There has been quite a bit of discussion on this subject see HERE

Also in Australia it apparently starts in Jan 2009 !!

thanks keith.

that's an amazing article and i am reassurred. no beocenter 2 for me at the moment. i love the beocenter 2 and wanted to replace my DVD 1 but until this is sorted i will stick with my beosound 9000 and it's FM radio for now...

with all the articles from europe i am getting the distinct feeling that DAB is dying a slow death...

thanks!

In my view DAB really has a problem because now most people have DVB-T (Freeview) or satellite (Sky & FreeSat) as well as the Internet which offers as good or better quality sound than DAB. As one BBC engineer said to me sometime ago -- "DAB is the new Medium Wave"

I listen to a lot of radio mostly via "free-to-air" satellite which I can have around the house via Masterlink in the same way as FM from your Beosound 9000.

Hi Keith,

I'm just wondering if I will ever receive a reply to my request sent  to Beocare, on whether a  DAB+ module will ever be available for the BC2.

DAB has been under trial  in Australia for about 3 years and the reception has been excellent. The DAB sound is superior to FM reception and  the main reason I purchased the BC2 was for the superior sound quality.  Australia has defered the start up date for DAB+ until 1st May 2009 - Test broadcasts are now in DAB+, so I can now only receive FM on my BC2. If the DAB part of the BC2 is just a module, surely its not a huge development cost for B&o to develop and  make a new module for the existing owners in the UK, Australia and any other country adapting the newer DAB+ format to be able to receivethe DAB+ signal on their BC2's?

I feel a little sorry for B&O on the DAB-issue. First they were against incorporating it, because they felt that the quality of the audio was not good enough -- then they did bow to demand, just as internet radio was taking off much more than originally considered when DAB was first proposed.

I get much better quality over internet radio than through any DAB-transmission. DAB+ may help, in that respect, also as it is a streaming format for both audio and video, but I think we'll be using it when on the move, not at home.

Its official - I called into the B&O store at Willoughby and was informed that there is not going to be a  DAB+ module update for the BC2. I was told that B & O at this time dont see a need with Net Radio taking off, so of cause I was a little disappointed , but more disapointed that B & O (Beocare) had not bothered to tell me. Seems to me they dont like to give negative answers.

Is there any way to have the existing module in the BC2 modified to DAB+ ?

GOLFGEAR wrote:

Its official - I called into the B&O store at Willoughby and was informed that there is not going to be a  DAB+ module update for the BC2. I was told that B & O at this time dont see a need with Net Radio taking off, so of cause I was a little disappointed , but more disapointed that B & O (Beocare) had not bothered to tell me. Seems to me they dont like to give negative answers.

Is there any way to have the existing module in the BC2 modified to DAB+ ?

This is disappointing - I bought my BS4 in 2006 and it worked well with the DAB tests then under way in Melbourne; less than 6 months after purchae I was posted to the UK and left the BS4 behind for the herd of younger elephants to use.

On my return in 2009 I tested the BS4's DAB and found no stations and so I assumed testing had stopped, but when I was testing a BV7-40 in the store I seemed to pick up two radio DAB? stations!

So today I retested the BS4 to get nil results, and so I then did the research - Australia is rolling out DAB+ for a launch on May 1st and there is no mention of DAB+ on the B&O site and now this thread completes the picture ...

Oh well, I looks like I have been burnt by technology once again ... so much for trying to "future proof" in 2006

Ed-2

Forget about future proofing any piece of tech ever again. There are too many different manufacturers with their own ideas and then governments get involved and stuff things up too.

Look at the roll out of DTV in australia. Initally SD was the go. The commercial stations were allowed only 1 station and SBS & ABC were allowed 2. Then HD gets announced and rolled out (bummer for all those who bought TV's with built in SD tuners who now have to buy HD STBoxes.) Now those who bought TV's more recently with HD tuners will have to add Freeview HD boxes to take advantage of the new HD TV broadcast with the interactive guide (what ever that means). 

It's never ending. The world of the Set Top Box is with us, that is the way to try and experience the so called latest and greatest. The unfortuate thing is the latest and greatest often turns out to be anything but.

How many Avant owners think their picture is better than the current BV7 32. I'd say, probably most of them. I don't necessarily agree but that's not the point. If you like the pic on your avant stick a freeview HD box on it and whammo, the "latest and greatest."

I feel for all those who bought the DAB based products. B&O don't have a crystal ball to see what every government in the world will decide to do with digital radio. Do be p!ssed at B&O, ask the government why they chose dab+. Then ask all the other governments why they chose not to have DAB+.

Technology today is a mess and it does my head in.

H1

GOLFGEAR wrote:

Its official - I called into the B&O store at Willoughby and was informed that there is not going to be a  DAB+ module update for the BC2

What about the BS4 which I only use with DAB? That was one of the key features for UK purchasers. Interesting times.