Forester wrote:

If I do buy a new one, I would prefer to have phono out because I have
no plans to upgrade my amplifier for the sake of the TV box. Are there
differences between the boxes? I'm thinking of getting another
Philips, but only if the sound quality is better.


The Philips DTR1500 (£70):

http://www.unbeatable.co.uk/CatalogueItem_14143.html

came out top in one of the hi-fi mag's Freeview receivers test, and it
has both digital and phono analogue outputs. But if you want the best
audio quality then you're best using the digital output, as other people
have said, because this avoids the analogue phono outputs. Probably best
just to get one of the above Philips boxes and see if you think it's
good enough via the phonos. If it's not then you're virtually guaranteed
to improve the audio quality if you send the digital output to a DAC or
a decent AV amp.

The other point you were asking about was the different quality of the
stations on Freeview. This is primarily down to the bit rate level
they're transmitted at, see this table to compa

http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/in...bit_rate_table

As you can see, the commercial music stations that sound bad use
128kbps, whereas Radios 1-4 use 192kbps and 6 Music, 1Xtra and BBC7 use
160kbps. Not perfect, but good. However, I agree with Tony that for
Radio 3 you'd be better off with an FM tuner and a decent aerial
installation. This is the best entry level FM tuner:

http://www.richersounds.com/index.ph...l.php&p=201138

and there's a recording of Radio 3 using that tuner he

http://69.57.180.10/~digital/R3_FM.mp3 (2.3 MB)
http://69.57.180.10/~digital/radio3_fm.mp3 (7.4 MB)

or if you can decode AAC or FLAC then the latter file is also available
in these formats:

http://69.57.180.10/~digital/radio3_fm.mp4 (6.9 MB)
http://69.57.180.10/~digital/radio3_fm.flac (16.2 MB)


--
Steve - www.digitalradiotech.co.uk - Digital Radio News & Info

DAB sounds worse than FM, Freeview, digital satellite, cable and
broadband internet radio

In article ,
"DAB sounds worse than FM" wrote:

Forester wrote:

If I do buy a new one, I would prefer to have phono out because I have
no plans to upgrade my amplifier for the sake of the TV box. Are there
differences between the boxes? I'm thinking of getting another
Philips, but only if the sound quality is better.


The Philips DTR1500 (£70):

http://www.unbeatable.co.uk/CatalogueItem_14143.html

came out top in one of the hi-fi mag's Freeview receivers test, and it
has both digital and phono analogue outputs. But if you want the best
audio quality then you're best using the digital output, as other people
have said, because this avoids the analogue phono outputs. Probably best
just to get one of the above Philips boxes and see if you think it's
good enough via the phonos. If it's not then you're virtually guaranteed
to improve the audio quality if you send the digital output to a DAC or
a decent AV amp.

The other point you were asking about was the different quality of the
stations on Freeview. This is primarily down to the bit rate level
they're transmitted at, see this table to compa

http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/in...bit_rate_table

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll have a look at the Philips box (it
seems better built than the competition). Unfortunately I'm not prepared
to buy a new AV amp for digital and my Tuner is a good one.

The area we're going to has great TV and radio reception, so I may be
able to watch and listen through analogue broadcasting if the phono
stage on the digital box isn't up to it.

David

Forester wrote:
In article ,
"DAB sounds worse than FM" wrote:

Forester wrote:

If I do buy a new one, I would prefer to have phono out because I
have no plans to upgrade my amplifier for the sake of the TV box.
Are there differences between the boxes? I'm thinking of getting
another Philips, but only if the sound quality is better.


The Philips DTR1500 (£70):

http://www.unbeatable.co.uk/CatalogueItem_14143.html

came out top in one of the hi-fi mag's Freeview receivers test, and
it has both digital and phono analogue outputs. But if you want the
best audio quality then you're best using the digital output, as
other people have said, because this avoids the analogue phono
outputs. Probably best just to get one of the above Philips boxes
and see if you think it's good enough via the phonos. If it's not
then you're virtually guaranteed to improve the audio quality if you
send the digital output to a DAC or a decent AV amp.

The other point you were asking about was the different quality of
the stations on Freeview. This is primarily down to the bit rate
level they're transmitted at, see this table to compa

http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/in...bit_rate_table

Thanks for the advice.


No problem.


I think I'll have a look at the Philips box (it
seems better built than the competition).


The Freeview boxes made by Philips, Pioneer, Sony, Netgem, Nokia (221T,
not 121T) and Humax always seem to have good reviews, and I don't think
there's much between them in terms of general usage.


Unfortunately I'm not
prepared to buy a new AV amp for digital and my Tuner is a good one.


Fair enough.


The area we're going to has great TV and radio reception, so I may be
able to watch and listen through analogue broadcasting if the phono
stage on the digital box isn't up to it.


If you'll have strong FM reception then depending on which stations you
want to listen to FM is well worth a try. Radio 3 for example is better
on FM than on Freeview. Some of the other stations depend on your
opinion of audio processing (dynamic range compression) that the radio
stations apply to most of the music stations.


--
Steve - www.digitalradiotech.co.uk - Digital Radio News & Info

DAB sounds worse than FM, Freeview, digital satellite, cable and
broadband internet radio

In article , DAB sounds worse
than FM writes
Forester wrote:
In article ,
"DAB sounds worse than FM" wrote:

Forester wrote:

If I do buy a new one, I would prefer to have phono out because I
have no plans to upgrade my amplifier for the sake of the TV box.
Are there differences between the boxes? I'm thinking of getting
another Philips, but only if the sound quality is better.


The Philips DTR1500 (£70):

http://www.unbeatable.co.uk/CatalogueItem_14143.html

came out top in one of the hi-fi mag's Freeview receivers test, and
it has both digital and phono analogue outputs. But if you want the
best audio quality then you're best using the digital output, as
other people have said, because this avoids the analogue phono
outputs. Probably best just to get one of the above Philips boxes
and see if you think it's good enough via the phonos. If it's not
then you're virtually guaranteed to improve the audio quality if you
send the digital output to a DAC or a decent AV amp.

The other point you were asking about was the different quality of
the stations on Freeview. This is primarily down to the bit rate
level they're transmitted at, see this table to compa

http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/in...bit_rate_table

Thanks for the advice.


No problem.


I think I'll have a look at the Philips box (it
seems better built than the competition).


The Freeview boxes made by Philips, Pioneer, Sony, Netgem, Nokia (221T,
not 121T) and Humax always seem to have good reviews, and I don't think
there's much between them in terms of general usage.


Unfortunately I'm not
prepared to buy a new AV amp for digital and my Tuner is a good one.


Fair enough.


The area we're going to has great TV and radio reception, so I may be
able to watch and listen through analogue broadcasting if the phono
stage on the digital box isn't up to it.


If you'll have strong FM reception then depending on which stations you
want to listen to FM is well worth a try. Radio 3 for example is better
on FM than on Freeview. Some of the other stations depend on your
opinion of audio processing (dynamic range compression) that the radio
stations apply to most of the music stations.



Agree on that if you have decent FM it still wipes the floor with DAB in
whatever guise its in and on the proms that compression is very small if
at all...
--
Tony Sayer