Background I have enjoyed DAB digital radio for sometime after being treated to a Pure Evoke1 for a Christmas present. A radio I am delighted with, but unfortunately, although its light and portable it relies on the mains supply to work. Here in Kent where I live a new Multiplex is currently being launched so I decided that I would now like a DAB radio that was a bit more portable having a battery provision
The Contenders As some of you will know if you read my first review, I bought an Acoustic SolutionsPortal 2 DAB/FM radio from Argos. This radio was great value at only £69.99 at the moment. Unfortunately this proved to be quite deaf and flatly refused to receive stations that my nearby Evoke1 radio would happily receive. So it was back to Argos for a refund. The nearest contender was the Bush TR2003 DAB built in a retro style but I was put -off by a lack of external aerial socket and the RDS/Radiotext on FM that the Portal 2 had. In the end, and with the prospect of some birthday money I decided to buy the Roberts Gemini 3 radio.
The Roberts Gemini 3 Well after parting with just short of £140 at Argos it was back home to give my new radio a go and put it through its paces. I unboxed the radio and found a standard figure of 8mains lead and a well written book of instructions. The radio itself unlike the many retro look models around looks a nice modern styling with a sloped control panel and display. The display is backlit green and is continuous on the mains but lit for a short time after a button press on batteries. I extended the telescopic aerial and pressed the autotune button, not the radio did a thorough scan of the DAB band 3 radio band, finding all the stations that the Portal 2 had refused to receive. I had a listen to Planet Rock and found the audio quality very rich with lots of bass available. There are rotary controls for bass and treble to adjust for personal taste. I found the bass still quite apparent even with the control at minimum. Station selection is by two different methods - either by rotating the tuning knob and watching the display for the desired station or using the up and down arrow buttons. Either method once the station is located just press the select button and the radio locks on to the selected station. By pressing the info button further informations can be gained - Time/Date, Format, Signal Strength, rotating text, etc by holding down the info button a bit longer the radios software version is displayed and also the quailty of the station received eg: bit rate etc on Virgin it displays Stereo J 160Kbps. Across the top of the radio are buttons for on/off accompanied with a red led showing that the mains is plugged in. The autotune button, DAB/FM selection and 5 preset buttons for storing radio stations. By using the shift button a maximum of 10 stations can be stored. FM performance is very good with station name and rotating text/time available due to the radio having a Radio Data Service decoder (RDS).
Socketry There are sockets for of course the mains, a lineout for connection to a hifi and a headphone socket. Now contry to some reviews, the set does have an external aerial socket. At the base of the telescopic aerial are two screws, undo these and the aerial can be removed from the F socket and an external one attached.
Performance Reception and audio quality are top notch - as should be for the price so no disappointment there. No loud hums on the mains on my set just a very distant hum if you put your ear up to the case.
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Hi Janet,
Hope you are as pleased with yours as I am with mine.
I have been listening outside on the patio in the sun this afternoon and the Roberts has performed excellently.
It finds 63 stations just on its telescopic.
Kind regards,
Steve
Herne Bay
The Roberts Gemini 55 is a portable DAB/FM radio with pause and rewind functions, an SD ... more
card slot for recording and MP3 playback, a USB socket for connecting to a computer, stereo line in and out sockets and an incredibly compact design. A stunning feature count for such a discreetly styled radio.
Apr 25th, 2004
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