Luckiestmanalive Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 I see that one or two forum members have Pro-Ject tuner boxes. They look pretty cool but I can't find much on the web about them. I'm curious to know what they cost, how well they work and, most importantly, how they sound in comparison with other standalone or built-in tuners? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 I'm at work so can't rave too much. They're AWESOME IMHO. $350 in black or silver (I got silver). Easy to use and set up and most importantly, they sound great. I actually want to listen to the radio now to enjoy the experience as much as the music. I get great detail, soundstage, depth.... all those audiophile cliches! I have mine connected to my VHF aerial which probably helps a lot with the sound quality. I totally recommend the Tuner Box! :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mycenius Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Are they forward compatible for Digital Radio, etc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Hanify Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 No, just an FM tuner with 8 presets as far as I'm aware. Saw one static at the show yesterday (they couldn't pull in a signal strong enough to have it running well - this would certainly need a decent aerial to get it up and running properly). Cheers, Shane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Low Orbit;103473 wrote: No, just an FM tuner with 8 presets as far as I'm aware. Saw one static at the show yesterday (they couldn't pull in a signal strong enough to have it running well - this would certainly need a decent aerial to get it up and running properly). Cheers, Shane. Yes you're right. It comes with a single wire aerial (the type you have to pin to the wall) which actually sounds very good but once connected to a decent aerial the sound really shines. They're very well made. Solid metal chassis - I like going up and tapping it to hear the metallic ring. And I just bought some very nice interconnects off Cloth_ears for it which I'm looking forward to having a good listen to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mycenius Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Hhmmm, so possibly a limited life span then? Most radio in NZ is (I believe) slated to start converting to Digital from about 2013, once the analogue TV channels have released... But I guess there will be FM for a while after that while they transition...? Incidentally is it 'backwards compatible' - i.e. has an AM receiver as well as FM? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 Just FM. Doesn't worry me about digital. My system has changed so much over the last 12 months I think I'll be happy with the Tuner Box for 4 years or so. I'm sure there'll be a Pro-Ject Tuner Box Digital when I need one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T110 Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 mycenius;103486 wrote: Hhmmm, so possibly a limited life span then? Most radio in NZ is (I believe) slated to start converting to Digital from about 2013, once the analogue TV channels have released... But I guess there will be FM for a while after that while they transition...? Incidentally is it 'backwards compatible' - i.e. has an AM receiver as well as FM? DAMN THE DIGITAL AGE!!!:mad: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mycenius Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 Yeah - Damn it... :rolleyes: I'm just surprised that a dedicated unit (as opposed to an AVR or such) should only have 1 type of tuner on board, and I'm especially surprised by the lack of digital tuner because digital radio is in use in some areas in Europe & the USA and you'd assume that's the market they aimed at? Even Freeview STB units have digital radio capability (both T & S varieties)... As you say Sir Andy, you'll get a few years for sure out of it - but I'd have wanted Digital myself - an item like that should give you 10-20 years service for the money as it has minimal things that can go wrong... P.S. Although I suppose having digital decoder on-board would have added to the cost...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 Might also be a pretty tight fit squeezing a digital board into that little box ? Can't say I'm looking forward to digital radio. The DAB radio and Sky/FV digital radio I've heard has sounded uniformly awful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mycenius Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 michael w;103517 wrote: Might also be a pretty tight fit squeezing a digital board into that little box ? Can't say I'm looking forward to digital radio. The DAB radio and Sky/FV digital radio I've heard has sounded uniformly awful. May well be MW - and yes I'd expect it's all going to be pretty awful lossy compression (at least initially) although I think in the US now they are moving to the TV type frequencies (rather than the lower bandwidth FM freqs) they are pushing 'HD' radio I believe, which one would hope means lossless compression, etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chopper30 Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 National Radio is apparently pushing for HD Radio over DAB+. The difference as I understand it is that HD radio allows broadcasting over the same frequency as the radio stations existing frequencies and also allows simultaneous broadcast of both FM and HDR. The govt of course prefers DAB+ as it allows the sale of a whole new bunch of frequencies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nixon76 Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 At least they're looking at DAB+. DAB is/was/has been pushed in the UK (verses the superior DAB+) and by all accounts it's been an embarrassing failure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaka Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 The aussie experience with DAB is low bitrates, and poor sound I seem to recall some were as low as 128 Worse than the iStore, it can be done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
got tinnitus Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 FM will be around for many many years to come I'd say Digital TV, OK. Folks can see an immediate improvement over analog so digital uptake has been a must-have. But the reverse is true for digital radio. 99% of radio listeners will be asking what's the point.... Just think of the number of car radios Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 kaka;103625 wrote: The aussie experience with DAB is low bitrates, and poor sound I seem to recall some were as low as 128 Worse than the iStore, it can be done Kordia (what's with all the dopey telecomms company names ?) have been experimenting with 192kbps DAB and 64kbps AAC+/DAB+ :confused: Lots of samples here; http://www.digitalradio.co.nz/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electra Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 I am with GT on this one - FM transmission will be around for a very long time. The amount of car radios, small "transistor" radios.... Making them all obsolete so dramatically would be very good for the importers and GST collectors, but not many others. I personally hardly ever listen to the radio, and only do so in the cowshed, when to be honest, I am getting more and more to prefer the ipod as I dont have to listen to exceptionally irritating DJ's and adverts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckiestmanalive Posted September 20, 2009 Author Share Posted September 20, 2009 Thanks, for sharing, everyone! I personally like the idea of a dedicated FM radio tuner designed with sound quality in mind. However, my personal situation is such that I think I would struggle to convince the finance committee that $350 is a sound investment, given we struggle to find radio stations we would like to listen to and consequently only listen to National radio on Saturdays... even factoring for the possibility of creating more 'demand' after buying such a tuner, as sirAndy has done. Instead, I've gratefully accepted the offer on a standalone second-hand tuner from Cortisol (big ups, fella!), to see if that stokes up more interest in FM radio as a source. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
got tinnitus Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 Wise move. I have a Yamaha receiver from 1979 I use as a tuner with excellent results. It also allows the running of an extra input (wife's ipod) as the Perreaux is chockers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaka Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 michael w;103628 wrote: Kordia (what's with all the dopey telecomms company names ?) have been experimenting with 192kbps DAB and 64kbps AAC+/DAB+ :confused: Lots of samples here; http://www.digitalradio.co.nz/ AAC is superior to MP3, but 64 ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernie1553552694 Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 Yes 64 is chronic. Not even good for internet radio. I foolishly tried to listen via headphones to 64kb audio stream. Spoken voice ok, but music made me feel ill. Might be ok for folks listening to the radio in the morning, possibly the trigger for road rage for punters going home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electra Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 64kbps makes me feel as if I have gone deaf, and then got water in my ears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 luckiestmanalive;103632 wrote: Thanks, for sharing, everyone! I personally like the idea of a dedicated FM radio tuner designed with sound quality in mind. However, my personal situation is such that I think I would struggle to convince the finance committee that $350 is a sound investment, given we struggle to find radio stations we would like to listen to and consequently only listen to National radio on Saturdays... even factoring for the possibility of creating more 'demand' after buying such a tuner, as sirAndy has done. Instead, I've gratefully accepted the offer on a standalone second-hand tuner from Cortisol (big ups, fella!), to see if that stokes up more interest in FM radio as a source. Yes, probably a wise move if you can't get many frequencies. Have you tried a dedicated external FM aerial? I lived in Pukerua Bay for a while in the mid-nineties and got pissed off because I couldn't get Active 89FM (Wellington's excellent equivalent of bFM). I was quite surprised when we moved to Pukekohe 7 years ago and found we got bFM with a good signal. Getting rid of FM frequencies would be a bad move IMO though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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