I
I.B. Iquity
Guest
Well unless I am mistaken I believe I've narrowed in on some of the anti IBOC posters true reasoning for their tirades against this technology. Here is a negative review given to the Boston Acoustics HD Receptor by someone named "Streetlords";
"I tried this radio at Best Buy (Gaithersburg, Maryland) yesterday and could only get two FM stations (105.9 and 107.3); the stations sounded exactly like regular analog "AM/FM radio. I tried the regular analog AM/FM boom-boxes and they were able to get many stations. The Receptor HD had the supplied long-wire antenna attached, but is now being shipped with a 7-foot dipole antenna, which needs to be mounted high up and preferably outside; normal AM/FM analog radios just need the internal ferrite-bar antennas ! In the case of HD Radio, the HD does not stand for high-definition, but hybrid-digital; HD Radio implements something called digital IBOC, which has only 60% the coverage of regular analog radio, poor signal penetration into structures, and causes adjacent-channel interference. When an HD receiver goes out of range of the digital IBOC signal, there may be a delay, as it switches back and forth to analog. HD Radio has extra HD channels, which evidentually, are just extra channels of repetitive terrestrial radio. Save your money and get Satellite Radio, Wi-Fi Radio, or iRadio (iRadio will be appearing in Rokr E2 cellular phones), which have hundreds of stations; HD Radio just carries local stations. Wi-Max, or wide-area wireless access, will bring Internet Radio to portable devices, including automobile radios, by 2008.
The IBOC digital system is being forced on stations, by the likes of Clear Channel Communications, iBiquity (developer of IBOC), and the National Association of Broadcasters. The FCC did not even consider workable alternatives, such as, Digital Radio Mondiale, which is broadcasting in Europe and does not suffer the same technical problems as IBOC. Consumers can now have a voice, in keeping IBOC from dramatically increasing the interference on the AM/FM bands. I would agree with the reviewer above, that particular reviewers here must have direct interests in HD Radio/IBOC."
Sound familiar? Well we can also search for his other reviews and you'll notice that while the reviewed radio receives a poor rating, the reasoniong for this rating isn't fidelity based;
"Don't be fooled by the "Grundig" name - it used to be made in Germany, but is now made in China, by Tecsun/Eton. Check out the Tecsun/Eton brand of this radio on Amazon (same junk), and show, "lowest rating first", also, look at the reviews for Grundig G2000A. Tecsun/Eton is becoming known for marketing jazzy, pretty radios that are poor quality/performers; they bought the rights to market products, under the "Grundig" name, hoping consumers will think they are still made in Germany.
With all that being said, with the restructuring of the 50K watt clear-channel AM stations, in the 1980s, AM DXing is not what it used to be, in the 1960s and 1970s. For example, many stations out West now have to use directional antennas, that cannot be picked up on the East Coast. All the hype about the CCradio, Superadio III, and S350 being, "DX machines", is nonsense, and with the clear-channel situation, certainly not worth the extra expense. With the Radio Shack receiver, I can easily pick up WWL 870 New Orleans (1000 miles), WHO 1040 Des Moines(900 miles), WABC 770 New York, and my favorite, WLW 700 Cincinnati - same as the S350. These stations can easily be picked up with standard car radios."
Interesting comments for a non DXer to make. So here's one example of an individule for whom honesty is not a factor or for someone who is obviously too embarrised to admit that the reason they are against the implimentation of Ibiquity's system is that their hobby will be damaged. Nothing wrong with that concern but, the fact that they won't admit this is very telling about the kind of person were dealing with.
Here's another posting by someone using a fake name (I won't make accusations but it's fairly obvious that this is the same guy who posted under many other names both on amazon and in here);
"Uninterested in purchasing this unit myself (and I'm a radio and technology addict), I had the opportunity to divert one destined for return by an unsatisfied buyer and give it a test drive. I first ascertained that the unit was NOT defective--just "lackluster". I noticed NO significant improvement in a station's audio quality in the HD mode on FM--in fact some sounded "shallow" when compared to their analog counterpart. AM quality, on the scant few stations that could be received in digital, was substantially higher in fidelity and lower in noise--but those digital signals were very "fragile" (often dropping back to analog). Overall, AM and FM reception on the more costly Receptor HD Radio is unimpressive at best, and well below that of its half-priced analog papa."
"Sensitivity remains consistent from the low (530 kHz) to the high (1700 kHz) end of the band--NOT typical for an AM receiver section in a radio at this price point. Right "out of the box" my FR-200 easily caught, and faithfully reproduced in early afternoon, six AM stations from Chicago--over 250 miles from my location. At night, this radio becomes a pint-sized DX-delight. Virtually EVERY channel is "alive", yet moderate-to-strong signals remain "separated" and fully intelligible."
"THE GOOD ON SW: Prominent domestic and international broadcasters with big signals WILL find their way to your tiny FR-200, and strong stations can sound fairly good on this radio. In early afternoon (NOT a preferable SW listening day-part), I found the higher band ("SW-2") to be fairly-populated, and I was able to receive tiny 1000-watt CFRX Toronto, Canada here in the Midwest on the lower (inactive-by-day) "SW-1" band--a "catch" typical for a more-expensive rig designed for SWL. At night, on the active lower frequencies ("SW-1"), reception is generally decent with the built-in telescoping rod antenna, and can be improved with a "roll-up alligator-clip" wire antenna ($15 at "The Shack"). Unlike many small SW radios, the FR-200 can tune well below 49-meters (6 MHz)...even down to 90-meters (3 MHz) where several obscure domestic and western-hemisphere stations live by night. The laws of physics--and the laws of "affordable design" generally work to inhibit easy reception on these channels (if available) on low-cost SW radios. My FR-200 did an admirable job of snagging several of these signals with only its included antenna. "
Sounds to me like the words of a DXer. (By the way I agree with your review of the two Eric CD's. Tom Daley did a fine job of re-mastering the abums.)
"I tried this radio at Best Buy (Gaithersburg, Maryland) yesterday and could only get two FM stations (105.9 and 107.3); the stations sounded exactly like regular analog "AM/FM radio. I tried the regular analog AM/FM boom-boxes and they were able to get many stations. The Receptor HD had the supplied long-wire antenna attached, but is now being shipped with a 7-foot dipole antenna, which needs to be mounted high up and preferably outside; normal AM/FM analog radios just need the internal ferrite-bar antennas ! In the case of HD Radio, the HD does not stand for high-definition, but hybrid-digital; HD Radio implements something called digital IBOC, which has only 60% the coverage of regular analog radio, poor signal penetration into structures, and causes adjacent-channel interference. When an HD receiver goes out of range of the digital IBOC signal, there may be a delay, as it switches back and forth to analog. HD Radio has extra HD channels, which evidentually, are just extra channels of repetitive terrestrial radio. Save your money and get Satellite Radio, Wi-Fi Radio, or iRadio (iRadio will be appearing in Rokr E2 cellular phones), which have hundreds of stations; HD Radio just carries local stations. Wi-Max, or wide-area wireless access, will bring Internet Radio to portable devices, including automobile radios, by 2008.
The IBOC digital system is being forced on stations, by the likes of Clear Channel Communications, iBiquity (developer of IBOC), and the National Association of Broadcasters. The FCC did not even consider workable alternatives, such as, Digital Radio Mondiale, which is broadcasting in Europe and does not suffer the same technical problems as IBOC. Consumers can now have a voice, in keeping IBOC from dramatically increasing the interference on the AM/FM bands. I would agree with the reviewer above, that particular reviewers here must have direct interests in HD Radio/IBOC."
Sound familiar? Well we can also search for his other reviews and you'll notice that while the reviewed radio receives a poor rating, the reasoniong for this rating isn't fidelity based;
"Don't be fooled by the "Grundig" name - it used to be made in Germany, but is now made in China, by Tecsun/Eton. Check out the Tecsun/Eton brand of this radio on Amazon (same junk), and show, "lowest rating first", also, look at the reviews for Grundig G2000A. Tecsun/Eton is becoming known for marketing jazzy, pretty radios that are poor quality/performers; they bought the rights to market products, under the "Grundig" name, hoping consumers will think they are still made in Germany.
With all that being said, with the restructuring of the 50K watt clear-channel AM stations, in the 1980s, AM DXing is not what it used to be, in the 1960s and 1970s. For example, many stations out West now have to use directional antennas, that cannot be picked up on the East Coast. All the hype about the CCradio, Superadio III, and S350 being, "DX machines", is nonsense, and with the clear-channel situation, certainly not worth the extra expense. With the Radio Shack receiver, I can easily pick up WWL 870 New Orleans (1000 miles), WHO 1040 Des Moines(900 miles), WABC 770 New York, and my favorite, WLW 700 Cincinnati - same as the S350. These stations can easily be picked up with standard car radios."
Interesting comments for a non DXer to make. So here's one example of an individule for whom honesty is not a factor or for someone who is obviously too embarrised to admit that the reason they are against the implimentation of Ibiquity's system is that their hobby will be damaged. Nothing wrong with that concern but, the fact that they won't admit this is very telling about the kind of person were dealing with.
Here's another posting by someone using a fake name (I won't make accusations but it's fairly obvious that this is the same guy who posted under many other names both on amazon and in here);
"Uninterested in purchasing this unit myself (and I'm a radio and technology addict), I had the opportunity to divert one destined for return by an unsatisfied buyer and give it a test drive. I first ascertained that the unit was NOT defective--just "lackluster". I noticed NO significant improvement in a station's audio quality in the HD mode on FM--in fact some sounded "shallow" when compared to their analog counterpart. AM quality, on the scant few stations that could be received in digital, was substantially higher in fidelity and lower in noise--but those digital signals were very "fragile" (often dropping back to analog). Overall, AM and FM reception on the more costly Receptor HD Radio is unimpressive at best, and well below that of its half-priced analog papa."
"Sensitivity remains consistent from the low (530 kHz) to the high (1700 kHz) end of the band--NOT typical for an AM receiver section in a radio at this price point. Right "out of the box" my FR-200 easily caught, and faithfully reproduced in early afternoon, six AM stations from Chicago--over 250 miles from my location. At night, this radio becomes a pint-sized DX-delight. Virtually EVERY channel is "alive", yet moderate-to-strong signals remain "separated" and fully intelligible."
"THE GOOD ON SW: Prominent domestic and international broadcasters with big signals WILL find their way to your tiny FR-200, and strong stations can sound fairly good on this radio. In early afternoon (NOT a preferable SW listening day-part), I found the higher band ("SW-2") to be fairly-populated, and I was able to receive tiny 1000-watt CFRX Toronto, Canada here in the Midwest on the lower (inactive-by-day) "SW-1" band--a "catch" typical for a more-expensive rig designed for SWL. At night, on the active lower frequencies ("SW-1"), reception is generally decent with the built-in telescoping rod antenna, and can be improved with a "roll-up alligator-clip" wire antenna ($15 at "The Shack"). Unlike many small SW radios, the FR-200 can tune well below 49-meters (6 MHz)...even down to 90-meters (3 MHz) where several obscure domestic and western-hemisphere stations live by night. The laws of physics--and the laws of "affordable design" generally work to inhibit easy reception on these channels (if available) on low-cost SW radios. My FR-200 did an admirable job of snagging several of these signals with only its included antenna. "
Sounds to me like the words of a DXer. (By the way I agree with your review of the two Eric CD's. Tom Daley did a fine job of re-mastering the abums.)
