Death of fm radio broadcasts - quality substituted 4 quantity of digital dab

[Us-&-Them]

I decided to withdraw my thread other than the statement below:-


QUALITY OR QUANTITY?? - THAT IS THE QUESTION

[Stratmangler]

DAB surely must be narrow, compressed low soundstage/sound spectrum with no real quality !!!

Is this guesswork, or do you have experience of listening to DAB.
I've heard DAB every now and then, and to be honest the radios have got better over time. Some sound very respectable indeed, but the majority leave much to be desired.

I would be inclined to look at the number of new vehicles on the road which sport DAB radio as factory fit.
When it's every vehicle that has it I think the countdown for pulling the plug on FM will begin, but it will a few years further before it happens.

As far as listening at home goes, they can pull the plug now for me.
I have been listening to streamed radio ever since I bought my first Squeezebox.
Since the BBC fucked up rationalised their streaming services earlier this year and caused so much upset (it was a great move by the Beeb to alienate a large percentage of the listening public at a stroke) the Squeezebox community have responded well and have a viable work around that brings the newer high quality streams into play.
Streamed BBC radio sounds great with HE AAC @320kbps.
Planet Rock sounds dreadful on every digital service, with the sole exception being on http://icy-e-bz-04-cr.sharp-stream.com:8000/planetrock.mp3.m3u

[Us-&-Them]

Hi
Thanks for the reply :) I have listened but I dont think you can compare digital radio to a quality FM broadcast :) Thats just my opinion. Listen to a live gig on FM and then the same gig on DAB - to me, FM everytime; the soundstage is wider/better :)

[Audioflyer]

I've seen an article on the internet regarding the FM band II (88-108mhz) I can't remember if it was by the ITU, FCC or the RSGB. It stated that no individual state could reuse this band with out the agreement of the ITU. I will try and find the article.

The frequencies available for FM were decided by some important conferences of ITU. The milestone of those conferences is the Stockholm agreement of 1961 among 38 countries. A 1984 conference in Geneva made some modifications to the original Stockholm agreement particularly in the frequency range above 100mhz.

[Stratmangler]

Get a decent DAB radio and you can compare.
The one that impressed me is one of the Roberts models, this one http://www.robertsradio.co.uk/product_details/duologic.htm

I've spent a fair bit of time on shopfitting/construction sites in recent years, and almost all of the DeWalt and Makita branded radios have DAB on them.
It's a waste of time it being there. Nobody has bothered to find out how the DAB performs. They listen to poorly tuned in stations, which does my head in. The DAB is invariably better sounding than the FM radio because of this.
Having said that, audiophile considerations don't exactly have any priority in these circumstances. The radio just needs to be intelligible.

[Us-&-Them]

Get a decent DAB radio and you can compare.
The one that impressed me is one of the Roberts models, this one http://www.robertsradio.co.uk/product_details/duologic.htm

I've spent a fair bit of time on shopfitting/construction sites in recent years, and almost all of the DeWalt and Makita branded radios have DAB on them.
It's a waste of time it being there. Nobody has bothered to find out how the DAB performs. They listen to poorly tuned in stations, which does my head in. The DAB is invariably better sounding than the FM radio because of this.
Having said that, audiophile considerations don't exactly have any priority in these circumstances. The radio just needs to be intelligible.

I think that is the problem now...................... nobody gives a 5h1t !!! Nobody really gives a 5h1t about the quality of music, its reproduction (in all forms) or the quality of songs/music presented to the listening audience by artists; as long as its jolly and its intelligible I think you're probably right - that seems to be all that matters to most people (not just the builders with their builders boom boxes). I think its only the real music lovers and audiophiles who show any real passion or concern for these matters :(

When I was young, (sounds like the Hovis advert) music mattered!!!! I guess its just a different world today :(

[Spectral Morn]

Hi
Thanks for the reply :) I have listened but I dont think you can compare digital radio to a quality FM broadcast :) Thats just my opinion. Listen to a live gig on FM and then the same gig on DAB - to me, FM everytime; the soundstage is wider/better :)

I agree.

Folks will throw all sorts of guff about this: FM isn't what it used to be, FM broadcasts digital sources, including what DAB does etc. Well that may well be true. It may also be true that BBC broadcasts are not what they were but my bottom line is FM despite - its reduced quality - still sounds vastly better to any digital radio, internet or DAB, via free view or Sky - on its own or played through a very expensive DAC.

Of course to get decent FM one needs a decent aerial and a reasonably good tuner but in saying that a cheap FM portable still has a better tone than a portable DAB.

So preach it brother.


Regards Neil

[Michael loves music]

To get decent FM you don't need a decent aerial I have a Denon tu 260 L 11 cost £5 off eBay and a £1.99 rabbit ears aerial stuck on the wall the sound is as good as the Dab radio in my brand new VW Golf outside imho

[Spectral Morn]

To get decent FM you don't need a decent aerial I have a Denon tu 260 L 11 cost £5 off eBay and a £1.99 rabbit ears aerial stuck on the wall the sound is as good as the Dab radio in my brand new VW Golf outside imho

I used to think the same until I got a decent 6 element aerial.


Regards Neil

[Firebottle]

To get decent FM you don't need a decent aerial

Depends very much where you are Michael and how strong the signal is. A stronger signal afforded by a good aerial will give a lower noise floor in the receiver as well.

:)

[DSJR]

A well recorded live Radio 3 broadcast can sound incredible via DAB as long as the data stream is kept as fast as possible. The 192 speed the BBC started with is marginal to say the least, as it was well documented at the time that imperfect recordings and some presenters voices caused issues, the lossy part of the 'maths' used not being able to differentiate between musical signal and distortion apparently.

The thing is, DAB as we have it in the UK was out of date pretty well on launch I remember and DAB+, which apparently so much better, isn't backwards compatible with the system we're stuck with. Even modern MP3 at 192 streaming is better I believe (isn't DAB actually MP2 era?).

[Spectral Morn]

Depends very much where you are Michael and how strong the signal is. A stronger signal afforded by a good aerial will give a lower noise floor in the receiver as well.

:)

I found Alan despite being relatively close to the FM broadcast mast, that upgrading the aerial improved overall quality. I guess a case of less crap in sounding better than the poorer signal via a bit of wet string aerial Michael was referring to.



Regards Neil

[hifinutt]

I drove over 200 miles to get a massive aeriel and it was worth it. FM sounds brilliant and I listen most nights

[The Black Adder]

FM is better quality for sure IMO if done right.

Another thing with FM is that even if you have a distant signal or a badly tuned signal you can still gain information from it. Sure its crackly but you can still hear it. In those same situations with a DAB signal it would be 'NO SIGNAL'.

I would rather have FM... For me 6Music is the best DAB station. Personally i would shut R2 down and put 6Music in it's place... R2 plays nothing but the hum-drum and 90% of the presenters are utterly dire... IMO. :)

[Us-&-Them]

FM is better quality for sure IMO if done right.

I would rather have FM... For me 6Music is the best DAB station. Personally i would shut R2 down and put 6Music in it's place... R2 plays nothing but the hum-drum and 90% of the presenters are utterly dire... IMO. :)

I feel a lot of stations have crap presenters - its almost like they've all come out of a jelly babies packet; all the same mould just rag-chewing on a different radio station :(

Its a bit like most of the music (from todays era) that they play - all sounds the same (I'm sounding like my parents).

In fact, if you listen to the music being used in TV adverts today - it all sounds the bloody same; some young girl strumming on an acoustic guitar singing (if you can call it that) some kinda folk tune with a crokey strained voice................ boring.

The other type that's driving me crazy is the ones using the big chants like in the Argos advert (Go Argos) - there seems quite a few using that style aswell .........................aaaaaaaaaaaaagggggggghhhh hhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

Anyway - its FM for me :LOL: :)