Digital Killed the FM Radio star?
November 30, 2010 2:41 AM Subscribe
DAB, DAB+ or Analogue FM, what is the future of Radio, and what would you buy today? Its a potential Christmas gift for someone in Netherlands / UK.
My friend is a habitual radio & podcast listener currently living in the Netherlands but moving to UK in less than a year. They don't have a good radio receiver or even stereo.
So I thought I'd get them one of those cute little Tivoli Table Radio(or similar) units with auxilary input so they can use it for Radio, iPod plug in, and Notebook.
1. But should I be buying a DAB one? is Analogue FM really going to be discontinued?
2. Any recommendations? (Compact, Aux Input, Good Sound, 'pretty' price,... upto say £200 max. usable in UK and NL, can be bought in UK or mailordered here)
My friend is a habitual radio & podcast listener currently living in the Netherlands but moving to UK in less than a year. They don't have a good radio receiver or even stereo.
So I thought I'd get them one of those cute little Tivoli Table Radio(or similar) units with auxilary input so they can use it for Radio, iPod plug in, and Notebook.
1. But should I be buying a DAB one? is Analogue FM really going to be discontinued?
2. Any recommendations? (Compact, Aux Input, Good Sound, 'pretty' price,... upto say £200 max. usable in UK and NL, can be bought in UK or mailordered here)
I bought the Avanti Flow from Pure last year.
It has DAB, FM, connects to an iPod, has internet radio and can stream music from a computer. It costs £221 from Amazon. It's great.
Short of getting DAB+ on there it's as future proof as it gets. I use the internet radio bit the most.
posted by MuffinMan at 3:24 AM on November 30, 2010
It has DAB, FM, connects to an iPod, has internet radio and can stream music from a computer. It costs £221 from Amazon. It's great.
Short of getting DAB+ on there it's as future proof as it gets. I use the internet radio bit the most.
posted by MuffinMan at 3:24 AM on November 30, 2010
I've had a DAB for seven years, and it's probably my favourite thing in my bedroom. If I had to upgrade or replace it, though, I'd consider one of the ones with DAB/internet radio, and maybe a Roberts one as I've always liked Roberts radios (they are more expensive though). I have a Pure DAB radio and they seem pretty good. I wasn't impressed with Intempo when I tested them out in 2003 but they may have improved since then.
A lot of stations on FM/AM are on digital, at least in the UK.
posted by mippy at 3:44 AM on November 30, 2010
A lot of stations on FM/AM are on digital, at least in the UK.
posted by mippy at 3:44 AM on November 30, 2010
Response by poster: I guess my problem is I really like the design and styling of the earlier Tivoli Models - But they are Analogue AM/FM only. Is it daft to buy a non DAB radio now?
This Vita R1 MKII DAB Radio is possibly passable.
but sorry that Avanti Flow looks a bit cheap and plasticy.
posted by mary8nne at 3:45 AM on November 30, 2010
This Vita R1 MKII DAB Radio is possibly passable.
but sorry that Avanti Flow looks a bit cheap and plasticy.
posted by mary8nne at 3:45 AM on November 30, 2010
DAB is a dead letter in the UK (IMO), which makes this a difficult decision.
There will eventually be a messy compromise with a switchover of the FM spectrum to DAB+, leaving the existing DAB channels to wither slowly on the vine, but in the meantime FM is going to stick around in the UK for the forseeable future I think.
Not that this helps in your decision much I'm afraid!
posted by pharm at 4:33 AM on November 30, 2010
There will eventually be a messy compromise with a switchover of the FM spectrum to DAB+, leaving the existing DAB channels to wither slowly on the vine, but in the meantime FM is going to stick around in the UK for the forseeable future I think.
Not that this helps in your decision much I'm afraid!
posted by pharm at 4:33 AM on November 30, 2010
NB. Some of the Pure DAB radios are DAB+ capable & will receive both Band III and Band L transmissions (& so will work in both UK & the continent) but that information isn't easily gleaned from the fact sheets unfortunately :(
Maybe give their customer services a prod?
posted by pharm at 4:41 AM on November 30, 2010
Maybe give their customer services a prod?
posted by pharm at 4:41 AM on November 30, 2010
Actually, poking the Pure website, it says that all current Pure radios are DAB+ capable. So you just have to find the ones that are Band L capable.
A suitable search turns up this:
http://www.worlddab.org/products_manufacturers/receiver_manufacturers/pure?pdf=1
Which suggests a few options.
posted by pharm at 4:51 AM on November 30, 2010
A suitable search turns up this:
http://www.worlddab.org/products_manufacturers/receiver_manufacturers/pure?pdf=1
Which suggests a few options.
posted by pharm at 4:51 AM on November 30, 2010
but sorry that Avanti Flow looks a bit cheap and plasticy
Most things will next to a Vita or a Tivoli. I'd get a look at one in person. It's not especially cheap and nasty by most standards.
posted by MuffinMan at 5:12 AM on November 30, 2010
Most things will next to a Vita or a Tivoli. I'd get a look at one in person. It's not especially cheap and nasty by most standards.
posted by MuffinMan at 5:12 AM on November 30, 2010
Response by poster: So Continental Europe uses a different Band to the UK?
or it seems there are four Bands: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_audio_broadcasting#Bands_and_modes
What is the status of FM analogue in Netherlands / Continental Europe?
posted by mary8nne at 5:18 AM on November 30, 2010
or it seems there are four Bands: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_audio_broadcasting#Bands_and_modes
What is the status of FM analogue in Netherlands / Continental Europe?
posted by mary8nne at 5:18 AM on November 30, 2010
Response by poster: There is also a DMB type of broadcast. argh. So it seems I need to get a DAB+ Band III + Band L receiver to be sure it works in both UK and The Netherlands.
posted by mary8nne at 5:33 AM on November 30, 2010
posted by mary8nne at 5:33 AM on November 30, 2010
Response by poster: The netherlands is currently Mostly Band III stations it seems, with one new station in Band L recently announced:
http://www.worlddab.org/country_information/netherlands
posted by mary8nne at 6:32 AM on November 30, 2010
http://www.worlddab.org/country_information/netherlands
posted by mary8nne at 6:32 AM on November 30, 2010
Sorry to hijack, but what is the difference between DAB and DAB+? Will early adopters need to upgrade?
posted by mippy at 8:45 AM on November 30, 2010
posted by mippy at 8:45 AM on November 30, 2010
Response by poster: My reading suggests that the primary difference is that DAB uses Mpeg 2 encoding whereas DAB+ uses a nmore efficient AAC encoding.
until today I didn't even realise they used Lossy MPeg encoding. (I thought one of the benefits of DAB was supposed to quality).
And DAB receivers are not DAB+ compatible. - however since its just a CODEC thing some DAB receivers are probably easily upgraded with Firmware upgrades. (if DAB+ is put in use in the UK)
posted by mary8nne at 9:09 AM on November 30, 2010
until today I didn't even realise they used Lossy MPeg encoding. (I thought one of the benefits of DAB was supposed to quality).
And DAB receivers are not DAB+ compatible. - however since its just a CODEC thing some DAB receivers are probably easily upgraded with Firmware upgrades. (if DAB+ is put in use in the UK)
posted by mary8nne at 9:09 AM on November 30, 2010
mary8nne: "So it seems I need to get a DAB+ Band III + Band L "
Yes, those are the magic tech specs to look for I think.
mippy: "what is the difference between DAB and DAB+? Will early adopters need to upgrade?"
DAB uses mp2 audio compression, which dates from 1992 or so and is designed for relatively high bitrate audio. It targets something like 256kbps, at which bitrate it sounds fairly transparent. Unfortunately all DAB channels in the UK use a far lower bitrate & sound like mud.
DAB+ (amongst other differences) uses AAC+, which dates from the early 2000s & represents another decade or so of audio compression research. It sounds far better at lower bitrates than mp2 does.
I suspect the UK government will throw in the towel and announce a shift to DAB+. They'll leave the existing DAB multiplex in place so that the early adopters aren't left high & dry I imagine, but all the good stuff will be on the DAB+ broadcast, so early adopters will end up having to upgrade if their existing radios can't have their firmware upgraded to cope with DAB+.
posted by pharm at 11:49 AM on November 30, 2010 [2 favorites]
Yes, those are the magic tech specs to look for I think.
mippy: "what is the difference between DAB and DAB+? Will early adopters need to upgrade?"
DAB uses mp2 audio compression, which dates from 1992 or so and is designed for relatively high bitrate audio. It targets something like 256kbps, at which bitrate it sounds fairly transparent. Unfortunately all DAB channels in the UK use a far lower bitrate & sound like mud.
DAB+ (amongst other differences) uses AAC+, which dates from the early 2000s & represents another decade or so of audio compression research. It sounds far better at lower bitrates than mp2 does.
I suspect the UK government will throw in the towel and announce a shift to DAB+. They'll leave the existing DAB multiplex in place so that the early adopters aren't left high & dry I imagine, but all the good stuff will be on the DAB+ broadcast, so early adopters will end up having to upgrade if their existing radios can't have their firmware upgraded to cope with DAB+.
posted by pharm at 11:49 AM on November 30, 2010 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
I'd go for a DAB radio with phono or iPod input. Roberts make solid products, I've got a couple and they're bulletproof.
posted by Happy Dave at 3:20 AM on November 30, 2010