DAB in Ireland: RTE multiplex closed

SF1

More Music: I just think its strange to be adding stations that's target area is about 200 miles away from Dublin being added when not all the ones aimed at Dubliners have been added yet, but its still good to hear something different for a change.

L1011

The remaining medium to high-power Dublin stations - DCM106.8, DCFM 103.2 and Anna Livia - may have no interest or no finances to go up.

More Music

SF1: The same could be said about internet streaming or Sky Digital radio stations. DAP stations (Mocha or All 80's), RTE or Today FM aren't aimed at Dublin listeners, and they are available on DAB. For along time anybody outside of Dublin had to endure listening to Radio 1 (a national station) deal only with Dublin issues. This went on for years before the advent of local radio, and for a while thereafter. Payback!

One thing to remember is that there are many Kerry people living in Dublin or surrounding areas. Why shouldn't they get to listen to the PPI Local/Regional station of the year for 2 out of the last 3 years!

Finally, there is no more capacity on the current muxes, so Anna Livia or Dublin's County won't be making an appearance anytime soon. FYI, it's now a 96kbps mono transmission.

Cheers.

Radio|Man

Pure have just announced this:

http://www.gadgeteer.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/pure_highway.jpg fixed link


Roberts are now selling this Game On !!

http://www.robertsradio.co.uk/pages/robi_large.html

DMC

Radio|Man's linkeh no workeh for the Pure, but here it is again....

http://www.gadgeteer.org.uk/2007/11/02/pure-highway-a-self-install-dab-radio/

Me wanna! More suction mounts!

Propellerhead

Radio Kerry is on one of the muxes at the moment.

This is the sort of thing that we techies use DAB for!

L1011

Propellerhead wrote: »

Radio Kerry is on one of the muxes at the moment.

This is the sort of thing that we techies use DAB for!

Do keep up, we've been discussing this for a page now

bigslick

hey guys,

been reading over this whole thread and it seems english radio stations can only be recieved by a DAB radio at very high areas. I am considering getting my girlfriend one of these but she lives in blackrock, Dublin. so rather close to the ocean. any chance she could recieve them their?
cheers

440Hz

Wow, long thread here, been trying to read through it for an answer but still none the wiser

I live in Kerry and I want DAB - living in a dream world?? i could probably put up with wifi radio as a plan B but not until I rule out DAB first!

ethernet

440Hz wrote: »

Wow, long thread here, been trying to read through it for an answer but still none the wiser

I live in Kerry and I want DAB - living in a dream world?? i could probably put up with wifi radio as a plan B but not until I rule out DAB first!

If you can receive the UK terrestrial channels through your aerial for analogue TV, you've some chance.

watty

440Hz wrote: »

Wow, long thread here, been trying to read through it for an answer but still none the wiser

I live in Kerry and I want DAB - living in a dream world?? i could probably put up with wifi radio as a plan B but not until I rule out DAB first!

Satellite Dish in Kerry.

More Music

You won't get DAB in Kerry and not for a while yet. Most of the stations are available online (except RTE DAB only - 2XM, News and 1 or 2 others).

SPDUB

More Music wrote: »

You won't get DAB in Kerry and not for a while yet. Most of the stations are available online (except RTE DAB only - 2XM, News and 1 or 2 others).

Actually all the RTE DAB stations are available online ,it's just that RTE haven't announced where they are available.

More Music

I stand corrected. Found them and it's not on an RTE site. I hate Real Player!

ro2

Two questions:
What bitrate are the DAB stations in Dublin broadcasting at?
Would the audio quality of a DAB hifi tuner with an external aerial be as good as an FM tuner with an external aerial?

L1011

64k mono to 160k stereo. The audio quality is very subjective, but ignoring that theres no reason a DAB tuner would output any worse audio than an FM one, assuming equal quality inputs.

Before you go looking at UK sound quality reviews, the setup here uses better encoders and is generally better processed than in the UK. 128k Stereo in the UK sounds worse than FM, but it also sounds worse than 128K Stereo here.

White Horse

MYOB wrote: »

64k mono to 160k stereo. The audio quality is very subjective, but ignoring that theres no reason a DAB tuner would output any worse audio than an FM one, assuming equal quality inputs.

Before you go looking at UK sound quality reviews, the setup here uses better encoders and is generally better processed than in the UK. 128k Stereo in the UK sounds worse than FM, but it also sounds worse than 128K Stereo here.

To my ears Irish DAB sounds noticably worse than FM. I have a Musical Fidelity A5 tuner and the digital glare on Irish DAB is very noticable. Does anyone know what level of compression is being used and whether it differs from that used for FM transmissions?

Irish FM (RTE particularly), on the other hand, has a very open sound, very natural, with great clarity.

Mossy Monk

More Music wrote: »

I stand corrected. Found them and it's not on an RTE site. I hate Real Player!

Might I suggest Real Alternative .

L1011

White Horse wrote: »

Does anyone know what level of compression is being used and whether it differs from that used for FM transmissions?

FM is by its vary nature not compressed...

RTE use wildly varying compression on DAB. Lyric is run at 160k Stereo Musicam, and the other FM services at 128k Stereo Musicam. The RTE1 AM service is at 64k Mono Musicam, and their digital only services run form 48k mono musicam to 128k stereo musicam.

128k stereo musicam on UK coding parameters - worse than here - is considered FM stereo quality by Ofcom on rock/pop sources.

How good is your signal quality? Poor signal produces a "bubbling" when its very low and sometimes a slight hiss/click when its right at the reception cliff; what audio comes out of a unit that's receiving signal at this level varies due to differing error correction modes.

White Horse

MYOB wrote: »

FM is by its vary nature not compressed...

RTE use wildly varying compression on DAB. Lyric is run at 160k Stereo Musicam, and the other FM services at 128k Stereo Musicam. The RTE1 AM service is at 64k Mono Musicam, and their digital only services run form 48k mono musicam to 128k stereo musicam.

128k stereo musicam on UK coding parameters - worse than here - is considered FM stereo quality by Ofcom on rock/pop sources.

How good is your signal quality? Poor signal produces a "bubbling" when its very low and sometimes a slight hiss/click when its right at the reception cliff; what audio comes out of a unit that's receiving signal at this level varies due to differing error correction modes.

I can see Clermont carn from my window. The signal is very strong.

I thought that radio stations applied compression prior to transmission. I have read about a "loudness war" where stations are trying get see an "in your face" loud sound. This applies to both FM and DAB. DAB undergoes a further process of encoding.

If RTE applied low levels of compression to the sounds transmitted on FM, this might explain why it sounds vastly superior to their heavily compressed and subsequently mp2 encoded DAB transmission.

On my hi-fi, RTE FM and DAB are as different as day and night.

If FM transmissions ceased and we were left with this muddy processed digital sound, it would ne be worth having a tuner in a hi-fi system.

rlogue

That's why I use satellite for hifi radio reception these days. DAB's good for the kitchen and bedroom but not much else. As yet I don't have DAB in the car since I sold my last car so it's FM and AM there.

ro2

Have to agree with White Horse. Just listening to a DAB tuner and FM sounds a lot better to me. The RTE stations on DAB also sound better than the independent stations. Are they just reencoding the FM signal for the trial?

L1011

White Horse wrote: »

I thought that radio stations applied compression prior to transmission. I have read about a "loudness war" where stations are trying get see an "in your face" loud sound. This applies to both FM and DAB. DAB undergoes a further process of encoding.

Different type of compression - same name, different concepts. One is "companding", and the other is data compression. Entirely unconnected.

I've damaged hearing due to DJing but a DJ I am, and I've non-**** quality equipment here. I can't notice a major difference, whereas I usually can between poorly encoded sources and proper sources.

A large amount of the perceived loss is psychological, same way that *all* the perceived gain of, for instance, a 90 quid HDMI lead is.

DMC

Atmospherics might be good today as I'm picking up Northern Ireland's Score Mux on 12D at present. Extremely bubbly, but its here. In west Dublin. At ground level.

watty

Yes. VHF conditions have been very DX this last week.

icdg

Visited Dixons in Tallaght yesterday and noticed that they are quite openly now advertising the availablity of DAB in Dublin & Louth and DAB tuners, even though this is still a trial.

Propellerhead

I'm getting station markers but all are "station not available" at the moment in Celbridge.

Adds: oops, all back now.

L1011

2 years since Damo's trip up the mountain and the first glimmer of Irish DAB...

John32c

Article on Gerry ryan show earlier...saying Digital TV (with set-top box and small aerial) will be available this year in ireland showing RTE1 and 2, TG4 and TV3 and other channels yet to be decided also spoke about DAB radio being available as some stage as well.....

byrnefm

I noticed the following snippet on http://www.wohnort.demon.co.uk/DAB/ :

December 27th
The BBC has brought into service a new transmitter on the Block 12B Single Frequency Network and its first outside the UK proper. Douglas extends coverage to the Isle of Man, officially not a part of the United Kingdom.

Does this mean that given a decent Band-III antenna, one would have a decent chance of picking up the BBC on DAB? On the other hand, the BBC stations came in poorly in Stillorgan, though I've no idea which British transmitter I was picking them up from. (That was with the ordinary antenna that came with my desktop radio).