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Presetting a Radio Station When you have found your desired station, hold down the ‘Preset’ button on the unit (Ref.5) or the ‘FAV’ button on the remote (Rem. 21 ) for 2-3 seconds to go to the ‘Save to Preset’ screen. Alternatively, if you want to save to preset number 1-99, press and hold the corresponding number on the remote control for 2-3 seconds. With the Navigation/OK dial (Ref. 6 ) or the remote, scroll through the available preset numbers you can save the station to – ones that have not got a station saved to them will display “[Not Set]”. Once the preset number has been located that you wish to save to, confirm your choice by pressing down the dial or the OK button on the remote (Rem.1 7 ). Once a station has been saved, the screen will display “Preset Stored” to show that it has been stored successfully. Recalling a Preset Radio Station To view your preset favourite stations, press the ‘Preset’ button on the unit (Ref.5) or the ‘FAV’ button on the remote (Rem. 21 ) to open ‘Recall from Preset’ settings. Do not hold down the button as this will open preset store rather than preset recall. Alternatively, recall preset numbers 1-99 by pressing the corresponding number on the remote (do not hold). When the ‘Recall from Preset’ options open, use the Navigation/OK dial (Ref. 6 ) or the remote to scroll through the preset stations saved. Once the chosen station you wish to play has been found, confirm your choice by pressing down the dial or the OK button on the remote (Rem.1 7 ) and the station will begin to play. FM Radio Settings
time. The alarm will now snooze for the selected minutes. Cancel snooze by pressing the Power dial or Power button on the remote control. Provided you own, or are willing to invest in, a good DAC, the CD t is an exceptionally talented transport for the money. Clarity and insight are unrivalled at this price. Cancel the alarm before it sounds by pressing the ‘Alarm’ button on the remote control (Rem.12) or select the ‘Menu’ button on the unit. Follow by selecting ‘Main Menu’ and select ‘Alarms’ to open alarm settings. Select the alarm that you would like to cancel: Alarm 1 or Alarm 2 with the navigation dial (Ref.3) or the OK button (Rem.18). Navigate to the “Enable” option and select “OFF”. Once selected, scroll to ‘Save’ and confirm alarm switch off by pressing down the Navigation/OK dial or the OK button. How to turn off your alarm when soundingBut there are differences under the hood. The Oakington has a self-contained power supply, the DAB500 is powered by a 12V 2A wall wart. There are no power output specifications, but we can make a reasonable assumption. 12 volts at 2A gives us 24W, so assuming a worst-case system power draw of about 5 to 7W in CD mode, and 1 or 2 watts of reserve headroom, we get a power output of 6 to 9.5W per channel. That is more than sufficient with small, efficient single-driver loudspeakers. It is built with proper speaker enclosures which are reflex ported at the rear and sounds every bit as powerful and loud as the Oakington, if not a little better.
A sleep timer can be set to switch your radio to standby after the selected period of time. Setting via the Sleep Button To set a sleep timer, select the ‘Sleep’ button on the remote (Rem.1 0 ) Press the Sleep button repeatedly to switch between sleep times available. There is an option between Sleep Off, 15, 30, 45 or 60 minutes. Once on the desired sleep timer length, stay on that time and the unit will automatically save the timer. Setting via the Menu Button Select the ‘Menu’ button on the unit (Ref. 3 ) or on the remote (Rem. 15 ). Follow by selecting ‘Main Menu’ settings and scroll to ‘Sleep’, but do not select ‘Sleep’. Instead, press the ‘>’ next button (Rem.1 6 ) to open sleep settings and “Sleep Off” will show. Use the Previous/Next buttons on the remote control to scroll through options, or alternatively press the ‘Sleep’ button repeatedly at this point, as per the above guidance. Once Set Once the sleep timer has been selected, the timer amount and a sleep image will show on the bottom left of the radio screen. To turn Sleep off, simply keep selecting the ‘Sleep’ button until “Sleep Timer Off” displays and select this option. System Settings Using this separate bit of kit to do one specific job makes for better sound quality. There’s a real musicality here that can get lost on lesser players, with organic, fluid interplay between instruments. Although the CXC is restricted to doing one thing – it only reads CDs, not SACDs or MP3 CDs – it does that one thing very well. To set an alarm on your radio, select the ‘Alarm’ button on the remote control (Rem.2) or select the ‘Menu’ button on the unit. Select ‘Main Menu’ and select ‘Alarms’ to open alarm settings.After selecting the alarm setting, select Alarm 1 or Alarm 2 with the navigation dial (Ref. 6 ) or OK button on the remote (Rem.1 7 ) to begin setting the following alarm functions: Select ‘Bluetooth’ on the main display screen by pressing ‘Power/Mode’ (Ref.2). Go to your device settings to connect your device to the radio via Bluetooth. The radio device will display as ‘Oakcastle DAB400’. Select this to connect and your radio should make a short sound, signalling that it has connected. You’ll be able to play and control your chosen audio on your paired device. DAB/DAB+Radio
Enable: Select to choose the regularity of your alarm between Daily, Once, Weekends and Weekdays. If “Once” is selected, the date and time of the alarm will need to be set here. Select ‘Off’ to turn off the alarm. It’s an expressive and punchy performer that builds its performance around a solid framework of surefooted rhythmic drive and expressive dynamics. Detail levels are good, but it is the confident way this unit organises that information into a cohesive and musical whole that really impresses. Dispose of used electrical products and batteries safely according to your local authority and regulations.
In many ways, it outshines the Oakington in usability. Instead of a slot-load CD mechanism it has a CD tray, so it can also play 3 inch CD singles. The volume and navigation dial is on the front of the unit too, which I much prefer to it being on the top. The enclosure is MDF, but covered in a real-wood veneer where the Oakington is a wood-effect vinyl wrap. Set Time/Date: The day date will now begin to flash. Change the day with the navigation dial or Up/Down buttons on the remote. Once on the chosen digit, press down the navigation dial or OK button to confirm. Follow the same process for setting the month and year. The time can now be set and the hour digits of the time will begin to flash. Change the hour with the navigation dial or Up/Down buttons. Once on the chosen time We have state-of-the-art testing facilities in London, Reading and Bath, where our team of experienced, in-house reviewers test the majority of hi-fi and AV kit that passes through our door – including CD players. The auto scan function can optionally filter out weak signals or perform a scan for all available broadcasting signals. The tuner automatically switches between stereo and monaural reception, but you can override this manually if desired. There are up to 30 presets to store FM stations, and unlike the DAB tuner they can be accessed from the front of the unit as well as via the remote control.When in its standby mode the unit displays the time, which can be set manually or in sync with a local DAB station. There’s an alarm that can wake you to the radio, a CD or USB drive, or a beeping sound, and a sleep timer which can be set to enter standby after 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 or 90 minutes, from any source. On initial use the unit performs a full DAB scan and stores stations in an alphabetical list. You can also perform manual tuning, both in DAB and FM modes, to tune weaker stations that were missed. Navigation of both radio modes can be achieved with the controls on the front of the unit or the remote control, though access to the DAB radio preset functions is only possible via the remote control. The other thing to consider is if you need an integrated CD player (one with a DAC built-in) or a CD transport (no DAC inside). Transports such as the Cambridge Audio CXC will need to use either a standalone DAC or the one in your stereo amplifier to handle the digital-to-analogue conversion before the sound reaches your speakers. The upshot of a CD transport? It puts all its concentration and skills on reading the CD disc. The downside is you'll need to make sure you buy or already have an appropriately skilled DAC to connect it to. In DAB/DAB+ mode, press the MENU button on the unit or on the remote control to open DAB/DAB+ settings. Use the Navigation/OK dial (Ref. 6 ) or the Previous/Next buttons on the remote control (Rem.7/16) to scroll through the following options: Station List Select this option to browse through the available DAB/DAB+ stations. Scan Select this option to initiate a scan for available stations. Once scanning, the screen will show “Scanning” along with the amount of stations that have been received. Manual Tune Select this option to browse through available stations by multiplex and frequency. Once the desired multiplex and frequency has been found, select with the Navigation/OK dial or the OK button on the remote. Prune Invalid To remove stations that are listed but are unavailable, you can turn on the ‘Prune’ setting. Once this option is selected, the screen will show “This removes all invalid stations, continue?”. To switch on Prune setting, highlight “Yes” and confirm selection with the Navigation/OK dial or the OK button on the remote. Preset: If digital or FM radio is selected as your alarm tone, your last listened to station on this mode or one of your preset favourites can be set as your alarm tone. Volume: Use the Navigation dial or Up/Down buttons on the remote to scroll to the desired alarm sounding volume. Select the volume by pressing down the dial or the OK button.
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