HD RADIO IN THE ATL

[Dan6053]

OKAY, SO I HAVE BEEN A BIG PUSHER OF HD RADIO SINCE THE MID 2000S. I HAVE A ROTEL HOME AUDIO HD TUNER, 2 SONY HD TABLE RADIOS IN THE HOUSE, AND HD RADIO(ALPINE) HEAD UNIT IN MY MUSTANG.

BELOW ARE SOME OF THE HD2 STATIONS THAT I LISTEN TOO.

HD2 B98.5 LIGHT HITS
HD2 97.1 THE RIVER'S EDGE ACTIVE/CLASSIC ROCK
HD2 99.7 THE BONE OR AT 98.9 FM
HD2 96.1 FM THE PROJECT. YEP, IT IS STILL AROUND BUT ONLY ON HD2.

SO AGAIN, WHY THE HELL CANNOT ONE OF THESE STATIONS BE AN ALTERNATIVE STATION.

 

[RadioDoogie]

I believe WWPW HD-2 is called the Alternative Project. I have two Insignia radios, one NS-HD01 and one NS-HD01A plus the Gigaware (RadioShack) HD tuner for the iPhone. I love HD radio and think it is the direction terrestrial radio should go but it is not going to go mainstream until the FCC mandates HD radio tuners in all radios. Everyone I talk to when I mention HD radio is like "what is that?" Hopefully it will be a mandatory thing soon. I know that our Atlanta translators would be non existent without HD radio because they need the HD sub channels in order to "translate" their signals.

 

[HippieGuy]

Are any of those stations commercial -free?


I do not own an HD radio, nor do I support or listen to local radio (except 'talk').

(I have been an XM subscriber since day-one....and see no reason to not be, or at least until local improves)

 

[RadioDoogie]

All except the translator stations (like the Bone and Q100 20 or translations of other stations). Sound quality is not as good on the HD2 and 3 stations as it is on the HD1 station. They use most of the bandwidth for the HD1 station. WWWQ HD2/3 are digital but are in mono. The stations that only use two HDs sound pretty decent like WZGC/WWPW/WSRV/WWVA. WNNX sounds the best in my opinion with only one HD in use. CD quality sound. I live in Loganville so pretty much anything further out from here, I cannot receive the HD signal anymore on any of the 100 kilowatters in town.

 

[MRFLASHPORT]

HD radio is dead. The corporate shills are only using it to justify their translators. Most of them aren't actually translating the actual HD subchannels, they are just placeholders to pacify the bought and paid for FCC.

We USED to have 92.9HD2, which was Dave Roots. When cBS flipped to sports babble, they dropped the HD2 altogether. 95.5 USED to have The Beat on their HD2, but dropped HD altogether when it flipped to talk years ago. 97.1 has "The Rivers Edge" on their HD2 (when it works) but playlist is the same as the River, just no commercials.

WSB-FM HD2 is about the only UNIQUE programming you won't find anywhere else. It's the EXCEPTION to the corporate radio stagnant washout vomit rule. May not be suitable for young audiences as it may put them to sleep.

V-103 has a decent "Neo Soul" on their HD2 WHEN IT WORKS...WAOK on HD-3.

106.7 dropped their GREAT smooth jazz station when it flipped to talk, no more HD2 there.

105.7 has "Pride Radio" on their HD2, pretty decent, reminds me of the old NYC "KTU" .

That's about it. Our HD dial is devoid of the promised variety that Ibiquity promised. Most consumers could care less about HD radio and don't even know what it is. Ibquity missed the opportunity to get it in the dashboards of new cars 10 years ago. No one cares.

More people want Iphone/Ipod control, USB input and line in so they can actually hear MUSIC and TALK that isn't full of corporate shills and the same 20 worn out songs played over and over. So that's what you see in the dashboards of new cars. Most HD radios are now on clearance at Best Buy.

 

[RadioDoogie]

I like Internet radio and my iPod but I have limited data usage and need something that works wirelessly without docking my data. I turn to FM radio in the car and when I jog. What other options are there for bringing digital FM to Atlanta and the rest of America? Even though there is not much programming on the HD sub channels, the main station sounds ten times better in digital than it does In analog stereo. I just wish the FCC would mandate the HD tuners in all radios made from here on out.

 

[Dan6053]

Last night, I listened to WSB HD 2 for about 7 hours. It is commercial free and the quality sounded great for FM. I was listening to a ROTEL HD tuner thru an outboard MOON audio DA converter thru Audio Research Preamp and Krell Power Amps. Using Magnepan 3.6 speakers. Again, it is not high resolution music files or quality vinyl but it was very enjoyable. I also use my computer's digital out jack and pump it thru a Musical Fidelity DA converter and stream the AAA stations around the country. 92.5 FM the River's sound quality is awesome! I just miss having this format in Atlanta as well as commercial smooth jazz. Again, that format still exists in other cities. But not the SHIT HOPP ATL.

 

[agentUrge]

I'd agree that until the FCC forces stations to go HD only, just as they did with TV, and comes up with a way to do it in such a way that will be no cost to the listeners...after all, it's terrestrial radio..it be free.....but until then, it's dying if not already dead.

It had great potential...allowing programming options similar to what Q100 is doing now with the Q100's top 20 is ultimately better for the listener and consumer but I could see it being great for advertisers. The alternative music (not the format, mind you) possibilities are great, just as they are with OTA HDTV....rock stations can have their "safe" format and their edgier formats....jazz stations can have smooth jazz and classic jazz options.

I'd go as far as saying it was ahead of it's time...and maybe not properly used.

 

[MRFLASHPORT]

Last night, I listened to WSB HD 2 for about 7 hours. It is commercial free and the quality sounded great for FM. I was listening to a ROTEL HD tuner thru an outboard MOON audio DA converter thru Audio Research Preamp and Krell Power Amps. Using Magnepan 3.6 speakers. Again, it is not high resolution music files or quality vinyl but it was very enjoyable. I also use my computer's digital out jack and pump it thru a Musical Fidelity DA converter and stream the AAA stations around the country. 92.5 FM the River's sound quality is awesome! I just miss having this format in Atlanta as well as commercial smooth jazz. Again, that format still exists in other cities. But not the SHIT HOPP ATL.

The engineering on WSB-HD2 is superb, it still sounds compressed, and I hear some digital artifacts, but that's the limitation of the low bit rate technology. On a full bandwidth signal it would probably sound incredible. It's way better than some HD2's like Project. I miss 106.7HD2's Smooth Jazz, the playlist was pretty wide and was a great change. Oh well, nothing I can't get on TuneIn Radio, Smooth Jazz the Source and More is a great one to listen to out of Seattle, WA IIRC.