DAB radio, the truth..

Comparison between two fm radios. An old Hacker and a modern DAB Roberts reveal their quiescent current consumption.
The Hacker draws 0.25 Watts from 9 volt batteries, The Roberts draws 3.6 Watts, 14 times more than the Hacker!
So to put that into prospective, If you ran these radio's from a 5 amp hour battery, the Roberts would run for about 11 Hours.
With the same Battery the Hacker would run for 238 hours,(almost a week).
So answer me this. Which is better for the environment?

[@SoddingaboutSi]

Since this video was recorded 8 years ago, Dab radio has still not become mainstream in the UK. DAB coverage has improved a lot recently. Improvements have been made in radio efficiency, and a Dab radio now seems to use far less power than this Roberts did then. Most people who want to listen to a radio will more than likely stream the station to their phone PC of media device. It is also nice to see FM still going strong in 2021 although a lot of AM local stations are being pulled.

[@hoofbags]

If I remember correctly, Norway has shut down FM, entertainment channels as you suggested, with the rollout of DAB. A reason for this is reallocation of radio bands. As radio broadcasting consumes a large amount of RF bandwidth, considering there always has been a shortage, some frequencies become repurposed. At times, I like to build amateur radio sets, although if AM becomes obsolete, it will make reception on these devices impractical. Shame. Interesting comment. 🙂

[@DavidEsp1]

Bucking the trend, Radio Caroline has 4 KW on 648 KHz from near Ipswich in England, also some limited DAB (limited by cost) and of course online streaming. Solar panels are planned at the 648 transmitter site.

[@charlesloukas1946]

Ireland shut down dab but dab+ is used by pirates ! Received in Lancashire it's on KZbin !

[@stargazertycho11]

And I am going to donate my dab radio to charity, long live fm.. derek.

[@MrBrian8749]

DAB will join the ranks of the VHS, 8 Tracks Tapes and Laser Disk. If you want one now, just keep checking the dumpsters. Thanks for the video, I enjoyed watching. Brian

[@jakedillingham]

Long live Analog radio!

[@Bevoin1970]

Who would have thought the modern radio would use more than the old radio, fascinating.

[@ladydawn1973Eternity]

Analog technology never took electricity that much. Transistor can have battery for months and months and radio cassette, but only if you use the cassette the batteries lifespan shortened. I was surprised to tune to AM in Norway where AM no longer works. BBC on AM worked, a minute and vanished :(..

[@edstar83]

I would of thought the modern radio would be more efficient. Guess not. Everything is made in China today.

[@LeeWalklin]

Nice to see those fluke 70 series meters still going strong Simon. I have two fluke 73's from circa 1984... They will not die! 👍

[@ShortFoxyMan]

That's is a small example of the power consumption, of the Receiver's Side. On the other hand, The "big energy problem" are the DAB Radio Trasmitters!!!! They are working on Class A (low efficiency) that requires 2 times up the power consumption than a analog Class C FM trasmitter, ....for the same output power.

[@davidebacchi9030]

May be true, but a DAB multiplex can have up to 10 stations so it still 5 times more efficient than having to run 10 FM networks. Also DAB of an equivalent power cover around 10 times what is covered by the same fm transmitter (at least in a crowded FM area).

[@Elfnetdesigns]

DAB is like Betamax or VCDs.. Obsolete before it ever got a chance to take hold.

[@johno4521]

DAB is killing music, by compressing it to within an inch of its life!

[@hoofbags]

Almost all radio broadcasting is audio (dynamic range) compressed as a means of preventing crosstalk between stations. When I did my C&G course at Hackney College, London, the course tutor went on about modulation index. It was about 30 odd years ago, so my recall is vague. On a positive note, there are many more stations available on DAB and my favourite one is Planet Rock. The use of a rechargeable battery and mains power eliminates these high consumption issues. Interesting comment. 🙂

[@helioshaul3924]

Zero progress, The modern device: more power consumption, poor reception , poor audio quality from compressed audio codecs, the FM is digitally compressed by the distribution systems TX to TX but nowhere near as much as the DAB system. But the 88 -108 spectrum is worth some money.

[@waynegriffiths5143]

I have an old Roberts R900 that takes pp9 batteries, for as long as Wilko keeps selling them I’ll keep buying them.

[@adid.5585]

I can't believe BBC is actually boasting about their DAB frequencies! Makes me sick. Radio 5 still has the MW transmitter and they don't even mention anymore on the radio the possibility to tune into that. I think they are planning to take it down and stopped mentioning it in the hope that listeners would forget about it.

[@Zone1242]

Hi Simon, fully agree. Alas the push to DAB+ seems to be the same all across Europe. Cheers, John

[@gpo746]

I KNEW IT! , so much for "environmentally friendly" what a swizz . They are plugging dab L R and center. I bought a retro BUSH TR82 DAB copy about 10 years ago and it took 6 C cells, I bought Duracell batteries and I got 30mins before it cut out!!! Then I bought good quality rechargeables. After 15 mins the radio just squealed at me as it died. Luckily , it had a mains fig of 8 lead. I plugged that in to use it. I used it in my bedroom on low to listen to jazz before sleep and all I could hear was the hum from the mains transformer. Any movement in bed caused the damned set to sound like a coffee perculator . So, I binned the bloody thing . I now have a lovely Roberts RT8 WITH high brite warm white led's to backlight the display ..quiescent current 18ma ... I listen to it almost every night before bed and 18 months on I am still on the same PP9 battery . Energy saving shite is a BIG GLOBAL CON..

[@glpilpi6209]

Radio is in a strange place at the moment . Quantity of stations seems to be the main priority and sound quality , well that took a back seat some time ago. The current consumption comparison of the old Hacker compared to the DAB Roberts was an interesting test . It should a requirement that the power consumption of radios is clearly displayed. The same test applied to televisions of similar ages produces the same results . An old CRT 1980s solid state set consumed roughly 60 to 90 watts but some larger plasma sets use much more energy , sometimes nearly 500 watts.

[@MUSTASCH1O]

This is part of the reason I want a DAB/FM radio. Should be best of both worlds then.

[@SatoriSongSG2000]

Plus who would want to listen to Mp3 over a true hi-fi signal anyway? But, it seems we have no choice - the only reason we got DAB here was for Radio6...now, if they put that on FM (and there's plenty of spare bandwidth for it) I wouldn't even bother with DAB! Another retrograde step :-(

[@vetar3372]

As someone coming from Norway, DAB is one of the stupidest decisions made in recent politics

[@AkaWilf]

Unfortunately, the majority of people don't understand things like current consumption and bandwidth so they are happy to be told how good DAB really is and will believe it... A friend of mine proudly demonstrated the sound quality of his new cheap Chinese made stereo DAB radio to me recently, oblivious that it was in mono and only 80kbps! I've noticed that many Pure radios no longer include the bit rate in their info menu, my Evoke 2S and One Maxi 3 included. I too have a Hacker Black Knight, plus a Roberts RD21, RD31 and RD41 in my radio collection, and was quite amused at Roberts' proud claim of 150 hours battery life... With 6 Duracell D size batteries that's dreadful! For obvious reasons I run my DABs on rechargeable batteries. On the other hand, I have various Grundig Concert Boys which also run on 6 D cells and they seem to last forever...

[@bonzodog777]

Yes.. The excessive power consumption of DAB is a major issue for people like Caravanners who are off grid a lot, in fact i have reverted to FM so that i don't need to carry loads of batteries (both re-chargeable and other types) around..

[@spannerworks1]

Hi Simon I have never thought of the power consumption before and I have several Hackers and a Roberts DAB RD-3 which I play through my JVC radio-amp (1980) for Jazz FM - its on DAB only sounds good. I to agree FM should stay as its fine and sounds great Warm regards Richard

[@espana86]

DAB is a system based on lies and proprietary codecs. They said it used less bandwith and you'll hear more station but they didn't deliver and instead compressed the audio a lot so it sounds like crap.

[@tambarskelfir]

Nice video! Very informative.

[@SoddingaboutSi]

Thank you.

[@peterpeter3536]

This has bothered me from the day I saw the weighty transformer plug with the Roberts RD 41! Thought it was using lots more power. It's often recommended that we leave Dab Radios, and even TV's and tv boxes on all yhe time. This adds loads of wasted electricity yo your usage. The whole concept of going green seems to be all for show with audio and tv manufacturers being totally unaware of the problems.

[@sfralph70]

i can appreciate what your saying and love the old Hacker but there is also the transmitting end to consider. Take the BBC transmitter at Wrotham 250,000watts for just one station. Take the BBC DAB transmitter at Bluebell Hill 6,300 watts carring not just one service but all the BBC radio services, thats a massive saving in electric bills!!!

[@Dodgerm1cbo]

+Steve Ralph no good if you can't receive DAB at least you can still receive a weak FM signal that is intelligable.

[@rebecca5131]

Steve Ralph 250kw for one station? I'd check the wiki if I was you.

[@sfralph70]

Wrotham - 89.1 91.3 93.5 M 250kW TQ595604 wiki is wrong this is BBC data

[@rebecca5131]

Steve Ralph 50kw ERP each, R1 to R4 and Classic FM. You said 250kw for just one station. Radio Kent 4kw and KMFM only 200 watts 101.6.

[@sfralph70]

Rebecca Gill No BBC list as 125Kw R1, then R2,R3 R4 all 250Kw ERP....here's the link from the BBC itself not fictitious wikipedia downloads.bbc.co.uk/reception/pdfs/FMradiotrans.pdf

[@terryblackman6217]

I agree with everything you have said. I have three dab radios, all draw excessive current and the sound quality is inferior to fm. I have a philips transistor radio that I use every morning and the batteries have been in there over three years and still going strong. I have just subscribed. 👍

[@SoddingaboutSi]

Thanks Terry. DAB is the future? I hope not! Happy new year.

[@terryblackman6217]

@@SoddingaboutSi as they say. Why change what ain't broke. Stay safe.

[@ScottfromNP]

Can't stand DAB, prefer FM/LW and MW on my Hacker sovereign III. Radio how it's meant to be.

[@MPsNewswatch]

I was in East Grinstead and DAB was still bad when I was there a couple of years ago with a portable DAB radio. FM was only good for the BBC national FM stations and Classic FM, along with Meridian FM, the local community station.

[@ianhand5006]

High current consumption is inevitable due to the microprocessor in the modern radio. My wife has a Roberts radio in the kitchen and the batteries don't last anywhere near as long as the PP9 in my Bush TR130 from 1967, my birth year. All three AF117s had tin whiskers, so I had to "zap" them!

[@simonreid_eMTB]

Very interesting, thank you. I too like tinkering with little experiments like this. Those old radios would indeed last for weeks on a set of batteries. One of my radios is a Roberts Solar DAB 2. It has FM also, imagine my surprise to find that on FM it actually uses more power than on DAB! I think it must be because it has RDS on FM perhaps? Even the instructions warn of higher consumption on FM. One very disappointing thing is that the solar panel struggles to charge the radio. I'd leave it on a window ledge with flat batteries for a whole sunny week and it wouldn't charge much, if at all, it will just about run the radio in full sunlight outside. (tested with flat batteries installed as the radio won't run on solar at all without batteries present). The Roberts Solar DAB "original" however does solar charge the battery quite well. They both have the same panel, I actually changed the panels over thinking I had a duff one in the DAB 2 but the poor charge situation stayed with the DAB 2.

[@geeeeeeeezzzzzzzzzz]

I'm fine with DAB such as my Revo Super Signal ( real rock,n roll machine, love it and never switch to the fuzzy hiss FM that it also has). Everyone really should get a Revo! Look them up. Then I have a Pure DAB Mini and that's another story. It's crap but made that way so that the batteries last. The Revo doesn't use batteries so isn't restricted. But no matter. I think it's purely a bandwith issue and DAB takes up less of the rf spectrum so we don't have much choice as the spectrum is limited and needs to be divided up between all the things that use it nowadays? I've got 3 kw of solar panels so 3.6w isn't going to be a problem.

[@Smellslikenarcspirit]

The fuzzy his depends on what quality radio you use , and more importantly the antenna whit the correct impedance match , here in europe everybody recieves fm whit a 75 ohm cable , but the the transmision impedance is 50 ohm , and that is not a match , and then complaining ohh my signal is not good , for 50 ohm transmision you need 50 ohm cable to recieve , that's a match .

[@maniacse]

This is for me realy interesting finding. I bought cheap Tesco DAB/FM radio and I was shocked by so short battery life, and then I also noticed high wattage on delivered power brick. What is beyond this? Powering not only FM receiver but also signal and audio processing chip? But anyway, there is question, if power consuption spared on transmiter side (like Mr. Steve Ralph wrote bellow) would be greater or lower then power consumption on many many receivers used around same transciever.

[@CarlMarx]

Here in Norway were forced to change to DAB, they will close the FM net. Only small local stations will use FM, but they have said only for a year or so.

[@twoshadesuk]

Very informative thank you.

[@imprwikiimprwiki6898]

You'll never find me with DAB shite. Not remotely comparable to Digital vs Analog tv

[@stargazertycho11]

Your absolutely right! derek

[@ddorfpunk]

dab is the doom of radio technology... but gladly we can still use our vintage radios with fm transmitters if they ever shut down FM. I do that alot anyways.

[@OriginalPuro]

In Norway the government has decided to shut down the FM net in 2017, going over to DAB+ completely.. Over 60% of the people said they didn't want it and it's commonly known that the technology is outdated.:S It's estimated to be around 20 million FM radio units in Norway, not all in use of course, but so many has to be switched out and everyone has to pay for something and throw out the old one, it's stupid.

[@ladydawn1973Eternity]

I live in Norway. With all the respect to the country and citizens PureYo, one could almost think all the media stir has to do with something important like a machine to purify air outside, or a new vaccine, something with meaning,and not something as useless as this. I don't even have PC no gadgets either no mobile phone, got tired of them in 2008 BUT, to me it seems there is propaganda in DAB which they HIDE. think about it- China now produces MORE radios(DAB) DESPITE high air pollution there, and why nor Norway or Europe cares about that?!? Is Big brother propaganda so much more important? And radio waves(from ships to shore and vice versa) gone too. Why?!

[@nicolai7560]

ddorfpunk1 234 FM doesn't work in Norway enamore, we only have DAB and DAB+,

[@nicolai7560]

PuroYO wel if you want to listen to FM in Norway then you might get local radio for example Radio salten, radio Bø. Etc.

[@gpo746]

FM WILL work! you just need the right transmitter , the government have not removed the band.....they have just stopped the use of the transmitters. buy or build one and you can listen to your music

[@SiriusXAim]

DAB makes little sense as a technological advancement. The sound quality isn't much superior to FM, so it does not solve any tech gap. One can also get far more variety with a smart phone. DAB solves the non problem of not having digital radios that sounds like the analog. And brings in its own problems. Signal drops on FM makes noize. Loose it on digital, and you'll get stutters, buffers and cutouts.

[@SproutyPottedPlant]

I like DAB too, love the Hacker though 😊

[@Antagram]

Thanks for the informative video. Curious if you have tested newer models of DAB radio using digital and analogue source? As battery life, from non-propriety batteries, is one consideration I have for replacement radio.

[@marcellocapone4925]

Thanks for the insight. Do you reckon this is the case for all DAB radios? I'm looking to purchase an entry level Bush DAB that's on sale at Argos but that made me a little hesitant to pull the trigger now. I've always just assumed most newly made devices consumed less power than their predecessors.

[@nocomment389]

I have buy a DAB+ Radio. But i only use it as clock . it have a nice Display. Showing the old type anolog clock.

[@stormwarrior5241]

Yes, this is a sad and crazy fact. The government team who allowed this archaic crap to become our standard for the future should have been thrown in prison. Someone obviously got a big back-hander to allow it to go through. I'm an electronics technician and I'm embarrassed at the absurd power requirements and lousy bit-rate ( = sound quality) of these sets. Could & SHOULD have been so much better.

[@chrishenniker5944]

As an engineer, what would you have gone for?

[@stormwarrior5241]

+Chris Henniker OK, I'm not in the broadcast industry, just electronic service / design. I would not have used outdated mp2. Let's look at the original problem - how to turn off FM and replace it with a (superior) digital system. One of the benefits of digital would clearly be more channels & more choice, but top of the priority list should have been how to make the audio quality (that people were accustomed to on FM with a "hi-fi" stereo receiver) even better. The whole exercise should not have been started until better codecs (which now exist) came on the scene. In a world I probably won't live to see, they will transmit in a lossless compression format (like FLAC now). This currently would mean monster bandwidth and few channels. Obviously digital radio needs some kind of redundancy removal for efficiency, but it should not be perceivable on a mono "kitchen radio" as it is at the moment. Mathematically reducing redundancy is fine, but guessing the amount of "irrelevancy removal" that the public will tolerate is just pure greed for commercial purposes. (look at freeview TV in the UK) It gripes me that we are all slowly being groomed to accept that "less quality will do". Moving to the digital domain should always be for the better, with no compromises. Once again, the Government is selling something that they do not and cannot legally own. Power consumption of digital receivers is slowly improving, but we still have miles to go and we should already be riding a faster leaner horse than mp2 DAB.

[@chrishenniker5944]

Storm Warrior Why is it that we're being ripped off? Is it because the whole set up's being done on the cheap, and why are the British public being given an outdated system? What's FLAC, bearing in mind that I'm just a music journalist?

[@stormwarrior5241]

For the first two questions; I guess the time between conception/testing and then being committed (because of investment) to a specific technology took too long. I'm surprised that being involved in the music industry you have never heard of FLAC. See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FLAC - but essentially, it's a way to create compressed digital audio data that when uncompressed produces an identical quality file to the original input file (say a CD track). This is termed "lossless compression" as apposed to Mp3 or (in the case in question) Mp2 (DAB radio) which strips out all information deemed "unnecessary" to create a much smaller file or data stream.

[@chrishenniker5944]

Storm Warrior more accurately, I'm an arts journalist, but what I meant was that I'm no engineer. I'm wondering if it was a political decision, as opposed to an engineering one.

[@EnidAgnusDei]

I'll never own a DAB radio, total junk, known a few who had them and they regretted buying them, even the Robert's ones aint long lasting and Pure are a rip off! I'll stick to my old Roberts R505 it looks better than the modern crap.

[@andrewthorpe8879]

not keen on tinternet just thought i may be able to find a radio i am not particulaly bothered about sound quality i am after a radio reciever that gose behond the standard wave lenght so into recievers do you have any suggestions what to go for

[@harrystevens3885]

The early DAB radios use to burn out the circuit boards after a year because of the power consumption and the heat coming from the voltage regulators .........

[@blackIce504]

did you try the dab on fm mode and compare the power consumption as well? I ask because you not mentioned that. Thanks for the other info tho.

[@emptyboxesandrooms]

The only reason I have DAB really is radio 6. It's my life line.

[@georgethepatriot2785]

Look up reviews of DAB radios. Amazon and John lewis are good for this. , Heavy on batteries and Pure dab radios need expensive own brand battery. My Roberts on/off switch failed on my 2 +year old eco 4 . A common fault with this model. Shame because it was great on batteries compared with other makes. Ive gone back to FM. Wish Hacker were still making radios

[@bobdole4694]

My vintage Bush Trio 30 portable will last about 3 months with an hour or so use a day on it's meaty 9v pp9 dry cell. Too bad there is no longer enough interesting programming on LW or MW to be worth listening to.

[@robertmonaghan6263]

Also FM is better for picking up stations that r far away. Dab no chance of that so the truth is FM yes DAB No

[@RayG98]

FM has stood the test of time. It hasn't been superseded yet because it works and it works well - after 60+ years. BBC network transmissions from Wrotham opened in 1955. It ain't broke and it doesn't need fixing! One single transmitter at 250Kw ERP still covers millions of listeners over a service area of 10,000 sq. miles. Can DAB match that?

[@rebecca5131]

Dab = 128k multiplex MP3 codex. No thanks!

[@SoddingaboutSi]

Exactly. And the BBC keep pushing the fidelity of DAB?

[@ryantoomey611]

We do not have DAB in the US, instead we have "HD Radio" which is pretty good quality. You can get AM in stereo and CD quality FM. It piggy backs off of the same frequency as analog. Unfortunately it never really took off and there are only a few stations with the technology in major cities and the radios are being discontinued.

[@tambarskelfir]

DAB is MP2 afaik.

[@FrancisLitanofficialJAPINOY]

Ryan Toomey DAB covers US VHF Channels 7 to 13. There still broadcast on ATSC on channels 7 to 13 ( DAB frequency on 174 MHz to 240 MHz channels 5A, 5B, etc...) In Taiwan, they replaced NTSC broadcasts to DVB-T/T2 in US UHF 14 to 69. but PSIP channels 1, 2 to 13 uses on UHF virtual channel. Taiwan also uses DAB, AM and FM broadcasts. No plans for Taiwanese AM and FM shutdown.

[@lizichell2]

Rebecca Gill not even MP3 mp2

[@Professional_Youtube_Commenter]

whn you tested it on dab there was no audio. if you had reception and played audio the power consumption would be much higher.

[@SoddingaboutSi]

+OnlineBackupServices There would be little increase in power consumption with low level audio. A few miliwatts at the level shown here.

[@SoddingaboutSi]

Power consumption would only rise a few milli watts at this audio level.

[@anthonyperkins7556]

DAB is crap, with many stations crammed into multiplexes at low bit rates and mono sound and poor reception of sorts in areas of mountains valleys hills and built up areas leading to horrid distortion and bubbling mud sounds, but the marketing men, Ofcom and the broadcasters say it's fantastic and the choice is superb - why the hell would I want to listen to music and entertainment stations in mono that sound like they're coming from a bubbling mud swamp? I prefer FM, clean clear and crisp with stereo reproduction.

[@mike969696]

For me, DAB is inferior in most respects to FM, for several reasons. But does DAB have anything to do with the high current consumption of the Roberts, or is this just a function of it being a product of an age in which very few radios are still used on batteries?

[@SoddingaboutSi]

The high power consumption is a result of the processing required to decode the DAB information. I think later DAB sets have improved somewhat but still far higher than an FM set.

[@peterchristo196]

DAB uses a wide-bandwidth broadcast technology and typically spectra have been allocated for it in Band III (174-240 MHz) and L band (1.452-1.492 GHz), although the scheme allows for operation between 30 and 300 MHz. The US military has reserved L-Band in the USA only, blocking its use for other purposes in America, and the United States has reached an agreement with Canada to restrict L-Band DAB to terrestrial broadcast to avoid interference.[citation needed] DAB historically had a number of country specific transmission modes (I, II, III and IV). Mode I for Band III, Earth Mode II for L-Band, Earth and satellite Mode III for frequencies below 3 GHz, Earth and satellite Mode IV for L-Band, Earth and satellite

[@RichardThorneanorak]

UK DAB I always thought is still MP2 codex, it is DAB+ as available on the Continent which is MP3. DAB have improved coverage since 2013 and even in deepest rural coastal Lincolnshire I have all 25 pre-sets occupied. However, I prefer the sound quality of FM, especially via a tuner. Only a minority of DAB sets are stereo and it has to be a huge step backwards to buy a mono radio especially if it is replacing a stereo FM radio. The difference in power consumption that you show here is amazing. No wonder DAB has taken years longer to gain a foothold than the radio industry and regulators wanted. Has your DAB reception improved? It has come forward a step or two, I think but I still prefer to hear the pips at the proper time and to be about 10 seconds ahead in my listening by choosing FM. FM is better for the planet too. If Radio 4 Extra were given an FM frequency, sales of DAB radios would probably stop. Pure have been bought out by an Austrian firm because they had lost so much money producing so many models of radios that have not sold. It's a great shame for British manufacturing and jobs that we have lost Pure but DAB in mp2 has not caught on in the UK.

[@alpha007org]

DAB use MP2 codec, DAB+ use AAC. In Slovenia, EU, we're currently (2017) in transition from FM to DAB+. And when I looked at bitrate I almost cried. Most are 32 kb/s. Granted, AAC at 60-70 kb/s is like mp3 128 kb/s but for god's sake 32 kb/s is for AAC - Speech Profile.

[@radiosification]

Actually it is HE-AAC v2 so you cannot really compare it to normal AAC. It HE-AAC was designed to be more efficient at lower bandwidths. But I can tell you that at 32 Kbps it sounds bad still. Even at 48 it sounds bad. (Both are mono) There is one station I can hear which uses 96 Kbps (stereo) and that one sounds decent.

[@afrog2666]

The smallest portable DAB radio I could find, is twice the size of my old portable FM radio, has more than twice the battery capacity and weighs about four times as much. But it has less than a quarter of the battery life and costs 5 times as muuch.. I HATE DAB radios.. I only listen to radio on the go, and I have FM on my phones, on my mp3 player, on my tablet, and my portable radios are well, portable radios lol.. I have never been anywhere I could find a good signal, but this year everyone is forced to switch to this newer, inferior technology.. Who care about "good sound" when it will cost you a fortune and last you 5 hours on a full charge..? It`s shit for portable, it`s expensive, and large..

[@SoddingaboutSi]

Jan Christian Frodahl And they tell us we have to save energy! It's a joke.

[@afrog2666]

I know right.. And vaping is getting banned but cigarettes are as abundant as ever.. Same reason: *Money*

[@Smellslikenarcspirit]

Fm Will always be better because of bandwhit .

[@nickphilpot420]

I get the power problem on a portable, but for me dab in the car is far superior than fm, constant multi path distortion as I drive around, I switched to dab about 10 years ago and I very rarely get any reception problems, admittedly I use a dedicated dab aerial and home made rf preamp. as for the sound quality it's hard to see a problem on my car system, fm may be better but probably wouldn't notice in the car and the bonus of dab it has 6 music the only half decent station in my opinion!

[@SoddingaboutSi]

nick philpot HI Nick, I must say in a car Dab works better than at hope. I have just come back from a friend who has moved to Teddington SW London and his Dab reception is so weak he has gone back to FM

[@marcoshea4868]

hi simon enjoyed your video ,can you recommend a good portable personal radio please!! many thanks

[@marcoshea4868]

yes vintage please simon thank you

[@marcoshea4868]

+Simon Spiers thanks il google a valve tube radio il get back to you

[@robertmonaghan6263]

DAB is different uses a audio rather than waves so u don't get whisltle crackle or hiss as with fm. But on the move it suffers signal drop outs as fm is better for on the move. so don't buy a DAB if u live in a weak signal area.

[@aris95]

And the winner is..., wlan internet radio!

[@pauledwards2817]

One of the greatest myths about fm which always amused me about high end tuners in the U.K. Is that all the feeds to the transmitters used Nicam. Yes that dreadful codec used in TV sound here. that is 10bit resolution sliding inside a 14 bit magnitude at 32khz sampling. And sorry fm is not available to everyone at good quality, it never was. I do grant that dab sounds no when you compare both under best conditions, strong signal and high bit rate.

[@SoddingaboutSi]

FM always sounded good from the Wrotham transmissions Kent. The downer was the over the top ALC and compression to keep within the 75Khz deviation clause.

[@seanregan730]

your math is a little out there 0.21 x 12 =2.5 not 0.25 however the hack still uses less power overall.

[@Vidar.m]

i wont buy a dab radio any day soon.

[@SoddingaboutSi]

I sold this dab radio soon after this video!

[@FrancisLitanofficialJAPINOY]

Vidar Mathisen Import DAB Radio to North America to be sold as travel radio product via Radio World.

[@andrewthorpe8879]

i like planet rock they say cannot get the station unless using dab

[@iancoffey210]

Hi, it is also on the tinternet blackmail data platform , and freesat tv, providing better sound quality than on dab.

[@tomkent4656]

In my opinion DAB is a failed experiment.

[@SoddingaboutSi]

Yep, not being pushed as much now days either.

[@lizichell2]

The modern dab has a more powerful amp

[@megatronskneecap]

Its 2022, and radio as a whole is dying. DAB was always going to flop as even back in 2010 spotify and podcasts were starting to become the new radio. Its just taken 12 years for everyone to convert.

[@SoddingaboutSi]

I'm sad to say but yes your correct.

[@megatronskneecap]

@@SoddingaboutSi I'm sad too. Analogue radios and CRT TV's were my childhood. The radiowave technology as a system has been dying. I only ever listen to DAB when I don't have my phone on me in my car or need to hear traffic news.

[@johnhood3172]

Hi, I know what you mean, I had dab , I used it for 1 hour in morning and a couple of hours at night , the batteries were dead in two weeks my vintage radios go for two months or more , great for the planet , what a con, also the radio stations using dab use 10 times More power to transmit. If I switch on my I phone and my valve radio, the radio beats the phone , this Today’s technology ( pardon my French) is total crap. Regards JH

[@christopher9727]

John 3.16-21

[@Vidar.m]

here in norway FM is a thing of the past now, damn anoying that DAB is useless

[@SoddingaboutSi]

Vidar Mathisen Norway did rush in a bit to quickly Vidar. I have a friend who lives in Teddington a suburb of London. He can't receive DAB on the ground floor of his house! FM works well though.

[@DJDickieH]

But I like DAB. :(

[@DJDickieH]

I suppose I'm the one then. But then again it's only because the radio at work seems to be okay, I don't know too much about it. It supports the stations I want to hear what I don't get on FM alone. I'm open to knew info on it all.

[@johndrew6568]

+Rickie Hilll You like it, coz you're probably young and naive; Nothing produced, that's then, supported & introduced nationwide & or worldwide by the governmental GITS, is ever good! Take it from an EX------ee ============== who still cares. FREEDOM, THAT'S WHAT WERE GONNA LOSE! Really hope you have a great life!.. But! ! !

[@DJDickieH]

John Drew I understand what you are saying. DAB isn't good when the signal drops out of course. I've noticed that. But all round sounds betters.

[@RayG98]

Richard, learn from some of the informed commentators here. DAB is crap and a con on the public to sell more radios and flog off the FM band. Technically, it's a backward step but the govt gits understand nothing of that. It is unconscionable that we should lose the technical quality available universally via FM, but in time we will unless we continue to make our voices heard. And while on the subject of transmission costs, what about long wave? The Droitwich transmitter covers most of the UK and the sound quality is lovely to listen to - mellow and very intelligible - ideal for a speech channel such as Radio 4. One transmitter covering tens of millions of listeners - that's great economics, isn't it? But I wonder if the BBC loonies would still be running it if it weren't used for those annoying test match cricket commentaries which interrupt my listening. We know from recent evidence coming out of the BBC salaries debate that the Beeb will cover up or at least try to ignore the facts when they find their policies are at odds with informed public opinion. Currently they are running a propaganda campaign for DAB, aided and abetted by the radio manufacturers. This is a public corporation and should not be in bed with commercial interests - period. Or am I just naive?

[@martin4458]

You hate change.

[@martin4458]

+Simon Spiers The reason you can get a reception is your radio and its ariel are beside other electrical equipment. I like Dab. Nice hacker radio btw

[@starsnstuff842]

It seems the fashion to run down DAB these days,I've been fully DAB since 2006 and I think its great.I regularly listen to The World Service,Abs.80's,4 Extra and two dozen other stations not available on the over crowded and hissy FM band. DAB technology and its extension will never be improved if we listen to the anti DABers making the bland argument 'no one wants DAB ' nonsense. FM still has its place we can have both.

[@SoddingaboutSi]

I agree with a lot of what you say but not all. When I did this video some years ago DAB reception was poor at best, and I could seldom get a reliable service. However I did this same test again a few months ago and now get a strong signal with no garbled distortion like before. What I still don't like is the high compression used on the audio that ruins HI fidelity reproduction. Granted as a media for portable devices and highly compressed modern music it's fine. But classical music sounds bubbly still and this will need to be addressed before most would class it as high fidelity. And my final issue is with power consumption. How Long does a DAB radio play for on batteries? A day or two at best?