I've been hanging fire before buying a portable DAB (Digital Audio Broadcast) radio for several reasons, not least of which is the price previously being asked for DAB sets compared to portable FM radios, which up to now have always been a mainstay of background listening in our household.

However, a few listens to my Mother's DAB radio in her kitchen convinced me that the time had come to take the plunge after all, how could I look myself in the face as early adopter and general gadget freak head of the family if I let my Ma who is two days younger than The Queen pip me to the post, even if she and my Dad insist on having it tuned to Classic FM non-stop at (very)high volume?

From the technology point of view, I didn't really need much convincing of the benefits of digital radio after all I'd been using the radio side of my digital terrestrial TV (DTT) tuner frequently, so being purpose-built for radio, DAB had to be even better didn't it?

Wrong.

Ironically, the digital soundtrack supplied by DTT either to accompany TV programs or as stand-alone radio programs can in fact be better, if you really get down to the nitty-gritty of comparing digital sampling rates and the like. However, in real life, the fact that I'm comparing a home-cinema system fed through my hi-fi to a portable radio makes the argument futile and comparisons odious.

What really matters with DAB and most things relying on digital transmission is that if you can get a signal at all, it remains flawless until it's more or less lost completely; a cautionary note if you happen to know that your local DAB reception is "marginal".

Anyway, at 29.99 GBP from Amazon.co.uk including postage, the little Sony XDR S50 seemed as good an introduction as any, especially as it was reduced from its previous price of 39 GBP, no doubt making way for a newer model (In fact there is a Sony XDR S55 which justifies its higher price by having an FM band also).

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Yes, it's got that corporate blandly black look of a lot of other Sony products, but on the up-side it also seems to have their penchant for neat design and reasonable build quality, if you can heap such an accolade on something that's all plastic. It has a pleasantly sculpted feel to it as the back, top and front panels appear to be made of one fold, rather like a lady's clutch bag.

The front panel houses a left hand single speaker and on the upper right there's a liquid crystal display boasting two rows of text.

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