Hi folks, anyone got a DAB tuner? I've got a Cambridge Audio DAB300 (about £130) and am delighted with it.

Not being particularly technically minded, I've decided to read up about DAB radio. It would appear that our radio authorities have (here's a surprise) gone for quantity rather than quality in allocating frequencies to broadcasters. As I understand it, under the MP2 codec, for sound quality to be as good as a good FM broadcast, a transmission rate of 256kbps is needed. Because so many stations have been crammed in, most stations broadcast at only 128kbps. Below this level, transmissions can only be mono (e.g. World Service at 64kbps). The only bright spot with quality is Radio 3 at 192kbps and Virgin at 160kbps. Unfortunately for me, not stations I would choose to listen to very much.

Apparently, potential new codecs will allow for given quality levels at lower transmission rates, so it could be that 128kbps will be sufficient for audiophiles in the future. However, there is talk of (surprise, surprise) licensing yet more stations by dropping transmission rates from the present norm of 128kbps!

Having said all this, I must say that most broadcasts sound pretty good. As with digital TV, there is no interference - it either works or it doesn't. I'm in a not particularly good area for radio reception, but have just installed a cheapish (about £20) DAB dipole aerial in my loft, and I can get loads of stations, with signal error very low. The signals are not directional, so the dipole will pick up anything around, and as more and better transmitters come on line, reception will improve, because it is kind of incremental - say you get signals from two different transmitters, they are "grossed up", as it were.

I haven't heard much about this, but it seems obvious to me that the quality of any broadcast can only be as good as the source material. For example, listening to Radio 2 is generally very pleasurable, but occasionally a record will sound awful. Thinking that something is wrong with the tuner I check the signal level only to find that it's fine, and the next record sounds very good. Presumably the bad one was an old vinyl or tape source, or something recorded with dodgy master tapes. If you're a rock fan I recommend Planet Rock and especially The Arrow. Planet Rock is a bit narrow and timewarped, but the Arrow is much more up to date and eclectic in its output. Sound quality (bearing in mind transmission rates) could obviously be better, but on some material approaches CD quality.

DAB - the future of audiophile radio? What do you lot think?

Cheers,
John

i'm not sure if DAB is going to be the future entirely... there will still be people who love analog, just like there are still people who swear by vinyl, and for good reason in most cases.

However, i am a big fan of DAB, having purchased a DAB300 myself about 2 years ago, for only £30 more than your one, strangely.

Feel free to post a comment or rate this product in our review section, if you haven't done already: https://hififorum.co.uk/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=4

Having lived in two different placed with my DAB radio, i came to like a couple of stations quite a lot in my previous residence, and now i've moved, one of them has completely disappeared, and the other is quite weak, which is kinda annoying, so i'm interested in this aerial you mention... how much of a difference has it made? I can currently obtain around 27 stations, 2 or 3 or which i actually listen to regularly, but if i can pick up some of the weaker stations that i previously listened to, that'd be great!

Where did you get it from, and do i need to look for any make or model in particular?

Hi fishsponge,

The aerial is a Maxview A1401 kit from Maplins. I think it cost about £20. The kit appellation is because it came with 10m of coax. Unfortunately for me, this wasn't quite long enough, so I had to buy some more cable. I got 15m of replacement coax, again from Maplins. Any decent cable (50p metre) will do, but the guy in the shop advised getting better stuff with a copper foil dielectric rather than the normal braid. This stuff was 99p metre. Unfortunately this aerial doesn't seem to be on their website any more. However, there seem to be a lot about that are very similar, so you might be better off just getting the aerial and measuring up how much cable you'll need. The wisdom is that if you live in a good signal area a simple dipole will suffice, with the simple rule of the higher mounting the better. This type isn't directional, but must be mounted with the elements vertical, because this is how the DAB signal is polarised. If you have a dodgy signal, you'll need a multi-element aerial, but this is directional, so you need to point it at your transmitter. The Beeb's website has a good page dedicated to DAB radio - you can enter your postcode to see what stations you are likely to be able to receive, and you can find out where your transmitters are.

I have to say though, that the tuner worked reasonably well with the supplied stringy cable thing. The problem was that reception was variable, depending mainly on what station you wanted. This resulted in me having to stick the cable to the wall with bits of blu-tack, and move it around as necessary. A bit unsightly, and generally unsatisfactory. What I've got now is a much more consistent standard across all the stations.

I've just finished my tidying up the cable on my installation. I've retuned, and got 56 stations. The website tells me that I 'may' be able to get the main BBC stations, but in practice I can get them all, although the signal error is higher than with other stations. For example, Planet Rock and Virgin have 0 signal error, whilst R2 and R4 typically have about 4 or 5. In practice, this doesn't matter until it hits about 17 or 18, when the dreaded 'bubbling mud' kicks in! To most practical intents and purposes, I've got as many stations as I could wish for, all fine in quality of reception terms. However, I think I'm going to have a clamber back into the loft and tweak the aerial a bit the next time I have a friend round! The perfectionist in me!

I've rated the DAB300 on this site, but haven't done a full review. Would it be useful if you and I did this? I've been listening to The Arrow this afternoon, and the sound has been awesome - I've emailed them to ask what they do in technical terms to get such great sound quality at the relatively low transmission rate of 128kbps. I'll report back when I hear from them. This station is that good that I'd have a DAB tuner just for this alone! Just enjoying Andy Kershaw's show now on R3 - 192kbps and sounding great!

What is amazing me at the moment is the way the tuner sounds so musical involving. Not in the same league as my CDP, but still terrific - enough to spark off several spasms of air guitar today! You'll know that it got great reviews - it's truly amazing how a low/mid end component can be so good. I really think a lot of people are missing out, some because of the tiresome analogue versus digital debate. I was going to trawl eBay to see if I could pick up a cheapish decent analogue tuner (maybe a 260L) for comparison purposes, but I think I'm in a bit of topographical dip, and my TV reception is pants, so I think FM might be equally so. Also, it's difficult to see how anything could really compete with the Cambridge, so I might just stick with it! Obviously, another aerial is required, which may need to go outside on a long pole, so I think I'll just stay with the DAB!

Cheers,
John

Here you go!:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DAB-RADIO-AERIAL-maxview_W0QQitemZ5829394713QQcategoryZ96955QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Cheers,
John

due to Maplin discontinuing the item you purchased, i have gone ahead and bought an equivalent from Maplin: QN55K - DAB 6 Element Aerial

I must say, since installing it in my loft last night, it has got me better reception on all stations, and also given me an extra 5 or 6 stations as well! Perfect I have a signal error of zero on probably 50% of stations now

I'll take a photo when i'm next in the loft, but for the moment, you'll have to imagine it.

You can see the picture on a PDF file on Maplin's website. It looks like mine except for the three elements where mine has one. Are you considering putting yours outside, or leaving it in the loft? I just wish I could leave this tweaking business alone! I really ought to be satisfied with mine in the loft, but a multi-element aerial outside is tempting! The way mine is now, I get zero signal error on a few stations, 1 or 2 on most others, and up to 5 or 6 on most BBC. In practice, this is fine, but I'd love to get it to zero on all, and see if I can drag in some more stations!

BTW, have you got a remote for your DAB300? I never even realised you could get one until recently. I've just got one for £9.99 from Richer Sounds (with free batteries), and very neat it is too! You can control all the functions, including autotune.

Got a reply from The Arrow thanking me for my feedback, but saying that I would get another reply later from the 'technical chaps'. Will update when I get that reply.

Cheers,
John

well, despite the picture on Maplin's web site, my aerial has 6 elements, not 3, and i've placed it in the loft, pointing south, directly at the Madingley transmitter, and it's great!

I do have a remote for my DAB300, and it cost me 9.99 from Richer Sounds as well :D I think i'm still using the first set of batteries as well... they must have been in there over a year now!

I'm jealous of you being able to receive the Arrow.... i think it's a truly great station, but it's just not broadcast from anywhere near me!

Here's the response I got from The Arrow when I asked about broadcast sound quality:

> Hi John
>
> This is the information I have received -
>
> The MP2 encoding algorithm can use different data rates anything
> between about 32kbs and 512kbs all the way up to linear for highest
> quality.
>
> You are right that 256kbs will sound better than 128kbs, however
> after
> some very significant testing it has been found that 99.9% of the
> population cannot actually hear the difference. On that basis, and
> the
> basis of making DAB commercially viable, it was decided by a large
> number of stations that running at 128kbs was acceptable. Indeed if
> others stations on the same multiplex ran at higher bit rates there
> may
> not be space available for The Arrow. So in some ways it has created
> variety of stations which we think is a good thing.
>
> It is generally felt that even if the slightly lower quality of
> 128kbs
> can be heard that the advantages of reduced hiss and noise, as well
> as
> the robustness of the signal whilst travelling out-weighs the
> existing
> FM band. It is all subjective to be fair
>
> In answer to some of your other points, yes we do use additional
> processes's to enhance the sound quality before transmission, and
> these
> are expensive box's and were are pleased you noticed, after all we
> try
> quite hard to satisfy the listener because you pay our wages!
>
> The back ground hiss on some tracks is a problem, and is entirely
> down
> to the source material, as technologies move on, the imperfections
of
> old technologies become more apparent.
>
> Thanks for getting in touch with us and apologies for any delay in
> getting back to you. If you have any other questions please feel
free
> to
> drop us a line.
>
> Kind Regards

Whilst the cynic in me would say that too many stations have been crammed in, it has to be said that to my semi-sophisticated ears that DAB sounds better than the FM I used to listen to. Also, you can't get The Arrow on FM! However, I suspect that their figure of 99.9% of people being unable to tell the difference was gained from people with simple radio sets in the kitchen, and not from people with hi-fi tuners. There was a very whinging article in 'HiFi World' recently, running the current situation down, but I think it was written by an ultra-critical 'tweakie'.

This station is a gem if you're a rock fan, and you can actually get it! I've recently bought music by two bands I've never even heard of before, as a result of hearing it on The Arrow! (Mazzy Star, and The Sundays). No way you'd hear that on Planet Rock - just turgid old 70s stuff! (Not that there's anything inherently wrong with the 70s, I just don't want to hear it to the exclusion of new (and indeed 60s) music).

Cheers,
John

Another response from The Arrow today:

Hi John,

Good to hear you are listening to The Arrow.

Regarding the bit rate we broadcast The Arrow at on our regional
multiplexes, it's true that the higher the bit rate, the better the
sound quality (theoretically, at least). However, in order to broadcast
the number of services we do on each of the multiplexes, it is
necessary
to reduce the bit rate of the individual stations to allow enough
bandwidth for all the stations we want. To compensate for this, and to
give us the improved sound, we process the audio slightly before it
goes
to the transmitter. This is basically like a very complicated graphic
equaliser we can set to behave in different ways across the audio
spectrum.

Hope this helps... keep listening!

Jon.

do you have the contact details on hand for The Arrow, or failing that, could you pls email them on my behalf, perhaps? I need to find out of there's any chance of them broadcasting a signal at Cambridge or Peterborough, or anywhere else in East Anglia at least?

I need this station!