Small portable DAB units have been a mixed bag over the last year in general they all suffer from less than ideal reception due mainly to the low power DAB transmitters currently in use. However this is being rectified in that the BBC and commercial radio have contracted the mast and tower providers to upgrade and increase the power used for DAB transmission.

With that in mind we set about our review for the Oono MD-One which arrived in a sizeable package given the units actual size of 99.2 x 56.2 x 19 mm and 95 gram weight. Inside the unit is only a small part of the provided package who's innards seem to be made of the same material used for hospital sick trays (nice), there is a USB lead, antenna lead, 3.5mm jack to stereo jack lead, microphone, earphones, euro power adaptor with UK plug and a carry cord.

The form factor of the Oono DAB is very impressive, it is much smaller than almost al the offerings we have played with to date and feels like it weighs half of the Pure DAB 2000 brick. Styling is quite attractive and even though the materials used do not feel high quality in the hand it is well built and looks the part in all black with a 2" LCD mono screen. Power up from the internal Lithium polymer rechargeable battery and the Oono splash slides away to leave the main menu, the first task is to send the Oono to find some DAB multiplexes. To start a search is simple enough and after a few minutes we had failed to find any stations, so we attached a set of headphones thinking that they may be used as the aerial (of course they are) and soon we had some signal as indicated on screen by the antenna symbol and a list of stations to play with.

The Oono DAB One operates in Band III 174 ~ 240 MHz and as such can access all the current UK DAB multiplexes and has an option to switch to the USA frequencies too. After our scan we now had the full list for the London area and could set about testing the other features of the unit. Firstly we wanted to try the inbuilt speaker which is somewhat of a rarity on a portable DAB radio, this switches in and out depending on if there are earphones attached. So in order to hear the stations we needed to use the supplied aerial which plugs into the earphone socket but is a short plug enabling reception but not switching the speaker off. This is an incredibly long aerial presumably to achieve the required wavelength and although it works it isn't really practical for extended use or for carrying about with your Oono as it does not attach to the unit and there is no carry case supplied.

With the aerial attached we were able to tune to Radio 1 on the main BBC multiplex, the speaker is quite small and even at top volume (30 on the display) but it works well and while the sound is a bit tinny its ideal for spoken word.

With the headphones attached we set about working our way through a range of stations, the sound quality when a good signal is available is first class and the supplied earphones aren't too bad, although testing with a set of Shure E2C's gave a much fuller richer sound. During a few days of use we did get quite a bit of break-up and digital splats which isn't uncommon with portable DAB units and low power transitions. Compared to other DAB units the reception is in the top 25% and the Oono is pretty good at hanging onto signals. All the usual DAB features are present including the ability to order the station list, see the DAB text messages that many stations now use for track listings or news headlines.

Added to these the Oono has an extra party piece, a recording and playback capability which is based around a small 128mb memory and a side mounted SD card slot which can take up to 2gb of external memory. Recordings are made in MP3 which is great and can be made to the limited internal memory or to the external card slot, you can also dial in the record bit rate from its default 64kbpsup to 256kbps. Record sources rage from DAB and FM input both timed and manual and also a line in encode facility which even has the ability to remove pauses between tracks on CD.

We tested the record capability and this works a treat with crystal clear sounds at 192kbits and an easy an intuitive menu system to enable you to set ID3 tags and record names, even choose the location of the recording and if you want set it as a timer. Playback is equally simple but is not limited to files recorded by the device, at this point the Oono becomes a fully features MP3 player supporting MPG, Ogg and WMA files for playback. It really is an impressive bit of kit and the menu navigation aided by the 4 way pad with central selector and separate menu and back buttons is so easy to use it is better than some dedicated MP3 devices. Should you not be able to get DAB or run out of recordings of MP3 tracks there is always the inbuilt FM radio which works well and behaves as you'd expect and FM radio to.

However it's not all perfect and there are a few annoying bits, probably the most serious strikes you as you come to charge the battery. It lasted us about 7 hours of DAB playback and should last for longer if playing back MP3 or using the inbuilt FM radio, however charging is via USB and this port is located on the base of the unit covered by a  fiddly and very easily lost flap which it is not attached to the unit. This is strange given that the SD card slot has a cover which is attached, we are concerned that the USB cap would be lost in week one and then become bunged up with dirt making the unit impossible to charge.

A week with the Oono DAB One proved that it is a very competent device offering all the functions of the competition plus a few extras (like Ogg Vorbis support) in a smaller and lighter unit. Priced at nearly £180 it is not cheap but then similar units from Pure digital are almost £200, so our comment on price is more that a portable DAB player even with MP3 support should really be nearer £150.

That said this is a competent and rounded device that is about as good as it gets in portable DAB, a surprise that Oono call pull this off against the big boys but we are not complaining.

Published - 08/10/2006

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