Networked Audio Player Vs DAB seperates

[BryO]

Hello, I've read that DAB radio is broadcast at very low quality and I have no experience of Networked Audio Players for internet radio.

Any have experience of these, is the better quality sound going to come from a Networked Audio Player?

Cheers Bry.

 

[Esra]

I you can setup a dish ... I think Satradio is the best quality for now.But i am sure in future we will get more quality streams via Network.There are a lot of stations to explore,you will certainly find some stations you like with good quality stream.I would prefer Network.DAB is dead end.

 

[nopiano]

I still prefer good FM, but internet radio is pretty good via my SB Touch. In the car, and with table radios like the Pure range, DAB seems fine if the signal is good, but it is too compressed for hifi (compare Radio 3 with Classic FM, where Classic FM is compressed like DAB sounds).

I'm currently in a part of the Uk where I have decent broadband (6Mbps) but iffy DAB at home, and even the satellite dish seems affected by some nearby trees! So to some extent my choice would depend on what I could access.

A streaming device can of course do much more than simply radio, and that is a big factor.

 

[BryO]

Cheers, I've read they do various other things, at the moment I'm interested in something that plays internet radio, Planet Rock, Classic FM etc with a better sound than DAB. Without breaking the bank. Have seen this Denon DNP720 which seems to have come down from £450 to £169 seems good value. Was just thinking of linking it to the broadband wireless that we have, guessing that's how they work.

 

[Leeps]

i've found net radio quite mixed in terms of quality. Some I'd say are better than DAB, others are pretty poor. But the sheer volume and diversity of music available is really educational and exciting to explore - in this sense alone, it's far superior to anything DAB has to offer. If you like exploring new music, net radio's a must. Sure, it's not up to a good FM reception, but that very much depends on where you live and whether you actually like your local radio stations!

I've particularly enjoyed Sky.FM to be pretty good with a vast array of channels for each genre of music. Their channels are especially good for jazz. I found them under North America / New York. New York has literally hundred's of radio stations, but Sky must have 60 odd stations, some of which I've saved as regularly used favourites.

Sky.FM offer a "CD quality" service if you subscribe, although I'm not sure about the validity of that claim. I just use 'net radio on my AVR, so can't explore this option anyway, but the standard quality is no worse than DAB.

 

[emperor's new clothes]

We are saddled with DAB because the New Labour muppets would not embrace DAB+. Quantity over quality every time. Agree with above comments, there are big differences between internet radio offerings even at same bit rates. Radio Paradise from the quaint town in northern California is my favorite. Radio 3 @320kbbs very good too.

 

[Andrew17321]

Hi BryO

Network radio is better for ClassicFM than DAB.

We have a Pure Evoke radio which can play from both sources, and the DAB is dull compared to the internet version. The version of ClassicFM I can get from the FreeSat satellite falls between these two for sound quality. I would imagine that it would be the same for Planet Rock. DAB is fine for talk, but it's sound quality is too poor for serious music listening.

There is also a huge choice of stations on internet radio. If you enjoy ClassicFM, you will enjoy the Dutch station 'AVRO Het best van het best' – same sort of music without adverts and at a higher quality than ClassicFM. I also listen to a classical Hungarian and a Spanish station which transmit in HQ over the internet. And there are countless rock music stations from all over the world on the internet.

I have tried DAB, but do not use it; it annoys me. I used to listen to FM broadcasts, but find internet radio quality equally good for the stations I use, and better for BBC Radio 3, which is transmitted in 320 Kb/s AAC.

Andrew

 

[BryO]

Cheers everyone, We ended up getting the Denon DNP720AE. Was in our price range and not having experience of this technology it definitely does the job.

Some internet stations are better sounding than others, but Planet Rock sounds pretty good to me, but been enjoy Hand Of Doom an Australian channel of Heaviness, for classical there's one called '1000 classical' which is way better sounding than Classic FM. Been having a listen to the streaming from iTunes which is also pretty damn good which will save me burning discs of the downloaded stuff which I then misplace!

Bry

 

[nopiano]

Nice one, Bry, they are great value. For good quality, see if you can get Linn's radio stream, Classical or Jazz.