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DAB radio reception- megathread


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Maybe someone should go round and see whats up with the transmitter ? Here is link to photo of the sheffield DAB radio transmitter - click on the Birds eye view and go up the photo a bit and you'll see it with satellite dishes and some strange structure :)

 

http://www.multimap.com/maps/?hloc=GB|SK324870

 

Radio 4 and LBC seem fine here in S20

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This report was in the luvvie, Pinko, Left-Wing Guardian - so it must be true.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jan/29/radio.digitaltvradio?gusrc=rss&feed=media

 

:rolleyes:

 

The article is over a year old! As I understand it, DAB has really caught on over the past year and is now safe. At least that was the jist of something I heard on the radio the other day.

 

Both my DABs sounded terrible in S7 this morning. Fine now!

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This report was in the luvvie, Pinko, Left-Wing Guardian - so it must be true.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jan/29/radio.digitaltvradio?gusrc=rss&feed=media

 

:rolleyes:

Lots of people have been saying they should - some even more recently than 13 months ago. There are certainly systems that offer better sound quality than DAB which seems to be the main reason people give but that's a red herring. Most people aren't too bothered by sound quality though - we've all have hifi separates systems rather than all in one systems if that was the case.

 

The main thing limiting DAB uptake is the cost of running stations on it compared to audience size - it's difficult for commercial stations to make it pay. Cheaper radios will help but DAB doesn't provide enough over analogue for most people to switch and people are increasingly getting their 'radio' via the internet which further decreases demand - and doesn't cost another £50+ for a radio.

 

Ultimately though, until the beeb and/or the government talk about it being superceded, DAB isn't going away.

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Lots of people have been saying they should - some even more recently than 13 months ago. There are certainly systems that offer better sound quality than DAB which seems to be the main reason people give but that's a red herring. Most people aren't too bothered by sound quality though - we've all have hifi separates systems rather than all in one systems if that was the case.

 

The main thing limiting DAB uptake is the cost of running stations on it compared to audience size - it's difficult for commercial stations to make it pay. Cheaper radios will help but DAB doesn't provide enough over analogue for most people to switch and people are increasingly getting their 'radio' via the internet which further decreases demand - and doesn't cost another £50+ for a radio.

 

Ultimately though, until the beeb and/or the government talk about it being superceded, DAB isn't going away.

It's my understanding that sound quality is not an issue with DAB; it is only limited by the bit-rate, which is set by the broadcaster. The higher the bit-rate, the higher the quality, the greater the bandwidth, the greater the cost. DAB uses MP2 compression, which has been improved upon of course, but things will always improve; you have to define a standard at some time. If we had chosen the more recent MP3 standard instead, some bright spark would criticise it and suggest that we should have waited until MP4 etc. etc. Ultimately, DAB would never have started, and never would start if we were to wait until we had perfected everything!
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The article is over a year old! As I understand it, DAB has really caught on over the past year and is now safe. At least that was the jist of something I heard on the radio the other day.

 

Both my DABs sounded terrible in S7 this morning. Fine now!

 

You are correct, this from the same reporter a year later (this January)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jan/29/digital-radio-lord-carter-report

 

the Government won't let it die.

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Just been looking for this thread as over the past few days the reception on my DAB radio alarm clock has deteriorated hugely. There's a loud buzzing noise coming from the radio, no matter what station it's tuned to. In fact it has been known to start buzzing when it isn't even turned on, which is very strange. I'm in S10.

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  • 4 months later...

Somebody told me that they will be switching the analogue radio signal off soon meaning that many radios will become obsolete . So i have decided to upgrade to a digital radio i want a good one that i can also play my cd's on under £100 any suggestions

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All DAB receivers will be obsolete in a few years' time

 

 

30th November 2006

The DAB system has recently adopted the new AAC+ audio codec, and existing stations that use the old MP2 format will probably be switched off completely in the UK in around 7-8 years' time. More to the point, however, DAB radios being sold in the shops today will not be able to receive any of the many new stations that will launch using the new AAC+ format in the coming years; some of which will probably launch as soon as 3 years from now.

However, DAB receivers that will support the new AAC+ codec will be available from summer/autumn 2007, so if you want to buy a DAB receiver that will be able to receive these new stations you would be best off waiting until then.

 

http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/articles/All-DAB-receivers-will-be-obsolete-in-a-few-years-time.php

.

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All DAB receivers will be obsolete in a few years' time

 

 

However, DAB receivers that will support the new AAC+ codec will be available from summer/autumn 2007, so if you want to buy a DAB receiver that will be able to receive these new stations you would be best off waiting until then.

 

 

So we should wait until 2007 before buying a set?

 

Does time go backwards in your universe? :)

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