Norway to become first country to switch off FM radio
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Re: Norway to become first country to switch off FM radio
#2On one hand, spectrum is a precious resource and no one would ever forfeit it without a mandate. OTOH don't you just love the simplicity of the FM radio? I can say that I've never found one that doesn't work.
Sometimes I don't want to troubleshoot, I just want to listen to the radio on my way to work. ;)
> 'We are simply not ready for this yet'
Well, Norway, maybe if you were a big exporter or even importer of automobiles, your legislation would light a fire under some major manufacturers. But you're just not big enough of a consumer.
Re: Norway to become first country to switch off FM radio
#3On one hand, spectrum is a precious resource and no one would ever forfeit it without a mandate. OTOH don't you just love the simplicity of the FM radio? I can say that I've never found one that doesn't work. Sometimes I don't want to troubleshoot, I just want to listen to the radio on my way to work. ;) > 'We are simply not ready for this yet' Well, Norway, maybe if you were a big exporter or even importer of automo…
Yet FM still can't beat AM for simplicity:
Re: Norway to become first country to switch off FM radio
#4DAB+ sounds terrible to me compared to a (tuned) FM station - AFAICT it's 48kbit AAC.
Re: Norway to become first country to switch off FM radio
#5Over 60% against ... but "more channels". OK solely money driven then.
I have somewhere around 12 FM radios, ranging in price from £10 to £lots and 40 years old or newer. They all still work and often give LW and SW too.
In the UK at least DAB is mp2 and an excuse to put out thousands of channels at horrible bit rates. Like down to 64k streams. OK for a noisy car, terrble for at home or headphones.
They all work and put out sound in sync (nb except the new denon micro system that for some reason must be using digital stage in processing fm meaning the sound comes .5s later). I often leave the radio on in several rooms when moving around, so this is especially annoying.
They degrade in poor signal "nicer" than DAB and remain listenable longer. FM has infinitely better coverage across the country.
For the battery powered ones they're at least an order or two of magnitude better battery life. DAB is horrific for portables.
Re: Norway to become first country to switch off FM radio
#6DAB+ sounds terrible to me compared to a (tuned) FM station - AFAICT it's 48kbit AAC.
I believe it. That's not nearly enough bits.
Re: Norway to become first country to switch off FM radio
#7On one hand, spectrum is a precious resource and no one would ever forfeit it without a mandate. OTOH don't you just love the simplicity of the FM radio? I can say that I've never found one that doesn't work. Sometimes I don't want to troubleshoot, I just want to listen to the radio on my way to work. ;) > 'We are simply not ready for this yet' Well, Norway, maybe if you were a big exporter or even importer of automo…
Yet FM still can't beat AM for simplicity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_radio
Don't worry, there's a new digital standard for AM radio too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_Radio#AM
Re: Norway to become first country to switch off FM radio
#8Over 60% against ... but "more channels". OK solely money driven then. I have somewhere around 12 FM radios, ranging in price from £10 to £lots and 40 years old or newer. They all still work and often give LW and SW too. In the UK at least DAB is mp2 and an excuse to put out thousands of channels at horrible bit rates. Like down to 64k streams. OK for a noisy car, terrble for at home or headphones. They all work and…
Blah, DAB is MP2 vs AAC for DAB+. I guess that's one advantage of Australia lagging so far behind the rest of the world in radio+TV - I'm pretty sure we went straight to DAB+.
Re: Norway to become first country to switch off FM radio
#9DAB+ sounds terrible to me compared to a (tuned) FM station - AFAICT it's 48kbit AAC.
I believe it. That's not nearly enough bits.
It seems that to achieve the same perceived quality as FM you need about 160kbit/s (when using DAB).
Re: Norway to become first country to switch off FM radio
#10Over 60% against ... but "more channels". OK solely money driven then. I have somewhere around 12 FM radios, ranging in price from £10 to £lots and 40 years old or newer. They all still work and often give LW and SW too. In the UK at least DAB is mp2 and an excuse to put out thousands of channels at horrible bit rates. Like down to 64k streams. OK for a noisy car, terrble for at home or headphones. They all work and…
Blah, DAB is MP2 vs AAC for DAB+. I guess that's one advantage of Australia lagging so far behind the rest of the world in radio+TV - I'm pretty sure we went straight to DAB+.
Except that for some reason Australia picked MPEG-2 for our digital TV, and so HD was almost unwatchable. Though it seems we've moved to MPEG-4 now.