{"id":11355,"date":"2014-11-26T22:20:54","date_gmt":"2014-11-27T02:20:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=11355"},"modified":"2014-11-26T22:20:54","modified_gmt":"2014-11-27T02:20:54","slug":"a-review-of-the-kaito-ka29-degen-de29","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/11\/a-review-of-the-kaito-ka29-degen-de29\/","title":{"rendered":"A review of the Kaito KA29 \/ Degen DE29"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Kaito-KA29\"<\/a><\/p>\n

While doing a somewhat random search on Amazon a few weeks ago, I stumbled upon<\/a> a radio with a model number that I didn’t recognize\u2013the Kaito KA29<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The form factor of the KA29 is very reminiscent of the Degen DE1129 I reviewed two years ago<\/a>, but it’s smaller\u00a0and sports\u00a0a number pad on the front. On a whim, and with possible use of this radio in my charitable work at ETOW<\/a>, I purchased one. At\u00a0ETOW<\/a>\u00a0we have used similar radios with 16-32 GB Micro SD cards, chock-full of educational audio content. At $35, the KA29 is an affordable MP3 player and radio<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Kaito-KA29-Top\"<\/a><\/p>\n

On a side note, I suppose I should mention that I was pretty disappointed with the DE1129 because I had hopes it would make for a great all-in-one portable radio recorder for ETOW. While the DE1129 could record FM\/AM and SW radio directly, it had serious problems<\/a>: it auto-adjusted the volume level during recording (one could not turn off the internal speaker), it degraded audio quality in recording, and medium wave was plagued with a “ticking” sound every 10 seconds. It produced digital hash on various meter bands. My summary of the DE1129: \u00a0fine\u00a0concept, poor engineering. Read my full review of the first version of the DE1129 here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Kaito KA29: First impressions<\/h2>\n

The Kaito KA29 is a cute little portable. Mine has a black body with orange band encircling the diameter. That orange band is actually a nice addition\u2013it helps\u00a0the radio show up a bit better and makes the ports a little easier to see when lighting is low.<\/p>\n

\"Kaito-KA29-Side\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The overall quality of the radio feels fine: the hard plastic body has a smooth matte quality and the buttons have a very tactile response. The telescopic whip antenna is long for the overall radio size, but is still a little on the short side for good HF gain. Oddly, unlike most radios, the antenna cannot swivel at its point of attachment to the chassis; it can only be extended and tipped\u00a0side-to-side\u2013but not front to back, or back to front. Like the DE1129, the KA29 lacks a back stand\u2013a\u00a0big negative in my book\u2013but admittedly a back stand would be of little use while SWLing with this rig because the antenna can’t be swiveled or tipped into a useful vertical position. Hm. \u00a0Also like the DE1129,\u00a0the KA29 uses a slim rechargeable battery pack.\"Kaito-KA29-Back\"<\/a><\/p>\n

When I first turned on the KA29, I thought I had received a faulty\u00a0unit: I pressed and held the power button for a second, the display lit\u00a0up a bright green, I released the power button…and the unit turned off. After a little trouble-shooting, I realized that the KA29 requires holding the power button a full two seconds, <\/em>until the “Kaito” brand name appears on the display.<\/p>\n

\"Unfortunately,<\/a>

Unfortunately, the KA29 antenna does not swivel.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

This sluggish power-up response is truly an indicator of most functions on the\u00a0KA29. It’s as if every function is controlled by a slow processor\u2013which I’ve no doubt is the case.<\/p>\n

As far as I can tell, all the menu functions are the same on the Degen DE1129; obviously, they’re built on the same firmware. Indeed, Kaito is the North American brand for\u00a0the Chinese manufacturer, Degen; the Degen model number for this radio is DE29. In this sense, most functions are\u00a0familiar to me.<\/p>\n

Tuning<\/h2>\n

The one added feature of the KA29 that my version of the DE1129 didn’t have is a number pad, useful for direct entry of radio frequencies. I should note here that I (typically) toss the owner’s manual aside when I first get a radio, in order to test how intuitive its functions are. I spent quality time with the KA29 while traveling\u00a0a few weeks ago, and as I didn’t\u00a0bring the manual, I had to learn its functions via trial and error. It wasn’t until I returned that I learned\u00a0how to use direct frequency entry; the is answer clearly stated\u00a0in the manual: just key in the frequency, then press the appropriate band (AM\/FM\/SW) to go to that frequency. Pretty simple, actually. The response time for the radio to start playing the frequency you enter is only about one second.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Use of\u00a0the tuning knob (located on the right side of the radio) is easy and straightforward\u2013tuning up and down will move\u00a0the needle\u00a05 kHz steps between frequencies. Unfortunately, as on the DE1129, 5 kHz is the smallest tuning step available. \u00a0The KA29 briefly mutes between frequency changes, so when tuning slowly it’s very noticeable. \u00a0If you tune quickly, the KA29 will produce\u00a0snippets of audio as you pass signals, but I find it often skips over even very strong signals. \u00a0In short? Though I suppose it could be worse, I do not<\/em> like tuning the KA29.<\/p>\n

I should also mention that the KA29 has no adjustable bandwidth;\u00a0I’m guessing the AM bandwidth is stuck at around\u00a06 or 7 kHz.<\/p>\n

Performance<\/h2>\n

While I no longer\u00a0have the DE1129 in hand for side-by-side comparison, my impression is that\u00a0performance between the two radios is very similar.<\/p>\n

Audio fidelity<\/strong><\/p>\n

Herein lies the strength of the KA29. It obviously uses the same speaker technology (with an acoustic chamber) that the DE1129 uses. You will be favorably impressed with the audio from this wee radio\u2013it is quite robust for a pocket radio of this size, and in a small room, almost\u00a0room-filling. It sounds fantastic on FM and AM alike–you can even hear a hint of bass. One day, I tuned the KA29 to a local AM station and listened quite comfortably in another room. Impressive.<\/p>\n

But what about receiver performance?<\/p>\n

FM<\/strong><\/p>\n

FM performance is quite good. I’ve used the KA29 in two different cities, and found that it could detect\u00a0most of the same FM stations my other portables picked up.<\/p>\n

AM\/Medium Wave<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was pleasantly surprised to note the\u00a0absence\u00a0of the annoying ticking sound I heard in the DE1129;\u00a0it appears Degen engineers have succeeded in eliminating this distraction. In general, I believe the KA29 performs acceptably on medium wave for basic local and nighttime clear channel broadcast listening. The AGC circuit is not ideal, though, for any sort of medium wave DXing;\u00a0don’t consider the KA29 for MW DX.<\/p>\n

Shortwave<\/strong><\/p>\n

If the KA29 is better than the DE1129 on the shortwave bands, the improvement is negligible. You’ll be fairly happy with the KA29 while listening to strong<\/em> shortwave broadcasts. During my review, I listened to the new Global 24<\/a> a few hours on 9,395 kHz\u2013an easy catch on the east coast of North America\u2013and\u00a0the KA29 was fairly stable, producing rich audio.<\/p>\n

Here are the cons on shortwave:<\/p>\n

Automatic Gain Control<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

While listening to weak stations, you’ll discover the KA29 to be somewhat\u00a0sensitive, but again, the AGC circuit is just too active to listen comfortably for very long.<\/p>\n

Noise floor<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The noise floor is more obvious while listening to weak signals: I believe much of the noise is coming from the internal electronics of the KA29. It produces an audible digital hash sound that makes weak-signal listening a bit of a chore.<\/p>\n

Images<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Quite often as I tuned around the\u00a0shortwave bands, I noticed that\u00a0FM stations bleed through the audio. Check out this audio sample as I attempted to listen to Radio Ryhad:<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/archive.org\/download\/RyhadKA29\/Ryhad-KA29.MP3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Indeed, even if the shortwave station has a relatively strong signal (like this recording of Global 24) you can often hear noise:<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/archive.org\/download\/RyhadKA29\/9395-Radio4.MP3<\/a><\/audio>\n

For comparison, listen to the other radios I recorded at the same time for the ultra portable shoot-out<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Onboard Recording<\/h2>\n

Fortunately, several\u00a0of the recording problems I noted with the DE1129 are no longer an\u00a0issue\u00a0with the KA29.<\/p>\n

Fixed volume<\/strong><\/p>\n

The DE1129, when\u00a0recording\u00a0radio, had the exceedingly annoying habit of\u00a0automatically setting the internal speaker’s volume to a high level. While recording, this could not be changed.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, this problem has mostly been addressed in the KA29, which does not increase the volume while\u00a0making a recording, but still fixes the volume at the level set at the recording’s start. I didn’t find this to be much of a problem.<\/p>\n

Audio quality<\/strong><\/p>\n

The recording performance is better than that of the DE1129, which produced noisy, muffled recordings. \u00a0The KA29 will produce fair\u00a0audio recordings on AM, on FM, and on\u00a0shortwave. \u00a0One drawback:\u00a0you will\u00a0note a low-volume, high-pitched static noise\u2013a hiss, to be specific\u2013inherent in every radio recording, regardless of band. While it’s not too offensive, nor enough to deter me from making direct radio recordings\u00a0(at least of strong stations), there is still much room for improvement. \u00a0Obviously,\u00a0I can use the headphone jack and an external digital recorder to make better radio recordings. \u00a0But the convenience of an all-in-one recording device plus\u00a0radio outweighs the slight hiss in the internal recordings it produces.<\/p>\n

All in all? \u00a0I’m reasonably pleased with the radio recording capabilities of the KA29, and the improvements it’s made over its predecessor. If the Degen engineers could lower the KA29’s noise floor and fix the imaging problems, and add 1 kHz tuning increments, this could be a good value all-in-one radio, a real contender.<\/p>\n

Summary<\/h2>\n

Ever radio has its pros and cons. \u00a0The following is a list I made while reviewing the KA29:<\/p>\n

Pros:<\/strong><\/p>\n