Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony XDRS10DABM Portable Light Wood DAB & FM Radio

A few weeks back I spent about 3 hours in a shop trying to decide on a DAB radio for a present for under £80 (I have other pressies to buy!!). Because my wife favoured the "wooden" look I was trying to choose between an Intempo PG01 and a Pure Evoke 1S. But the Pure was way too bassy to the point that the words of songs were muddied and hard to hear...plus why pay £76 for mono surely if you want to experience DAB you don't want half the story...The station was playing Lynyrd Skynyrd - Freebird and you couldn't hear the gentle guitar strumming at the start because of this (something a friend had warned me about with his Evoke 1), the Intempo on the other hand, although it was stereo the sound was a little tinny.
I was at the point of giving up and I switched on the Sony. Now the styling may not be to everyone's taste but when I switched it on it was like someone had opened a door letting all the music flooding in. Great sound, not to bassy not too tinny, two speakers so both the channels could be heard. Great...foot tapping ...good sign....decent price...good sign.....looks very retro and maybe not to everyones taste. But I'd give it a go.

This is my first DAB radio and I am really impressed. Firstly it looks great with a cool blue display that shows a user choice of information (signal strength, programme information etc). The sound quality is great and reception is very good with both FM and DAB (you have a choice). It is also very easy and intuative to use. Simply scan for all available DAB stations, put some in the presets and you're off. Magic

The look is plain yet stylish and not flashy so should stay in fashion for a while. Some people have talked of low hum noise with DAB radios whilst in standby and this is really only an issue if you are a light sleeper. Possible solutions here could be to use a good quality mains-line noise supressor. Turn the volume right down or off or sleep in another room. Not my problem as our is in the kitchen ;-}
I think the sound is brilliant with stereo speakers giving good sound and good bass with very little distortion at max volume. A L/R stereo effect is not noticeable but with 6 inch separation - go figure.
All in all another piece of brilliant kit from Sony at a decent price hence 5 stars.

I was fed up with my Acoustic Solutions hi fi dab tuner "cochlin", even with outdoor antenne and aerial booster, ended up buying this (thing) it is not a portable, mains only with outside power supply (an idea used by
top hi fi manufacturers to reduce hum with amplifiers) it sports DAB/FM
a earphone socket,I use to plug into my Hi Fi,I thought at the time it will do until I have time to loos for a decent HiFi tuner,I plugged it in
not expecting much with it's portable style pull-out aerial,not even a
outdoor antenne socket, but surprise and jubilation all my desired statio-
ns BBC R2-3-4 +smoothR + R Gold & Classic FM came through clear,"it" has
become my tuner and house radio,MENU has a sound booster .
This Sony is a winner.ps Don't expect floor standing speaker bass,unless you plug it into a hi fi amp with such speakers,but for general listening, it is quite adequate.

Pretty good styling, sound absolutely fine given the size of the unit, display can be set in all kind of ways and I found signal strength notably superior to my slightly older Panasonic DAB radio.
Worth noting that unless you do the Autoscan UK routine you won't find all of your favourite stations.
Heartily recommended