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Reviewed by UK Guest, 17th Jun 2004. |
| Review Summary: An Excellent Digital Radio |
Overall Score: 5/5
 
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Review: The sound quality from this Pure Digital Evoke 2 DAB radio is very good. It doesn't matter how good the theoretical quality of digital radio is if the sound is spoiled by a poor amplifier and tinny speakers. I'd been quite impressed by the smaller Evoke 1, but the larger Evoke 2 is much better - the sound just has more depth and presence.
Setting it up was very simple, just a matter of pushing a button to have the radio scan for all available stations. There's a telescopic aerial which works fine for me, but check digital coverage for your postcode. There are six presets which can be set easily. It also has optical digital output, enabling easy linking to a minidisc recorder etc.
The FM tuner is disappointing; its useful to have it for any local stations which aren't on DAB (or for when the digital signal disappears for a while!), but it doesn't sound particularly good.
Although theoretically 'portable' this is really more of a 'desktop' radio. Photos can be a bit deceptive - it's quite a lot bigger than the Evoke 1. Also, it just eats its way through batteries - this is a radio to run from the mains!
Another reviewer mentioned the problem of the time lag, and this is certainly very annoying, although this is a problem of DAB radio in general, and the Evoke 2 is no better or worse than any other. Its all to do with the time it takes to encode and decode the digital signal, apparently. Anyway, the BBC seem to be saying that there is no solution to the problem. It does mean you can't have this on in one room with an FM radio in another within earshot.
All in all, whilst not the cheapest digital radio around this was the best sounding of the various freestanding models I was able to try. |
Ratings
| Value For Money: |
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5 |
| Review Score: |
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5 |
| Recommended? | |
Yes |
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Audio HiFi