30-07-2011, 07:01 PM
Thanks for an informative posting Mark, from someone 'on the inside track' at the Beeb!
I've had a Pure Evoke-1 with a second speaker for some years now, which was a present, and I've been really pleased with it. DAB sounds fine to me, but you rightly make the point that many who listen to AM do so on higher end tuner-amps with much better speakers. If I compare my Evoke to a similar sized FM portable, any diffrences are to my ears, indiscernable. I'm inclued to the view that many who say DAB is rubbish, are in the audio-fool camp. who think that gold plated mains flex improved the quality of the audio from their hi-fi sets.
Unfortunately, some stations aren't good on the telescopic aerial on my Evoke-1 - Classic FM for example, which is fine of FM, but I guess that's due in part to the reception area I'm in.
You right about MP3 players and bud earpieces too. I've got a little i-pod nano, but I used a pair of Bose over-the-ear folding headphones that fit into a compact hard case. I find it quite astounding that so much misic can be stored and playbe back from such a tiny thing, at such quality.
Although I've reached the age at which I qualify to be called a 'coffin dodger' my hearing is good and I've always taken care of it by wearing ear defenders when using power tools, lawnmowing, and when riding a motor bike, which I did for many years until a couple of years ago. Ears are of course the one component in whatever audio system we use, that are the limiting factor, which no sound system, transmission mode, or any amount of money spent on gold plated flexes and plugs is going to alter!
As to the rate at which DAB is adopted as a replacement for FM, that will be determined by the point at which many millions of cars have DAB reception facility and country wide coverage with few 'not-spots'. That's going to take years, considering that most new cars being sold today still don't have DAB radios as standard - only as an expensive optional extra. High listerneship is essential for the survival of commercial broadcasting stations.
That's my take on things.
David
I've had a Pure Evoke-1 with a second speaker for some years now, which was a present, and I've been really pleased with it. DAB sounds fine to me, but you rightly make the point that many who listen to AM do so on higher end tuner-amps with much better speakers. If I compare my Evoke to a similar sized FM portable, any diffrences are to my ears, indiscernable. I'm inclued to the view that many who say DAB is rubbish, are in the audio-fool camp. who think that gold plated mains flex improved the quality of the audio from their hi-fi sets.
Unfortunately, some stations aren't good on the telescopic aerial on my Evoke-1 - Classic FM for example, which is fine of FM, but I guess that's due in part to the reception area I'm in.
You right about MP3 players and bud earpieces too. I've got a little i-pod nano, but I used a pair of Bose over-the-ear folding headphones that fit into a compact hard case. I find it quite astounding that so much misic can be stored and playbe back from such a tiny thing, at such quality.
Although I've reached the age at which I qualify to be called a 'coffin dodger' my hearing is good and I've always taken care of it by wearing ear defenders when using power tools, lawnmowing, and when riding a motor bike, which I did for many years until a couple of years ago. Ears are of course the one component in whatever audio system we use, that are the limiting factor, which no sound system, transmission mode, or any amount of money spent on gold plated flexes and plugs is going to alter!
As to the rate at which DAB is adopted as a replacement for FM, that will be determined by the point at which many millions of cars have DAB reception facility and country wide coverage with few 'not-spots'. That's going to take years, considering that most new cars being sold today still don't have DAB radios as standard - only as an expensive optional extra. High listerneship is essential for the survival of commercial broadcasting stations.
That's my take on things.
David
