Can anyone give me some feedback on the DAB signal quality/strength from this amazingly simple ' DAB aerial in the glove box' idea from Trustafox, please, as I've currently got a tiny stuck on windscreen aerial fitted that looses signal when I cough or go outside of town????
Can anyone give me some feedback on the DAB signal quality/strength from this amazingly simple ' DAB aerial in the glove box' idea from Trustafox, please, as I've currently got a tiny stuck on windscreen aerial fitted that looses signal when I cough or go outside of town????
Just about to get a DAB (thanks to a small bonus from work - never thought I'd see one of those) -as all the posts on here are a few years old I wondered if anyone has bettered the aerial in the glove box solution or if that's still the best option? Also any tips on best DAB models much appreciated. Thanks.
@Surfmod I'd save your money and just buy a better FM head unit. The full changeover to DAB isn't going to happen anytime soon because it requires an act of Parliamnet and they are a bit busy right now. I've had DAB on my last 3 cars and over the Pennines it drops back to FM. I can't see the signal in Devon being that robust either. Our City dwellers may beg to differ of course but I'd get something with Apple Play or Android and use the phone for your entertainment.
DAB is bad. Digital stations through the internet ect are much better quality than through DAB, don't think what you might get from a home digital radio connected to the internet is the same as you'd get from a car radio! For example, listen to BBC Radio 3 on BBC iPlayer and you're getting a truly awesome 320kbps of AAC (better format than mp3). Listen to it via DAB and you're getting 160-192 kbps of mp2, roughly FM sound quality. Currently DAB is lower sound quality then FM on all stations except BBC Radio 3 - You need 192 kbps of data to get better sound quality than FM, Radio 3 is the highest in the UK at 160-192 kbps, the best of the rest are 128kbps - That's the very bottom limit of 'acceptable'. Many station's DAB broadcasts are as low as 64-80 and MONO! Audio codec: MPEG 1 Layer II Better than FM quality requires 192-256 kbps Similar to FM quality requires 160-192 kbps Acceptable, worse than FM 128-160 kbps (Based on stereo services) DAB+ uses AAC codec which is more efficient but even the DAB+ stations don't reach past Acceptable levels for sound quality. Audio codec: aacPlus v2 Better than FM quality requires 56-96 kbps Similar to FM quality requires 40-64 kbps Acceptable, worse than FM 24-48 kbps (Based on stereo services) UK Digital Radio Bitrates – Astra 2 Sat has a list of UK Digital Radio stations and their bit rates through internet, dab, freeview and satellite. I just bought a Bluetooth head unit, not even a cd slot, has a 3" screen, USB and memory card slots, rearview camera, £36 off Gearbest and it works fine for playing mp3 and aac files off my phone.
DAB is shit - yes really, listen to a decent FM signal and it's clearly so much better. Where I live (Birmingham area) the DAB signals are really poor compared to FM so I'm sticking to FM in the car.
Thanks for the replies - much food for thought - I did have DAB in my Midget and it was fine, however that may be because I couldn't really hear much above the rattles and the wind... I'll think again ta.
