I heartily agree about the sound of these little wonders for "talk" radio! I've got one of the portable PAL models, and I use it every Saturday morning for the talk shows on NPR, such as "Car Talk" and "Waddya Know?".

I really like the "warmth" of voices on the PAL. It sounds very good in an outdoor environment also, but, naturally, you can't be sitting 20' away and expect to hear it well when outside!