chinese electronics noisy ??

[newkid]

Finding a lot of cheap electric items in the stores.
All made in China.
FM radio, IR tv to headphone set, FM band xmtr to headphone, similar consumer items all at low prices in $10 range.

They are all NOISY !!!
On some , if the signal is high enough you don't notice it , but on others it is always there and is annoying.

I returned two FM radios before figuring out that all this cheapstuff was going to be noisy.

How can FM have white noise?
I am thinking they don't have an amp doing limiting on the signal.
Else the audio stage is truly bad.

I am speculating they are all using a one chip design that is inadequate andor defective design.

Could this be why we are seeing complaints about noise in low end audio interface preamps?

Just inherently noisy circuits andor cheapstuff design?

Can't afford it, but I hope the more expensive gear is actually quiet. Is any of that stuff also made in China?

I think the Chinese can make good stuff, but are making the cheap stuff to match a price point and a $10 item does not let them make one that is actually usable but the sellers demand it anyway.

[garww]

I'm in a bad radio location. I got three home audio receivers, a component tuner, and two portable radio. One portable is a old cheap, but largish, discrete transistor unit, and the other is a modern Kaito pocket radio - both multiband. Both portables do pretty good.

You just have to get up to a quality price point. Maybe US35-80. The used 1960 era was around $23 on eBay, no stereo. The Kaito stereo is very good and it has fones and line-out jacks.

They just MFG to what ever spec is called for, and, it would seem that they excel in Walmart quality.

[venuestudio]

From a design point of view there are a number of areas that they could have failed to account for noise. The power coming to you is pretty dirty. Most good electronics has some filtering on the inputs to the power supply. Poor grounding schemes on the pc board can also pick up noise. Poorly routed cabling, poorly laid out pc boards, wide tolerance components, etc. Even a lead that is not fully clipped flush to the board can act as an antenna and pick up noise. Noise immunity has to be addressed right from the beginning of the design. Good power conditioning is expensive (relatively speaking) and the first places they cut corners. Remember they are trying to keep their costs to a minimum.

[uab9253]

I have an offbrand PA head that I bought off of the internet for super cheap and I have seen what looks like the same model being marketed under a number of brand names, that definitely is Chinese and definitely has a noise problem. I find that if I **** it up for awhile first I can largely get through a set or two relatively noise free. You get what you pay for most of the time...

[Husky Band]

It is up to the importer to test what the get. At the price these importers are getting this stuff, they can afford to do some quality control testing and send back the junk.

[newkid]

Originally Posted by venuestudio

From a design point of view there are a number of areas that they could have failed to account for noise. The power coming to you is pretty dirty. Most good electronics has some filtering on the inputs to the power supply. Poor grounding schemes on the pc board can also pick up noise. Poorly routed cabling, poorly laid out pc boards, wide tolerance components, etc. Even a lead that is not fully clipped flush to the board can act as an antenna and pick up noise. Noise immunity has to be addressed right from the beginning of the design. Good power conditioning is expensive (relatively speaking) and the first places they cut corners. Remember they are trying to keep their costs to a minimum.

These are all battery operated.

I think they are just designing to a price point and that is the best you get for $10

[newkid]

Originally Posted by garww

I'm in a bad radio location. I got three home audio receivers, a component tuner, and two portable radio. One portable is a old cheap, but largish, discrete transistor unit, and the other is a modern Kaito pocket radio - both multiband. Both portables do pretty good.

You just have to get up to a quality price point. Maybe US35-80. The used 1960 era was around $23 on eBay, no stereo. The Kaito stereo is very good and it has fones and line-out jacks.

They just MFG to what ever spec is called for, and, it would seem that they excel in Walmart quality.

I think you are right.
They designed to a very low price point and that is the best you can get.

Low cost AMFM radios used to be quiet just might not have good sensitivity.

I have a $50 portable AMFM that is very quiet, good sensitivity, good selectivity. I may just have to get another one.

I even have a dollar store special very small FM radio with earbuds for jogging that is quiet. Only tuning is search next. But is is quiet and reasonably sensitive. Okay for jogging, a nuisance for serious use.

I need a "throwawaY" to leave behind by the mixing board in case we do not have an FM radio with us -- we are forgetful, and the thing is only used a few times a year.

Using a small FM transmitter for remote monitoring -- cant afford the fancy UHF models - and the radio is the other half of this.

[garww]

I forgot that my new sansa mp3 player has fm. I did test it with a quick walk around outside. However, the volume control only worked for about 5 seconds. I went vol+ and started back down when it lost control : ) That was Amazon $27. It just has a delicate touch and there is nothing to grab on to. Hmm, I think I may have busted it trying to insert the USB cable, now that I think about it. The volume it at a good level for me so I have no gripes.