HD Radio

dborzz

I am really curious about HD radio tuners and was wondering if you guys(or gals) on here had any experience with them. I see they can be had for fairly cheap and was wondering if it was worth it. I know my XM sucks for all the hype it has received over the years. Hd is free aside from the cost of the tuner so that is a nice attribute, but is the quality like they say it is? Thanks

comfortablycurt

I've been wondering the same thing myself. I've never heard HD Radio before to the best of my knowledge...I'd be interested in hearing it sometime.

I wouldn't mind getting an HD radio tuner myself sometime down the line. I don't listen to the radio enough to justify paying for XM or Sirius...HD may be the way to go.

zingo

Ditto. What I have heard SQ wise is that AM sounds like FM and FM sound like a CD. I hear it advertised on a lot of the local radio stations, but still haven't heard it myself.

dborzz

Lots of curious folks, let's hope somebody has some good news for us!!

BlueFox

I've looked into and considered buying the Polk Isonic for my office area. However, from what I have read is the HD part is more marketing than fact. While the signal is digital it is suppossed to be MP3 quality, not uncompressed CD quality. Of course, for casual background music that is probably fine.

dborzz

I've seen the Sony hd tuner for like 50 bucks, maybe I should take one for the team and spring for it and see what happens.

Early B.

I had an HD tuner in my car for a minute and didn't like it. If reception is not good, it'll cut out altogether, then pop back on a few seconds later. At least with FM you may get a bit of static, but at least it won't drop the signal. Besides, the SQ wasn't particularly spectacular. FWIW, I quickly sold it for a non-HD tuner.

dborzz

Well I wonder how different it would be for home because that's what I want. From a fixed position it should be able to lock on(supposedly) and I guess the question is would it be crystal clear. I hate static so I'm glad to hear that it's at least all or nothing.

thsmith

There is a forum over at avs but they do not sound to positive about it.

dborzz

Are they positive about anything over there? lol, I can't go look because they'll make fun of my set-up.

MillerLiteScott

I have the Sony XDR-F1HD. It is nice compact unit but has a few oddities about it. Some hackers have found some work arounds but I have not even thought about making the mods.

I will say I have only used it in less than Ideal conditions. I bought it because every other tuner I owned was having a difficult time pulling in the local radio stations that I listen to. I use it in an Aluminum job site trailer with steel crossed type protection screens over the window and I am sitting in a valley. With the HD tuner I was able to pull in the stations I was unable to pull into well enough to make them listenable. One of the stations I listen to would drop out of HD occasionally and would make some smeared digital noises as it switched between analogue and Digital HD. Some hacks have figured out how to force the analogue even when the HD signal is present.

For the most part the stations it pulled in sounded pretty good for listening while working. When the HD was locked ( which is most (98%) of the time) the signal is very clear.

It has a very limited power for back up memory for your presets and will lose them after about 5 minutes. Again the hacks have found a capacitor mod to solve this problem. It also runs very hot. Think of a small tube amp hot.

YMMV.

All in all it allows me to listen to radio stations that I was not able to listen to before.

Scott

dborzz

Good info Scott, thanks. I've also looked at the newer Sangean model. It has an optical connect and it costs more than double the Sony. I don't know if I want to experiment by spending that much though....lol

imchas

I have a buddy who does alot of odd jobs and is always all over, he has one he carries with him and in his truck, the few times I have had a chance to hear it it seemed pretty good, I am not sure of brand or model number.

WilliamM2

I had an HD tuner. Waste of time in my opinion, FM sounds better. HD does not stand for high definition, but "hybrid digital". It's a lossy format, most stations broadcast 110, 112, or 150kbs. Not even as good as most MP3's.

Also check your area, around here there was only 1 HD channel.

dborzz

I have a few hd stations around here, although I've also heard that the newer models help out FM reception a great deal as well.

cambir

I have the Sangean HDT-1 tuner. I have been very satisfied with both the reception of the tuner and the SQ of HD radio.

No, it is not "CD" quality, but yes it does seem to clear up some of the background noise that some stations have.

The Sangean will first find an analog station, then it will search and lock in the HD if it exists and the tuner can find it. There is just a slight pause when it switches to HD. If no HD, then it just remains on the regular analog station.

The Sangean doesn't really run hot either. I haven't noticed any more heat when in HD mode than analog, and only a little warm after hours of playing.

Overall, very happy with my HD Radio. Any locals are welcome to come check it out.

dborzz

Thanks cambir....I may have to consider one of the Sangeans, newegg has a good price on the latest version.

cambir

I have found the most annoying thing about HD radio is the ridiculously bright blue/purple backlight on the front panel of the tuners. The Sangean has it (though I have read online there may be a way to dim it, I haven't figured it out yet) and the Sony has it too. I'm planning on making some sort of flap to cover it up for movie watching.

criteriadan

dborzz wrote: »

I have a few hd stations around here, although I've also heard that the newer models help out FM reception a great deal as well.

I think they do