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.