BBC Radio 3 Sound Quality.

[mbic]

Hi

Does anyone listen to BBC Radio 3 on FM or online? The sound from concerts seems somewhat mediocre or is it me?
I’d like to know what you think about the sound quality please!

[hifinutt]

Been really enjoying bbc 3 on fm over past week.seem superb quality

[dave2010]

Curious. Questions about R3 sound quality have cropped up elsewhere recently.

I know that FM can give good results, though most people don't know that, but whether it is delivering right now I can't say.

I live in the (literally) frozen North, so although there are several possible choices of distribution network in theory (FM, DAB, AM, Satellite, possibly Freeview, online - BBC Sounds), in practice they don't all work, and quality is variable.
As a result we have largely given up on broadcast reception, and receive most channels via internet.

For online it may make a difference if you listen in "on demand" mode or live - and again I don't know which would be better.

If I find time, I'll try a few test checks in the next few days.

[mbic]

Thanks Dave
I’m going to give the Barbican concert a listen at 7.30pm tonight. I have had a sort of reply from the BBC just saying they have passed my concerns on to senior managers etc. So we’ll see!

Mike.

[dave2010]

Thanks for pointing that out. I'll try this myself: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001fnnq

Actually looking at that page, does this mean that I can't listen to it live "This programme will be available shortly after broadcast "?

I'll have to see if I can pick it up somehow if it's not available immediately. Could just be that the "helpful" sentence is actually incorrect, of course.

The Shostakovich on now - Mixtape - sounds pretty good via BBC Sounds from the Schedule. Now it's gone to Spiegel im Spiegel - still sounds OK.

[hifinutt]

Thanks Dave
I’m going to give the Barbican concert a listen at 7.30pm tonight. I have had a sort of reply from the BBC just saying they have passed my concerns on to senior managers etc. So we’ll see!

Mike.

well i am not far from you so if you are passing you are welcome to give your expert opinion on my radio 3 reception!!

[dave2010]

I've been listening on headphones (DT990 Pro) for a while now to the R3 data stream to the concert. Seems pretty good on most of the music I've heard so far, including some choral works in the interval talk. I'll keep listening.

i can imagine better quality sound - for example sometimes in a live performance - but for broadcast/recorded sound this does sound good. If you want me to try broadcast sounds as well that might require more effort.

I'm just not sure if it's feasible these days with all the different modes.

Arguably I might enjoy it more through speakers and the volume turned up, though the headphones do give a very clear sound, and I could also wire them through a different DAC.

[Edward]

I listen to BBC Radio 3 a lot and find the sound is almost always great. I stream via Roon using the following link (which now includes metadata). This link may well work in other apps. It is an AAC 320k stream.


http://a.files.bbci.co.uk/media/live...dio_three.m3u8

Some time ago BBC streamed the Proms in lossless flac format which was superb. So they have the process in place, hopefully one day they will switch to that permanently.

[mbic]

Thanks for the replies everyone. The 7.30pm slot on R3 is not always live. It will say recorded on a particular date. The mixtape very often is very often CD’s with a helping of BBC recordings, the playlist usually gives this information. Record Review today at 9am is all CD’s generally this is a high quality sound.
I based my complaint to the BBC around the Barbican concert https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001fng2 landscapes In Sound a few days ago, the sound was bunched between the left and centre channels there was no ‘stereo spread’. Last nights Barbican concert was much better.
Experience has shown with the BBC, that when you complain they like to point the finger at your audio system, but then the issue you’ve complained about goes away!

Mike.