best way to listen to digital radio

builder22

builder22

builder22

Soldato
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14 Dec 2005
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I recently got some active speakers, looking in to options for a hub of some sort

Is there any difference in quality between stereo/av receivers with built in DAB vs using the stations web page/app? or even the 4 digit stations on Sky (0110 etc)

I was thinking of getting a unit with DAB built in but not sure of the quality vs web page/app and Sky
 
This will depend on your DAC. I'm sure there will be some subtle differences in digital jitter when comparing digital radio and web radio inputs, but I think you'd have to be pretty anal and own some serious kit to actually notice. If your connection is so bad that it drops out then that's a different matter!

Go with whatever is most convenient. Use the cash that you save on a DAB receiver to buy a better DAC.

Edit - XFM sounds great to my ears from the virgin media box via an optical output to my Beresford DAC. Via analogue outputs I wouldn't be so sure of a good result but I must confess I haven't done a direct comparison.
 
Cheers...I thought the differences would be small but they all add up, also wasn't sure if there might be some big differences between sources
they're JBL LSR 305 speakers...not mega kit but pretty accurate
something ive never thought about is how good the DAC is in a Sky box!
 
the dab/mp3 radio stations are pretty poor bitrates
~80kb/s often half what you can get on the satellite or freeview, and the internet streams are often the best especially bbc at 320kb/s.
so many people with dab radios in the car would stream via 4g if they had the reception and the unlimited contract. (DAB+ available on continent would fix that, jazzfm has it too)

Some of the dab radios with internet access do not necessarily get the best BBC streams either, since BBC have changed and they have to release new s/w.

I understand even avr do not necessarily get accesss to best bbc streams, since have to rely on intermediaries like tunein, where you have to pay for some custom channels.

So imhop best solution is a tablet and something like a chromecast audio, where you can access the streams you want via VLC player, say.
This also gives you catch-up as you can record streams, plus access to youtube streams. (maybe sub £100 for this solution)

Obviously they have to have good quality source material to make use of the better bitrates (things like paradise radio sound excellent 128kb/s aac codec)

edit: forgot i thought yamaha avs give free tunein subscription
 
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