Users are asking, which receiver we would recommend. The answer depends on many factors amongst application, environment, antenna and price. Focusing on ready-to-use SDR hardware for listening with Windows we can recommend following tested receivers:
| Price | Model / Manufacturer | Frequency Range in MHz | Remarkable properties |
| < 10 EUR | RTLSDR (DVB-T/DAB with RTL2832+R820T2). Search 'RTL2832' or 'R820T2' on ebay |
24 - 1766 | ~ 2 MHz Bandwidth, 8 bit For beginners - don't expect wonders! |
| ~ 30 EUR | RTLSDR V4 (DVB-T/DAB with RTL2832+R820T2). RTL-SDR.com | 0.5 - 24, 24 - 1766 |
~ 2 MHz Bandwidth, 8 bit For beginners - don't expect wonders! HF Direct Sampling Mode, 1PPM TCXO, aluminium case, Bias-T |
| ~ 150 EUR | RSP1B (Radio Spectrum Processor) / SDRplay | 0.001 - 2000 | up to 8 MHz Bandwidth, up to 14 bit, Bias-T, 0.5PPM TCXO |
| ~ 165 EUR | Airspy HF+ / Airspy | 0.009 - 31, 60 - 260 |
up to 750 kHz Bandwidth, no drivers required, 0.5PPM TCXO |
| ~ 270 EUR | RSPdx-R2 (Radio Spectrum Processor) / SDRplay | 0.001 - 2000 | Similar as RSP1B but with 3 antenna ports, External clock input/output, +++ |
| 377 EUR | FDM-S1 / ELAD | 0.02 - 30 | ~ 5 MHz Bandwidth, 14 bit Bandpass undersampling up to 200 MHz possible |
| 512 EUR | FDM-S2 / ELAD | 0.009 - 52, 74 - 108, 135 - 160 |
~ 5 MHz Bandwidth, 16 bit very good reception quality |
For controlling / using a receiver directly from HDSDR you need to install the receiver's ExtIO DLL.
Visit your receiver's website (see below!) and get the appropriate DLL file archive (32Bit [x86] only).
Most sites refer the DLL as "Winrad ExtIO". It will be compatible with HDSDR.
Unpack all files from that archive into the installation directory of HDSDR
f.e. C:\Program Files (x86)\HDSDR\.
Any (monoband) receiver with output to soundcard can be used in HDSDR without any ExtIO DLL.
In this case, HDSDR will not be able to control the LO frequency.
| ADLM PLUTO | Website | ||
| AFEDRI SDR | Website | ||
| Alinco DJ-X11 + DX-R8 | Website | ||
| Airspy | Download | January 08, 2015 | |
| Airspy HF+ | DLL#1 | DLL#2 | ||
| Bonito RadioJet 1102S | Website | ||
| DiRaWave 0032U | Website | ||
| Fernempfangsradio | Download | ||
| Elad FDM-DUOr | Website | September 12, 2015 | |
| Elad FDM-DUO(No HDSDR Transmit capability) | Website | September 12, 2015 | |
| Elad FDM-S1 | Website | February 26, 2014 | |
| Elad FDM-S2 | Website | September 12, 2014 | |
| Elecraft KX3 | How-To | September 07, 2013 | |
| Elektor | Website | ||
| Expert Electronics ColibriDDC | Website | ||
| Expert Electronics ColibriNANO | Website | ||
| FUNcube Dongle Base/Pro (FCD) | Download | December 27, 2012 | |
| FUNcube Dongle Pro+ | Download | August 14, 2014 | |
| GenesisRadio G59 | Website | ||
| Grintek GRX-LAN | Download | January 09, 2013 | |
| HackRF One (No Transmit capability) | Website | ||
| Hamlib v1.5 (for many hardware) | Download | August 31, 2011 | |
| HPSDR (Atlas, Ozy, Mercury) | Download | January 02, 2013 | |
| HPSDR (Hermes) | Website | ||
| ICOM IC-7610 | Website How-To | ||
| ICOM IC-R8600 | Website How-To | ||
| Microsat easySDR | Website | ||
| microtelecom PERSEUS | Website | ||
| Myriad-RF LimeSDR | Website | ||
| Pappradio | Website | ||
| PM-SDR | Website | ||
| QS1R | Website | ||
| Red Pitaya | Website | ||
| RF103 / RX888 | Website | March 18, 2021 | |
| RFHamFox 1 (Transfox) | DLL | December 02, 2016 | |
| RFSPACE SDR-IQ / SDR-14 | Download | April 11, 2013 | |
| RigExpert Fobos SDR | Website | ||
| RTLSDR (DVB-T/DAB with RTL2832) USB | Website How-To | September 21, 2023 | |
| RTLSDR (DVB-T/DAB with RTL2832) over Network (rtl_tcp) | DLL#1 | DLL#2 | ||
| S9-C Rabbit SDR | Website | ||
| SDR-1 | Download | April 05, 2012 | |
| SDR MK1 / SDR MK1.5 'Andrus' | Website | ||
| SDRplay RSP1/RSP1A/RSP1B/RSP2/RSP2pro/RSPduo/RSPdx/RSPdx-R2 | Download | ||
| Si570 based (Softrock, FA-SDR, FiFi-SDR, Lima-SDR, PM-SDR) | Website | ||
| Soft66 | Website | ||
| Softrock Lite v0.12 | Website | January 06, 2013 | |
| Signal Hound SA44/SA44B/SA124A/SA124B/BB60A/BB60C | Website | July 11, 2016 | |
| USRP, RTLSDR, FUNcube + BorIP network streaming client | Website | ||
| WiNRADiO WR-G305e' | Download | May 06, 2013 | |
| WiNRADiO WR-G31DDC 'Excalibur' | Website | ||
| WiNRADiO WR-G33DDC 'Excalibur Pro' | Download | May 21, 2017 |
Please report not listed but functional ExtIOs to keep the above list complete.