So if DAB radio is mostly shit audio quality and fails to live up to it's initial promise then what about apps?

To continue from my last post....

So DAB radio has turned out to be disappointing due to most stations broadcasting in muddy sounding mono and not living up to what we were initially promised. 'Great sound quality' we were told. 'Really clear sound' we were promised. Well what a load of bollocks that turned out to be - with (very) few exceptions. So if you like rock music and good quality sound then what else is there in 2020?

FM radio is still a thing, but there not so much left on there these days amid the pirate stations and other interference. The 104.9 frequency once occupied by the great (in it's earlier days) Xfm has now after various and increasingly dire takeovers been inherited by Radio X. This station evolved from the former Xfm as it ditched it's old 'Alternative' tag and lost it's independence. It used to play a wide variety of rock music from classic rock to indie, grunge, shoegaze, punk, alternative, and heavy metal. You could hear Pulp sandwiched between Metallica and Iron Maiden. Then maybe Oasis or blur followed by Motörhead or AC/DC. The Sex Pistols rubbed shoulders with Suede and Bowie. They played bands like The Wildhearts that other stations wouldn't play. You could hear heavy metal and punk in the daytime. It was great! Since it's rebrand as Radio X it's playlist is much narrower and focuses on indie while seemingly obsessed with the 1990's. Great DJs like Ian Camfield and Claire Sturgess who absolutely (no pun intended Claire!) love music have been replaced by 'personalities ' - presenters who love the sound of their own voice instead and have little or no interest or knowledge of music. Ironically, although Radio X are on DAB it's virtually old AM quality mono and the station sounds far better if you listen to it on old fashioned steam powered FM stereo.

So if there isn't much on FM these days and most rock stations on DAB sound shit, then what is the alternative? Virtually all DAB/FM stations also broadcast over the internet. Actual 'Internet radios' are a thing now, although not many people seem to have them. I've never had one so don't ask me if they are any good - if you want to know more, Google is your friend...

So, as I said more or less all DAB radio stations also broadcast online. It is even still 'broadcasting' if it's online? We'll save that argument for another day...  So even if you don't have a proper radio you can still listen on your PC or laptop. And guess what? All these stations that broadcast in shitty mono DAB are in reasonable quality stereo if you listen online.  But maybe you don't want to slow your computer down with extra windows or 'Players' by tying it up with streaming online audio while getting on with other work or gaming? Or maybe you don't have decent speakers connected? Or maybe you just don't want to be tied to your desk and maybe one room while listening to the radio?

So what else is there? Oh yes, apps. Nearly every radio station now has it's own app you can download for free onto your phone or tablet. In fact some stations are on app or online only now - mainly because it's cheap, although online only stations such as TotalRock have been around nearly as long as the internet itself. Sadly, TotalRock don't seem to currently have an app. I've got to say, I've never been very keen on listening via an app on my phone for various reasons; If I'm out and about I don't want to use up all my data, and radio apps gobble it up pretty quickly. My Wi-Fi at home is pretty good and my broadband is OK most the time, but there are plenty of things that can (and do) go wrong between my home and wherever their  audio is streaming from. Also, some apps are more reliable than others. So I often find that listening via app is a bit flakey. One of the great things about FM or DAB is that virtually as soon as I press the power button I am listening to live radio. If I don't have a phone or tablet already powered up and online I have to wait for several minutes for it to power up, let it fuck about with any downloads and/or messages & social media notifications etc before I can hear any music. This isn't acceptable. Especially in the morning when I'm in a rush to have breakfast and get ready to go out to work. Apps can be temperamental, forget your login details, or just refuse to play. Also, a certain online/app only rock station has to regularly apologise for it's stream going down....

However, apps do have their advantages. Those DAB stations that have shite quality mono audio (see my previous rants) have much better quality sound via their apps and stereo too - so in spite of all the hype and bullshit about quality clear sound on DAB they sound far better through an app and earphones plugged into your phone. Or bigger and better speakers connected to your phone via Hi-Fi.

I have just got a really nice sounding stereo DAB radio with Bluetooth connectivity - so I can listen via phone app/Wi-Fi though the radio. And Planet Rock now sounds far better than on DAB and is in stereo too! Suddenly I don't hate apps so much. I did previously plug my phone via an aux socket into my Hi-Fi to get decent audio quality (although still with flaky app/net issues) but Bluetooth makes this easier and more enjoyable - although it's one more thing to go wrong. Apps can also be useful for listening in the car to stations that aren't on DAB or FM - I refuse to listen to Planet Rock in my car as even though my car's built in Infotainment system sounds pretty good the P.R. DAB signal is still muddy sounding mono and sounds shit. But I can listen via the Planet Rock app via Bluetooth and it is stereo and so much better sounding.

Apps also (mostly) tell you the artist and song title - unlike some DAB stations some of the time, and also have very handy 'Listen again' features on most stations so you can listen to your favourite shows if they aren't on at a convenient time.

I assume if you are still reading this you are probably a rock fan - if not there is unlikely to be anything here you'll be into, but you never know...

So what apps do I recommend?

Primordial Radio Rising from the ashes of Team Rock Radio - originally on DAB, then app only. With a new business model and growing slowly but steadily for several years now Primordial is a subscription only app & online station with probably the widest selection of rock music you'll find anywhere. Rock, but with less roll, it leans towards the harder more extreme forms of metal, but you'll also find classic rock (but not overplayed like most stations) punk, grunge, blues, maybe an old school 1950's rock & roll song, and the odd fun curveball you really wouldn't expect! If like me you don't like 'singers' who grunt, growl, and scream you might not be very keen on some of the more extreme stuff they play, but the people are nice and there is a FREE 3 month no strings attached trial subscription offer at the moment so it's well worth downloading the app and giving it a try. Use this code. There is also a 'On Demand' feature to listen to or repeat your favourite shows, and there are podcasts too. No cleaned up 'radio edits' - just music as the artists intended it to be heard. Totally independent and advert free they answer to no one and play totally what they (and hopefully you) want. Because Primordial aren't owned by anyone else they play a lot of artists that Planet Rock & Kerrang won't play because they are in the pockets of advertisers and record companies...

Feedback Radio Starting late in 2019 this station has also risen from the ashes of Team Rock. Featuring guitar based rock of 'All Eras, All Genres' but mostly less extreme than Primordial - although there are a couple of shows specialising in the heavier more extreme side of things. Blues musicians Big Boy Bloater, Kris Barras, and Jack Hutchinson have their own shows. Metal Hammer and Classic Rock magazines both have their own shows too. And legendary rock DJ Nicky Horne has a great show on the station as well. There is loads of music from new bands, as well as sparingly played old classics, punk, rock & roll, indie, metal, blues, and old bands you'd forgotten about or never heard of. But the quality is first rate! There is probably more music on this station than any other - minimal chat, no news or on air adverts at the moment. Independently owned and definitely driven by people who love music. Like Primordial no Nanny State 'radio edits' - as these stations are online only and not broadcast over radio airwaves there is no Ofcom to answer to so they can get away with swearing in song lyrics. This station plays music for grown ups. No 'Listen again' feature yet, but this seems to currently be the most stable app and steam going. A breath of fresh air - this is the rock station that plays the music Planet Rock and Kerrang! should be playing but won't. Feedback Radio is currently the only station that ticks all my boxes as far as genres and eras go, so I am finding myself listening to it more that any other station at the moment.

Planet Rock One of the best apps for features, and it also sounds much better than the station's output on muddy sounding mono DAB. Less adverts while listening on the app too. More new music and new bands these days compared to what this station used to play, but otherwise tired and unimaginative programming with the same songs and artists constantly played to death! The New Rock and the Blues shows are well worth a listen, and Danny Bowes and Alice Cooper's shows are entertaining.

Kerrang! Radio Owned by the same people as Planet Rock but aimed at a teenage audience. No longer on DAB or FM - just app/online only Less Classic Rock (although still playing the token obvious songs) and more grunge, nu-metal, screamo, etc. Like Planet Rock this station sounds much better and in stereo on the app compared to it's even more shite low bitrate mono DAB signal.

Hard Rock Hell Radio. Formerly TBFM (Total Biker FM) this station is now less independent than before but still plays a wide variety of rock music. App and website more flakey than most so I didn't include a link as it crashed my PC.

Locally (for me) there is EN5 Radio available on the TuneIn Radio app. I am a bit confused by the concept of a 'Local' internet only radio which claims to have listeners all around the world. I get how an FM station can be 'local' and broadcast to a small local area, but what's 'local' about the internet? It's not a 'rock' station, but does feature a weekly hour of Symphonic Metal - check out John McCann's 'Metal Maelstrom' show at 21.00 on Wednesday nights if that's your bag.

So as far as I'm concerned apps definitely aren't the future of radio, but they have their uses and are here to stay. They are far too unreliable for me to do without a 'proper' radio at home or in the car as they have a tendency to just STOP without warning at fairly regular intervals - usually just as it's getting to my favourite part of a song or somebody is actually saying something interesting. Even if an app is pretty stable you are still at the mercy of continuous internet/broadband/Wi-Fi/Bluetooth coverage at home, work, or in the car. It only takes one thing in that chain to go down and your 'radio' stops dead - and often takes some fucking about from you to get it going again. If I'm just popping out in the car to do my shopping I'm not going to spend time messing around with apps and Bluetooth just for a short drive - I'll go straight to whatever (stereo) DAB station is currently playing a show that I like. I try to listen to Dewsbury on Primordial in the car on my way home from work, but the app doesn't seem to get on well with my phone/SatNav on my phone so I usually have to give up as I'm not prepared to spend 5 minutes fucking about trying to make it all work before I can drive off. The Kerrang! app can be temperamental  in my car too and 'forget' my settings. - so it's back to NME or 6Music on DAB for my journey.

The Great DAB Swindle continues....

I had a rant about this a while ago, but a few things have changed since then so I'll give an update. Xfm went downhill and eventually rebranded itself as Radio X. All the old DJs who actually cared about music were replaced by 'personalities' who knew or cared little about music but cared a lot about themselves and the sound of their own voices. Most of them are incapable of carrying a show on their own. The station had already given up it's 'alternative' status while it was still Xfm, but as Radio X it became a station that sidelined rock and alternative music and played almost nothing but indie bands, while seeming obsessed with the 1990's. Xfm's old good quality stereo DAB signal was downgraded to a lesser quality mono signal - so my original reason for getting a DAB radio was gone, although Radio X do still broadcast in London on Xfm's old 104.9 FM frequency in stereo. Ironic as now the station sounds far better on old fashioned FM than it does on new fangled DAB.

The old standby The Arrow had a good quality stereo 128kbps signal, no adverts, and no DJs or news, but a rarely refreshed rock playlist that seemed to include no music made after the 1990's. It must have been a computer broadcasting from a cupboard somewhere in London, but I never managed to find out who funded it. Or why. Maybe it was just there to promote DAB radio? Eventually the signal was downgraded to 96kbps mono as well. Later the quality was restored to 128kps stereo, but adverts started appearing -  I guess the money was running out, and eventually it stopped broadcasting and quietly closed in September 2019.

Kerrang! Radio also went downhill. After splitting from the magazine of the same name many years ago it started to add more poppy music to it's playlist and it now seems to aim very much for the schoolkid market. It still plays more current metal as well as newer bands who sound very much to me like pop bands pretending to be 'rock' in a bit for credibility - some of them are virtually boy bands in rock clothes and really belong on Radio 1 not on a 'rock' station. Although these bands all pose around with guitars on stage you often can't hear any guitars in their mix at at all on the radio - which is ironic as the station is named after the sound of a power chord played very loud on an electric guitar!  It's DAB signal was poor quality 80kbps mono and eventually stopped broadcasting on DAB although it was still available on FM stereo in London for a while, and then the FM signal was dropped too. Kerrang! Radio is now only available online or via an app.

The many Absolute radio stations all have really shit quality mono DAB signals crammed into their bandwidth - it's all about money. Their premier Absolute Radio station is a poor quality 80kbps mono, and their Absolute Classic Rock (for those determined to only live in the past) is an even more shite 64kbps. The sound quality is so bad I can't bear to listen to them. Absolute is all that's wrong with DAB radio; The potential is there for great quality clear stereo sound, but after all the hype instead we have foisted upon us a return to the poor quality AM radio mono sound from tiny transistor radios in the 1960's. Progress - what progress? We are actually listening to worse quality sound now than on FM stereo in the 1970's and 80's. I refuse to put up with this shit.

Team Rock were a new contender on DAB for a couple of years. No adverts and a very promising start with a fiercely independent ethos, although poor quality mono sound. Loads of great new bands, and a very welcome return to the airwaves of Nicky Horne - once of Capital Radio with his great 'Your Mother Wouldn't Like It' rock show. It seemed too good to be true, and with a poor business model ultimately it proved to be so and they went bankrupt - largely due to the exorbitant cost of a DAB licence. Some of the people involved went on to form online/app only Primordial Radio - which from a modest start is slowly but steadily growing with it's no ads/subscription service. Also from the ashes of Team Rock Feedback Radio appeared in late 2019 playing all eras of guitar based rock. It's only available online or via app, although it does look very promising and now features a show by Nicky Horne.

Planet Rock are still going and are now owned by Bauer Media who also own Kerrang! Radio among many other stations. Unlike Kerrang! Planet Rock are still on DAB, but no longer at their old excellent quality stereo 128kbps signal. Like most if not all Bauer's stable they broadcast in poor quality low bitrate mono - currently at a feeble 80kbps. Personally as someone who takes my music seriously I find this insulting. I invested in a separate DAB tuner to replace my old FM tuner in my hi-fi stack, and now own a total of 4 stereo DAB radios if I include the system in my car - so I am quite offended that after all the hype about how great DAB sound quality is I am still expected to put up with low bitrate poor quality mono DAB sound quality from most stations. There is even a current advert on Planet Rock plugging the wonders of DAB radio and how you get 'crisper sound' from it. Not on Planet Rock you don't! Ever get the feeling you've been swindled?

It's not all bad news though; As some stations fall by the wayside new ones pop up. There is even a new DAB station specially for builders! Fix Radio pays a mixture of indie and pop, with the odd classic rock song thrown in. It's another station that seems to be aiming for a slightly older audience judging by the amount of 90's and 00's music they play, although there is some new stuff too. Ugly Phil was good on the breakfast show but was made redundant in April. Unfortunately Fix broadcasts in poor quality mono, but stereo is available on their rather good app. I don't like listening on apps though - they tend to be too flakey and unreliable. I might write a separate post about apps... Another new DAB station leaning towards rock is NME, but this seems to be just a test signal and is only available in London. NME seems to be taking on from where The Arrow left off - no presenters, news, or adverts and it just seems to be a computer playing indie and rock, but with a wider time scale and genre mix. NME does currently broadcast in good quality stereo so is worth checking out and maybe adding to your presets.

Only the BBC seem to be able to continue broadcasting on DAB at an excellent quality 128kps in stereo for 6 Music and Radio 2 - with makes it so much more of a pleasure to listen to. Consequently most of my DAB listening time is now spent on 6 Music - although I do often get frustrated with how much talking there is on a station called 6 Music!

A few years ago there were several dedicated ROCK stations broadcasting good quality stereo sound on DAB. Now there are virtually none and we are expected to put up with muddy sounding mono signals. It's not good enough.