Does anyone have a DAB radio headunit?

if so, whats the deal with them? do they need a different ariel? - are they worth the money?

I've read articles that bemoan the quality of DAB - which is down to the encoding rate and fitting everything into the available bandwidth. Possibly how radio stations sound if you listen online - even with a broadband connection, the music still "warbles"

Having never listened to a DAB station I can't comment properly though... OTOH, you should get interference free reception, etc...

And - AFAIK - you need a different aerial

I have a primitive DAB radio at home.. a Psion Wavefinder.. which is just a usb ariel and the pc does all the decoding. all DAB is is a bunch of MP3 streams.

I've got a Blaupunkt woodstock 53 DAB radio, the amount of stations depends on where you are in the country but all the major stations are there, the unit i have has auto switching for if you lose the DAB reception and you can tell the difference. i brought mine from empire direct for

the woodstock was the one i was looking at, as it does mp3s too..

how does it blend with the dash? dont suppose you could get a picture of the H/u and the ariel please?

The 53 woodstock has red lights and a grey display, it could look nicer if it matched the green skoda lamps but goes well with my red vRS in the day. i'll E-mail you the pictures tomorrow afternoon as i'll have to take them and i'm working in the morning but no probs mate.

Just so you know, the 52 has a colour display, does not record the DAB signal but will play mp3s from a MMC or SD card, the 53 has a grey display(looks smarter) and will record the DAB signal

I have the woodstock dab52, the previous model to the 53. its the same internal circuitry. the 53 records in mp3 format onto sd cards from the radio though.

DAB radio on the whole is pretty good but the uk seems to have gone for quantity rather than quality. Dont get me wrong, the quality is ok but its not as good as it should and could be. Most music stations are transmitted at 128kbps stereo, classical tends to be at 192kbps stereo and speech channels like BBC R7 and BBC R4 are 64kbps mono which is fine for incar but not so good at home. Avoid the glass mount aerial in poor signal areas and go for DAB only or DAB/FM/AM combi beesting aerial. I replaced the my octi RS oem one with the combi one.

I have a hifi dab unit at home, and it's brilliant. The quality is much better than FM, and even if it's not "CD" quality (which doesn't really mean that much if you're a purist anyway ), it's good enough when you have background noise in a car. I'm not sure how sensitive it is to movement though. Being digital, you won't really get a "hiss" but a warbly sound as Steve says if the signal goes really weak.

I'd like to have one though - although it is pricey. I was looking at getting the Pionner 77 head unit with the minimalist looks and then maybe add the DAB tuner later on, but it does get expensive :(

Where the FM signal bounces about the place so the signal can be ok in most places the DAB signal falls to the ground like rain so the reception for the most part is brilliant, but like normal radio the reception can dissapear or go warbly for a second as you move. most come with a glass mount aerial, but the goodmans on will work through the standard aerial, but like most of their stuff is cheap, looks naff and sounds rubbish.

I've too been looking at the Woodstock 52 and had a play about with it. Certainly from what I have heard radio quality is excellent in this area and the AM stations in this area sound fab on DAB. Only thing that is putting me off (apart from a lack of dough) is the need to replace the aerial and the fact that the HU will probabaly get nicked.....

Originally posted by mannyo in this post

Avoid the glass mount aerial in poor signal areas and go for DAB only or DAB/FM/AM combi beesting aerial. I replaced the my octi RS oem one with the combi one.

Hmm. I was wondering about aerials. The Pionner website talks about a DAB aerial, but looks like another hole to drill through the roof :eek: don't wanna do that to my new car!

So if you can replace the original one with a different "end bit" so no mounting bracket change is required, then that sounds good - especially if it's better than the internal through the glass jobby.

Where did you get the combi aerial? I'll do a bit more research

Originally posted by Stimps in this post

I've read articles that bemoan the quality of DAB - which is down to the encoding rate and fitting everything into the available bandwidth. Possibly how radio stations sound if you listen online - even with a broadband connection, the music still "warbles"

Having never listened to a DAB station I can't comment properly though... OTOH, you should get interference free reception, etc...

And - AFAIK - you need a different aerial

Got it in a nutshell. Instead of concentrating on audio quality, the broadcasters decided to cram too many stations in.

It's a real case of "never mind the quality, feel the (band)width" :(

Mannyo. how difficult is it to replace the beesting ariel?

The beesting aerial is a doddle to replace, well on the octy anyway.

Remove the trim along the top of the hatch, then remove the trim retaining clips from the car and replace into trim.

Loosen the trim on either side of the hatch area enough to enable you to get above the headlining.

Locate the cable coming from the base of the antenna and disconnect the feed from the front of the car.

Undo the large retaining nut whilst a friend holds the base from the outside (we dont want scratches now) and remove.

The DAB beesting is the same fitting so reverse process with new aerial.

You will need to run a new cable above the headlining and down the A pillar to behind the dash, easier than it sounds. Pull off the door rubber and remove the grab handles and pull cable through.

I got my aerial as part of the kit when I got the hu from www.caraudiodirect.co.uk but they dont do the kit anymore www.bluespot.co.uk do though.

this pic shows the combined dab/fm/am antenna. its slightly longer than the oem one but unless you were paying attention to everyone else it looks the same. You can get a dab only one that is much shorter.

Thanks for the pics rooboy.

the Woodstock style blends in with the dashboard quite well.. the button colours let it down, but im sure ill get used to it.

i may get one installed @ xmas.. did you fit yours yourself? where did you get the fascia adaptor from?

Cheers for that Manny. I may take a look at the fabia one if I really decide I wanna invest in DAB...

I got the dash insert fron my local skoda dealer i think it was about 2 quid, the radio is a doddle to fit but i got one of the mechanics to fit the DAB aerial as a favour

Anyone had problems with the Blaupunkt overheating a problem reported on the talk audio site?

the woodstock does run warm, but mine has not been a problem in 18 months.