Cheapest DAB+ Radio I Could Find - Majority Arbury

After looking at some nice Sony DAB+ FM radios over the past few months, I wanted to compare them to the cheapest DAB+ FM radio I could find on Amazon. The Majority Arbury ARB-DAB-2 was the result of that search.
Buy on Amazon - amzn.to/3r0cvNr
00:00 - Introduction
01:00 - Who Are Majority?
02:35 - Unboxing
05:45 - Full DAB Scan Timing
07:04 - Audio Test
07:44 - Product Overview
13:38 - Outro
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What do you think of this radio? Is it worth it because it's cheap or would you go for something better?
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#sony #dab #digitalradio
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[@mikew608]

Thanks for this, much easier than bothering with instructions. The one I've just bought is working fine, so far so good.

[@rvdb8876]

Thanks for the overview. But what you forgot to do is check if the headphone output is stereo. Of course the radio plays mono with only one speaker. Usually such radios provide a stereo signal via the headphone output. But not all. I have some cheap DAB radios here that unfortunately also deliver a mono signal to the headphones. I also own the Sony XDR-P1DBP and the Majority Eddington. Although the Sony feels qualitatively more solid, the device still seems to have a weak spot, namely the on/off switch, which apparently breaks easily (internally) and is said to be impossible to repair. I haven't had any problems with it yet, but since I know it, I have been very careful with this switch. Both the Sony XDR-P1DBP and the Majority Eddington have good sound reproduction and although I am satisfied with the Sony, the Eddington offers some extra functions that the Sony XDR-P1DBP does not have, such as the alarm clocks and the possibility to stream bluetooth to the radio. A bit of a shame about the Sony is that to see the signal strength of the station you have tuned to, you have to go through a very cumbersome way in the menu. Both radios are stereo via the headphone output, which is nice when I go for a walk and use the earphones, especially since the DAB+ stations have a much wider channel separation than the FM stations, this is clearly audible through the headphones. I live in Belgium and here the DAB+ stations broadcast with a fairly high bitrate, so their quality is much better than FM. More detail in the music and better channel separation and especially no interference or splatter from neighboring stations, which is quite common in FM. That's why I rarely listen in FM anymore. I often wondered how this version, the "Majority Arbury" would work. Therefore, thanks for this upload.

[@yorkemar]

The recharging socket on these cheap dab things usually get loose and stop working.

[@leecooper8589]

Don't think anybody can seriously knock that for just south of £15. Yes it's very cheaply made.....and looks it but it IS cheap and seems to work well enough. I certainly wouldn't have expected it to be rechargable with an internal battery at THAT price. Better the manufacturer has appeared to have spent a little more on the internals rather than the looks at that price point IMHO. You certainly wouldn't worry about it getting knocked about and covered in paint.

[@forky-reviews-and-rants]

Shame you did not try the quality of the headphone jak plugin with say a soundbar has that is what we use in the office for a wider spread of sound across the office space....great advice and review thankyou for your time

[@peterryan7827]

Thanks for this video yes it seems ok for that price , i think i will go up in price, and get something a little smarter,great review,.

[@nicwesthuizen4077]

Can you please do the same exercise but for a DRM / DRM+ radio

[@Linus7671DX]

Kinda looks like a crossbreed between a TechniSat TechniRadio 3 and a Trevi DAB 791 R. I have a TechniSat TechniRadio 3 and it's actually one of TechniSat's cheaper price but premium feeling receivers out there. If I end up being in the UK I might look for a Majority receiver and compare it to my TechniSat.

[@Radio_Activity]

I quite like Majority radios. Something for most pockets and their more 'premium' ones are quite nicely designed. I know you're a fan of the Sony XDR-P1DBP. Take a look at the Majority Eddington for £40. Clearly a take on the Sony with similar design. You'll see just how similar it is if you look at the pictures. Great to see someone doing this really as Sony did a great job. Quite tempted to pick up the Eddington to see how it compares with the Sony.

[@tdcattech]

Some of their range does look quite tidy. I'm curious to know how the units in bigger cabinets sound. You're right though! The Eddington looks exactly like the Sony, even with the 3 buttons on the top. It does, of course, have a full display that must suck battery life.

[@heatonparkmassive]

I have two of the Eddingtons, just packed one away for going camping on Monday. I have two because I was so impressed by the first. The battery life is excellent, a good 11 or so hours of DAB and a bit more (12 hours) with Bluetooth. The display dims quite a lot and is mainly black, so doesn't seem to have much effect on battery life. But the real kicker with the Eddington is the sound for its size, it's pretty phenomenal when you consider how small it is. They're sold out most of the time, because they're good.

[@heatonparkmassive]

And I've just checked the price nowadays, wow, averaging around 67 quid on Ebay. I got mine for 35 and 40 quid a year ago. Unbelievable, but it is a quality product despite rip off prices for it now.

[@Radio_Activity]

@@heatonparkmassive Yes I've noticed sellers have bumped up the price. I think this is because Majority aren't selling it at the moment. Their official outlet is Amazon but it hasn't been for sale for months.

[@heatonparkmassive]

@@Radio_Activity No, exactly. I bet they wish they'd made more of them.

[@bushcrafty7274]

Na I'll stick with FM/MW/SW.

[@chrisvarney6857]

Had one of these and used it as my work radio since February, worked perfectly until the charging socket stopped working. Annoyingly I bought it from an eBay seller who is now inactive, so I can't use Majority's claimed 3 year warranty on it.

[@jjcoolaus]

You often get better audio quality from a smart speaker or your phone playing internet radio than you will over DAB. Several absolute radio stations stream FLAC/lossless audio at 1mbps

[@mikecarlson6416]

we can do a lot of modification on this I believe

[@mickeydee3595]

That Barton.... I got a radio that looks exactly the same and it was a home brand Kmart special...... meticulous designed in Cambridge hey 😅

[@tdcattech]

🤣 Maybe, at most, they designed the Majority logo in Cambridge, but I think that’s probably about the extent of the input.

[@mickeydee3595]

@@tdcattech yeah 100% hahaha. Wouldn't be surprised if all their other radio's are chinese rebranded ones.

[@tdcattech]

Almost certainly. I reviewed their Eversden radio recently. It's a decent little radio but, as with so many products, it's just re-badged tat. Put a British spin on it and a nice website behind it and you've got yourself a nice little market segment in which to sell this stuff.

[@vBDKv]

Built in battery radios can only play for 5 hours or so. The ones with 4xAA batteries can go on for over a week, with at least 5 hours play per day. I hate these radioes.

[@paulhowell5011]

Twee names? I think they use the names of areas and villages around cambridge. Actually I know they do as I live in Arbury. Tbh what do you expect with a budget radio.

[@tdcattech]

Indeed. Many UK place names are very twee and unusual. No bad thing but I’m not personally a fan of naming tech in that way.

[@paulhowell5011]

@@tdcattech Think they more celebrating the local area and remembering where they from so to speak.

[@tdcattech]

👍🏻 And why not. Not for me but it’s still a nice idea.

[@jobliss3932]

The strange thing about these Dab+ radios is the software is worse than on the older dab radios. The most annoying thing I found was that Info no longer tells you the name of the Mux you are on which is really annoying, especially as that info is being transmitted. Also I found a bug that if you change stations without giving it time to connect and play the stream and you hit the info button, it becomes a bit confused. I don't think the people writing the software liked to use the info feature.

[@HifiCentret]

Not all. Just for fun I bought the cheapest DAB radio I've ever seen as I want a radio in the event power goes (it's FM too) out this winter with the situation we currently have. A TechniSat Techniradio 3 at a local funny discount chain store (Harald Nyborg - they got everything from house hold items to tools to screws and bikes). Just about as basic as the Majority seen here but there are some small differences. Power is controlled entirely by the standby switch and when on batteries (4x AA) it's really properly off. No physical button to flip on the backside. The price - only 149 DKK or roughly 17,6 GBP (at the time of this post). Good reception on both DAB and FM but one thing annoys me a little. It's mono even on headphones. But hey - it's cheap and at least it can display the Mux name! But these days much more info is transmitted - even cover art of your radio is able to display it.

[@jobliss3932]

@@HifiCentret Looks great! Can it tell you the mux and the bitrate too? I might need to visit Harold Nyberg! :)

[@HifiCentret]

@@jobliss3932 Not sure if you mean the individual stream within the mux - if so the answer is no. But it display frequency (both as channel and mhz, 11C 220.352MHz etc.), bitrate and type (88 kbps / DAB+ etc.) Hope this answers your question

[@HifiCentret]

Examples of Mux names where I live is "DAB2 OE" and "NivaaDAB"

[@si4632]

@@HifiCentret most dab stations are mono believe it or not

[@virgiliotimbol6639]

Mind has headphone and connect it to sony speaker

[@hankfacer7098]

Gosh it was great for 15 quid

[@j7ndominica051]

At least it doesn't look like Apple Macintosh of radios.

[@tdcattech]

I could criticise Apple for many things but product style and design probably wouldn't be one of them.

[@maryhinge128]

I hate DAB. It has ruined radio.

[@tdcattech]

There are many things I dislike about DAB but I don’t believe it has ruined radio. Certainly not single-handedly.

[@christopher9727]

John 3.16-21

[@chideramolokwu9558]

Rubbish radio