{"id":14155,"date":"2015-07-25T06:26:35","date_gmt":"2015-07-25T10:26:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=14155"},"modified":"2017-11-17T09:02:25","modified_gmt":"2017-11-17T13:02:25","slug":"initial-review-of-the-sangean-ats-405","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/07\/initial-review-of-the-sangean-ats-405\/","title":{"rendered":"Initial review of the Sangean ATS-405"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Sangean-ATS-405-Box\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Just last week, I received the new Sangean ATS-405<\/strong>\u00a0on loan from Universal Radio<\/a>. Though I’ve only had the radio for a week, I thought I’d share a few un-boxing photos (by request) and my initial impressions\/review of this radio.<\/p>\n

Unboxing<\/h2>\n

\"Sangean-ATS-405-OpenBox\"<\/a>The ATS-405 comes with a thick owner’s manual (in five languages), a 7.5 volt AC adapter, and a soft radio case. The package does not<\/em> contain rechargeable batteries nor a clip-on wire antenna (like many Tecsun products do, for example).<\/p>\n

\"Sangean-ATS-405-OpenBox-2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Overall, the packaging accommodates the radio and accessories efficiently and would probably\u00a0ship\u00a0safely even if the carrier doesn’t handle it with particular care.<\/p>\n

\"Sangean-ATS-405-OpenBox-3\"<\/a>The first thing I noticed about the ATS-405 is the near-identical design and layout Sangean has used in their design of\u00a0past shortwave radios. If you’re a Sangean fan, you’ll find all of the functions, buttons, and labels pretty much in the same place; virtually no learning curve.<\/p>\n

Performance: first impressions<\/h2>\n

\"Sangean-ATS-405\"<\/a><\/p>\n

After unboxing the ATS-405, I installed\u00a0a fresh set of AA batteries in it and turned on the radio…<\/p>\n

Display<\/h3>\n

Like most Sangeans, the display is crisp,\u00a0clear and can easily be read straight-on or at low angles, like when the radio is resting on its back stand, for example. If you look at the display from a higher angle, however, you’ll find that the LCD digits nearly disappear.<\/p>\n

\"Sangean-ATS-405-Display\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Back-lighting is perfect: it’s soft and consistent across the display, very much like the ATS-909X.<\/p>\n

Audio<\/h3>\n

Audio from the internal speaker is good. It’s in the same league with most similarly-priced competitors.<\/p>\n

Receiver performance<\/h3>\n

Keeping in mind that I’ve only logged a few days of listening time on the ATS-405, I do have some initial impressions about receiver performance across the bands:<\/p>\n

\"Sangean-ATS-405-RightSide\"<\/a>

Right side view (click to enlarge)<\/p><\/div>\n

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

On a positive note, I believe FM performance is quite good. Perhaps not in the same league with my PL-660 or PL-680, but still the Sangean offers above-average sensitivity. I was able to pick up my distant benchmark FM stations with ease, though to help with the signal lock, I had to switch from stereo to mono reception.<\/p>\n

AM\/Mediumwave<\/strong><\/p>\n

AM reception is a bit of a mixed bag. I find that the ‘405’s overall sensitivity and selectivity are quite good for broadcast band listening.<\/p>\n

When I first tuned around on the AM broadcast band, however, I found the noise floor a little too\u00a0high. Regardless of\u00a0whether I was tuned in to a station or not, there was an ever-present high-pitched hiss, like\u00a0static. It was quite disappointing, especially since I read a review by Jay Allen that really complimented the AM performance on the ATS-405.<\/p>\n

I trust Jay’s reviews, however, so I promptly contacted him.\u00a0Jay pointed out that the problem may be that I was\u00a0listening in the default “wide” filter setting on AM. And indeed, he was right–though I had changed filter settings a few times while tuned to local stations, I had moved it back to wide and didn’t make note of this. (The ATS-405, by the way, has three filter settings: wide, medium and narrow.)<\/p>\n

\"Sangean-ATS-405-LeftSide\"<\/a>

Left side view (click to enlarge)<\/p><\/div>\n

But the wide setting is really too<\/em> wide, and was certainly the source for the bulk of the high-pitched hiss I heard. The best filter setting for most broadcast band listening is the middle position, which sounds like a 5-6 kHz filter. In the middle position, noise is decreased significantly. I also believe selecting the “music” audio tone setting helps dissipate some of the noise.<\/p>\n

Regarding\u00a0the noise floor: to be clear, I still feel like the noise level is slightly<\/em> more noticeable, to my ear, on the ATS-405\u00a0than on the\u00a0PL-660, PL-600, and PL-310ET when band-scanning or weak signal listening. This is most likely some\u00a0internally-generated noise that somehow still meets Sangean’s engineering spec.<\/p>\n

Local AM stations sound fantastic, and the ATS-405 can detect\u00a0all of my benchmarks. AM audio fidelity is better than that of my PL-660 and, even, PL-310ET. When locked on a local station, the noise floor also seems to disappear.\u00a0For some reason, I even find that the ATS-405 does a better job receiving\u00a0local AM stations from indoors\u2013even near noisy electronics\u2013than other sub-$100 portables with which I’m familiar.<\/p>\n

Uh-oh,\u00a0birdies<\/strong><\/p>\n

The most disappointing discovery I made\u00a0on the Sangean’s AM broadcast band is that it has DSP birdies.\u00a0Birdies<\/em> are internally-generated noises\u00a0resulting from the outputs of the oscillators that form part of the DSP receiver circuit. While almost all receivers do have birdies somewhere in the receiver’s reception range, radio engineers try to\u00a0keep them out of the way of the important parts of the band.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, my ATS-405 has\u00a0strong<\/em> DSP birdies on 800 and 1600 kHz.<\/strong> This is a big negative for me, since my favorite regional AM broadcast station is located on 1600 kHz (WTZQ<\/a>). Rather than attempting to describe what the birdies sound like, here are a few\u00a0audio clips that will give you an idea\u2013I start with 1350 AM, which has no birdies and is representative of good AM reception:<\/p>\n

WZGM 1350 kHz (broadcast sample with no birdie):<\/strong><\/p>\nhttp:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/WZGM-1350kHz.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

800 kHz (birdie on frequency with no broadcast signal):<\/strong><\/p>\nhttp:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/NoSignal-800kHz.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

WTZQ 1600 kHz (birdie on broadcast signal):<\/strong><\/p>\nhttp:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/WTZQ-1600kHz.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

The ATS-405’s birdies\u00a0almost sound like a jamming signal on 1600 kHz. \u00a0Indeed,\u00a0if this station were only located on a different frequency, I’m sure\u00a0it\u00a0would be quite audible on this radio…too bad.<\/p>\n

Birdies on 800 and 1600 kHz may very well be deal-breakers for many of us. Again, since one of my favorite regional independent broadcasters is on 1600 kHz, it’s a deal-breaker for me.<\/p>\n

Jay specifically mentioned a lack of birdies on the AM broadcast band in his review. It could very well be that he doesn’t hear them on his particular receiver\u2013variations in quality control\u00a0on a radio production line are certainly a real phenomena (the Grundig G3<\/a> is a case in point). This could indicate that some units may have pronounced birdies while others don’t. If you purchase an ATS-405, I would check to see if your unit has birdies after powering it up.<\/p>\n

When I contacted an engineer for Sangean North America, and described my listening experience, he confirmed that\u00a0he believed these are, indeed, DSP birdies.\u00a0I may ask\u00a0Sangean if they can send another ATS-405 for comparison.<\/p>\n

On a more positive note, I checked harmonics in the HF\/shortwave bands and heard no DSP birdies there.<\/p>\n

Country of origin?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Sangean-ATS-405--BottomView\"<\/a>

Bottom view with charge and keylock mechanical switches (click to enlarge)<\/p><\/div>\n

One additional\u00a0question I posed to Sangean: where is the ATS-405 made? One reader\u00a0told me the radios are produced in both Taiwan and<\/em> China. Thinking variations in quality control may be accounted for by two different production lines, I checked my radio to see where it was made. Unfortunately, my unit has no mention of country of origin<\/em>; not on the radio, the box, the manual, behind the battery cover, nor on the back stand. It’s possible it could<\/em> be marked internally, but I didn’t want to take apart a receiver I’ve been loaned.<\/p>\n

Sangean came back with a firm answer:<\/p>\n

“I can confirm that the ATS-405, along with all our radios, are manufactured in China. We have an office in Taipei for engineering, sales, marketing and customer support.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Not a big surprise here; I expected China was the country of origin.<\/p>\n

To sum up AM performance:<\/strong> if you aren’t bothered by the birdies on 800 and 1600 kHz,\u00a0or if your unit isn’t producing them,\u00a0you’ll find the ATS-405 a capable little AM broadcast band\u00a0receiver.<\/p>\n

Shortwave<\/h3>\n

Our HF propagation conditions since last Friday (when I first turned on the ATS-405) have been poor. Other than a few short band openings, I’ve struggled to hear anything other than the normal blow-torch broadcasters we hear in North America.\u00a0Still, bad propagation conditions are actually good for reviewing some aspects of a shortwave receiver, so I used the opportunity.<\/p>\n

In terms of sensitivity on the shortwave bands, I think the ATS-405 is mediocre. It lags behind my Tecsun PL-660, PL-600, PL-310ET, and CC Skywave. Adding a clip-on wire antenna to the telescoping whip (there is no aux antenna port) does help in terms of sensitivity.<\/p>\n

Since I do most of my listening on the shortwave bands, this, too, is\u00a0a deal-breaker for me. If you primarily listen to stronger shortwave stations, or spend most of your time on the FM\/AM bands, then you might still consider the ATS-405.<\/p>\n

The ATS-405’s selectivity seems to be on par with my other DSP-based portables. In truth, though, band conditions have been so unfavorable, I don’t feel like I’ve had ample opportunity to test selectivity. I’ll likely follow up this initial review with an update.<\/p>\n

And as on\u00a0medium wave, the noise floor on the shortwave bands seems a little high to me\u2013especially with the filter set to\u00a0the “wide” position.<\/p>\n

Cool, innovative features<\/h2>\n

While I clearly haven’t been wowed by the ATS-405’s shortwave performance, I have been more favorably impressed with some of its innovative features: specifically, the ability to control\u00a0squelch, tuning mute, and soft mute.<\/p>\n

\"Sangean-ATS-405-Keypad\"Using the menu button (see image above), you can engage or disengage the tuning mute and soft mute by pressing the “2” or “3” buttons on the keypad, then using the tuning up\/down buttons to toggle these features on and off.\u00a0Squelch works the same way, using the “1” button and volume control to set the threshold.<\/p>\n

This menu\u00a0control works regardless whether the radio is turned on or off.<\/p>\n

Of course, by using the menu button and the keypad, you can also control the ‘405’s tuning steps, AGC, clock, and backlighting functionality; each of\u00a0these are marked in green next to the appropriate button on the keypad (see image above), a very useful feature.<\/p>\n

I wish other radio manufacturers would give users the ability to control some of the DSP chip’s built-in functionality, as the ‘405 does with the muting–especially since over-active soft muting has been the downfall of several DSP-based radios. Thanks for trail-blazing, Sangean!<\/p>\n

Summary<\/h2>\n

Invariably, all radios have strengths and weaknesses; here is a list of my notes from the moment I put the ATS-405\u00a0on the air:<\/p>\n

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