The future of my FM tuner is uncertain

[jma2]

Besides computer based audio listening and streaming I still listen to a great sounding Creek FM tuner which is connected via coax to my local provider (Internet, digital radio/TV and cable FM service).

I mainly listen to FM radio stations located outside the country, which cannot be received using an outdoor antenna on the roof for example.

End of the year my cable provider will remove analog FM from the cable, which is also happening in other countries in Europe to free up bandwidth to increase the Internet access throughput over the cable (via Docsis 3.1(?)). (Rumor has it that in 2030 FM broadcast in general will go away to release part of the spectrum for other purposes)

 

The foreign radio stations I listen to also provide streams to tune in (I have them as favorites in my LMS server), but the bitrate (and quality) of the streams is very poor compared to the way I'm used to listen. An A/B comparison makes you really cry 😞 So for the moment computer based audio unfortunately appears not to be helpful in this case.

 

Many people also refer to DAB+, but that's not an option with the foreign stations. A DVB-C radio tuner might be an option (some digital transmitted radio stations will remain on the cable) but I haven't seen any decent listening tests with those.

 

I'm not sure to what extent cable FM service is available outside Europe and if other people are confronted with a similar problem? If you have found or worked out solutions to somehow keep your FM tuner operational, let me know. I would hate to see my perfectly working, long-time companion FM-tuner on a large pile of other write-off working equipment, but for now I am pessimistic.

 

 

 

[jma2]

I have always been pleasantly surprised about the quality of cable distributed analog FM. It was like that with the hifi-set of my father and it is the same today in my set. I will enjoy it as long as I can...

 

Thank you all for the reactions! @gmgraves thank you for the historical perspective as it happened in the US... I liked it a lot!

[jma2]

19 hours ago, gmgraves said:

Never Mind. I looked it up. It's a euphemism for Digital Broadcasting piggybacked on the analog signal. I had just never heard it referred to HD radio because it isn't HD. The signal, as I understand it, goes through the same compressor and limiter as the analog broadcast signal. Hardly HD! 

Now that would be one hell of a check to do...  Digital Broadcasting piggybacked on the coax analog FM into my tuner 😉

Any such interface device for sale somewhere? The analog signal then might (?) inherit some sound-color from the tuner.

 

[Clarification: in my case that would mean "DVB-C digital audio over cable -> converter DVB-C-DAC-to-analog FM over cable -> Creek Destiny", also called the "Utopia" interface]

[jma2]

22 hours ago, AudioDoctor said:

I still listen to Minnesota Public Radio often, it is why I bought a receiver. I don't know what to do about your problem, I guess you'll have to stream stations over the internet.

I'm afraid that will be my destiny... not sure what destiny awaits my Creek Destiny.

I'll see if I can lobby somewhere to convince my sources to provide higher bitrate radio-streams.