Kaito KA108: Unboxing Kaito’s new compact portable radio and MP3 player/recorder

Kaito-KA-108

Yesterday afternoon, I ventured off of our snowy mountain for the first time since Thursday. I was very pleased to find the new Kaito KA108 waiting for me at the post office. Universal Radio kindly dispatched a unit to me for review from their very first shipment. Thanks, Universal!

I’m starting to put the KA108 through its paces: checking out reception on shortwave, mediumwave and FM. I plan to make a few recordings today and see if its internal recorder is effective (my fingers are crossed on this one!).

By request, I took a few photos while I unboxing the Kaito KA108 last night (click each image to enlarge):

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Check back soon as I plan to post at least a short review/overview within a few days.  Follow the tag: KA108

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10 thoughts on “Kaito KA108: Unboxing Kaito’s new compact portable radio and MP3 player/recorder

  1. London Shortwave

    Hi Thomas, it’s awesome that you got this unit so quickly. I’m very interested in internal noise levels on this model. Additional microcontroller functionality such as MP3 encoding and the SD card interface can often result in additional noise on the bands if it’s not properly shielded. Thanks!

    Reply
    1. Thomas Post author

      Yes–in fact, I’m trying to discover how much internally-generated noise the KA108 has by comparing it with other DSP portables. To be clear: it definitely has internal noise.

      After I’ve done a review, I may crack it open and see if something can be shielded. Would be great if a simple mod could lower the noise floor more.

      Reply
  2. Mike from Toronto Kanada

    ..can you, Mr. Thomas, tell us what radios had better sensitivity, selectivity etc., from, let’s say the 1960’s (Telefunken, Grundig 200, Zenith Transoceanic Royal 7000), to the Panasonic RF-2200 to the radios of the present day! Sure the wooden cabinets of the Grundig 200 series or the mechanical solidity of the Zenith Royal 7000 can’t be matched by today’s radios, but in what way better are the radios of today or the previous ones mentioned?…rsvp!

    Reply
    1. Thomas Post author

      Wow–I wish I could do a comparison with all of those radios because that would mean I own them all! 🙂

      I have a Zenith Transoceanic Royal 7000–it’s the radio with which I cut my teeth.

      Honestly, where the radios from the 70s and earlier lacked the sensitivity of comparable models today, they almost always made up for in audio. Any of the models you listed will produce much richer audio than most modern portables. It can make listening–even to the weaker stations–more enjoyable.

      Reply
  3. Edizio Ferreira Lima

    As ondas curtas-o que quer dizer, a parte de rádio de alta freqüência de espectro-nunca vai desaparecer, apesar de emissoras internacionais podem eventualmente desaparecer na história. Penso muitas vezes do espectro de ondas curtas como um recurso global que estará sempre aqui, mesmo que nós, humanos, não são. Mas em uma nota mais brilhante, espero que o espectro de ondas curtas será usado durante séculos por vir, à medida que implementamos diversas tecnologias que encontrar maneiras de fazer uso do meio.
    Assim, no sentido mais lato, sim; Eu sinceramente acredito ondas curtas tem um futuro.

    Reply
  4. A. Black

    When you do your review could you comment on how good the sound is through the speaker? through headphones? compared to, say, a PL-660 and a PL-880. Thanks.

    Reply

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