Forum menu
Listening to PM right now - via the 'ternerd - and there's another feature on the Beeb trying to foist DAB on a sceptical listener.
I know that propaganda has always been part of the Beeb's agenda, but this seems a little excessive, no?
Odd.
They want to turn off the analogue signal but digital radio sales are nothing like digital TV
I know that propaganda has always been part of the Beeb's agenda
🙄
digital radio gives space for more stations thus making each station cheeper.
DAB is one of the few technological changes I adopted reasonably early and without resentment or regret. 🙂
There was an article on Radio 4 the other day saying that DAB was 1980's technology and its already way out of date, but the government want to re-use the FM frequencies.
IIRC there's only JVC that do an off the shelf in car DAB solution, all the others gave it up as a bad job.
We've been using DAB for what seems like about 10 years. Apart from the interface on all DAB radios being worse than anything made by sony (which is saying quite a lot really) the radios themselves are great. Ours just cycles between R4, R6 and R7
My revo blik display has failed and I'll be sending it off to them to repair (£40) but I'm going to ask how much more to upgrade it to DAB+.
Its the Future! 😀
D'you think it might [i]possibly[/i] be due to having a fair bit invested in digital stations like 6Music which has been saved from closure through public protest and thus need to encourage as many people as possible to buy DAB radios or web radios to listen to said stations? You have to remember it was a government initiative to get radio onto digital formats so that it could sell off the old frequencies, and the BBC, as the national public service broadcaster, which relies on the government and the taxpayer for funding is thus required to go along with it. As far as the sound quality is concerned, unless someone is listening through an expensive separates system with a good antenna, how can anyone possibly tell the difference? I listen to 6Music on my phone, and it sounds perfectly fine to me, and a DAB portable sounds exactly the same using FM or digital, and that's how the majority will listen, or through a little pair of computer speakers. You can buy a DAB radio in Morrison's for £25...
Just don't see the point to be honest.
Why limit yourself to just the channels you can pick up from a big transmitter somewhere nearby?
Internet Radio FTW!
DAB is one of the few technological changes I adopted reasonably early and without resentment or regret
must depend where you live - whenever i checked the map thingy it said probably no signal not worth buying - borrowed one and ok - bought a decent spec one stuck one in kitchen near window and worked fine lots more staions and easy to use - got a pure rechargeable for garden worked great - then sept last yr signal just p!ssed off - back to vhf or very careful positioning gets me some sort of signal as long the doors are open and no one walks across it - gives me a lot of confidence going to get a functioning car radio - not
Given that they are cheap now I don't know why more people don't have them - I have one in my kitchen and it's great.
because, why buy a new radio, that isnt an improvement over your currently working one.
Lets face it - the majority of folk have a station they listen too, and so the 'extra choice' is irrelevant.
As far as the sound quality is concerned, unless someone is listening through an expensive separates system with a good antenna, how can anyone possibly tell the difference?
A mate listens to a lot of Radio 3. DAB has nowhere near enough dynamic range, so a lot of quiet sections of the music simply disappear. They're there on any old FM radio you use.
Given that they are cheap now I don't know why more people don't have them - I have one in my kitchen and it's great.
I've got two a cheap Goodmans one and a Roberts - they only work in one place in my house, right next to a window in one room. I only bought the Roberts because I thought the Goodmans must be rubbish!!
The reception everywhere else is dreadful.
As Dibbs said above, I've read and heard articles that DAB is already way out of date and is rapidly being taken overtaken by listeners listening to radio over the internet, mobiles, ipods etc.
Old fashioned FM works far better for me at home
We have 2 DAB [a Pure & a Roberts] & they both regularly suffer from poor signal
I have a 1970s Roberts in my workshop that does a better job than the 2 DABs
[url= http://www.****/home/article-1294924/Free-Digital-Radio-reader.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
]Here's your chance to find out[/url] the value of DAB on the cheap, might require some compromises on your integrity though.
DAB is no good for wind-up radios, it requires around 4 times the power of my AM receiver, not practical.
Why limit yourself to just the channels you can pick up from a big transmitter somewhere nearby?Internet Radio FTW!
Yeah, good luck with that if you cant get 3G
I embraced DAB wholeheartedly 6 years ago, even replaced my car stereo, with a JVC.
The car stereo died at the backend of last year and it seems that only JVC and Blaupunkt do DAB headunits now. I bought a new JVC and the DAB radio is useless, the updated ariel seems very sensitive that or the signal strenght has been reduced.
[i]DAB is one of the few technological changes I adopted reasonably early and without resentment or regret[/i]
That's a shame, cos I think they'll be changing the encoding method, meaning any early adopters will have scrap equipment 🙂
/Edit and DAB is shite because the pips before the news come out at the wrong time, and that's simply not British.
isn't the UK one of the very few places in the world where DAB is actually used? Hence why not many manufacturers are all that bothered by it?
I get very good DAB signal (in urban Sheffield), and overall I do prefer it (esp. radio4 and the like where the sound is, to my ear, better than fm), but I can't see a place for it in cars unless the transmitter network is SERIOUSLY improved.
A lot of places (countries that is) have given up DAB as a bad thing and gone to something else (DAB+ I think). I'd always wanted to hold off until I got decent reception in the house (even FM struggles sometimes), but now the wife has said she wants a DAB iPhone/iPod dock in the kitchen.
Maybe an internet radio thing is the way forward...
because, why buy a new radio, that isnt an improvement over your currently working one.
Lets face it - the majority of folk have a station they listen too, and so the 'extra choice' is irrelevant.
The reception is just fine here - I prefer the easy switching of channels with a remote - and I like Planet Rock and 6 Music. Sound quality is fine too - better than FM imo.
DAB was old technology when it was launched... it's based on an inefficient codec and in order to cram enough stations in to make it look as if you're getting more choice, the quality has to suffer. If memory serves it uses MP2 which, whilst capable of delivering a very good quality signal, doesn't because there are so many stations crammed in.
Within a couple of years of the BBC launching their DAB service back in the early 2000's most countries had already ditched DAB and moved to DAB+, although personally I think the money would be better spent on improving wifi connectivity and going straight to Internet Radio.
The problem there for the big players is that rather than having access to, say 20 stations on DAB, the public has access to millions...
Someone wrote in to say something like "any chance you can repeat the digital radio programme my dab radio cut out twice while I was listening to it" I laughed like a maniac.
wife has said she wants a DAB iPhone/iPod dock in the kitchen.
Just get a normal dock and the TuneIn Radio app. Job done.
The problem with DAB (poor reception, heavily compressed audio (I'm looking at you, Kerrang)) is that there's bog all bandwidth left after analogue TV and FM have had their pound of flesh. Once we've switched off the 'fat' analogue broadcasts, the quality and availabilty of DAB should leap exponentially.
(As I understand it, I am not a radio engineer, your milage may vary, do not fold spindle or mutilate etc etc)
I've got good reception, but the quality of DAB is terrible so I'm sticking with FM at the moment. FM has plenty of flaws and is massively compressed, but the current DAB is certainly a step backwards.
no issues with reception with mine even camping.
More stations and not having to listen to the shipping during test match special means veryone should own oneNo idea why you all have such poor reception is rarely needed to even extend the aerial on mine.
No issues with Radio 3 or Classical stuff either. Never any interference or hiss far superior to FM IMHO.
more format wars eh?, DAB seems to work fine in my car, factory fitted Sony unit methinks, also the Pure job in the bedroom at home seems perfect reception wise.
we're talking planet rock, arrow, kerrang type crap.
any danger of those stations appearing on FM then, or moving to new formats ?
never really used internet radio, must investigate !
Planet Rock is my weapon of choice, switching over to Absolute 80s whenever they play that bloody webuyanycardotcom advert.