The "FM" 'Band

[FM_Listener]

My personal issue with any of the digital audio broadcast formats so far is that the broadcasters chose quantity over quality. More channels can be crammed in, trading that for lower fidelity. Audiophiles in Europe hate DAB. Here HD radio is typically implemented with secondary channels and lower fidelity (lower bitrate) on the main channel. Sirius XM is the extreme example. I can barely listen to the music channels for more than about 10 minutes. I would probably abandon FM radio if we went down this path. I might not be typical, but I would be gone.

 

[CTListener]

My personal issue with any of the digital audio broadcast formats so far is that the broadcasters chose quantity over quality. More channels can be crammed in, trading that for lower fidelity. Audiophiles in Europe hate DAB. Here HD radio is typically implemented with secondary channels and lower fidelity (lower bitrate) on the main channel. Sirius XM is the extreme example. I can barely listen to the music channels for more than about 10 minutes. I would probably abandon FM radio if we went down this path. I might not be typical, but I would be gone.

Audiophiles have always been outliers. Content has always been king when it comes to mass-market audio media and the content providers know that. Give the listeners the music they like with as few unfamiliar songs as possible and you have satisfied listeners, even to a 64K stream or an artifact-laden SiriusXM music channel. Audio quality is a very minor factor, if it is a factor at all, in satellite radio not being in more households than it is. The overriding factor is consumer resistance to the idea of paying for radio.

To paraphrase Mencken, nobody ever went broke underestimating the ears of the American public.

 

[Kelly A]

My personal issue with any of the digital audio broadcast formats so far is that the broadcasters chose quantity over quality. More channels can be crammed in, trading that for lower fidelity. Audiophiles in Europe hate DAB. Here HD radio is typically implemented with secondary channels and lower fidelity (lower bitrate) on the main channel. Sirius XM is the extreme example. I can barely listen to the music channels for more than about 10 minutes. I would probably abandon FM radio if we went down this path. I might not be typical, but I would be gone.

As I recall, the reason DAB hasn't done well in Europe was exactly for the same reason the expanded FM band wouldn't work in the U.S., and has little if anything to do with audio quality. The vast majority of the general public just won't purchase new radios.

 

[xmtrland]

Well the FCC is closed due to "Technical Issues". So can't we just take car of this. I vote NO on DAB.

 

[Ai4i]

So can't we just take car of this.

I wish I lived high up in the Grand ****** of Luxy and could
DX the DAB bouquets in several surrounding small countries.
Tropospheric ducting works outstandingly well on the L band.