Re:Norway switches off FM radio, but a station is defying go...
by LeoPanthera on Friday December 15, 2017 @03:00PM
(#15934578)
Most DAB stations are MP2, not MP3. MP3 is not supported in DAB. AAC is supported in DAB+, though you need to upgrade your radio again.
MP2 is transparent once you get to 256kbit, so the actual codec isn't really the problem, it's the bitrate choice. I don't have any experience of EU DAB, but in the UK, most DAB stations are 128K, which isn't even close to being transparent. The audio quality on FM is considerably better.
That's how it is sold indeed, but not entirely true. There is definitely a better signal to noise ratio, but the sample rate is pretty bad which makes the quality lower than normal FM. It's only a 128kbs MP3/AAC stream!
It's only because people don't hear noise anymore they think the quality is better. Analog FM is by the way much more robust too as a signal.
A shame the government forces people to invest in lower quality qear..