Things you often Wonder

[ferguson1]

5 minutes ago, rodders0223 said:

Who listens to radios anymore?

I still have Talksport on in the car going to and from work.  I also still put the odd Villa game on the radio (usually WM) if I can’t find a suitable dodgy stream.  

[rjw63]

5 minutes ago, AVFC_Hitz said:

Me. Everyday. Sometimes it's just background noise but I'd say I listen to 3/4 hours of radio a day.

Me also. In the house, internet radio from USA mainly, Bob Rocks 101.5

In the car I switch between Franksie and Steve Wright, no DAB in my motor. After that it's Spotify through a cassette adapter or the 6 cd changer

[Seat68]

Probably have about 4 or 5 hours of radio per day. Some UK and some US. There are too many people with different music taste to play a single artist or playlist. 

[bickster]

17 minutes ago, rodders0223 said:

Who listens to radios anymore?

Most people from my experience

[Stevo985]

In the past... I'd say 6 years, I reckon I've intentionally listened to the radio two or three times

[Wainy316]

Radio, yay.  3 songs that someone else chooses and then 10 minutes of ads.  No thanks.

[bickster]

Just now, Wainy316 said:

and then 10 minutes of ads

I don't listen to stations with Ads

[Davkaus]

Even without the ads, I just want music, I have no interest in the inane musings of radio presenters. Last time I forgot my phone and couldn't use Spotify in the car, I endured a few minutes of radio, then turned it off and enjoyed the silence instead. 

[choffer]

1 hour ago, bickster said:

So, I've driven a lot of different cars this week,  I've been moving cars between our sites and stuff

Every single car I've been in (10+) has the radio on FM not DAB but more illogically on a station on FM that is on DAB

Why would you do that? Why would lots of people do that? DO they not realise that the sound quality is that much better on DAB?

It could be worse. Mine defaults to AM, no matter what.

 

(Yes, it's an Alfa.) 

[blandy]

1 hour ago, bickster said:

Why would you do that? Why would lots of people do that? DO they not realise that the sound quality is that much better on DAB?

Hmmm.there's 2 answers, maybe more.

1. Laziness

2. It isn't "better". Here starts the lesson (very simplified) The advantage FM radio has (over AM analogue) is that the carrier frequency is modulated by the audio frequency and then de modulated at the other end. The FM carrier bandwidth (for a station) is more than enough to encompass all of the audible haring range of frequencies, and as such can capture the full sound of music or voice etc. Noise interference is minimal, because noise varies amplitude, no frequency. Analogue AM radio, the amplitude (size of the carrier wave is modulated by the audio) this has limitations - it's susceptible to noise and interference, because noise signals vary the amplitude too, so when it's demodulated at the receiver end, the noise is also present on top of the audio. Further, the circuitry can saturate - the degree of modulation can only reach a limit above which you get distortion of sound. There's essentially less room to squeeze the range of audio into. So FM >AM.

Now onto DAB v FM

For DAB, we're into a different technique altogether. The audio (music, whatever) signal is sampled at typically for radio 128kbps. Which is kind of basic mp3 file quality. Then that digitised audio signal is carried by the DAB signal using a digital modulation technique called COFDM (which is particularly good for avoiding multipath fading). There's basically no noise from external signals picked up. It's kind of like a digital version FM  in that regard, because the frequency of the carrier is shifted 128 thousand times per second to carry the 128k sample digital segments of the music, per second to the receiver.

So in theory at least, analogue FM ought to be a superior sound as absolutely all of the original audio is carried by the FM carrier, but DAB carries an mp3 type version of the original audio.

Next, you've got the actual receiver circuitry in the cars. It might be the case that the car radio DAB circuitry is better than the FM circuitry and that cancels out the quality advantage of the FM signal over the DAB signal. Much of the circuitry is common though.

My feeling is it's not the case generally that DAB is better than FM in terms of sound quality, but that real world impacts may be degrading FM where you are, more than DAB COFDM signals are degraded, if it really does sound worse to you.

I'm an aerospace radio engineer (but @Xann is/was a sound engineer, I think, and may be able to explain it from a different perspective).

[BOF]

4 minutes ago, blandy said:

Here starts the lesson (very simplified) The advantage FM radio has (over AM analogue) is that the carrier frequency is modulated by the audio frequency and then de modulated at the other end. The FM carrier bandwidth (for a station) is more than enough to encompass all of the audible haring range of frequencies, and as such can capture the full sound of music or voice etc. Noise interference is minimal, because noise varies amplitude, no frequency. Analogue AM radio, the amplitude (size of the carrier wave is modulated by the audio) this has limitations - it's susceptible to noise and interference, because noise signals vary the amplitude too, so when it's demodulated at the receiver end, the noise is also present on top of the audio. Further, the circuitry can saturate - the degree of modulation can only reach a limit above which you get distortion of sound. There's essentially less room to squeeze the range of audio into. So FM >AM.

Now onto DAB v FM

For DAB, we're into a different technique altogether. The audio (music, whatever) signal is sampled at typically for radio 128kbps. Which is kind of basic mp3 file quality. Then that digitised audio signal is carried by the DAB signal using a digital modulation technique called COFDM (which is particularly good for avoiding multipath fading). There's basically no noise from external signals picked up. It's kind of like a digital version FM  in that regard, because the frequency of the carrier is shifted 128 thousand times per second to carry the 128k sample digital segments of the music, per second to the receiver.

So in theory at least, analogue FM ought to be a superior sound as absolutely all of the original audio is carried by the FM carrier, but DAB carries an mp3 type version of the original audio.

Next, you've got the actual receiver circuitry in the cars. It might be the case that the car radio DAB circuitry is better than the FM circuitry and that cancels out the quality advantage of the FM signal over the DAB signal. Much of the circuitry is common though.

My feeling is it's not the case generally that DAB is better than FM in terms of sound quality, but that real world impacts may be degrading FM where you are, more than DAB COFDM signals are degraded, if it really does sound worse to you.

Me after reading the above.

[rodders0223]

I apologise for being so glib. Just in my car the radio station has probably say on talksport for about 2 years, it's on there until my phone connects and I put on something.

 

[mjmooney]

49 minutes ago, rjw63 said:

Steve Wright 

 

[mjmooney]

1 hour ago, rodders0223 said:

Who listens to radios anymore?

My wife. Radio 4. Never switches it off. 

[villa4europe]

36 minutes ago, Davkaus said:

Even without the ads, I just want music, I have no interest in the inane musings of radio presenters. Last time I forgot my phone and couldn't use Spotify in the car, I endured a few minutes of radio, then turned it off and enjoyed the silence instead. 

Last time i was home and driving from kiddy to Bristol every day I thought I'd listen to radio x just to try and hear if there was anything new out and about*, Chris moyles is still a complete waste of time for anyone who likes music, would rather stick a podcast on 

* anyone else heard of this Sam Fender fella? One big advert for him 

[chrisp65]

Bit of Radio 4 for news, current affairs, and a bit of background comedy whilst cooking. Know your enemy.

On Sunday’s I like a bit of 6 Music to potentially find something new.

I would say in an average week I’d have about ten times more radio hours than TV hours. I’m not really in to computer games at all, I’m not really in to films about men in capes or dwarves on quests, I’m not the biggest fan of soaps, reality tv, televised sport. Absolute mystery to me how someone might pay good money to watch two teams they don’t support, watch Thor battle a robot, or get hooked on some costume drama about posh people, or play shooting games with a little hand control.

We’re all very lucky there are so many options. I think its good that you all pay for my radio, but I don’t have to pay for your Netflix and wii. This feels, right.

 

[Xann]

 

[BOF]

I never listen to the radio. I hate most music. I certainly hate most of what's played on the radio. I hate idiot DJs. I hate talk radio and moronic/inconsiderate/unsympathetic/ill-thought out opinions. I hate radio ads. For me, listening to the radio is an exercise in either boiling your blood or tortuously listening through endless shite music. I couldn't think of a less enjoyable way to spend a car journey. I actively hate the radio being on.

[mjmooney]

1 hour ago, Davkaus said:

Even without the ads, I just want music, I have no interest in the inane musings of radio presenters. Last time I forgot my phone and couldn't use Spotify in the car, I endured a few minutes of radio, then turned it off and enjoyed the silence instead. 

My feelings exactly. 

[Mark Albrighton]