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Digital Radio

OXX Classic 600 DAB+ digital radio

Scott Fitzgerald, 17/12/2009

Tags: 2009 reviews, clock radio, clock radio, DAB+, digital radio, internet radio, OXX, Scott Fitzgerald


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The OXX Classic DAB+ digital radio is a pretty good little digital all-rounder - DAB+ digital radio, internet radio, FM radio, streams music from your computer, clock radio...

Features

The trickiest thing about setting up the OXX Classic 600 is keying in your network password. Like other digital radios it employs the method of all the available characters displaying on one line - all the capital letters, then all the lower-case, numerals and then special characters like hash and underscore. So if you have an extremely tricky and long password - and power to you for being password savvy - then it's a lot of scrolling backwards and forwards to get in your password. However, that task accomplished, it's all ease-of-use from there on in.

Yes, OXX Classic 600 is a DAB+ digital radio, as well as being internet radio, FM radio, streaming music device, clock radio, and with its headphone jack, it's also a speaker for your iPod or MP3 player. So, should you be connecting this to your network - wired or wireless - and dealt with the password, it then just a matter of choosing what you want to listen to. Press the Mode button on the front, and scroll the the options: DAB, FM, Auxiliary Input, Internet Radio and Music Player. Just to unravel some of those names a little, Auxiliary Input is the mode to choose if you're plugging in an iPod or MP3 to use the Classic 600 as a speaker box, and Music Player is the mode for streaming music from your computer.
There are 4 pre-set buttons on the front of the device, allowing you to to save 4 stations in each mode. And if you're a one-station, one-mode digital radio junkie, then you'll like that the radio starts up on the last station - and mode - you were listening to.

Performance

The talk about digital radio, apart from the the fact that there's a lot more content to choose from, is an improvement in sound quality. This is true for AM radio re-broadcast in DAB+, but keep in mind most of the first generation of digital radios only use a mono speaker. Just keep this in mind - the content will not be CD quality, due to the mono speaker and the fact that the broadcast itself is compressed, and in some cases divided if the radio station is running multiple digital radio channels.

So the Classic 600 does output a decent sound, just keep in mind, the big attraction is the content. Hopefully you're somewhere that can pick up the DAB+ signal, or there's the 15,000 plus internet radio stations on offer.

Conclusion

The OXX Classic 600 is keenly priced, very easy to use and opens up a very big world of content for you - DAB+, internet and FM radio, and your own music via the streaming mode. With this clever little box, you'll never want for variety.

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RRP: $299.95

GadgetGuy Rating

Overall
Features
Value for money
Performance
Ease of use
DAB+ and internet radio received; Good styling; Decent sound

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