I’ve had a Matsui DA-1 DAB adapter since 2005, plugged in on standby continuously and it still works but obviously doesn’t receive DAB+ stations and its backlight is now so weak that it’s difficult to use other than via the presets. Can read the screen only with the aid of a torch. So time for a replacement and fortunately equivalent devices are now, I think only quite recently, available.
I also have a Bluetooth receiver connected to my ancient Technics amplifier though there’s only one auxiliary input so a DAB adapter with Bluetooth was an added advantage.
I was initially looking at a supposedly German-made device very similar to the (Chinese-made) Majority Robinson 2DAB but it was much more expensive, made no mention of any ‘BestTune’ type facility and had no optical output, though I don’t have an optical input on the amplifier so currently unimportant and with current DAB quality on most stations an optical output is of little benefit anyway, unless it’s your only spare amplifier input.
The Majority Robinson 2DAB looks good, neat and inconspicuous. When off (on standby) there’s the option of 4 styles of clock in 3 levels of brightness or screen off. There’s also an alarm and sleep settings.
On first use it automatically scanned for available stations using the ‘BestTune’ option and found 101, of which 4 or 5 were FM only. I had initially been unsure about ‘BestTune’, thinking that I might prefer some to be via FM but the DAB reception of those was great. Via the menu you can choose to select FM stations if preferred. There were no duplicates, with both a DAB and FM station in the list, only the station with the strongest signal being displayed.
The DAB receiver seems to be very sensitive and the provided simple wire aerial (which screws onto a standard F-connector) is all I needed, admittedly in an area with good reception. It received a local small scale multiplex (Glasgow SS) on channel 8B which I didn’t know existed as due to its low transmission power another DAB+ radio (Pure) would only tune to it if put at an east-facing window, though it subsequently could receive stations most places in the house.
The sound quality, if receiving a station broadcast at a decent bit rate, is excellent but so many are broadcast with abysmal bit rates, scarcely suitable for a small portable radio! Like on Freeview TV, it’s the commercial decision to prioritise quantity over quality.
Bluetooth V5.0 (reception only) also works perfectly.
There’s a sound equaliser with preset options and the facility to organise your own preferences.
Overall, it’s a brilliant device for anyone wanting to add DAB+ radio and Bluetooth to an older HiFi setup.
The only problem I had was with the remote control, which kept failing to respond despite full power batteries and would be temporarily fixed by removing and reinserting the batteries. Rather than returning the whole thing to Amazon, I messaged Majority the next day, a Saturday, and within 30 minutes received a second reply confirming that I’d receive a replacement remote control the next day and it indeed arrived on the Sunday afternoon. So responsive customer service!
It has a 3 year warranty IF you register. Contrary to some comments I read it is not dependent on writing a review. I received email confirmation of the warranty prior to writing this review. Writing a review separately enters you into a prize draw for a soundbar and subwoofer and it looks like this can also be achieved by simply entering email details on a related part of the registration website.