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| DAB
("original flavour") |
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| DAB+ |
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| Radio Numérique Terrestre - DMB-Radio |
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| DMB TV |
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| Band III |
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| L-band |
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| Pan-European Specification |
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To be capable of working anywhere in Europe, a "pan-European" radio needs to be able to receive DAB, DAB+ and DMB-A in Band III and L-band.
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When comparing internet retailers, remember to include the cost of delivery in your calculations.
Retailers with low headline prices can often have higher delivery charges. Price comparison websites usually list the lowest headline price first, but the best deal may be lower down the list.
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Nevada Sinfonie II
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Sponsored links to sellers...
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DAB, DAB+ DMB-A and FM radio
Band III only
Telescopic antenna
AC operation using supplied external 110/240v supply
Battery operation requires 6 size C batteries
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United Kingdom
(Guide) £54.99
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wohnort review
It has become quite tricky for a UK consumer to purchase a DAB receiver and be sure that it will continue work beyond these shores. What's more, most UK consumers don't know this to be the case.
The largest manufacturers supplying the UK have made it their policy that unless the radio receives radio stations over the internet, in which case the royalties for the additional codecs have to be paid anyway, then they will not include DAB+ or DMB-A in the receiver's spec. It's all about margins, and the manufacturers argue that it's an unnecessary expense if the radio is never going to leave these islands.
The problem with that is that most people instinctively regard radio as a universal medium. A radio should work everywhere, forever. We don't (yet?) think of radios the way we do television set-top boxes, where many households are already on their second or even third model. Even the most enthusiastic of us, deep down in our psychology, slightly resent having had to buy a new radio for digital in the first place, and the suggestion that our careful purchase may not work beyond our shores can understandably cause consternation.
Still, all of this gives rise to what a salesman would describe as an "opportunity" and a couple of manufacturers are now making and describing radios as "multistandard" or "multiregion". Revo's Mondo is a DAB, DAB+ and DMB-A receiver, but this is expected to be used in an existing hifi setup, so while it does have a headphones socket, it has no speaker of its own. Neither has it a battery compartment, so a source of mains is required into which to plug the external power adaptor.
An alternative device, from the Portsmouth retailer and importer Nevada, is a true "radio" in the sense that everyone understands it. So for someone touring Europe, say in a mobile home or wanting a DAB radio in their room when they get there, this is one of the first radios to become available for purchase before the voyage begins.
The first impression of the Nevada Sinfonie is how chunky it is. It takes six C-type batteries, so with the batteries in situ this becomes quite a weighty portable. Secondly, every photo Wohnort had seen of this radio, including the one on this page, had conveyed the impression of a matt finish to the body, rather like the black Pure ONE Classic and Elite models. In fact, the finish is shiny. Probably the best description would be "piano black".
The main control on the front is a large knob. This is either the volume control, if you turn this without having touched anything else first, or, if you've first touched one of the tuning buttons, it becomes a tuning knob and you can scroll through the stations available. A third function becomes available by pressing the knob, which gives access to information about the station - Ensemble Label, tuned frequency, bitrate, Programme Type, codec and so on. Wohnort found the knob a strange shape to grip and turn comfortably.
The radio accompanied Wohnort on a recent trip to Paris and Nantes, where both DAB+ and DMB-A are being transmitted. It certainly decodes all three DAB standards without any problems. It is interesting to note that on the bitrate "page" of the radio's display, an original-flavour DAB transmission will show up as, for example "128 kbit/s MP2". A DAB+ transmission is shown as, for example, "48 kbit/s AAC". But a DMB-A transmission is displayed as simply "88 kbit/s" with no mention of a codec. It is therefore possible to see, albeit indirectly, whether DAB+ or DMB-A is being received.
The radio was noticeably slower to capture and begin to play audio from a DMB-A service. This is to be expected, since the data frames are much longer with DMB-A than with DAB or DAB+. The receiver has to wait until the audio of one frame has been received before it can decode it. With DAB+, audio appeared much more quickly, the effect being like tuning in a good old FM station from a preset. With the DMB-A services, the delay before audio appeared was actually long enough for the mind to begin to wonder whether the service might be silent and whether ANY audio would appear.... and then it did.
The radio's loudspeaker does an adequate job for its size and produces a pleasant sound on high bitrate services. But it is also good enough to show up the deficiencies of low bitrate services. BBC World Service on the UK BBC ensemble sounded particularly grotty. At night time, when the same programmes are also carried on Radio 4, the Radio 4 version of the same audio was noticeably better. The smaller speaker of the Microspot RA-318, with which the Sinfonie was compared, seemed less revealing.
Wohnort's main criticism of the Sinfonie is that it does not "remember" which service was selected when the radio is switched off. Whether a service had been tuned in using the buttons or tuning knob, or whether the service had been selected on one of the radio's six presets, the Nevada Sinfonie always tunes in at power-up to whatever service appears first in the stored list of services. This will vary from area to area, but if the radio is mostly to be used to receive just one particular station, then this "feature" is likely to become a major frustration, since it will have to be tuned in to that service every single time the radio is switched on. It might not, therefore, be a suitable radio for a devoted Radio 3 or Radio 4 listener [but see Nevada's comment below]. The comparison Microspot radio tuned in to the last service selected when the receiver repowered.
In the UK, the receiver's sensitivity and selectivity were proven by pulling in the Stoke multiplex on Block 12D, albeit with errors, well out of area at a test location to the north of Bolton, and with a strong regional multiplex transmitted from nearby Winter Hill on the adjacent Block 12C. The telescopic aerial is captive, so there would be no convenient means of connecting an external antenna. It is a Band III-only device, so would not be a suitable receiver to take to Canada or the Czech Republic.
In summary, this radio does a fine job of pulling in services in whichever of the DAB flavours is being transmitted, making it suitable for use in France, Switzerland, and Malta as well as in the UK. It fails to receive Wohnort's "pan-European" flag because it does not receive L-band. Hopefully it will not be long before other multistandard receivers become available for purchase in the UK, but in the meantime, this receiver is a worthy entrant to the market.
NB: It should be noted that although the Microspot RA-318 radio was used for comparison purposes, it does not receive DMB-A.
Nevada have offered the following comment on the Review and helpfully point out that their work-around is described in the receiver manual.
If used as instructed in the manual ie: use the standby control for on off function, then the set does remember the last station used. Similarly, if your favourite station is put into memory one, then this will be the station tuned in to on next switch on ( if NOT using the standby switch as on/off). Think of it like your television, it has a standby switch which most use for the on-off function with a remote controller, the main TV on off control is for long periods on non use.
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I'd be grateful to receive information about other receivers.
carey@wohnort.org
© 2010 wohnort media
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