Is in-car DAB worth it?

[Stratman]

It is time for a new radio in the car, and Halfords are doing a JVC DAB radio that also plays mp3 CD-R for £200.

Is DAB actually worth it in the car? I don't mean from a content point of view, more from the practicalities of it. What's it like in city centres, what's it like on motorways? The sticks? I travel around the country a fair bit, and would be a bit cheesed off if I could only receive it intermittently.

Talking of practicalities, is it absolutely neccessary to use the extra aerial that comes with it? If I were to bypass the amplifier/combiner for the rear/side window 'glass' aerials would either the AM or FM one suffice?

Any and all info gratefully received.

 

[pammy]

You do need a DAB specific aerial, AM/FM cannot pick Digital broadcasts.

DAB in car - well worth it - providing you can get an aerial you can live with. I've been without DAB since getting Edna as I dislike the stick on window mounted ones although Blaupunkt do do one that looks OK ish. The ones that look like sellotape are naff

It can be pain if you get into a non-DAB area but then you just switch to FM and off you go. If you're lucky - the radio will do it for you
hth

 

[Kinky]

Hummmm, DAB radio for the car ... excellent idea .....

But what about the aerials? Are they naff DIY stickey-on-winscreen-cheaply affairs? Or are they properly fitted, etc, etc .....

K

 

[novaya_zemla]

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/pro...d=4124&cadid=52f6f08c0fb17bfadc7d2fae373ada83

 

[guydewdney]

I like my DAB radio - I stupidly stuck the DAB aerial over the MB radio aerial - and have had to disconnect the FM one...

for example - virgin radio works in perfect clarity from london to cornwall with no breaks (except a half mile one on the M4 somewhere)

howver - from my house (in the sticks) to the next town is crap - but then i dont get mobile (orange or voda) or even FM on any car. when this happens, DAB fails as well.... its just annoying as its slightly worse than the FM dropout along a nice country lane... it sounds like the station is dropped into a bowl of water.

The Blaupunkt DAB43? has a radio rewind and record facility - try www.my-blaupunkt.co.uk ...

 

[Stratman]

Thanks for the replies.

As my car has no 'external' aerials, only the 'glass' variety, I want to keep it that way. I suspect that if I do go down the DAB route I will get a sticky-on version. As I have yet to see one, does anyone have any links to pictures of them?

 

[Kinky]

Stratman,

Is it a true DAB radio, or just a controller?

I was in Halfords this afternoon and saw the radio - but it did not strike me as a DAB radio - but it said it was a DAB controller - is that the same thing?

The thing I was just questioning is that it not have the DAB logo on the box - it had many others but not a DAB one.

K

 

[Stratman]

It's this one

If you read the Car Audio Direct technical specification carefully you will see that the aerial isn't included, it's an extra £39.99, which brings it up to the Halfords price, which does include the aerial.

So to answer your question (at last!) yes it is a DAB receiver

They've also got this one which does include an aerial

 

[drifting]

Does anyone know of a suitable tuner that I could tuck away somewhere? perhaps even in the glove box of my 211? seeing as I have an aux socket in there. Not too fussed about tuning it as I only want it for one station (Jazz FM)

Paul.

 

[Shude]

Does anyone know of a suitable tuner that I could tuck away somewhere? perhaps even in the glove box of my 211? seeing as I have an aux socket in there. Not too fussed about tuning it as I only want it for one station (Jazz FM)

You need the digital TV tuner for the W211, that probably does radio too and can be controlled from your standard headunit (I imagine). Not exactly concrete info there but I'm pretty certain the functionality exists

 

[drifting]

You need the digital TV tuner for the W211, that probably does radio too and can be controlled from your standard headunit (I imagine). Not exactly concrete info there but I'm pretty certain the functionality exists

Thanks for that, but to be honest after my foray into buying a TV tuner (which appears I bought the wrong 211 one) I have given up trying to buy or get fitted any MB AV equipment. It seems it is an installers paradise and a license to corner the market. It's left a very bad taste....two experts reckon it would work, one said it would not, and that because I did not buy it from them, they would not fit it, even if it was correct.

But hey, thanks anyway for the reply.

 

[Shude]

Thanks for that, but to be honest after my foray into buying a TV tuner (which appears I bought the wrong 211 one) I have given up trying to buy or get fitted any MB AV equipment. It seems it is an installers paradise and a license to corner the market. It's left a very bad taste....two experts reckon it would work, one said it would not, and that because I did not buy it from them, they would not fit it, even if it was correct.

But hey, thanks anyway for the reply.

You're right about the installation/supply scam.

I was looking for a freeview solution for my parents and happened across this:
Bush Idapter
It's the size of a packet of cigarettes and presumably comes with a remote control eye etc. Looks pretty simple and not at all expensive, might buy one for my parents and if it's any good I might migrate it to my car instead

 

[drifting]

I like that Freeview unit If you do buy one, let me know the power source? As I would consider having a bash at making a scart socket for power and audio back to the car.

Regards Paul.

 

[Shude]

I like that Freeview unit If you do buy one, let me know the power source? As I would consider having a bash at making a scart socket for power and audio back to the car.

It probably has a little transformer. I don't want to run an inverter in the car but I don't know if the car's 12v would be suitable for something like that, it would probably blow it up, may require a 12v - 12v device like one of those car-pc supplies.

I don't have an AV interface for comand yet but I may get one soon so I can try it

 

[glojo]

You need the digital TV tuner for the W211, that probably does radio too and can be controlled from your standard headunit (I imagine). Not exactly concrete info there but I'm pretty certain the functionality exists

Hi Shude,
Are you saying the digital TV Tuner for the 211 will actually receive DAB radio transmissions.

I am asking solely out of curiousity and not doubting your knowledge.

Regards,
John

 

[Shude]

Are you saying the digital TV Tuner for the 211 will actually receive DAB radio transmissions.

I am asking solely out of curiousity and not doubting your knowledge.

I don't know.

All freeview/digital terrestrial TV tuners can pick up the DAB radio broadcasts (same hardware AFAIK), whether or not they choose to share this with the user is another matter! It would seem highly limiting if MB chose to include freeview broadcasts (mostly pointless and illegal to view while in motion) but neglect DAB broadcasts from their digital tuner.

A Freeview tuner with DAB, piped through the comand unit via AV interface or TV tuner with interface would be ideal.

 

[Satch]

May want to look at the other thread on this if interested in the technical side.

http://mbclub.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=19992

True, DAB works well enough for most people where a portable or car radio is in use but I was so unhappy with the quality from a DAB tuner that I took it back. Guy in the shop (only then!) told me about the great DAB quality con and suggested I stick with existing FM tuner.

DAB V Freeview and other sources

"So, for instance, Radio 1 on Freeview will always sound better than Radio 1 on DAB because Radio 1 on Freeview uses a bit rate of 192kbps whereas on DAB Radio 1 is transmitted at 128kbps, and apart from that everything else is the same.

I've read many mis-conceptions about the audio quality of digital radio, so here's some facts to hopefully educate people so that they can avoid these mis-conceptions:

DAB, Freeview, digital satellite and digital cable all use the same MPEG1/2 Layer 2 codec (or MP2 for short)
DAB, Freeview, digital satellite and digital cable do not use MP3; MP3 is a superior codec to MP2 as used on DAB, DTT, DSat etc
Broadband internet radio stations sound better than DAB stations even though they use the same bit rate of 128kbps because internet radio stations use MP3 whereas DAB uses the inferior MP2 codec
MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 is not the same as MP1 or MP2. MP1 stands for MPEG1/2 Layer 1, MP2 stands for MPEG1/2 Layer 2, and MP3 stands for MPEG1/2 Layer 3
Stations on DAB don't sound better than the same stations on Freeview or digital satellite, if they do then there's something wrong with their Freeview or digital satellite receiver or the analogue output circuits of their Freeview or digital satellite receivers aren't very good, but this does NOT mean that the audio quality is better on DAB, the opposite is in fact the truth for the BBC stations
FM with good reception sounds far better than DAB
DAB is not robust against interference. You don't get hiss as you do on FM, but instead if there is interference the signal "drops out", and you either get no signal at all or a sound that resembles bubbling mud (listen to the BBC GMR sample to hear this bubbling mud sound), reception of digital radio on Freeview is far more likely to be stable if you can receive Freeview in the first place.
Audio quality at a certain bit rate is not constant - the audio quality goes up and down depending on how easy a track is to encode"

 

[glojo]

May want to look at the other thread on this if interested in the technical side.

Hi Satch,
Your message on the other thread was excellent, very informative and a real (or for stats07... reel ) eye opener. Luckily I am no audiophile and do not have a 'critical' ear. However poor reception would drive me nuts.

I was curious about the 211 Tuner and DAB radio as both my wife and I like to listen to Classic Gold and I do not believe it can be received on FM?

For me to listen to DAB then I would have to either buy a module for my Pioneer AVIC 9, or a radio tuner? The stretched limo already has an antenna for the GPS, front radio, rear radio and the TMC. I suppose I would also have to get one for the DAB radio. Poor old van will have more holes than an airtex vest!

Could a DAB radio work off the GPS aerial, or would it need it's own dedicated one?

Regards,
John

 

[Shude]

I've read many mis-conceptions about the audio quality of digital radio, so here's some facts to hopefully educate people so that they can avoid these mis-conceptions:

I apparently knew nothing about freeview or DAB! I know more now

Could a DAB radio work off the GPS aerial, or would it need it's own dedicated one?

Dedicated only I'm afraid.

 

[Shude]

A bit cheaper:

Bush DFTA1000 TV/VCR Adaptor @ Argos £49.99

AWESOME it does radio too.

http://www.gadgetspeak.com/gadget/article.rhtm/751/239318/article.html

EDIT:

An actual picture of it in use!