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HD Portable Review

C

clouseau

Review of the new portable HD radio by Insignia. BTW this review was apparently requested by Barry Mishkind - noted, but civil, HD radio detractor. Nice to actually see some honesty with regards to this product.

Not that you need my blessing, but feel free to denigrate this guy into oblivion. I suspect if he reads this board, he'll understand the phrase "Rue the day". :)

Clouseau

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAdNbSqvuIk
 
clouseau said:
Review of the new portable HD radio by Insignia. BTW this review was apparently requested by Barry Mishkind - noted, but civil, HD radio detractor. Nice to actually see some honesty with regards to this product.

Not that you need my blessing, but feel free to denigrate this guy into oblivion. I suspect if he reads this board, he'll understand the phrase "Rue the day". :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAdNbSqvuIk
Click to expand...

I don't feel much different about this product than I did about the Sony XDR-F1HD, of which I've purchased several. Reportedly, it does a nice job with conventional FM (although it would be nice to have a menu option to force it to analog) although there are some bugs with the RDS display.

But the lack of AM capability has some of us wondering: why not? iBiquity has been telling us all along that IBOC digital would be the salvation of AM radio, and even former FCC Chairman Kevin Martin believed it. Are we to assume it won't work in a portable?

I was even tempted yesterday to buy one of these Insignias, but after thinking it over, I decided to spend the 50 bucks on a new set of spark plugs for my pickup truck. Much better return on investment.
 
clouseau said:
Review of the new portable HD radio by Insignia. BTW this review was apparently requested by Barry Mishkind - noted, but civil, HD radio detractor. Nice to actually see some honesty with regards to this product.

Not that you need my blessing, but feel free to denigrate this guy into oblivion. I suspect if he reads this board, he'll understand the phrase "Rue the day". :)

Clouseau

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAdNbSqvuIk
Click to expand...

I don't think that's true - I'm certainly not going to criticize the review. For one thing, two of the most contentious issues are AM HD and the requested 10 fold increase for IBOC on the FM band. Well, the unit doesn't have AM and if it does well on FM - that simply supports our argument that there's little gained by ruining the FM band by increasing the digital juice.

Honestly, I am leaning more and more toward buying one. Not that I'm such an HD booster (I'm not), but it would be fun to play with it and to check out real world reception of the HD-1 signals and of the subs. I've always maintained that they need to get portables on the market ASAP to even have a prayer at general acceptance. Not that this particular model will sell that well (aside from us geeks), but it's what they need to do to stay in the game.

I still think that HD is a fart in the wind - a failed attempt to compete with alternate entertainment sources. If this particular model is any indication, then perhaps FM can stay as is and AM HD should be discontinued. To those of you who are into the "PC" thing, let's think of it as saving the environment by decreasing unnecessary electrical usage. Good for a dozen of Al Gore's super-duper carbon credits!!! ;D
 
What happens if I go running 40 miles from the tower? will it pick up HD? :-\
 
I'm not gonna denigrate anybody. It was an interesting review, fairly and professionally done. Relax, Inspector.

I will observe two things: first of all there was no evaluation of performance whatsoever - no comment on how it sounded, how it picked up signals, or how stable acquistion of HD signals and subs was. Essentially the reviewer walked through its features and described how it worked, where he bought it and how much it cost.

I don't know how many of you watched this ten-minute video all the way through, but there was a most telling little instance of "obiter dictum" right at the end when the reviewer said:

"I thought I'd pick it up, since it's probably gonna be a collector's item."
 
Savage said:
"I thought I'd pick it up, since it's probably gonna be a collector's item."
Click to expand...

Yeah, I caught that too! Makes you wonder. As always, your comment on the review was spot on. It was very well done and useful except that it lacked a review on performance (especially reception). While it appeared that his radio stopped on a lot of stations without an antenna while seeking, we have no way of knowing what sort of location he was in. So it's impossible to infer - will just have to see for myself.

Yes, I actually broke down and bought one today. Not really an impulse buy, I am honestly curious to see how the thing works AND (importantly) I am about to embark on a project that has me setting forth on a long, long drive to Utah with a few weeks to spend in different parts of the region (UT, WY, NV, ID, etc.). It's a wonderful opportunity to test this radio as well as some of my others in conditions ranging from blanket coverage of dozens of strong local signals (Salt Lake Valley) to nothing but distant ones (western Wyoming) to typical suburban conditions (here in IL). Of course, no AM dxing on this new contraption - but I have other radios for that.

I'll tell you this: if the Insignia doesn't pick up every single Salt Lake market station in HD when I'm in the valley, it's worthless. But, it's too early for me to comment - it's here charging for the 1st time from my computer as I write this. First impression is it's tough luck for you if you don't have a computer with a USB port to charge it from. I wonder how many other assumptions were made here.

I didn't even have to drive as much as 500 feet out of my way today - a BB store directly on the road I was on had 3 on the lonely-looking rack along with the rest of the portable radios that they clearly ignore. When I asked the clerk about where to find radios (because I couldn't locate them), he started his statement with "...what we have is over here..." Not much of a pitch for their new radio, is it? And that rack was hidden pretty effectively, near the CDs.

Well, a more detailed report to come later - as I wander into the "dark side" of radio! ;)
 
Initial review of the Insignia HD radio:

1) Reception is okay. Just okay. For analog, I have several other radios (large and quite small) that do a better job of pulling in marginal or weak signals. For example, it did pull in weak signals from the southern suburbs of Chicago, but it also struggled to pick up WLFM and would seemingly never pick up anything from Milwaukee without a lot of atmospheric help. In summary, got all the analogs that I should get and HD decoding on HD1 from most (though it is finicky). HD2's are more challenging.

2) As far as the HD goes, it's passable. I could pick up most of the Chicago HD signals and a little more than half of the HD2's while stationery in the bedroom. OK, but not stellar. Moving around, you get the dropouts on the HD2; but the audio between HD1 and analog is seamless. If anything, when it snaps into HD, it sounds a bit like when you switch from mono to stereo. But I think that the standard analog stereo sound isn't as good as it could be thus making the HD sound "better."

3) It's fun to play with, the RDS works very well and has a low signal strength threshold. Even the HD is better than the system (dust collector) that I bought a couple of years ago. I notice that some of the HD2's have those infamous audio 'artifacts' like a bad web stream. So, as clear as WLS-AM sounds on WLS-FM HD2, it also sounds a bit artificial. A nitpicky point I guess.

4) I get some images at the lower end of the FM band, yet it seems fairly selective higher up. None of the images were interfering with any local stations. Not yet.

5) The radio did not heat up after 20 minutes of use. A pleasant surprise because all of the other HD radios I've tried seem to get very hot.

Again, I'm about 25 miles NNW of downtown Chicago. Analog local, HD fringe.

All in all, I'm neither impressed nor am I disappointed or disgruntled. At least not yet. So far it seems like you do okay for your $50. Some pretty cool stuff to play with, but the performance isn't as good as it probably should be. If it had the sensitivity of one of my Sangean portables, it would probably pull in more HD2's as well. They really need to work on that.

Much more later, as I get to travel around with it a bit.
 
Thank you, BRNout, for a very interesting and informative post.

At the end of the day - what we post or think or say about this radio is beside the point. The radio consuming public will decide whether the Insignia is worth $50. So let's see how they sell.

If people think that $50 is a great price for an FM-only radio with no speaker but which is HD-capable, these things will fly out of the stores. If not, they'll gather dust like the Insignia bookshelf system. and the Polk. And the Jensen. And the Accurians.

"Stay locked." No, I mean...stay tuned....um....keep scanning.....
 
OK, a few more (quicker) observations after playing with this radio for a lot more time.

1) I live in a pretty typical big city suburb. Here, it seems that the HD2's that I can get are always on the razor's edge. Move the antenna, walk around, or make any other move and you lose most of them to silence. Yes, another move gets them back - but it takes effort. That would annoy all but the most dedicated radio geek (like me).

2) The HD1's are a little better in that they seem to hold lock a bit longer and when they do drop it's gently into analog stereo. Not that noticeable.

3) It's fascinating how different stations transmitting from the same place at roughly the same power have vastly different HD signal strengths. I mean it's a big difference. For example, the HD-2 signals of WLS-FM, WLIT and WLUP are pretty hardy; I get reception more often than not around the house. On the other hand, the HD-2 of WCFS (which is a feed of WBBM) takes a lot of effort to get and you can't hold it anywhere; same for WUSN. I can't even get HD lock for HD1 on WDRV. Yet, in analog, only WCFS seems a little weaker than the others here. Analog WDRV and WUSN are very strong and seem stronger than WLS-FM.

4) Some HD2's sound better than others. Most of the talkers (AM simulcasts) sound like low bitrate internet feeds. Yeah they're in stereo but the digital artifacts are often evident. Music HD2s are a mixed bag when it comes to audio quality; some are very good others not so much. On the whole, there's very little compelling content on the HD2's. Most are either not-so-deep extensions of the existing music formats on the parent channel or carry AM simulcasts (convenient for an FM-only radio). I noticed the same in Philadelphia. Basically one or two that are interesting. None worth the hassle.

5) The RDS and HD data streams are kinda fun and function well for a $50 radio - good "whiz bang" points on that function.

6) An average consumer living in the type of area where I live may not be happy with the reception offered by HD2s - if they know what they're missing. The dropouts are really annoying and I don't see a lot of people having the patience to set the radio in that perfect spot to receive the signal. Now, if you live in an area bathed in very strong FM signals, perhaps its different. I'll see next week in UT.
 
BRNout said:
6) An average consumer living in the type of area where I live may not be happy with the reception offered by HD2s - if they know what they're missing. The dropouts are really annoying and I don't see a lot of people having the patience to set the radio in that perfect spot to receive the signal. Now, if you live in an area bathed in very strong FM signals, perhaps its different. I'll see next week in UT.
Click to expand...

I guess the question is, is there such a thing as a portable "HD1" listener? If you're a portable *radio* listener, you're usually in environments where the noise level is such that volume, not quality, is your biggest concern. This radio seems to have that, along with an included armband such that it's jog-ready out of the box; still, this thing's probably a non-starter for the jogging public at the $50 price point (especially given the USB-only charging; while the tech-savvy might have a USB wall wart lying around, the general public likely doesn't. Although that hasn't stopped iPods from selling really well; the wall-wart is extra for them, too.)

So, in short, I dunno. I like that niche formats can be tucked onto HD2 channels so that it becomes an enticement for niche fans to adopt it - a niche fan will sit and listen. (Like I do when I can get K-Rock in; it's a pretty good Alternative mix.)

One thing - it does feel solid, like it's been build pretty well, the way an iPod does. You've got to get it in your hands to know that, though.
 
The BIGGEST problem with this little box, that I haven't seen mentioned so far, is that the ear buds (whatever happened to headsets?) are so cheap and poorly designed that they fall out of your ears at the least provocation.
 
mmnassour said:
The BIGGEST problem with this little box, that I haven't seen mentioned so far, is that the ear buds (whatever happened to headsets?) are so cheap and poorly designed that they fall out of your ears at the least provocation.
Click to expand...

That's one issue that I have not had with it; not during the day, nor when I fell asleep with them on last night.

Today I had to go to an area that literally sits in the shadow of the FM tx tower in Arlington Heights, IL which is home to several stations including WCPT, WPPN and WVIV. Being there pretty much wiped out all useful HD reception capability on this radio. Only WPPN's HD came in (obviously); all of the others were very difficult to impossible to get. WCPT and WVIV don't have HD feeds. And there were images all over the place. Even analog signals from Chicago were hampered. I've been to that spot with a Sangean portable and the image issue wasn't nearly as bad.

Very poor performance in that particular zone. So, another thing to consider if you're location is prone to FM overload.
 
BRNout said:
mmnassour said:
The BIGGEST problem with this little box, that I haven't seen mentioned so far, is that the ear buds (whatever happened to headsets?) are so cheap and poorly designed that they fall out of your ears at the least provocation.
Click to expand...

That's one issue that I have not had with it; not during the day, nor when I fell asleep with them on last night.

Today I had to go to an area that literally sits in the shadow of the FM tx tower in Arlington Heights, IL which is home to several stations including WCPT, WPPN and WVIV. Being there pretty much wiped out all useful HD reception capability on this radio. Only WPPN's HD came in (obviously); all of the others were very difficult to impossible to get. WCPT and WVIV don't have HD feeds. And there were images all over the place. Even analog signals from Chicago were hampered. I've been to that spot with a Sangean portable and the image issue wasn't nearly as bad.

Very poor performance in that particular zone. So, another thing to consider if you're location is prone to FM overload.
Click to expand...

Near or far HD Radio is problematic. City, suburban, or fringe areas all have HD radio reception problems.
Near an antenna farm HD radio causes overload, images "all over the place", intermodulation and interference.
Look for this problem to get much worse if the proposed HD radio 10 times power increase is approved.
HD Radio is a digital disaster for radio.
 
I was wondering how good of a radio this $50 HD radio is. How well does it receive HD singnals. I don't know much about how much further a normal FM signal can travel vs. the HD one. Before this they had HD radios that were pocket size like the one made by Coby. It looked like a MP3 player but Coby isn't a brand you would trust for making great electronics. It costed around $100. All HD radios costed at least around $100. So having a $50 HD radio should make it more accessible to people.

Is there a jack for internal speakers on this? Does this radio only have 10 presets? If I does that is problem. It's like getting a portable XM receiver that only has 30 presets. 10 presets is not enough for me. I live in the Los Angeles area in Ventura County. I Wanted a radio that is able to receive stuff like Pride Radio and Kroq Rock of the 80's. I also noticed that AMP 97.1 has KRFG as the HD-1 station. KRFG supposedly broadcasts the Nascar Races. If I could receive the HD singal from 97.1 I could listen to the Nascar Races.
 
I had to be at Best Buy yesterday for something else and found exactly one of these radios on the rack. I went ahead and picked it up to play with it. I haven't had a real chance to shake it out yet, but I have to say I'm impressed with its performance in mid town Memphis. I'm getting several HD's along with a couple of 2's and a 3, and several analogs in addition. I'm going to have to do a little better than walk around my yard to test it, but it's giving solid reception in my house. I'm about 10-12 miles from most of the transmitter sites with WKQK being the furthest and weakest with a blow torch cochannel in Little Rock and it's performing well so far. As has been mentioned, the ear buds are not the best and the radio won't drive my Sony MDR-7506 phones with enough gain. On a fully charged battery I ran the unit for about 90 minutes and it dropped one notch on the battery guage. I did hear some imaging on WRVR. An equalizer in the unit would be a nice addition as the unit doesn't seem to have enough bottom with the supplied buds.

I don't really have a use for this doozle other than as a toy, but it's interesting to play with. Disclaimer: I have been negative on the iBiquity system since day one and this radio does nothing to convince me that it's worth the money, interference and hassle of running it as a broadcaster. We could have and should have done better.
 
Memphis has a lot of class C (100 kw ERP) signals and 10-20 miles from the tx sites seems to be the "sweet spot" for HD FM. Perhaps a little farther out in a market like Memphis, where the terrain is fairly level and most signals are very strong.

Go too far out and you have trouble decoding the HD (and can't walk around without losing the HD2s); too close and this radio gives you images that mess with it's ability to decode HD. Worse yet, even the analog signals get overloaded more easily than most of my better radios.

Your location would seem to be ideal for the use of the Insignia portable. In ideal conditions, it's a fun little radio. But, when you're outside of that zone, it can be frustrating. I'm taking my Insignia HD radio (and other analog radios) on the road tomorrow and am interested to see how well it does elsewhere.
 
I just got this Insignia HD "walkman" this morning and I started using it after charging the battery and I just pushed the manual tuning buttons to see how the radio performs. It does overload the FM dial with a few very strong signals. Adjacent channel recepetion where there is no hiss appears to be very good. I agree about the poor design of the earbuds, I just used the aftermarket ones instead. Whoever made the Insignia's earbuds must have oversized ear canals. So far the farthest HD signal I picked up is about 42 miles away, and HD signals in my area have very limited range. Overall, I'm looking forward to take this thing to work Monday and use it during lunch break. I'm rather surprised that this thing didn't get hot when it's on.
 
Maybe it's too much to ask, but it miserably failed my drive test today. I actually drove about four miles toward most of the transmitters in town to go play golf, and the thing couldn't hold a signal. Lots of imaging and switching between analog and HD and really bad picket fencing in the analog mode. Now granted, these things aren't supposed to be used in a mobile environment, but after the way it performed at my house I thought it would be a little more solid while driving. I guess the next thing is to go to Overton Park tomorrow, about 1/2 mile from my house, for a walk and see how it does.
 
I bought the HD portable too. Walked into Best Buy and looked but couldn't find the radio. I ask a clerk who said we don't have those.. I gave up and was walking out, when by chance I found the little radio.

Placed next to Sony's AM/FM Walkman with bass boost, Insignia didn't jump off the shelf. Side by side Insignia's no name radio looks expensive, for an FM only portable. Unless of course you know what HD is or care. Keep in mind Sony's walkman carried a $34.99 price tag, with digital tuning. I almost bought the Sony instead. And honestly as I drove away I was already experiencing buyers remorse..

The radio is fun to play with, RDS is cool. I'm in the middle of Orlando and Jacksonville FL, about 60 miles in either direction. I'm able to pick up a handful of HD1 & HD2 channels. Wearing headphones the sound quality isn't bad. I have to admit; the much improved and promised HD sound quality is marginally better than old school FM. And it seems to vary by station. It's more like, is this HD? Have I locked on? I'm still working on that. So long as I'm stationary HD1 and HD2 locks, but moving about the house I get dropouts. As an add on to my home theater system, the portable receiver could add some improved sound quality. I'm guessing I can hack the radio and add a more suitable antenna system. At $50.00 the price point is suitable, at $100.00 or more it isn’t worth it. It's just not.

My car radio came with an Ipod input, so I'm curious how performance will be affected while driving.

Hearing a few new stations is interesting and exciting, but like my ipod I feel fatigue factor will eventually take over and thus the excitement will go away. Lack of formats and original content is still a huge problem.
 
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