But that implies ALL of DAB+ is EXCEPTIONAL… Why? What’s exceptional about 16kbps? Exceptionally bad? Come on, it’s misleading use of subjective language, any reasonable person who isn’t a nerd who’s really looked into it would think it means “better.” You wouldn’t even know at all that bitrate varies between stations. They know not to openly say that it sounds worse because then Joe Public (who famously doesn’t care about audio quality) would not buy the product!
again, FM is roughly equivalent to 300kbps, so they’re not even approaching a third of that. also the fact that ANY AM sounds better than ANY DAB+ under ANY circumstances is ridiculous for a new technology vs something 100 years old, and this is not at all evident in the marketing which just says about the entirety of DAB+ “clearer sound” etc etc. and if someone wants to record both versions of 3MP/4BH/2UE straight out comparing them I would love to hear it
I don’t think that’s reasonable - even a ‘CD quality’ claim would be reasonable for AAC at 256kbps, or even 192kbps - depending on encoder quality.
“FM quality” is a vague statement - but it comes down to the trade off - most FM reception has some amount of static, the “digital quality” is making the proposal that it smooths out that inconsistency, the absolute best FM will sound better - just like the best Laserdisc can be better than the best DVD - but the typical viewer was making a VHS to DVD comparison, their analogue experience was sub optimal, and the consistently clear picture and sound are a better trade off.
Radio is listened to in cars and while working - not with a critical ear to sound quality with headphones in a silent room. With the strong exception of all usage of HE-AACv2 - I would say most DAB+ above 80kbps is FM quality, and most 64kbps above there would be not noticeable to most listeners.
For a comparison to AM, it again depends what you’re actually comparing to - a well tuned wide band receiver, probably can sound quite good. But I’d take Magic at 48kbps over listening to 1278 any day, the electrical noise I get on AM is far worse than any less than ideal audio quality.
Yes - the 32kbps race to the bottom is bad - but this is overly negative.
in theory yes, but often a small amount of static is preferable to dropouts which really should qualify as a form of “interference” even though it technically isn’t
yeah this is absolutely true, in terms of interference AM is very bad and susceptible to all kinds of distortion which DAB+ isn’t if it’s working properly. but I have found I actually prefer the AM sound if listening under ideal conditions. 3GL have realised that the AM sound has a kind of vintage authenticity to it that is, I think, more satisfying than something digital & low bitrate just because it’s digital, but that’s subjective. AM has “exceptional” sound quality lol. but overall DAB+ is a downgrade from FM in most senses, and it’s a newer technology
For talk stations I will actually listen to the DAB+ version on trams because AM basically just doesn’t work there, but to find a pocket DAB+ radio that worked without dropping out all the time I had to do a trial and error process that took ages and spend something like $200 on the Sangean one from JB. compare that to any AM/FM radio which you can get for a few bucks and basically works fine under most circumstances, except for places where DAB+ would, usually, also not work
I have also had the situation of suddenly going through a patch on a tram where for some reason Radio National on DAB+ just starts “dropping out” annoyingly cutting in and out. so I’ve gone over to AM and held the radio against the window glass which seems to act as an antenna lol. so I now can make it out clearly all of what they’re saying at least, despite all the “interference” I am picking up every word which is not the case with “drop outs”
There are actually a lot of things I like about DAB+ despite the character I have found myself playing here haha
Given that regional DAB, DVB-T2 and a 6th TV network are now unlikely to ever happen, they should just double the DAB channel allocations and mandate a minimum 64 kbps per station. The spectrum is of no use to telcos or anyone else.
I’d be happy with 64 kbps - 32 is just too hard to listen to for long except as background music.
Mandurah DAB+ stations with 96 kbps sound better than FM and almost as crisp as CD quality
The 2013 JEAS article Fig 9 demonstrates DAB+ at 192 kbps is superior to FM (and the closest to the REF comparison)
Audio quality on DAB+ comes as much from the source material processing as bit rates. Heart Hits on 32 kbps sounds better to me than 6iX on 48 kbps.
Our Audi car radio sounds excellent when tuning to FM stations, but rubbish when tuning to AM. It doesn’t have DAB+ though. But confirms the sooner AM is dumped, especially for music stations the better.
The Mandurah DAB+ stations are also on FM, and I have fringe reception of both. Whereas I can hear the FM stations most times they do not provide stereo and also very hissy or distorted. The DAB+ are very much hit or miss, mostly miss indoors, except for a sweet spot I found, and when you pick it up … see my first point
In the same way DAB+ quality depends on bitrates then FM quality depends on noise and interference. The latter is quite common on FM, anybody old enough to remember ghosting on analogue FTA TV?
When DAB first started in Sydney the main SCA stations like Triple M and 2DAY were (I think) 88 kbps on DAB and they sounded great.. but of course, not long after, the race to the bottom of the barrel began.
I’m not an idiot, thanks very much. And your distortion of the radio market here is clear when you claim most places have ABC local radio. Maybe at breakfast time the stations take a”local” program that can still originate hundreds of kilometres away. The rest of the time it’s networked. Tune around the bottom end of the AM dial at night.
And Radio National, Classic, News Radio and Triple J are networked all of the time. Also there are heaps of places away from populated areas that don’t have any of those services.
Internet of Things…. ducting and propagation aside, it might be worth something in rural areas..
The market for IoT gear is booming at the moment. A lot of councils are building or have established their own LoRAWLAN networks, but once the chip makers start flooding the market with VHF IoT chips it usually gives ACMA some reasoning to consider band changes.
where i lived in country victoria, Breakfast on ABC local radio came from 140km away. the things that mattered in Bendigo did not matter that much to me, 100mins drive away.
Tim Webster on 2SM played Here comes the sun by the Beatles, I noticed on my mono digital radio (DAB) I could only hear one channel which doesn’t work well especially those stereo tracks from the 60s. I didn’t get a chance to check the online stream.
Their network in general is quite bad at sound quality. The FM regionals that take the AM network feed eg 2RE FM taking programs from 2HD or 2SM don’t get proper stereo during music either. There is stereo separation but it is very mild, not what it should be.
2HDs FM relays in Lake Macquarie and Port Stephens are 100% mono (despite both having a stereo pilot).
In 2005 & 2010 I went to Echuca over a weekend. Along the way or while there I’d hear relays of 3AW’s Friday night sports programs before the AFL match on the local commercial FM stations. In terms of audio compression it sounded like 3AW on AM to me and in terms of fidelity it sounded slightly better than AM but not like normal FM live coverage. I didn’t notice any stereo-ness either.
These were stations that had converted from AM in the early 90’s, and they sounded fine at other times. 2QN was only on AM at that time. 3AW was also on digital by 2010 so I’m not sure why it sounded like it did.
These days, the commercial stations in those areas are part of the Triple M or Hit network, so any sports coverage on Triple M regional stations would presumably sound as good as in Melbourne or elsewhere. I’ve heard Triple M regional stations and their sound quality is pretty good, though I didn’t listen to sports coverage.