iPod and MP3 players in the 2000s, portable CD players in the 1990s, Sony Walkman etc. in the 1980s – these are important milestones in the recent history of portable music players. Yet they are minor actors in the bigger picture where the true pioneers were portable mobile radios (such as Grundig Teddy Boy) from the late 1940s to late 1950s/early 60s.
It was these portable radios that first revolutionized the hobby of listening to music by doing the “dirty” work of frittering away family-oriented, collective way of listening to music, and by creating a space for private, individual listening.
It was the portable radios that launched “along listening” or “listening with one ear” whether in the kitchen, bathroom and even in the garage. They blurred the border line between work and leisure with far-reaching socio-economical consequences.
It was the early portable radios that brought the music to the parks and beaches, away from the family home, changed the relationship between generations and sexes, and in general brought up new meanings, of which Walkmans and iPods can only dream about. The change took place in the 1950s, when in many European countries the sales of portable radios exceeded that of stationary radio players.
Walkmans and iPods have only spread “autistic” alone listening and social withdrawal to places (public transport, gyms, etc.) where it hasn’t been before. They have also given especially for young people the opportunity to listen to self-selected music instead of preferences of radio journalists.
Geneva WorldRadio
Geneva WorldRadio is socially not as significant a product as its ancestors half a century ago. Rather, it is to be seen as part of the process, in which the old memorable equipment are reinvigorated for the new generations to enjoy, but also for those who still have a personal semantic ”code” for these devices.
Right from the beginning it was obvious to me that Geneva WorldRadio is not a kind of retro gadget that one frequently encounters in department stores or on the pages of glossy interior magazines.
The more days I spent with the Geneva WorldRadio the clearer it was that the theme of this radio is well thought out and perfected. As fashionable as this radio is, it is not a wave rider, as verified by its functional reliability and the quality of the sound.
Geneva WorldRadio signifies a portable radio in several ways. It has a handle, and although the handle is not made of leather, it’s a must in a radio like this. Also, the rotary switches for the station selection and volume are according to the “style”.
The display comes with a classy horizontal frequency scale not too different than those to be found in old portable radios. When the red hand hits the station, and the radio is tuned to the transmission frequency, the display shows the station name (RDS information). The GWR has no field strength indicator.
The display is a color LCD screen and it only shows an extract of the entire FM band at one time. In that sense the display is “fake”. Still, I think the style of the Geneva WorldRadio display fits the spirit of such portable radios, much more so than digital displays. What’s best, the display makes the radio very intuitive to use.
As a touch screen it needs to be cleaned up every now and then. Another little minus was that the backlight when the radio is in a state of charging is so powerful that it may disturb more sensitive sleepers.
During the volume adjustment (digital not analogue/mechanical), there’s a horizontal bar that tells you which direction we are going. When the battery power is low, the radio stops raising the volume above the half. The radio also shuts itself down when the battery power is low.
The station is set manually by turning the dial or pressing the selection knob, in which case the radio jumps to the next station with a sufficiently strong signal from the transmitting station. Too bad that this is happening in only one direction – quite often I wanted to jump backwards.
The touch-screen can be used to select FM station, Bluetooth connection, line input (3.5mm stereo input) to an external audio source, tone controls (treble / bass), alarm clock, and time control. The selector is an enter button at the same time.
Portability
The very essence of the Geneva WorldRadio is, however, in how the manufacturer has adhered to the core issue of portable mobile radios: its portability and ease of music listening.
The proportions (30cm × 17cm × 6.5 cm) and the form of the Geneva WorldRadio support of the objective perfectly. The design represents the millimeter precision industrial design, which is incorporated in the product, even though we end-users do not consciously notice it – and even if we did, would not find relevant words to describe it.
Geneva WorldRadio is truly a portable product. It weighs 1.4 kg but feels much lighter. Its mobility is excellent, the threshold of capturing it along really low. To remove the radio the handle is redundant; a grab is enough.
Geneva WorldRadio has a soft, easily removable rubber bottom, under which is hidden the chargeable lithium battery. For outdoor use the rubber bottom is super convenient but on a table the radio sits a bit softly.
The battery is said to provide at least 5 hours of worry-free listening, and roughly in that the number the review individuals could do it. One of the most irksome feature, but understandable from the standpoint of power consumption, the Geneva WorldRadio is that the display shows time only when the battery is charging, otherwise not.
Geneva World Radio looks perfect on a kitchen table, bedside table, desk, or even on a window sill. The owner needs not to be ashamed of it even in the prime location of the living room. The designs combines, quite successfully, I think, the world as it was 50 years ago, and straightforward, modern technical expertise.
The radio is available in black, red and aluminum gray. The red appears not what Geneva uses in other of its products but slightly darker. A very elegant alternative.
Inner techniques
According to the manufacturer the tuner section is “digital”. Digital is DAB, DAB+ etc., which versions do exist for those countries (eg. UK and Norway) in which digital radio broadcasts are everyday. Digital technology refers to whatever DSP there is (detector, decoder etc.) between the ad and da converters.
For the Bluetooth and line-level input a Class D digital amplifier is employed. For the tuner section Geneva has installed, however, a traditional analog amplifier to minimize adverse interferences. The Geneva WorldRadio has reasonable output power but it ain’t a Boombox.
The telescopic antenna fully erected I carried the Geneva WorldRadio in all corners of the apartment, took it out, listened to it in the car, arcades, cafes, etc. I really tried to find – subjectively – a way to measure the sensitivity of the tuner.
The result was that, at least in the capital of the region of Finland, all the major FM stations (about 30) tuned without distortion, even the least compressed ones such as Yle Radio 1. Only once did I managed to get the YLE Radio 1 distort. That happened in a concrete parking garage partly underground. I didn’t try to spot distant radio stations; after all the Geneva WorldRadio is a portable table radio, not a DX device.
Geneva WorldRadio is not the kind of World Radio as we remember it: a short-wave band radio receiver, often used for listening to home land radio broadcasts when traveling abroad. Today virtually all such stations are on the net. Therefore, Geneva WorldRadio’s “world radio” means to a wireless Bluetooth connection (2.1 with A2DP) to a network device (smartphone, tablet, etc.), and thereby access to thousands of radio broadcasts around the world. To own music files also, of course.
In pairing the radio iDevices seem to be some kind of default, then come other smart phones, and finally, other compatible devices. Geneva’s website provide pretty good instructions for pairing also for devices that the radio does not automatically recognize. Some computer experience is required, however.
The sound
The sound is produced with a single three-inch wide-bandwidth driver. Nevertheless it’s not a mono sound; it’s a sound that Geneva has somehow “extended” with DSP. The sound is not as “dry” as the mono sound but almost equally legible and understandable what must be regarded as an achievement. On the other hand the sound is not a traditional stereo sound either, rather an interesting mix of the both.
In radio listening, it is always utmost important that human voice is reproduced realistically. In this respect the Geneva WorldRadio sounded sufficiently colorless, gray, but not cold or uninspiring. What’s more, the rather natural human voice has been achieved without warming it up with a few extra decibels around 150Hz or so.
The same applies to music. Whatever music there was it was outputted accurately and smoothly without embellishment or auditory nerve stress. The sound retains its integrity independently of the listening angle or distance, as it should with such portable radios.
Bass reproduction is in a sense unprecedented. The manufacturer claims 70Hz – 20 kHz (-3 dB) frequency band. The lower limit seems like a hard goal for a device of this size, but it is not the bass extension that matters here.
The point is that Geneva’s “dynamic bass reproduction” is capable of producing bass note and low frequencies in general without increasing the overall level, loudness of the sound. As a consequence individual bass notes stand out from the mass resiliently and to some extent even retaining their tonality.
For example, the double bass played with a bow can sound in the right way rough and low. This is something that I do not remember having heard in the past from any device that can be classified as a portable table radio. For the same reason eg. symphony music sounds nicely credible with the Geneva WorldRadio. Tone adjustments are surprisingly moderate.
Finally
Portable radios make their second coming. Geneva WorldRadio showed that the fashion can be much more than superficial retro’ing. The unit cost 300 euroa. There certainly are cheaper Bluetooth portable radios on the market, but any price/performance comparison brings the Geneva WorldRadio’s relative cost radically down.
Reviewing a radio is a pleasant thing to do in that one does not have to settle separately to listen to anything. Just switch it on and start listening. There it plays all day, all kinds of music and speech if wanted. The number of listening hours exceeds many times that of reviews of other audio gear.
A small danger lies in the fact that one gets used to the radio. It will become a daily companion, much like a dog. And when the time comes to give it up, it will be missed.
