sony xdrs-1 review

Have a picture of Sony XDRS-1 DAB Digital Radio?, please send it to us.
Picture courtesy of Benjamin Poynting.

Average Ratings

Sound Quality	8/10
Features	9/10
Ease of Use	7/10
Value for Money	8.5/10
Reviewer Rating	8.5/10
Overall Rating	4.5/10

100% Recommended2 out of 2 Reviews

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By Som123 on 1st Nov 2004

Som123's Ratings

Sound Quality	8/10
Battery Life	0/10
Value for money	7/10
Overall value	8/10
Som123's recommendation

Good Points

Good sound, well built

Bad Points

Clock display too small (to use as alarm clock), No 'line-in' button on main unit, Expensive

General Comments

I was looking forward to the release of the Sony XDRS-1 unit as it has such a great feature list. DAB, decent power output and Sony build combined with... line in. So, plug in a wireless MP3 receiver (e.g. Squeezebox) and you've got a good looking, great sounding bedroom system.
It's almost there. Unfortunately the clock display is too small to use as an alarm clock (it's impossible to see at night and is not backlit unless the radio is on). Amazingly there is no dedicated 'line-in' select button on the main box, only on the remote, which is a pity.
The sound is good - not quite up to Pure Evoke-1 standard, but not far off. Megabass is a waste of time though - the unit is too small to produce any bass.
DAB reception is good, not great. Not as many stations as Evoke, but the aerial is half the size.
On the whole, I'm disappointed that I can't use it to replace my trusty clock radio and I think £150 (Argos) is a bit steep, but it's not a bad bit of kit.

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