Home > Consumer Reviews > Roberts MP53 Sound 53 CD/DAB/FM Digital Sound System with Dock for iPod-Black

I bought this after hearing a friend's, and it sounds just as good as I had hoped. Wonderful room filling sound. Two other people are planning to buy one having heard mine!

I bought this model rather than the M43 because I liked the minimalist design, with a single on/off/volume control - but I have to say that another knob for DAB channel selection would actually be useful. The IR remote is terrible. Big black and chunky, a limited angle of reception, with miniscule buttons and tiny, illegible type. Almost useless - the flat, rectangular remote for the M23 is miles better, so I'm going to borrow one to see if they inter-operate for the basic functions (I've seen them sold as spares, so if they do work I'll get one). [update - Roberts tell me they changed the remote design because people complained about losing the smaller version, and no they aren't interchangeable]

Sadly, my two 3rd gen 15Gb iPods are too old to work with the M53, but I have copied iTunes playlists onto a 4Gb USB stick and that works fine on Random play. I had hoped to be able to copy from the USB stick to some 4Gb SDHC cards but the manual implies that copying can only be done in 'real time' while playing the source, which for my 35Gb of music would take days, so I'll have to buy a USB-adapter for the SDHC cards and do the file transfer on my mac.

First radio arrived and nothing worked, how it passed Quality control i do not know. Even the name on the front was crooked that gave me confidence in the quality for a start. Rang Roberts to see if i had done something wrong and why it was not working and all they said was that it was faulty and get in touch with the supplier, no apologies or anything in fact close to being very rude. Got in touch with Amazon and explained the situation and they dispatched another radio and it arrived the very next day. The service from Amazon was absolutely fantastic, thanks to everybody who was involved. The radio is ok but i do not think it is worth the money, too much base it spoils the whole thing. If you are thinking of buying one look around first there are better sounding units out there.

Ordering the Roberts MP53 system through Amazon was good as I could read previous reviews, and I was amazed when it was delivered the next day! The setting up was very easy and the DAB radio gives excellent reception. Connecting up my rather basic MP3 player was just fine, and I have yet to try the iPod dock when I receive my iPod for Christmas. The speakers are very good for their size - I play classical music mostly. I would recommend this system to anyone with a normal sized room. Perhaps the only niggle is that you do need to use the remote to change mode, radio station etc. I'll just have to make sure that the grandchildren don't lose the remote!

Purchased this from Amazon and received it within 4 days.
Being in a fringe area for DAB I expected to have to install an outdoor aerial, but the set found 37 stations at full signal immediately after switching on for the first time. A cheaper set I had only picked up 9 stations and they were iffy.
Audio (to me, I am no buff on this) was excellent and max volume was far more than I need.
Looks smart, works well - I can't ask for more.

We're very pleased with our purchase. Versatility is a strong point since the MP53 can play music from an iPod, MP3 player, SD card or CD or via the FM/DAB radio. I don't know of any other item that offers this flexibility. Sound quality is good, tho' not quite hi-fi...but excellent for kitchen or bedroom. Looks attractive and easy to use...tho' don't lose the remote since it is essential for most operations. The controlknob on the facia handles only on/off and volume. Digital readout gives station or track info. All in all, an excellent choice!