Both Bauer and Global have recently launched further new stations on DAB+ digital radio. Setting aside (mostly) the debate on whether or not jukebox style automated stations can be called radio station, I thought a take a quick listen to three of them; Greatest Hits Radio 60s from Bauer, Capital Anthems from Global, and Smooth 80s from Global.
Greatest Hits Radio 60s
As far as I know (but without checking), Greatest Hits Radio 60s does have a full daytime schedule, and can be found on the SDL National DAB multiplex. Certainly, there was a presenter on the station when I tuned in at 7.30am, though I didn’t manage to catch his name.
Music wise, the station sounds very similar to the main station, and a reasonable number of different tracks on the playlist, albeit from a decade earlier than the 70s, 80s, and 90s featured on the main station. Like the main station, all the tracks sounded fairly similar, blending in to one another and sounding very ‘safe’.
A mere 32kbps second is allocated to the station, and that a low bit rate, the station will sound poor on most radios. However, the processing seems good, and the older music means this station isn’t as bad as some others for “bubbling mud” sound quality issues.
One Word Review: Average
Capital Anthems
Like Greatest Hits Radio 60s, Capital Anthems from Global can be found on the SDL National DAB multiplex, again with a bit rate of 32 kbps (DAB+). The slogan is “The Music That Capital Made Famous”, which naturally means a mostly pop music playlist with songs largley from around 10 to 15 years ago.
I’ll be brutally honest with this one. Capital Anthems is the poorest excuse for a radio station I’ve come across. There was no presenter led content (live or pre-recorded), even when I was listening at around 6pm. The playlist sounds like a clone of Heart’s (another Global owned station), and having listened to Capital around 2013/2014 myself, very few of the songs were ones that I recognised as having been played on the station back then.
The sound quality was absolutely dreadful through my car’s speakers. Completely flat, with a good dollap of “bubbling mud”. 32 kbps is clearly not enough bandwith for a contemporary pop music station, and quite frankly I’d rather listen to Heart whith the same songs but with vastly better sound quality (on FM or 112 kbps on DAB in my area). At least my kitchen radio is not DAB+ compatible so I don’t have to waste time skipping past this garbage.
One Word Review: Pathetic
Smooth 80s
In a recurring theme, Global’s Smooth 80s is a station that can be found on the SDL National DAB multiplex, with a bit rate of 32 kbps (DAB+). The 80s is the dacade most covered by decade themed spin off stations, with long established Absolute 80s having been joined by Heart 80s, Nation 80s, and probably a few others along the way.
Sound quality wasn’t as bad as Capital Anthems, but through the same speakers, again there was plenty of “bubbling mud”, but wasn’t quite as flat sounding. I was expecting quite a lot of overlap with other 80s stations, but was pleasantly surprised that Smooth 80s has stuck to the roots of the main station and focused on the easy listening genre. There was, however, no presenter led content (live or pre-recorded), even when I was listening at around 6.15pm, which is rather disappointing for a national station.
The probablem with Smooth 80s though is that the bulk of the songs I heard were ones that I’ve either heard or would expect to hear on the main station, and to be honest, I would rather listen to the main Smooth station (on FM or 112 kbps on DAB in my area) even just for better sound quality.
One Word Review: Poor