Review: Pure Digital Evoke-1 XT Special Edition DAB digital radio

Digital radios come in all shapes and sizes but few are as cool as Pure Digital's Special Edition Evoke-1 XT. It's teamed up with amp-maker Marshall to create the trendiest DAB this side of Rocksville.

As far as features go, it's 90 per cent identical to the Evoke-1 XT. That means a kitchen timer, alarm, six presets and a screen that shows station information and other scrolling text attached to DAB broadcasts.

The differences are, most notably, design – it's a miniature replica of a Marshall amplifier, replete with gold plating and rotary dials – and the red on black LCD screen. And yes, Spinal Tap fans, the volume does indeed go up to eleven.

For its stature, sound quality is very good. A bass port on the bottom adds extra thump and the 3in speaker doesn't suffer from nasty vibrations and creates a warm, rich and balanced tone.

On the back is a headphone socket, a 3.5mm output for hooking the Evoke-1 XT to a bigger sound system and a USB port for downloading firmware updates from a computer's internet connection. There's also a socket for connecting an additional XT-1 Speaker that costs £30 but, unfortunately, is finished in a gloss black rather than the Marshall's leather trim.

Pure Digital's Special Edition DAB radio is £10 more than the normal Evoke-1 XT and well worth it for the looks. However, if you can bear its other-worldly design, Pure Digital's Bug Too costs exactly the same but has an EPG, records radio and play mp3s; far better value for the modern radio buff.

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