Does having a 8-bit converter seriously affect in any way reception?

I'm happy with my rtl-sdr v3 dongle, although living in a very noisy area would like to get something better for HF reception. I don't have a HAM license and no need for the HackRF transmit capabilities, though it may turn out useful for testing remotes, filters, aligning RF stages in diy receivers etc, but the SDRPlay RSPdx or the AirSpy + Spyverter seem better alternatives for receiving only with their 14 and 12 bit ADCs.

Here's a comparison of the three; I'd be interested in reading from other owners as well. https://www.rtl-sdr.com/review-airspy-vs-sdrplay-rsp-vs-hack...

I have a bunch of RTL-SDRs, the HackRF, and the AirSpy. I have only done VHF -> UHF work with them, never HF. In my experience, the HackRF receive frontend is pretty poor, at least in comparison. I'd use it if I needed transmit or for local strong signals only. The AirSpy has the best receiver of the bunch, but worse software support. I've had quite a challenging time getting it to work with GNU Radio and GQRX. It works great in SDR Sharp but that is no longer FOSS and must be run on Windows IIRC. The RTL-SDR is cheap and has a receiver at least on par with the HackRF and by far the best compatibility.

Do you have any experience with the limesdr? I've been eyeing those for a bit

I have a limesdr and a hackrf. Both work really well, but it does seem like there are more people/projects for the hackrf. Once you learn the ins and outs of GNUradio, it is pretty amazing what you can do.

I bought one several months ago, albeit haven’t used it much yet. My one concern is how hot it ran when I first plugged it in, you may want to get a case for it.

I purchased the aluminum case along with my LimeSDR. A few months ago, I figured out how to use trunk-recorder, and the Lime has been my police/EMS radio scanner ever since. It's been running almost nonstop for months, and I haven't noticed any issues -- even as it remained hot to the touch for all those months.

Oh yea, it does run pretty hot! I made a case for it from an electronics project case I had laying around, and even with that it is toasty. If I was building something that was going to be running of for a long time a 3d printed case with support for a small fan would be helpful.

Wow, I was looking at the Blade and Blade mini but this is cheaper.

> 1 MHz to 6 GHz operating frequency.

But what is the maximum bandwidth?