What Is DAB+? How Digital Radio Differs from FM in Switzerland, Explained

A radio brought from abroad either works here or it does not, and one small symbol usually decides it. Swiss radio is now built around DAB+, and a set that cannot do DAB+ no longer receives the SRG stations.

DAB and DAB+ are not the same thing

DAB stands for Digital Audio Broadcasting. DAB+ is the improved version, introduced in 2006 according to dabplus.ch. It compresses the audio with a more efficient method (MPEG-4 AAC+), so one frequency block can carry more programmes. dabplus.ch puts the figure at up to 18 programmes per block.

Switzerland moved exclusively to DAB+ by 2016, according to dabplus.ch. On the box, the label to look for is DAB+, not just DAB. The glossary explains terms such as multiplex and ensemble in a few lines each.

What changes at the radio

An FM radio tunes one frequency per station. A DAB+ radio does something different: it receives a whole bundle of stations at once, called a multiplex or ensemble, and the scan picks the stations out of it. Switch the radio on, run the station scan, and the list builds itself, sorted alphabetically.

Nobody has to remember a frequency. You pick a name from the display.

How DAB+ differs from FM

Sound and failure behaviour are the two differences you will notice first. FM crackles and hisses as the signal fades. DAB+ does the opposite: Kassensturz, the SRF consumer programme, noted in 2019 that it goes silent when the signal is too weak. A good signal sounds clean, a poor one gives nothing.

Tunnels show the difference. dabplus.ch says DAB+ reception in tunnels is markedly better than FM, and all national road tunnels longer than 300 metres have been equipped with DAB+ since the end of 2019.

The number of stations is the other difference. dabplus.ch counts 12 language-regional and regional networks and 18 local ones, with more than 150 programmes in total. Your own region will carry fewer than that. The coverage page shows how to see what you can receive at home.

How to recognise a DAB+ radio

SRF gives the checks that work on any device. The label DAB+ appears on the device or in the manual. A plus sign follows the station name on the display. A radio sold only as a digital radio is not necessarily DAB+, so that phrase alone does not settle it.

If the radio is old, the quickest test is to run a station scan and see whether anything appears. Nothing at all points to a radio without DAB+. A scan that finds only some stations usually points to reception, and the checklist for a radio that finds no stations goes through it step by step.

What the plus adds in practice

On a DAB+ radio the station name appears without any frequency, and the list stays the same as long as the radio stays in the same region. The display can also show a line of running text with the title or programme, and some stations send small pictures. Those extras depend on the broadcaster and on the radio’s display; the sound is unaffected when a radio leaves them out. Moving to another region usually means a new station scan, so the list matches the networks there.

Where DAB+ sits next to the other ways to listen

Internet radio uses your broadband or mobile data and works anywhere you have a connection, but it needs that connection and a device that can use it. The public broadcasters also stream everything. FM remains a separate system and is covered on the FM switch-off page, which has a dated log of what has been decided.

DAB+ on its own needs no internet connection. A battery radio on a balcony can play Swiss stations without a router in sight, provided the signal reaches that spot. For buying advice by room, start with the DAB+ radio guide.