Mischa's First Look at the Degen DE-321

 

Interested in the DSP/analog combination, I ordered a Degen 321 2 weeks ago, and it arrived a few days back. I want to share my first impressions with you. It's really small. As small as a Tecsun R912, only a lot less deep. The sound is more mellow than the R912, which I consider a good thing. It doesn't feel rock solid, but it doesn't feel flimsy either.

Tuning is a bit hard, the wheel doesn't rotate smoothly enough to my taste. It's not a major problem, but it leaves something to be desired. FM sensitivity and selectivity is good, but I expected that because of the DSP.

MW sensitivity is the most disappointing aspect of the DE321: it doesn't come close to, for example, the Grundig G8 and the well-known Tecsun DSP ultralights (or the R912, for that matter). I suspect a (too) short ferrite bar.

With An-200 Loop Antenna

MW sensitivity seems excellent, though. I just experimented with the AN-200 loop antenna, and that works very well sensitivity-wise (but feels like cheating to me). SW sensitivity is remarkably good. I compared it to the Kaito 1102, and it's quite close, to my (positive) surprise. It lacks the 60m and 75m band, unfortunately. It was also a nice surprise to find that the analog tuning scale is really spot-on; I haven't found that on any of my analogs thus far. I don't know whether it's just my particular radio, or whether all DE321's share this treat.

 I should add that drift is virtually non-existent on the DE321: I fell asleep yesterday with a CRI French broadcast, and woke up half an hour later with the same station, still perfectly clear.

All in all: rather a mixed bag, with MW sensitivity as the major drawback, but SW performance as the most appreciated feature. And it looks cute as well:). For its price, it's worth buying it, in my opinion.

Comments

[Mischa]

I forgot to mention that drift is virtually non-existent on the DE321: I fell asleep yesterday with a CRI French broadcast, and woke up half an hour later with the same station, still perfectly clear.

[FARMERIK/Richard Hayden]

That sounds just like my experience! With a small tuned loop, I am able to tune weak stations the DE321 ignored. EVERY station the radio gets, with or without an external antenna seems to sound quite clear and noise free. Strong stations are heard over a wide part of the tuning range barefoot, but the tuned antenna allows me to hear weak adjacent stations. All of the above comments are for AM BCB. On SW it hears a lot of stations very well, and FM BCB has nice clear clean signals too. Not much on 64-87 MHz. FM here.- FARMERIK

[Mischa]

Richard, regarding your remark about clear sound: for my DE321, that only holds for FM and SW. Very clear indeed. However, for MW, I'm hearing quite some background static. Even with a station like Groot Nieuws Radio 1008AM, which is an easy and very clear catch on almost all my portables. On the Degen, I still hear some background noise. Using the loop antenna, it disappears completely.

I read your comments on DE321 on the Yahoo Ultralight, and I indeed recognize my experience with this radio.

[Paul S.]

I just noticed that the SW-Band switch is on top of the receiver where one would expect the AM ferrite bar to be placed. This might cause some concerns regarding some noise and insensitivity. Generally, there should be quite a few wires associated with these kind of slide-switches. I think there is a proximity problem here.

NOTE TO DEGEN/TECSUN/KAITO... Place the SW-band switch in a different location away from the ferrite bar.

Paul S. in CT

[FARMERIK/Richard Hayden]

I did notice the external loop antenna worked much better along one side of the radio, instead of parallel to the top of the radio. I really did not want to open the case, but when I decided to try, I could not find a small enough Phillips Screw driver. I am sure some one will post photos of the inside of the radio eventually. Great observation Paul, it could be the band switch is shielding the ferrite loop stick, or I suppose it could even be across the side, instead of across the top of the case.