SANDSTROM SDR15 DAB+/FM Clock Radio - Walnut & White
Got one of these yesterday as a gift, brilliant DAB / DAB+ radio|alarm
which looks good with any decor..
£40 OFF this weekend for Easter Deals!
Set this up for the recipient and was extremely surprised as to the
sound quality, instant tune and depth of the speakers for a device
that is still using the UK's *old* DAB system..
Not an issue with this unit as it also supports the newer version of
DAB.. DAB+ so when the licence holders start beaming the better
bit rate choooooones over the air, this will support them ;-)
This unit is also Battery and Mains and comes with an Aux out
so can be setup to stream with no internet [or costs!] to your
AV setup speakers if you like that sort of thannnnnggg!
Thank you, I appreciate the reply, will look into it tomorrow when I'm awake!
Biker Jeff
30 Mar 16#31
If you're in a bad reception area for DAB, then your going to be in a bad reception area for DAB+ as well..... All DAB+ does is produce better quality sound at lower bitrates.
The 3 DAB+ stations we have currently are broadcast on the D2 multiplex, this multiplex has less coverage than the D1 multiplex we've been using for standard DAB.
The UK needs more transmitters for more people to have better reception.
I'm lucky, where i live, reception for DAB and DAB+ stations is perfect.... at home with the standard built in radio aerial and in my car.
HookedOnHotDeals
30 Mar 16#29
DAB is a real lousy excuse for a radio, terrible objectionable bitrates, lousy reception unless you happen to have a roof aerial, which I have, lousy mobile reception which I have tried and failed to receive. I returned a portable radio because it would not pick up anything in anywhere but an upstairs room and hanging out of the window. lol
DAB is an awful excuse, lets hope that the money grabbing b'stards don't ruin DAB+ as well.
Thanks for the news on DAB+, fingers crossed that it does not get ruined just like DAB. Hopefully because of the more efficient codec and bandwidth usage, they fail to sell off enough to ruin it. Big fingers crossed everyone!
Let me hear you cross your fingers.
008 to HookedOnHotDeals
30 Mar 16#30
>>>>>
Cheers, got lots more than fingers crossed as think if they pull the DAB+ cat out of the bag it will solve a
lot of reception and low impedance issues across the range of frequencies ;-)
Will also solve all the crappy vehicle/car dab issues and cross over from reflective boost aerials all
scattered in the wrong places!
annp1
28 Mar 16#27
Long shot here, I have an earlier Sandstrom DAB radio, and I've lost the manual - and I can't seem to connect anything via bluetooth any more, anyone let me know the code for this one if they buy one? Hoping it'll be the same :smiley:
fishmaster to annp1
29 Mar 161#28
I don't know the model of your DAB radio but some manuals are listed here >
I'm guessing/assuming that because the manuals are listed on KnowHow website, that Sandstrom is not really a Scandinavian brand but a Currys own brand, they've done this for decades, people will remember the Matsui brand in Currys in the 1980s for example, which was supposed to sound like it was Japanese brand.
Yup I was right, it's a Dixons Retail own brand, designed to sound like it's a higher quality brand than it is >
One thing that DAB does need is more transmitters...... currently about 25% of the UK cannot receive the new D2 multiplex. Which means they cannot receive certain stations that have recently started, the DAB+ stations and will also shortly lose Absolute 80's and Planet Rock.
This is far more of a big deal to a lot of people than lower bitrates.
Biker Jeff
28 Mar 16#25
Even though 'some' are only 64kbs, many are above that and DAB has some advantages over the old analogue radio...... a lot more choice for a start. Also we had the background hiss on FM and many stations were only on MW with crappy fade in & fade out reception, so lets not get too nostalgic about analogue radio.
The only thing analogue radio categorically wins on is not being power hungry like DAB is on battery life.
DAB radio may not be perfect, but i'd rather have it than not have it..... and i would definitely choose it over analogue radio if i had to pick one or the other.
hcc27
28 Mar 16#24
I stand corrected, there are some stations broadcasting at a higher bitrate than 64kbps but according to this TechRadar article many still do broadcast at 64kbps, and in MP2 and mono:
Rubbish..... plenty of stations broadcast higher than 64kbs.
Radio 2 is 128kbs stereo to name just just one.
thekitkatshuffler
28 Mar 161#13
People still buying into DAB, huh? Would rather attach speakers to my phone and play Internet radio than this low quality trash.
mcormack to thekitkatshuffler
28 Mar 16#14
Clown of the Week.
hcc27 to thekitkatshuffler
28 Mar 16#22
Yup. DAB in the UK is a (maximum) 64 kbps stream broadcast in mono. Isn't that amazing. Give me FM any day. Let's see where we end up with DAB+, once the powers that be get greedy and start selling off more and more pieces of the bandwidth as they did with DAB.
afroylnt
28 Mar 16#21
Whats the point of dab in the home? Is a retro thing? Dab is surely for portable devices only these days.
Cast sandstorm more my thing although darude was a tune too
holmesyhukd to LionORichie
28 Mar 16#20
takes me back to the summer of 2000 - great memories
sotomonkey
28 Mar 16#19
A DAB radio that is supposed to cost 69.99 should have preset buttons really.
Biker Jeff
28 Mar 16#17
For all its faults and the low bitrates on some stations, i'm still a fan of DAB..... whereas i once used to only listen to R1 and then later in life R2 & 4, i now have have lots more radio stations that interest me. Also, having DAB radio in my car is brilliant and i dont even bother using CD's or my MP3 player while driving anymore.
I've been particularly enjoying the relaunch of TalkRadio since it started a week ago.
fishmaster
28 Mar 162#16
He/She has a perfectly valid point. DAB is a disaster, at least there's some DAB+ channels now albeit just a few. I'll wait until DAB+ is proven and Radio 5 Live is broadcasting DAB+
"The sound quality of DAB radio is awful and the system needs a major overhaul"
"Did you know, for instance, that many DAB radio stations in the UK are broadcast at just 64kbps mono using the MP2 codec? Do not adjust your screen that really is just 64kbps. That really is mono not stereo. That really is MP2 and not MP3.
To put that into context, MP2 is a less efficient codec than MP3, so that 64kbps figure is more like 48kbps in MP3. And that, TechRadar reader, is actually offensive."
Just because it's digital doesn't actually mean it's good or an improvement over FM. In fact current DAB (not+) is worse than FM for sound quality. DAB is a sh%tfest in the UK, a badly designed and poorly implemented digital radio system.
Biker Jeff
26 Mar 16#8
Good that its DAB+..... and we do currently have 3 radio stations that are now broadcasting in DAB+.
Some bad reviews about sound quality though, also i really dont like the design look of it.... it also has the problem that a lot of DAB radios suffer from, in that the LCD display is too bright to be used in the bedroom as a radio alarm.
fishmaster to Biker Jeff
28 Mar 16#15
In March 2014, the BBC announced that it would undertake a trial of DAB+ in the UK later in the year.[59]
On September 1, 2014, Folder Media began a four-month trial of DAB+ on the North East Wales and West Cheshire ensemble.[60]
In 2016, two new stations launched DAB+ services on the Portsmouth trial multiplex.[61] The operators of the second national multiplex, Sound Digital announced three DAB+ services to launch on the day that the multiplex will commence full-time broadcasting, 29 February 2016.[62]
"The line-up includes the UK’s first national services delivered via the newer DAB+ standard. DAB+ is more spectrum efficient than existing DAB, enabling more radio stations to be broadcast with the same amount of capacity. Currently, the majority of DAB digital radios will only receive stations using DAB, however many newer DAB digital radios can receive DAB+ channels and, over time, that number will grow organically. Jazz FM, Fun Kids and Magic Chilled will all be delivered using DAB+."
goonertillidie
28 Mar 16#12
Thanks OP! :smiley:
bazzac
27 Mar 161#11
Thanks for that.a appreciated.
bazzac
26 Mar 16#9
does anyone know would a dab radio like this bought in the UK work overseas? thanks in advance
Biker Jeff to bazzac
26 Mar 16#10
Yes it will, because its DAB+
glendin
26 Mar 161#7
Reviews are pretty awful. Sound quality being the main issue - which pretty important for a radio. Good price for this model though so haven't voted either way.
spannerzone
26 Mar 16#6
Yep, was just means it was a higher price for 28 days within the last 6 months, so they can increase the price in the autum then have a sale price (ie normal price) over winter and so on and so on. That's DFS's prime mode of operations.
![Fresh Breakfast Meat Box (Using code) @ Campbells Meat [Haggis / Lorne Sausage / Bacon / Black Pudding & More]](/images/topics/208684_1.jpg)
![[Xbox One] Q. u. b. e: Director's Cut on Deals with Gold](/images/topics/208716_1.jpg)
Opening post
Got one of these yesterday as a gift, brilliant DAB / DAB+ radio|alarm
which looks good with any decor..
£40 OFF this weekend for Easter Deals!
Set this up for the recipient and was extremely surprised as to the
sound quality, instant tune and depth of the speakers for a device
that is still using the UK's *old* DAB system..
Not an issue with this unit as it also supports the newer version of
DAB.. DAB+ so when the licence holders start beaming the better
bit rate choooooones over the air, this will support them ;-)
This unit is also Battery and Mains and comes with an Aux out
so can be setup to stream with no internet [or costs!] to your
AV setup speakers if you like that sort of thannnnnggg!
Top comments
https://www.youtube.com/watch?hl=en-GB&v=PSYxT9GM0fQ&gl=:wink:
Latest comments (32)
The 3 DAB+ stations we have currently are broadcast on the D2 multiplex, this multiplex has less coverage than the D1 multiplex we've been using for standard DAB.
The UK needs more transmitters for more people to have better reception.
I'm lucky, where i live, reception for DAB and DAB+ stations is perfect.... at home with the standard built in radio aerial and in my car.
DAB is an awful excuse, lets hope that the money grabbing b'stards don't ruin DAB+ as well.
Thanks for the news on DAB+, fingers crossed that it does not get ruined just like DAB. Hopefully because of the more efficient codec and bandwidth usage, they fail to sell off enough to ruin it. Big fingers crossed everyone!
Let me hear you cross your fingers.
Cheers, got lots more than fingers crossed as think if they pull the DAB+ cat out of the bag it will solve a
lot of reception and low impedance issues across the range of frequencies ;-)
Will also solve all the crappy vehicle/car dab issues and cross over from reflective boost aerials all
scattered in the wrong places!
http://knowhow.com/article.dhtml?articleReference=554&country=uk
I'm guessing/assuming that because the manuals are listed on KnowHow website, that Sandstrom is not really a Scandinavian brand but a Currys own brand, they've done this for decades, people will remember the Matsui brand in Currys in the 1980s for example, which was supposed to sound like it was Japanese brand.
Yup I was right, it's a Dixons Retail own brand, designed to sound like it's a higher quality brand than it is >
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixons_Retail#sandstrom
This is far more of a big deal to a lot of people than lower bitrates.
The only thing analogue radio categorically wins on is not being power hungry like DAB is on battery life.
DAB radio may not be perfect, but i'd rather have it than not have it..... and i would definitely choose it over analogue radio if i had to pick one or the other.
http://www.techradar.com/us/news/car-tech/why-dab-radio-in-the-uk-is-broken-and-how-to-fix-it-1217586
Radio 2 is 128kbs stereo to name just just one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?hl=en-GB&v=PSYxT9GM0fQ&gl=:wink:
I've been particularly enjoying the relaunch of TalkRadio since it started a week ago.
http://www.techradar.com/news/car-tech/why-dab-radio-in-the-uk-is-broken-and-how-to-fix-it-1217586
"The sound quality of DAB radio is awful and the system needs a major overhaul"
"Did you know, for instance, that many DAB radio stations in the UK are broadcast at just 64kbps mono using the MP2 codec? Do not adjust your screen that really is just 64kbps. That really is mono not stereo. That really is MP2 and not MP3.
To put that into context, MP2 is a less efficient codec than MP3, so that 64kbps figure is more like 48kbps in MP3. And that, TechRadar reader, is actually offensive."
Just because it's digital doesn't actually mean it's good or an improvement over FM. In fact current DAB (not+) is worse than FM for sound quality. DAB is a sh%tfest in the UK, a badly designed and poorly implemented digital radio system.
Some bad reviews about sound quality though, also i really dont like the design look of it.... it also has the problem that a lot of DAB radios suffer from, in that the LCD display is too bright to be used in the bedroom as a radio alarm.
On September 1, 2014, Folder Media began a four-month trial of DAB+ on the North East Wales and West Cheshire ensemble.[60]
In 2016, two new stations launched DAB+ services on the Portsmouth trial multiplex.[61] The operators of the second national multiplex, Sound Digital announced three DAB+ services to launch on the day that the multiplex will commence full-time broadcasting, 29 February 2016.[62]
Source: Wikipedia, Digital_radio_in_the_United_Kingdom#DAB.2B
http://advanced-television.com/2016/02/03/18-stations-for-new-uk-dab-multiplex/
"The line-up includes the UK’s first national services delivered via the newer DAB+ standard. DAB+ is more spectrum efficient than existing DAB, enabling more radio stations to be broadcast with the same amount of capacity. Currently, the majority of DAB digital radios will only receive stations using DAB, however many newer DAB digital radios can receive DAB+ channels and, over time, that number will grow organically. Jazz FM, Fun Kids and Magic Chilled will all be delivered using DAB+."
https://www.pricedropdonkey.com/product/radios/currys/sandstrom-sdr15-dabfm-clock-radio-walnut-white-white/163257
so I wouldn't pay any attention to the "was" price. It is still the best price so it gets heat from me.