Radio DAB Radio

[LoonyJohn]

Does anyone know if Honda will be making available a DAB option for the civic?
I heard on the radio that the BBC are intending to switch off their FM stations in 2010 - when the current civic may still be in production...
I was reading a previous thread about a dodgy looking radio modification, I wouldn't like to go down that path

[TTDegs]

I would be surprised if BBC turn of FM in 3 years personaly

look at the hype we have been having for the last 2 years about turning off terrestrial TV and all having to switch to set top boxes / cables / dishes

then compare the number of set top boxes etc available against the number of cars that have DAB fitted...

hey - I might be wrong (it happens ) - but then I don't listen to the Beeb on the radio anyway

[gray52]

a DAB RADIO!! they carnt even make an ipod lead that works! give em 10years aleast, thats just to sort the ipod lead. doubt it they even heard of a DAB RADIO.

[AubreyS]

DAB backwards is BAD... Yes we have that in the Civic!

[czechplastik]

I don't see it happening. I envisage a change over period. No-one is prepared for it, and how many can manufacturers, aside from luxury ones, are fitting DAB as standard in their cars? Probably none.

[TTDegs]

Originally Posted by czechplastik

I don't see it happening. I envisage a change over period. No-one is prepared for it, and how many can manufacturers, aside from luxury ones, are fitting DAB as standard in their cars? Probably none.

you know that was a challenge...

from http://www.bbc.co.uk/digitalradio/listen/

In-car
DAB digital radio provides robust reception when on the move. There is no need to retune as you drive from one region to another when listening to national radio stations (as long as one remains within a good quality coverage area). Some of the manufacturers now including DAB radios as standard are Vauxhall (certain models), Audio A8, Volvo C30 (in January 2007), Seat Ibiza DAB special, Land Rover (certain models), Lotus, Chevrolet, TVR and Daewoo.

[czechplastik]

Renault? Ford? Toyota? VW? Skoda? Proton? Mazda? Nissan?

[Fedorov]

It's taken them more than a year to fix the fuel filler cap, don't get your hopes up

[Kremmen]

And don't forget that the SatNav TMC service is broadcast on FM stations.

[apemonkeyman]

I was hoping for DAB in my Civic. My brother pointed me at this:

http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/ar...years-time.php

Also DAB quality can be really bad, sounding more like a low bandwidth internet radio station.

I'm happy enough to wait for in-car DAB until they get the quality sorted & decide what the hell is going on regarding backwards compatability in the next few years.

[pcr]

Apemonkeyman, I agree about the quality of DAB, sounds like highly compressed mp3 stuff, not as good as FM imo.
But then, I think FM used to be better than it is today, it sounds like the bandwidth has been reduced to cram in all these extra stations, except for radio 3, which always sounds better to me.

[Kremmen]

According to a Which? report I read a while back they reckoned that DAB was no better than a good strong FM station.

[apemonkeyman]

Originally Posted by Kremmen

According to a Which? report I read a while back they reckoned that DAB was no better than a good strong FM station.

I was interested in DAB because of the greater choice. Not much progressive metal gets played on UK analogue radio, & not much to choose from by way of non-sport talk radio either. I was keen to broaden my choices but not if it's going to lose all clarity & gain a whistley noise too...

[TonyBee]

I have an aftermarket DAB radio fitted to my work car and can wholeheartedly say I am NOT looking forward to the FM switch off.
The reception from Cornwall up the A38 is patchy and even travelling along the M4 corridor the BBC signals disappear.
DAB gets a big thumbs down from me when on the move, having one at home is a different matter as long as you can get a decent signal.

[Topcat]

I was told by Honda CS that this wasn't possible at the moment because so many areas have little or nor coverage of DAB.

Seeing that the radio in the car is not DAB but has poor or no reception in certain areas they may as well go ahead !

[cylon2007]

I have done a search and can't find anything about DAB in the Civic.

Does anyone know if there is an add on DAB tuner for the OEM fitted audio system in the new Civics. There is an aux in (well there's a button to select it in the controls)?

I was thinking of maybe using an Acoustic solutions ICS 100 http://www.dabincar.co.uk/ but wondered if anyone had done it before.

Iain

[Topcat]

I was told by a manager from Honda UK that they can not use DAB in their cars as the whole of the UK doesn't have DAB coverage and therefore some areas would not have any signal.

Judging by the reception in my car and the fact that I often lose signal anyway I really don't see what difference it would make

[cylon2007]

I had DAB in the last Passat (a JVC Db-KD711) and it was brilliant. The comment about the coverage is ***** I'm afraid, Yes it varies but it's just like Freeview and nobody would say don't have that.

I've seen a few comments now about reception in the Civic but mine seems fine. It's just that there are DAB stations I like, Plaent Rock, the Arrow, Virgin (without the AM hiss) etc so would like DAB back.

[Topcat]

Hopefully your radio will be fine I know that some have good some bad.

I asked the question about DAB to the manager when I met up with him about something else because I thought the way forward now was DAB !!

Anyway - welcome to the forum

[basegreen]

It would be a toss up between ipod and DAB for me -- thing is, I dunno how it would tie in with the HU, other than using a connects2 aux in jobby