Digital Radio Adapter

[rockitman]

Just been reading about the imminent introduction of digital radio.
In the not too distant future new cars will obviously have digital radios as standard equipment.
According to the article I was reading car radio digital adapters are available (or will be).

Does anyone have any info. on them?

I was wondering whether it is just a matter of fitting them in line with the aerial cable?

[Juffa]

There was a previous post somewhere here. I think two companies, Pioneer and Yamaha were bringing DAB headunits to Aus. Otherwise as you said you could get an external DAB unit and connect it to your existing headunit. A quick google search recently found the usual FM adaptors, or line in adaptors...but to me that defeats of going digital

J

[rockitman]

Thanks for that Juffa.

Going to local Strathfield Car Radio this weekend to find out what's available.

[Locutus]

i don't think digital radio headunits are sold here yet.

http://www.digitalradioplus.com.au/

[rockitman]

That's correct!

Went to SCR this morning.
No digital car radio equipment available yet.
They are waiting on news from their suppliers so I guess it's just a matter of wait and see.

[mr_rotary]

How about bringing in Satellite radio first instead of us putting up with local rubbish

[rockitman]

Still waiting for a digital adapter to become available for the MX5 but I did buy this digital radio recently.


Even though this is a cheaper base model, and probably has a crappy speaker, I am most impressed with the sound quality. Excellent. Sounds like the DJ or artist you are listening to is actually in the room with you and no annoying interference to be heard.

On the negative side, not all stations are currently broadcasting in digital and reception is limited to capital cities.

If you like listening to music on the radio digital is the way to go.

[TieNN89]

yes an adapter does exist but whether you want to pay the amount that is been asked is another question

https://shop.1wow.com.au/productcart/pc ... oduct=3997

[broady]

Rockitman, that's awesome. Is that the song name as well that's displayed?

Bring on digital radio!!

[Juffa]

yes an adapter does exist but whether you want to pay the amount that is been asked is another question

https://shop.1wow.com.au/productcart/pc ... oduct=3997

Unless I'm missing something that product is a DAB+ radio, that also allows you to plug in another external device such as a MP3 player. The DAB+ device then communicates to your existing car stereo via the FM tuner... I go back to my original comment, you are not going to get the full sound quality benefits playing the DAB+ device over FM.

J

[rockitman]

whether you want to pay the amount that is been asked is another question

Can't see many takers for that sort of price. You can buy a top quality digital radio for $299.

Is that the song name as well that's displayed?

The broadcaster can display whatever information that want. Depending on the station you get song details, weather forecast, station promotions etc. You can also call up information on signal strength, broadcast frequency, bit-rate,signal mode,signal error, time ,date etc.

Juffa

Agree with your comments about the DAB+ device. Ultimately a DAB+ headunit is required for true DAB+ fidelity.

[TieNN89]

yes an adapter does exist but whether you want to pay the amount that is been asked is another question

https://shop.1wow.com.au/productcart/pc ... oduct=3997

Unless I'm missing something that product is a DAB+ radio, that also allows you to plug in another external device such as a MP3 player. The DAB+ device then communicates to your existing car stereo via the FM tuner... I go back to my original comment, you are not going to get the full sound quality benefits playing the DAB+ device over FM.

J

true but you get the stations you won't get on normal radio

[Benny]

whether you want to pay the amount that is been asked is another question

Can't see many takers for that sort of price. You can buy a top quality digital radio for $299.

Is that the song name as well that's displayed?

The broadcaster can display whatever information that want. Depending on the station you get song details, weather forecast, station promotions etc. You can also call up information on signal strength, broadcast frequency, bit-rate,signal mode,signal error, time ,date etc.

Juffa

Agree with your comments about the DAB+ device. Ultimately a DAB+ headunit is required for true DAB+ fidelity.

My phone displays that information on the screen when I'm listening to FM radio on it already, so it is already there.
There are differences between satellite radio and digital radio.
For satellite radio, you need to pay a subscription, whereas digital radio is free to air.

Digital radio is like digital television, in that the information is not modulated on a carrier wave like normal radio, but is sent as a digital feed, so you either have perfect reception or no reception.
As it is digital, the signal does not have to be as compressed as it is in FM, which is where you lose some of the music information.
I'm not sure what sort of compression is used, but from my understanding, the music is less compressed than it is on CD's, so you should get excellent sound quality, especially if you're listening to it on a high end stereo.

A bit like comparing AM to FM radios.
One is bearable, but the other is good.

Naturally, the quality of the sound depends on where the radio station is getting the music from, so if it comes off CD's, then you will get CD quality, but if it is recorded from a live concert in a full, uncompressed digital format, the quality will be superb.

[bruce]

My phone displays that information on the screen when I'm listening to FM radio

I think that's RDS. Might be something difft to Digital?

[Benny]

My phone displays that information on the screen when I'm listening to FM radio

I think that's RDS. Might be something difft to Digital?

Absolutely.
That's why I said I can see it on my phone when usingit as an FM radio, not a digital radio.

Digital radio will soon be on our phones anyway.