FM radio: does anyone still use it?

NAT 01 ,absolutely fantastic !

I use FM all the time and never use DAB or iradio. FM's days are by no means over.

best

David

I just sold my NAT05,  FM tuner...

...and bought a Scottish Akurate tuner with FM and DAB.

It's the ultimate in laziness, ONE key to press on the remote (the input selection) and there's sound emanating from my system.  And if I was last listening to something decent, like birdsong, then decent sound will sometimes emanate once again. (OK that's an oversimplification, but it's getting late).

Except for the trusty old radio alarm and the battery powered bathroom radios, FM doesn't get a look in these days. DAB or podcasts in the car, and since the audio gear moved to the other room with no easy aerial connection it's been streaming only through the main stereo. Still have the old Nait 5i with a TRT2000 tuner plugged in in the living room, but it rarely gets any use. BBC hd streams are great, DAB gives me the options in the car of listenable 5L, LBC and 6Music if Today becomes too overbearing, like it will this week with a 5 days of Labour's conference going on. No thanks.

The death or radio is a bit exaggerated. I live somewhere where an announced FM cutoff of 2018 came and went and didn't happen and the high end domestic brands are all making FM tuners still of the NAT01 sort of price range. If pure FM is your thing and you cannot get a NAT, there are still brand spanking new high end FM tuners out there.

The real issue for me is where I live and availability and choice it's fine if you have a mulitude of stations available but I don't, ifI had the same choice on fm that I do on dab I'd buy a decent tuner again.

I did have a Nat01 for a very short time a couple of years back and yes it sounded fantastic even without a huge roof top arial but found I probably found something worth listening to maybe once a week because if you don't like Radio three then your options are limited to the odd show on Radio 2.

I'm also sure I also read somewhere that some of the big commercial fm stations use a digital process to compress the fm signal before sending it out which if true defeats the object a bit for me and is kind of like using a digital phono stage or a record pressed from a digital file.

Internet radio on the other hand I listen to everyday and some of the staions do sound really very good not analogue good of course but very listenable and slo the Roberts dab not only looks great but is playing all day everyday.

ChrisR_EPL posted:

?. DAB or podcasts in the car, and since the audio gear moved to the other room with no easy aerial connection it's been streaming only through the main stereo. 

Well living where in East Anglia DAB is notoriously unreliable, with frequent dropouts or periods of no service when on the move.. so much so I stick with FM in the car if actually want to listen to something unless travelling to more densely packed parts of the county where DAB seems to work. I also have found some interesting community radio with live gigs etc on FM that really are enjoyable rather than the usual recipe of bland corporate mush that appears on many commercial DAB stations. Thank goodness FM appears alive and well at least from a creative aspect. I just wish BBC Radio 6 would come to FM.

Interesting that our new recent second family car seemed to now sport only a FM radio.. perhaps DAB is falling out of favour??

I use my Snaps / 101 at least once a week beautiful reproduction in fact just had the Snaps serviced at Class A a couple of weeks ago. 

I wouldn’t be without it I’ve had it from new 1986.

Regards,

Martin

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

ChrisR_EPL posted:

?. DAB or podcasts in the car, and since the audio gear moved to the other room with no easy aerial connection it's been streaming only through the main stereo. 

Well living where in East Anglia DAB is notoriously unreliable, with frequent dropouts or periods of no service when on the move.. so much so I stick with FM in the car if actually want to listen to something unless travelling to more densely packed parts of the county where DAB seems to work. I also have found some interesting community radio with live gigs etc on FM that really are enjoyable rather than the usual recipe of bland corporate mush that appears on many commercial DAB stations. Thank goodness FM appears alive and well at least from a creative aspect. I just wish BBC Radio 6 would come to FM.

Interesting that our new recent second family car seemed to now sport only a FM radio.. perhaps DAB is falling out of favour??

Much the same here in N Wales, even at home I can only get a handful of DAB stations all of which I can get on iRadio, generally in better sound quality. FM in the car never drops out. 

ChrisSU posted:

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

ChrisR_EPL posted:

?. DAB or podcasts in the car, and since the audio gear moved to the other room with no easy aerial connection it's been streaming only through the main stereo. 

Well living where in East Anglia DAB is notoriously unreliable, with frequent dropouts or periods of no service when on the move.. so much so I stick with FM in the car if actually want to listen to something unless travelling to more densely packed parts of the county where DAB seems to work. I also have found some interesting community radio with live gigs etc on FM that really are enjoyable rather than the usual recipe of bland corporate mush that appears on many commercial DAB stations. Thank goodness FM appears alive and well at least from a creative aspect. I just wish BBC Radio 6 would come to FM.

Interesting that our new recent second family car seemed to now sport only a FM radio.. perhaps DAB is falling out of favour??

Much the same here in N Wales, even at home I can only get a handful of DAB stations all of which I can get on iRadio, generally in better sound quality. FM in the car never drops out. 

Horses for courses clearly; being lucky enough to live & work close to major conurbations with major trunk roads nearby means that DAB serves us well, so the choice in the car is much appreciated. The crap pop stations don't trouble the dial; 6Music, 5L, 5LSX esp TMS (btw catch Aggers' one-man show, saw it recently and it's very very good), 4Xtra and LBC for Eddie Mair give us a good spread of listening, and if not there's always a podcast of Fighting Talk, Peter Crouch [good] or Danny Baker to chuck on. Being stuck between a choice of either Elaine Paige or Radio 1 doesn't happen.

Btw 6M will never launch on FM.  No space, goes against policy, costs; just not going to happen.

@Bob - "I'm also sure I also read somewhere that some of the big commercial fm stations use a digital process to compress the fm signal before sending it out which if true defeats the object a bit for me and is kind of like using a digital phono stage or a record pressed from a digital file." They all do, BBC included. Look up Optimod processing; it's what makes FM usable in cars, originally intended to give ILR stations a 'sound' its use spread, BBC radio have used it for yonks, including on R3. What you hear through the airwaves isn't anything close to a true reflection of source. It's made to sound 'good' via a limited medium. 

Having a day to handle family logistics, I visited the local charity shop and bought a Technics ST-8044 tuner for 6 euros. My wife has trouble using all the digital devices so she is using the turntable and radio now. Most important frequencies work fine having used cutlery as  antenna :-)

Unfortunately the frequency for classical music is not good so I must find a good antenna.

I have never had such a good tuner in my life. Crisp and clear sound.

Well done, ST-8044 is a good tuner, and for 6 euros you got a lovely bargain.  The Technics ST-8077 and ST-8080 are two of my favourites, well worth looking out for secondhand.

My nat 5 still gets regular use. The variety of stations is way down and I now listen almost exclusively to wfuv (Fordham University) in the NY area (they also stream - whatever that is (L) ). Even though all my equipment is naim, I still wish I had kept my tandberg 3011a instead or switched to 3001.

Almost everyday through my vintage Marantz 2100.

Every day, I must listen to FM for three or four hours a day through my trusty NAT 01.

Regular FM user here too - trips to Devon in the car along the A303 & onwards using DAB = regular and sometimes prolonged drop-outs. 

I really don't understand how the powers that be can be considering an FM switch-off when IME the coverage and general accessibility in some parts is still poor. 

I recently read that as of the end of last year, there were still 151 analogue pirate radio stations operating in the UK. Mostly from high rise flats in London apparently but interesting nonetheless.

Much of it now is extremist propaganda (apparently). So those with excellent NAT tuners can now be indoctrinated in style 

No and that’s purely because of the lack of stations where I live,  my UQ2 is capable of FM, DAB & iRadio and I always pick the latter. There are some 320kpbs stations like Linn Jazz that sound fantastic. 

Sadly, since moving house I have not used FM or DAB for that matter. I do not currently have an antenna installed and have lapsed into listening to internet radio.

Whilst it was my love of radio in the late 60's that got me into electronics design and my interest in audio/HiFi, I sense my current state of apathy may have the better of me and I may just settle for the internet "wireless" with wires!   

Two tuners in regular use here - In the Pic a Quad FM2 valve tuner and in the workshop a Quad FM3 / Nait3 / Epos 14s.

Mr Tibbs

Same here via my NAT01 - it’s also good to have another Radio source. It’s always tuned to BBC R3 and sounds sublime with a live broadcast. One of the best pieces of kit that Naim ever made. Its an olive version, serviced by Naim a few years back and looks as good as the day it left the factory all those years back.

A very nice FM2 there, Mr Tibbs.  I do love the look of the FM2 & FM3.  I have a couple of FM3s but no FM2. How do you find they compare?  

I did have a rare AM3 but didn't use it and eventually it was sold to a HK collector for a fairly tidy sum.  I still have some photos though...

Richard Dane posted:

I do love the old Quad styling. Lovely looking (and condition) kit there Richard (and Mr T)

I using a Nat 101 / Snaps since new 1987 great tuner.

 Regards,

Martin

Yep, use it all the time. And in the car.