Do Baofeng Radios Really Sound As Bad As People Say?
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- Опубликовано: 13 сен 2024
- Often I Hear People Say Baofeng Radios Sound Like Garbage. But Do They Really? I'm Testing Audio From 10 Radios To Find Out. Can You Spot The Japanese Radios In The Lineup?
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I'm surprised - the ones that sounded crap to me on tx and rx were 5 and 8, both Yaesu radios LOL
My least favorites were also 5 and 8. Interesting, given the Yaesu pricetag . . .
Wow... I can't believe how many Baofengs I picked as best audio. I have a few and am pleasantly surprised that I can use them and not feel like it sounds like a cheap radio on the other side !
Really surprised how bad #8- the FT5D was on both TX and RX. That was the only one out of the bunch that I simply couldn’t live with. I never really thought most of the CCR’s had crappy audio. My beef with them is difficulty programming from the front panel and spurious emissions. I have run a lot of tests with my Icom and Kenwood handhelds, and I’ll stick with those!
I thought exactly the same
Same
I didn't think any of them sounded appreciably better on tx or rx. However, I thought #8 sounded noticeably worse that the others on both tx and rx. Isn't that the most expensive one of the lot, and the only one that does APRS?
I kinda felt the same way. A bit surprising. Figures it'd be the one with APRS lol!
I also noticed the same. I also didn't care for the transmit audio from the Yaesu VX-4, either.
Me too. I was shocked with the poor audio both ways on the FT5
Yep. I thought #8 was the worst of the bunch, Tx & Rx.
My analysis as well. #8 off my list.
This is one of the most valuable videos you've done yet! Thank you, Mike. Pretty crazy that the one that was noticeably worse on tx & rx is one of the most expensive. I didn't see that coming.
ON the TX test, I could tell 5 and 8 were Yaesu's for those unfiltered highs and overall thinness, even though you were monitoring on an Icom radio that chops everything off around 3kHz very aggressively.
I just picked up a Tidradio H3, glad it's going to sound good. Some were a bit better, but all were easy to hear and make out what was being said.
Number 2 is the one that stood out to me. Then I realized, my son and I each have one, so I'm pretty familiar with it. What surprises me is that the Yaesu FT-4XR was my first and is one of my primary radios, but it didn't jump out at me.
My hearing is not the best but #8 was the worst of the bunch. Kind of surprising too.
I'm more impressed that you didn't fumble that tongue twister.
This test is great! I'd love to see the receive test done with maybe a pre-recorded message so the volume doesn't change, as well as using a phone app dB meter to set all the radios at the same output. I struggle to differentiate the audio quality from the audio volume. I know some have larger speakers than others, but this could give a different baseline for performance. Great idea for a test on your part!
Nothing beats the Pepsi challenge blind test for settling fact over preference. I thought 2 had the best transmit, it retained a lot of bass in your voice compared to the others. In the end, none were disqualifiers which validates the options/cost over sound quality/cost decision matrix for dual band HTs.
TX: #10 but they all sounded equal on RX except one was very low in volume. Glad to finally here someone on the HAM side say no spurious transmissions. Since I have it, I wish you had a TD-H8 in that group. But my expectation is that it works fantastic as well.
Hi Mike,
Your channel is one of my favorites. I discovered your channel via HRCC (another favorite). I found this episode to be specifically interesting. While each radio's speaker and microphone sounded differently terms of pinch, none of these radios sounded unacceptable in my experience. I have heard complaints about the FT5D and when I first got my FT5D, I was able to improve the FT5D's transmit audio via the Audio Pitch and MIC gain settings.
73,
Phil W1ZOT
BTW, I'm in Euless, TX
I got number 8 correct about the FT5 which I have and just got the H3 from TIDRADIO. Transmit quality of the FT5 sounded very bright and the audio was muddy... Oh well, still love it.😁
8 was atrocious both ways.
I've had positive comments about audio quality on my Baofeng UV-82.
I bought the UV-82 specifically because of the speaker on it - I heard it was better than the UV-5R and thus it turned out to be. I haven't tried getting compare reports on the transmit audio, but I do know that both my UV-5Rs tend to be quiet - I think the originals tried to be water resistant so had a membrane over the microphone.
I have a UV9R Plus and audio is very so-so. Rewired a commercial hand mike to work with the radio...huge improvement.
The only HT that I have was head better was my Kenwood D74. You did put in a fun test.
Wow. Shocked by that one. Number 5 and 8 actually sounded the worst of the bunch. Very odd sound TX and RX
I thought myself that number 10 the Baofeng UV-5R sounded best on both transmit and receive and that radio number 8 was worst for both. I would still recommend using a good quality speaker mic on any handheld radio such as the Baofeng BF-850 speaker mic. I use a Baofeng DR-1801 with that speaker mic and I get good audio reports in analog or DMR mode. The longer the Chinese make radios the better they are getting. I wasn't around when the Japanese broke into the market so I have no idea if they were initially viewed as junk. I'll continue to buy the Chinese radios and will likely buy one of their HF rigs as well.
I think most of them sounded the same and were fairly decent quality. But #8 BY FAR had the worst audio on both TX and RX. My jaw dropped when I found out it was the Yaesu FT5dr. Wow. The fact that all those baofeng sounded so much better than a $400 Japanese radio is wild. Thank you for this humbling experience!
number 2 or 5 on transmit audio, radio 2 or 6 on receive audio.
I wonder if the results would be different if you were a greater distance away from the receive radio.
Great video too. I'm going to copy it but with different radios.
Why does the FT5D sound noticeably worse on both TX and RX?
My thoughts exactly. Very noticeable difference.
I’ve been talking with cheap, repurposed, and homemade junk for years. 90% of the time the lids who say my setups don’t work are none the wiser after writing my callsign in their logbooks!
The main thing I’ve heard mentioned and also heard myself is that the audio is very quiet on SOME baofeng radios. It’s not all of them but some you have to eat the radio for someone to hear you well.
Yep, I think this applies to mine, and many of the early ones. I think it's because they tried to be water resistant and had either a membrane or other blocked path to the microphone. I have this vague recollection of people drilling holes in the case to rectify the issue but I might be thinking of something else.
BFs also don’t have any mic gain so you’re SOL if it’s too quiet - of course mic gain can be a contributing factor to making audio worse if you aren’t getting signal reports when you change it - hard test because of the variables. I too was surprised by #8! Still my daily driver since i get more complaints on repeaters about my other radios
Worst transmit & receive # 8 - I hope my FT3 sounds better than that FT5 Does 😞
Good idea on this video.
I thought they all sounded similar except for #8. Number 8, the FT-5D, stood out as inferior to me. Nice work!
IMO on recv all sounded similar except radio 5 and 8 which sounded thinner, but not unintelligible or poor enough to call out on a QSO. On xmit only radio 8 stood out as having poorer audio, but then again not bad enough to call it out on a QSO.
very surprised. I like my Yaesu Vx6r which was not tested here, but after hearing #8 its cousin go down in flames I may just pick up my Bao UV5R again and try it out. It cant replace the receive capabilities of my Yaesu though.
I thought transmit and receive were both pretty bad on number 8!
I wonder how much the IPX7 rating of the FT-5DR affects the audio quality.
I got #10 as best Tx and Rx. #6 had above average Tx, Rx was OK. Worst one was #8.
All of them sounded ok for ht's but the transmit audio on the Yaesu FT5 sounded like crap to me.
$5 is the best radio. It was enjoyable and comical watching you scurry around trying to get that put together
Hopefully this doesn’t lead to an onslaught of people buying dirty radios because they “sound” better - lots of a factors in play - real world experience on repeaters while listening to the input frequency on another radio (SDR) has been quite different (using same signal stick). YMMV (my radios compared were BF UV5R8W, QRZ-1, FT5D)
The gentleman stated in his last statement about the radios that they all tested clean except the $5.00 Baofeng UV-3R which I don’t even think they manufacture anymore.
#10 TX was best IMO and #1 & #10 tied for Rx for me.😂
R 6, 8, 9 & 10 to these ears on this video
Surprised the FT5D sounded so bad on both. My daily driver. I hope you do this again with another batch of radios. Surprised you didn't use the IC-705 to do the recording internally. Guess that'd be harder to sync to the video.
That would actually be pretty easy. That’s a good idea.
If you do this in March you could do a bracket thing ie "HT Madness". Or send the audio files to a bunch of other ham RUclipsrs and have them rank them "blind". But even if it was just like this with more HTs from Alinco to Wouxon, it'd worth watching. 73
I like my BFs. 2 UV5Rs and 2 UV69s. TX and RX are good enough. Simplex works well on each. Repeater operation is always hit or miss. 73, KF0NNQ.
My opinion the worse in TX and RX was number 8.... all the rest I really had no issues.
You need to turn the mic gain down your ft5
Interesting I picked #5 for both & I own one😂. Familiarity maybe?
TX & RX 9 Ha did I laugh when I found out.
Oh wow that’s hilarious!
@hamradiotube Now, I am frantically ordering 2 dozen of them.
its the $3 speaker-mic vs the $8 speaker-mic. the $3 one sounds like its stuffed in a coffee can.
Wow. I picked 4 and 7 as top 2 in TX and RX. Really surprised. Fun video.
All sounded good except 5 and 8. As you were doing the test I thought 5 was the ft5 and 8 was the fx4, but I got them backwards. The newer Yaesu HT’s sound horrible! And I am a Yaesu guy …
8 and 6
On both transmit and receive 5 sounded the best and 8 sounded the wort
If they can be understood, it doesn't matter. It's not like you're the Doobie Brothers using these radios as studio equipment.
Editing to ask if any of these radios can APRS? :)
The UV-5R Pro is only for professional amateurs!
Tidd Radio sounds the best, but they are all pretty much the same except for number eight it was a little lacking. Great video love stuff like this really was informative .
Transmit: 8 had the worst Audio. Receive :7 and 8 had the worst audio. I like the 3R as well and use it for volunteer events.
Radio 2 sounded the best in receive to my ear holes, but i couldn't really put a pin between most of them. Some sounded a little more grainy than other others buuuuut ... meh 🤷♂️ I think I'd be happy with any of those 👍
The FT5 sounds worse on both rx and tx. Thank goodness it does aprs.
On transmit, my worst were #8 and #10, but still not bad. The others didn't really stand out negatively to me on transmit.
Number 2 and 10 had the best quality...
Wow, not going to buy a yeasu now, for that kind of money it should stand out in a good way😮 all the rest were good no real winner.
they all sounded great to me except #8 stood out both TX and RX as not as good as the others. all others were great. I still have my GT-3TP and just got new battery for it. I got 2 of them. GT-3 and the GT3-TP boot the same except 1 is 8W but it test 6.5 W to 7W. the outher is just 4W or 1W .73's
No they don't sound bad. Yaesu's though. They sound bad. I have the VX-6, the 70 and the fr5. They all have horrible speakers. Mics aren't any better.
And yes! I 💯 picked out both of the Yaesu's.
3 for both
Blech, 8 sounded bad both ways.
#8 blows on both tx and rx. All the others sound decent enough.
4 and 8 were " the worst" in my opinion but still not bad
8 didn’t sound good on transmit and receive
4, 7, 9 best sounding tx; 8 worst tx; 3, 6 bext rx; 8 worst rx. #8 is crap.
I didn’t guess any of them. But I don’t think any were just drastically better or worse. Some were “tinny” sounding I guess you could say.
I had 6 the best and 8 the worst.
Yo!
1 tx....... 6 rx
#8 was the worst
7 was the best for trans,it and receive
# 8 sounds BAD
5 and 8 were pretty bad.
6 and 10 sounded best on transmit. 7 received best.
Dang I swear 8 sounded awful on transmit.
Nope
#4 best #8 worst
They are all Fine..!!!
Some people have a face for radio. Some people have a voice for Baofeng.
None of them are broadcast quality, but they all sound good to me.
Meow!
They probably hear the harmonics a few bands off and think it sounds bad :P
I find this whole discussion rather silly. I don't know what folks expect from a $35 radio.
You folks need to keep in mind what the objective is. If you can here and understand, that is, communicate.
We aren't talking about a $1,000,000 FM broadcast station.
Chuck...
WB6YOK
I think the point was the range of $35 to $400 radios to see if the difference was noticeable.