galaxyguy wrote:
> On 26 June, 09:52, tony sayer <t...@bancom.co.uk> wrote:
>> In article <h211f9$ea...@news.albasani.net>, Steve Terry
>> <gFOUR...@tesco.net> scribeth thus
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> "Chas Gill" <Chas.G...@gollum.btinternet.com> wrote in message
>>> news:HNqdnXEDre-MR97XnZ2dnUVZ8sednZ2d@bt.com...
>>>> "Bill Wright" <insertmybusinessn...@f2s.com> wrote in message
>>>> news:dMKdnVt8W82-X97XnZ2dnUVZ8h2dnZ2d@pipex.net...
>>>>> "Andy Dee" <no...@honest.gov> wrote in message
>>>>> news:SYL0m.4944$4r7.3624@newsfe24.ams2...
>>>>>> DAB sounds worse than FM wrote:
>>>>>>> There's a 10 Downing St petition to stop FM/AM being switched off:
>>>>>>> http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/AM-FM-Radio/
>>>>>>> Please sign. Thanks.
>>>>>> <mad>
>>>>>> So why do we need the American spelling "Analog" in this petition?
>>>>>> PLEASE why can't we remain British and use ENGLISH in this country....
>>>>>> </mad>
>>>>>> A
>>>>> I'm afraid the Times spells it 'analog'.
>>>>> Bill
>>>> Personally I don't give a f**k how it's spelled (spelt?) - the whole point
>>>> is that I have a serious investment in FM radio in my life and I don't
>>>> want to have to scrap it at someone else's whim.
>>> I'm sure milions of people are in your boat
>>> But i look around and now almost none of my radio listening is using
>>> FM or AM.
>>> In the kitchen i listen to my DAB portable, in the living room via DVB-T
>>> freeview box, or on Astra 2, mostly so i can get BBC Radio 7
>>> and on my laptop i mostly listen to US Talk radio on internet radio.
>>> If i could get BBC Radio 7 on Band 2 FM
>>> I would have a use for FM
>>> Steve Terry
>> From most all of the comments I've heard from local shops and the few
>> people I've spoken to .. the main driver for DAB receiver purchase is to
>> receive Radio 5 Live better, where the medium wave reception is not that
>> good!..
>>
>> Round here its fine .. well as far as MW goes, in the car...
>> --
>> Tony Sayer
>
> The importance of maintaining Radio 4 in stereo cannot be
> underestimated. If one listens on a decent stereo FM tuner to the
> drama, be it the Afternoon Play or weekend ones it is incredible to
> hear how the two channels are used so expertly for voice and
> background sound. It makes the difference between watching b+w TV and
> watching colour. DAB radio sets are principally mono (to match most of
> the output). All tonality and depth has been scrubbed away from voices
> and music to leave them sounding 'surgically clean' when you have a
> signal. Even 30 miles from London, I find that in some rooms and on
> some days if I happen to be listening to DAB I have to change to FM
> because of the gurgling 'hot water bottle' noise that replaces what is
> being broadcast. Then again, the BBC itself have had a number of
> recent times when they have been broadcasting DAB and every 4th or 5th
> word has been lost due to some error before the signal reaches the
> transmitter. FM must not be left as a third rate junk yard. We need it
> for our main national broadcasters. Incidentally, concerning the
> petition it is a major error that it was composed by someone unable to
> spell analogue correctly. I would willingly sign any FM/AM petition
> written in English. Presenting American spelling is something of a
> disaster and shoots us in the foot.
> Please rectify it at once.

Your argument is not an argument for FM, it is an argument to maintain
quality.

Now let me reason a little:

The only place where you need quality is in a fixed environment. A car
is a noisy place, and so it outside so portable radios needn't be high
quality. BUT if you can get a high quality ONLINE radio signal via
broadband..is that enough?

The arguments that 'DAB is CRAP' relate not to it being digital per se,
but to the intense amount of compression, both analogue and digital,
applied to it to squeeze a lot of channels out of a small spectrum.

Ergo, if we go up the spectrum to the Ghz bands, there is room for lots
of audio channels of high quality, as long as we realise that we need
transmitters everywhere. A la phone cells etc.

There is also perssure to move to entirely digital transmissions simply
on account of teh fact that the Internet is also a valid transmission
medium for many..my Ex-apt sister LOVES hearing the BBC in greece..world
service reaches further on the 'net than anything else..LW/MW stops at
Stuttgart as it were..and SW stuff is vile.

So by all means pressure for quality: thats is a desirable. HOW it is
done is actually not the issue. WE know thet digital CAN be as good or
better than FM..its a question of making sure that it is.

I am not sure what the bitrate of a raw CD is..I guess 44 x 2 x 14 kpbs?
is it 14 bits?

So 1.2Mbps.

With a decent S/N on a radio, that ought to fit EASILY into a few Khz of
bandwith..less than 100 anyway.