Lefty,
LoL ... Of course, digital won't sound as good as AM stereo. If a broadcaster wants the highest fidelity for musical sources, then analog or AM stereo is best.
I want to broadcast audio, text, pictures, and even video some day via the MW band ... 😉
From initial experiments, I've mated the ATU from Radio Systems' older I.AM. Radio transmitter with the 30 mW DRMAX-1 transmitter. Currently, the siting of my ATU isn't optimal. The ATU is ungrounded and ~ 9' high on an aluminum pole. Furthermore, a metal-sided house is within 5' of the pole to the south ... 😉 About 1' of the monopole's tip clears the roofline to the southwest and southeast while the southerly direction is completely blocked. The direction to the north is clearest. I can reliably achieve an average SNR of ~ 10 dB in northerly directions for a couple of city blocks. This minimal field intensity currently confines me to a robust configuration consisting of a Main Service Channel (MSC) of 16 QAM and Mode B which allows a bit-rate of ~ 13-14 kbps. Yeah, with the current AAC+ codec, I forgo Spectral Band Replication (SBR), but the audio is still adequate for talk radio. When the xHE-AAC codec (USAC) is finally implemented in DReaM, then I'll be able to broadcast better quality of audio while maintaining lower bit-rates for maximal coverage. I'm sure my current setup can be improved somewhat. Although DReaM doesn't currently employ the USAC codec, it does include the non-standarized Opus codec which I will also be testing. I can even broadcast webpages via radio ... 😉 Thus far, I'm truly delighted with the flexibility afforded me by the DRMAX-1.
I plan on uploading pictures and audio in due time. If you would like to hear a source (no copyrights, please) rendered in low bit-rate digital via AAC+, send me some links ... 😉 If possible, I'll also render the source in Opus at higher bit-rate, but the range won't be more than half a city block with my current setup. 😉