Customer Reviews

Denon S-32 Internet Radio with Built-in Speakers and 2-Alarm Clock

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I did a lot of research before I got this unit. It came down between the Philips Streamium and the Denon S32. I decided to go with the S32 because of past experiences with Philips - they make awesome products, but they have the nasty habit of canceling production AND pulling all support (Many years ago - 14 to be exact - I had a Philips Nino PDA, and all of a sudden: bye-bye! from the company!) Unlike other folks, I did read the description of this product, so I did not expect a CD nor a DVD player (weird!)

The pros: Internet radio, ability to create favorites lists - so it adds a semblance of organization to the thousands of radio stations that you can end up with! News from around the World, in their original languages. I speak several languages and this is a great way to keep the practice up! Deep rich sound, not over bassy like other systems. I love the high contrast white led display - I can read it from almost any angle (while in bed - perfect!) and you can always dim it if you think is too bright. I also really like the sleep function, I like to read before going to sleep and this function serves as a reminder!

The cons: no Mac support! What up with this???!!! Even though it says: "Plays audio stored on PC or Macintosh computers..." NOT true... I read the instructions, top to bottom and unless I missed something (or I was having too many drinks!) I did not find any mention whatsoever of Mac, anywhere, at all! - that's the 1st star off. The 2nd star off comes because of poor WiFi reception. It comes with a bitty 3db antenna, come on, for the price, they could've thrown in at least a 7db antenna! I have a "Chumby" ([...]) which is also a WiFi radio player (of sorts) and this bitty thing has much better reception than the S32 unit; I solved the problem by getting an Airport Express and extending the coverage of my Airport Extreme... kind of disappointed about the reception issue (but solved by spending $100 extra!) Another fact, but I do not consider it a negative (more or less) is that I cannot charge my iPhone on the S32 - kind of silly, when almost all iPod products coming out these days CAN charge the iPhone - but then I appreciate the peace and quiet of not having a phone in my room when I go to sleep!

Overall: Highly recommend it!

I am a tech guy and don't mind if it is difficult to setup as long as it works as described. This things menu system is not easy to use.
The manual is not well written.
Seems like some executives told some employees to add all these tech features to the radio but the employees did not understand how the tech worked.
Maybe my expectations were too high, but then the price of this item would tend to make someone have high expectations.
I didn't even get to test the ipod which I have read on here about some big cons.
Here are mine...

Pros:
Looks good
Has lots of features
Compact
Comes with a remote
Internet radio works
2 Alarms
Got on the gold box deal

Cons:
Sound Quality not even close to my 10 year old altec lansing computer speakers
Display not good
Does not work with Macs unless you buy twonky
Denon's web site states it works with iTunes, but it does not
PC Music through twonky works poorly and it unusable on a mac
Could not get wifi to work only ethernet
Jog wheel a pain to use to enter wifi password
Bass-XT - what bass? and no way to adjust
Spatial EQ - only automatic? no way to adjust.
Poor Interface and menu system
Internet radio does not show bit rate - you can hear that the bit rate is low but would be nice to see it so you can skip that station.
No time shown while playing music.

Some defects. I just expected better from Denon.
It is going back.

The Denon S-32 is a versatile unit that contains an AM-FM radio, iPod / iPhone dock, Internet streaming radio, uPNP streaming music from a local computer or storage device, and Rhapsody player. I have had opportunity to check out most of the features except for Rhapsody, with some comments below:

AM-FM requires use of included external antennas. FM reception is adequate, but not as good as other FM radios I own; I have not really had much reason to test the AM section. The AM-FM section feels like an afterthought, but may come in handy on occasion.

iPod / iPhone Dock - iPod dock works great with my 6th Gen. Classic, and work but will not charge my iPhone 3G. The major functions I use most often (artist / album / genre, shuffle, playlists) work seamlessly on the Denon.

Internet Streaming - the S-32 gets its list of Internet station from the 3rd party vTuner service through the radiodenon web site. There are an estimated 7000 stations / podcats available, and the radiodenon site allows users to manually add stations missing from the current list or suggest additions to VTuner. I asked vTuner about the availability of a specific ESPN podcast that was missing, and received a response within a day that the podcast would be added to the list. I'm hoping I can figure out a way to add channels like Live365 / Slacker / Pandora that are available on the competing Logitech Squeezebox Boom Wi-Fi Internet Radio, but even without these I cannot complain about the variety of channels available. (Note: the S-32 can currently listen to stations in MP3 and WMA format; Real streams like the BBC feeds are not available.)

uPNP Streaming - I was able to connect the S-32 to my music library on a Synology Network Attached Storage (NAS) with uPNP server. Unfortunately, this feature does not support shuffle play and is slower / clunkier than using my iPod with the same music files. I also had several instances where the S-32 was unable to connect to the uPNP server or rebooted while trying to do so.

*Edit - the Denon S-32 documentation does not note any compatibility with uPNP, but instead specifies a computer running XP and WMP 11. I'll let others reviewers note how the Denon works with the recommended music server setup.

Sound - usually quite good considering the physical size of the unit, but on some music the sound can get a get "boomy." This unit would benefit greatly from some sort of bass and treble adjustment.

Other - this unit is a beast, weighing in at over 13 pounds, and has no battery option; I will lug it out to my patio or garage on occasion, but this unit is best as a stationary tabletop radio. The remote is fine, and the backlit display is a nice feature.

Overall - I'm pleased with feature set of the S-32, though I'm hoping that future firmware updates will improve the performance of uPNP streaming. It certainly helped that I was able to take advantage of a great Black Friday deal on the S-32, but even at regular price it is worth a look. Compare this radio to the Logitech Squeezebox products and see what features of each appeal to you.

Edit - I've now had the opportunity to compare this to the Squeezebox Boom. The Denon can get louder before distorting, though at moderate volume levels both sound pretty good. It also has an iPod dock the Squeezebox lacks. But the Squeezebox is more portable, has a better display, includes bass and treble adjustments, offers services like Live365 and the BBC that the Denon lacks, and IMHO has a much better user interface. The Squeezebox also does such a good job at streaming my music collection that an iPod doesn't really seem necessary anymore. The Denon is still a 4-star unit, but in comparison the Squeezebox Boom gets a solid 5 stars from me.

This item sucked up hours of time in frustration before I returned it. The instructions are printed on vast white pages at a microscopic size, they don't answer any questions - they just make it look easy. Until you try and follow them that is. The interface for inputting an encryption Key is difficult to use and takes a very careful procedure not to make a mistake. There is not way to double check your input string. My encryption key is long (generated by my router) and the Denon interface could not display all the characters. I never got it to connect to the wireless even though I have successfully and easily connected two other computers, an Xbox, a Wii, and two phones.

It docks an iPod just fine but the sound quality was far below what was advertised. My default car stereo sounds much better, and it didn't work with the iPhone. It also doesn't charge your iPod when on the dock from what I understand.

Very poor user design and a sad musical experience.

After watching the price on this unit bounce around dramatically for a few months, it finally dropped below my trigger price so I ordered it. I have used it for a bit over a month now. I needed a new alarm clock and that is actually it's primary purpose. I wanted the network media player as well so this unit fit the bill perfectly.

I am moderaterly to highly tech savy. Our whole home is networked with a combination of wired and wireless. I am using the S-32 in wireless mode as I don't have any network outlets in my bedroom. When I first set up the S-32 I was easily able to setup the correct the network settings and passkey to connect to my wireless router. I don't understand why several reviewers had problems with this. After it sucessfully connected to the network, I however was unable to find my media libraries or any internet radio. After a few seconds of thought and quickly flipping through the manual, I ran a firmware update (which took about 20 minutes to complete). Once the updates (there were 3) completed, I "rebooted" and was immediately able to connect to the vast selection of internet radio stations and my local media libraries and the media directory on my Windows Home Server.

Sound quality is decent. I would describe the sound a very natural. It it not overly bright or boomy. My bedroom is about 16'x20' with high (12'+) ceilings, so there is a lot of volume to fill with sound and the S-32 does an excelent job of this at both low and high volumes. Don't get me wrong, you aren't going to get the performance of a receiver running seperate full range speakers, but for a boxed unit I am very happy.

I don't listen to any AM, so can't comment on that reception. The FM reception is excelent, as good as or better than any other radio in my house, including the Terk (non amplified) antenna I have on my main receiver. I don't use an I pod, but the dock worked with my kids varoius I-pods (classics and latest gen Nano).

There are two seperate alarm times than can be used and they are very eary to set and select one or both to be active. I like the fact you can select ANY source (AM/FM/net radio/local music/ipod) to use as your alarm, or just use the built-in buzzer. The volume for each alarm is also independantly adjustable. When the alarm sounds, it does so in an escalating volume, up to the maximum you set it at.

The favorites (basically memory stations) can be a mix of any source the S-32 supports, so I can flip from FM to internet radio to local network music in one button. There are also additional conventional AM/FM presets when using those modes.

The drawbacks I have have encountered are few. With hundreds of artists and albums on my server, it can take a bit of time to browse though the library (there is no "accelerated" seek function). The hierarchy is intuitave, but the time it takes to scroll though several hundered artists to get to the one I want can be a bit frustrating. I will probably set up paylists to help alleviate this. The only other improvemnt I would like to have seen in on the display. It is backlit and while the brightness is adjustable (3 levels) the contract diminishes significantly as you select the dimmer settings, disproportionately with the brightness. This means on the dimmest setting, in a dark room, the backlight lights up the room a little more than I like, but with the reduced contrast, it makes the display harder to read, especially when grogily waking up in the middle of the night and glancing to check the time.

Overall I am satisfied with the Denon S-32. I would buy it again (at it's current price) and reccomend it to others.

The radio is excellent. Control of the alarm volume, from minimal to violently loud, is perfect. I was amazed at the accessability and variety of internet radio. The product came quickly and as described by the seller. Their is high end distortion (minimally) as extreme volumes, but considering the price and size this is an excellent unit.

I bought this radio with some hesitancy, because I live in an apartment building that has thick concrete walls that limit everything from digital television signals to cell phone signals to standard broadcast radio signals. I am temporarily "borrowing" internet access from a neighbor's WiFi, and the signal is marginal when it comes to surfing the web with my computer. For that reason, I doubted that I would get much benefit from the internet radio capability of this unit, but decided to go ahead with the purchase based on other capabilities (and because of the Denon name.) Much to my delight, the internet radio receiver on this Denon works surprisingly well, even at limited signal strength, so I can listen to a huge variety of stations from across the country and around the world.

I'm really impressed with the sound quality of this unit. The speakers provide a huge, clear sound that rivals more expensive (e.g. Bose) brands that I've listened to. The iPod dock works well with my daughter's two year old Nano without needing any adaptor, and the remote control works well with it.

The only challenge that I have when using this radio is when I try to read the display from more than a few feet away when changing stations or functions. However, this is due to my 55 year old eyesight more than anything else and I'm not sure that any of the competitor's radios would fare any better in this regard. The three line display (larger middle line plus smaller point size display lines above and below) is reasonably large and clear, and uses icons as well as text for identifying modes and functions. I'm not sure I would want something in my living room with a huge (obnoxious) LCD.

All-in-all, this radio has exceeded all of my expectations in the 2 months that I've been using it, and the sound is amazing!

This is a great internet radio, although it allows you to listen to a lot more than these preprogrammed internet radio stations. Overall, the setup is not too difficult, finding the stations is OK once you know what you are looking for. You will have to figure out where best to store the stations you want to listen to so you can easier find them; for example if you want to listen to FM radio and internet radio, you can store both in the favorite folder.
The sound quality is good at low sound levels. It would use a little more power if you wan to use this to entertain. The display could be a bit bigger. If you have to go through several menus to find what you are looking for, a bigger display could help. However, that's generally not a problem once you know where your favorite stations are and how to get there.
At startup, it always takes a bit of time till the internet radio starts up. Of course, the radio has to talk to the router back and forth but for some reason, my laptop is 10 times faster in doing that. Once connected, it works great, we never had any buffer problems or sound distortions, it works like a charm.
In summary, it's a great product, I am glad I bought it and would do so again.

This thing is cool. Pretty easy to use. I couln't ever get it to connect to a secure network, but unsecure was pretty easy. I was hoping th iPod dock would work for a normal MP3 player which it will not. No big deal though. It comes with free 90 membership to Rhapsody, which for some reason keeps disconnecting from the server, so no subscriptin to Rhapasody for me. Other than the above listed minor issues I love it. Sounds great, and has tons of features. I would wait for a special though, don't know if I would pay $500 for it.

Low ipod volume? wifi radio hard to use? No dvd player? I dont know what this user is talking about. To begin with the unit does not come with a dvd player, the volume is lound and crisp and while the radio takes a little getting used to it works fine. My biggest issue is the fact that I was not able to use my ipod itouch 2nd generation. I was able to use my first generation itouch. All in all this unit is well worth the price.