Poll: DAB+ is the future? Digital terrestrial radio broadcasting

Which method do you prefer when listening to radio

  • Total voters
    36
  • Poll closed .
lucid said:
I take your point about background and non-critical listening. Hell, I listened to Radio 1 and Radio 2 when it was on AM.

We'll accept quite low audio quality if in doing so we get some additional benefit, or if there's no alternative. Radio at work / whilst driving / in the background / non-critical; that's all fine. What sticks in the throat though for me is the UK Government (indirectly) peddling the lie that the DAB we got 20+ years ago was "digital, so it's better". This was part of the campaign message on the TV adverts with the little black puppet and it's Barry White-esq voiceover.

I so wanted DAB to be great. IIRC, there was a channel that carried something similar to talking books. Unfortunately it sounded like they were being read out underwater. There were other channels that I could get on DAB that weren't available locally on FM, but they sounded awful too. DAB+ offered a glimmer of hope, but that was soon dashed when the bitrates showed that they were/are using the more efficient algorithms to pack in more stations rather than to increase quality.

The point here is that we still have FM, so we have a choice. At the moment, I find no compelling reason to switch to DAB as a choice. It's sort of force on me if I jump in the car and put on the radio. The default is to always go to DAB. But I still have he choice.

You've chosen to abandon DAB in favour of streaming (BBC HD AAC 48kHz 320kb/s) for a specific channel. Would you really choose to go back to DAB for this station after that?

Incidentally, the fact that you're using streaming rather than DAB means you're akin to the son of Satan as far as our German friend is concerned. For him, it's DAB+ Über alles. Which brings us to the reason this whole thread exists. Parts of Europe have gone DAB+, but at much higher bitrates than the UK's services. That seems to be a point that Dagmar Dusseldorf persistently ignores. What he thinks of his DAB+ service isn't the same for us.

BTW, lovely tuners. Pricey; probably more than a lot of folk spend on an entire audio system, but lovely nonetheless.
Click to expand...

No, I would not go back to DAB. There are many good HQ radio streams, Radio Paradise for example, I see no need to...

In comparison DAB sounds thin and lifeless.
 
I take your point about background and non-critical listening. Hell, I listened to Radio 1 and Radio 2 when it was on AM.

We'll accept quite low audio quality if in doing so we get some additional benefit, or if there's no alternative. Radio at work / whilst driving / in the background / non-critical; that's all fine. What sticks in the throat though for me is the UK Government (indirectly) peddling the lie that the DAB we got 20+ years ago was "digital, so it's better". This was part of the campaign message on the TV adverts with the little black puppet and it's Barry White-esq voiceover.

I so wanted DAB to be great. IIRC, there was a channel that carried something similar to talking books. Unfortunately it sounded like they were being read out underwater. There were other channels that I could get on DAB that weren't available locally on FM, but they sounded awful too. DAB+ offered a glimmer of hope, but that was soon dashed when the bitrates showed that they were/are using the more efficient algorithms to pack in more stations rather than to increase quality.

The point here is that we still have FM, so we have a choice. At the moment, I find no compelling reason to switch to DAB as a choice. It's sort of force on me if I jump in the car and put on the radio. The default is to always go to DAB. But I still have he choice.

You've chosen to abandon DAB in favour of streaming (BBC HD AAC 48kHz 320kb/s) for a specific channel. Would you really choose to go back to DAB for this station after that?

Incidentally, the fact that you're using streaming rather than DAB means you're akin to the son of Satan as far as our German friend is concerned. For him, it's DAB+ Über alles. Which brings us to the reason this whole thread exists. Parts of Europe have gone DAB+, but at much higher bitrates than the UK's services. That seems to be a point that Dagmar Dusseldorf persistently ignores. What he thinks of his DAB+ service isn't the same for us.

BTW, lovely tuners. Pricey; probably more than a lot of folk spend on an entire audio system, but lovely nonetheless.
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Ask your local radio stations to start broadcasting with higher bitrates. What exactly don't you understand?
 
4K8KW10 said:
Ask your local radio stations to start broadcasting with higher bitrates. What exactly don't you understand?
Click to expand...

Well Gloria Gewürztraminer, after 500 posts in a thread, many of which tell you that we've done exactly that, and it has resulted in the delay of analogue switch-off but not yet the increase in DAB bitrates, you come up with a moronic comment like that.

I'm not sure whether you're trying to be provocative by being deliberately obtuse, or if you really are that stupid.
 
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MagicBoy said:
They don't give a ****
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Prove it. When you ask them about higher bitrates, what do they say?

Oh, we will postpone the analogue turn off, even despite the fact that our radio stations don't broadcast there?

I am not sure if you are trolling or just naive that anyone believes in your stupid arguments here.
 
Peoples are going in the right direction. After Norway (2016) and Switzerland (2023), it's now time for Italy.

Radio Rai says it is reasonable to switch off FM by 2030
20.09.2021 - Italy
it-ed6e2b1f4508b8d75c63827fa7d8d0bd.gif

According to Roberto Sergio, the Director of Italy's public broadcaster Radio Rai "I have not calculated a date [for the switch off], I just said to get there as soon as possible and taking into account everyone's needs. Since we said before that the switch-off with regard to television lasted ten years, it seems reasonable to think that we can return to that perimeter: 2030 would go in that direction, then if we were able to do it sooner, in my opinion it would be better for everyone.
(newslinet.com) Read more
News | WorldDAB
 
I suspect it's all a business model:

the poor get low quality free-to-air DAB+, while "the rich" get internet monthly fees of dozens of pounds to get streaming :o :rolleyes: :cry:

I am NOT going to pay a single penny for streaming.
It's enough that I am paying for their advertisements.

Mr_Sukebe said:
Not that it matters anymore when we're using services such as Amazon music, spotify, or can carry around our whole music collection on our phones.
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It's only the "yours" that doesn't include the much larger radio stations' compilations.
And a professional selection of new acts. Which you have no access to because you don't know about their existence.
 
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4K8KW10 said:
the poor get low quality free-to-air DAB+, while "the rich" get internet monthly fees of dozens of pounds to get streaming :o :rolleyes: :cry:

I am NOT going to pay a single penny for streaming.
It's enough that I am paying for their advertisements.
Click to expand...
I already have a data plan because I want internet access for email and the Web. I can stream and listen to thousands of internet radio stations for free so long as I listen to their adverts. That is just the same as listening to commercial radio.

4K8KW10 said:
It's only the "yours" that doesn't include the much larger radio stations' compilations.
And a professional selection of new acts. Which you have no access to because you don't know about their existence.
Click to expand...

What? You think listening to the music choices of a committee sucking-up to their corporate sponsors by making safe selections is going to broaden your musical horizons.... really?!

Meanwhile, I'm using internet search algorithms based on cross-sections of the artists and music I like to find new artists that aren't even released yet in this country.

I'm mixing that with internet radio stations to explore genres of music that don't get any airplay in the UK, and probably not in Germany either because it's not considered commercial enough for DAB broadcast.

Last night I was listening to a little Armenian folk music. The night before it was Greek.
 
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Applications for small-scale DAB round two published
22.09.2021 - United Kingdom
gb-1674fbf6dc097793ed59ab21f9925986.gif

UK's Ofcom has published the applications received to operate small-scale radio multiplexes in North West England and North East Wales. A total of 30 applications were received for 18 of the areas advertised in Round Two.
(Radio Today) Read more
 
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