UK Digital Radio pioneer Nick Piggott was in Sydney for the big digital radio event last week, and was impressed by the quick progress made so far by the Australian radio industry as it now begins the task of promoting digital radio to listeners.

Piggott says the Australian DAB+ launch was “a much more big bang event than the launches in the UK,” which were spread over a 5 year period.

“I think that helped focus media attention on a new era for radio. The wide array of receivers and commitment from retailers from day one contrasted with the UK experience where we started with very little and had to work hard to encourage manufacturers and retailers to grow their interest in DAB.

“Whilst the Day One prices of Digital Radios in Australia seem much higher than the equivalent radios in the UK/Europe, I’m confident that initial positive consumer demand will eventually drive down prices over the next year or so.

“I’m keen to see how Australia will deliver its commitment to launch data services, and potentially leapfrog into being a leading showcase for digital radio in the world.”

See more pictures from the Sydney launch below, where network rivalries were put aside to support Australian Digital Radio’s big bang:

Meanwhile, Perth based technical specialist Poul Kirk has been listening around to digital both here and in the UK and is critical of some aspects of the quality. He has told radioinfo:

“I have listened to DAB Eureka 147 Radio Broadcasts in the UK and Denmark, and must say that I am not impressed about the Audio Quality. Very ordinary.

“A leading BBC Engineer once stated that a Bit Rate of 256 K is necessary for quality transmission of classical music using DAB. No doubt, DAB+ is better, and most likely fine for classical music at 160 K.

“80 K DAB+ is roughly equivalent to 128 K DAB, and simply not good enough for serious music.”

Read Poul Kirk’s full comment on our Blog at the link at the bottom of this page.

Click below to read Poul Kirk’s full comments.