Why do you like FM?

[Gordon]

I’m not sure that this is the right place to ask this question but here goes anyway.

With talk of switching it off sometime in the nest few years [maybe] and with many posters here having expressed their preference for it over DAB I wondered what was it about FM that was so attractive/preferable?

I know it links in with the preference of some for analogue vinyl over CD but let’s not go there yet again this time, just tell me what your views and experience of FM are [to keep it simple limit it to R3] where you are and why you would miss it if it went away for good. Would you relent and go to DAB or choose something else like Freeview or a Sky subscription or just stream on-line - or what??

[Anna]

I like FM because:

a) where I live DAB reception is awful (although maybe erecting an external aerial would be the answer)
b) I have FreeSat which is fine, if I want to stay in one room but I want a portable radio to listen in the kitchen, bedroom or bathroom
c) I can listen on line but see above for same reason not to listen on-line
I also like LW because:
a) listening to R4 and the cricket versus Radio 5 Live and being chained to computer

I am in S.E. Wales and am always baffled as to why R3 on FM tends to fade and whistle in the evenings but Classic FM comes across loud and clear.

[gradus]

Three years ago I changed my pc and never gave a moment's thought to it as a music source, I used CD and FM for 'proper listening' and DAB for the kitchen but to my surprise I have now abandoned FM (except for the clockwork radio in the greenhouse) and my pc is now my music box. For me its BBC on-line services (HD is particularly good), Spotify etc, I daresay its a common pattern.. Come switchover, I suppose I'll have to buy a wind up DAB for the greenhouse, if such a thing is made?

[umslopogaas]

I dont really understand the ins and outs of this, but I got an FM tuner ages ago because I understood reception was much better and clearer than short, medium or long wave. A couple of years ago I moved house. My new house has a proper external FM aerial on the chimney and after I'd bought that I treated myself to a new Creek FM tuner. It feeds into the rest of the hifi (LP deck, CD player, amp and two speakers) in the living room and sounds fine. I would have expected that system to last as long as I do. I now learn that in a few years they will cut off the signal and at a stroke render my three hundred quid tuner a worthless box of obsolete electronics. If this happens I shall be exceeding p****d off. I dont need a different set up, digital or not, the FM one I've got sounds just fine.

[Anna]

I have now abandoned FM (except for the clockwork radio in the greenhouse) and my pc is now my music box.

But, if your pc is your music box that means you must have a very sophisticated wiring system to every room in the house? I have a desktop pc, when I am sitting in front of it, it's fine, I can listen, but how can I hear anywhere else without lots of cabling and going wireless and lugging around a laptop?

[Ferretfancy]

My old Quad FM4 tuner was beginning to show its age after many years of use, but I was reluctant to buy something new. I mentioned this to a dealer who was quite happy to return it for service to Quad, and its now as good as new. On the other hand, the DAB on my Evoke in the kitchen sounds gritty at best, but switch it to FM and its fine.
My one complaint with FM is that it uses Optimod compression for most of the day, but I can listen to Freeview if I wish to avoid that.

Umslopogaas, Don't fret too much about FM being removed from transmission, ask any dealer and they will tell you that it's likely to be around for quite a while yet.

[vinteuil]

I I dont need a different set up, digital or not, the FM one I've got sounds just fine.

That sums up my feeling. I have a decent sound system in the living room, and assorted FM radios in bedrooms, kitchen, dining room, bathroom, study - and in the car. They all serve me well. I have no wish to replace eight perfectly good radios...

[kernelbogey]

But, if your pc is your music box that means you must have a very sophisticated wiring system to every room in the house? I have a desktop pc, when I am sitting in front of it, it's fine, I can listen, but how can I hear anywhere else without lots of cabling and going wireless and lugging around a laptop?

Anna, if you have wi-fi you can buy a portable internet radio that will pick up stations off your wi-fi. I haven't done this yet but am contemplating it. They're not very expensive - Roberts and others make them. I have a hunch this is the way things are going. BW, kb

[gradus]

Anna
I'm afraid that I don't possess a music-wired house and most of my 'serious' listening now takes place in the room where the pc is located, yet another change in listening habits consequent upon the pc. The Quad gear is in another room that also houses the television and I use it (Quad) less and less although it would make sense to listen to the tv through them.
Last year I bought a pair of s/h B&W speakers that I feed from the pc via an amp and am happy with the sound although the Electrostatics are I think better.
No wi-fi here yet, but I can understand the appeal.
G

[Gordon]

I like FM because:

a) where I live DAB reception is awful (although maybe erecting an external aerial would be the answer)

Yes it would !! FM was planned many years ago assuming outside rooftop aerials and it's only receiver technology improvements that have allowed the use of portables indoors. Be that as it may, people have got used to it and don't want to lose the convenience and expect the same from DAB. At present they are still building out the network with new low power relay stations coming on all the time, usually in areas like yours.

b) I have FreeSat which is fine, if I want to stay in one room but I want a portable radio to listen in the kitchen, bedroom or bathroom

Common requirement and a perfectly reasonable one. In good signal areas both FM and DAB will do this without undue difficulty. You are obviously not in such an area! See below for more:

c) I can listen on line but see above for same reason not to listen on-line
I also like LW because:
a) listening to R4 and the cricket versus Radio 5 Live and being chained to computer

No comment on this one but do you not find that reception on LW variable and somewhat noisy/hissy etc? I presume that your DAB reception problems are behind the difficulty you have with 5 Live, Sports extra etc?

I am in S.E. Wales and am always baffled as to why R3 on FM tends to fade and whistle in the evenings but Classic FM comes across loud and clear.

Where you live [here is not the place to publish your postcode!! but precise location to that accuracy would be useful to help your predicament] in S Wales could be the basis of your reception problems. That and not having an external aerial. Does your radio have a facility to connect another aerial or are you stuck with the telescopic one attached to it?

The Welsh valleys are very difficult to cover with both TV and radio and, because they have fairly dense populations, they have many relay stations to help out. The higher the transmission frequency the worse it gets so FM should be better than DAB should be better than Freeview [Freeview really needs external aerials]. Wenvoe is probably your main BBC FM station and also the main DAB source. It's possible that one of its relays would be better - what frequency do you tune to to get best R3 FM? That would tell us where your best transmitter is and from that your location tells us how far and over what terrain the radio wave has to travel. Your FM R3 being weak in the evenings suggests that you have little signal anyway and your DAB signal will be similar because the transmitters are co-sited and coverage is planned to be similar. DAB can benefit from moving the radio around a bit - say or a foot or two - but this is beginning to clutch at straws because the sweet spot will change with time!!

Why Classic FM better? Maybe transmitter location is different [I'll check but it is probably near Cardiff and may even be Wenvoe again] and the transmit power may be higher for the commercial station but I doubt it.

It sounds to me like the biggest problem you have is your location. If your DAB receiver is very old that may be a part of it - latest designs have much better reception performance and some receivers are known to be significantly worse [and I mean a lot worse] than others when it comes to sensitivity.

[Gordon]

Come switchover, I suppose I'll have to buy a wind up DAB for the greenhouse, if such a thing is made?

Yes you will and yes they are/will be made. If you really mean "wind up" as in clockwork and self powered [no mains no battery] then they may be rare beasts and will never be quite as power efficient as a simple FM receiver so you may have to wind it up more often!! Perhaps a solar powered one will appear too?

[Gordon]

Many people are in the same situation as you are on this - including me!! I have yet to find a convincing rationale for this project that has consumer interests at its heart. The planned "official" switchover date [subject to conditions being met in terms of penetration of DAB] is end 2015 but it seems to me that this will not be met and it could be as late as 2020 or even later. By then you, me and our equipment may well have moved on!!

Like FF my old QUAD FM4 is still going strong and is adequately good for my needs [and still serviceable by Quad] Optimod notwithstanding [it doesn't bother me much as there's very little of it on R3 compared to say R1 where it is cranked up]. I have several DAB receivers but don't use any of then with the HiFi, only as portables scattered around the house and it's pandemonium when more than one of them is on at once [no such problem with FM] because of the different decoding delays in each one. Arrghh!!

[Jasmine Bassett]

Solar Powered DSB radios do exist. I have one and it works very well in the greenhouse.

It's not so good on a dull day on the window sill though - it only lasts a few minutes before the undercharged batteries run out.

[Anna]

It sounds to me like the biggest problem you have is your location. If your DAB receiver is very old that may be a part of it - latest designs have much better reception performance and some receivers are known to be significantly worse [and I mean a lot worse] than others when it comes to sensitivity.

Gordon, thank you for your very detailed post (I won't quote it all) and location is the problem, if I lived at the top of the hill instead of the bottom of the valley it wouldn't be such a problem! Even with television reception, before getting FreeSat it was impossible to get more than BBC1, 2. S4C and ITV without a booster to the aerial whereas, at the top of the hill they could get English Channel 4. However, Wales is now completely digital as regards TV so that problem no longer exists.

I don't own a DAB radio but my next door neighbour bought one which has turned out to be a waste of money (I cannot recall the make but it wasn't cheap) so until things improve there is no point in buying one.

As to your query re receiving LW (and I take it you are not a cricket fan!) I have two fully restored Bakelite vintage valve radios, a Bush DAC90 (1946) and a DAC10 (1950) The first one has wonderful stations on the dial like Leningrad, Droitwich, Hamburg, Marseilles, Lyons, Budapest, etc. Their tone is wonderful and there's that lovely pause whilst the valves warm up. There is no crackle or hiss whatsoever. If only I could get R3 on them!

[salymap]

"As I said to my little kitchen FM radio, I'm not going to trade you in for a nasty DAB thing "[quote]Does anyone remember this on the old boards? I started it and it ran to several hundred posts, a lot of which I didn't and don't understand,as they got very technical.But nothing seems certain, I still have about 5 FM and one DAB radio and hope things stay as they are for a few years yet to see me out.