Finding stations for DAB

[nowster]

The problem with DAB in the UK is the carriage fees lead to a "never mind the quality, feel the width" approach.

For example, Boom Radio is 24kbps mono on DAB+. The codec is HE-AAC, and you can see the band limiting of the LC-AAC layer before the SBR kicks in. There doesn't appear to be any PS data. See for terminology: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Efficiency_Advanced_Audio_Coding

Here are the three national ensembles:

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BBC

 0 : BBC Radio 1Xtra  (0xc22a) Pri subch=10 start=582 CUs= 96 PL=uep 3 bitrate=128
 1 : BBC AsianNetwork (0xc236) Pri subch= 7 start=486 CUs= 48 PL=uep 3 bitrate=64
 2 : BBC WorldService (0xc238) Pri subch= 9 start=534 CUs= 48 PL=uep 3 bitrate=64
 3 : BBC Radio 1      (0xc221) Pri subch= 1 start=  0 CUs= 96 PL=uep 3 bitrate=128
 4 : BBC Radio 2      (0xc222) Pri subch= 2 start= 96 CUs= 96 PL=uep 3 bitrate=128
 5 : BBC Radio 3      (0xc223) Pri subch= 3 start=192 CUs=140 PL=uep 3 bitrate=192
 6 : BBC Radio 4      (0xc224) Pri subch= 4 start=332 CUs= 96 PL=uep 3 bitrate=128
 7 : BBC Radio 5 Live (0xc225) Pri subch= 5 start=428 CUs= 58 PL=uep 3 bitrate=80
 8 : BBC Radio 6Music (0xc22b) Pri subch=11 start=678 CUs= 96 PL=uep 3 bitrate=128
 9 : BBC Radio 4Extra (0xc22c) Pri subch=12 start=774 CUs= 58 PL=uep 3 bitrate=80


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Digital One

 0 : Classic FM       (0xc2a1) Pri subch= 1 start=  0 CUs= 96 PL=uep 3 bitrate=128
 1 : talkSPORT        (0xc0c0) Pri subch= 2 start= 96 CUs= 48 PL=uep 3 bitrate=64
 2 : LBC              (0xc0c2) Pri subch=15 start=144 CUs= 48 PL=uep 3 bitrate=64
 3 : Absolute Radio   (0xc1c0) Pri subch= 3 start=192 CUs= 58 PL=uep 3 bitrate=80
 4 : KISS             (0xc5c0) Pri subch=10 start=250 CUs= 58 PL=uep 3 bitrate=80
 5 : Magic            (0xc0c6) Pri subch=11 start=308 CUs= 58 PL=uep 3 bitrate=80
 6 : KISSTORY         (0xcfe6) Pri subch=13 start=366 CUs= 58 PL=uep 3 bitrate=80
 7 : Heart UK         (0xcfd1) Pri subch= 5 start=424 CUs= 24 PL=eep-3a bitrate=32 DAB+
 8 : Smooth UK        (0xc6c0) Pri subch= 6 start=448 CUs= 30 PL=eep-3a bitrate=40 DAB+
 9 : Gold UK          (0xcee8) Pri subch= 8 start=478 CUs= 24 PL=eep-3a bitrate=32 DAB+
10 : Heart Dance      (0xcfe8) Pri subch= 4 start=502 CUs= 30 PL=eep-3a bitrate=40 DAB+
11 : Heart  80s       (0xc1dc) Pri subch=14 start=532 CUs= 30 PL=eep-3a bitrate=40 DAB+
12 : Heart  90s       (0xcbe9) Pri subch=18 start=562 CUs= 30 PL=eep-3a bitrate=40 DAB+
13 : Capital XTRA     (0xc37b) Pri subch=16 start=592 CUs= 30 PL=eep-3a bitrate=40 DAB+
14 : Heart  70s       (0xcae9) Pri subch=19 start=622 CUs= 24 PL=eep-3a bitrate=32 DAB+
15 : Radio X          (0xc4cd) Pri subch=17 start=646 CUs= 30 PL=eep-3a bitrate=40 DAB+
16 : LBC News         (0xc8ea) Pri subch=21 start=676 CUs= 24 PL=eep-3a bitrate=32 DAB+
17 : Capital UK       (0xc5da) Pri subch=22 start=700 CUs= 24 PL=eep-3a bitrate=32 DAB+
18 : Smooth Chill     (0xc9eb) Pri subch=12 start=724 CUs= 24 PL=eep-3a bitrate=32 DAB+
19 : Capital DANCE    (0xc9ed) Pri subch=23 start=748 CUs= 30 PL=eep-3a bitrate=40 DAB+
20 : UCB 1            (0xc4ca) Pri subch= 7 start=778 CUs= 18 PL=eep-3a bitrate=24 DAB+
21 : GB News Radio    (0xc4f0) Pri subch=24 start=796 CUs= 18 PL=eep-3a bitrate=24 DAB+
22 : UCB 2            (0xcbd8) Pri subch= 9 start=814 CUs= 24 PL=eep-3a bitrate=32 DAB+
23 : Heart 00s        (0xc9f3) Pri subch=20 start=838 CUs= 24 PL=eep-3a bitrate=32 DAB+


Code: [Select]

SDL

 0 : Mellow Magic     (0xc5d8) Pri subch= 4 start=  0 CUs= 58 PL=uep 3 bitrate=80
 1 : Virgin Radio     (0xc3d8) Pri subch= 3 start= 58 CUs= 58 PL=uep 3 bitrate=80
 2 : Times Radio      (0xc0d8) Pri subch= 6 start=116 CUs= 48 PL=uep 3 bitrate=64
 3 : Planet Rock      (0xc7d8) Pri subch= 7 start=164 CUs= 58 PL=uep 3 bitrate=80
 4 : Absolute 80s     (0xc8d8) Pri subch= 8 start=222 CUs= 58 PL=uep 3 bitrate=80
 5 : Sunrise Radio UK (0xc9d8) Pri subch= 9 start=280 CUs= 42 PL=uep 3 bitrate=56
 6 : PremierChristian (0xccd8) Pri subch=12 start=322 CUs= 48 PL=uep 3 bitrate=64
 7 : Premier Praise   (0xcdd8) Pri subch=13 start=370 CUs= 48 PL=uep 3 bitrate=64
 8 : Fun Kids UK      (0xcfd8) Pri subch=16 start=418 CUs= 18 PL=eep-3a bitrate=24 DAB+
 9 : Jazz FM Stereo   (0xcad7) Pri subch=17 start=436 CUs= 24 PL=eep-3a bitrate=32 DAB+
10 : BFBS UK          (0xc5e0) Pri subch=20 start=460 CUs= 18 PL=eep-3a bitrate=24 DAB+
11 : Virgin Anthems   (0xc7e6) Pri subch=24 start=478 CUs= 24 PL=eep-3a bitrate=32 DAB+
12 : Virgin Chilled   (0xc8e6) Pri subch=25 start=502 CUs= 24 PL=eep-3a bitrate=32 DAB+
13 : Absolute 90s     (0xcac2) Pri subch=21 start=526 CUs= 58 PL=uep 3 bitrate=80
14 : Scala Radio      (0xcde6) Pri subch=22 start=584 CUs= 84 PL=uep 3 bitrate=112
15 : TalkRadio-TalkTV (0xcaeb) Pri subch=26 start=668 CUs= 24 PL=eep-3a bitrate=32 DAB+
16 : talkSPORT 2      (0xc1d8) Pri subch=27 start=692 CUs= 24 PL=eep-3a bitrate=32 DAB+
17 : Boom Radio UK    (0xc5ef) Pri subch=10 start=716 CUs= 18 PL=eep-3a bitrate=24 DAB+
18 : Fix Radio        (0xcdda) Pri subch=15 start=734 CUs= 48 PL=uep 3 bitrate=64
19 : Heart Xmas       (0xc4ed) Pri subch=18 start=782 CUs= 24 PL=eep-3a bitrate=32 DAB+
20 : CapXTRA Reloaded (0xcce9) Pri subch=28 start=806 CUs= 30 PL=eep-3a bitrate=40 DAB+

Now bear in mind that BBC engineers back when DAB was originally being tested considered 192kbps to provide "barely good enough" quality, with 256kbps being preferred.

When doing a web stream I consider 64kbps AAC (as used on DAB+) to be marginal quality for music. BBC Sounds streams use bitrates of up to 320kbps AAC.

[PaulC]

As of 2022, 55 countries are running DAB services.[3][4] The majority of these services are using the upgraded DAB+ standard, with only the UK, New Zealand, Romania, Brunei Darussalam, and the Philippines still using a significant number of original DAB services.

This is incorrect as New Zealand has no DAB radio at all. Some trials were run about 5 years ago but no private enterprizes could see any $ advantage from running it and the government was not going to spend any  money on it. We are mainly FM with legacy AM stations.

[Jazzik]

I trusted Wikipedia... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Audio_Broadcasting

[5thcivic]

Interesting that iPlayer streams audio in far higher quality than DAB.

[nowster]

Interesting that iPlayer streams audio in far higher quality than DAB.

It's actually adaptive. Several different levels of quality are available, and the best that will fit in your connection is used. (Or you can set in the app.)

It uses HLS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_Live_Streaming.