DAB in Mk 1

[guest6949]

Hello All

I have just inherited a 2006 Honda Jazz so this is my first post here. 

I would like to replace the radio with a DAB as I mainly listen to BBC 6 Music.  It appears most kits only cover the Mk2 onwards so it looks like I'll have to get a (non-genuine) fascia off ebay and put a Din radio in it.  Obviously the steering wheel controls wont work but I can live with that.

What are the best options for me?

Thanks

Nick

[d2d4j]

Hi nickknoxx

There are a few posts over installing/changing radios din units, including where to buy the facia

Xtrons do them

Also, to use steering wheel controls, you should I believe be able to use them if you buy a connect2

It works lovely on my jazz si

Many thanks

John

[guest1372]

I have an Autodab Go wired in to the aux port with a splitter on the existing aerial; that's fine on a Mk1 but would not work on a Mk2.  Also includes Bluetooth for podcasts from the phone.  Easier than swapping the headunit although there is no perfect spot for the display to mount; I hard wired the power and audio to pads inside the dab unit and fed the cables through the little grill between the radio and steering wheel as I bought one with a broken usb power socket.
New for £95 or less than £50 used from eBay
--
TG

[guest6949]

Also, to use steering wheel controls, you should I believe be able to use them if you buy a connect2

John

Sadly, I can't find any connect2 products for a 2006 Jazz

[MikeG1944]

HI Nicknoxx; personally I wouldn't have DAB in a car myself. Two main reasons, firstly unless you are in a strong signal area, like a large city, you'll get drop outs of signal. Secondly the quality of the audio is far worse than any FM signal (due to the low bit rate of the system, which is due to too many channels crammed into the restrictive bandwidth available). It's not too bad on speech only channels but still sounds a little 'digital'. Classical music channels, forget it.

But of course it's your choice. DAB still hasn't taken off like those in charge would have liked. Their main reason for introducing it was to shut down and free up the FM band and sell it off. There are estimated to be at least 10 million FM radios in cars in the UK and I doubt the government would ever pay to replace all these free of charge! Almost impossible due to some of the in-dash sets now installed in modern cars.

Of course it's your choice at the end of the day.

Mike, retired radio and electronics engineer, and car radio/hi-fi repairer.

[culzean]

+1
Digital is inferior to FM for music, and signal dropout is a problem (bit like pixelation on digital tv)

I much prefer FM for quality- forget the gimmicks with DAB (ought really to be called BAD).

[MikeG1944]

Yes Culzean and here's a link to a site which explains it all...

http://www.techradar.com/news/car-tech/why-dab-radio-in-the-uk-is-broken-and-how-to-fix-it-1217586

Mike.

[guest6949]

For the record, I bought a Pure Highway 400 and fitted it yesterday.  The A pillar cover came off with a little teasing and the cables ran down behind the glove box to the cigarette lighter and Aux input.

I've just driven from rural Herefordshire, through Wales to Newport and on to Bristol and back again, and I didn't get a single instance of loss of signal.

Thanks for the help

Edit DAB has improved massively recently. See http://www.astra2sat.com/radio/uk-digital-radio-bitrates/

[culzean]

For the record, I bought a Pure Highway 400 and fitted it yesterday.  The A pillar cover came off with a little teasing and the cables ran down behind the glove box to the cigarette lighter and Aux input.

I've just driven from rural Herefordshire, through Wales to Newport and on to Bristol and back again, and I didn't get a single instance of loss of signal.

Thanks for the help

Edit DAB has improved massively recently. See http://www.astra2sat.com/radio/uk-digital-radio-bitrates/

If I read that link correctly DAB broadcast 128kbps and below is no better than acceptable and nowhere near FM quality,  and listed DAB stations are all 128 or below

[MikeG1944]

Yes Culzean, the only station that is the same quality as FM is Radio3, and that's because it would sound pretty horrid with classical music. When you get to listening to the speech channels at 60-80kbps it's like listening to a telephone conversation or worse. If they hadn't tried to cram in so many stations into the band they would have had just a few at FM or better quality. 190kbps has always been quoted as the desirable acceptable quality.