Imperial Dabman i200 Black

Most helpful reviews

• 4 / 5 stars

  8,4/10

  Good radio with room for (software) improvements

  Karel van Cooten | 17 March 2017 | Color: Brown | Automatically translated from Dutch

  • good sound quality
  • nice design (remains a matter of taste)
  • software could be better
  • too few (5!) favorite stations (per FM/DAB+/internet)
  • volume control is too coarse (16 steps)

  If ex. As a sound engineer at the public broadcaster and also as the owner of my own sound studio, I am quite critical when it comes to sound. But I must say that this radio has a nice sound. Clear and warm, without sounding woolly. The FM reception is not very good, but that's not what I bought the radio for. However, the DAB+ reception is also not optimal. Actually, this is not due to the radio itself, but to the DAB+ standard, which is less well thought-out than everyone would have us believe. For example, I live 7.6 km from the Zwolle channel, which broadcasts the public channels with 8kW. I can even see the mast from the window. Despite this short distance, the DAB+ signal comes in with only 2 out of 5 field strength bars. Enough for undisturbed digital reception, but it certainly won't last. For the commercial channels I have to rely on the Markelo channel, which is too much to ask with 31 km away: no or faltering reception. Fortunately, the telescopic antenna of this radio is equipped with an F connector, so that you can connect an external antenna with a coaxial cable. But if DAB+ is to become the successor to FM, this really shouldn't be necessary. With a wired internet connection I receive all internet stations without any hitches. What is strange is that if you can receive tens of thousands of stations via the internet, you can only store 5 favorites in the software. Because the remote control has the numeric 0-9 keys, I can certainly use 00-99 for internet radio. The history may also be expanded, or better still, be adjustable. Now only the last 10 stations are remembered. Furthermore, the volume control with 16 steps is much too coarse. This is now done in steps of 6dB. So one setting is too hard and a notch too soft. Despite all the criticism, I am mostly positive about this radio. Especially because many issues can be solved with a simple software update. Let's just hope that the manufacturer is willing to invest time in that.

  Karel van Cooten | 17 March 2017 | Color: Brown | Automatically translated from Dutch
• 5 / 5 stars

  9,6/10

  After software update I am very satisfied

  Bert Bouwhuis | 12 September 2018 | Color: Black | Automatically translated from Dutch

  • Many playback options
  • Good sound
  • Remote control via telephone possible
  • Software update is really an improvement
  • Antenna cannot be aligned 360 degrees

  I bought this radio on 06/16/'18, because my cable provider stops transmitting analog radio signal via cable. I was only moderately satisfied with it. The only thing that really worked well was the internet radio and music playback from a USB stick.
  On 13-09-'18 I downloaded and installed a software update and now I have 'a completely different radio'. The reception via DAB+ has improved considerably, I now also receive more channels. In all radio modes I can now save more than 5 favorites and the screen now (with internet radio) not only shows the logo of the station, but also the 'RDS information'. Also not unimportant: the volume control has been improved. After the update, your radio will be back to 'factory setting', so you have to set everything again. But I thought it was well worth it!
  
  So my advice is: definitely do that software update:
  * Download the file from https://telestar.de/produkt/dabman-i200-2/ (Click there on 'Software'. It is in German, but you can simply switch to Dutch on the radio afterwards).
  * Extract the files to a formatted USB stick and then insert that stick into the radio.
  * On the radio, open the menu, choose 'Settings' and then 'Software update'. The update starts automatically.
  * After the update is complete, disconnect the radio from the power for a while and then turn it on again.
  * Reinstall all your preferences according to the user manual.

  Bert Bouwhuis | 12 September 2018 | Color: Black | Automatically translated from Dutch
• 5 / 5 stars

  10/10

  Lots of functionality for a relatively low price

  Filip Van Cauwenberghe | 4 July 2016 | Color: Brown | Automatically translated from Dutch

  • nice design
  • Easy operation
  • Great Sound
  • Dutch menu and manual
  • You have to reset sleep timer every time
  • No 5GHZ
  • Wind speed is in mph and cannot be changed to kmh

  I bought the Dabman I200 for my retired parents to replace an FM radio with poor reception in their kitchen. FM reception on the Dabman was better than the old device but it is now set up as Internet radio via WIFI and after 1 month of use they are very satisfied with it. Plan A was to use the DAB+ reception, but it was not clean in the place where they really want their radio. In other places in the house, the DAB + reception was ok.
  
  The biggest assets are the classic design and once set up the ease of use with 5 presets for the channels, a large rotary knob for the sound and a simple on/off button at the back. The sound from the 2x10W speakers is nice and deep and you can still adjust the timbre to a number of “Equalizer” settings such as Rock, Jazz, Classic etc.. On the screen you see either the color logo of the channel or the name of the channel. program, artist and song being played. A nice tool is the 5-day weather forecast with color icons for min/max temperatures, air pressure, humidity, chance of rain, UV index and wind speed, although the latter is unfortunately in Miles. There is also a page with stock prices but it is not much.
  
  The Dabman starts up quickly from standby, it takes 4 seconds to start the streaming. From power-on it takes 40 seconds and this is fast for something that is still a small computer but for some 79 year olds this is a bit too long.
  
  Setup is easy with the supplied remote control. There is also an “Air Music Control” App but this is more of a gadget that you have to be patient with. The sleep timer function seemed to me to be a handy tool, which automatically shuts down the device after a period that can be set, but unfortunately you have to set this again each time.
  
  And ***€ is not little, but compared to other devices with the same functionality, this is not too bad. Because of the price/quality it gets 5 stars from me.

  Filip Van Cauwenberghe | 4 July 2016 | Color: Brown | Automatically translated from Dutch
• 4 / 5 stars

  8,4/10

  Top device for a great price

  • Price
  • Sound
  • Aux in and Audio out

  Just put in your WiFi password and you're done! Listen to digital radio DAB+ or Spotify at the touch of a button. Ideal for the kitchen or in the garden.

  Thames Tol | 25 July 2018 | Automatically translated from Dutch
• 5 / 5 stars

  10/10

  Exactly what I was looking for

  • Ease
  • Power on speed
  • App via phone works perfectly

  Connect to your internet via cable or WiFi, choose which part of the world you want to have music from and crystal clear reception. Dab and fm not even tried, installed via the internet.

  Rob Tromp | 23 April 2016 | Color: Brown | Automatically translated from Dutch
• 5 / 5 stars

  9,6/10

  Recommended

  • Beautiful design
  • nice sound
  • Easy installation

  Simple, high quality, beautiful

  Auke Kieffer | 2 November 2016 | Color: Brown | Automatically translated from Dutch
• 4.5 / 5 stars

  9,2/10

  Definitely recommended, cool radio. Excellent quality/price.

  • Beautiful design
  • Good sound
  • A lot of channels
  • FM, DAB and Internet radio in 1!
  • Only 5 favorites per radio type can be programmed
  • No battery/battery

  It took some time to program the radio but is quite intuitive to do. Because of Internet radio access to a huge number of stations worldwide. Unfortunately no battery or battery so you have to reprogram the radio when you remove the plug

  Henk Nijland | 7 November 2016 | Color: Black | Automatically translated from Dutch
• 4.5 / 5 stars

  8,8/10

  Nice simple radio for hobby room for example

  • Many possibilities
  • Compact
  • Feels solid
  • Bright display

  Nice little radio with many reception options and playback via network and USB. And easy to operate and set up. No hi-fi, but ideal radio for hobby room and the like.

  Bert Knol | 31 January 2017 | Color: White | Automatically translated from Dutch
• 3.5 / 5 stars

  6,8/10

  Lots of playback options but sound quality is disappointing.

  • Playback options DAB, WIFI, FM, own media network devices
  • Dual alarm function
  • Design is retro but still ok
  • Solid control buttons
  • Remote control + GSM app
  • Sound quality
  • Based on the Coolblue choice, the references and the price, I expected a better sound color
  • Reliability alarm clock
  • Snooze function is limited
  • App not for Windows GSM

  I had bought this radio as a radio alarm clock because of the poor selection on the market for clock radios. My wish was to wake up to a pleasantly full sounding radio. I was willing to invest extra in clearly intelligible news and pleasant sound quality for music before and after the news. Dozing off at night with our favorite music from the hard drive on the home network was a motivator to now put aside my old clock radio. But apparently we had set the bar a bit high. Playback options correctly meet the needs, but the sound quality and the alarm clock are disappointing. All equilizer options deliver a dull to very dull sound. High tones are completely filtered out. Speech (even speech at equalizer mode) remains difficult to understand unless the volume is turned all the way up, but music is then experienced much too loud at this volume level. In terms of alarm clock, I still haven't managed to snooze with the radio after waking up via the beep function (and be alarmed again with the beep after 10 minutes.

  Wim De la Marche | 6 August 2017 | Color: Brown | Automatically translated from Dutch
• 5 / 5 stars

  10/10

  the radio technology of the future

  • Unbelievable so many channels
  • Easy installation
  • Ease of use
  • A bit on the expensive side

  Such a great radio. All in one. DAB, internet radio and you name it. Since I grew up in French, I can listen to my favorite (French) channels. My mother was so enthusiastic that she immediately bought the radio. It was a tragedy that the French channel France Inter as of January 1, 2017 no longer broadcast via AM, but via DAB and the internet. She was inconsolable, but after purchasing this product she is completely happy again! So if you are an avid radio listener, I say do it!

  Charly Kouwenhoven | 9 February 2017 | Color: Black | Automatically translated from Dutch