Huh? Do you own a 436 or a 536 to compare it to let's say a 800? I owned a 197 and still have my 800 my 536 actually picks up p25 a little better I think the 800 always sounded like it was underwater.
I might be able to give you my perspective on this as I have spent the last year and a half using and owning:
HP1
396XT
PSR800
GRE600
396T
Bought the GRE, Traded a HP1 for a PSR800, Traded the PSR600 for a 396T, traded the PSR800 for a 396XT and got a HP1 back.
And I got several opportunities to use a 436.
I don't know why I traded the HP1 in the first place. The trade was between friends and I have every opportunity to reverse the trade but I wanted to see why GRE/PSR whatever the company is now called, why so many people say that the audio is better than Uniden brand scanners.
Well for 6 months I had a PSR800 as my 'go to' scanner and frankly it was a strange fit. Me owning anything other than a Uniden scanner, it's sorta like me, left of centre, ever voting for the GOP, or Conservative Party here in Canada, it would be wrong, it doesn't fit and it was a big mistake.
Lol, that out of the way, the PSR/GRE scanners do have better sound I think than the HP1 & 396XT. The 800 probably has a better analogue/digital sound than the 396/HP1. What I mean by this is that the Uniden scanners, the difference between the analog and digital P25 transmissions is a little more pronounced than the PSR. And when comparing the Digital sounds on the 396XT, HP1 and PSR800, I am going to say that the PSR800 might be the best of this list but its a personal choice I think. I wouldn't buy a PSR for the sound that is, over a Uniden scanner.
The PSR800's P2 audio on our provincial simalcast system, god, that was bad. Horrible. There might be more P2 talkgroups on various systems coming up in my area but right now I can do without listening to commuter busses complain about traffic or what time they are arriving, lol.
The 436 did a darn good job with P2, it does a fine job with the difference between digital and analog comms on the same systems and it has the DB built in. It's slightly better than the HP1.in terms of sound and more portable.
The 396XT is an amazing scanner in that its portable. For the size it sounds as good as you can expect it to. The only drawback about it is that it wasn't designed to tag radio Id's (UID's or RIDS) and you are limited to 500 of them and/or a combination of talkgroups). The provincial system that I monitor has literally thousands of different RID's so thats a deterrant.
So, in order: 436/536 Brand, HP1 then 396XT, PSR800.
Good luck with your choice, worst case, unless you live totally out in the sticks there are people here who will either buy/sell/trade. Part of the fun is trying out these radios and trading them, constantly learning new things about communications and about the radios here.
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