Pure Sirocco 550 music combo Pure has pumped out tabletop digital radios and pocket portables for yonks, but largely avoided micro hi-fi. The notable execptions being its DMX and Legato products a few years ago, the inexpensive DAB-equipped Sirocco 150 in 2009, and this new 550 model. Pure Sirocco 550 Beat combo: Pure's Sirocco 550 Compared to its …
I bought a dmx 2 yrs a go for my girlfriend. What a joke the thing stopped playing CDs after a month. known bug and it took ages for Pure to replace the unit agian that went wrong same problem and then they finally replaced with a leagato. No idea if thats still going though. Sound was ok not Audiophile quality but better than most in the price bracket.
But certainly not fir for purpose if it wont play CDS.
Thankfully our second DMX-50 (first one ate a CD, only regurgitated at factory) is still going strong, but the firmware is pretty shonky really. Things like the mp3 playback were clearly afterthoughts, and stability is not its forte, especially with the most recent firmware (ironically). Needless to say, on questioning the chance of bug fixes, the unit turned out to be classic abandonware. Courteous staff at Pure once you get past the boilerplate "Your unit is faulty and will need to be returned" front-line response, but ultimately supporting a product their heart clearly isn't in.
I can't really see any excuse for not offering a wide (and even user-expandable) range of codec support for anything above the most basic unit. If the speakers aren't up to much either then this is essentially just a tidy little wireless gateway to your music collection and you ought to be able to store that in whatever format tickles your aural fancy.
And a line-in socket on the front of little units like this offends me to the depths of my soul. I have no idea why. What's wrong with putting it on the back? If you're going to be plugging a variety of things in and out all the time then leave a cable plugged in.
Is it just me?
It's just me, isn't it?
You can listen to DAB radio. But you can't record it, evidently.
On a netbook you can add Freeview television and radio with a cheap USB stick adapter, and you may be able to record, although playback can be tricky - I record on TV set-top devices and I use VLC to replay video and smplayer for radio, although one of two identical-looking boxes doesn't produce compatible recordings. And, since I'm in Scotland, nearly all the Freeview radio services are stopped when Gaelic-language television is broadcasting.
I'm not aware of anyone presently selling a USB receiver for DAB radio, but Pure's Evoke-3 radio (£200) has a USB 1 file interface.
Another DMX-50 owner with a dead CD player here, now using a 1989 vintage Sony player via AUX 1 on the PURE. Oh, mine loses its memory now and again, so I have to reflash the firmware. Seems like British Leyland's modus operandi; good concept, poor execution. Amazon reviews show other PURE products with the CD issue so I certainly wouldn't buy another.
Yes you could get the same functionality with netbook plus other bits but it's a lot clunkier and not everyone wants their living room to look like PCWorld.
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