DAB Radio in Cars?
Discussion
You know what, it's weird this idea that DAB doesn't work in cars or that it's expensive.
I bought a new JVC CD / DAB head unit off ebay back in 2005 for £99, complete with windscreen strip aerial.
It's been brilliant, it's still going strong, and I can honestly say it just doesn't cut out, ever. Even when I drive up to my holiday cottage in North Norfolk, it still works fine.
I bought a new JVC CD / DAB head unit off ebay back in 2005 for £99, complete with windscreen strip aerial.
It's been brilliant, it's still going strong, and I can honestly say it just doesn't cut out, ever. Even when I drive up to my holiday cottage in North Norfolk, it still works fine.
DAB in cars is strange...my dads 03 Vectra was brilliant, he had hundreds of stations and it didn't drop signal once. Yet my 59 Scirocco is crap, on my daily commute on the M4 I lose signal at least 5 times and hardly have any stations!
Oddly, it is perfect round my home town (unless parked by a large building!). As great as it is when it works I wouldn't pay for it again unless I can be guaranteed it won't continuously drop signal like good old FM!
Oddly, it is perfect round my home town (unless parked by a large building!). As great as it is when it works I wouldn't pay for it again unless I can be guaranteed it won't continuously drop signal like good old FM!
In-car DAB requires a good aerial for decent performance. Lots of info on conversion units (for existing FM radios) and aerials here,
http://www.dabonwheels.com/DAB_car_aerials.html
http://www.dabonwheels.com/DAB_car_aerials.html
Its slowly starting to take off. All the major manufacturers have DAB as a factory fit option, and its starting to become standard on certain models. For instance the recently announced VW Golf Match offers the RCD 510 touchscreen radio with DAB, Bluetooth, AUX, iPod & USB and an integrated 6-CD changer standard! Not bad in a £17k family hatch.
As a chap who plays records on the wireless for a living, I can tell you that DAB has split the radio industry. The bigger radio station operators are embracing the 'scrappage scheme' whereby you trade in your old FM radio for a DAB one. The smaller companies who don't have a DAB presence are understandably mightily unhappy about this. What actually will happen with DAB is a mystery as it's outdated early 90's technology, requires more transmitters to cover the same area and is not as robust as FM for reception in a moving vehicle. Most of the genuine DAB-only stations have gone bust or been shut down. Virtually all DAB output is a simulcast of something that is available on FM anyway. Also, the stations are squeezed onto the multiplexes with such low bitrates that they actually sound much worse in terms of fidelity than FM stereo.
The other issue is one of content and satisfaction. Most consumers are happy with the number of radio stations they can pick up currently. For most people, you've 5 national BBC stations, a handful of BBC locals, a few local and regional commercial stations and a couple of gold stations on AM. This is enough for the vast majority of consumers and they simply don't see the value in spending money to throw away a perfectly good FM radio for DAB. Contrast this with TV where before you had 4 or 5 channels and that was it, plus the picture could be crap depending on where you lived. Digital TV brought you loads of channels, BBC 3 and 4, Sky News, shopping channels, Film 4, radio and a better picture. It was a no-brainer to chuck out the old and bring in the new.
No one quite seems to know where this will all end and the final fly in the ointment is that no radio station on the planet will turn their back on the squillons of listeners who only have FM in the car, even when we get to the supposed switch over date of 2015. DAB is a pig to retrofit and not an option for most. I asked my BMW dealer about the cost of retrofitting it into my 7 and he just laughed and said 'you don't want to know.' FM needs to die but I don't think DAB will be the one dealing the lethal blow!
The other issue is one of content and satisfaction. Most consumers are happy with the number of radio stations they can pick up currently. For most people, you've 5 national BBC stations, a handful of BBC locals, a few local and regional commercial stations and a couple of gold stations on AM. This is enough for the vast majority of consumers and they simply don't see the value in spending money to throw away a perfectly good FM radio for DAB. Contrast this with TV where before you had 4 or 5 channels and that was it, plus the picture could be crap depending on where you lived. Digital TV brought you loads of channels, BBC 3 and 4, Sky News, shopping channels, Film 4, radio and a better picture. It was a no-brainer to chuck out the old and bring in the new.
No one quite seems to know where this will all end and the final fly in the ointment is that no radio station on the planet will turn their back on the squillons of listeners who only have FM in the car, even when we get to the supposed switch over date of 2015. DAB is a pig to retrofit and not an option for most. I asked my BMW dealer about the cost of retrofitting it into my 7 and he just laughed and said 'you don't want to know.' FM needs to die but I don't think DAB will be the one dealing the lethal blow!
Edited by bennyboydurham on Thursday 3rd June 02:55
bennyboydurham said:
As a chap who plays records on the wireless for a living, I can tell you that DAB has split the radio industry. The bigger radio station operators are embracing the 'scrappage scheme' whereby you trade in your old FM radio for a DAB one. The smaller companies who don't have a DAB presence are understandably mightily unhappy about this. What actually will happen with DAB is a mystery as it's outdated early 90's technology, requires more transmitters to cover the same area and is not as robust as FM for reception in a moving vehicle. Most of the genuine DAB-only stations have gone bust or been shut down. Virtually all DAB output is a simulcast of something that is available on FM anyway. Also, the stations are squeezed onto the multiplexes with such low bitrates that they actually sound much worse in terms of fidelity than FM stereo.
The other issue is one of content and satisfaction. Most consumers are happy with the number of radio stations they can pick up currently. For most people, you've 5 national BBC stations, a handful of BBC locals, a few local and regional commercial stations and a couple of gold stations on AM. This is enough for the vast majority of consumers and they simply don't see the value in spending money to throw away a perfectly good FM radio for DAB. Contrast this with TV where before you had 4 or 5 channels and that was it, plus the picture could be crap depending on where you lived. Digital TV brought you loads of channels, BBC 3 and 4, Sky News, shopping channels, Film 4, radio and a better picture. It was a no-brainer to chuck out the old and bring in the new.
No one quite seems to know where this will all end and the final fly in the ointment is that no radio station on the planet will turn their back on the squillons of listeners who only have FM in the car, even when we get to the supposed switch over date of 2015. DAB is a pig to retrofit and not an option for most. I asked my BMW dealer about the cost of retrofitting it into my 7 and he just laughed and said 'you don't want to know.' FM needs to die but I don't think DAB will be the one dealing the lethal blow!
YepThe other issue is one of content and satisfaction. Most consumers are happy with the number of radio stations they can pick up currently. For most people, you've 5 national BBC stations, a handful of BBC locals, a few local and regional commercial stations and a couple of gold stations on AM. This is enough for the vast majority of consumers and they simply don't see the value in spending money to throw away a perfectly good FM radio for DAB. Contrast this with TV where before you had 4 or 5 channels and that was it, plus the picture could be crap depending on where you lived. Digital TV brought you loads of channels, BBC 3 and 4, Sky News, shopping channels, Film 4, radio and a better picture. It was a no-brainer to chuck out the old and bring in the new.
No one quite seems to know where this will all end and the final fly in the ointment is that no radio station on the planet will turn their back on the squillons of listeners who only have FM in the car, even when we get to the supposed switch over date of 2015. DAB is a pig to retrofit and not an option for most. I asked my BMW dealer about the cost of retrofitting it into my 7 and he just laughed and said 'you don't want to know.' FM needs to die but I don't think DAB will be the one dealing the lethal blow!
Edited by bennyboydurham on Thursday 3rd June 02:55
However the only reason folk want Dab in their car is to listen to 6music which is about the only radio station in the UK that isn't awful.
My current choice of FM radio stations are
Radio 1 = please god i would rather die
Radio 2 = mildly terrible
Northsound 1 = Please someone kill me
Original 106 = Pass the mind bleach
Radio 4 = Need to be in the mood for it
HellDiver said:
Mostly because DAB is s
te in cars. Drive behind a building? Silence. Drive past another car? Silence. Drive over a hill? Silence.
Or is that just N. Ireland (where one transmitter serves DAB to the whole country)?
I have a Focus RS, when I got it I was over the moon not just the car but DAB aswell, great I get to listen to my fav Radio station Planetrock. North of Aberdeen signal very intermitant, not good. I now have DAB in the house and still can't get Planetrock, but if i sit in the car in the garage, hey presto Planetrock. Fickle or what !! te in cars. Drive behind a building? Silence. Drive past another car? Silence. Drive over a hill? Silence.Or is that just N. Ireland (where one transmitter serves DAB to the whole country)?
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