General FAQ

1. What’s Digital Radio?
Digital Radio is a Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) service from MediaCorp Singapore. It’s Asia’s first Digital Radio service.

2. What’s the DAB technology behind Digital Radio?
Digital Radio is based on the Eureka-147 DAB standard. It is a worldwide standard adopted in many countries such as in Europe, Canada, and the Far East. For more information on the Eureka-147 DAB technology, click here

3. Is Singapore the only country which has adopted DAB? Which countries have adopted DAB?
No. Many countries have also adopted the Eureka-147 DAB standard such as the UK, Europe, Canada, Taiwan, & South Korea, among others. For more information, please visit the WorldDMB Forum website.

4. What’s the difference between DAB and AM/FM radio?
DAB offers higher sound quality than the conventional analogue AM/FM radio. It’s unique digital transmission technology eliminates the sound distortion that you sometimes hear on AM/FM radio.

5. Will I still be able to receive FM stations on my DAB radio?
Yes, you will be able to receive FM stations if your receiver is a DAB/FM radio. However if you switched into the FM mode, it will not be in the digital format but rather in the analogue FM format. Certain receivers are DAB-only radios without FM, and therefore, you will not be able to switch into the FM mode but you would still be able to tune to one of our eight FM simulcast stations on DAB such as Symphony 92.4FM, Class 95FM, Y.E.S. 93.3FM, Gold 90.5FM, Love 97.2FM, 987FM, Lush 99.5FM, and 938LIVE.  

6. What are the advantages of DAB?
DAB lets you enjoy clear, high-quality sound. DAB gets rid of the annoying flutter or multi-path distortion common in built-up areas especially when you are listening to your radio in a moving vehicle.

7. When can I receive Digital Radio?
You can now enjoy a total of fourteen Digital Radio stations, five of which are DAB-only channels and eight are our FM stations in digital format. The stations on Channel 7B are Cruise, Club Play, JK-Pop, Chinese Evergreens, Planet Bollywood, and Symphony. The stations on Channel 7C are Class 95FM, Y.E.S. 93.3FM, Gold 90.5FM, Love 97.2FM, 987FM, Lush 99.5FM, and 938LIVE. For more information about these stations, click here

8. Apart from the various Digital Radio stations such as Cruise, Club Play & Class 95FM, can I receive other international radio stations with my DAB radio in Singapore?
The Eureka-147 terrestrial DAB transmission - which is the Digital Radio standard adopted by MediaCorp Radio's Digital Radio, was designed mainly for local broadcast service only. Therefore, you would not be able to receive other international radio stations with a DAB tuner in Singapore.

9. Why there is no sound when I tune to Rediffusion channels on my DAB radio?
Rediffusion channels are actually subscription-based DAB services from Rediffusion Singapore. You can only tune to these stations provided you are a Rediffusion subscriber with a dedicated Rediffusion DAB home receiver set. For more information, you may visit their website at http://www.rediffusion.com.sg/ or contact 6383-2633.

10. How can I access Digital Radio?
You need a DAB radio set and as long as there is DAB reception, you can access Digital Radio anywhere in Singapore whether you are at home, in the car, office, etc. If you do not have a DAB radio, you can still sample our Digital Radio service via our Internet radio service at http://www.digitalradio.sg. For more information on DAB reception, click here.

11. Do I need a special receiver to receive Digital Radio?
Yes. You will need a DAB radio set in order to receive Digital Radio. For more information on DAB radio, click here.

12. My radio has a digital display, and I can select the stations using station name. Is my radio a digital radio?
You are probably using a FM radio with RDS (Radio Data System, an add-on system for traditional FM broadcasting). Although FM RDS radio comes with digital display, and it allows you to select the stations using station name, it is neither a digital nor DAB radio. In fact, traditional FM and DAB are transmitting on different frequency band, and their transmissions are based on different technology as well. Therefore, you will need a DAB radio to receive Digital Radio DAB transmission and have all the other benefits of DAB; for instance, DAB offers high quality sound, more stations, easy to use and data services etc. All DAB radios should have a DAB logo.

13. I have bought a DAB radio recently, but why I cannot receive any of the Digital Radio DAB stations and the LCD display indicates “Station not available”?
You will have to do a full tune/scan of DAB channels if you are using your DAB radio for the first time. Please place your DAB radio near to the window or balcony, extend the antenna vertically and adjust the volume control to a suitable level. Press and hold down the “Auto tune” button for a few seconds. You may also select the DAB channels by manual tuning. Please refer to the user guide to learn more about your DAB radio.

14. Do I need to apply for another radio license for my DAB radio in Singapore?
Under the existing policy from the MDA (Media Development Authority) of Singapore, you do not need to apply for another radio license for your DAB radio in your home provided you already have a valid FM radio license. Similarly, you do not need to apply for another car radio license for your DAB car radio if you already have a valid FM car radio license.

16. Where can I buy a DAB radio in Singapore?
To get your DAB radio in Singapore, please contact the local dealers. For more information, click here.

17. I have the intention to buy a DAB radio from overseas, would there be any problem receiving Digital Radio in Singapore?
There should be no problem receiving Digital Radio in Singapore with the DAB radio purchased from overseas so long as it is an Eureka-147 standard DAB receiver. For more information on the various types of DAB radios available worldwide, click here.

18. Is Digital Radio purely about offering great sound and music only?
No. Digital Radio not only brings you high-quality sound over DAB radios, it also allows you to access up-to-date information in text and graphics. Depending on the type of DAB radio, you can access more than 20 types of timely data information services ranging from traffic reports, weather updates, news, airport flight schedules, to TV guide and lottery. For more information on our Digital Radio service, click here.

19. Can I find out more about the song that’s being played on Digital Radio?
Yes. You can access details such as the title of the song, and the name of the artistes as scrolling text display on all DAB radios. Depending on the type of DAB radio, you can also read juicy snippets and see pictures of your favourite stars or DJs.

20. DAB radio and road safety
DAB radio is safe to use while you are driving. But be sure that you only use the data services when your car is stationary. Remember, road safety is most important. For more tips on safe driving and guidelines on using DAB radio, click here.

2. Why is the frequency range for DAB higher than for FM?
These frequencies were actually assigned in 1992 at the WARC'92 (World Administrative Radio Conference) in Spain. The current spectrum for FM at VHF Band II is already too crowded.

3. What is the sampling rate for Digital Radio?
The sampling rate or sampling frequency for Digital Radio is 48MHz. This is according to the Eureka-147 DAB standard.

4. What is the DAB transmission coverage in Singapore?
There are currently two DAB transmitters for our Digital Radio transmission - one located in the West, and the other in the East of Singapore. With both transmitters, we have 99% DAB outdoor coverage island-wide within Singapore.

5. Any DAB coverage when I travel to Malaysia or any other countries out of Singapore? Can I still tune to Digital Radio?
There would not be any DAB reception for our Digital Radio service in Malaysia or any other countries outside Singapore. For other countries, you can still listen to our Digital Radio programme via our Digital Radio’s Internet radio service. To listen, visit our Digital Radio website at http://www.digitalradio.sg.

6. Is there a difference in sound quality if I listen to Digital Radio through the Internet and a DAB radio? Is it possible to stream the programme at a higher bit rate cause they don't sound too good over the Internet?
Digital Radio is a terrestrial digital service on VHF Band III. Listening to our Digital Radio station using a DAB radio would give you a much higher sound quality as compared to that on our Internet radio service. The main objective of our Digital Radio's Internet radio service is to showcase our Digital Radio stations such as Cruise, Club Play, Planet Bollywood, Chinese Evergreen and JK-Pop. To enjoy the true digital sound quality of these services, you would need to have a DAB radio. For more information on the various types of DAB radios available worldwide, click here. For more information on the various types of DAB radios available in Singapore, click here.

7. I have found that listening to Digital Radio from your website is not CD quality sound, how is it possible that Digital Radio can sound better than FM radio?
Please refer to Question 6 above.

8. Does the current StarHub (formerly SCV) outlet installed in most homes in Singapore carries DAB broadcast?
No. The current StarHub or SCV outlets do not carry our Digital Radio DAB RF signal. Having said that, however, one can receive very good DAB reception indoor in Singapore depending on several factors such as the height of your apartment with a DAB indoor antenna. Other factors include the location of your DAB home tuner or antenna. As a rule of thumb, it is recommended that you place your DAB radio or antenna near the window for better reception. For more information on DAB reception, click here.

10. I have placed my DAB tuner at the center of the living room. Is there any way which would help improve the DAB signal?
Although DAB is excellent at providing quality audio, the quality can suffer if the signal strength is too low. This is an indoor reception phenomenon that is inherent in any RF signal transmission whether it is a FM or DAB radio. You may extend your DAB antenna with a shielded coaxial RF cable to a location near to the window or balcony. Alternatively, you may want to use an active indoor antenna covering VHF band III from 174 – 240 MHz. For users with DAB portable radio, you may try relocating your DAB radio to a location with the best reception.

11. I have installed a DAB car radio with glass-mount antenna for my car recently, but I have reception problem almost everywhere especially when I drive under the flyovers.
Certain types of UV reflective adhesive film on your windscreen may affect DAB reception. The area of the adhesive film where the glass-mount antenna is located should preferably be removed. Also, avoid mounting the glass-mount antenna near or on the rear window demister. Please consult your DAB car radio dealer or refer to the user guide to learn more about your DAB car radio.

13. Why are there “bubble” sound distortion or no sound at all from my DAB car radio each time I drive into a HDB multi-storey carpark or basement carpark?
This is an indoor reception phenomenon that is inherent in any RF signal transmission whether it is an FM/AM analogue radio or DAB radio. There will always be a loss in RF signal as it penetrates through walls of buildings, etc. RF or Radio Frequency signal are actually modulated music signal before it is transmitted. At the listener's end, the radio set receives these signal, demodulates it before you can listen to the radio programme. In analogue system such as AM/FM, the music signal resembles that of the original waveform and therefore it is more prone to interference such as noise. A weak signal reception in AM/FM would produce a "fading or hissing noise sound" distortion. On the other hand for digital system as in DAB, music signal are represented in '1' and '0' or binary bits. Although these make it more robust against interference such as noise, a weak signal reception in DAB would either produce "bubble sound" distortion or no sound at all. The "bubble sound" distortion is due to an error correction process which fails to correct (or recover) the modulated signal as too much information was lost due to weak signal reception. No sound could be experienced if it fails to exceed a certain threshold due to weak signal reception since it can only identify signal presence in terms of either a '1' or '0' unlike an analogue system. For more information on DAB reception, click here.

14. Why do I experience loudness variation which differ in the various Digital Radio stations?
The perceived loudness can vary for different types of music. For example, 987FM tends to be perceived as louder because the dynamic range is much more compressed as compared to Love 97.2FM or Symphony 92.4FM. Also, speech material such as news programme from 938LIVE would generally be perceived as softer when you compared to any music stations in general.

15. Will there be any interference when I pass through the ERP gantry.
To the best of our knowledge, we haven't received any reports nor complaints from among our DAB listeners regarding interference from ERP gantry since the two frequencies are in an entirely different spectrum. ERP works in 2.4GHz while our DAB service is in the VHF Band III spectrum between 174kHz to 240kHz. We have also not received any reports nor complaints of any interference from buildings with high electronic interference in Singapore.

16. Can I revert back to the analogue mode if there is no DAB reception due to weak signal especially within HDB multi-storey carpark?
All DAB car radios come with FM and therefore, you would be able to tune to our FM radio service besides DAB. DAB car radios with “DAB-FM-AUTO” setting selected will automatically tune into the FM frequency of the station currently being received if DAB reception quality decreases severely as follows:

This feature is available on most DAB car radio models. If you have any doubt, please contact your DAB car radio retailer.

17. Can I tune to Digital Radio on my mobile phones with radio function?
Not at the moment as the current phones only carry analogue (FM) radio. DAB radio would probably be implemented in future mobile phones. Prototypes have already been developed that have DAB receiver since year 2000 by some companies such as Panasonic. There are other types of portable DAB radios which is able to receive our Digital Radio service. These are small Walkman-type models. For more information on the various types of DAB radios available worldwide, click here. For more information on the various types of DAB radios available in Singapore, click here.

18. Do I need a special housing for my DAB car radio?
No. Most sets in the market come ready to fit into the existing housing in your car. The separate DAB tuner pack fits nicely into your boot or under your car seat (like most CD changers) and the head-unit is in the same standard size as other FM headunits, which means it slots in nicely into the housing of your old FM set. Newer models come with the DAB tuner fully integrated in the head unit. For more information on DAB car radios, click here.

19. Are there any DAB developments in Singapore beyond Digital Radio?
MediaCorp Singapore has pioneered several initiatives in tapping the potential of DAB to deliver innovative mobile applications. We have showcased a successful integration of GSM/GPRS technology with DAB to provide a return path at Broadcast Asia 2001. Dubbed as the RadioDigital Mobile (RDM), it enables interactivity in DAB which is not traditionally possible using broadcast technology alone. In transportation, RDM can enable passengers on public transport using PDA or notebook computer to subscribe to a variety of services ranging from MP3 music listening or viewing videos to acquiring traffic & weather reports. In education, Socrates – a project completed in Oct 2003, takes the classroom out of the school by providing students and teachers with an easy-to-use tool to enhance their learning journeys, such as in field trips. There is also the possibility of outdoor advertising using DAB to deliver large-size stills to plasma screens. By leveraging on the strength of DAB we can bring it beyond its traditional role in audio broadcast.