DAB radio has its critics, but at this stage in its existence, it’s now an integral part of the audio landscape, as this report confirms. DAB radios have come down in price so much these days that you can buy one for under £25. I’ve looked at high-end models like the Pure Evoke 3 with features like pause and rewind, but this sleek model from Bush is a lot more straightforward.
Well, I’ve always associated Bush more with the dedicated budget end of things, but this radio might make me change my mind. The TRO4DAB may have a somewhat clumsy title, but optically there is certainly nothing wrong with it. Instead of the traditional wood effect that Pure favors, the Bush goes for a glossy all-black finish, although it’s a bit plasticky on closer inspection. There are no hard edges, just smooth plastic with curves. The grille on the front looks deliberately retro, but the final overall effect is somehow certainly modern. You can also pick it up in white and at the time of writing this was the only version available from the Asda online shop, the only place I could find it.
Much of this has to do with touch-sensitive buttons at the top of the device. Touch-sensitive technology is ubiquitous right now and will only continue to gain traction. The surface comes to life at the touch of a finger and is illuminated by a cool blue backlight. This will create an “ooooh” the first time, and I suspect that will of itself push some of these radios off the shelves. If you think it’s just a gimmick – well, you’re right, it is. But don’t worry, the buttons are easy to use and very responsive. The only real downside is that the slick surface picks up fingerprints fairly easily, so you’ll need to clean it periodically.
In the center of the top surface is a small two-line LCD display that some may find a bit limiting compared to the Evoke 3. However, the Bush doesn’t offer any recording capabilities, so a large screen isn’t necessary. unnecessary. In fact, the display is bright and legible, and the text scrolls at quite a speed, so this isn’t too much of a problem.
The buttons above are pretty self-explanatory, with one standby and five preset buttons. There are actually ten presets, but you have to press a shift key to get to presets 6-10, which is a bit awkward but not the end of the world. There are arrow keys to switch between stations and a select button to choose what you like.
A display button allows you to toggle between different pieces of information – station name, time and date, bit rate, the message the station is broadcasting and the station’s frequency in the multiplex. There’s even a counter that tells you how many errors the signal contains, with anything below 50 being acceptable. This probably gives you a good idea of how good the signal is, although I imagine you can get a pretty good idea of what the station in question sounded like.
There are also volume up and volume down buttons, and I was pleased that you could use these by simply holding down your finger instead of having to keep tapping.
A menu button lets you enable or disable Dynamic Range Control (DRC), which adds or removes levels of compression to eliminate the difference in loudness between stations – although I think this will only be an issue if you switch between stations frequently change stations. There is a bass boost button to amplify the sound and a mute button.
The radio has a large antenna, which should help when the signal strength is borderline. There’s also a handle so you have to push the antenna down if you want to lift the radio. The bush can be powered without being tethered to a wall as long as you’re willing to find six large R14 batteries to fit in, which regularly seems like an expensive proposition.
What struck me as soon as I pressed the standby buttons on the radio was how quickly it turned on and started playing. The Pure Evoke 3 looks very sluggish in comparison. Scanning for new channels was very quick the first time, and switching between channels was free from lag or lag. This made it very easy to use.
There’s a proper off switch on the side, which you might want to use to save power if you don’t use it regularly. Next to it is a line-out for feeding an external source and a headphone jack for private listening.
A point worth noting is how good the manual is, well written in plain English – that seems like too much to ask of many manufacturers these days.
As well as DAB, pressing the mode button toggles to FM, which is a good backup should DAB not be available. However, there is no medium wave or long wave. In FM mode you can use the arrows to scan frequencies as you would expect and the ten presets can be used and will not overwrite your DAB presets.
FM radio performance wasn’t great, however, and I didn’t manage to get a clear, interference-free signal in testing. However, where DAB reception was present the Bush did very well indeed, with loud, clear sound that could seemingly get quite loud for the 1.5W RMS speakers without too much distortion. At normal volume, the sound was also easy and clear to hear.
The Bush TR04 doesn’t have the advanced features offered by competitors like Pure’s higher-end models, such as: B. rewind live radio, recordings or alarms. This means that it is best placed in a place like the study or kitchen rather than the bedroom. It looks great, sounds good and is easy to use, but it really needs to fit your setup to make it worth paying the asking price, which is double the asking price of some DAB radios.
“‘Verdict”‘
If you’re looking for a DAB radio that looks stylish, is easy to use and sounds great then this Bush is easy to recommend. The blue-backlit touch-sensitive keys are cool and work well, but they pick up fingerprints easily, so keep your cleaning cloth handy.