Digital Radio?

[Deano!]

They have launched digital radio now where I live and they're trying to convince us that you'd be mad not to have it.

I'm not so sure - given the content is mostly pish and 'the radio' I think for most of us is simply a background accompaniment to a long drive or a day at work. If I want CD quality sound, I simply use the CD player and play the exact music I want. Digital TV has been here since 2001 and I can see the value in that because TV is something you pay direct attention to and the better picture quality is appreciated.

They're claiming that digital radio makes up nearly half the radio listeners in the UK. Is this true? And if you have a digital radio was it worth it?

[Dave Wells]

I have a friend who works at Halfords and he said that DAB car radios haven't taken off at all due to the fact that we (Britain) are the only country in Europe that seems to have taken DAB on board. I have a Pure Highway adapter in my car just to listen to 1 station (Planet Rock). Only because it's the only way to do so.

[Peter]

Dave Wells wrote:

> I have a friend who works at Halfords and he said that DAB car
> radios haven't taken off at all


Probably because most cars have the radio as part of the dash, rather than the slot in unit they used to be, so its near impossible to change the the prefitted radio.

When the FM signal gets switched off in 2015, everyone will have to go that way anyway.

[Peter]

Lots of stuff to read here.

[Guilbert]

I like it because I can listen to Radio 5 Live and Talksport in good quality rather than on "AM"

Nice features are the radios "self tune", no need to switch between FM, AM etc, and they do have a rolling text display saying what track is playing.

Also there are some stations available in DAB radio that are not available nationwide, such as JazzFM.

[Floydoid]

Guilbert wrote:

> I like it because I can listen to Radio 5 Live and Talksport in
> good quality rather than on "AM"
>

I totally agree, not to mention all the other extra BBC stations such as 6 & 7, Chill, etc. I think I get something like 30 stations on digital. The only downside is that the reception has a habit of momentarily dropping out every now and agai.

[RoddersUK]

!love!

I only ever listen to Radio 2 or Classic FM, so I aint worried about all the other progs availlable.
Classic FM is a good alternative at present as I switch to it if there is a Twatt standing in for any of the regular jocks on Radio 2. Mind you, some of the stand ins are very good. I think Zoe Ball should replace that fucking moron Steve Wright in the afternoons, or fucking Wossy on Saturday mornings.
By the time FM gets switched off I will be retired and living in Portugal so really, I couldn't care less.

[Peter]

Floydoid wrote:


> I totally agree, not to mention all the other extra BBC
> stations such as 6 & 7, Chill, etc. I think I get something
> like 30 stations on digital.

Trouble is in this country they've gone for quantity over quality, so the bandwidth available to the stations is limited in order to cram in as many stations as possible. Other countries with only a few stations are broadcasting in 256kbs quality.

[Nob3y]

I have a digital radio.
Listen to Planet rock most days.
I like it.

[Deano!]

Thanks for that link.
I'll see what they think.

(I'm a poet and don't know it.)