2nd generation Degen DE1125 Ultra-Thin AM/FM/SW Radio with 4GB MP3 Player/Digital Recorder

• Pocket-size world-band radio with built-in speaker & digital signal processing (DSP) technology
• 4 GB flash memory MP3 player for music, radio program & voice recording for up to 150 hours (32 kbps)
• 255 preset memories + built-in charger + LED back-lit display
• Digital clock + Sleep timer + Key lock + Numeric volume indicator

November 3, 2009:

Stay tuned as I will update this review shortly with more technical details to follow. I took a chance and ordered this Degen DE1125 from overseas ($78.99 shipped by registered airmail) despite some poor reviews that I have seen recently, but my unit is just fine and once again the overall quality control of electronics production in Chinese radio factories looms its ugly head! My unit is the Degen brand and not the Kaito version so it has sw capability instead of the USA weather band channels. It is excellent on the fm and good on sw bands despite relatively low sensitivity ratings compared to several other Kaito and Degen radios. To boot the unit is very well made and extremely small and pocketable and just what I was looking for by the way. I like it much better than the Sangean DT-200V and DT-400W units and it can even pick up routine weather broadcasts on my local am government sponsored emergency preparedness station. It does need a tone control that is certainly sorely lacking, but other than that I have no great complaints at this point, except perhaps for a more precise frequency control in smaller increment steps (see further below). The AGC (automatic gain control) does oscillate so that the signal strength fluctuates quite a bit for weak am stations as noted by other internet reviewers, but the stronger sw stations come in just fine as do all fm stations that I have listened to. I am very pleased overall with this radio/MP3 player, especially at this asking price!

UPDATE: November 18, 2009:

PROS:

1) Very fine quality MP3 player (comes with two songs, one by the late and great Karen Carpenter (Its yesterday once more) and another classic, the Hotel California). Both are excellent for demonstrating the MP3 capabilities available on this system.

2) Good quality voice recorder/microphone system with ability to record directly off the air (better at lower speaker volume).

3) Tuning is through either the very fine tuning knob or using the Auto+/Autokeys on the keyboard so it is a much improved system (compared to the Kaito KA1123 or the Degen DE15 units).

4) There is excellent sensitivity for fm with very good selectivity

5) Fair to good sw sensitivity and good selectivity

6) Fair am sensitivity and good selectivity

7) High quality MP3 player with 2 GB of onboard mempry available.

8) Good quality ATS (Automatic tuning storage) preset capability on all bands with 255 presets available (adjusted using the Auto +/keys). These presets are easy to play back too using easy to locate keys (can be used to either advance or backtrack frequencies) on the right hand side of the unit.

9) There is a very detailed and highly readable, quality LCD screen with a (green) high quality backlight.

10) The LCD screen details are different for the "off" position versus each of the three modes of operation (as listed under 1) below under Cons). The clock can be displayed in all possible screen displays and so it is very easy to set accurately.

11) There is a very nice on-screen digital signal strength meter that is displayed whenever the digital volume levels are adjusted.

12) It has a very long lasting and very flat rectangular battery (Lithium-Ion: Nokia cell phone type). The battery is charged using a USB to unit cable (provided) that goes directly to a PC (with automatic charging capability). The same USB cable is also used for quickly downloading songs from a PC.

13) It is a very small and pocketable, very nice looking unit with a high quality build (with a black rubbery surface with a nice feel). It has a nice support stand that opens up from the back and exposes more of the speaker to the air as well (see below).

14) The unit also has an extendable (nonrotating) vertical antenna about 15 inches in length that is good for fm and sw signal detection.

15) There is also a lock slide switch to keep all controls fixed when needed.

16) It also has a very good sounding speaker.

17) The printed manual is in both Chinese as well as in English and is not very hard to understand.

CONS:

1) There is no tone control for any of the three basic modes (am/fm/sw radio, MP3 player and voice and off the air recorder).

2) The tuning capability is fixed and does not have adjustable frequency step controls.

3) The radio senitivity is best only for listening to major stations, except for the fm operating mode and to a lesser extent sw. I think the Kaito version with all USA weatherband channels may prove to be a better buy overall if the sensitivity for these is adequate. There is some hiss to be heard in the background on am and on the voice recorder.

4) It has a lone bandwidth and no DX/local attenuator, but can register fm stereo through the earphones. It does not have an external antenna jack either.

UPDATE: November 19, 2009:

Apparently the weatherband reception option instead of sw reception (2.3 ~23 MHz) has been dropped by Kaito (Degen) since it no longer appears listed on the Amazon website (it was listed there until very recently however!). Even today on their own website it is still listed as the Kaito KA800 with am/fm and weatherband reception capabilities and an orange backlight!

Buy 2nd generation Degen DE1125 Ultra-Thin AM/FM/SW Radio with 4GB MP3 Player/Digital Recorder Now

Like another reviewer (Ann) I bought this little radio by mail order inspite of other negative reviews elsewhere on the internet. I got mine from a seller in Vancouver, Canada. Overall I am very pleased with this radio. I think the fit and finish is very nice and FM reception is excellent even with the aerial antenna fully down. AM reception is also quite good and at night I easily receive stations for Los Angeles and the SF bay area. On SW the performance matches my older Panasonic RF-2900 which is just fine. Certainly a real SW enthusiast won't use this as their only radio, but the portability and versatility of this little radio is really pleasing. I love the size, features and the USB charging method. I've loaded lots of MP3 songs into the 2GB of FLASH (it appears as standard "disk drive" on your PC) and it charged while I did that! The English owners manual is adequate and the radio is easy to operate. I haven't used the headphones since I already had a decent set. The MP3's sound fine to me with reasonably rich sound, though it would have been nice to have a tone control or EQ settings to select from. I also like the green LED backlight. The display is easy to read in the dark. Also, I think this model must be preferable to the older DE-1123 because that model doesn't have the jog control which works great! Don't be afraid to buy one of these. You'll be very pleased, especially for the money spent.

Read Best Reviews of 2nd generation Degen DE1125 Ultra-Thin AM/FM/SW Radio with 4GB MP3 Player/Digital Recorder Here

Good build quality. I'm technically challenged, so after a few evenings of learning MP3 download basics, I'm happy with this versatile product. 24+ hours of music, downloaded so far. Sound quality is decent. Tons of great features in a tiny package. I ordered mine from Hong Kong...mine takes 3AAA batteries (rechargables that arrived with the unit, seem faulty, so I switched to standard alkaline for now). Packaging was for 1123 model with 2GB of storage. My only dislike so far, is that the MP3 controls are a bit "delayed". Radio reception on FM is excellent, AM fair, and SW good. You'll want to upgrade the headset.

Not quite perfect, but definitely recommended. I don't think there's another product that offers all these features, in a quality pocket sized product, on the market.

Want 2nd generation Degen DE1125 Ultra-Thin AM/FM/SW Radio with 4GB MP3 Player/Digital Recorder Discount?

I have been using the product for about a week.

There is no auto-record functionality, which is a bit disappointing to me. I was hoping to be able to set it to record certain AM shows everyday of the work week. But I have to make sure to turn it on every morning before I leave for work. I do that so that I can ensure it records while being able to leave it at home and not have to carry it around with me (potentially getting it stolen or lost). I am a teacher, so I cant just leave it lying around on my desk, and some of the schools I am in get very poor AM reception. So, all in all, I find it best to leave it at home and have it record a certain station all day. Of course, it pretty much saps the battery and records a bunch of stuff I dont want, but I still get what I want eventually (and I have gotten in the habit of recharging it everyday).

It would be much nicer to have the auto record ability, much like my DVRs. That took it from a sure-fire 4 star to a 3 star product, imo. If it would have that functionality, and it was easy to use, and reliable, maybe even a 5 star product.

Other than that, nice product. I like that it has a "lock" button, good speaker (for listening w/o headphones), it's designed so you have to "double-check" before deleting a file, and you can adjust the auto-tuning so that you can most likely pick up all stations (see manual for how to do that).

I enjoy this radio/player very much. It has great reception and gets stations my larger radios can't. I had some questions and the people at Kaito Sales were very helpful. I am in Florida and so being in Eastern time, I was still able to speak with them after 6PM when I got home from work, since they are in California on Pacific time. Lee was extremely helpful.

I look forward to seeing any new products they may offer in the future.