**read This Before Buying A Dab**

[mwillerton]

Hi all

Just found this
http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/ar...years-time.php

Might be worth thinking about!!

Hope this helps some

Matty

[Sonic67]

It seems to suggest if you buy DAB now it will be obsolete soon. Not as I understand it. The new DAB 2 is backwards compatible.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WorldDMB

[mb23]

The new DAB receivers on sale from next year will receive both AAC+ and MP2 broadcasts, so in that sense the new radios will be backward-compatible with the UK's current DAB system.

What is likely to happen is that AAC+ broadcasts will be phased in gradually to supplement and eventually replace the MP2 broadcasts in the UK. Current DAB radios will not receive the new AAC+ stations and therefore those that have bought MP2-only radios will not be able to receive many new stations and eventually will find that their existing services will disappear, although the timescale for this is unclear (maybe 5 years?).

European countries such as France, Germany, Italy & Sweden have not sold as many DAB radios as others such as UK and Denmark and therefore will be able to switch to the AAC+ codec much sooner.

[malcolmk]

Originally Posted by Sonic67

It seems to suggest if you buy DAB now it will be obsolete soon. Not as I understand it. The new DAB 2 is backwards compatible.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WorldDMB

DAB 2 can be backwards compatible, but unfortunately the DAB you buy now is not forwards compatible. If you can, you should wait for the DAB2 modules to be built into receivers.

[malcolmk]

Originally Posted by mb23

European countries such as France, Germany, Italy & Sweden have not sold as many DAB radios as others such as UK and Denmark and therefore will be able to switch to the AAC+ codec much sooner.

Oh let's not beat about the bush...

Broadcasters in France, Germany, Italy & Sweden still employ engineers and haven't spent the last few years telling us that DAB is the best thing since sliced bread when quite clearly it is an inferior medium in too many ways.

[Sonic67]

Originally Posted by malcolmk

DAB 2 can be backwards compatible, but unfortunately the DAB you buy now is not forwards compatible. If you can, you should wait for the DAB2 modules to be built into receivers.

Yes I get that but I think as we've gone so far down the DAB route it will be a long time before FM or DAB is switched off for good.

[malcolmk]

Every British broadcaster has exploited DAB to cram in as many stations as possible, it appears to be their only goal. Given that DAB2 could give them nearly four times as many stations (and advertisement revenue streams) at much the same audio quality as current DAB I cannot imagine they will not be pressuring the powers-that-be into migrating over to the new system just as soon as a substantial user base shows signs of developing.

At the present rate of progress it will only take a small handful of years for there to be more DAB2 sets around than MP2 DAB.

There is little or no chance of abandoning FM at present because there are far more FM stations than can be broadcast on DAB as it currently exists. Another pressure that will push DAB2 forward.

[foghorn]

I would not worry too much at the moment, 3 years is still a little way off from the first stations being launched.

The bottom line is that DAB radio is a relatively cheap product; models now range from £30 - £200. Let’s say that DAB products only have a life span off say 7-8 years as the report suggests. That means that most mid range products are only going to cost around £10 a year. Small change compared to most AV products.

Foghorn

[r3nu4l]

Oh great, so the receiver I bought before Christmas will be obsolete in 5 years? Just my luck Mind you, it only cost me £50 and doubles as a CD player. So £10 a year sounds about right.

[honey1997]

Having purchased a new portable DAB radio for our kitchen, Roberts MP23, and a Denon TU1800DAB tuner for my hifi, I am really pleased with the quality of both, and the clarity of reception. If it "only" lasts 5 years, so be it, as a lot of electrical equipment is made with built-in obselence, and I will have 5 years pleasure out of both units. Achieving a good quality signal and reasonable number of channels took a little effort, but was worth perservering with.

My query relates to transmission - the two articles refer to DAB2 & AAC+ audio codec systems being used in the future. Does this in any way correspond to the band III & L band reception my two units will receive, including "future proofing for updates" ? or are L band & band III both to do with MP2 format, and, as such, will both become obselete ?

[malcolmk]

There is no link between AAC and L band. The latter is the frequency used for the broadcast. AAC and MP2 are the codecs used for encoding the data stream that is broadcast, L Band (future) or Band III.

[mb23]

DAB will almost certainly never use L-Band. This spectrum will be auctioned off to the highest bidders in the second half of this year and is likely to be bought by mobile phone companies, possibly for DVB-H mobile TV.

The future for digital radio is likely to be DAB on Band III, DRM120 (also called DRM+) on Band II and DRM30 on the AM bands, all using MPEG4 AAC+.

[nicch]

I can't see current MP2 broadcasts stopping for a decade at least. These type of articles do nothing but scaremonger. When DAB was launched, people started buying sets and there were reports saying the sales figures meant everyone was switching and FM would be dead, within years - where did that go? We still have AM & MW!

The big TV Switch off is coming but it was supposed to be here, it was continually delayed (in fact people say the current digi boxes will be obsolete as new standards come in! ). People want to keep their analogue TV's - at least until they're forced to replace because they've gone bust, not because the govt tell them.

The first "DAB2" stations are years away, but we'll just have dual standards - stations will broadcast on both, and won't consider switching off DAB until the audience figure is low. Considering the number of DAB sets out there, this will be a long while. More likely you'll want to upgrade for new features before you're forced.

[Adam Shaw]

The article cited in the first post was written by Frontier Silicon, the company that will be making DAB2 modules = sneaky advertising!
The concept of DAB2 has been raised a few times in the past, and doubtless will again, but that dosent mean that any of this will actually happen.
Anyone who spends too much time worrying whether the dab radio they bought today will work in 5 years time needs to remember that they could be hit by a bus tommorrow.

Basically, you just dont know what the future holds.

[Autopilot]

In 5 years time we will probably have an even better system than DAB2 on the cards. In fact i will stick my neck out and say that internet radio will have really taken hold by then and most people will use than in the home.

That's the progress of technology. If people cant cope then don't buy technology like this. How many people who own an Xbox complain that an Xbox360 has come out now? Personally i love it, my DAB radios will probably need replacing then anyway.