Yamaha TSX-130 digital radio

The Yamaha TSX-130 digital radio incorporates an iPod dock, CD player and a USB port for playing music stored on thumb drives. The two 15W speakers and two bass reflex ports provide good audio quality, and it's capable of receiving both FM and DAB+ radio.

The Yamaha TSX-130 digital radio features an attractive design with a white chassis and a wooden top. The fascia is uncluttered, with just the two-line display, CD tray and speakers. The button panel is found on the top of the Yamaha TSX-130 and lets you access a range of functions like alarms and audio source selection.

Audio can come from five sources: iPod, USB flash drive, CD, DAB+ digital radio and FM radio. The iPod dock and USB port are both located next to each other on the top panel. You can only play MP3 and WMA tracks via USB or CD, and you can't listen to DRM-protected tracks.

The Yamaha TSX-130 digital radio only recognises USB thumb drives with FAT16 and FAT32 file systems, so if you have a drive that uses NTFS or HFS+ you will have to reformat it.

We were disappointed to find no AUX connection for audio devices to connect to the Yamaha TSX-130 digital radio. There is also no line out-port, so you can't connect it to external speakers. We'd like to see both of these features given the price tag of $749.

The included remote control is well-designed and easy to use. The buttons are responsive and it offers full menu control for connected iPods. The Yamaha TSX-130's menu is a little complicated, but the instruction manual provides excellent illustrated step-by-step instructions.

The Yamaha TSX-130 uses a 1.4m indoor wire antenna, which is less obtrusive but harder to align than the extendable ones used by digital radios like the Grundig DAB+ iPod Docking Radio (GDR710DABIP) and the Sangean DPR-99. The initial scan was thorough and found all stations available in North Sydney.

The sound quality produced by the two 3in 15W speakers is very good. Bass was strong and resonant thanks to the two reflex ports to the rear of the Yamaha TSX-130. These act as echo chambers and work well to give the lower frequencies more kick, as we found in the thumping electronic bass of "Supermassive Black Hole" by Muse.

There is excellent clarity for mid-range audio; this is especially noteworthy given that reflex ports often mask mid-range audio. The piano opening in Cold Chisel's "Khe Sanh" was accurately reproduced.

Treble is also good, but suffers from some distortion at peak volumes and very high notes. The Flower Duet from the opera Lakme is a challenge for any speaker with its high-pitched peaks, but the Yamaha TSX-130 digital radio handled it very well.

The Yamaha TSX-130 is a little more expensive than we'd like and has no auxiliary connection, but it's definitely worth a look. It is attractive and delivers very good audio, and as well as letting you listen to digital radio you can play tracks from iPods, CDs and USB thumb drives.