Absolute 90s is replaced by Magic on D1 / Absolute Radio goes Mono
Colin_London
Posts: 12,716 Forum Member
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Nice touch - last song before midnight was 'Not Over Yet' by Grace.
Somewhat spoilt however by Arqivas tardy switch off which has only just happened 1 & 1/2 tracks later at 0004.
Somewhat spoilt however by Arqivas tardy switch off which has only just happened 1 & 1/2 tracks later at 0004.
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Talksport 64kbps Mono
TeamRock 80kbps Mono
LBC 64kbps Mono
Magic 80kbps Mono (+80)
Absolute Radio 80kbps Mono (-32)
Classic FM 128kbps Joint Stereo
Planet Rock 80kbps Mono
Capital Xtra 112kbps Joint Stereo
BFBS Radio 80kbps Mono
Absolute Radio 80s 80kbps Mono (+16)
UCB UK Christian 64kbps Mono
Kiss 80kbps Mono
Smooth Extra 80kbps Mono
Premier Christian 64kbps Mono
<Absolute 90s 64kbps Mono - Deleted> (-64)
So Absolute Radio has gone Mono >:(>:(
Absolute 80s at 80kbps is a massive improvement though.
I only listened to the Absolute stations on DAB in the car but the 80's didn't sound too bad at 64kbps, glad it;s been raised but not at the expense of the main station.
My experience is the opposite. I hate 64kbps and don't listen to Absolute so Absolute 80s getting an increase means I'll listen to it a lot more in the car now.
If only Kisstory wasn't 64kbps but that's for another thread!
There was that poster last week claiming a gambling company was getting space on D1 in March. The fact he/she was banned after 1 day might suggest that was nonsense mind.
<Delete Premier> (-64)
Reduce Capital Xtra to Mono 80kbps (-32)
Start Heart Extra at Mono 80kbps (+80)
Increase LBC to Mono 80kbps (+16)
Will never happen though
Can't see any point in increasing the bitrate of a speech station to the detriment of a music station.
It's, in theory, a disgraceful thing to do however I'm sure Global would do it just so they have the bandwidth for themselves rather than allowing a third party to get it. You never know how useful that 16kbps could be in the future.
Don't know what they would do with the spare 16kbps if they didn't - there are no mono stations left at 96kbps. There will not be enough capacity left for any of the stations except Classic FM to stay Stereo.
According to Wohnort there is just one station broadcasting at 96kbps and that's Polish Radio London on London 3. http://www.wohnort.org/dab/uknat.html#London3
Generally though there aren't any 'major' stations broadcasting at 96kbps and besides - which station should get the extra 16kbps? One thing Bauer have done tonight is harmonise their services to all run at the same bitrate and I don't think it'd be unreasonable for Global to do the same and if that means LBC goes to 80kbps because they can't really use the 16kbps for anything else then I can see some logic in that.
It's just sad that in 2015 I'm saying that a ruck of mono music radio stations is logical.
...and LBC News is 48kbps on London 2 right now.
I have always thought that LBC on Digital 1 sounds considerably worse than TalkSport, despite being at the same bitrate and sample rate. No idea why that would be though
True, the Pete Price phone-in sounds really rough at 64kbps Mono on CityTalk DAB, I much preferred the clearer sound when it was 128kbps on Radio City DAB. I could switch to FM I suppose, but 105.9 does seem to use awful processing, when they take the chart show on Sundays the music sounds really flat and trebley compared to other stations that take it, makes taking it even more pointless!
What DAB radio do you have? Does it support DAB+? If not, you would be better getting a DAB+ compatible one - later this year there should be better quality for you.
I do agree it does not do technology justice when you cram far too much into one block and constantly cut corners. If your radio is not DAB+ compatible, I'm sure you will be able to sell it cheap - but remember a DAB+ compatible one is relatively cheap now.
It wasn't, it had a "telephone line" quality, sounds far better now, and was even better at 80 in London