Any body no why the bit rate for Dab is so low 128 kpbs. So stations will sound better in FM (providing you have a good signal) the bit rate needs to be at least
192 kpbs or higher to get the good sound

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_audio_broadcasting

Due to the existing signals in place and the restrictions in the range of frequencys they have.

Once the analog signal is switched off (2008 i think) then you should notice a distinct difference in signal, with the huge range which will be opened up with no more analog tv frequencys being occupied.

Although saying that, even though it is less than the FM bitrate for all but 2% of DAB stations, if you get a decent signal then you still get the benefit of static free music, even if it is a slightly lower bitrate.

Adam

I have my muisic on my mp3 player at 64 kpbs WMA and that sounds fine (only 1.5 gb so it means I can store more songs). but i just thought DAB would use a higher bitrate

Why?

Because it is cheaper and we let them get away with it!

Why?

Because it is cheaper and we let them get away with it!

It is cheaper for an individual station to use a lower bit rate. But there's a finite amount of space available and I believe most of the multiplexes are full, or nearly full.

Increased bit rates would mean less stations.

It's a trade off.

Like I said ... we have to accept more low quality pap so that someone else can make more money!

Like I said ... we have to accept more low quality pap so that someone else can make more money!

I doubt many DAB radio stations are making much money at the moment. But it's still a trade off - higher bit-rates = less choice for listeners.

I'd rather hear my favorite station in a lower bit rate than not at all.

DAB is crap. people have been suckered into think it's good but it's rubbish. Most channels are also mono. Most of the rest of the world has not bothered using it as it's old technology, they are all going to use DAB2. Basically the channels with the highest bandwidth are still worse than a very badly encoded MP3.

Have a read of this :-

http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/

And weep!

The stations don't choose to use a low bit rate, the bandwidth is not available becuase the technology is so bloody old and they have stuffed to many stations on it!

Regardless of bitrate, the sound quality was never going to be that great out of a speaker the size of the one on my DAB portable. It's nice to have access to all the extra stations, and they sound good enough to listen to, especially as where I live where FM reception is terrible.

It's the same as digital TV, they can cram more in if they lower the bit-rate.

Not sure if it's still the case but the radio stations on freeview have a higher bitrate than DAB does.

Radio stations via cable or TV are much better than via DAB radio.
Looks like I am not the only one who has noticed how bad Telewest cable TV has got recently.