DAB Radio Advice for Car

OK, Christmas advice. (ducks)
We’ve just had a hire car for a short trip which had a DAB radio built in. Nothing new there as I get hire cars for work all the time. However it did give me an idea for the wifes Christmas present as she just raved about it all the time.
She has an old 52 plate Xsara Picasso with a FM radio and I’m considering getting her a DAB radio for Christmas.
What do I need to know.?
Ive had a quick google which seems ok, no major hiccups with a direct swap, and film aerial to make sure there is no issue with her existing one.
Budget up to £200. She has an IPhone so looking at some of them the have Apple play and Siri handsfree. Do these work?
The other concern is that we have a DAB radio at home but this only seems to have a fraction of the stations that the Car one had. What have I missed spec wise? Are there multiple standards.
Thanks in advance!.. No idea what else to get her for Christmas otherwise!

Why not just use the iphone for internet radio?

DAB is a bit hit and miss at best

smartphone + TuneIn app + bluetooth = job jobbed :)

We’ve tried the internet radio but data coverage is poor here. The DAB was pretty much perfect all the way, including on her commute. Apart from an area around Buckfastleigh… but even FM and MW is dodgy there

I was going to replace the head unit in my old car with a DAB one, until it got smashed up.

The replacement car (note I don’t say ‘new’!) came with a JVC DAB+ head unit already fitted, and it’s been perfect so far – only drops signal when in long tunnels or in underground car parks. It was professionally fitted and has a windscreen stick-on DAB aerial, which from the research I did beforehand, I gather is pretty much essential unless you retrofit a DAB aerial to the existing car one.

This particular model has Bluetooth handsfree and connects automatically if you have BT switched on. It has a separate microphone so Siri and handsfree dialling work well, at least until Siri has a hissy-fit because you’re driving. BT music streaming works as well, so along with iTunes you can stream podcasts and audiobooks too.

From my experience with the old car stereo (an early Sony BT one) the mic is essential if you want to be understood!

I have tried smartphone and Tunein etc but I struggled with getting a decent signal on a longish journey (eg from Midlands to Devon). This setup hasn’t dropped a beat so far.

(That’s Bath/Bristol mostly, with jaunts to Midlands, South Wales and London so far).

Looked into this myself when I decided 6 music was essential in the car. Used dabonwheels for the kit, tried a few things out and I found the best result for me was a dab adaptor plugged into aux, and a magnetic aerial on my tailgate.

You do realise that with a budget of £ 200 ..the radio will be worth more than the value of the car… :oops: :lol:
( sorry ..couldnt resist )

You can get an aerial splitter that will give you both the DAB and FM from the original aerial – this depends on whether the aerial is powered or not.
If it works it will be a damn site better than the glass mount stick on jobbies!
I’ve had one off ebay and it works a treat.

Splitter

Depends on the connections you have in the car and to the new head unit though.

Just fitted a new DAB headunit to our V70.

Went for a double din touch screen job as my experience of single din user interfaces isn’t great, I find them pretty complex to navigate and my wife wouldn’t use it.

Only downside to retrofitment was that our V70 had an amplified FM aerial so couldn’t use it with an adaptor for the DAB. I went the whole hog and drilled the roof and fitted a proper DAB aerial from dabonwheels. Great reception but drilling a 19mm hole in the middle of the roof was fairly scary. Measured it a few times before committing. Went this route as I’d read that the windscreen aerials aren’t great if you’re not in an area with strong signal. All in I think the aerial cost £50 ish so would be worth factoring into your budget if you’re in (or will travel to) a poor signal area.

As others have said, ditch the film aerial and get a magnetic one.
I have one set up, runs behind the dash, up the A-pillar trim and then along the door seals and pillar trims then under the boot seal and up on to the roof next to the existing FM aerial.
I had a film one before and I get much better signal and loads more stations with this.

It also used to be in a Xsara Pic before I changed cars, so if I can do it then it must be simple!

Also, if you’re a fan of the (not quite) steering wheel controls then budget in up to £40 for an adapter! If you’re not bothered then save yourself the money.

autoleads do a 12v powered antenna that discretely sticks to the inside of the windscreen and windscreen frame, brilliant things toensure you get dab coverage. ebay is generally the cheapest but haldfords do them as well.

http://www.autoleads.co.uk/products/dab-antennas-accessories

Pure Highway 400 easily fitted in my car this year for BBC 6 Music and Test Match Special. Faultless, no dropouts at all even when up the Hardknott Pass in the Lake District.Can link phone via Bluetooth too for Spotify etc.

My car has a Kenwood DPX406 DAB fitted , overall digital reception isn’t fantastic but that could just be the stick on ariel. My phone connects straight to it via Bluetooth which is dead useful. I’ll definitely be looking out one of those splitters to see if it helps.

As others have said, ditch the film aerial and get a magnetic one.
I have one set up, runs behind the dash, up the A-pillar trim and then along the door seals and pillar trims then under the boot seal and up on to the roof next to the existing FM aerial.
I had a film one before and I get much better signal and loads more stations with this.

It also used to be in a Xsara Pic before I changed cars, so if I can do it then it must be simple!

Point of note here, I looked into fitting a DAB radio back when I had a Picassa and it turned out that they have a coated windscreen or some such which plays silly buggers with internal DAB aerials. You probably want an external one for this reason alone (or something with a bit more grunt than a cheapo one at any rate).

just buy a new car with DAB :D

This was me a few months ago

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/dab-headunit-advice

Bought this in the end http://www.halfords.com/technology/car-audio/dab-car-stereos/pioneer-mvh-x580dab-car-stereo as i wasnt fussed about CD player.

I also bought a steering wheel control adaptor cable and a magnetic roof mounted aerial.

Works a charm and glad I did. 6music and Bluetooth for Spotify and microphone for hands free.

FunkyDunc – Member
Why not just use the iphone for internet radio?

DAB is a bit hit and miss at best

woody2000 – Member
smartphone + TuneIn app + bluetooth = job jobbed

dabaldie – Member
We’ve tried the internet radio but data coverage is poor here. The DAB was pretty much perfect all the way, including on her commute. Apart from an area around Buckfastleigh… but even FM and MW is dodgy there
Absolutely this! I see so many talk about using internet radio via a mobile, and I wonder how many actuall drive their cars outside the city they live in, because my personal experience of driving around a thousand miles a week, and being driven around the same, and needing to contact clients shows just how shitty our mobile networks are, when a call has to be made three times to the same place within five minutes because the calls fail, and that’s driving on the A30 not far from Newquay! In South Dorset it’s possible to drive for thirty minutes with bugger-all phone signal, so data is simply out of the question.
With a £40 magnetic antenna on my old Skoda, connected to my six-seven year old Kenwood DAB there are very few places I drive where a signal is non-existent, although there are some fitted OEM units which have been less than brilliant, but it may have been just that particular car, the worst was a Merc A-Series, which could barely hold the signal for more than ten minutes or so at a time, but FM is far, far worse on long runs, like 200+ miles back from Cornwall, where one car’s FM was so bad that I drove with no music at all, it had no USB or iPod input that could accept my phone.
£200 ought to get a good head unit with a quality magnetic mount antenna, and a BT input, which mine doesn’t have;
however, I’ve no need in my car, I plug the phone lead into the unit’s USB port for charging and music input, which is all I require, nobody phones me outside of work hours anyway.

Depends if you want actual live radio or just music. Preload phone or whatever and play. No signal required.

More channels with DAB would just do my head in even more. I’m skipping endlessly between the colossal crap of commercial radio stations trying to find something vaguely listenable to and avoiding adverts every three minutes, and trying to cope with a BBC station, local or national, for more than half an hour.

Not so bad on a trip, but when commuting it’s just the same old crap every day.

I need an AV input really on my old Civic. It’s got no option other than a very expensive iPod input (and I don’t do Apple), and getting something fitted is a right faff stripping the dash down. But I’m getting to the point of doing that or buying a new car with the radio frustration I get. (and FM transmitter option is terrible before anyone says. Tried that).

Planet Rock FTW.

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/65466/best-dab-radio-head-units-2017

I bought a Pioneer MVHX580DAB based on the review above. Comes with a small microphone for telephone calls and Siri etc and requires addition of a DAB aerial. I went for the Autoleads windscreen stick on one next to the A pillar and reception has been great. Very well specced in terms of functions and Bluetooth connectivity and decent sounding internal amp.

Cougar – Moderator
Planet Rock FTW.

+1 :D