Indeed - since my own original contribution to this thread, the entire household (as well as the car) is DAB, and the local station has joined DAB.Philip wrote:Almost five years since I started this thread and now DAB+ is soon to be a reality nationally. Well, three stations, but it's a start.
It's interesting looking back on this thread, with people calling for DAB to be shut down, which seems like a bit of a silly idea now.
Will the UK ever adopt DAB+?
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bilky asko
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Nine years (!) since the last post in this thread, DAB+ has truly taken off in the UK, to the point where from next month the only vanilla DAB stations left on the Digital One multiplex will be LBC and Talk Sport.
I find it interesting only because when I started this thread in 2011, I didn't think the UK would launch any DAB+ stations, let alone get to this point of the majority of stations being in the format.
But once the radio companies noticed there wasn't much of a drop in audience figures, they realised they could change existing stations to DAB+ and squeeze in more spin-offs.
So unfortunately for the listener, sound quality hasn't really increased, but at least choice has.
I find it interesting only because when I started this thread in 2011, I didn't think the UK would launch any DAB+ stations, let alone get to this point of the majority of stations being in the format.
But once the radio companies noticed there wasn't much of a drop in audience figures, they realised they could change existing stations to DAB+ and squeeze in more spin-offs.
So unfortunately for the listener, sound quality hasn't really increased, but at least choice has.
Huge swell of pre-DAB+ radios expected in charity shops over the next months then I guess.
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Nick Harvey
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If you know what you're doing, a lot of old Pure DAB radios can be plugged into your computer and have their software upgraded to DAB+.WillPS wrote: Huge swell of pre-DAB+ radios expected in charity shops over the next months then I guess.
Worth knowing. I don't normally see Pure radios though, it's usually variously badged generic stuff - presumably from Vestel.Nick Harvey wrote: Wed 26 Mar, 2025 08.55If you know what you're doing, a lot of old Pure DAB radios can be plugged into your computer and have their software upgraded to DAB+.WillPS wrote: Huge swell of pre-DAB+ radios expected in charity shops over the next months then I guess.
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Tardisrotor
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Admitting my ignorance but what's the difference between DAB and DAB +?
Here is my attempt at explaining in the very simplest terms:Tardisrotor wrote: Tue 08 Apr, 2025 13.58 Admitting my ignorance but what's the difference between DAB and DAB +?
DAB is based on older compression technology called MPEG-2, so each station needs more bandwidth in order for the station to have an acceptable sound quality to the human ear.
DAB+ is newer (2006) and uses a newer compression technology called MPEG-4 which means you can use less bandwidth per station and still have an acceptable sound quality.
Most countries launched with DAB+ only, but as the UK launched DAB a lot earlier it's taken a long time for DAB+ to be adopted.