new (even after spraying with contact cleaner), which knocked out one of the alarms (at least the other one… Read more
worked), plus couldn't turn down the very average radio (and therefore radio alarm) lower than midway! Used Blu Tack over the speaker.
I thought there was a man in these Chinese factories that tested each item and stuck on a 'Passed' sticker showing his number. Obviously I'm living in the past. For $5 it would be bad enough, but for nearly $30 from Big W a real dud.
Do not buy!
The item performs its intended function without fanfare. I would prefer a blue display instead of green but not many brands offer this. The radio… Read more
speaker quality is quite poor, very tinny, we won't be using that much. The instruction manual is printed with small print which was challenging to read. The price was attractive and as long as this lasts a few years, I will be satisfied. A basic unit, nothing more, nothing less.
Sangean WFR-28
Good Internet Radio but questionable build quality – Its great to be able to listen to stations from different parts of the world at the touch of a button on a radio rather than a "device." However… Read more
issues with my model are 1. the whole exterior has yellowed (apart from the battery cover) and 2. the surface of the selection buttons have started to crack and fall away. Seems rather poor after only 4 years on a fairly pricey radio.
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A bugger to set after power loss – Looks good & the illuminated time is dimmable. 2 x AAA or DC Power cable came with.. It is a pain in the behind to reset the time and I don't even bother weth the alarm bcos it wouldn't turn off.. Show details
Great DAB – Received my brand new pocket DAB+ XDRP1DBP. What a brilliant piece of kit. Love the fact it has an inbuilt rechargeable battery which lasts for hours. And great sound form such a small device too. Highly recommended.
Lenoxx AM/FM Alarm Clock & Radio CR21
You cannot turn brightness down, you cannot turn off for non work days. Yes simple but missing the above essential functions. I wasn't looking for something fancy so for 20 bucks not bad just unfortunate that it's missing those above functions Show details
Plagued by constant pulsating interference no matter where it is placed, regardless of electrical fields – Product is far from being of merchantable quality. Pulsating interfere is mentioned in the user manual which suggests the radio be moved away from… Read more
powers sources/ other appliances. Very poorly engineered and have never had any DAB radio with such significant reception issues.
A great companion for long walks or in the gym ! – I bought two of these about seven years ago, and used them alternatively (I listen to a lot of radio, especially news and current affairs, while… Read more
going on long walks and in the gym). After seven years of use, their charge was lasting just a few hours, so I got two more identical radios in replacement. A fantastic product...it is so tiny, it easily fits in a shirt pocket, and the supplied headphones are more than adequate for normal use. However, if I am in a gym I usually use special noise canceling headphones. These little devices pick up AM and FM beautifully, you couldn't ask for more. At times, I have also connected them to an external speaker. My first set of two lasted for seven years!!!! That is more than adequate !!! I strongly recommend this product.
I can't remember how to set the time tried for to long, so its going in the bin what a piece of junk.
Absolutely useless. As so many others on here have stated it has virtually no reception, pathetic software and zero servive. Wasted my money. Avoid like the plague. Show details
The good and the frustrating – The good: Fair FM reception: much better than my old Sony SRF M97 DAB excellent Rechargeable battery duration is a good surprise Sound quality is… Read more
good (with earphones)
The ugly:
Aerial is a joke and will not last (keep it inside and use earphones cables instead!) Supplied earphones are very cheap (broken in one day) Swithing between favourite stations is horrible! It is a minimum 8 steps operation!!) Impossible to upgrade software (bugs)
Had this Clock for a Few Years. It's OK! – I've had this clock for a few years and it still works perfectly and doesn't lose time at all. The battery backup doesnt last long on a new battery… Read more
though.
I chose this clock as it still has Red LEDs which is rare these days
I did find it strange that it does only have 24 Hour Mode but I prefer 24h time anyway.
I have bought two of these for my Mum. The first lasted 18 months and would not charge. The second I bought 17 months ago and now it will not charge. These should last longer than 18 months. Really disappointing Show details
Hi Sonja A, To better assist you with the product,… Read more (+2 replies)
Eko AM/FM Alarm Clock Radio KAC3
Seriously don’t waste your money or time – We bought the led version and it’s absolutely shocking. We are all very tech savvy and 4 of us couldn’t work out how to set the alarm. For the price it’s a piece of crap. Show details
Hi T Moroney, You may follow the steps below for setting up… Read more
Charger not build in... shame – Will not charge battery... thought i have upgraded but i have downgraded instead... Show details
A rare dud from Ryobi – Bought for DIY jobs around the house. Radio reception is really bad with the small antenna and I was looking for better sound quality given the… Read more
price. Still better than listening to my phone streaming a radio station and it seems rugged enough, but compared to Ryobi's normally good gear in the One+ range I'm disappointed. Could have picked up an Ozito one for less than half the price.
Great unit – Bought after reading so many bad reviews, turned out to be AWSOME! Lol. Only draw back for some people will be the 24 hr clock only, no other… Read more
option. Fast charges, yes. Display is dimmable, lots of complaints about too bright, fine on dimmer setting. Great 5w x 2 speakers in built, nice sound, not tinny. Well made stylish and useful addition. I bought this after reading lots of bad reviews on seller listed reviews, because I suspect most people that leave any review of a product they bought from them, that the review will be bad, because most won't take the time to leave a positive review. However they will find time to do a bad one.
Wintal DAB22COM
Well-engineered and versatile radio & network audio player – I was looking to update the FM/DAB+/network tuner in the home office. The Sangean WFT-1D Plus was a groundbreaking product when released, but now… Read more
showing its age. It doesn't support FLAC files & some of the newer internet radio streaming formats and has no remote app. I also have a Sangean WFT-3D+ in another system. It's a great unit and doesn't have these particular shortcomings but lacks some of the features found in the current crop of component FM/DAB+/Network players. Natural choice for the update might have been the Sangean WFT-4, but its line output level is not variable, there's no headphone output and it's not available in Australia. It has BlueTooth Rx & Tx but at the expense of supporting local network streaming via Ethernet or Wifi, so not for me.
After some research I purchased this Wintal DAB22COM network tuner as it ticked all the boxes for me as the best option for the home office. It does FM, DAB+, Internet Radio, Network Streaming and Bluetooth streaming. Apart from some minor aesthetic differences, this Wintal unit appears to be identical to the Ocean Digital WR-10 (most likely the OEM) and the Redback A-2696A. The only other product I seriously considered was the Lenco DIR-250BK.
The DAB22COM power supply is an external plug pack, so there is no transformer or SMPS inside the case. Looking inside, there are 2 PCBs, one on the rear of the front panel and the main board towards the rear of the case. It is good to see plenty of breathing space between the various circuit segments on the main board. There is lots of spare real estate inside the case, but that's how the technology is these days.
Construction and soldering all looks very good. Main board is secured via two tapped steel standoffs on the base plus 4 screws from the rear panel, two into tapped metal brackets on the board and two self tappers into the plastic connector housings. Very neat and solid design. It has a solid all-metal case, but only weighs 1.9kg, so the extra bit of force required to operate the pushbutton function on the main dial can cause the unit to slide. Some non-skid material on the bottom of the feet would be better than the current foam pads.
CODEC chip is a Nuvoton 24bit/192kHz device. Not a brand normally associated with DACs in this type of product, but still high quality and an appropriate choice which adds some nice features like 5-band EQ and line output level adjustment. The chip also includes the line output and headphone drivers and this is where I found a weakness. No problems at all with the Line Output, but when I connected my Yamaha YH-2 phones to the headphone output, I had to set the volume to maximum to get a decent level from them. My B&W P3 were better, but still needed a very high setting. Only my Audio Technica earbuds gave me the range of control I would expect, so any headphones used with this device need to be efficient. It's a pity, because the Nuvoton chip also includes 1W speaker outputs which are not used in this product. For the cost of a couple of resistors these outputs could have provided a much more capable headphone output.
I can't identify the RF module, but reception is very good and slightly more sensitive than the WFT-1D on both FM & DAB+.
Setup was easy and the Instruction Manual is well organized and clear. The player is quite easy to use from the front panel or the remote. The colour display is small, but clear and easy to read and brightness is adjustable. The analog clock display option in standby mode is pretty cool.
Storing internet radio stations is a little different but quite to my liking. It's done via a webpage built into the product rather than using an internet radio provider service. The Skytune website is used to search for stations via various parameters, then when you select a station you want to save, it loads the data into the device. Stations that can't be found via the search engine can be manually entered once you've found the URL. I used https://streamurl.link to find the URLs for most stations I wanted that weren't already found via the Skytune webpage. The benefit of this approach is that if the Skytune website is ever discontinued, you can still store, backup & restore your saved stations using the internal webpage via any browser. The built-in webpage also serves as a very basic remote control app allowing 'favourite' stations to be selected, mute/unmute operations and headphone volume adjustment, but the device must be in 'Internet Radio' mode.
'Bluetooth streaming' mode and local network streaming via 'Media Centre' mode both work fine. Navigation is easy and there are no problems with accessing network storage and playing file formats such as FLAC. Ethernet and Wifi connections are available.
Another nice touch is the ability to tailor the line output. There is a 'preamp gain' setting, 10 EQ presets, a 5-band equalizer and a 15-step '3D depth' setting which the manual does not elaborate on but appears to widen the soundstage and add some surround effects.
Overall, this unit is a very versatile radio & media source for home or office hifi use. I'm really happy with it and can recommend it unless any of the minor issues I've mentioned would be an issue in your situation.
Lenoxx R26
I wanted a small, sturdy radio for the kitchen & to keep the cat company. I purchased this from Betta Electrical and he owned one himself. It was so… Read more
easy to set up. Plug in, extend the antenna, find an AM or FM channel and off you go. Very happy with the purchase. I get all the local news, traffic etc without spending a fortune in electricity to have a TV on.
Generic Portable Digital Radio DAB-C10
SUPRISINGLY GOOD VALUE DAB ALARM CLOCK – The best value at $52AUD for a fully portable DAB/DAB+/FM Clock/Radio with region scanning up to 40 presets. X2 Seperate Alarm Clocks. Auto sleep timer, Audio EQ + Dimmer + MicroSD MP3-Playback.
Festool SYSRock Digital Worksite Radio
quick ease effective transaction and the postage was on time
Rubbish. Stay away – 1. Remote failed to function after 2 years. 2. Unable to access AM stations after 4 years. 3. Screen impossible to read.
Works well. Sound is good but too much bass. IN BLACK or WHITE! – Very tricky to set-up and set two alarms. alarm set will cancel out the Radio alarm They come on softly and can be snoozed with long Snooze bar, or… Read more
turned off by hitting the Standby button .
We wanted AM and FM, only need three stations, we selected three of the 15 presets..
No Digital radio, which is useless anyway! It can fail to pick up stations in the suburbs! And takes a moment to start!
Alarm repeats for an hour until cancelled...
We wanted good sound from decent speakers, but this one has a little too much base, but OK louder while lying in bed. 2 x 2.25" 8ohm... No treble or bass settings, but have not seen a clock radio with any!
This has all the settings we needed... Has Auxillary in and earphones 3mm sockets
Has a Snooze, and a Sleep timer 15 to 120 minutes!!
The clock LEDs are great, and LARGE, and can be dimmed! 7 levels!!
It has a capacitor memory for settings. In the US it can have two batteries!
Uses 240v AC adapter 7.5v DC 0.8amp
Still have not managed to set the alarm radio. not clear in the instructions!
search on ebay, and search for the manual at Sangean RCR-24
We got ours from iBUYS, no worries Took several emails to get it all working.
No longer available...
The last reply with most solutions.. These are problems with p8 in the Manual, and in the file on the Sangean web site!
We have a number of problems with the settings and the clarity of the manual on p8..
I managed to set the radio alarm, somehow, and it worked twice, failed again this morning.
The first few mornings the Alarm and the radio were set and the radio turn-on failed.
The ALARM 1 on ALARM setting, worked a couple of times.. before I managed to set a RADIO alarm..
Will they work if both turned on? One as Radio, one as Alarm!
Do they need to be set for different times to use both alarms?
It needs to set for the different times, if you set the same time, the alarm will according to Alarm 2 choose to wake up.
Can you change the Source or Station once set?
How?
It need to disabling/cancelling alarm setting and re-setting again.
What do... ONE ALL M-F and 5-5 mean during the alarm setting procedure?
ALL -> every day
M-F ->Monday - Friday
S-S -> Saturday – Sunday
Trying to change SOURCE here fails and won't select by Pre-set!
It needs to disabling/cancelling alarm setting and re-setting again.
Could not select the station via a pre-set Number!
It need to pre-set the station at first.
Why did 522 and 875 display while selecting AM when I first attempted a setup?
It the default value.
It would drop out of the sequence while I read the next step!
Selecting the Volume for the radio alarm just stays at 7 !!!
Won't change! Nothing in the manual to suggest this is the MAX Vol and can only be adjusted down!!
The buzzer max Volume is 7.
At this point, while amending Alarm 2, with Alarm 1 already set, the TUNING button only changes the display from m--f to 5--5 ALL ONE ???
The Alarm 1 and Alarm 2 is individually, we tested the RCR-24, could not re-appear this issue.
The only way to select ALARM 2, was to hold it and go through the whole setup steps again!
Then the Speaker icon flashes and the display defaults back to ALARM 1 !!!!
Toggling from Alarm one to Alarm setting 2 does not HOLD it switches back to No1 !!
How do you change from one alarm to the other, or select both
I think I did it once, but is NOT mentioned in the Manual!
How do you change from one to the other or select BOTH?
If want to select Alarm 1 or Alarm 2, they also need to go through the whole setup steps, because need to confirm the setting is that you want.
How do you stop the EMR or RF interference from a nearby phone or transformer interfering with the sound?
On 666 we have to rotate the radio 90degress to stop the buzz, seems OK on 846 and is OK on FM!
Is there a way to change the Bass/Treble to more treble please?
The RCR-24 has not EQ setting.
Wintal DAB24C DAB+
I had no issues connecting the Wi-Fi & Bluetooth so that I could use and store the internet and dab radio stations I want. The sound quality is… Read more
better than expected through my $10k hi-fi and ultimately dependent on the bit rate used by each station. Way more useful than the price indicates.
You set the time and it then changes it by itself through the Dab radio sending a different time yes it can be reset but you need to google it to find out how to do this PHILLIPS need to fix this problem properly sound quality is reasonable Show details
Panasonic DAB+ FM Clock Radio RC-D8GN
Could have been so much better – I was looking for a bedside DAB clock radio. I have had positive results from Panasonic in the past. I chose the Panasonic DAB-FM Radio Model No. D8… Read more
and I thought I was upgrading from my Panasonic FM-AM clock radio? For an up to date, modern DAB radio it is VERY difficult to navigate. It is nice to look at, compact, good sound quality and decent size display window with date. It has a USB port at the back to charge up phone. However so difficult to follow all the setting instructions which could have been so simple. Alarm can only be set at volume level 8 which is excessively LOUD. All the buttons are on top and not seen, so you have to turn on the light at night to see the buttons, until you can memorise them! Its a pity that some were not raised or lit up eg, volume and sleep button for easier identification as these are the main buttons of usage.
Tivoli Audio PAL+ BT
Pleasant sounding radio with modern features – A pleasant sounding radio with lots of modern features. This radio has the classic Tivoli sound - nice and warm, focused more on delivering good… Read more
voice frequencies. Nothing offensive but not super exciting either. Pretty much a great radio sound. It gets reasonably loud although it's not so pleasant at high volumes. It's a single full range speaker. The radio is FM only although it benefits from a digital tuner and DAB+ which is a proper improvement over FM radio waves. It also benefits from having Bluetooth connectivity. It has AUX in and a headphone output socket (outputs in stereo). It has a remote which allows access to additional functionality not available directly off the radio controls. It has a clock and alarm function so it can operate as a beside clock radio. It's portable - it has a replaceable LiOn battery which is charged when plugging in the included AC adaptor. Downsides: It's fairly expensive for what it is Some functionality is only available when the AC adaptor is plugged in and powering the unit including strangely, turning the radio on via the remote (which turns it off while on battery or power) The remote has an extremely limited operating range - it only works when standing a metre or two directly in front of the radio. Go just a little off-angle and... nothing. Doesn't connect. Annoying and really useless. There are plenty of portable speakers that sound much better for a lot cheaper and streaming music and radio makes a portable radio somewhat less relevant now.
What is digital radio?
Digital radio uses digital signals to transmit information, while AM and FM radio use analogue signals. This digital signal is then decoded by a digital radio receiver, giving you improved audio quality without the interference that you can often experience with AM and FM stations.
Digital radio can also transmit information like song titles, artist names, and weather updates.
Australia uses an upgraded version of the Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) called DAB+, so make sure that any model you choose supports this, particularly if you’re buying from overseas.
Check coverage in your area
Although DAB+ is available in all Australian capital cities, not all regional areas have coverage. Visit the Digital Radio Plus website to see if you can access it in your area.
Here are some advantages and disadvantages of digital radios.
Can DAB radio receive FM stations?
Most digital radios can receive FM broadcasts, but not many pick up AM broadcasts. If you’re hoping to tune in to a major AM station, fear not, because they will typically simulcast in digital.
What to consider when choosing a digital radio
Type of radio
There are 2 types of digital radios.
Portable digital radios are lightweight and compact, and are designed to be able to be taken with you wherever you go - some are even pocket-sized. They’re typically the cheapest type of digital radio you can buy, but they’ll also have less features than their larger counterparts.
If you decide on a portable model, see whether it has an internal rechargeable battery or if it needs AA or C-cell alkaline batteries.
Desktop digital radios plug into a mains outlet and usually have features like a display screen and Wi-Fi.
Build
Whether or not build is a priority for you will largely depend on your intended use for your radio. A desktop radio won’t need to be as weatherproof or resistant to general wear and tear than a portable model.
Some radios have a sturdy build, designed to be taken to jobsites or off-road, while others are waterproof, which can be useful if you plan on taking it camping or to the beach.
Power
Try to match the power output to the size of the room you want your radio to be in. You probably won’t need more than 50W for indoor listening. For most living rooms, 10 to 20W will do.
Sound quality
Don’t assume that all digital radios have stereo sound. Digital radios will generally either have 1 or 2 speakers, letting you choose between mono and stereo sound. If you’re shopping in-store, ask for a demo to see whether a radio lives up to its advertised specs.
Features
Digital radios will often have certain features that make them easier to use and enable you to use it for more than just listening.
- Preset stations: This lets you set your favourite radio stations so that you can easily access them.
- Alarm: An alarm can wake you up in the morning or alert you when your favourite program is about to start. DAB+ clock radios typically adjust themselves to account for daylight savings.
- Bluetooth: A digital radio with Bluetooth lets you connect wirelessly and play music from your device.
- Casting: For connecting Android devices to the radio.
- AirPlay: For connecting Apple devices to the radio.
- CD player: Useful for if you have a collection of CDs that you want to be able to play.
- USB port: This lets you play digital files and charge your devices.
- AUX port: For when you want to connect devices without fiddling around with Bluetooth.
- Line out: A line out socket lets you connect your radio to a different sound system, so you can take advantage of a more powerful device.
- Pause and rewind: Some higher end models let you pause live radio and rewind back a few minutes, which can be useful if you’re distracted or want to relisten to something.
- Headphone jack: If you want to listen to the radio without disturbing others in your home, then look for a model with a headphone jack.
- Remote control: For if you want to control the radio’s settings from the comfort of your couch.
Display
Ensure that the size of the screen is large enough to read the information it’s displaying. Some higher end radios have larger LCD screens, colour screens, or touch screens. If you’re planning on using a radio in your bedroom, make sure that the brightness of its screen can be adjusted so that you’re not disturbed at night.
Price
Digital radios can cost anywhere between $70 to upwards of $600. Higher end models will start at $400, but there are plenty of quality models between around $150 and $300 that will have a host of useful features.
Hi Andie DPR45 does not have battery backup. Therefore,… Read more