11 replies to this topic

[stewartjm]

I see these are on ebay for $39 and were $199. They have SPDIF out which I want for my surround. They also have an external antenna input and a nice colour LCD screen. Anyone using these, any comments?
Link to manual.. http://www.bigbrandb...com/DAB888R.pdf

Thanks
Stew

Edited by stewartjm, 04 February 2012 - 11:01 AM.

[blairy]

I sawe these on ebay too.

I checkd the dgtec website and they don't list the product.

blairy

[James Doherty]

Purchased this item recently,was curious how it would perform,DAB reception was very poor in werribee using supplied antennae indoors, so it being a magnetic base type,with a relatively long lead,decided to stick it on the side of the spouting in the horizontal position,and hey presto all DAB frequencies scanned up,with maximum signal strength showing.As far as build quality goes with this unit,it is dreadful,very low end chinese rubbish,an example of this is i turn it off overnight via the off/on switch with the powerpak still connected to the mains,and the unit has powered up again in the morning,it's weird,but apart from that it performs well on DAB with a nice LCD display showing info from the digital stations,and when its off displays one of the best clock/date faces i've ever seen.Have only used the DAB radio,don't know what it performs like on FM or MUSIC section.

Regards James

[alanh]

James,
The antenna should be vertical to match the transmitter antenna which is also vertical.

AlanH

[James Doherty]

AlanH

Funny you should mention that,as i tried it vertically but received stronger signal horizontally,i have seen a couple of articles on the web where they recommend mounting an external DAB antennae horizontally to optimise reception,so in this case it has worked.

James

[backer]

I bought couple of these DAB+ radios from Gray's online. The best thing about them is the colour screen, very few digital radios support the slideshow feature but that is all I can say that is good about this product.

The bad points:
The colour screen blocks the scrolling text so if the radio station transmits pictures it usually makes any scrolling text unreadable and you can't turn the picture off so you can read the text
Some channels do not decode
Channels run at the wrong pitch for the first few mins then correct themselves
Some channels run at the wrong pitch and then have decoding issues
One channel runs in a high speed chimpmunck sound
The user interface is terrible
The build quality is cheap (though I only paid $35)
The built in clock keeps resetting to AM even with it's PM

Most of these issues could be fixed with a firmware upgrade. The unit does support firmware updates via the SD CARD slot. I contacted DGTEC twice but never received an answer back from them that answered any of my questions. They don't list the product on their standard website.

Its such a pity as its the only component style DAB radio with a colour screen that is reasonably priced.

I do not recommend this product unless you get it dirt cheap and you replace it as soon as a better product comes along.

Brandon

Edited by backer, 28 February 2012 - 03:15 PM.

[avm]

I bought one of these from Grays.  Could not output it from the s/pdif no matter how I tried, but used the analogue out.  Managed to scanned about 50 stations (but could receive only 30 odd) and had good reception in North Western Sydney.  Colour display was gimmicky as you have to be right infront of the unit to really see it, as outputing it to the tv displayed a v poor image.  I noticed the sound randomly speeds up/down resulting in wavering pitch in the music at times.  After 2 weeks use the unit would not turn on anymore.  Contacted DGTEC warranty and they reckoned its a faulty adaptor - waited for almost 2 months and nothing arrived.  Everytime I called them its a different excuse - "sent last week must be lost in the post we will send another next week - do we have your address? , problems with Australia Post, will locate one for you in the warehouse" - in that order.  Finally contaced Grays to get an exchange unit, that turned out to be DOA as well.  Finally Grays gratiously refunded all my money.  After all that,  the adaptor finally arrived.  All I can say is this DGTEC product is a complete waste of time. Now we know why it is so cheap.

[magna_elite]

Bought one of these units from ebay for cheap, brand new, as my first foray into the world of digital radio.  Well, you certainly do get what you pay for in this instance.  It is a very cheap product and it shows in the overall quality.

As a couple of others have mentioned, the user interface is terrible and isn't logical in its menu structure.  I also wasted all night trying to get it working thru the SPDIF optical cable to my surround sound amp with no luck.  Via optical, the sound kept cutting out even though signal strength was decent.  If you change to FM then back to DAB then the sound would return for a few minutes before cutting out again.  The clock also keeps showing AM rather than PM.  It is only when I changed it over to the good ol' RCA cables, it all started to work fine!!  The remote also wasn't really that responsive (had to push hard on buttons for it to respond) and the layout of buttons wasn't really that logical either.

The SPDIF optical and clock AM bugs point very much to firmware issues with the unit, but there is no mention of this model on the DGTEC website and no mention of any new firmware available on the internet.  Strange.  It is almost like this unit is some kind of prototype model or something which was released even though it wasn't quite ready for production.

Anyway, I remain hopeful of an eventual firmware update to fix the existing issues, but it's a cheap unit so can't expect much more from it for the price.

[idealist]

I too, bought one of these units.  It was $35 (plus postage) on eBay.  Build quality is about what I'd expect for the money.  If you are considering buying one, read on:

These are the several problems I have noticed with MY unit:  (YMMV)

1)   The manual is hopeless.

2)   The screen is hopeless.  Unless you are standing within inches of it, you can't read it.  Also, when you select a DAB or FM channel, the nice pretty graphic of the station has the standby screen bleeding through it.

3)   Changing channels takes forever.  There is no way I have found to go from one wanted channel directly to another (non-adjacent) channel.  If you want to change channels, you have to press the "up" or "down" button to go to the NEXT channel, then wait for that channel to come up (which takes a few frustrating seconds), then once THAT channel is up, you can press  the "up" or "down" button again to go to the NEXT one in sequence.  

So, maybe you would think: "I only want to listen to one favourite station".  (My reason for buying it, really).  Not so fast!

4)   While listening to your station (any station) the program frequently "skips forward" about 500ms to a second.  This happens maybe every 10-30 seconds.  (I figure if I leave it on long enough, I'll be listening to next week's broadcast...)  

Now, I was trained as a radio technician more years ago than I care to think about, back in the days when valves were giving way to transistors.  I have tried to "keep up", but digital stuff has me flummoxed.

I'm guessing the "skipping" is a decoder issue.
I'm guessing the "bleeding display" is a display driver issue.
I have no idea what to make of the excruciatingly slow channel changes.

I stand to be corrected or re-educated on my opinions above.

I have tried the original 5V 2A adaptor, plus a 5V 2A Squeezebox adapter (Somewhat better quality), no difference.  (interestingly, the manual states the power requirement as 5V 1A.)

I'm wondering if the power supply regulation components inside the unit (I assume there are some) are substandard, and could be replaced to achieve some improvement, along with Filtering of the individual sections of the unit.

I'm inclined to agree that this was perhaps a "prototype" incarnation which should never have seen the light of day, or perhaps DGTEC just don't care about their reputation, and bought them cheap from a garage workshop in China or Taiwan.

I too, noticed that they don't appear on the DGTEC website, and I certainly wouldn't hold my breath for a firmware update...

I haven't yet approached the seller or DGTEC, but I don't expect any warranty attention.

If you think that's worth $50, go for it.

I am in a fringe area in the mountains, but have successfully operated a "table-top" digital radio with none of these issues.

Hope that helps somebody.  

Any comments, corrections, ideas very welcome...  

Mike

Edited by idealist, 14 August 2012 - 02:11 PM.

[Digital Penetration]

They're not called Dodgytech for nothing.

[idealist]

Update:

The seller has provided a replacement unit - this one does not exhibit all the problems of the first one.  It's still a "quirky" little beast, but now, at least, it's quite usable.  For the price, I'm pretty happy, really...  

Mike

[goldgxl]

I bought one of these over the weekend - $29 from ebay.

I now have DAB+ integrated into my sound system. Yes the interface and channel selection is clumsy but nothing that can be easily solved using my panel to display its video output and a Logitech One remote.

I can now move the Pure Siesta I was using into one of the bedrooms.

Sound quality is comparable to my other DAB+ tuners. I should say I am in an excellent DAB+ reception area with uninterrupted line of sight to Mt Cootha.

After three days use I have no complaints, certainly not for the $ spent.
Highly recommended if you want DAB+ to match your other component items for not a lot of $!

Edited by goldgxl, 23 October 2012 - 12:18 PM.