DAB Tuner advice

[toneey.m]

Hi

I'm a keen radio listener. I get a good reception with a Roberts istream portable radio, can I expect to get a good reception with a DAB Tuner?

I saw a Cambridge Audio Azur 640T DAB/FM Tuner on ebay at a good price, £100. Would I need a special arial? Are there other good alternatives out there for about the same price?

Thanks.

 

[tomlinscote]

Tes, to get the best out of a DAB radio you should install and good DAB aerial, if you are going to invest in a tuner get a good FM aerial too as some FM stations still outperform some DAB ones that continue to use a compressed stream.

Tommo

 

[ESLee]

After looking at a number of DAB tuners I eventually opted for a good old fashioned Quad FM4 instead.

I might be in the minority here but i tend to only listen to a select few stations and have a good external aerial to plug into it.

You could use this site to enquire about DAB signal strength. http://www.ukdigitalradio.com/coverage/postcodesearch/

There are loads of good tuners on the bay for next to nothing, you could always buy one, try it then sell it on if it's not for you?

 

[ESLee]

After looking at a number of DAB tuners I eventually opted for a good old fashioned Quad FM4 instead.

I might be in the minority here but i tend to only listen to a select few stations and have a good external aerial to plug into it.

You could use this site to enquire about DAB signal strength. http://www.ukdigitalradio.com/coverage/postcodesearch/

There are loads of good tuners on the bay for next to nothing, you could always buy one, try it then sell it on if it's not for you?

 

[slice]

Although it is a minority view, I prefer dab over fm, as the fm reception tends to be variable, and I regard getting an external fm aerial too much hassle. I get good reception on the dab basic aerial "string" that came with my Teac R6500 which you can get via richer sounds for £140. Although whathifi only give it 3 stars, it works- I currently play it via a dac. Another responder suggests you need to get a decent aerial- I personally don't see why. If the string aerial does get reception, then the digital information will be processed, you would only need something else if the signal wasn't strong enough. I would imagine the 640T would be better than mine, if still working ok. By the way, I had a problem previousy with signal dropout on a denon tu1800 (which is generally well regarded)- corresspondence on another forum would suggest I wasn't the only one. Hope this helps.

 

[toneey.m]

Hi guys, loads of help !

Spending a £100 and taking a chance sounds like a good idea. I too love FM but my favourite station is on digital, Radio6. I will also look into the cost of a an aerial. I had an amusing exchange with the bloke who is selling a DAB Tuner on ebay, he has spent £2k on his aerial! But it sound amazing apparently.

Other comments have made me feel confident about the quality of the Cambridge Audio kit and I won't rule out the Teac either.

Thanks again!