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DAB Radios look so old school and retro, why?

Earl Pilkington

Earl Pilkington

Not sure if this is the right place to post this one:
This is a complaint I made when I first saw the first DAB radio - now, some years later - they haven't moved on.
Recently we were looking to get some DAB radios as prizes to give away to market out new country station - only broadcast on DAB+ - but the radios themselves look as ugly as heck.
Is it just me - or does this 'retro' look with mono speakers on a DAB radio just suck the joy out of what should be an amazing 'stereo' sound ands experience?
Its only in the last month I am starting to see some smart looking JBL DAB radios...
50072073_720552.PNG

Up until then they have all looked (sadly) like this...
50062366_604166.PNG

I'd love to hear the forums members opinions on these as I feel I am biased
 
Miss Tuned said:
I don't think you've seen many DAB radios. I have this Sony model that I take traveling with me (and I didn't pay anywhere near £79.99 for it - everything has gone up so much!). It's been to the U.S. with me, where it worked as a very capable FM/RDS radio.

Click to expand...
Thanks Miss Tuned - it looks like a good one, when I am in the UK in a couple of weeks I will pick on e up - much better than what we have on offer here in Australia.
Cheers.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
Wonder if there has ever been a DAB pirate operation here in the U.S…:ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...
One of the colleges a cousin went to did DAB tests for broadcast students. The signal range was a very, very short range. They had it up in Canada for awhile and if you lived next to the border you could probably picked the signal up.

I know Denon makes a rack-mount unit that has DAB capability that is sold in most places, even the US.
 
They appear to have been designed with late-2000s, European appliance styling, probably because that's when the DAB systems were adopted by consumers. That styling held through the early 2010s. Saw a few EU friends who had the DAB radios in their windowsills and the like, via social media. They looked very plain, and almost non-radio like. Just a smooth looking box with maybe a knob, small readout, and a big speaker. The plain looking styling obviously worked in the EU where DAB mostly exists.

Here in the US, HD radio styling was all over the map. Now they look like regular "radios", whether the portable kind, or whatever you have in your car. They've been integrated into FM / AM radios, and the only difference is the function you bring up. The actual styling of the device matches whatever styling of radio you have otherwise. If you're going to have HD Radio as an option, that seems to make the most sense. Integration.
 
boombox4 said:
They appear to have been designed with late-2000s, European appliance styling, probably because that's when the DAB systems were adopted by consumers. That styling held through the early 2010s. Saw a few EU friends who had the DAB radios in their windowsills and the like, via social media. They looked very plain, and almost non-radio like. Just a smooth looking box with maybe a knob, small readout, and a big speaker. The plain looking styling obviously worked in the EU where DAB mostly exists.

Here in the US, HD radio styling was all over the map. Now they look like regular "radios", whether the portable kind, or whatever you have in your car. They've been integrated into FM / AM radios, and the only difference is the function you bring up. The actual styling of the device matches whatever styling of radio you have otherwise. If you're going to have HD Radio as an option, that seems to make the most sense. Integration.
Click to expand...
Thanks Boombox4 - great content, and yes integration is the key.
Cheers.
 
If you're looking for a DAB radio with more 'normal' or up to date styling, Sangean has a DAB - FM radio mini boombox (based on their well-established AM-FM stereo PR-D5) that I think sells for the EU market.
 
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