No it is not. FM has serious limitations, even if internet radio has as well, and they are of course hard to compare directly. FM once was a big improvement over and above MW, but it has quite a few limitations. First, there is S/N, second there are relatively high levels of distortion and third there is only limited channel separation. As a consequence, no FM broadcast is done without (these days automatic) dynamic compression, in the best cases only to a quite limited extent, but quite often rather invasively.
Compare that to internet radio. There is no need for dynamic compression, nor does it suffer from any of the other compromises inherent to FM. On the other hand there is of course data compression, sometimes rather badly, depending on the bit rate that is chosen. However, the algorithms that are used are marvels of psycho acoustic technology with exceptionally small reduction in sound quality, particularly at the higher bitrates. BBC Radio 3 is broadcast in 320 kbps and their and others' research has shown that this is virtually indistinguishable from full Red Book CD (there are quite a few blind tests on the internet to take yourself - few people can identify above 256 kbps). Even so, the BBC is now experimenting with full red book CD internet streams in FLAC (i.e. some 600 kbps depending on the type of music). So, the comparison is between the kind of signal degradation from the FM technology and the degradation from data compression of the digital stream. In my experience (with an excellent FM tuner and good signal) the sound quality of internet radio at the higher bit rates that are increasingly common is significantly ahead of even good FM. That is the conclusion of the BBC, and I could not agree more. Moreover, the good news is that bit rates have been and are going up all the time.
Compare that to internet radio. There is no need for dynamic compression, nor does it suffer from any of the other compromises inherent to FM. On the other hand there is of course data compression, sometimes rather badly, depending on the bit rate that is chosen. However, the algorithms that are used are marvels of psycho acoustic technology with exceptionally small reduction in sound quality, particularly at the higher bitrates. BBC Radio 3 is broadcast in 320 kbps and their and others' research has shown that this is virtually indistinguishable from full Red Book CD (there are quite a few blind tests on the internet to take yourself - few people can identify above 256 kbps). Even so, the BBC is now experimenting with full red book CD internet streams in FLAC (i.e. some 600 kbps depending on the type of music). So, the comparison is between the kind of signal degradation from the FM technology and the degradation from data compression of the digital stream. In my experience (with an excellent FM tuner and good signal) the sound quality of internet radio at the higher bit rates that are increasingly common is significantly ahead of even good FM. That is the conclusion of the BBC, and I could not agree more. Moreover, the good news is that bit rates have been and are going up all the time.
