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 Average Rating: 4 out of 5 No. of Reviews: 2 RRP: £200 Year: from 2006 Description: DAB/FM radio
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 | | Posted: 25/05/06 |
| 'LOOKS GOOD AND SOUNDS GREAT' | | Strengths:
Wealth of features such as rewind live radio, record radio, plays mp3 from SD card, 7 day epg
Excellent sound quality. | | Weaknesses:
No "padding" on recordings set from epg. Not as intuitive to use as you may think. Not compatible with all SD cards | | Overall:
When I saw this machine I thought I would be able to say "goodbye" to manual radio recordings on my sky+ box and the drugery of transferring the recordings to my CD recorder, rippping to and editing them on the PC before converting to mp3. The Evoke 3 records in MP2 format and you still have to convert to mp3 via a pc if you wish to listen to the recordings on any machine other than the Evoke itself.
As an aside, I was bitterly disappointed to discover that BBC7 only transmits in mono on DAB (it's stereo on sky). Not a problem for shows recorded in mono in the 60s and 70s but anything made in the last 20 years was broadcast in stereo so I still have to use the sky box for these broadcasts.
I do not think the machine is as intuitive to use as said elsewhere, for me the tune knob turns the wrong way to move through the menu.As it is on the right of the display I would have expected turning the knob so the side nearest moves in the direction of the menu (i.e anti-clockwise to move down the list), but it goes the other way (i.e. clockwise to move down the menu) but I soon got used to it.
When I first got the machine I set it to record some of the shows I wanted to hear, set them from the epg and that evening I listened to them. I soon discovered that epg recordings are not padded and if a programme is set to start at 11:30 and finish at 11:45 that is what is recorded. If the programme does not run to perfect time, the beginning or end can be missed. I was listing to "Uncle Mort's South Country" from BBC7 and it cut off early missing a punch line entirely. Fortunately I had not relied on it and listned to the end from my sky+ box.
It is possible to go into the Timed Events menu and alter the start time and the length of the recording but this is very long winded and should not be necessary. However, doing that preserves the ID3 tags if you convert straight to mp3.
Having got over my niggles with the machine it became easier to be more dispassionate when listening.
The sound quality is extremely good and you can listen at relatively high levels without any fatigue. I don't think I've heard a portable radio sound this good in many years.
We have this machine in the bedroom and use it in addition as our alarm. The gently sound quality is great to wake up to.
I have just ordered the chargepak which will enable its use in rooms without power (i.e the bathroom and of course the garden)
This will also go on holiday with us as it can be used as an amplifier for mp3 players or your iPod.
It can also output via a tos link (optical) and I intend to use that with my CD recorder but have nto tried it yet.
Superb machine if a trifle expensive. You need to want the facilities it offers to justify the price tag. I admit that I have grown to love it
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| | | Performance | | 100% | | Build | | 100% | | Value | | 80% |
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