Most radio listeners face 3 problems when buying new receivers:
1. What reception technology can I use to listen to my favorite stations?
2. How good is the achievable sound quality?
3. How long can I use the receiver? Will DAB & FM be switched off?
Current options are:
1. FM – the analog radio that has been around for decades still offers many stations and a pretty good quality. The bandwidth of the transmission technology varies from station to station, on average frequencies of about 35 Hz – 15 kHz are transmitted, the stereo image is good. Nobody knows exactly how long FM will still be transmitted. A "hard shutdown" (Big Bang) is rather unlikely because hardly any existing radio would still work. But anything is possible...
2. DAB – the first nationwide attempt to establish digital radio in Germany was DAB. The technical basis is the Musicam audio codec, which works inefficiently compared to today's codecs (MP3 is a further developed, improved version of Musicam, a variant of MP2). DAB theoretically offers the possibility of very good sound quality, as bandwidths up to 256kbit/s are theoretically possible. In practice, however, DAB transmitters in Germany transmit at a maximum of 128kbit/s, which means that the sound quality is usually worse than with FM. The stereo imaging is slightly worse (due to poorer channel separation), and the combination of low bandwidth and inefficient codec limits the transmission bandwidth to approx. 14kHz. Advantages of DAB over FM are the higher signal-to-noise ratio and larger dynamic reserves. Since most radio stations compress the music again before broadcasting, this theoretical advantage is usually irrelevant in practice. DAB is now hardly receivable, as its successor has already started.
3. DAB+ – the further development of DAB works with a more efficient codec, but not every DAB tuner can be used for it. As a rule, a new purchase is necessary. DAB+ is to be used nationwide and offer a large variety of stations in a few years. By using the efficient AAC codec, a very good sound quality is theoretically achievable – in practice, however, the currently receivable DAB+ stations transmit at data rates of MAXIMUM! 64kbit/s, so that the quality at best reaches the level of DAB, but often is significantly below it. The advantage of low data rates is lower transmission costs, as several channels can be transmitted on the same frequencies. Whether DAB+ will successfully establish itself nationwide in Germany is not yet certain. In terms of quality, DAB+ is currently not a serious alternative, and the selection and availability of stations is also moderate.
4. Web radio – web radio currently offers the most potential. Internet radio offers by far the largest selection of stations and, ideally, the best reception quality (various codecs with almost arbitrary bitrates can be used). Internet radio can be received with any PC or any tuner built for it, so that the acquisition costs are low. In addition, web radio is probably also the most future-proof reception option.
The only two limitations for web radio: Internet must be available. But since more and more people own smartphones with an internet flat rate, this is becoming less and less of a problem. If there is anything annoying about web radio, it is the extremely varied transmission quality. Most major German broadcasters today transmit in MP3 quality with data rates of 128kbit/s and more, but individual broadcasters still deviate significantly downwards. As expected, however, as the internet becomes faster, the transmission quality will continue to improve – so that a steadily increasing quality can be expected here for many years without equipment upgrades.
5. Radio via satellite and cable – TV sets and set-top boxes can receive radio in addition to TV programs, if the cable or satellite operator feeds them in. The biggest advantage of this transmission is the relatively large bandwidths of up to 320kbit/s, but with the less efficient MP2 codec (Musicam). Anyone looking for the best possible sound via radio currently has the best options via cable (DVB-C) and satellite (DVB-S). However, no one can guarantee how long radio stations will be broadcast via satellite, but especially via the cable operator.
Conclusion: There are currently 3 reception options that we can recommend.
Internet radio is probably the first choice for most interested parties. Best reception quality, future-proofing and the largest selection of stations speak for it. Many network tuners – such as the Rotel RT-12 – also offer other reception options – such as FM and DAB. If you want to do without it, you can get an exciting opportunity to expand your existing system with internet radio stations and other streaming features, for example with a multiroom system from Sonos, Bluesound or Denon HEOS.
As the cheapest and sonically good option, FM is still recommended. I consider the probability of the "Big Bang", the hard FM switch-off, to be rather low (see also here). Here you can find classic radio tuners in various price ranges.
If you want to listen to radio uncompromisingly and "high-end", you should treat yourself to a satellite dish or at least a cable connection and listen via DVB. Essential for extracting the best sound quality is either a separate, high-quality receiver or the use of a normal TV receiver, to which a high-quality D/A converter should be added. Especially with cable providers, the range of radio stations is not always clear, so you should borrow a device for testing in advance and ask your cable provider whether changes to the radio offering are foreseeable.
Here we have published an update on FM and DAB.
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