Digital radio's dab ?

[Pillock]

+1 on streaming. I'd rather use a streaming service at a tenner a month, queue up some playlists on the WiFi and take a memory card full of music with me, than listen to a radio station. Adverts wind me right up, mainly because they're the same half dozen over and over again..... some stations even have so few advertising contracts that they play the same advert twice in one break.

And the only non-commercial stations really are BBC, which are sometimes OK but are so broad in their playlists will range from tolerable to awful, because there's only seven stations for the entire range of musical tastes.

 

USB is OK but it means you have to own the music, streaming offers way more options to discover music that you wouldn't hand over cash for and costs less in the long run.

[beko1987]

I have a massive music collection and haven't paid a penny...

I just need to get a head unit that sees more than 8gb of a card, 8gb of the same music gets properly boring after a few months. I dug my old faithful creative zen xfi 32gb out when I got the xantia, last updated in 2009 and its ace on shuffle!

Ill snipe an ebay bargain one day like I did with Amy's jvc setup in the Meriva, thats a thing of beauty, no dab but I'd take that as a compromise any day! The handsfree is beautiful on it, kills every noise bar the voice (sadly sometimes), I have a hard time noticing shes driving on occasion

[beko1987]

I streamed today and it went quite well. I made a post in the open forum about the next step I want to take with that...

[AMC Rebel]

Been using DAB via a separate box (though a dedicated Grundig one) via my 1996 Grundig stereo since 2004ish

 

So far it's been in -

 

2003 Subaru Impreza 2.0 GL Saloon

1991 Saab 9000 2.0 GL

2005 ALDI A3 bag of wank

2005 ZT-T

 

and performed faultlessly (except for one trip to the South Coast where once outside Brighton it gave up altogether).

 

I have always used a separate aerial - usually the ones that look like the old carphone aerials where you stick an aerial on the outside of some glass and a pickup on the inside.

 

Around here Radio 4 and 5 sound much better as they are solid without the in/out reception of FM and general wankiness of AM.

 

It will probably be obsolete soon (my unit).

[Shep Shepherd]

I've got a Pure Highway in-car DAB adaptor, which was fine at first, but has been unusable for the past couple of years due to my being unable to find a 'spare' frequency on the FM band on the radio of any car I've fitted it to, due to so many shitty pirate stations in my part of the world. Just as well that the only radio station listen to when I'm driving is BBC Radio 3...

 

Personally, I can't see the FM signal being switched off any time soon, as amongst other things, the UK version of DAB isn't very good.

[beko1987]

So, after fitting my Pioneer DAB headunit, and the included but already used once so-i-had-to-sellotape-it-to-the-windscreen aerial, it is shite. It found DAB stations when stationary, but lost them instantly when moving.

 

So, what with it being payday today, I spent £17 on halfords ebay on a Sonichi magnetic roof mounted aerial, and will hope that the cable supplied is long enough to go from the roof into the boot, then under the edge of the headlining, down the a pillar and under the dash to the radio. And then hope that it works better! it gets very good reviews, so I'm fairly hopeful.

[gadgetgricey]

So, after fitting my Pioneer DAB headunit, and the included but already used once so-i-had-to-sellotape-it-to-the-windscreen aerial, it is shite. It found DAB stations when stationary, but lost them instantly when moving.

 

So, what with it being payday today, I spent £17 on halfords ebay on a Sonichi magnetic roof mounted aerial, and will hope that the cable supplied is long enough to go from the roof into the boot, then under the edge of the headlining, down the a pillar and under the dash to the radio. And then hope that it works better! it gets very good reviews, so I'm fairly hopeful.

 

Have that exact aerial and the cable is very long. Routed exactly as you descibe in my 75 Tourer.

Makes a world of difference

[beko1987]

That sounds promising, both as a 75 tourer is probably longer than a gooner2, and that the aerial works and you have not said it's shite/falls off all the time!

[gadgetgricey]

Yep. Occasionally drops for a second but nothing really noticeable.

 

Also have a DAB in another car with one of the stick on ones and that is dire. Dont even bother with DAB just FM on that one.

[Bianconeri]

My KIA modern has one as standard. It's very good, even in the depths of middle of nowhere where I live. One slight irritation is that it will choose a DAB station over FM and will "lock" on it. That's quite annoying where stations broadcast different things on DAB to FM.

 

Best bit is being able to listen to TMS is total clarity in the car.

 

One bit of new(ish) technology that is worth having in my opinion.

[UltraWomble]

Im fooked - the Almera has an utterly shite inbuilt radio with in built air con / climate control and shat nav

I cant rip it out without fooking up the blowers and rear demist.

 

Arsebelm

[beko1987]

Linked to my grump just now, I found this thread to update on my DAB aerial! It's fugging ace! This morning was the first time ever it's lost signal, and I was in places where the DAB dropped, FM dropped and my phone signal dropped, so I can't hold that against it. Even then it came back a few hundred yards later! In the wilds of Lincolnshire at shitefest it was spot on too.

 

Haven't used FM for ages, tbh I wish I could turn inputs off on my headunit, then I would just have DAB Bluetooth and USB, rather than FM, DAB, USB1, USB2, Bluetooth, AUX and CD

[Stixy]

Thanks for the views and updates on this   but as yet i havent got one  , i have been looking for somthing thats easy on the eye and simple without loads of buttons of flashing lights , i need glasses to read but not to drive so nothing fiddley either 

 

still looking any suggestions  ?

[beko1987]

I'd imagine there is something, but probably not without loads of buttons... Mine flashes a rainbow rave when first plugged in, or the battery dies as it goes into Demo mode. Soon turned off though, I can have the screen, LH buttons and RH buttons different colours, which I hate, it's set to all be as close to the dash clocks as I can get it. Same with the phone, when I get a call it can flash about etc, turned all that off, I know I'm getting a call because I hear it ring, rather than it giving me an epileptic fit (or my mum if she's in the car...) In use though, theres a jog wheel to skip tracks, volume knob, 2 other buttons to skip folders on the USB drive/CD. The DAB is slightly annoying as you don't seem to be able to set presets, so to change from LBC to Planet Rock I have to press the magnifying glass button, then service, then scroll down to L or up to P. Must re-read the manual as it says it can be done. On FM the magnifying glass button displays all the presets (it doesn't have the 1-6 buttons usually on headunits)

 

Pure do a simple-ish looking one http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pure-DAB-Radio-Car-Headunit-Stereo-CD-Player-With-iPhone-Control-/291724145413?hash=item43ec1d3305:g:CjwAAOSwZ8ZW-~aj which I did look at before finding this Pioneer unit, but the pioneer had more functions etc, and I wanted to buy a top bollocks headunit at second hand prices and keep it forever*, the day I buy proper shite it will get fitted, and probably make Junkman apocalyptic with rage...

 

But bin the glass mount aerial before you even bother sticking it on and spend £17 on the sonochi aerial. I just tucked the wires up the inside of the door seals and behind the a pillar trim, will take 2 minutes to pull out when the gooner gets sold or fragged, could not be bothered to lift the edges of the carpets or headlining

[richardmorris]

I've got a Pure Highway in-car DAB adaptor, which was fine at first, but has been unusable for the past couple of years due to my being unable to find a 'spare' frequency on the FM band on the radio of any car I've fitted it to, due to so many shitty pirate stations in my part of the world. Just as well that the only radio station listen to when I'm driving is BBC Radio 3...

 

Personally, I can't see the FM signal being switched off any time soon, as amongst other things, the UK version of DAB isn't very good.

 

I've just bought one of those highways to share between the fiat and 2cv. I've connected it directly to the cassette adaptor in the fiat and so far it's worked perfectly. The 2cv unit has an aux in at the rear which will be fine too.