A Degen DE1127 arrived today. I had returned a DE1126 because it created noise on the recordings I tried to make of radio programs. Even on a perfectly clear local MW or FM station I'd get the noise underneath, ruining the recording. The eBay seller said that it was due to 'my area' (Australia); it wasn't the radio. I didn't believe that excuse, but he was good about an exchange and partial refund.
So...is it the same with the 1127? Unfortunately, yes. I've been putting it through its paces and there's the noise again, especially on FM. The station will be clear but as soon as I start recording the noise is audible on the broadcast AND the recording.
Blah. I'll play with it more tonight when shortwave is jumping...that's why I wanted one, to record my favorite shortwave programs when asleep. If it's the same story there I will be returning it to Hong Kong tomorrow.
It's nice looking, about half the width of the prior entries in this series. The buttons and tuning wheel are easier to operate - not so hard to press or turn. There is no stand. It's just as well as the stand on the 1126 was useless. The antenna has to be the tiniest, thinnest one I've ever seen, with three sections, the top one being about as thin as a pencil lead. Great care will have to be taken not to break it. I clipped a wire onto the whip but had to fiddle around with different lengths so as not to overload it.
It came with USB power supply, battery, earphones, that crap cloth bag sent with all Degen radios, a manual in Chinese for this model, and an English instruction manual for the DE1125 with "for 1127" handwritten on it.
I've included a couple of photos, one with the Degen next to my Sony 2001D to give you an idea of its size.
I wonder if anybody has had the same problem I've had with this series?
Jules Update:
To respond to Chris - all of the recordings I've attempted to make off of the radio were made with earphones in, using the radio recorder, not the voice one, so how would external ambient noise affect it if it can't 'hear' it?
Good news on the SW front. With this little thing attached to a Tecsun reel wire extended about four feet I was able to clearly hear all the usual African stations I listen to in the morning; Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Chad. I couldn't get them on the DE1126.
So far the recordings off SW are much better than FM. No great quality, it's a cheap radio after all, but useable.
I don't know what's up with the clicking noise when using the radio recorder on FM. I have better luck putting it on voice record and recording off of another radio.
As for the Degen cloth bag...they're okay for GPS, etc. I use mine for my mini speakers but they're no good for protecting radios. I bought a fitted case for my DE1103, a very good investment!
Verdict on the DE1127 so far: I'll keep it if only to have some kind of recorder just don't expect much from such a small and cheap machine. It's really very nice to listen to with headphones and for its size and price it's a good deal. I just wish they'd get the radio recording problem sorted.
BTW, I noticed that there is an option on the box for an eight Gb version. I've got the four Gb edition.
(that crap cloth bag sent with all Degen radios, )
Actually I find the Kaito/Degen crap cloth bags just the right size as a carrying case for portable GPS units. My wife and each use one for our respective cars.
Posted by: Ken K. | October 13, 2011 at 05:07 AM
Just received one of these. In general it's a nicely designed unit.
But: While the FM sound quality is acceptable - just - on the entire SW band is a loud digital burbling sound, with no reception of stations at all.
On AM this sound decreases as you tune down from 1600kHz but is still audible at 800kHz. Recordings made on AM are useless, and even FM recordings have strange frying background sounds.
The signal quality on AM is about the same as those tiny pocket radios that used to sell for $5.00
We also have a Sony ICD-UX91F which makes superb recordings - but of course no AM, which is why I bought the Degen.
Back it goes - but will the replacement be A1? It's not cheap sending stuff back - around US$20.00 - so it will be interesting to see how the seller's customer care handles a unit that was "all tested before despatch"
Any comments on whether I should swap it for an 1125 or 1126? Need to record from AM and FM, and play MP3's - prefer 4GB memory or more. Size isn't really an issue.
Posted by: Joel | October 18, 2011 at 09:37 PM
A progress report:
Received a DE1126 as replacement. Apparently it has the same electronics as the DE1127.
HOWEVER it is a totally different animal in terms of intuitive handling and button pushing.
Where the 1127 sits in your hand like a chunky chocolate bar, the 1126 is a bit wide for the hand.
And where you can navigate around the well thought out function keys on the 1127, you have to look at the keys on the 1126. (Yes, you MIGHT get used to it.)
Despite a bigger speaker, the sound on the 1126 is not much better than the 1126.
Finally - small detail but handy feature: In the dark, if you pick up the 1127 and press any control button, the bright display shows date and time - not so with the 1126.
Looks like I'll sell the 1126 (the shortwave does work - albeit with strange digital hash noise) and try to get a 1127 with the shortwave also working.
If you want a digital voice recorder that's quick and intuitive to use, don't bother with either of these models - far too many key presses. Buy an Olympus.
Summary: The main benefit of the DE1127 is that I can now listen to podcasts WITHOUT those damn earbuds in my ear.
Joel
A p.s. The BL-5C battery is also used in various cellphones; at first the one supplied had a very long battery life, but after about 2 weeks has dropped back to 2 days max. It might pay to buy a decent quality battery.
Posted by: Joel | December 01, 2011 at 02:13 AM
Had one for several weeks but it is now faulty,it freezes for few minutes,clock stops & cannot turn off unless battery removed then have to reset time & date, pressing reset doesn't clear fault,nice little radio apart from this major problem.
Posted by: Bob Balser | May 12, 2017 at 01:01 AM