Review of the Raddy RD23 Portable DAB Radio

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This is one of the latest gadget I bought from Amazon with the reason to check what happens  to  the DAB  band and what  you can expect to hear in Thessaloniki. Also, a good idea to test something that is near new to me. Really i was looking for a kitchen model from a well known supermarket chain, but the time it was released i was not in the city. 

 

                          The radio  with its fully deployed antenna

 

Immediately after taking the parcel from my wife who received it from the delivery service. I  have tested finding some interesting things after unpacking the box :

 

The parcel has been received quite faster than expected, i.e. in just 10 out of 15 noted by the Amazon’s system.!!

 

The package was quite small and was fitted into my trouser pocket in order to not be in the easy of watching. The pack  included a USB cable and the radio in a carton  box and a small foam

I will be now only refer into the operation  and the perceived faults of the player:

 

The antenna in the left, quite stiff earphone

 plug  , the on/off button TF and USB slot for mp3 music

 

First important note: the model does not state anywhere its total memories. I found around 50 in FM and 50 in DAB mode as checked in its memory bank. Scanning with fully  deployed antenna, some unwanted nearby frequency spurs form strong signals,  leaving no room to other stations. There is a carrousel  on the memory bank to check with the < and > buttons. Finally,  i lowered the antenna length to receive all the standard FM stations, with only 3 missing on the highest avail frequencies. 

 

over the table the radio does not receive any DAB signal.
you have to better use it upright

The design is of the 2000’s reminding me a anachronistic mp3 model from China with nearly the same pixelated screen in metallic chassis . Raddy s quite fatter around 3 times but with curved design. The model has many good reviews in the Amazon platform with

There are only 6 direct memories, with the remain stored  in a carousel way by using a series of buttons as noted above . The operation  is quite simple, although I also consulted  the mini guide. 

I used a semi-professional headphone, the relatively bassy DJ81 from AKG for the listening experience .   

Quite stupid to me is the only usage of a detachable antenna instead of using the cable provided by the earphones.  This very thin antenna can be easily broken. a good idea is to add some wire of around 50 cm for better reception. ADD: After checking more the earphone can also effect reception,

The DAB mode shows only our national network ERA complex and the two local municipality stations FM100/100.3 to my ears the sound is CD quality in both Fm and DAB in case of stable reception. ADD : Comparing with other radios, the sound is quite sharper as like listening cassettes without Dolby  . At least the noise level is much lower than the remain.

My remain observations are shown below

1. if you are moving and hearing DAB you will notice partial dead reception. this can  also be happened when the radio is put over the table. Instead, FM can be  always heard even with some  signal fading or even with some interference.

2.I also have observed some minimal garbling in the FM mode just in case the modulation index is too high, (that can mean more than 150 kHz wide bandwidth)

3. In both modes there are some interesting information: part of RDS in FM S and included data in DAB. In the info, you can also see the main frequency and the kb rate 

4.DAB has been found to be 2 seconds ahead of the FM. that happened with ERA2 for example. In the FM100 there are higher differences.   

5. FM sound level was a few db (1-2) less than the DAB as on the ERA2 case.

Also, linear mp3 playback audio comparing to a Tecsun Q3 player that was handy that time. The SD handler keeps the memory very stiff and does not eject easily.

It pairs quite fast with external sources as e.g. with the computer. One of the faster gadgets.  Unfortunately, it cannot pair with BT headphones. 

The  max audio level can be up to 80 db in a  distance of 50 cm  in the FM  mode and around 90 db in the BT mode . The audio quality is good and sharp Listening with headphones the sound is quite better.

Note : in terms of audio, I can rate as 4/5. As per the design, around 4/5

This is the minimal I can report this model.

Verdict : More than good and easy operation with also very good [studio]  sound.  Recommended for the price! 

The only unfortunate is that DAB stations are too few in my city, though i earn from hearing 6 streams off the net! I note them with * below. Thessaloniki Greece . 

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ADD :   LIST OF  STATIONS  HEARD IN DAB BAND

 

STATION	FREQUENCY	Kbit/s -MODE
Cosmos jazz	5A/174.929KHZ	80
Cosmos
Proto
Trito (3)		114
Voice of Greece		48
Zeppelin		80
2 Paradosiako (trad)		64
3 Maestro		80
2 Laika (folk)
Deftero (2)		96
ERA Sport		64
FM 100	5C/178.952kHZ	64
FM 100.6

 

This is the standard ERA Network from the Ertecho page with the Erathess missing in the above list . 2 or 3 xxxx  means deftero (2) or trito (3)  It si funny to me that maestro is not 114 as the 3rd program which plays mostly classical music . I could love if also  the jazz subnet could be also 114kbps 

i wonder why not any other local stations have not been added to any package  so far.