Retro DAB

Author
Discussion

Phil Dicky

Original Poster:

7,173 posts

270 months

Monday 5th August 2019
quotequote all
What options are the best for retro fitting DAB, would ideally like something integrated as opposed to stand alone. Poss onto an Infinit FX.
Mods please don't move this as I'm hoping for info from a wider audience.

gmaz

4,629 posts

217 months

Tuesday 6th August 2019
quotequote all
Phil Dicky said:
What options are the best for retro fitting DAB, would ideally like something integrated as opposed to stand alone. Poss onto an Infinit FX.
Mods please don't move this as I'm hoping for info from a wider audience.
What does it have? Aux socket? USB port?

Phil Dicky

Original Poster:

7,173 posts

270 months

Wednesday 7th August 2019
quotequote all
Aux socket smile

Scrump

22,944 posts

165 months

Wednesday 7th August 2019
quotequote all
If you want to keep your exiting headunit and use the aux socket then the DAB must be a standalone unit.
Or do you want to change the complete headunit?

Maybe I am misunderstanding, in which case I apologise.

So

27,707 posts

229 months

Wednesday 7th August 2019
quotequote all
Phil Dicky said:
What options are the best for retro fitting DAB, would ideally like something integrated as opposed to stand alone. Poss onto an Infinit FX.
Mods please don't move this as I'm hoping for info from a wider audience.
When I had one fitted, the company advised against one hard-wired into the car (Porsche) because they were less reliable for some reason.

I had an Audio Leads unit fitted (4 years ago) which transmits on FM to the radio. It has been pretty much faultless. Okay it's FM quality, but Porsche's ICE it not the last word in quality anyway.


Tyre Smoke

23,018 posts

268 months

Wednesday 7th August 2019
quotequote all
I've got a hard wired stand alone unit hidden in the Range Rover. It too retransmits on FM which has been faultless. It also sends the station ID, so my display is like 88.1 Absolute

Best compromise without replacing the head unit.

K4TRV

1,819 posts

259 months

Wednesday 7th August 2019
quotequote all
I added Nextbase 350 for around £30 (used to be £100+ !!). Absolutely perfect using Aux input, but can also support FM - although I used a ("DAB-on") Antenna rather than the supplied window variety. Gives DAB Text and 12 preselectable channels.

Edited by K4TRV on Wednesday 7th August 14:31

mad4amanda

2,410 posts

171 months

Wednesday 7th August 2019
quotequote all
we had a pure standalone on our old car I thought it was rubbish but could have been the antenna?

gmaz

4,629 posts

217 months

Thursday 8th August 2019
quotequote all
I'd go for the nextbase or Pure 600

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nextbase-DAB350BT-Bluetoo...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pure-Highway-600-Adapter-...

As mentioned the aerial can make a lot of difference, you can try the supplied one or install a splitter

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Splitter-Antenna-Converte...

Edited by gmaz on Friday 9th August 13:42

Phil Dicky

Original Poster:

7,173 posts

270 months

Thursday 8th August 2019
quotequote all
Cheers for the advice.

mmm-five

11,446 posts

291 months

Friday 9th August 2019
quotequote all
gmaz said:
As mentioned the aerial can make a lot of difference, you can try the supplied one or install a splitter

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Splitter-Antenna-Converte...
How does that work with the Pure 600, as I'm looking to improve my crap reception.

There are no DAB antenna sockets on the 'head unit' and the only connection on the antenna is as picture below...

gmaz

4,629 posts

217 months

Friday 9th August 2019
quotequote all
mmm-five said:
gmaz said:
As mentioned the aerial can make a lot of difference, you can try the supplied one or install a splitter

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Splitter-Antenna-Converte...
How does that work with the Pure 600, as I'm looking to improve my crap reception.

There are no DAB antenna sockets on the 'head unit' and the only connection on the antenna is as picture below...
Yeah good point. The aerial says its compatible with Pure Highway but perhaps its an earlier version.

mmm-five

11,446 posts

291 months

Friday 9th August 2019
quotequote all
gmaz said:
Yeah good point. The aerial says its compatible with Pure Highway but perhaps its an earlier version.
Arse furious

Squishey

576 posts

135 months

Sunday 11th August 2019
quotequote all
I use one of these...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01KZ1S46A/ref=cm_sw_r...

... and the TuneIn app/radio-station-of-choice app - I have been doing so for about a year. It's cheap, sound quality is very good, battery lasts well over a week, gives flexibility (digital radio, YouTube, music stored on device, etc.), average data use of <7GB/mo.

The only downside that I've found is changing station, track or media source requires you to handle your phone.