UK National DAB Muxes

DAB radio stations in the United Kingdom are broadcast on a number of frequency blocks on VHF Band III. The original plan devised in Wiesbaden for the framework of DAB in Europe was to allocate frequency blocks 11B to 12D for UK DAB broadcasting. However, as part of its Review of Radio, Ofcom has expanded the frequency allocations for DAB and has advertised local and a national ensemble licence on blocks outside the original Wiesbaden plan on 10B to 10D and 11A. Block 5A has also been reserved for the launch of local ensembles.

For more information see: Digital Radio Independent and BBC (PDF)
For more information on DAB see: DAB Ensembles Worldwide
For BBC DAB services see: BBC National DAB

Bitrates & Sound Quality

MagicThere is much criticism of the poor flat quality of DAB services in the UK, this is due to a policy of ‘quantity over quality’, even on BBC DAB. This along with the continued use of the outdated DAB technology results in a service that has a far inferior sound quality to FM radio. DAB is far less efficient than the newer DAB+ technology.

Joint Stereo – Audio mode in which two channels forming a stereo pair (left and right) are encoded within one bitstream and for which stereophonic irrelevance or redundancy is exploited for further bit reduction.
Mono LSF (Low Sampling Frequency) – Low bitrate encoding with halved sampling rate.
HE-AAC (High-Efficiency Advanced Audio Coding) – More efficient high-quality multichannel and stereo audio codec used with DAB+.

DAB
Audio codec: MPEG 1 Layer II
Better than FM quality requires 192-256 kbps
Similar to FM quality requires 160-192 kbps

Acceptable, worse than FM 128-160 kbps
(Based on stereo services)

DAB+
Audio codec: HE-AAC v2
Better than FM quality requires 56-96 kbps
Similar to FM quality requires 40-64 kbps
Acceptable, worse than FM 24-48 kbps
(Based on stereo services)


 

Digital One

Digital One

Digital One launched in November 1999 and has held the only digital radio licence for national commercial radio in the UK ever since. It broadcasts a broad range of content including traffic data services and some of the UK’s most profitable radio stations.

The company is wholly owned by Arqiva, one of the UK’s biggest communications infrastructure companies which operate across broadcast, satellite and mobile communications markets. Digital One’s head office is in central London alongside other Arqiva businesses.

Digital One is committed to the long-term promotion of digital radio in the UK and beyond. Together with the BBC and the big commercial radio groups, it is active in organisations including Digital Radio UK and WorldDMB (an international partnership of broadcasters, manufacturers and regulators).

Website: www.ukdigitalradio.com

Digital 1 Network
Updated: February 26 2020
Service Service ID Bitrate Audio Description
Absolute Radio
C1C0
80 kbps
Mono
Adult contemporary music, carries London output during programme splits, but with national news.
Capital UK
C5DA
80 kbps
Mono
Pop Music.
Capital Xtra
C37B
40 kbps Stereo HE-AAC v2 Urban & Dance Music. (DAB+)
Capital Xtra Reloaded
 CCE9
40 kbps 
Stereo HE-AAC v2
Urban & Dance Music. (DAB+)
Classic FM
C2A1
128 kbps
Joint stereo
Classical music.
GOLD UK
CEE8 40 kbps Stereo HE-AAC v2 Golden Oldies. (DAB+)
Heart Dance
CFE8 40 kbps Stereo HE-AAC v2 Dance Music. (DAB+)
Heart extra
CFS1 40 kbps Stereo HE-AAC v2 Rhythmic AC & Hot AC. (DAB+)
Heart 70s
CAE9 40 kbps Stereo HE-AAC v2 70s Music (DAB+)
Heart 80s
C1DC 40 kbps Stereo HE-AAC v2 80s Music. (DAB+)
Heart 90s
CBE9 40 kbps Stereo HE-AAC v2 90s Music (DAB+)
KISS C5C0 80 kbps Mono A London based station specialising in hip hop, R&B, urban and electronic dance music.
KISSTORY CFE6 80 kbps Mono Pop music.
LBC
C0C2
64 kbps
Mono LSF
News & Talk.
LBC News
C8EA
31 kbps
Stereo HE-AAC v2
News. (DAB+)
Magic
C0C6
80 kbps
Mono
Melodic soft adult contemporary hits.
Radio X
C4CD 40 kbps Stereo HE-AAV v2
Rock Music. (DAB+)
Smooth Extra
C6C0
32 kbps
Stereo HE-AAC v2
Easy Listening. (DAB+)
Talksport
C0C0
64 kbps
Mono LSF
Sport & Talk.
UCB1 UK
C4CA
64 kbps
Mono LSF
Christian music.
INRIX UK TPEG
E1C000BA
16 kbps
Packet Data
Hidden service.
Multiplex Label: Digital1 Network
Operator: Digital One
Transmission Standard: DAB & DAB+
England, Wales & N. Ireland: Block 11D: 222.064MHz
Allotment: G__60001 England I
Allotment: G__60002 Wales I
Scotland: Block 12A: 223.936MHz
Allotment: G__60011 Scotland I
Transmitter Sites: Digital One Transmitters
On-Air: April 1999
D1 National – CU Allocation D1 National – FIC Datarate
D1 CU Allocation D1 FIC Datarate
D1 National – FIG Statistics D1 National – Ensemble
D1 FIG Statistics

 



Sound Digital

Sound DigitalSound Digital, the joint venture company formed by Arqiva, Bauer Media and UTV Media. The UK’s second national commercial DAB digital radio multiplex network will launch on Monday 29th February 2016. Three of them will be broadcasting in DAB+ – Fun Kids, Jazz FM and a new service called Magic Chilled from Bauer.
There is no information on the bitrates that will be used by the various stations at present.

Tuning to Block 11A
The frequency allocated to the second national commercial multiplex lies outside the range of the seven blocks used during the initial UK DAB roll-out. Some older radios may not include Block 11A in their automatic scans. In this case, select the option “Full Scan” in the receiver’s menus. This may also be called a “Rest of the World” scan, as opposed to a “UK” scan.

SDL National
Updated: February 26 2020
Service Service ID Bitrate Audio Description
Absolute 80s C8D8 80 kbps Mono 80s music.
Absolute 90s CAC2 80 kbps Mono 90s music.
ForcesRadio BFBS C5E0  24 kbps Stereo HE-AAC v2 Pop  Music (DAB+)
Fun Kids C5D8 24 kbps Mono HE-AAC v2 National children’s radio station. (DAB+)
JACK Radio (UK) CAE0 32 kbps Stereo HE-AAC v2 Pop music. (DAB+)
Jazz FM Stereo CAD7 32 kbps Stereo HE-AAC v2 Jazz Music. (DAB+)
Love Sport C3EB 24 kbps Stereo HE-AAC v2 Sport. (DAB+)
Mellow Magic C5D8 80 kbps Mono Relaxing and melodic music.
Panjab Radio CED8 56 kbps Mono LSF Delivering extra choice for British Sikhs and Panjabi speakers.
Planet Rock C7D8 80 kbps Mono Classic rock music.
Premier Christian Radio CCD8 64 kbps Mono LSF Christian music and speech.
Premier Praise! CDD8 64 kbps Mono LSF Christian music and speech.
Scala Radio CDE6 112 kbps Joint-Stereo Classical Music.
Sunrise Radio UK C9D8 64 kbps Mono LSF Asian music and speech programmes.
talkRADIO C0D8 64 kbps Mono LSF News and current affairs.
talkSPORT2 C1D8 64 kbps Mono LSF Live sports and sports talk.
UCB2 C8D8 64 kbps Mono LSF Christian Music.
Union Jack C7FF 32 kbps Stereo HE-AAC v2 British Music. (DAB+)
Virgin Anthems C7E6 32 kbps Stereo HE-AAC v2 Pop music. (DAB+)
Virgin Chilled C8E6 32 kbps Stereo HE-AAC v2 Pop music. (DAB+)
Virgin Radio C3D8 80 kbps Mono Rock and pop music.
Multiplex Label: SDL National
Operator: Sound Digital (Arqiva/Bauer/UTV)
Transmission Standard: DAB & DAB+
Block 11A: 216.928 MHz
Allotment: G__60004 England II
Allotment: G__60032 Isle of Man II
Allotment: G__60022 Northern Ireland II
Allotment: G__60012 Scotland II
Allotment: G__60005 Wales II
Transmitter Sites: 45 transmitters across the UK, providing coverage for 73% – 75% of UK households and 63% – 65% of major UK roads.
On-Air: February 29, 2016
SDL National – CU Allocation SDL National – FIC Datarate
Sound Digital CU Allocation SDL National FIC Datarate
SDL National – FIG Statistics SDL National – Ensemble
SDL National FIG Statistics SDL National Multiplex Configuration
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