Insane Internet Radio 😱 Unboxing & Review!

[@davidblank8559]

This looked so cool, I just bought one! It arrived, and was easy to set up. Yes, I know I could have streamed internet radio from my computer, iPad, etc. but this unit was so relatively cheap and included cd and fm that the purchase was a no brainer. I guess I’m an old fashioned guy who likes having a unit like this connected to my bedside system.

[@plan7a]

:D - I was almost shouting at the screen while watching. 'Push the button to turn on, push the button to select the CD!!!'. Suggestions: Have a look at the playback settings, perhaps it might be of use? You could stick a bit of thin foam (draft excluder or soft brushes?) on the bottom of the CD slot to raise the disc slightly when inserting one, doesn't need to be visible. Why would anyone want to search for 'ending with'? Does it mean a specific letter, as it suggests? (The number at the bottom of the screen when listening to a station says which station number in the category you are listening to and how many there are. Keep a note of this to see if new ones have been added or removed. Btw - AM stations may be found via the FM searching the name via the Internet radio itself). (Sorry comment is long).

[@oceandigital352]

The 'ending with' would mean the last word of the station name or the last few characters of the station name...

[@Nick_Ryder]

I have one of the older Ocean Digital radios and one thing I think people should consider when buying any of these is the service they use to pull in streams and whether or not the user can add their own streams ad-hoc without using the service. On mine, the radio has a web interface that can be accessed from my desktop computer on the same home network and allows me to edit the station list that appears under "Favorites". I have custom streams in here including air traffic control, airport automated weather, and my own Icecast server. While this is convenient and cool, the real benefit is if (or when) the service that the radio uses goes belly up. If the radio relies 100% on something like Skytune and they go out of business, you're sunk if there is no way to manually add streams. This happened recently to the CCrane internet radio users who depended on Reciva, leaving those users high and dry. CCrane has since switched to Skytune and lo and behold, also now allows you to input your own custom streams without using the Skytune service.

[@lesrogers7310]

You nailed it! As soon as i saw the packaging i thought 'that logo looks almost exactly like our BT (British Telecom) logo'. I didn't expect you to notice that being in the US.

[@hegedusuk]

Yes first thing I thought too, well done for noticing :-)

[@billholb1974]

I kept yelling push the dial! Lol..btw it is unavailable on Amazon now.

[@oceandigital352]

There is something wrong with the Amazon FBA warehouse, it has stock actually but unavailable cos out of stock. It will be available soon.

[@TheMirolab]

I'm really upset about the lack of HD radio tuners. Here in L.A..... FM radio sucks, but there are a couple HD2 stations that play music I like. I receive them in our 2 cars, but cannot listen in the home. As for the commenter that said "why not use smartphone for radio"...... umm.... because I use my phone for many things, and I don't need it busy streaming radio all the time too. Also, what if I leave the room, or leave the house, and my wife is listening to the music? This box is cheap, but has many cool features.

[@SIVARAMAPRASADKAPPAGANTU]

At USD 210 it's too costly for me. I just installed Radio Garden on my phone and with a blue tooth speaker (Soundbot) connected, its a perfect Internet Radio I am enjoying browsing through thousands of stations.

[@HifiCentret]

Wonder if it's based around a Frontier module. The more I've researched DAB+ radios the the more I've found the Frontier module. Seems to be used by radio with color screens.

[@bobthomas3236]

I think they sent you a "returned/defective" unit. I noticed when you removed the paper wrapper (which was strange in itself) that it has the little spots on top that you always get from rubber feet when one unit is stacked on top of another. When the cd player didn't work it made me think it was for sure a return.

[@Andersljungberg]

they may have discovered that it was for European digital radio and not American Digital radio. then people today also demand that a device should be able to play flac files

[@SkiBumMSP]

Watching this a year later. I have a Pioneer Elite N-50 network tuner/streamer, which I primarily use as an outboard DAC to my CD player as well as stream music off my music server. My Marantz AV8802A also have the ability to stream internet radio as well, in addition to the usual AM/FM tuner. I have it connected using a wired connection (Ethernet) instead of using the Wi-Fi connection. Much more stable and faster as well, so never had a problem with dropped/interrupted connections. I've not really played around much with internet radio as of late, although in the past, I did find this one really awesome power and progressive heavy metal station that I was listening to a lot (and discovered some really cool bands in the process to check out) - FOUND IT! "PRM: Prog Rock & Metal"! And it comes in full 128 kbps MP3 and actually sounds really good on my rig!. Since i have the capability, I have to play around with the internet radio some more and see what I could find, since there is just so much out there. EDIT - just also realized my Marantz AV8802A pre-amp/processor also has an HD radio tuner. I will need to check if there any stations that actually broadcast on that here in this area.

[@timothygiuliano6331]

On the component internet radio, be sure the headphone volume is up a little. If is all the way down, It mutes the sound on the line out. One click up will turn off the mute.

[@8bitsloth]

I was kind of excited until I saw that it depends on some service I've never heard of and I can't find any documentation on adding my own stations.

[@oceandigital352]

Hi, you can manually add stations with the stream URL with the browser on your PC or Smartphone.

[@saintmichael1779]

"Is it redundant? Yes." I have got over 700 records. I go out to the thrift stores and buy some more. I live with my Uncle (who is 84). I come home with more records and he says don't I have enough? Redundant? Not for me...!

[@MatthewBrannigan]

A few years back I wanted to buy a Grace Digital GDI-IRDT200 Hi-Fi Internet Radio Tuner, which looked like a great product just up my street. Grace Digital is a local company to me, in Poway California and they make some fantastic products. However, they discontinued it a couple of years back and now they go for silly money, so there must be somewhat of a demand. The only alternative is a Sangean WFT-1, which looks decent enough. It's nice to see another to choose from, so that makes only two in a very small market (unless you know better) - I will certainly check it out - many thanks again!

[@markanne54]

It would be much better with an HDMI output so you could link it into your AV receiver and get screen overlays of its display up on to your TV. Then again your AV receiver is quite likely to have internet radio built in anyway.

[@my3ke]

So can the CD player handle MP3 files and other formats? I can't find this out from the manual. If it can't play anything but standard CDs it's kind of limited in that regard.

[@oceandigital352]

Hi, the CD Player supports CD AUDIO, and compressed files in WAVE, MP3 and WMA.

[@SuperFredAZ]

My Yamaha receiver has built-in internet radio. Just FYI DAB radio is also available in Australia.

[@TKRVideoCentral]

I have been looking at this unit recently, but it's just not enough - I want a receiver with AM. FM, HD Radio, and Internet - and they just don't make them that way...which sucks. If you find one, please review it so I can check it out!

[@geraldford6409]

Agreed that HD Radio tuners are rare in receivers, but most recent vintage receivers have BT and wifi for Internet radio streaming. Some recent receivers also do BT transmitters for remote speakers or headphones, which ought to be standard by now vs only transmitters HD Radio not really needed if a receiver has wifi internet radio- most/all HD Radio stations I would listen to are also streamed over internet, so just use the internet stream

[@PierreMichael2020]

Excellent review thank you for sharing. I see that you can play MP3 from the SD card, can you play MP3 on the CD player? thanks again.

[@pocher69]

Cool device!! Very tempting to say the least!!!

[@ralphreinhardt6020]

Cool beans, thanks for showing us this stuff. Your alright Record-ology dude. You and your big knife ! 😆😅🤣😂😄😁

[@Recordology]

Was that you that said that?

[@redrooster1908]

you're

[@tknight7]

Good afternoon. Is there a way to connect this radio to a bigger screen or is there an App for this radio? I would like to control this radio via an App.

[@Recordology]

Great question. There is no app BUT you can easily access it via IP in a mobile browser. I do not recall what control you get that way - I know you can add / create stations.

[@Recordology]

Also check out this regarding the Skytune service. www.skytune.net/newweb/index.php

[@Recordology]

From their FAQ Does Skytune have a mobile app? Instead of a mobile app that allows users to control the radios with smart phones or tablets, Skytune goes a step further to have an embedded server that offers both control of radios and the manipulation of user presets under My favourite, yet with the advantages of univeral operations of a web browser. Input the IP address (Configuration > Information > Network information > IP) of your radio into the smart phone, tablet or PC's browser (we support Chrome, Edge, Firefox and IE). The embedded server displays the list of radios you have stored in My favourite. You can choose the radio to play, edit its position or delete it. Play, Stop , Volume+ and Volume- are available while playing radio.

[@tknight7]

@@Recordology How do you find the IP Address of the radio? I've searched the radio.

[@Recordology]

Under configuration. It’s not the IP setting it’s below that I think. Check the user manual on the website for detailed instructions. It will likely be 10.0.0.x

[@acertainshape]

I was in suspense as you tried to get that disc in! I think they could have designed that better.

[@nickbitten6037]

Ha ha, there was i thinking you were going to do a video on ' Kind Of Blue' after your teaser post yesterday. Still interesting though and worth a look. Also, the packaging was very sensible- you could grow seedlings in that cardboard or compost it ( or just put it in the the recycling). Keep smiling & regards from the UK.

[@geraldford6409]

Interesting device with a standard component look, but most receivers over the past 5-7 years or more have BT and wifi internet radio. Used DVD players can be easily had with SACD playback for thrift prices, $10 or less, some with HDMI output plus coax/optical to boot Thrift Bluray players also $10 or less with SACD and wifi, some with bluetooth. So a loaded used receiver plus thrift Bluray or DVD gets you all the capabilities here for much less and more features. In 2021, any BT device needs to do transmission (headphones) plus reception with aptX/aptXHD. A hifi oriented CD player really needs to cover at least SACD in addition to CD. But if you really want to cover all audiophile optical discs, you need to handle CD+SACD+BluRay (AUdio and video concerts)+DVD Audio/Video Web page control is also a min requirement nowadays, which I prefer over a dedicated app Ripping CD to wav/lossless flac also a min requirement if CD player has SD card/USB I/O, vs only MP3 ripping

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

I would have had a look on the bottom for Transit Screws that need to be removed before use, if the disc is scratched then you will have to get a new CD.

[@emrilbennett8704]

Now, you have really cool tuner nice

[@ACBMemphis]

They should have let the CD player always accept a CD, especially since people have learned to do that from car stereos, video game consoles, etc.... If you are more DIY-inclined, there's free software called "Volumio" which can be installed on a Raspberry Pi and does Internet Radio as well (no CD) but can be controlled from a phone or PC.

[@jeffreyhickman3871]

I’d rather have analog radio. No drop-outs, or digital limitations. That’s the days ya could just turn the radio on, and go, not have to go pay a $60.00 a month bill. Your friend, Jeff.

[@Andersljungberg]

In Sweden You can listen to digital radio without paying. in for example my smart TV, computer phone, etc.

[@Andersljungberg]

If you have a good connection and good internet, there should be no problems at all

[@RickPaquin]

HD radio has no cost. Digital stations sound good. It's just a matter of time when FM analog will drop out because it's a poor use of bandwidth on an overcrowded band. Don't get me wrong. Analog still rules as far as I'm concerned because the music I enjoy was originally recorded in analog and when it's converted to a CD, or digital in any form, it just loses it's original sound. I can't explain it, but when I Iisten to the same music on my old reel to reel recordings, it's more dynamic. But like analog TV, it's now gone and analog FM will be next.

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

Try it with a seperate DAC and see what you think.

[@bbmousedoowop]

A good review as usual. It's a nicely designed device of typical Chinese quality (interpret that as you will) but I have to agree with Gerald Ford below, if you have a fairly up to date tuner you probably already have these capibilities. My Yamaha receiver has bt and internet radio built in and my Oppo bd/sacd player as well as my AT turntable pretty much rounds off my musical and informational needs. I do like to explore internet radio on my tuner and phone and I frequently find myself doing that these days. On my phone I use VRadio which has a menu system similar to this device. It's very responsive and I can send it to my tuner (redundant) or car radio with no issues. And , as I said before, I may buy the portable version you reviewed previously for use out on my deck. One caveat on this player; I would not trust the CD player. I think the quality is probably a little iffy and there is another model available from Ocean Digital without it. Keep up the good work Recordology. I look fwd to your reviews.

[@GEAUXFRUGAL]

22:32 Play time

[@dont4450]

How close to the router must this be?

[@Recordology]

Mine is about 35’

[@DetroitStars]

Not a fan of slot loaded CD mechanisms because of the potential for scratches and fingerprints. Internet radio has been listened to for years now through I-Tunes on my computer. I enjoy an eclectic variety of music, and find it on various public radio stations throughout the country. Some of my favorites are KRCB in Santa Rosa, KXT in North Texas, KEXP in Seattle, WEVL in Memphis and WRCJ in Detroit. I also listen a lot to KRSH, a commercial station in Santa Rosa that plays Americana and roots music. I listen to the Santa Rosa stations so much, sometimes it seems I'm more familiar about the goings on there than in my own community.

[@mikekeech9718]

What is the Link to buy one of these unit's.

[@terrymyers699]

Greetings. Just watched your unboxing vid. I've been looking for something like this. May I ask where you bought this from? Thanx! Terry

[@thepastcomesalive2082]

I agree with you, we need physical media again, physical media and streaming services both have their place. You should not put all of your eggs in one basket, but that’s what everybody is doing these days, the reason I use my iPhone and I iPad for Internet radio it’s because they have accessibility and they talk, I would like to get an Internet radio receiver again, but I don’t anymore because they don’t talk and for me it’s difficult to find the categories and the station you want yourself. If Internet radio receivers would talk then it would be so much easier for me to get one and get the full use out of it and listen on a physical device again. I used to have an Internet radio receiver before I even got my first iPhone when they started having accessibility in the Apple, but it was a little hard for me to do that because when I try to go to different stations and categories, I had a work out a system, but that wasn’t always accurate because sometimes when I think I landed on the number, the category should be on another category is there and I know that because when I select the radio station and listen to the music, it doesn’t sound anything like what I am looking for then I find out that the category is on a different number because it moves up and down the browser and for somebody who is blind like me, I need have fixed categories or else I won’t be able to find them all the time, when I lost my place and the categories would move up and down. I had to get someone to help me find the category I’m looking for and they would tell me that it moved to a different place on the screen. So if Internet radio receivers could talk, then I would use both the receiver and the iOS devices, because I like physical media too and also terrestrial radio. Sucks these days.

[@Andersljungberg]

But you apparently have something in the US called HD radio as well

[@stevenj2380]

Eager to watch this review. I have a stand alone internet radio (Grace Mondo) of a few years back. It is somewhat similar to 1st unit you showed. RCA jacks out and a speaker at least. I listen less now than some years ago as more content I enjoyed is walled off, subscription and other ways of limiting some content. Tuning and set up is a bit fussy on it. Paid $50 extra sent for battery that charges in it, which died after a few months ! PS How many of the viewer here have heard HD radio? I think it is US equivalent of DAB. Wish list for a like Internet radio combined with broadcast tuner and HD radio all on one. I have the limited production of a year or so SONY XDR F1HD which gets HD radio and we really have tons of those side channels in NYC to the FM station with commercial free music. It is set up with modest powered speakers; not in my component system .. but sound quality is nearly universally regarding as excellent . Fine for a good component system

[@justcyan123]

Pysical media is better than digital media Just like CDs Cassettes Vinyl and others

[@thepastcomesalive2082]

I agree with you there is something about physical media and I think that we still need it because I keep my physical media to but the reason I don’t have Internet radio receivers anymore and now I just use my iOS devices is because, when I did have the Internet radio receivers I had trouble finding the stations I wanted because I am blind and the Internet receivers do not talk, even though the Logitech radio receiver beeps when I turn the dial to select whatever I wanted I sometimes still have trouble with it because sometimes the stations would move around on the Internet somehow and I could never find them sometimes it wasn’t always in the same place. If they had an Internet radio receiver that had some sort of voiceover like the iOS devices do then I probably would get one again, but for now I use my iOS devices to listen to Internet radio because it’s easier for me because they have accessibility, so if they ever have an Internet radio receiver that talks I would use that and use my iOS devices to I could use either one then.

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

Sound quality depends on your network speed and the system sounds better if you have a FTTH/FTTP connection.

[@wagnsonner]

Can i listen to Music from my own Dlna server ?

[@Recordology]

Yes I beleive so - you can program in direct IP addresses.

[@pjtakahashi2228]

hi i've been watching your videos about all these techs because they really amaze me, but what i really want to have is a sony walkman wm-41, it was the same model my late grandmama had and that's left of her, but it was stolen, and now i can't afford because refurbished walkmans are expensive. -your avid viewer from the Philippines!

[@josephmay4937]

Plus if the power goes out I still get SiriusXM on my phone

[@Andersljungberg]

DAB is a digital standard for radio in Europe

[@bulldogbrower6732]

What does it cost ?

[@josephmay4937]

That why I love SiriusXM

[@willianabreusilva5140]

Gostei desse radio poderia ouvir a minha web radio seria top que bacana isso será que vem pro Brasil esse aparelho que maravilha isso

[@jdraven0890]

No, that knife his not that big - then again, I am from Texas.

[@Popart-xh2fd]

No USB plug?

[@Toogoodtobetrue458]

An android or iOS app would be good for this

[@Andersljungberg]

probably it would have been better if you could control it with an app

[@life5161]

How they gonna sell a tuner without AM radio? 🤔 That alone is deal killer. What were they thinking? Strange. Not trying to be negative but jeez.

[@elekkr]

The CD player ! That's the real kicker on this device . It makes it a real scream 🤣 how could they think of something like this ?! And that clunky ugly format nobody wants to look at ever . What's to come after this ?Cant wait for the cassette tape version to come out and make it look like a tv set from the 60's , the sky is the limit ,👍😁😜 truly insane !

[@Andersljungberg]

For best sound quality, a Radio part and a CD part should probably not be in the same box

[@Andersljungberg]

the answer is probably that AM radio is basically dead in Europe And that's not so strange for AM. Has poor sound quality

[@Andersljungberg]

you may have poor quality of your car stereo or faulty antenna connection

[@Dracowolf90]

yeah AM is a dieing tunner

[@badescuandi8617]

Is broken from China factory

[@oceandigital352]

The shipment has been arranged from Amazon US FBA..

[@activexp]

Hmmm.......no USB

[@rich_edwards79]

A nice unit at first glance, and likely aimed at the UK market (Ocean Digital 'Ltd' suggests a British company, as does the inclusion of regular DAB, which most countries never implemented.) However the screen looks a bit low-res and dated, and I hate slot-loading optical drives even when they're not surrounded by jagged edges to tear up your precious disks (or maybe I'm just getting annoyed at the regularity with which I have to dismantle my son's PS4 to salvage a stick disc.) I'm British and can confirm that you're not missing much regarding DAB radio - most of the bitrates are awful and the content of the stations that are exclusively available on digital (as opposed to simulcast BBC and national commercial stations) isn't anything special either. We don't have satellite radio here (unless you count the free stations that can be picked up using a fixed dish and receiver) as I don't think the UK is large enough geographically for it to havec any significant benefits over terrestrial transmitters, be they analogue or digital.

[@lizziedripping71]

Can I ask a favour please ? As a Radio lover here in England I am gutted that my Naim Uniti Qute tuner has died. What would you recommended to replace it ? They don’t seem to make tuners anymore. This unit doesn’t seem of a suitable quality

[@WarrenPostma]

What a stupid design. Inserting a CD should move the system into CD mode automatically as should hitting eject. Having the mode knob require both a turn and push action is also bad UI design.

[@josephmay4937]

I get Fox News though SiriusXM and Alexa I love them both but SiriusXM beats Alexa all time

[@margix1172]

Unfortunately it looks like SHIT! ...it's just an UGLY plastic box....make them look like the 70's tuners!!!!

[@Recordology]

It’s metal! METAL!!! 😂😂😂😂

[@radekkavka6174]

📀 UNIQUE 💿MORE REVIEWS LIKE YOU DO 💪🫶👌👏👍

[@Recordology]

I appreciate that!