Digital Radios

With terms like DAB Digital radio, Digital Radios and analogue radios we understand that it isn't easy for you - our customer - to know which radio best suits your needs. In order to help you make a better buying decision we thought we'd clarify this radio jargon for you.

Analogue radio (FM/AM) has been around for many decades and remains the most commonly listened to type of radio broadcasting. To listen to an analogue radio broadcast you require an analogue radio such as a Roberts Revival 250 radio receiver.

DAB stands for Digital Audio Broadcasting and is a relatively new technology but with many superior features and benefits to traditional analogue radio broadcasting. In order to hear digital audio broadcasts and take advantage of these features and benefits you require a digital radio such as our Pure Digital Radios or Roberts Digital Radios.

Digital DAB Radio - Features & Benefits

The benefits of owning a digital radio and receiving DAB broadcasts can be categorised as follows:

Choice

DAB radio technology has allowed broadcasters to transmit many more stations. With a Digital Radio you can listen to all the major stations in your area in addition to many new national and local stations that are unavailable on FM or AM. Depending on your location the average DAB Radio listener will have double the choice of stations compared to listening via Analogue Radios.

And one more thing... once you've bought a new DAB Digital Radio, you get all the stations for free.

Reception

DAB is received in much the same way as FM or AM via radio waves. However unlike analogue radio DAB reception is not hindered by adverse weather or electrical interference. DAB Digital Radios give you a pure, clear reception which is crackle and hiss free. Broadcasters are now even able to transmit on the same frequency as other broadcasters in locations where their normal frequency signal is weak.

Another advantage of DAB Digital Radios is that you never have to switch national station frequencies no matter where you are in the country. Some local BBC stations and commercial stations may vary their frequency in different locations around the country but with the push of the automatic tuning button most will remain accessible via your Digital Radio.

Ease of Use

How many times have you wished you could hit pause during radio broadcasts to answer the doorbell or phone and then pick up the broadcast where you'd left off? If you miss a detail such as a phone number during a broadcast wouldn't you like to be able to hear it again? Many of our customers agree that after the clear sound the best thing about Digital Radios is the ability to pause, rewind and record live radio. Not all Digital Radios have all these features, but our selected Digital Radios provide most or all of this functionality and offer you a completely different listening experience. Some of our higher range Digital Radios even have timer recording which enables you to record entire programmes for future listening at your convenience.

DAB Digital Radios are tuned by scrolling through a list of radio station names which appear on the data display and can be set at the touch of a button. Thus there are no confusing frequencies to remember or fine tuning to get a good reception.

Data Display

All DAB Digital Radios feature a small screen which displays information about the programme you're listening to. This may be the track and artist for the song being played, up to the minute news and sports results, competition details and email addresses, or even plot summaries for broadcasted plays.

It is anticipated that the data service provided by DAB Digital Radios will develop even further to include useful and free information such as Electronic Programme Guides (EPG) to allow you to view programme schedules and mark them for recording.

Additional Features of some Digital Radios available at Go-Electrical

We hope that this information has helped to clarify the difference between DAB Digital Radios and Analogue Radios and will enable you to make an informed buying decision.