Thread: Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB radio) retro fit for D4

I use the "TuneIn" App on my phone via bluetooth to the vehicle stereo and the sound quality is markedly better than the FM band. Sometimes I will tune in to a Perth station when driving up from Bunno, and when I switch over to the FM station when close the Perth, the sound quality is noticeably lower. I suppose DAB radio would be similar to the digital signal from the App. Pity DAB is so metro focused......

Does the App use a lot of data?

Scott

Originally Posted by Tombie

Pity most DAB+ stations are still transmitting below FM quality and definitely below CD quality..
.

In Sydney the DAB+ stations I use so far have better than FM quality; certainly noticeable, and about equivalent to CD quality.

Originally Posted by phl

In Sydney the DAB+ stations I use so far have better than FM quality; certainly noticeable, and about equivalent to CD quality.

They would be running over 226k then.

Many are still not...

You've got to remember that the codec used by DAB+ is different to other digital audio sources so looking at the bitrate numbers alone is not apples to apples...

Originally Posted by LRD414

Does the App use a lot of data?

Scott

When using an app, i found the data increase is about is about 2gb per month using is for about 1 hour each day so far. I would love DAB and this write is excellent (many thanks) but for the $1000 and the work involved that buys you a lot of data and you just need good phone coverage. The other thing i do is simply create offline playlist from home using either Spotify or Deezer then use the app in offline mode in the car. Only uses the home data then. Of course you need to be organised and its not instant.

(What i really want is the system to play uncompressed music files, like flac but had no success with that as yet)

Again, great right up, congrats, these are the threads that make this forum great!

The availability of DAB is a bit of a joke for anyone outside dense metro areas. I purchased my 2014 RRS from the stealer in Geelong Vic, it had DAB fitted, and the sales guy was most enthusiastic about the quality of DAB. I think we had good reception untill about 3 or 4km from the dealer, then nothing at all.

FM is sketchy enough, AM gives the best coverage, and just for music a Phone or CD is maybe as good as you can realistically get in a vehicle.

Maybe if you live in a locality with DAB reception it might be worthwhile in a house or building, but frankly what is the point in a car with the amount of background noise that is going on. It is not as if a vehicle provides anything like a reasonable environment for really enjoying a quality sound system.

Originally Posted by LRD414

Does the App use a lot of data?

Scott

Originally Posted by apom

When using an app, i found the data increase is about is about 2gb per month using is for about 1 hour each day so far. I would love DAB and this write is excellent (many thanks) but for the $1000 and the work involved that buys you a lot of data and you just need good phone coverage. The other thing i do is simply create offline playlist from home using either Spotify or Deezer then use the app in offline mode in the car. Only uses the home data then. Of course you need to be organised and its not instant.

(What i really want is the system to play uncompressed music files, like flac but had no success with that as yet)

Again, great right up, congrats, these are the threads that make this forum great!

That's probably about right. I wouldn't use the phone app for any more than an average 1hr a week as I wait for a longer drive to bother setting it up. Makes no noticeable difference to my data usage. I am on a 6GB/month plan and rarely get over 2GB per month, and that is with using the phone as a WIFI hotspot to my laptop almost daily when working remote from my home office.