Pure One Digital DAB/FM Radio Launches – For Under Fifty Quid

Pure One Digital DAB/FM Radio Launches - For Under Fifty QuidAfter putting the book on subtle design through the shredder, Pure’s designers have come up with the dazzling new Pure One, a DAB digital radio for under £50 – in bright pink.

Pure aren’t a company afraid to experiment with design – previous designs have involved a weird bug like creation and another that looked like a mutant Toblerone – but they’ve always impressed us with the quality of their products.

Happily, the new Pure One is also available in more restrained black and white finishes, and serves up a very impressive feature set for the asking price.

Pure One Digital DAB/FM Radio Launches - For Under Fifty QuidThe scrolling text monochrome display shows station name, status icons, time and signal strength, with one touch tuning giving quick access to 20 DAB and FM (with RDS) stations.

Designed to be used all around the house and outside, there’s kitchen and sleep timers, USB upgradeability and support for the rechargeable ChargePAK battery pack.

Nifty new features include textSCAN – which lets listeners pause and control scrolling text so they’ve time to scribble down onscreen information – and Intellitext, which offers on-demand access to DAB extended text broadcasts, like sports news and headlines.

Battery life is quoted at around 35 hours of DAB listening from six standard C cell batteries, with the option to run the unit from the mains.

Pure One Digital DAB/FM Radio Launches - For Under Fifty QuidSupported by a full 2-year warranty, the Pure One will be available from May 2006.

Specifications: DAB digital and FM radio with full Band III DAB reception capability, for reception of all UK DAB broadcasts. Compliant with ETS 300 401 and capable of decoding all DAB transmission modes 1-4 up to and including 192 kbps.
Frequency ranges: DAB Band III 174-240 MHz, FM 87.5-108 MHz.
Timers: Sleep and kitchen timers.
Speaker: Full-range 3″ drive unit.
Input connectors: 9V DC power adapter socket (230V adapter supplied). Mini USB connector for software upgrades.
Output connectors: 3.5 mm headphone socket.
Controls: Standby; volume, browse & select dial; volume/mute; timer; presets; info; DAB/FM; menu and stations.
Presets: 20 DAB or FM presets in a combined list.
LCD display: Custom, easy to read LCD with 16 x 2 character display plus status icons.
Mains power supply: 230V AC to 9V (0.8A) DC external power adapter.
Battery power supply: Six C (R14) batteries or ChargePAK (not supplied). At normal listening levels alkaline batteries provide approximately 35 hours, and ChargePAK provides approximately 20 hours of portable DAB listening.
Dimensions: 210 wide x 145 high x 72mm deep (excluding controls).
Aerial: Integral telescopic aerial.

Pure Digital

Big UK DAB Radio Sales in December

DAB radio (Digital Audio Broadcasting) is really taking off in the UK.

Sales figures for the all important christmas period are now in. How many do you think were sold? Get ready for it – a gnat’s whisker short of 500,000! That’s just in the UK in December. Close to a third of all DAB sets sold that years.

As at the end of December there’s over 2.7m DAB sets having been sold so far. It’s not hard to see that the hockey stick curve is really getting considerably steeper.

When DAB sets like the new Asono DAB1 are becoming available, it’s hardly surprising that people are getting encouraged to make the switch. What a lovely bit of kit

We thing that the sheer quality of BBC radio, 4 in particular, is a major reason why the UK is being seduced by DAB.

Referring to the competition from the increasing popular digital music players, in particular the iPod, DRDB (Digital Radio Development Bureau) chief executive, Ian Dickens said: “Christmas on the High Street was a tough proposition this year. DAB digital radio was once again a shining light with independents, the multi-nationals and especially the mass-merchandisers enjoying strong sales right through the holidays and into January.”

The continued growth of DAB is hoped to receive a further boost as uber-regulator, OfCom, plans to release further, new DAB-able spectrum.

Digital Radio Development Bureau
Asono DAB1

Pure DMX-50 Review: Winner DAB Microsystem (9/10)

Pure Digital DMX-50 DAB MicrosystemDespite our catastrophic experiences with the Onkyo DAB CD unit, we’d developed a taste for DAB radio/CD combos so were right on Pure Digital’s case when they announced their new DAB/FM/CD/MP3 micro system, the DMX-50.

Perhaps better known for their distinctive portable sets, Pure are a world-leading, UK-based DAB radio retailer, with a reputation for innovation.

Rolled out just in time for Christmas, the £230 ($395, €336) DMX-50 is an attractive 40W RMS micro-sized system, cunningly disguised to look like three hi-fi separates.

Finished in a pleasant grey metallic finish, the unit is dominated by a large, five-line LCD screen which provides DAB/FM radio station information, scrolling DAB digital text, CD/MP3 track listings and access to a variety of user-selectable options.

Pure Digital DMX-50 DAB MicrosystemContext-sensitive buttons either side of the display provide a simple user interface offering fast access to relevant features – it’s one of the best interfaces we’ve seen.

Setting up the DMX-50 was an absolute breeze – no sooner had we got the thing plugged in than it was busying itself automatically locating and storing over 50 DAB stations within range. Nice.

Locating FM stations was equally swift and painless, with the large, intuitive interface making it a breeze to find, sort and order presets – kudos to Pure for simplifying a process that can sometimes turn grown men into fist-shaking balls of frustration.

Playing CDs was straightforward enough too, although the CD tray was a little too flimsy for our liking.

We especially liked the fact that it displayed both CD and MP3 track and artist information onscreen, making it easy to find tracks.

Pure Digital DMX-50 DAB MicrosystemA unique feature to Pure is the ReVu function, which lets you pause and ‘rewind’ live DAB digital radio, courtesy of a constantly updating 20 minute buffer.

This means that it’s possible to rewind back to the start of a show you may have missed the beginning of, or pause the radio to take a phone call.

DAB digital transmissions can be recorded (or played back) on the built in SD card slot, and a USB port lets you play back and transfer recorded files to your PC.

The USB connection can also be used to download software upgrades for the DMX-50.

Further connections come in the form of a pair of spring loaded speaker clips, two aux inputs (for plugging in an MP3 player, for example), an optical out and a Line/Sub Out for hooking the unit up to an external amplifier or connecting a sub-woofer.

Pure Digital DMX-50 DAB MicrosystemThe package is rounded off by two stylish Rosewood speakers with 5¼” woofers, and 19mm Mylar-dome tweeters, a simple remote control and aerial.

CONCLUSION

Quick to set up and a pleasure to use, Pure’s straightforward interface, massive LCD and impressive feature set make this a great player for music fans who don’t fancy wading through hefty manuals before they can start listening to tunes.

At this price level we weren’t looking for high-end hi-fi quality, but the DMX-50 gave a good account for itself and was a pleasure to listen to.

The bass output perhaps wouldn’t excite dub aficionados, but when cranked up, the sound was beefy enough to encourage a bit of air guitar work around the office.

Throw in CD/MP3 text, a SD slot and the unique ReVu feature and you’ve got the best all-round DAB/CD player we’ve come across so far.

Rating: Highly recommended 9/10
9 out of 10

SPECIFICATIONS:

Amplifier: 40W RMS per channel power output (into 8 Ohms @10% THD+N, A-weighted). 10 Hz to 40 kHz (-3dB) frequency response. Bass and treble tone control.

CD player: CD-R and CD-RW playback compatible. Support for CD Text and 20 track audio CD playlist. Multiple playback modes (repeat, shuffle, etc.). MP3 playback, including support for ID3 tags and M3U playlists.

DAB: PURE ReVu™ enables pause and rewind of live DAB digital radio. Full Band III (174 – 240 MHz) reception. Fully compliant with ETS 300 401 and capable of decoding all DAB transmission modes 1-4. Fast autotune feature. 99 presets.

FM: Supports RDS and RadioText. Tune by RDS station name. 87.5-108 MHz frequency range. 99 presets.

SD card: SD card slot for recording DAB radio to SD card.

Speakers: 8 Ohms (nominal) impedance. 40W RMS power handling. Polypropolene mid-bass drivers. Two-way rear ported enclosure. Custom-tuned 2nd order crossovers.

Connectors & Cables: 3.5 mm headphone output on front panel. RF F-connector 75 Ohms for combined DAB/FM aerial connection. Two separate dual phono line-level audio inputs for auxiliary device connection. Dual phono for stereo analogue line-level output. Optical Toslink connector for digital S/PDIF output (IEC958 @ 48 kHz). USB connector for future software upgrades and SD card access. Stereo spring-clip terminals for speakers. Integral mains cable with Euro/UK adapter. Bootlace DAB/FM aerial and two 3m speaker cables supplied.

General: Fully featured remote control (batteries included). Compliant with the EMC and Low Voltage Directives (89/336/EEC and 73/23/EEC). Dimensions (mm): main unit 166 (w) x 240 (h) x 252 (d); speaker 150 (w) x 240 (h) x 255 (d). Two year warranty

PURE DMX-50

NDS To Protect Content On Mobile TV And DAB With Frontier Silicon

NDS To Protect Content On Mobile TV And DAB With Frontier SiliconSet Top Box (STB) and PVR company NDS have today announced that they have reached an agreement with Frontier Silicon, a fabless manufacturer of digital media semiconductors based in the UK, to work together on technology to protect digital TV and DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) content on mobile devices.

Frontier Silicon are already well known for pioneering in next gen digital chippery with their DAB chips; the “World’s First” DMB and DVB-H mobile Digital TV chip – in their words; they’ve also innovated in DAB with the introduction of DABplus, a DAB radio with EPG (Electronic Programming Guide) built-in.

The deal sees NDS have their mVideoGuard DRM technology built-in to Frontier’s T-DMB, DVB-H and DAB receiving chips. Interestingly it also sees Frontier Silicon moving into producing kit for the head-end (where it’s broadcast from) – to ensure mVideoGuard is in place from end-to-end.

NDS To Protect Content On Mobile TV And DAB With Frontier SiliconMany readers, especially the non-UK massive, may be thinking ‘So what? Who and who have signed a deal?’ Well the significance of NDS moving this way is that it may signal where Sky is moving. Sky, as I’m sure you know, is the satellite TV company who own the UK in satellite delivered TV, and who’s parent company News International now owns US satellite giant DirecTV.

For a long time Sky and NDS have been developing content protection schemes. They feel this is vital before they let their subscribers move their TV shows from STBs to other devices – including mobile devices.

Despite working on conditional access for mobile TV for a number of months (with NDS), this is the first time that Frontier have built DRM in to their chips, and it’s also thought that this is the first deal that NDS have done putting DRM in system apart from their own.

Is this a move to have NDS as an established provider of DRM? Well it having Sky as a reference client certainly isn’t a bad move.

Frontier Silicon
NDS

Onkyo CR-505DAB CD Receiver Review

See the update below for the reason for the reason we now don’t rate this product.

Onkyo CR-505DAB CD Receiver ReviewAfter our clapped out Sony mini-system refused to play one track too many and the usual thump on the side failed to yield the required result, we realised it was time to find a new stereo system for the office.

With the room stuffed full of humming computers, books, cables, gizmos and overflowing racks of CDs, we were looking for something compact but with enough grunt to shake the walls when the punk rock mood takes.

Onkyo CR-505DAB CD Receiver ReviewAfter several trudges up London’s hi-fi Mecca, Tottenham Court Road, and long periods scanning the minutiae of online spec sheets, we decided that the Onkyo looked like the one for us.

One trip to Richer Sounds later we returned back to the office clutching the Onkyo CR505 DAB CD receiver system.

For £240 (~US$433, €352~) you get a lot of bang for your money, with the attractive brushed aluminium unit packing in a high quality amplifier, CD player, AM/FMRDS tuner and – best of all – a DAB (Digital Broadcast Audio) receiver.

Onkyo CR-505DAB CD Receiver ReviewUnlike many other all-in units in the same bracket, this puppy offers a ‘proper’ amplifier with high-quality Wolfson DACs delivering accurate digital-to-analogue conversion and discrete output stage circuitry for a clean output signal.

Moreover, there’s a slew of RCA/digital connectors available on the rear for hooking up external units like MD players and cassette recorders, so the unit can be used as the heart of a small hi-fi system.

Setting up the system was easy enough, although it was strange to discover that three separate aerials had to be installed for the FM/AM and DAB tuners!

We couldn’t wait to get playing with the DAB tuner, and after a quick bash on the auto-scan button we were astounded by the huge variety of channels it managed to find.

Onkyo CR-505DAB CD Receiver ReviewAdmittedly, most of the channels sounded absolute rubbish, but it was a revelation to find so much content available.

With all those channels to wade through, it was necessary to set up our own list of favourites, and although it was a bit of a fiddly process, it wasn’t long before we’d programmed the thing to our liking.

The nice thing about DAB is the additional text information transmitted with the audio signal, and the CR505’s pretty blue LED display served up two rows of text, with users able to choose which DAB information they want onscreen – we fell in love with the scrolling text option that provided details about the station and the song currently being played.

EU RulesThe FM and AM tuners were equally straightforward enough to sort out, with the auto scan quickly scooping up a list of available radio stations.

The onboard CD player usefully supports MP3s recorded on CD-R and CD-RW discs as well as Audio CDs. We had no problems at all playing a wide selection of discs.

With so much on board, working out what does what can be baffling at first, but we were pleased to find that the manual came in just one language instead of the usual United Nations ten-ton tomes.

The Onkyo system is offered in two flavours. The CS-220UK version ships with Onkyo speakers but we bought the bare-bones CR-505DAB unit and wired up our own £100 (~US$180, €147~) Eltac speakers.

The sound was impressive, with a tight, controlled bass and clear soundstage. Cranking up the sound levels, the system coped admirably, with no harshness or distortion marring the thundering output.

Onkyo CR-505DAB CD Receiver ReviewThe system would make a great bedroom, kitchen or study stereo system, offering a huge range of radio channels and enough poke to accompany the occasional air guitar wig out or party.

If you’re looking for a compact, flexible mini-system with loads of features and a big sound, we thoroughly recommend the Onkyo. It’s a winner!

FIVE STARS, Now ZERO STARS

See the update below for the reason for the now Zero rating.

Specs:

Amplifier: 25 W/Ch int4 (1 kHz), WRAT (Wide Range Amplifier Technology), Discrete output stage circuitry, Tone control (Bass/Treble), Tone direct and 3 audio inputs and 2 outputs.

CD Player: Plays Audio CDs and MP3 CDs, Wolfson single-bit D/A converter, 20-track programming, Random/Memory/Repeat play modes, Optical digital output.

Tuner: DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) with 59 Presets, 5-mode timer (Timer 1/2/3/4/Sleep), 40 FM/AM presets, Automatic FM scan tuning, RDS (CT/PS/RT).

Other features: Battery-free memory backup, Headphone jack, RI-compatible remote control

Onkyo
Update 24 November 2005

Sadly, we have to add that after we gave the Onkyo such a glowing review, ugly problems reared their head.

Firstly, the CD player started to stall on new and old CDs, introducing party-wrecking uninvited gaps mid-way through albums.

Changing disks made no difference and after triple-checking that there were no overheating problems, the unit was sent back to Richer Sounds who gladly swapped it over for a replacement player.

Sadly, this turned out to be even worse, with the same CD-stuttering problem and a curious display glitch that sent random characters flying across the screen.

We’d had enough, so once again despatched the unit back to trusty Richer Sounds who were happy to oblige with a full refund.

With two failed units we can’t recommend this player to our readers.

Maybe we were just unlucky, but after having major problems with two ‘regular’ units (i.e. not press review models), we’d hate to see others experiencing the same hassle.

We’re now planning a review of a replacement DAB product from PURE – expect a review and news shortly.

Freeplay DEVO Wind-Up DAB Radio Announced

Freeplay DEVO Wind-Up DAB Radio AnnouncedThe world’s first wind-up FM and DAB digital radio, the Freeplay Devo, will be on sale in the UK soon.

Built on the well-regarded Freeplay power platform, the Devo wind-up wotsit offers DAB and FM waveband powered by an internal battery, AC via mains adapter or – when the power fades – some manful wrist action.

Sporting an attractive rugged black and silver finish with a blue LCD screen, the radio offers 5 DAB station presets with old-school rotary analogue tuning for FM.

The unit measures 122h x 114d x 205w mm, with the fascia being dominated by a large loudspeaker.

Freeplay DEVO Wind-Up DAB Radio AnnouncedThere’s a set of handy stereo RCA (phono) sockets onboard, letting users plug the radio into their home entertainment system, with a built in headphone socket for late night listening.

The Devo comes with a built in rechargeable battery with a claimed life of 6 hours DAB listening time (or 36 hours FM) per full charge.

Freeplay DEVO Wind-Up DAB Radio AnnouncedWhen the batteries run out, a 60-second burst of action on the wind-up lever should reward the user with 3-5 minutes DAB reception or one hour of FM pleasure at normal volume

The Freeplay Devo is being launched in October 2005 with a retail price of £100 (~$180, ~€146).

Freeplay Devo

Sky Gnome Wireless Listening Gadget Unveiled

Sky Unveils Gnome Wireless Listening Gadget BSkyB has announced The Gnome, a wireless digital receiver gadget that lets Sky subscribers listen to radio (or TV) anywhere around the house.

Sadly, it doesn’t come in the shape of a brightly coloured plaster figurine with an oversized head, but the curvy triangular form looks a jaunty enough number.

Using the Gnome, punters can listen to Sky TV and radio channels anywhere in the house, garage or garden, just so long as the receiver is within 30 metres of the Sky box.

Sky Unveils Gnome Wireless Listening GadgetThe natty wireless receiver works with all Sky boxes and lets subscribers get an earful of over 80 digital radio channels – as well as the television channels in their Sky package – at no extra charge.

Sky+ customers can also use the cheeky little Gnome to listen to pre-recorded programmes in their Sky+ planner.

The toblerone-esque gadget offers stereo sound, a backlit LCD display providing full channel and programme information, volume and channel controls and the option to pre-set 10 fave channels.

Introducing the device, BSkyB chief executive James Murdoch built himself into an enthusiastic froth of product love and exclaimed, “This is fantastic. We think it’s just dynamite!”

Sky Unveils Gnome Wireless Listening GadgetA somewhat mellower Brian Sullivan, BSkyB’s director of customer products and services, observed that the Gnome was a “fun product that adds value and flexibility for Sky’s growing customer base.”

“It forms part of BSkyB’s strategy to deliver great entertainment and choice through constant innovation,” he added.

The diminutive receiver comes in a choice of Cool Blue or Funky Orange but only offers a rather disappointing battery life of up to 8 hours before the batteries need recharging

The Gnome will be available from October. Prices are still to be confirmed

Sky

Frontier Announce “World’s First” DMB and DVB-H Mobile Digital TV chip

Frontier Announce World's First DMB and DVB-H Mobile Digital TV chip  Frontier Silicon have announced the “world’s first multi-standard, multi-band mobile digital TV chip set”.

The new device, called Kino 3, is a new multi-standard and multi-band MDTV chip set which supports both the Korean and European digital multimedia broadcast (DMB) as well as the DVB-H standard for mobile TV reception.

Kino3 will be world’s first thingamabob to combine a silicon tuner with broad tuning range and a baseband processor utilising software defined radio techniques to address multiple MDTV reception standards.

Frontier claims that the Kino 3 will be able to compete in terms of cost, size and power consumption with devices that just support a single standard.

Frontier Announce World's First DMB and DVB-H Mobile Digital TV chip  In a fug of industry-speak, Anthony Sethill, CEO of Frontier Silicon, told the Broadcast Asia Conference in Singapore, “We strongly believe that regulatory, spectrum allocation and installed infrastructure issues could considerably slow down the deployment of MDTV worldwide. With our experience in developing pioneering semiconductor solutions for digital broadcasting, we recognised this as a company early on and deployed resources to develop multi-standard ICs. Our aim is therefore to remove this barrier by quickly introducing a solution, and we are on course to introduce our Kino 3 solution in 2006”.

And here – as they say on shampoo adverts – is the science bit:

DMB is an extension of the Eureka 147 specification commonly referred to as DAB and used for digital radio broadcasts in much of Europe. DVB-H has been developed as an extension to the existing DVB-T standard which is widely used across Europe for digital TV broadcasts. Both DMB and DVB-H have been developed to provide the robust and high bandwidth data channels required to enable the reliable reception of digital video on handheld devices.

Frontier Announce World's First DMB and DVB-H Mobile Digital TV chipKorea is expected to see commercial MDTV services based on DMB rolling out during 2005, with the UK and Germany following in 2006.

Commercial services based on DVB-H will begin broadcasting in America during 2006 with parts of Europe adopting this standard during 2006 and 2007.

Fans of obscure spec sheets will have to wait until 2006 to discover the thrilling details of Frontier Silicon’s Kino 3 chip set, but we can inform you that it comprises of a state-of-the-art multi-standard baseband demodulator/decoder and multi-band (Band II, III, IV, V and L-band) RF tuner IC, and incorporates integrated microcontroller and memory. And possibly an onboard rear view dipstick.

Frontier Silicon

DABplus With EPG Launched By Frontier Silicon

DABplus Launched By Frontier SiliconFrontier Silicon has launched a new module that claims to bring personal-video-recorder (PVR) like capabilities to DAB digital radio.

The newly introduced DABplus brings a combination of a smarty-pants electronic programme guide (EPG) and advanced recording and timer capabilities to its successful Venice module.

Just like a PVR, DABplus will let radio listeners shuffle through a guide detailing up to seven days of programmes and select what they want to listen to (or record via the built in timers).

DABplus Launched By Frontier SiliconRecordings can be saved onto a memory card on the same radio or played back on any compatible audio unit.

With a Tim Henman-esque clenched fist action, Anthony Sethill, CEO of Frontier Silicon whooped up the benefits of his company’s new product, “This will revolutionise digital radio just as PVR has revolutionised the television viewing experience.”

The Venice module comes with all the necessary components pre-installed, making it easy for manufacturers to start churning out DAB radios by simply bolting on a power source, antenna, display and keypad (it’s probably a bit more difficult than that, but you get our gist).

The module contains the Chorus processor which has already proved a hot potato in the DAB world, shifting over two million units.

DABplus Launched By Frontier SiliconFrontier Silicon’s software provides an interface through which EPG and dynamic service information (DLS) can be viewed, with scrolling text allowing information ‘wider’ than the 16-character screen to be seen.

Anthony Sethill added, “The addition of DABplus to our market leading modules will help accelerate the adoption of new broadcast features such as EPG and is therefore an important next step for the digital radio market.”

Frontier Silicon

Digital Listening Grows As Radio Declines

Digital Listening Grows As Radio DeclinesMore and more people are using computers or portable players for music, even though traditional radio still leads the competition, according to a recent market study.

The report from market researcher, The NPD Group, revealed that approximately 77.2 million customers grooved to music stored on a computer during March 2005 – up 22 percent from the 63.2 million recorded during the same month last year.

Online radio stations also enjoyed an upturn in popularity, with 53.5 million listeners tuning in this March, up from 45.3 million a year ago.

Free streaming of music also saw notable gains, with a rise of 37 percent, to 46 million listeners.

Traditional radio continues to be the preferred medium, but listening audiences shrank 4 per cent to 194 million, down from 203 million a year earlier.

“The rise of digital listening and storage for music continues unabated this year,” Russ Crupnick, president of the Music and Movies division at NPD, said in a statement. “Technology companies are providing new tools to consumers in the form of powerful music-enabled PCs and portable music players; music companies are answering the call for more content; and consumers are responding positively.”

There’s a right royal barney going on in the online music business, with several big names fighting it out for a fat slice of the lucrative download market, currently dominated by Apple’s iTunes store and iPod music players.

Digital Listening Grows As Radio DeclinesLast week, Yahoo revealed their determination to become big noise in the music industry, unveiling a music subscription service that significantly undercuts their rivals.

According to the NPD survey, the number of consumers ripping music onto their computers has more than doubled since March 2004, with a substantial (127 percent) increase in music transferred to MP3 players since last year.

With a 93 percent increase in paid music downloads during the same period registered, online music is becoming increasingly accepted.

The NPD Group