Xiegu X6100 Audio Receive Examples. Comparison to Icom IC-705. Xiegu X6100 sounds like GARBAGE?
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- PLEASE NOTE: The frequency being off by 10k was corrected by reloading the firmware (latest as of 12/11/21). Other issues (NR) are still apparent.
I will be the first to tell you, I am doing my best to compare the sounds of the radios as well as show you the sound of the 6100 alone (Skip to 4:39 seconds for a demonstration of the noise reduction mess). If there is something I missed or could improve on, I will be happy to help.
Let me know what YOU think about the audio below!
The radio is updated with the latest firmware.
Thanks for the suggestions all. A couple of IMPORTANT notes: 1. The current firmware (as of Dec 14th), seems to have a few issues: A. If your frequency goes off 10khz, Factory reset should fix the issue B. This HELPED (but did not resolve the Vibrato tone in the audio on NR). 2. The x6100, when shutoff, will turn your bandwidth settings back to 2700 from whatever you set them too (i originally had them at 2400). I just wanted to point them out. Thank You all for your amazing comments.
For a radio for less than half the price of the 705, which BTW has the audacity to NOT include a tuner for that price, I basically don't care how the X6100 sounds. The X6100 is a great "alternative QRP" radio. Putting the cost savings over the 705 into an MPAS antenna system makes for a cost effective package.
Best of luck with the radio.
Did you get the MPAS 2.0 by any chance ? I got it with the CAP HAT and use it with the FT-891 and I have made contacts all over the world with it on 20M especially and just last night on 17m to Brazil. Even got Australia a couple of times on 20m.
I have 4 radials and noticed an improvement in performance vs 1 radial.
The MPAS 2.0 is a very quiet antenna too and Great for SWL.
The FT-891 has absolutely amazing receive audio with headphones, superb low noise floor, unbelievable for the price. I sold my 7300 and got the FTDX-10 couldn't take the harsh audio any more, the 891 sounds so much better, don't miss the 7300 at all.
IC705 all the way. That glued in battery is a big bag of nope for me.
I won't be getting rid of that 705 anytime soon, that's for sure..
Agreed. So far, from what I've seen and heard of this 6100, it's an almost total flop IMHO. I will not be getting one and that's a shame because I really wanted one. My IC-705 is absolutely fantastic and worth every penny I paid. Well worth it.
I am personally torn between the Ic 705 and Lab Discovery 500. I am looking for hf only but the price difference makes the 705 more appealing as it covers more than hf but the metal case of the Lab discovery makes it attractive, it seems to be very tough compared to the plastic of the 705.
@@kylefreemason it is a very tough choice. I think if you’re a rugged adventurer the 599 will be your radio. If you’re just a POTA/SOTA op the 705 will be good.
@@n2rj SOTA usually means tough environment, conditions, that's why I prefer the TX-500. But the 705 is a nice rig as well, just not intended to be operated in heavy rain and snow.
One thing I found with my x5105 I didn't like the audio / receiver that came out of the box. I ended up picking up a cheap $10 bluetooth speaker from Walmart with a battery in it and an aux port. It works extremely well to help produce much better quality audio from that radio. It seemed the 5105 was both overdriving the audio preamp as well as overdriving the tiny speaker in it. By setting the volume of my radio to 50% then controlling the volume on the speaker it sounded like a whole new radio. You may want to test that with the x6100 as well it's possible it has the same issue.
Nice job as always Dude! I have to admit that I have been super excited about the release of this radio and have been looking forward to receiving it by the end of the year in the second release batch. However, I am seriously considering cancelling the order due to all of the issues that are being reported in reviews. Thanks for your honest reviews Sir! 73, KF6IF
With the SDR transceivers, software is as important as hardware, it's hard to tell which one to blame (or both). RX is bad but TX splattering is also very noticeable, about 10 kHz with the PTT release!
Excellent comment! Thank you. You're right.. it is hard to tell if it's software or hardware.. I guess time will tell. My thought process with the frequency being off 10K is we could do an adjustment like you would do with a sdr like a hack rf. But you are right it could definitely be hardware as well. What I understand you saying though is you definitely hear issues as well?
@@HAMRADIODUDE From your video, in my opinion the NR in the Xiegu is really bad and distorted, either it is badly implemented or it's a shitty algorithm. The NR in the 705 is OK, not a great improvement but doesn't make the audio worse. Check the NR of the BMI speakers or the FT-DX10 to listen to a good NR for ham radio.
Hey thanks! I agree. One thing I just thought of, in one of my other videos, the NR seemed better. I just realized that was with the old firmware and this test was with the new firmware, which may indicate something with the new firmware. I'm going to reload the new firmware and go to factory defaults to see if it still occurs. I appreciate it
@@HAMRADIODUDE Thanks to you! I really appreciate these review videos, is a vicarious experience of enjoying them without actually buying them.
Great video! I don't have a use case for the 6100....especially considering all of these annoying issues. I will continue to use my 20W G90. 73
I really wish I had mine still so I could do a side by side comparison. Thanks for watching. I'm just pointing out what I observe, hopefully it'll help someone or Xiegu with their product.
At times people wonder why this or that radio is so expensive, and this shows that one reason is that cheep radios do not offer the quality we have come to expect in a lot of areas of radio performance. The abilities of better radios are really amazing when you take a step away from them for a little bit.
I guess my only comment is that you’re comparing a $700 radio with a $1300 radio.
I also see a whole lot of potential in the 6100 where a hacker community could turn this thing into a real shiny star because of the Linux underpinnings where the ICOM will just sit there with zero future improvements despite it also being an SDR.
For a $700 QRP with features like the 705 (big color display, several physical buttons) but with the potential of some community software mods; I can see the 6100 become an incredible steal at its current pricing.
Great input. There's definitely a lot of potential in the radio. You're right about the 705 comparison. Thanks for the great input. I'm really looking forward to seeing what can be done with the hacker community as well. Happy new year
To be honest, ADS of Xiegu compares 6100 with ic705. Why manufacture can but regular user cannot? :-)
What's wrong with comparing a $700 radio with a $1300 radio?
It works, it’s weird, but it works lol. A user could adjust their operating to make the best of it. I have a old Kenwood that I usually have to go 10kz above or below, just something you deal with sometimes. Keep the videos coming👍
Yeah it works and it'll get you on the air. But this isn't an old Kenwood radio and out of the box I shouldn't have to do it 10K adjustment
Thanks bud, i appreciate it. I'm having fun making these videos and hopefully it helps somebody
Great vid! What made you decide to not compare the ATU performance between those 2 radios (hint hint for the 705 lovers)
The X6100 sound with NR on reminds me of NR on my TS-570S. I used to describe the 2 settings as "under water" and "more under water". The difference is the Kenwood is from the 90's when audio DSP was new. Hopefully Xiegu will ix it with an update.
Another clip I’d like to use here. Thanks for the great work dude! Keep doing what you’re doing! You’re advancing a lot of knowledge here!
Larry
Thanks Larry, take what you need. Let me know if you need anything else. I'm going to work with the 599 tx500 this week as well
Thanks for sharing your knowledge of software and tech ,I've already learned alot from your deep dive into x6100 .Keep up the great work 👍 73
Thanks for what you and T.O. are doing for the ham community by putting the X6100 under (much needed) scrutiny. How about a side by side comparison of the X5105 and X6100? Just like you did with the 705 and X6100. I'm not going to condemn Xiegu just yet. One radio that they did seem to get right was the G90. I hear a lot of good things about that radio both on RUclips and on the ham forums. I'm holding out hope that Xiegu will make this right, eventually. However as others have said, they did seem to rush this out the door "Not Ready For Prime Time.
Certainly better than against a 705. It will never compete with that.
I don't have a 5105 anymore, nor a g90.. sorry. Just comparing with what I have
G90 has horrible audio, much worse than 6100. Sold G90 due to this reason.
I own both radios as well (with current firmware). I've noticed on CW reception the X6100 distorts at even low volume. It might be better with a higher side-tone (I had it set to 600Hz), but still...when I use my 705 I'm so happy; when I use my 6100 I keep having to stop myself from chucking it as far as I can into the bushes. LOL. It's really full of little quirks and bugs. I really want to like the 6100 because I'd choose it for SOTA and hike-in/bike-in POTA because it's more compact. But at this point I'll make room for the IC-705. For hard-core light-weight ops I'll take my Penntek TR-35.
I like a clean signal and that's why I sold the x6100, for the money it's a good radio, but it didn't suit me. Other problems are when connecting the x6100 to PC and HAM programs, the display of the x6100 is almost invisible on a sunny day, digital noise reduction, etc. work strangely with the x6100, to say the least, I never achieved a good result, the result was always only a low-quality signal even without noise. For another, I don't know why I should support China, when we have stable and strong manufacturers here who have been developing radios for us radio amateurs for decades, and they are the ones who need to be supported in difficult times to develop more great radios for us radio amateurs.
The Xiegu indeed has that vibrating effect in the voice, the Icom sounds way more clear.
Noise reduction off does indeed improve the sound quality
For frequency checking you could transmit a 600Hz tone from radio A and receive on B on the same frequency, there you can measure the tone frequency to see if and how much it seems to be off. Just a hint :)
I'll do that! Thanks for the hot tip!
@@HAMRADIODUDE Good to bring this to our attention. When you testing the 600Hz audio, try to do a frequency audio sweep as well to test the bandwidth of the audio filters. As I get the feeling that the NR filter is narrower and distort the audio signal.
@@stefansweerts3825 that's a great idea. I ended up getting rid of the radio, but if I have the chance , I'll test it again and update you. Thanks!
Thank you for your Comparison between the 705 and 6100 you helped answer some of my curiosity questions between these two QRP radios! ICOM’s IHO have excellent sound on receiving! 73 K4BBC
Did you do a Cw test on this rig? I assume if ssb is this bad. Cw is prob horrid with key clicks
What an excellent Video - Thanks
Re the rx sound on these two radios, the 705 has a larger speaker, if you compared the two, but used the speaker mic. That would be a better comparison. But you expect much better audio from a radio costing twice the price of a X6100.
Wow, that IC-705 sounds good! Thanks for the comparison Dude! KD9MKO
No problem!
Yep....705 proves again why it is worth more....awesome comparison.
Double the price? Not sure about that.
I hate to sound negative, but that radio just sounds horrible. I hope there is a software fix.
I'm really hoping other 6100 owners will jump on and tell me I'm nuts or they have the same issue. I'm going to reset the radio
Your not nuts, I have same issues with my x6100. Among other weird things happening with it. I unfortunately have to return mine; The battery is bad, very bad. I wanted to like this radio so bad but hardware problems are a deal breaker for me.
Its sounds pinched compressed I've heard 300hz thru 2900hz I hope its at least 3khz wide xmit rx hopefully update will give us 4khz why not better to have and not use that not have Absolutely no reason why we can't do qrp essb ,I force my ic 705 to do mid essb with good mic mic pre amp and eq it still amazes me that 2.9 kHz can be made to sound sooo much better than 2.4khz and 4khz magic begins ...ke6iev
The Icom was in filter2 setting. The Xiegu was Filter 1. This may of made the Icom sound less harsh ..
I thought they were both at 2400 width. I will go back and test again tomorrow
It’s the Dnf adjustment.
I probably won't be replacing my IC 705 anytime soon. LOL. Maybe after a few more software upgrades, I might consider the Xiegu for the bug out bag. My older Xiegu G90's audio also does not compare with the IC 705. Icom still rules, sorry Xiegu.
Did both have the same I.F. bandwidth? What about an external speaker? I am reaching for straws on this. ICOM RX audio is much better. I assume to the best of your ability all the settings where the same or as close as possible?
2400.. I thought I mentioned that but it may have been edited out
But if there is something else you need me to test or you want me to physically show it I can make another video real quick
Can anyone help … How can I disable the Beep noise before and after someone is talking ?
Hola.
Se puede usar este equipo para CB27 AM, FM, SSB..., o es exclusivamente HF?
Gracias.
The question is, I already have a 705, how do I talk myself out of x6100?
Made in China......
Whty are we even asking the question of which is the better radio ???
Definitely couldn't be to show things to people, and hopefully allow people to maybe learn something or even just articulate their own opinion before purchasing (possibly their first) a radio (We wouldn't want an educated consumer). When I did this video, the radio just came out.... What if it was a great sounding radio? Definitely don't want to share THAT with the ham community. In this case it wasn't... Does that mean I shouldn't share that? We ask questions, we make theories, then we test them and come to conclusions. Seems pretty much what many radio enthusiasts enjoy.
My x6100 LSB sound quality is as good (except speaker size related acoustics) as your IC 705, but I hear vibration on narrow FM on 11 and 10 m.
Interesting. Thanks for the input. I no longer have the radio, but it's good to see other reports. Thanks
I immediately had the impression that Xiegu on Tx was experiencing rf returns due to mismatch of the antenna possibly? End fed are prone to give this problem. I suggest you try to tx on a dummy load close to the second radio to pick up the signal and check how it does in transmit.
Receiving side don’t know what to say..
73
I did have counterpoises in place, but I'll definitely give it a shot. I think it was caused by high mic gain .. but I'll get back with you soon. Thanks for the suggestions
Icom 👌
For sure..
4:24 definitely sounds like he's talking from within a metal container, almost like the same effect of talking into an empty metal 55 gallon drum.
The noise reduction sounding like that makes it pretty much unusable.
I agree. The latest firmware improved it, but that sound is still apparent. Maybe after the next firmware updates
not sure why you had the noise blanker NB also ON at the X6100 , maybe it was too cold .
I had it both on and off. But then after I came inside, the radio had sat for multiple days, so I'm not sure that too cold had any effect on the indoor testing. I will say that factory defaults and or firmware reinstalls resolved the off frequency issue
I tried 15 minutes my x6100 and I noticed a huge problem on 40 meters. On a big part of the 40m ham band I can clearly hear, over the amateur signals, the voices/music of the broadcast stations. Did any of you have a similar issue? I'm worried it could be a filtering issue due to defective hardware. I still need to flash the latest fw.
I hear a lot of stations which I figured were SWL as they didn't happen below 7200. I will keep an eye on it and when I hear it next, I will compare with another radio and the swl schedule
@@HAMRADIODUDE those stations were clearly the stations 30-50 kHz ahead (@7210/7250). I'm worried it could be caused by defective hw. However I tried the rig on a gap titan dx (vertical antenna). Would you be worried if you were in my shoes? :)
Please turn off machine preamplifier is OK :)
@@bi7mwv419 thank you
Buy a IC-705 and be done with it.
QRP 무전기 잘보았습니다.
Can you please test the new firmware released last week?
I have tested it and didn't make a video. However, here is a recap: the Firmware update from the 29th:
1. Wifi still functions but has DHCP issues (Nothing was really fixed)
2. Bluetooth scans and connects to bluetooth devices, but bluetooth serves no functions yet. (Cannot use your headphones for audio or use a bluetooth microphone)
3. The newest firmware took away my ability to enable IQ out.
4. DNR has been improved. There is still a wavy tone if DNR is enabled. This is better, but needs more improvement
5. They took away the 25 waterfall bandwidth. Your two options for waterfall bandwidth display are now 50 and 100.
I've never seen a firmware take away so many features. I believe this firmware was rushed for the following reason:
Companies like Radioddity and HRO needed to ship batch two and Xiegu was getting pressure from at least one of these companies (Radioddity) to get a "fix" out so the radio has the features advertised. Xiegu was rushed and hacked together whatever they could.
Other than that, I haven't tested much. This radio has gone to the side until something significant occurs.
X6100 speaker sucks, if you put an external speaker it brings it life, completely a different radio.
Turn the noise blanket off!!
Sometimes it is the interior speaker , try an external
Does anyone get audio pop’s on there 705 mine does….don’t know if it’s faulty
Are you talking about while dialing the vfo? Or just random pops
There’s an old adage that says “you get what you pay for”, which is why the IC-705 is the clear choice in this comparison. I have the 705 and it’s a great radio. I certainly don’t need any “Made in China” crap in my shack.
Thanks for the input.
You won't use this radio at all，random guesses.
It depends on if things get fixed.