Radio reception via DAB offers many advantages in the car. However, the technology is often missing in older vehicles. But you can get good retrofit solutions for little money.
Anyone who likes to listen to the radio in the car while on the move will usually appreciate the benefits of digital DAB reception. When buying a new car equipped with a radio, DAB + is now standard equipment, because according to the Telecommunications Act, radio reception technology must have been available since the end of 2020. On the other hand, it is often missing in older cars. This can even become a problem, because classic FM reception is becoming obsolete in Europe. In Norway, for example, it was switched off in 2017. Other countries will follow. You don't necessarily have to buy a new radio for your car because there are versatile, talented retrofit systems for manageable sums of money.
DAB + even better
The advantages of DAB are obvious: even over long distances, your favorite station can be received clearly and robustly without annoying noise. This is especially the case when DAB + is on board. Some stations, such as Deutschlandradio, can even be received nationwide and continuously. In addition to interference-free reception and better playback quality, more stations and additional information on the weather and news are available. The annoying search for a station is also eliminated, because you can usually get a quick overview of the receivable stations.
If you want to use the advantages of DAB technology in your car, you can upgrade your existing audio system to it. The simplest and cheapest solution is to retrofit a digital radio receiver adapter. Similar to connecting an MP3 player, a small device is connected to the audio system via the aux connection. Often these are devices that measure a few centimeters square and can easily find a suitable place in the dashboard. In many cases, the receiver adapters are equipped with a display and other extras such as a hands-free device for mobile phones, memory card slots and USB ports for charging smartphones.
If the audio system in the vehicle does not offer an aux connection, many of the adapters on offer can alternatively convert the information received via DAB into an FM signal, which can then be received over a certain frequency with the old FM radio. The small DAB adapters are often offered at prices around 50 euros, a few offers are even over 100 euros.
There are also buttons and dials
It usually becomes three digits when you buy a completely new audio system. Here, too, there are many offers that of course enable DAB reception and then usually offer many other modern functions. The flatter one-DIN systems mostly rely on a monochrome display and a user interface with pressure and rotary controls. Double DIN devices are primarily offered with large color touch screens and with various infotainment functions such as GPS navigation and connectivity technology. The large devices are often available with surfaces in the look of the respective vehicle type. Such large multimedia devices usually cost around 200 euros, some are even more than 500 euros. Anyone who has a simple DIN slot can now also find suitable devices with a touchscreen in front of them in double DIN format.
You should be able to install all devices yourself. In many cases there are videos on the web that explain the installation. With the small adapters, it can often be a bit annoying to lay the cables necessary for the power supply, audio connection and the additional antenna neatly and as invisibly as possible. In addition, you have to find a suitable place for the adapter itself to lock it firmly. Here, too, the network offers suggestions for smart solutions. As far as the attachment and routing of the cables are concerned, plug-in systems for the DIN slots are usually the more elegant solutions.