In uk.d-i-y, dave wrote:

I'd like to buy a digital radio for someone as a Christmas present. ...

I have the Richer-Sounds cheapie tuner, the Acoustic Solutions SP110, which
in the summer was 80 squids. Being a "Hi-Fi Separates"-style tuner, it
has a stereo analogue output on two phono sockets, just right for taping
from; a headphone socket with its own level control; and an optical
digital-out (Toslink) also. The built-in digital-to-analogue on this
cheapie is a bit naff (some distortion on speech, sometimes, which is what
I listen to most of all); I know it's the D-to-A because feeding the
digital-out into the 'puters TosLink digital-in clears up said distortion
on the spot. Here in Bristol I use just the supplied-in-the-box wet-string
indoor aerial, and the signal-quality and strength reported is very high;
for a more rural location you might need a Real aerial.

It's not a medium for the ultimate Hi-Fi enthusiast, as in order to squeeze
lots of stations into the available bands, they push the encoding down or
indeed beneath the quality of typical MP3s (with the alleged exception of
Radio 3 live concerts, AIUI). But for me, the instant tuning to a wider
variety of stations than FM, and the lack of fading in/out, makes it
worthwhile. A colleague with a portable DAB radio, on the northern fringe
of Bristol, reports it's very senstive to location in his house - full-on
error-free reception in one position in a given room, no or very poor
reception a few feet away. As with all matters radio, your (more relevantly,
your benefactee's) mileage may vary, objects in the mirror may be closer
than they appear, the value of your investment may go down as well as up,
errors and omissions excepted, etc. etc. etc. (Which suggests it may
be worth buying from a shop with a real refund policy and giving your
happy gift-receiver the receipt, even though it reduces the romance
factor!)

Hope that helps some - Stefek