Going Digi

[PAUL W M]

Hi all can any one tell me when the digi switch over will be for car radios .Will we all have to buy after market radio/cd players or will Mr T bring out radios like we have fitted now .I quiet like the one fitted to my car and would hope Mr T could come to some sort of part exchange arrangement for a new digi radio/cd Any ideas anybody

[Jan van de Wouw]

You mean digi as in DAB?

I don't know about the UK, but in The Netherlands they're not going to switch at all.

And even if they are going to switch, wouldn't there be a transitional period in

which both systems work side by side?

That would give manufactors plenty of time to switch over to a new system...

[gordonh]

I wouldn't worry about DAB, they are unlikely to switch radio over during the lifetime of your car (or you).

Also I would aviod UK DAB radios as you will probably get a better sound from FM atm. In the UK we are still using the original DAB which uses a codec that is so out of date that you need large bandwidth to get near CD quality, and yet they keep lowering the bandwidth for each channel to squeeze more channels on. The UK DAB is only used in abour 2-3 other countries in the world, there is an updated version called DAB+ which is much better quality but it is incompatable with the UK radios so they would all need to be scrapped to upgrade.

In truth DAB in its current form is dead/dying it just doesn't know it yet and no political party wants to be the ones to finally pull the plug due to the backlash from people that bought the very expensive radios early.

[Rich H]

In its "Digital Britain" report, published in June 2009, the government set a switch-off target for UK national radio stations and many local services by the end of 2015.

Switchover will be announced 2 years in advance and not until digital accounts for 50% of all radio listening. The government hopes this target can be met by the end of 2013.

so unlees you're going to keep your car for at least 6 years , do n't worry.

But it will happen, sooner or later , as it has the backing of the broadcasters, particularly commercial radio who see the digital strategy as an opportunity and believe the earlier the date of switchover the better.

[gordonh]

I think the chances of it actually happening in 2015 are pretty much nill.

Looking at that report about this on the Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jun/16/digital-britain-analogue-radio-switchoff) currently DAB makes up 12.7%. Also whenever it does happen the FM frequencies will be still used for local stations anyways.

If you really must buy a DAB radio now make sure the one you buy will be upgradeable to DAB+ at the very least, but I would advise people to avoid DAB radios like the plague right now.

DAB was out of date when it was first launched in the UK and the format hasn't been taken up by many other people. DAB in it's current form is crap, the rest of Europe are all looking at different forms of digital radio. Until you get a radio that has a large market to sell to the digital radios will still cost a fortune so the EU needs to agree on a format or the radios need to be multi format, neither of which will happen quickly. When that happens digital radio might start picking up but not yet.

Some links from The Register

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/02/da...aster_analysis/

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/03/06/dab_fail/

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/09/un..._dab_albatross/

And comments on the latest Digital Britain report

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/06/19/ca...dio_dumb_media/

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/06/29/da...tchoff_mailbag/

It just isn't going to happen.

DAB IS A WASTE OF MONEY - JUST SAY NO!

[Demonic Angel]

I wouldn't worry about DAB, they are unlikely to switch radio over during the lifetime of your car (or you).

Also I would aviod UK DAB radios as you will probably get a better sound from FM atm. In the UK we are still using the original DAB which uses a codec that is so out of date that you need large bandwidth to get near CD quality, and yet they keep lowering the bandwidth for each channel to squeeze more channels on. The UK DAB is only used in abour 2-3 other countries in the world, there is an updated version called DAB+ which is much better quality but it is incompatable with the UK radios so they would all need to be scrapped to upgrade.

In truth DAB in its current form is dead/dying it just doesn't know it yet and no political party wants to be the ones to finally pull the plug due to the backlash from people that bought the very expensive radios early.

I have a lovely DAB Radio which cost a pretty penny and I can't even listen to local radio on it because the signal is so terrible! Radio 1 and the like is better, but even that has occasional moments of lunacy, especially if it's raining outside.

The idea of DAB is great, but in practice it's not worth it. I'd prefer to have an analogue radio to be honest and I'm glad I never upgraded my car stereo!