So, great car, but one slight niggle. I have set up about 10 stations as DAB but one of them (BBC Radio 1) accepts saving it as DAB and it works fine for a while then suddenly it defaults to FM. I have switched off Auto Switching and even Regional (whatever that means) but the damn thing keeps doing even though the DAB signal is way better than FM. Any ideas?
Radio Favourites driving me mad
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Absolutely positive. In fact the Fm signal it keeps reverting too is really poor around me. Without doubt it is better on DAB whenever I have retuned it to DAB
TA off I believe
TA off I believe
You said you switched off Regional - have you tried with Regional On?
I deliberately did the opposite and tuned Radio 4 to FM and it has never moved to the DAB transmission - I did this so I could listen to Radio 4 and still receive TA announcements as they are only on the FM RDS service. I tried similarly with Classic FM and it constantly is directed to the DAB transmission until that fails - even though I saved the FM frequency. This demonstrates the differences between the coding and flag signals put out by the multiplexer operators on teh RDS and DAB data channels.
You say DAB transmission is better in your area than FM - that does surprise me as the main station FM transmitters have very good coverage compared to their similarly sited DAB counterparts - while the DAB signal may appear noise and fade free that is an illusion of the digital domain - DAB can drop like a stone, and as in your case the radio reverts to FM. What part of the country are you in?
Went out for a run in the car today and had radio tuned to R1 DAB, it never dripped back to FM so I guess that proves nothing!
I just wonder if when you saved R1 it was actually an FM signal that had dropped to DAB before you stored it. So while you thought it was DAB the radio remembered it had originated as an FM station? .
I deliberately did the opposite and tuned Radio 4 to FM and it has never moved to the DAB transmission - I did this so I could listen to Radio 4 and still receive TA announcements as they are only on the FM RDS service. I tried similarly with Classic FM and it constantly is directed to the DAB transmission until that fails - even though I saved the FM frequency. This demonstrates the differences between the coding and flag signals put out by the multiplexer operators on teh RDS and DAB data channels.
You say DAB transmission is better in your area than FM - that does surprise me as the main station FM transmitters have very good coverage compared to their similarly sited DAB counterparts - while the DAB signal may appear noise and fade free that is an illusion of the digital domain - DAB can drop like a stone, and as in your case the radio reverts to FM. What part of the country are you in?
Went out for a run in the car today and had radio tuned to R1 DAB, it never dripped back to FM so I guess that proves nothing!
I just wonder if when you saved R1 it was actually an FM signal that had dropped to DAB before you stored it. So while you thought it was DAB the radio remembered it had originated as an FM station? .
Interestingly, I tried changing another option in the menu, although can't fully remember what it was, but it was something to with selecting between Station name and Type. I think it was defaulting to Name so I changed it to Type. Although it was a short journey when I did this, initially I am hopeful it may have stopped it switching back to FM from DAB. But time will tell.
Just to clarify, this happens when moving up/down through the Favourites via the steering wheel selector.
But to answer your questions: when I said DAB is better, I agree it drops out, and does so a lot in several 'cold' spots where I live (Weybridge, Surrey), but when not in those areas the sound quality is generally better in DAB mode in terms of lack of interference and frequency rages. That difference seems more acute in the Stinger, funnily enough. I have had numerous other cars where, if anything, it was less noticeable or even the other way around. That said, I think DAB has improved a lot over the years. I remember some years ago some stations had terrible sound quality in DAB, like Capital, but have improved. I could liken it to having been ripped as an Mp3 file in a very low bit rate - really thin sounding. With my misophonia (extreme sensitivity to noise) it was really uncomfortable. I guess they have improved the bitrate of most DAB stations. I think far more are at least 128mbps now but that didn't used to be the case.
I agree that a really good FM signal will sound 'warmer' than a poor DAB one though. In the same way and audiphile buff would say a vinyl LP will sound warmer/better than an mp3 recording.
Back to the car though, and, Radio 1 seems to have very poor FM signal in the Stinger around here which surprised me as BBC stations are usually the strongest. And you asked about Regional - I had tried both on and off but made no difference.
Hopefully it's ok now otherwise I will mention it at its first service next week.
I have a list of minor issues already. Now have a tyre going flat but can't see any punctures anywhere so suspect a faulty valve. if so they can do it under warranty. Otherwise I would just go to a tyre fitter.
Just to clarify, this happens when moving up/down through the Favourites via the steering wheel selector.
But to answer your questions: when I said DAB is better, I agree it drops out, and does so a lot in several 'cold' spots where I live (Weybridge, Surrey), but when not in those areas the sound quality is generally better in DAB mode in terms of lack of interference and frequency rages. That difference seems more acute in the Stinger, funnily enough. I have had numerous other cars where, if anything, it was less noticeable or even the other way around. That said, I think DAB has improved a lot over the years. I remember some years ago some stations had terrible sound quality in DAB, like Capital, but have improved. I could liken it to having been ripped as an Mp3 file in a very low bit rate - really thin sounding. With my misophonia (extreme sensitivity to noise) it was really uncomfortable. I guess they have improved the bitrate of most DAB stations. I think far more are at least 128mbps now but that didn't used to be the case.
I agree that a really good FM signal will sound 'warmer' than a poor DAB one though. In the same way and audiphile buff would say a vinyl LP will sound warmer/better than an mp3 recording.
Back to the car though, and, Radio 1 seems to have very poor FM signal in the Stinger around here which surprised me as BBC stations are usually the strongest. And you asked about Regional - I had tried both on and off but made no difference.
Hopefully it's ok now otherwise I will mention it at its first service next week.
I have a list of minor issues already. Now have a tyre going flat but can't see any punctures anywhere so suspect a faulty valve. if so they can do it under warranty. Otherwise I would just go to a tyre fitter.
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The only two stations I listen to, Absolute Radio and Radio X are DAB only which probably explains why I haven't come across issues with it switching to the FM version. Every now and then, my previous Kia Ceed did the same, it would switch to AM on restarting the car even though I have never used that in my life and I've had that a couple of times in the Stinger too. I assume it's a Kia software quirk.
Only a couple of areas DAB doesn't work for me but they are the same places as my previous cars so the antenna doesn't seem any worse than others.
One thing I have changed is that when using the media source selector on the steering wheel there is an option in the settings to uncheck AM and FM so it will only switch between DAB and bluetooth as the media options.
Only a couple of areas DAB doesn't work for me but they are the same places as my previous cars so the antenna doesn't seem any worse than others.
One thing I have changed is that when using the media source selector on the steering wheel there is an option in the settings to uncheck AM and FM so it will only switch between DAB and bluetooth as the media options.
So, had a fairly successful dealer visit Tuesday. At my request they carried out an oil change even without the filter being available. They will do so again when filters arrive, at their cost.
Puncture finally found in o/s/f tyre and they didn't charge for the repair as they missed it the first time. Stone guard trim ordered for replacement where it is peeling inside door shut. So far so good
Except, even though they carried out a software update to the head unit (?) the mystery of the position 7 in the radio favourites persists. It still won't hang on to whatever new station I tune position 7 to. The next day it reverts to Radio 1 FM. I only tune in DAB stations but that position keeps losing whatever I save to it and reverts to Radio 1 FM. Totally weird. Obviously not a major issue as there are plenty of favourites positions to use but very bizarre
Anyone else had this issue with position 7?
Puncture finally found in o/s/f tyre and they didn't charge for the repair as they missed it the first time. Stone guard trim ordered for replacement where it is peeling inside door shut. So far so good
Except, even though they carried out a software update to the head unit (?) the mystery of the position 7 in the radio favourites persists. It still won't hang on to whatever new station I tune position 7 to. The next day it reverts to Radio 1 FM. I only tune in DAB stations but that position keeps losing whatever I save to it and reverts to Radio 1 FM. Totally weird. Obviously not a major issue as there are plenty of favourites positions to use but very bizarre
Anyone else had this issue with position 7?
Hi, I have had two instances of the radio moving to Radio 1, but from my preset 5.
I put it down to fluke when the DAB/FM priority auto-switched from Classic FM (on FM) to Classic FM (DAB) and ended up on Radio 1 (which is my preset no 1 ). As I said it's only happened twice over the last six months , certainly not a regular issue.
Maybe if the radio starts to auto switch and it fails it ends up on the station the first preset is set to?
I put it down to fluke when the DAB/FM priority auto-switched from Classic FM (on FM) to Classic FM (DAB) and ended up on Radio 1 (which is my preset no 1 ). As I said it's only happened twice over the last six months , certainly not a regular issue.
Maybe if the radio starts to auto switch and it fails it ends up on the station the first preset is set to?
Yes I tried changing things like the DAB/FM switching but made no difference. And when I was originally trying to make it Radio 1 DAB it would still default to Radio 1 FM even though the DAB signal was much better than the FM at the time
For interest do you have TA set? I've been wondering if TA is set the radio will stay on a BBC FM station, where the TA s come from, rather than go to DAB where TA s cannot be received. I keep intending to do a load of tests but not got round to it yet!!
To add to the confusion the BBC DAB multiplexers are all centrally controlled and managed whereas the commercial multiplexers operate independently of each other. Classic FM insists on switching to the DAB version whereas BBC Radio 4 stays on FM if selected.
To add to the confusion the BBC DAB multiplexers are all centrally controlled and managed whereas the commercial multiplexers operate independently of each other. Classic FM insists on switching to the DAB version whereas BBC Radio 4 stays on FM if selected.
I tried it with and without TA. tried every available option.
When I first set up all the favourites, no 7 happened to be the position for Radio 1 DAB but it has always lasted a few hours or less before at some point reverting to Radio 1 FM when scrolling through the favourites on the steering wheel selector. I have since put Radio 1 DAB on favourite no 12 and that always stays put even when no 7 reverts to FM. At no point have I saved any stations as FM
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