HD Radio Quality v Streaming

[Drt2k3]

Would the quality of an HD radio stream on my phone be better, worse, or the same than the .2 subchannel on an HD radio. Debating on getting a Sangean HDR-14, but didn't know if it would be worth the $70

 

[bulwnkl]

Are you planning to listen through headphones, the built-in speakers of the respective machines, or how?

 

[Drt2k3]

Are you planning to listen through headphones, the built-in speakers of the respective machines, or how?

Probably the speaker on the radio? Would headphones make a difference

 

[Kevin]

Would the quality of an HD radio stream on my phone be better, worse, or the same than the .2 subchannel on an HD radio. Debating on getting a Sangean HDR-14, but didn't know if it would be worth the $70

I would say the stream via the phone is better because it’s true digital. The subchannels on HD Radio lack in loudness, and there seems to be less punch possibly because of the fact that on HD Radio it’s a hybrid signal. I personally would vote for the digital stream. As for the price $70. is a great price for any Sangean HD Radio product, so go for it and do both streaming and HD Radio. Dad used to say “don’t put all your eggs in on basket”.

 

[Kevin]

Probably the speaker on the radio? Would headphones make a difference

Yes, go with a good brand, somewhere in the $50. range. I treated myself to Bose, expensive but I deserve it.

 

[Drt2k3]

I would say the stream via the phone is better because it’s true digital. The subchannels on HD Radio lack in loudness, and there seems to be less punch possibly because of the fact that on HD Radio it’s a hybrid signal. I personally would vote for the digital stream. As for the price $70. is a great price for any Sangean HD Radio product, so go for it and do both streaming and HD Radio. Dad used to say “don’t put all your eggs in on basket”.

Thanks. I haven't really ever gotten into HD radio due to the price and lack of necessity, everything but on HD radio in my area is streaming and on an FM translators. I got a gift card though for Christmas and didn't know if it would be worth it

 

[bulwnkl]

Probably the speaker on the radio? Would headphones make a difference

Well, everyone's different, but to me smartphone speakers sound incredibly horrible, so comparing streaming through a phone speaker to HD subs on the HDR-14 (I have one), the HDR-14 sounds much better to me. If you're talking about a digital spy (Alexa, etc.), then that's different.

I was thinking, though, of whether (to me) the limiting factor would be the speaker's sound quality, or the quality of the transmission. Headphones and a quiet environment will let you hear the digital compression and limitations of both formats.

I listen to HD radio, including many subs, at work and in the car. In those environments sound quality is generally just fine. There are at least a couple local HD subs here that don't sound that great. Others are good. I have the same experience with streaming services, insofar as some are good, some not.

 

[boombox4]

Get the radio, then determine for yourself.

Some HD2 channels are NOT available online. My favorite one, KISW's Metal Militia (metal rock channel) isn't. I don't think the blues music one I listen to on and HD2 is available online either. Chances are you won't hear the difference. Sangean's radios have pretty good audio amps and speakers. My HDR-16 sounds great on FM and HD FM.

 

[Kevin]

Here in the Detroit area most HD sub-channels have poor quality, I find that most of the IHeart subs are the worst. It seems that these big radio companies like Entercom, IHeart and even Beasley just simply neglected the HD sub-channels, it’s possible that they just placed the HD equipment in a broom closet in the studio and put it on auto-pilot. There has been long periods of time that goes by on some HD 2’s and 3’s that are just dead air, And some have only a 6 hour song rotation. Simply put, it appears no one cares about the HD sub-channels. If the broadcasters don’t care about HD Radio then the listeners won’t care either.

 

[Harvey_Dogg]

Internet streams and hd radio can both sound really good or very bad. It depends on who's doing it and bit rate.

 

[spiritof67]

The sound quality of an internet stream has the potential to smoke an HD signal like a pack of Marlboro, due to fewer bandwidth restrictions. HD has a limited amount of spectrum compared to the growing capabilities of an online stream. The methods of audio compression have also improved over the years too. AAC streams can really put a lot of quality in a small file size.

If you were to buy an HD radio, the Sangean HDR-16 is a better bet over the HDR-14. It's portable, has good sound quality, and the AM section is sensitive and selective, HD or otherwise. My only negative is it does not have an external antenna jack.

 

[spiritof67]

I have done some comparative recordings of HD, versus AAC, and on air for AM stations KFUO and the HD-FM KMOX for anyone who would be interested.

 

[Drt2k3]

Thanks to everyone for the information.

I think I'm going to hold off on getting a Sangean right now unless they drop in price. I already have a really nice Eton Field Radio

There are only 3 HD stations in my area and all of them are steaming and have FM translators, so it's just not worth it to me to invest the $70 to $100 when the streaming quality should suffice for the 3 stations the Eton doesn't pick up

 

[Kevin]

You can’t go wrong with streaming. With tens of thousands of choices, the sky is the limit. Good Luck in your adventures with streaming. I have zero complaints about streaming and the quality is actually decent, if you’re inside of a building the signal is just as good as outside, unlike AM or FM where as the signal is nonexistent. Streaming is the radio of the 21st century. Enjoy!

 

[Ralph Martin]

Though I'm not an expert, I believe that HD Radio uses a similar codec to AAC. We stream AAC online, and the result sounds almost as good as our highest bit rate HD channel even though our online stream is a slightly higher bit rate (65Kbps) than our HD counterpart (48Kbps).

Our online bit rate is relatively low to be more compatible with the data demands of our mobile phone listeners (mostly a young audience). Our HD rate is chosen to match the blending characteristics of our analog FM channel. Both codecs seem to hold up well for our purposes. We've seemed to come a long way since the cringe days of mp3 compression.

 

[Kelly A]

The biggest difference between an analog FM and HD stream is:
Superior signal to noise over analog. (whatever the original recording and studio equipment makes is all)
Superior stereo separation over analog (no analog crosstalk or effects from transmitter AM noise)
Better frequency response over analog: 40hz-20kHz vs 60hz-13kHz

I've noted, especially iHeart rock stations, that they WAY over-process their audio. Since these stations use audio processing that does both analog and HD, the digital stream gets trashed along with the analog.

 

[Ralph Martin]

Agreed. I have to process our digital stream for our HD1 to match the FM analog audio as much as possible. This may not be of concern to higher-powered stations where their target audience is well within their service contour. An LPFM signal can barely cover a medium-sized city. This means that blending from HD to FM in a car radio is inevitable for most listeners. The audio must sound fairly consistent as it blends back and forth.

As for HD Radio vs online streaming. This is a different challenge. As far as the codec is concerned, they seem to be fairly similar given comparable bit rates.

 

[theman8410]

One item I have noticed is that the HD+ signals seem to be very sensitive to distance from the transmitter...even more so than the HD1 signal, and they seem to be blocked rather easily by obstacles that HD1 has no trouble with.

In regard to streaming I have discovered some apps that feature multiple, multiple stations and you believe at first sight that you have really stumbled across a bonanza that allows you to stream without downloading a myriad of individual apps. But as you listen to more and more stations you discover that in many cases these multiple station platforms simply do not measure up to the individual apps. Volume can be very iffy, and the depth of the sound quite weak in many cases. You just have to pick and choose what to listen to and where for the best experience.

 

[Ralph Martin]

One item I have noticed is that the HD+ signals seem to be very sensitive to distance from the transmitter...even more so than the HD1 signal, and they seem to be blocked rather easily by obstacles that HD1 has no trouble with.

HD1 blends automatically between the station's digital and analog services, so they complement each other when the signal struggles. This change is barely noticeable if the station has its diversity delay and processing set correctly. The higher channels don't have the same blending capability, so you might notice dropout.

 

[Ai4i]

Debating on getting a Sangean HDR-14.

I would recommend a radio that has a heftier feel to it plus significantly better audio quality.
It was branded as the Gracedigital Sparc SHD-T750, but they are out of production and out of stock.
The radios were priced in the low $100 range but they keep going up and are still available at Amazon and eBay.

But actually, I would recommend streaming online