@Subbu68, DSP tuning is pervasive now, it’s difficult to find a new pure analog tuner these days. At most one gets an analog scale where tuning is still DSP assisted.
The verdict on DSP is still however, split. I have been doing some research to buy a serious FM radio and what I concluded is the following:
- If listening to select radio stations is the objective, then DSP is well-suited for it. It improves the selectivity of the station (containing the interference from nearby stations) and results in clearer reception. Also it holds onto the signal well without drifting. This works well for most listeners explaining why all manufacturers have shifted onto DSP.
- But if your main purpose is DXing (surfing the waves and exploring newer, distant stations), the tuning experience with even the best DSPs leaves a lot to be desired in comparison with analog tuning of the past. The biggest problem is muting (you don’t hear a sound between two stations - something which normal users would like, but DXers hate. Then, you risk the DSP tuning skipping weaker stations which you got to hear faintly on analog tuning (and then could converge upon by fine tuning, antenna movement etc). Then there are unwanted pops/clicks in some DSP tuners or even the rise and fall in volume levels while tuning which is irritating. The analog tuning experience is generally considered a smoother one. Having said that, the better DSP tuners can extract more number of stations in a scan than most DXers can unless they spend hours with it.
