so ive been messing around with an RTL-SDR v3 for about a year now, mostly doing aircraft stuff and some P25 scanning but lately ive been wanting to get more into HF and the direct sampling mode on the v3 is just... okay. like its fine for casual listening but the noise floor is kind of rough and i keep reading that the RSP1A is a big step up for that kind of thing.

my question is really whether its actually worth the $120 or whatever they're going for now. i know the dynamic range specs look way better on paper but i've also seen people say the SDRuno software is kind of clunky compared to SDR# or even CubicSDR. does anybody run one of these with SDR++ or is everyone just stuck with SDRuno? i tried to find a straight answer on the reddit but everything is like 3 years old at this point

also not really interested in HackRF for this use case, i dont need to transmit, just want cleaner receive on 40m and 80m mostly. running a random wire up in the attic which is probably part of the problem too but thats a separate issue

yeah the RSP1A is a noticeable jump from the rtl dongle for HF, especially with that noise floor difference. the 14-bit ADC vs 8-bit makes a real difference when you're trying to pull weak signals out. that said your attic wire is definitely holding you back too, so dont expect miracles just from the hardware swap.

SDR++ works fine with the RSP1A, you just need the SDRplay API installed and it picks it up no problem. i barely touch SDRuno anymore honestly. the only time i open it is when i want to use their notch filter stuff which is pretty decent for dealing with broadcast interference on 49m. but for day to day use SDR++ is way cleaner to work with.

one thing to watch for is strong signal handling — if you're near any AM broadcast towers the RSP1A can still get a little wobbly without a filter in line. i run a simple high pass on mine and it sorted that out pretty much completely

honestly for 40 and 80m casual listening the v3 in direct sampling isnt as bad as people make it out to be if you get your antenna situation sorted first. ive pulled some decent dx on 40m with mine just messing around late at night. but i also have a proper end fed outside so thats probably doing most of the heavy lifting there.

that said i did eventually get an RSP1A and its just... nicer. hard to put a number on it. the ui stuff doesnt bother me much since i was already using SDR++ for everything anyway and yeah it works fine like the other guy said. if you can find one used its an easier decision, new at full price id maybe think about it a bit more depending on how serious you are about it