Analog Tuner Existence.....

Jerryko,

Because there are still plenty of stations (we have 3 right here in Eugene) that still play music from the CD or even directly from (gasp!) vinyl. These are all public stations, and you can definitely tell the difference from the crappy compressed commercial stations you're referring to. If such commercial stations are your only choice, I agree that it doesn't matter what the signal OR the receiver is doing.

Jerryko,
I think you would be surprised of the sound quality of a good analogue tuner.
I'm not suggesting you buy one, just if you ever get a chance to listen to one.

The majority of my tuner use is back ground while I go about with other things.
A station that stands out is CBC Radio Canada ,with live in the studio chat, radio concerts to music documentaries.

There have been a few times where the quality of the broadcast has distracted me to a point where it made me stop what ever I was doing to listen.
And yes as Armstrod points out some of the public funded stations are certainly worth a listen to....

Trumpetbri, buy and enjoy that Mcintosh and don't listen to the rumours, because that's all they are.

Once in a while the local NPR station (WAMC) stops its left wing diatribe long enough to broadcast some live music. Even over the radio music that has never been run through a tape recorder sounds more real.

Stitskin, totally agree on your comments on CBC radio. They had a segment on in the summer that was all vynil. Just like you said I stopped and listened. Randy Bachman of BTO had a show as well talking and playing his guitar in the studio setting up songs to be played by various bands and guitar styles of play. It was great! Cheers

FWIW, here is the latest on the situation in Great Britain, as reported in the latest issue (September, 2009) of the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Spectrum:

Britain Mulls Over Digital Radio Transition:

The British communications ministry has released a road map calling for the completion of the nation’s move from analog FM to the digital audio broadcast (DAB) standard by the end of 2015. But DAB skeptics say that the move will waste money and that consumers just aren’t interested. Conversion will require anywhere from 120 to 700 new transmitters, according to Eureca Research analyst Gareth Owen, and there will be 130 million useless FM receivers to toss.

What’s more, the British government does not stand to make any money from freeing up bandwidth. Unlike the U.S. 700-megahertz spectrum—which sold for US $20 billion and will be used for new services—the FM space in Britain will simply go to small local commercial and community stations.

Regards,
-- Al