The unsung hero - Portable/Pocket Radio

[N@Z 0]

Recently I bought a Sony SRF-S56 pocket FM Radio for a friend's upcoming birthday present. I chose this unit over the reknowned SRF-S83/84 because it is cheaper, looks newer & cooler which I think my friend will prefer to ultimate sound quality. It has a pearl white front fascia & the back is in snow white with a sturdy chrome shirt/belt clip. Apple ipod & ibook users will love it! It only takes a single AAA battery, based on my experience with the SRF-S84, battery life should be very good. Controls are straightforward, on/off switch on the top next to the headphone out, manual tuning wheel, volume & stereo/mono switch.

 

In the interest of making sure it works ok, even after testing it at the shop with the supplied ear buds! I had to test them out with the ER4S, E5 & RS-1 at home. I have to say, fresh out of the box, I am pretty impressed with the unfatiguing sound quality. Obviously it's nothing compared with a good PCDP/DAP player bearing in mind the slight compression in sound typical of radio transmission, some hiss & radio interference which you get used to after a short period of listening. It is a pocket radio after all! Never the less, it's headphone out is powerful & able to drive the headphones mentioned earlier without problems unamped. Bass is punchy even with mega bass 'off'. I feel it is only useful on the supplied earbuds which are... how shall I say... adequate if you've never heard better.

 

Drawbacks? Two major ones. First, reception loss on well shielded headphone cables. Solved by holding the unit in conjunction with some of the cable in your hands, you become the antenna thus better reception! For on the move & hands free operation, wrap the cable over your neck with plenty of slack of course & the unit in your pocket. The other is sibilance, related to reception. Can only be solved by using Mono. Only one minor gripe, I could probably get used to it but the tuning wheel is a little hard to do fine tuning control like on my SRF-40W.

 

Recommended for those looking for tunes on the cheap, foot tapping sound & don't mind listening to a 'variety' in music which you have no control over other than the channel (I found myself listening to the Chinese language channel, impressed me to no end because of the precieved better sound quality of the music played).

[evo 0]

pocket FM Radio is an unsung hero to me too

 

my SRF-S84 beats my NJB3 radio remote anyday with its better sound & reception, great for malaysian channels & BBC

 

in fact, i've just bought a cheapo mini-to-mini cable to record my fav radio programmes @ home with NJB3 thru line-in, instead of using the radio record of the NJB3 remote

Edited July 19, 2004 by evo

[N@Z 0]

How much did you buy your S84 for? I think the S83 is SG/B$59 here.

[Blues 0]

I like the look of this fm tuner too.. quite 'apple-like' ..

[evo 0]

yep s84 RRP is S$59

[N@Z 0]

iSony pocket radio

[Mackie 0]

This brings to mind on a certain deal with an outsider a few months back. I got a Sony SRF-M95 + Sony EX70 for a packaged cost of S$50. YES! Now I have 2 pairs of EX70 and both are modded differently to sound accordingly so. Needless to say, the portable digital radio is a good companion on road trips to Malaysia.

 

Edited July 20, 2004 by Mackie

[N@Z 0]

You make my eyes water! Tell me that the package cost was for used items & not new! The S95 is expensive here. Does the digital tuning work ok? How about the SQ & reception?

[Mackie 0]

Yes Naz, it's used but the set looks hardly used. M95 has very wide soundstaging and smooth sounding as a whole. Partnering it with ear buds, one may not need the bass boost at all. I'm surprised that it does not sound grainy or even harsh and certainly exceeds my expectation. Reception wise, it's very strong and if U can imagine the long road trip from SIN to KL via highway, I have no problems receiving stations of each state that I'd crossed. Another example: I can receive JB/Malacca radio stations loud and clear when travelling from Choa Chu Kang to Jurong East mrt. I have to switch to local radio stations when I travel southwards though. Another commendable job is how M95 can pick up stations that are closely adjacent to each other during an auto scan.

 

Actually, my motive was to grab the EX70 which is already OOP and serve as a backup to my personal pair. Hence, I regarded the M95 as a side trade. Of course, the seller has no idea what's behind my sinister mind. Needless to say, I didn't bother to bargain.

Edited July 21, 2004 by Mackie

[nakedtoes 0]

This brings to mind on a certain deal with an outsider a few months back. I got a Sony SRF-M95 + Sony EX70 for a packaged cost of S$50. YES! Now I have 2 pairs of EX70 and both are modded differently to sound accordingly so. Needless to say, the portable digital radio is a good companion on road trips to Malaysia.

 

can shared what are the mods for sony ex70?? i am keen thx

[N@Z 0]

Next time you get offered bargains like that do let us know

[Mackie 0]

I stumbled upon it on Xtremeplace at an outdated page for no one was interested in what the seller had to offer.

[Mackie 0]

can shared what are the mods for sony ex70?? i am keen thx

 

Pls do a search for EX70 and U should be directed to previously discussed threads on the mods.

[N@Z 0]

My favourite radio Sony SRF-S84 pocket radio I ordered from Fixup arrived today. It's still new so I'm burning it in as we speak with the E5. This is the make or break for the Shures. So far it sounds very promising.

[Blues 0]

wow.. keep us posted n@z.. I've been eyeing the srf-s84 for quite sometime already.. as it's been said to be one of the best portable analogue tuner around