Who Uses In Car DAB.

philwhite100

Standard Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2011
Messages
25
Reaction score
0
Points
7
I got a DAB add on tuner for my system and find it works quite well, the standard aerial seems to work well but i did fit an additional one just for the DAB tuner.
 
I am using various differentWalkabout type dab in the car from the headphone socket to a powered speaker. Reception is variable but does not seem worse than if I am using headphones and on the bus or train. However when I say it does not seem worse it is worse than having an FM radio in the car! So it may just be down to geographical location or it may be the quality of the tuner what model are you using in your car?
 
I used to have a Pure Highway in one of my cars but DAB in my area can be a little sketchy so I bought a Kenwood KDC-DAB4551U and hooked it up to a Kinetic DEGA-4001 aerial and it all works very well.

My other car has a Kenwood KDC-BT8044U hooked up to a Kenwood KTC-9090DAB unit. The only problem is that the DAB unit isn't compatible with the later head unit and only displays the mux frequency.
 
I have built-in DAB and love it. It doesn't always work though as coverage where I live is a bit sparse but when it works, it's brilliant.
 
I used to use a Highway in my last car, it worked OK but the trailing cables for power and antenna were messy and annoying, and the windscreen bracket was an utter piece of excrement that took less than a year to fall apart.

New car (Passat) has DAB built in, and it's brilliant. No messing about, it just works. :)x
 
When my car radio died, I bought a JVC DAB radio and new aerial. It has been superb with very good sound quality. Despite living in rural Devon the reception has been excellent. My only criticism of this particular radio are the controls which are small and fiddly to change station.
 
I've got a Blaupunkt Nashville.

Very good. Lots of choice and can play MP3's from a 1GB SD card.
 
The Key to good DAB reception is to replace your factory fitted radio aerial with amplified DAB/FM/AM aerial.

The results from aerials like the JVC HAL-2 and Kinetic DRA-6001 are nothing short of stunning. I easily get 3 other area's local DAB muxes out of reception area. The FM and AM reception with these aerials too are also superb. I get a tonne more FM stations clearly that I've never been able to get before with my original VW aerial too. AM reception is also excellent as the aerial is amplified and screened all the way back to the radio and i've never heard such clean and listenable AM radio reception before.
 
I've just taken a pure highway back to halfords. I read the reviews which were mixed but noted that with an external aerial the reception was improved considerably so I took a chance.

I got an external aerial with it (extra £20 normally) but still it was infuriating. The reception strength was 5 bars, 1 bar, 3 bars , 5 bars, 0 bars continuously with the radio cutting out all the time. It didn't seem to matter if I was moving or not. Not one song was played without it losing reception so it had to go. Sadly I was only able to listen to Planet Rock (almost) for 1 evening.

Will there be a time when these things get to be as reliable as FM? I can't listen to Pop plop any longer.
 
I've bought one of these: Halfords | Sony CDX-DAB700U DAB/DAB+/DMB-R Car CD Receiver.

Really good sound compared to FM - even though signal strength is mostly 50% - due to the glass mounted aerial. But hardly ever drops below 40% whereby the burbling sound is heard. Very occasionally the DAB drops out but switches to FM automatically (if available) so not noticeable. Works in central London too. Also includes DAB+ if you're in Europe!

Very good radio - DAB is perfect for car journeys.



The Key to good DAB reception is to replace your factory fitted radio aerial with amplified DAB/FM/AM aerial.

The results from aerials like the JVC HAL-2 and Kinetic DRA-6001 are nothing short of stunning.

Thanks for this - can I ask, the installation looks quite difficult - for instance do you have to drill holes, or remove the ceiling liner etc, to pull the cable through to the radio? Or is it relatively straightforward?
 
I've bought one of these: Halfords | Sony CDX-DAB700U DAB/DAB+/DMB-R Car CD Receiver.

Really good sound compared to FM - even though signal strength is mostly 50% - due to the glass mounted aerial. But hardly ever drops below 40% whereby the burbling sound is heard. Very occasionally the DAB drops out but switches to FM automatically (if available) so not noticeable. Works in central London too. Also includes DAB+ if you're in Europe!

Very good radio - DAB is perfect for car journeys.





Thanks for this - can I ask, the installation looks quite difficult - for instance do you have to drill holes, or remove the ceiling liner etc, to pull the cable through to the radio? Or is it relatively straightforward?


it should be a straight replacement for many roof mounted factory fit aerials. you will have to get under the ceiling ( possibly remove it) and unbolt the old one, replace with and most importantly grease the new aerial (to prevent water ingress as much as possible) and run a new cable for DAB alongside your existing FM aerial cable. you may require an adaptor to fit your old FM cable to the new aerial but it might just be easier to run a new FM cable and power antenna cable.

on mine, I just got under the ceiling at the boot, ( my aerial is at the back) swapped the aerial out, and ran 3 cables DAB/FM/antenna power round the passinger side above the door seals and under the cealing alongside the existing FM aerial cable and cable tied them to the existing on when possible. Removed the trim at passenger door along the windscreen neatly hide the cables down to the dash and more cable ties to the existing FM aerial cable and finally round to the radio. I connected the power antenna cable to a 500ma inline fuse and connected that to the ignition power at the back of the radio. These aerials look identical to the old one in my case except the mast is longer with the extra elements for DAB band III and L.

I wish i got photos when doing mine. but it wasn't that hard.

My old car did not have a roof mounted aerial and i had to drill a new hole in the roof for it, it's not hard but it's a case of having the right tools to do a clean easy and proper job. the original antenna was on the side of the car and destroyed.

The magnetic mount aerials arn't quite as good but they beat windscreen aerials hands down.
 
Last edited:
I can recommend the Blaupunkt Woodstock head unit for in-car DAB loveliness.
I think it was discontinued a couple of years ago but they still crop up on eBay from time to time.

Not only is the reception through an external glass mounted arial excellent but you can play mp3's from an SD card and the real party piece is that you can record from DAB onto the SD card.

I've had mine for about 4 or 5 years now and even bought another one off eBay for £40 just in case it ever breaks down. Great shame they discontinued the model, but maybe the recording/copyright issue was to blame.
 
ive been pondering a dab for the car so ithought id take my portable magicbox with broken aerial out for a drive over the last few months.
i work all over the south east and apart from just outside brighton its been working fine,mainly listening to talksport
i read all these reports of needing a special aerial(one shop said it would be like trying to watch sky through your tv aerial)so is this all more bluff like spending good money on an hdmi cable ?
help i dont want to waste money
 
I bought a Revo In Car DAB (no longer made, sadly) back in 2006, and installed it with a glass-mount aerial into the Audi A4 I had at the time. Excellent DAB reception nearly all of the time, with just the occasional drop out in localities where the signal is weak - yes, I do mean you, Northumberland!)

I used the FM modulator, which was not ideal, but there was just too much involved in getting it to interface with the car's auxilliary input. In 2010, I changed cars, and successfully transferred the Revo into the new one. Still going strong after almost six years service.
 
after a fair bit of research and testing aerials (thanks to dabonwheels no quibble 45-day trials) ive now got the perfect solution for ME.

little clarity adaptor, plugged ino aux in my armrest, and a kinetic magnetic mount aerial. i say this is perfect for me because it means i can easily swap the lot over if i use the works van and dont fancy listening to poppy chart rubbish on my journey :)

mag mount aerial gives far better results for me than glass mount and gives me the versatility i want too. im now going to plug a little sansa clip mp3 player into the clarity too, so i can listening to my cds that ill rip to flac and move onto it :)

cheers
 
I bought a Pure Highway just after Christmas as I do an enormous amount of miles in my car (Grantham to Oxford every day!). Also bought an external aerial.
Got it tuned to 94.7FM and it's rock solid all the way there and back - couldn't be happier with it.
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom