FM/DAB/DAB+ Radio Receiver with Bluetooth - August DR245 - Easily Add DAB, DAB+, FM Radio or Bluetooth to your Existing Speaker System

I have a great high quality Pioneer HiFi and despite having bought Smart speakers with "she who must be obeyed" voice commands; there is still an audible difference between the sound produced from my HiFi.So adding DAB and Bluetooth connectivity means I can leave my HiFi set to AUX with volume set, and control the sound source from this device with clear hiss free DAB sound stations + the added digital info about the track being played.What is extra ordinary is that the aerial for this little box is a thin wire while my old FM input was from a loft mounted omnidirectional aerial and yet this is clearer in both FM and DAB. It auto scans and you can set to only capture high strength signal stations.The other major reason to get this is to connect the smart TV and Apple 4k TV to this via bluetooth and get HiFi quality sound while watching/listening to the TV. Stated range is 10m 4.2 bluetooth. One mode button switch jumps you from Bluetooth to DAB to FM while the HiFi remains in AUX mode. Volume is adjusted on the remote for this device.You can also dive in to setup and adjust the length of time the device surround light is left on and the brightness of the colour display.As I say at the beginning of this review, it literally ticks all the boxes in one smart looking box. A perfect upgrade and thoroughly recommend it.

Excellent quality. Now able to play DAB radio every morning on our HIFI. Sounds great. Tempted to buy another for one of our other HIFIs in another room. Bluetooth works well.Remote is great and controls volume as well as channel (etc).Saved favourites are easy to switch to using the number pad on the remote.I had a suitable lead (jack to phono) so no issue for me, but you may need to get a lead as the one that comes with it is jack-to-jack (3.5mm). Personally, I would have thought that a jack to phono lead would be more suitable to include in the box. Only a minor quibble though - the unit is excellent.

Excellent piece of kit to add DAB and DAB+ to your HiFi if you are a serious radio listener who continues through a dedicated FM Tuner with the superior sound quality offered by FM music channels. Of course there are music channels like Jazz FM unavailable on FM as well as a plethora of other music channels. But all are of relatively poor quality in terms of sound quality when compared to FM broadcasts via a Tuner connected to a dedicated FM roof antenna. For those who don't have such a set up and who can get the DAB signal this is the ideal next best. And even for those of us with dedicated FM Tuners, there is always the problem of poor AM reception for spoken word radio channels which DAB radio will solve.This little piece of kit will give you DAB and DAB+ for a fraction of the price of a new dedicated Tuner that has both FM and DAB. So why would you want to replace your current FM Tuner with another one which now has DAB when you are not really adding anything to the sonic quality (I am speaking of music here) given the low bitrate compromises that are made by broadcasters favouring quantity over quality in the DAB sphere. And, yes, the DR245 does come with FM. But it is not a serious FM contender compared to dedicated FM Tuners of which there are now only a very few of sonic quality for the discerning music listener. And my point here is amply borne out in the lack of a serious antenna port (F connector) for an FM roof aerial. But even if it did contain such a port, it would still not be a serious FM contender. Which is why the makers probably did not bother too much on the FM side. But as a DAB add on to a HiFi system or any audio system for that matter it is a fantastic piece of kit with a great remote control that is superior to some from kit that costs oodles more than the DR245So why only four stars? The design has some shortcomings. There is an annoying bright light that rings the device when it is turned on. There is an option to have it turn off after three minutes. But you would not know this without wasting time fiddling with the remote control. This light is a piece of technology bling that adds nothing to the device's functionality and is really annoying, lowering the serious aesthetic and technical intent of the device. There should be a way at the very least to disable it. The cable provided detracts from its serious intent as a HiFi add on. Why there is no 3.5mm to RCA amplifier inputs is a mystery. What preamp contains 3.5mm ports? Finally the instructions are poor. A series of diagrams that does not even explain the full functionality of the device let’s the user down somewhat in my opinion. An example being the option on the remote to have the silly ringed light turn off after three minutes.

I’ve got a really good amp, receiver and speakers from the 80s which are still in daily use. I wanted to be able to play music from my laptop and phone via bluetooth and I wanted DAB radio.This device provides those functions and saves me having to shop around for a new stereo.Setting up is easy enough. Plug in the power, connect the device to whatever speakers you have. There’s a 3.5mm socket on the device so you could plug headphones or PC speakers straight in. There is a double male 3.5mm cable in the box.There’s no supplied 3.5mm to RCA cable in the box. I would have needed something like thishttps://www.amazon.co.uk/AmazonBasics-3-5mm-2-Male-Adapter-Cable/dp/B01D5H8LDM/ref=sr_1_9?dchild=1&keywords=3.5mm+to+rca+cable&qid=1598603894&sr=8-9but I already had one so I plugged that into on my amp.There is a thin wire antenna permanently fixed to the device. This isn’t very long and needs to be mounted on a wall to get a signal.Once I’d done that and turned it on the device scanned and found a number of radio stations.The remote control is really good but if you are scrolling through the list of stations you have to be quite close to be able to see the small screen so it’s a bit redundant unless you set up your favourite stations.This device fills a pretty small niche but does so really wellThe antenna's not removable or replaceable . I live in a bit of a radio dead spot and if I could fit a big coax antenna I would be able to pick up a lot more stations.Also being so short and needing to be raised as high as possible limits where you can locate the device. Practically it needs to be close to a wall so the antenna can be held n place vertically with a blob of blu tac, and close to your speakers or amp.One nice touch is the rather cool clock that displays when you turn the device off.All in all for the price I'm really pleased