What Is DAB Radio and What Does DAB Stand For?
DAB stands for Digital Audio Broadcasting. It is a digital radio standard that transmits several stations together as data on a single frequency, rather than one station per frequency as FM does.
What Does DAB Stand For?
DAB stands for Digital Audio Broadcasting. Each of the three words is doing work: the signal is digital rather than analogue, it carries audio encoded as data, and it is broadcast over the air to any receiver in range rather than streamed to you individually over the internet.
When people say "a DAB radio" they mean a set with a DAB tuner in it, capable of picking up those broadcasts. The letters describe the transmission standard, not a station or a frequency.
What Is DAB Radio?
DAB radio is digital radio sent over the airwaves and received by a set with a DAB tuner. It was introduced to deliver clearer sound than analogue FM, room for far more stations, and more efficient use of the available broadcast spectrum.
It is now the mainstream way the UK listens. Today 75% of all UK radio listening happens digitally, with DAB accounting for the largest share of those digital hours, across radios in homes, cars and portable devices.
How Does DAB Radio Work?
Instead of broadcasting one station per frequency the way FM does, DAB uses multiplex transmission: a single frequency block, called a multiplex, carries several stations at once as a stream of data. Your radio scans the multiplexes available where you are, reads the list of stations each one carries, and shows them to you by name.
This is why you select a station on DAB rather than dialling in a number. In the UK, Ofcom licenses these multiplexes, including the small-scale DAB networks that independent stations like Subjam broadcast on.
What Is DAB+ and Is It Different?
DAB+ is a newer, more efficient version of the original DAB standard, and the difference matters more than the small plus sign suggests. It compresses audio more efficiently, so a multiplex can carry more stations without losing quality, which is why most newer stations launch on DAB+.
The catch is backwards compatibility: a DAB-only radio cannot receive DAB+ stations at all. Sets from roughly before 2013 are the usual culprits, and there is no fix beyond replacing the radio. If other people can hear a station and it is missing from your list entirely rather than sounding poor, an older DAB-only set is the most likely explanation.
Do I Need a Special Radio?
You need a set with a DAB tuner, because an FM-only radio cannot receive DAB at any frequency. That includes dedicated DAB radios, most car stereos fitted in the UK over the past decade, and many internet radios and smart devices.
When buying, check it says DAB+ and not only DAB, for the reason above. Getting tuned in is then a matter of running a scan and saving a preset, which our guide to listening to Subjam on DAB covers step by step, including what to do when a station does not show up.
Why DAB Matters for Specialist Music
Digital broadcasting lowers the cost of getting on air, which lets stations exist for audiences too small to ever justify an FM licence. A national FM slot has to appeal broadly to be viable, whereas a small-scale DAB multiplex can carry a station built entirely around one sound.
Underground dance music is the clearest example, and it is how Subjam works. We run 24/7 across the full garage spectrum, from old school and vocal through to underground and new school, with DJ-led shows rather than an automated playlist.
You can hear it on DAB, online, through smart speakers or on mobile. Our ways to listen page has every route in with direct links, and listen live starts the stream straight away in your browser.
