Digital radios! Are the overrated?

[kevenh]

They are similar digital technology but the quality of the streams is very very different. A DAB stream is typically 128kbps. MP3 is up to about 320kbps. An internet stream is capable of 1024kbps in FLAC or ALAC format which brings it up much closer to the CD standard of 1411kbps.

Testing the BBC did for DAB found 192kbps was a quality minimum.
If DAB is struggling it’ll be with stations going lower.
DAB+ has decent error correction built in but when reception is weak you’ll get a bigger gap than older DAB transmissions.

I have DAB for sport & occasional music. Mostly I’m supplying my own music from iPhone

 

[Pausim]

Testing the BBC did for DAB found 192kbps was a quality minimum.
If DAB is struggling it’ll be with stations going lower.
DAB+ has decent error correction built in but when reception is weak you’ll get a bigger gap than older DAB transmissions.

I have DAB for sport & occasional music. Mostly I’m supplying my own music from iPhone

We have good DAB coverage in Poole. I checked the download rates on my DAB radio and with exception of BBC Radio 3 the best I got was 128kbps.

I think it is possible the source of the 192kbps claims was confusing DAB with other BBC digital radio platforms such as Freeview and Satellite. The best table I can find was compiled in 2020, it shows all but one BBC DAB radio stations at or below 128kbps. The only exception is Radio 3 which is 160 to 192kbps, presumably it gets special treatment because it has the fewest listeners (cynical observation). The table shows several Freeview and Satellite programmes at 192kbps and BBC iPlayer programmes at 320kbps.

 

[ceejayt]

Apple CarPlay, BBCSounds and Apple Music - the way to go.

Not sure aboutEU roaming charges though in the brave new Brexit world

 

[Jonno1103]

We've had the internal window aerial, the Fiat wing mirror style and now the standard good old fashioned front wing fixed type. This last one is far better and I can listen to Planet Rock all the way from Harrogate to Newton Abbot... much to the wife's pleasure of course!

 

[63720]

Interesting reading..

DAB vs. Internet Radio Sound Quality - Best Radios

DAB was launched in the UK in 1995 with the promise of a greater choice of stations, a more robust service with less interference and noise and better sound quality. Whilst some of these benefits have been achieved, there have always been concerns about the sound quality on DAB radio, which is...

bestradios.co.uk

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Don Quixote]

Well as I'm in Spain I wanted UK radio for the likes of Radio 2 etc. I found a great app both on Andriod and Apple which works a treat and never drops out. The data usage is very little so in car, campervan at home use it all the time.

For computer via web page:

Listen to live Lowestoft radio on Radio Garden

Explore live radio by rotating the globe.

radio.garden

Andriod: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jonathanpuckey.radiogarden&hl=en&gl=US

Apple: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/radio-garden-live/id1339670993

Still have Roberts radio with internet stations, Spotify, etc, but cannot remember the last time I used it.

 

[Sapper520]

I live on a hill about 1 mile from the seafront.

Dab fine outside my house, drop to the bottom of my road, which is at sea level…..disappears for most of the roads around town.

 

[kevenh]

I think it is possible the source of the 192kbps claims was confusing DAB with other BBC digital radio platforms such as Freeview and Satellite.

Thanks for the table of bit rates across all platforms. It shows that those few that moan the loss of FM quality are right but that the majority don’t miss FM.

My reference tom192kbps was for DAB & the BBC research. Since then the BEEB have dropped to lower bit rates.
The Radio 3 listeners noticed and persist with higher bit rates when content is a match for the higher quality.

 

[jongood]

Apple CarPlay, BBCSounds and Apple Music - the way to go.

Not sure aboutEU roaming charges though in the brave new Brexit world

I think there will be limits but don't think we'll be headed back to the old days, too much competition out there.