DAB Radios fall into a few niche areas, the truly portable walkman types, full on HiFi separates and then the middle ground portable units that yare equally suited to sitting in a kitchen or outside while you BBQ. The Sharp DAB Portable FVDB1ES seems ideal for this household rule, weighing 1.6 kg it's not exactly light but the combination of mains and battery (2xAA) power make it ideal for moving between rooms.

DAB coverage has increased to a point where good reception is available in most major towns and cities and a large slice of the rural UK, the benefits of the DAB audio system are apparent the minute you switch the sharp on. The hiss free sound and warm bass seem at odds with the relatively small radio and while this is not unique to the sharp its does have a more than acceptable sound and not muffled like a few of the earlier DAB units released by other companies.

The Switch to DAB will bring you many new stations like the new BBC stations Six Music and Five live sports extra as well as numerous regional commercial stations, tuning them is a breeze with the name being displayed rather than a frequency, it's like RDS only much better. Once tuned in and stored in the FVDB1ES presets the blue backlit screen will show the track and artist details scrolling along, so you'll never have to wonder who this song is by anymore!

The controls of the Sharp DAB unit are easy to use and have a good feel to them, with a central navigation pad allowing you to access the menu driven functions like the clock / alarm system which allows you to use the FVDB1ES as an alarm clock.

For those stations not on DAB or if you move into an area with no DAB coverage the sharp has an inbuilt FM tuner so you get the best of both worlds unlike so many of the "DAB only" units on sale today.

The styling of the Sharp FVDB1ES is a clean modern look with the central backlit display surrounded by a silver finish, which makes a nice change from the plethora of retro look DAB radios on sale, a strange craze which has left us a little perplexed.

Although we expect 90% of owners to use the sharp as a kitchen type unit there is the ability to plug it into a HiFi system via the digital optical output, which should preserve the quality of the DAB signal when passing it to a good HiFi system.

Overall the Sharp seems to be a step up from some of the early DAB units which are still popular today, the combination of the DAB and FM tuner is a good idea and should make this an easier buy for some of you worried about patchy DAB reception. At £102 its pretty good value too, undercutting some of its main rivals while offering updated features and a more modern look, if you are in the market for a replacement radio for the home you should consider the Sharp DAB FVDB1ES

More DAB Radios -

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