Degen DE1125 Ultra-Thin AM/FM/SW Radio with 2GB MP3 Player/Digital Recorder Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)November 3, 2009:

Stay tuned as I will update this review shortly with more technical details to follow. I took a chance and ordered this Degen DE1125 from overseas ($78.99 shipped by registered airmail) despite some poor reviews that I have seen recently, but my unit is just fine and once again the overall quality control of electronics production in Chinese radio factories looms its ugly head! My unit is the Degen brand and not the Kaito version so it has sw capability instead of the USA weather band channels. It is excellent on the fm and good on sw bands despite relatively low sensitivity ratings compared to several other Kaito and Degen radios. To boot the unit is very well made and extremely small and pocketable and just what I was looking for by the way. I like it much better than the Sangean DT-200V and DT-400W units and it can even pick up routine weather broadcasts on my local am government sponsored emergency preparedness station. It does need a tone control that is certainly sorely lacking, but other than that I have no great complaints at this point, except perhaps for a more precise frequency control in smaller increment steps (see further below). The AGC (automatic gain control) does oscillate so that the signal strength fluctuates quite a bit for weak am stations as noted by other internet reviewers, but the stronger sw stations come in just fine as do all fm stations that I have listened to. I am very pleased overall with this radio/MP3 player, especially at this asking price!

UPDATE: November 18, 2009:

PROS:

1) Very fine quality MP3 player (comes with two songs, one by the late and great Karen Carpenter (Its yesterday once more) and another classic, the Hotel California). Both are excellent for demonstrating the MP3 capabilities available on this system.

2) Good quality voice recorder/microphone system with ability to record directly off the air (better at lower speaker volume).

3) Tuning is through either the very fine tuning knob or using the Auto+/Auto- keys on the keyboard so it is a much improved system (compared to the Kaito KA1123 or the Degen DE15 units).

4) There is excellent sensitivity for fm with very good selectivity

5) Fair to good sw sensitivity and good selectivity

6) Fair am sensitivity and good selectivity

7) High quality MP3 player with 2 GB of onboard mempry available.

8) Good quality ATS (Automatic tuning storage) preset capability on all bands with 255 presets available (adjusted using the Auto +/- keys). These presets are easy to play back too using easy to locate keys (can be used to either advance or backtrack frequencies) on the right hand side of the unit.

9) There is a very detailed and highly readable, quality LCD screen with a (green) high quality backlight.

10) The LCD screen details are different for the "off" position versus each of the three modes of operation (as listed under 1) below under Cons). The clock can be displayed in all possible screen displays and so it is very easy to set accurately.

11) There is a very nice on-screen digital signal strength meter that is displayed whenever the digital volume levels are adjusted.

12) It has a very long lasting and very flat rectangular battery (Lithium-Ion: Nokia cell phone type). The battery is charged using a USB to unit cable (provided) that goes directly to a PC (with automatic charging capability). The same USB cable is also used for quickly downloading songs from a PC.

13) It is a very small and pocketable, very nice looking unit with a high quality build (with a black rubbery surface with a nice feel). It has a nice support stand that opens up from the back and exposes more of the speaker to the air as well (see below).

14) The unit also has an extendable (nonrotating) vertical antenna about 15 inches in length that is good for fm and sw signal detection.

15) There is also a lock slide switch to keep all controls fixed when needed.

16) It also has a very good sounding speaker.

17) The printed manual is in both Chinese as well as in English and is not very hard to understand.

CONS:

1) There is no tone control for any of the three basic modes (am/fm/sw radio, MP3 player and voice and off the air recorder).

2) The tuning capability is fixed and does not have adjustable frequency step controls.

3) The radio senitivity is best only for listening to major stations, except for the fm operating mode and to a lesser extent sw. I think the Kaito version with all USA weatherband channels may prove to be a better buy overall if the sensitivity for these is adequate. There is some hiss to be heard in the background on am and on the voice recorder.

4) It has a lone bandwidth and no DX/local attenuator, but can register fm stereo through the earphones. It does not have an external antenna jack either.

UPDATE: November 19, 2009:

Apparently the weatherband reception option instead of sw reception (2.3 - ~23 MHz) has been dropped by Kaito (Degen) since it no longer appears listed on the Amazon website (it was listed there until very recently however!). Even today on their own website it is still listed as the Kaito KA800 with am/fm and weatherband reception capabilities and an orange backlight!

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Product Description:
Made by the same manufacturer that makes widely-appraised Kaito shortwave radios, such as KA1101, KA1102 & KA1103, the newly released DE1125 is a versatile little radio with lot of functions & features. It seamlessly combines a traditional world-band radio, a 2GB MP3 player, a radio recorder and a voice recorder altogether into an incredibly light and compact gadget, which measures only ½ inch thick and weighs less 3 ounces without the batteries. Powered by three AAA batteries, this digital PLL world band receiver with DSP (digital signal processing) will keep you connected to a very comprehensive frequency range including FM, AM, shortwave. There are four options when tuning your radio stations and they are Auto - Scan , manual tuning, digital tuning and ATS (Auto Tuning Storage). You can store up to 255 preset stations using memory tuning feature. If you plan on traveling with a radio, the DE1125 is a very good choice. You can either listen to the DE1125 via the built-in D50mm speaker or with the included earphones. Beyond the ability to tune into various radio bands, the DE1125 also features a built-in automatic battery charger, plugs it into any wall outlet with the included AC plug or connect it to your computer with a USB cable. The DE1125 can also be used as a MP3 player with 2GB flash memory, you can download your favorite music from your computer to the radio and play it wherever you go. You can also choose the record mode under which you can use the DE1125 to record any radio program or just as a voice recorder. Depending on the sampling rate, the DE1125 can record up to 150 hours of radio program. Frequency Coverage: FM: 64.0 - 108.0 MHz, MW:520-1710 MHz; SW:2.3-23.0 MHz. Package includes Stereo earphones, AC wall plug, USB cable, carrying pouch, 1 of Li-ion rechargeable batteries and a copy of user manual.

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