Franx

I'm just thinking about getting a new separates hi-fi system, and seem to be faced with the decision of either 'normal' or digital radio......

Any suggestions? If all the channels are like radio 1, then no chance...

I don't know though, having never listened to it.

On that note, where's the best place to get such things - I'd rather go to shop rather than cataloge/web etc btw, just so I can see what I'm getting

Thanks

C.

pslewis

Its still stupidly expensive isn't it??

Which is the reason it hasn't taken off ..... I doubt its much better, but someone will say it is!

Pete

boxst

Hello

My wife won a Digital Radio (thanks Virgin Radio) and it is good. The reception is certainly better where we live than FM.

Steve.

Franx

Compared to normal stuff it is - I'm seeing ones in the sales for 80 quid, where a normal version can be had for 50ish.....

I am in what they call the 'entry level' range after all Maybe to them, but it ain't bloody entry level to me It'll be the best one I've had in years.....

GC8

Quality depends on the bit rate; the BBC has been allocated quite a lot of bandwidth but theyve crammed too many channels into it so the bit rate isnt as high as it should be and the sound is relatively poor.

Simon

Apparition

Heard mixed reports...depends where you are geographically.

Franx

Liverpool
Scouse land
The pool
erm...

Probably means it won't work, as all the masts will have been robbed

Anyone round here got one? A digital radio, that is....

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

There's definitely more choice of stations on digital but I listen to it through my Sky+ box/surround sound and so can't comment on how it sounds on a hi-fi system. All I know is that it's far, far clearer and crisper for me via the Sky box than it was trying to listen to FM on the hi-fi. I can also listen to my favourite London stations even though I now live in North Yorkshire

TelBoy

As with most digital sources, it is worse than the analogue version it replaces, primarily because, as has been said, the signal is compressed so that more signals can be broadcast. The upside is accessibility, and for the majority of people, no discernible loss of sound quality. On a revealing system though, the difference is night and day noticeable - analogue every time.

andrewdelvard

So all this 'CD quality playback!!!' we kept being told about is simply not true? Oh well...

Jap2Scrap

It might well be Andrew because the same people who tell you analogue sounds far, far better than digital will be the same people who say that rumbly, crackly vinyl sounds better than cd

Purists, pah... lol

TelBoy

Good vinyl doesn't rumble or crackle...

But i know what you mean. There's none of that on a comparison between analogue and digital radio of course, but it's like somebody is stamping on the digital signal, squeezing all the vitality out of it. Not nice.

Jap2Scrap

I can't say I've ever heard digital radio except through the sky box and you never really expect top audio quality that way anyway. Does it sound like a low bitrate mp3 then?

lightning101

You mean like a 40 stone man riding a superlightweight racing bike ?

Dieseldog

The digital radio's I've listened to all sound thin and shrill next to the Tivoli analogues I have at home. Whether this is due to the signal or the quality of the amp/speaker etc I don't know. No doubt digital is the future but I think it's like plasma tv's - the early ones (and a lot around now) were truly crap compared to crt's - it was only the fashion statement / talking point aspect that got us buying them.

TelBoy

Very much the same, yes. I don't know if there are uncompressed digital broadcasts anywhere - i assume there are, but the majority of the commercial stations will come in this brash, tinny format. Hopefully analogue will continue to be transmitted for many years though, until digital can be made to work properly at least.

SupaMiniCupa

BBC 6 Music is quite positively the best thing since sliced bread.

Have only got a standalone radio/speaker etc but as above, the sound quality isn't that great.

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

I bought a DAB radio last year. I found reception rather poor, but even when I did get a clear signal, the sound quality was virtually unlistenable. The bit rate on many commercial stations is 128kb/s, but the encoding system used is older and less efficient than MP3, so... you get the idea. Through cheap headphones or in the car it might be fine, but through a decent hi-fi, forget it. I took it back for a refund and haven't regretted doing so at all.

BTW I'm no analogue junkie - I despise tape hiss and the crackle and rumbles from vinyl - but DAB vs CD there is absolutely no comparison at all.

I listen to MP3 streaming internet radio if anything now - it's the best quality I can get and has a massively wider choice of stations available. Try something like a SqueezeBox instead of a conventional tuner if you have broadband.

Pbr

Digital satellite radio is far better, a bit-rate of 192 kbs compared to DAB's 128 kbs.

DJ140

I bought a Pure DAB radio last year and the quality is excellent, using only a loft mounted FM aerial!

For general listening in a good reception area, it would be ideal and mine is far better than the old analogue one I replaced. And the Pure radio has FM too, just in case you want channels only available on FM.

Franx

How do we know where the good reception areas are though? Are most places ok, or is it patchy in rural areas and mountain etc?

I'm not sure that I'm convinced tbh.... Really need to try one.