looking for a good sounding DAB radio

Broadcast_Engineer

Spaceboy isn't quite right about battery life: the circuitry needed to decode an FM signal is very simple and requires very little power to work, whereas any kind of digital radio needs computer technology inside it to decode the signal, and this requires quite a lot of power. So the battery life of digital sets will always be worse than simple FM sets.

It is, however, correct to say that DAB uses a primitive coding system which means that lots of data needs to be sent to get good sound. Unfortunately, far more stations have been crammed in than DAB was ever designed for, so the amount of data for each is much too low and the sound is very poor. The BBC website shows that some programmes broadcast in stereo on FM and on the iPlayer have to be put out in mono on DAB ... and this is supposed to be progress??

The error correction on DAB is also very primitive, which means if the signal is poor you get an unpleasant 'bubbling mud' sound or no sound at all, whereas FM stations might get a bit hissy but you can still hear what's going on.

DAB+ is a more efficient system with better error correction, but Ofcom has so far banned UK broadcasters from using it.

In fact, all the supposed advantages of DAB are available elsewhere:

+ An RDS FM radio (like you get in most cars) has push-button tuning, automatic re-tuning as you drive around and a text display to show station names. RDS radios can also show you the names of artists and songs, although for some reason most UK broadcasters seem reluctant to use this facility.

+ For digital-only stations, Freeview and the internet give much better sound quality.

+ You can get far, far more stations on the internet than with a DAB radio, and there's often some kind of 'listen-again' facility so you can hear what you want when you want it.

+ Some of Apple's new ipods let you pause and rewind live FM radio - which you can only do on the more expensive DAB radios anyway.

+ And, as explained above, DAB has the worst sound quality of all the digital systems and worse sound than FM - always assuming you can get a DAB signal in the first place.

It is a fact that the main FM stations won't be switched off until at least 2015, and on current trends it seems unlikely this target will be met.

Unless you really want the DAB-only stations on the move, I'd avoid buying a DAB radio and stick to FM, Freeview or the internet. I suspect that by 2015, DAB will seem so primitive as to be an expensive irrelevance.

Dreamnine

I don't want to switch on a radio to listen to crappy, compressed MP2 - I would stick with FM.

Dick_Turpin99

I am very pleased with my evoke flow the sound quality is excellent..... I use it abroad and it picks up the wi-fi signal in the house.

spaceboy

Broadcast_Engineer wrote: »

Spaceboy isn't quite right about battery life: the circuitry needed to decode an FM signal is very simple and requires very little power to work, whereas any kind of digital radio needs computer technology inside it to decode the signal, and this requires quite a lot of power. So the battery life of digital sets will always be worse than simple FM sets.

It is, however, correct to say that DAB uses a primitive coding system which means that lots of data needs to be sent to get good sound. Unfortunately, far more stations have been crammed in than DAB was ever designed for, so the amount of data for each is much too low and the sound is very poor. The BBC website shows that some programmes broadcast in stereo on FM and on the iPlayer have to be put out in mono on DAB ... and this is supposed to be progress??

The error correction on DAB is also very primitive, which means if the signal is poor you get an unpleasant 'bubbling mud' sound or no sound at all, whereas FM stations might get a bit hissy but you can still hear what's going on.

DAB+ is a more efficient system with better error correction, but Ofcom has so far banned UK broadcasters from using it.

In fact, all the supposed advantages of DAB are available elsewhere:

+ An RDS FM radio (like you get in most cars) has push-button tuning, automatic re-tuning as you drive around and a text display to show station names. RDS radios can also show you the names of artists and songs, although for some reason most UK broadcasters seem reluctant to use this facility.

+ For digital-only stations, Freeview and the internet give much better sound quality.

+ You can get far, far more stations on the internet than with a DAB radio, and there's often some kind of 'listen-again' facility so you can hear what you want when you want it.

+ Some of Apple's new ipods let you pause and rewind live FM radio - which you can only do on the more expensive DAB radios anyway.

+ And, as explained above, DAB has the worst sound quality of all the digital systems and worse sound than FM - always assuming you can get a DAB signal in the first place.

It is a fact that the main FM stations won't be switched off until at least 2015, and on current trends it seems unlikely this target will be met.

Unless you really want the DAB-only stations on the move, I'd avoid buying a DAB radio and stick to FM, Freeview or the internet. I suspect that by 2015, DAB will seem so primitive as to be an expensive irrelevance.

Thanks for that post. I have another question - is the UK the only country committed to DAB? Are there any countries using DAB+?

Also when I was in Canada people had satellite radios, why is this not popular here?