Hi my 2017 Fiesta's DAB is very poor even though I live within a few miles of Crystal Palace. My smax has perfect DAB reception though.

Anyone know why the Fiesta is so poor and what an be done about it? Don't want to use FM. DAB should and does work in my area.

DAB is awful and actually quite outdated. The only reason why DAB id any good is because there's more stations. Audio quality isn't as good for a start, it all gets compressed. Infact most of the broadcasters were mp2 quality (less than 80kbps) in a mono channel last time I looked. I've also heard DAB can only be broadcast at half strength due to interference.

I think it's just very hit and miss depending on what radio you use.

I just switch over to FM.   DAB is so unpredictable it's not worth the bother.

Mine works fine, but a DAB signal can easily weaken around trees and buildings and in that case it can disappear altogether rather than just become worse like an FM signal. I don't know whether Ford radios are DAB or the better DAB+, the latter is used widely across most of Europe, but not so widely in the UK yet

If I use my DAB radio in the garden the aerial generally has to be pointing in a certain direction whilst listening to certain stations. If you transpose that problem to a moving car the aerial is constantly changing direction and signal strength and so the sound will disappear more often. I just use a USB in the car loaded with 100's of tracks played on shuffle

Just a thought - I found that my dash cam interfered with DAB reception, also using a cheap charging lead for my phone.

Either of these a possibility in your case?

Is the difference because the Fiesta has an aerial in the glass and the S max has an external aerial?

dabonwheels.co.uk - external aerials supply and fit

3 hours ago, Jezza54 said:

Is the difference because the Fiesta has an aerial in the glass and the S max has an external aerial?

My aerial is on the roof at the front

Puzzled as to why your reception is bad especially in London- if there's nothing causing interference as I've said above then get it back to the dealer

Agreed - don't be too quick to give up on DAB. I've had no issues with reception in a whole variety of areas. All that said, I'm not sure what to suggest. Is performance any better on the national stations? 

Thanks for the replys. The fiesta aerial is on the roof as far as I know. The smax is in the rear glass. All stations are bad, even the supposedly strong signal ones like Kiss, LBC etc. I will approach the dealer but I think it's just a crap aerial personally. Sync is v5.9 and made no difference when upgraded from 5.2 or whatever it had from the factory too.