HD Radio reception...

[SUPERCASTER]

When HD craps out, analog is there for "fallback"...so you STILL get the station. This is one of the strongest arguments for HD, and a reason why there should be no talk of shutting off analog. Now when you're listening to an analog station, and the signal becomes unlistenable, what can you do?

Just listen to the station's internet streams. Thousands of stations are available, worldwide, to anyone with a computer and decent internet connection. ;D

This post is going no were, I thought I might could get a little help but now it has gone off the topic. But thanks Mike for the info.

Off topic how?
Most HD radio stations digital broadcast streams are also able to be recieved worldwide on the internet. What is wrong with that?

 

[PocketRadio]

My guess would be that most HD listening is, or soon will be, IN THE CAR, where most radio listening has always occured. Even so, I don't have a computer in my bedroom! To listen to HD radio, I merely turn it on. To listen to an internet stream (in my bedroom) I must fetch either my PocketPC or laptop, turn it on, log into my network, find the URL of the staiton I wish to hear, wait for it to buffer, etc. DESCRIBING it takes quite a bit longer than just turning on a radio. And actually doing it takes longer still!

"Slacker.com: The radio revolution arrives this summer"

http://www.hear2.com/2007/04/slackercom_the_.html#comments

"Slacker To Make Internet Radio Portable"

"Slacker also plans a car kit with car-top antenna that enables a docked portable to receive free automatic updates in the continental United States via Ku-band satellite transponders leased by the company. Users of the free and premium services will be able to get the free updates from the satellite transponders, which will push a new song to a player about every 10 seconds for about 10,000 new songs per day. The kit is due sometime in the second half at an unannounced price."

http://storage.broadcastnewsroom.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=125464

Uh oh, looks what coming - portable units with access via satellite and WiFi, with docking stations in automobiles. Guess what, just like HD Radio, it is free with commercials, or for only $7.95/month, without commercials. Also, Slacker is exempt from Internet Radio royalties !

 

[clouseau]

When HD craps out, analog is there for "fallback"...so you STILL get the station. This is one of the strongest arguments for HD, and a reason why there should be no talk of shutting off analog.

Yea, the annoying switching between weak HD/IBOC signals and the stronger analog signals - at least with my $10 - $25 analog radios, the signals are almost always there, with no annoying switching. Great argument in favor of HD/IBOC !

How would you know it's annoying. Do you own an HD radio??? Or is it just more Bravo Sierro by you. DO YOU OWN THE PRODUCT?

Clouseau

 

[PocketRadio]

When HD craps out, analog is there for "fallback"...so you STILL get the station. This is one of the strongest arguments for HD, and a reason why there should be no talk of shutting off analog.

Yea, the annoying switching between weak HD/IBOC signals and the stronger analog signals - at least with my $10 - $25 analog radios, the signals are almost always there, with no annoying switching. Great argument in favor of HD/IBOC !

How would you know it's annoying. Do you own an HD radio??? Or is it just more Bravo Sierro by you. DO YOU OWN THE PRODUCT?

Clouseau

"Proper Time and Level Alignment"

"Improper time and level alignment is annoying to listeners, especially when the HD Radio receiver blends from digital to analog at the edge of the coverage areas. Lack of time alignment will cause an eight-second jump as the receiver blends from digital to analog reception. Even a misalignment of a few audio samples will cause audible artifacts during the blend. A difference in the analog and digital audio levels will worsen this effect."

http://www.ibiquity.com/broadcasters/quality_implementation/proper_time_and_level_alignment

Why should I waste money on a worthless HD radio, when I can get the facts from the Grand Poopa himself !

 

[davideduardo]

"Improper time and level alignment is annoying to listeners, especially when the HD Radio receiver blends from digital to analog at the edge of the coverage areas.

Very little actual, real listening takes place at the edge of coverage areas. Proven in market after market, survey after survey.

Lack of time alignment will cause an eight-second jump as the receiver blends from digital to analog reception.

A delay is put on the analog signal to exactly match the HD digital signal. They are in nearly 100% perfect syncronization.

Even a misalignment of a few audio samples will cause audible artifacts during the blend. A difference in the analog and digital audio levels will worsen this effect."

I have forced my car receiver to do this, and I do not notice glitches on FM (just a decline in quality when going to analog) and on AM what you most notice is the quality going bad when going to analog. But no noticable time differences.

Of course, you have not actually listened. I have been listening for nearly 4 years now, from when the system sucked on AM (it's always been really good on FM) to today, when my car came with a factory HD radio.

 

[PocketRadio]

"Consumer Reports Praises Sangean Component Tuner"

"The $200 tuner pulls in a good, clear signal. Consumer Reports didn't like the bright display (for dimmer rooms), and the lack of being able to lock a signal for analog only. In reviewing all the HD Radio sets available last fall, I found that none of them offered an analog lock--an irritating feature when a digital lock can't be reliably obtained."

http://digital-am-fm.com/

"Accurian Tabletop HD Radio Unboxing and Grope"

"Generally I'm happy with the HD-2 offerings as they're currently commercial-free, and they either expand upon the main station, or offer something completely different. It takes about 6 seconds for the radio to "lock" onto the HD signal."

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-ent...bletop-hd-radio-unboxing-and-grope-212141.php

"HD Radio's Dirty Little Secret"

"Nope, the dirty little secret is that HD Radio's coverage is far less than regular analog radio. About 60% of analog radio's reach even. I'll quote Robert Conrad, respected owner of WCLV-FM, courtesy of Audiographics: 'We were told back in the beginning that the HD coverage would be equal to the analog signal. Unfortunately, the industry is now finding out this is not the case, that the HD coverage is considerably less, something like 60% of the analog coverage. We've also found that even in a strong HD signal area, a dipole antenna is required.We were also told that the HD would lessen interference with adjacent channel signals. That also appears not to be the case. This is really very discouraging and is leading us to wonder why we should bother to promote HD. To do so will only disappoint, and, perhaps, antagonize a significant segment of the audience who finds that the system doesn't deliver.'"

http://www.orbitcast.com/archives/hd-radios-dirty-little-secret.html

With HD Radio having only 60% the coverage of analog, plenty of listeners must be experiencing this annoying "feature", well within the usual analog coverage areas.

 

[Mike Walker]

In my area, time alignment is a non-issue (you can hear WLYT Charlotte blending from analog to digital on the clip I keep posting) for all stations but one. WLNK in Charlotte, 107.9 not only is not time-aligned, but even worse, the HD is downright distorted. WHY THE HELL SPEND THE MONEY, and then broadcast distorted audio? It boggles the mind! Everyone else is time-aligned (in the Charlotte, Greensboro, and Asheville markets...the ones I can receive in HD).

 

[R.F. Burns]

"Consumer Reports Praises Sangean Component Tuner"

"The $200 tuner pulls in a good, clear signal. Consumer Reports didn't like the bright display (for dimmer rooms), and the lack of being able to lock a signal for analog only. In reviewing all the HD Radio sets available last fall, I found that none of them offered an analog lock--an irritating feature when a digital lock can't be reliably obtained."

http://digital-am-fm.com/

"Accurian Tabletop HD Radio Unboxing and Grope"

"Generally I'm happy with the HD-2 offerings as they're currently commercial-free, and they either expand upon the main station, or offer something completely different. It takes about 6 seconds for the radio to "lock" onto the HD signal."

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-ent...bletop-hd-radio-unboxing-and-grope-212141.php

"HD Radio's Dirty Little Secret"

"Nope, the dirty little secret is that HD Radio's coverage is far less than regular analog radio. About 60% of analog radio's reach even. I'll quote Robert Conrad, respected owner of WCLV-FM, courtesy of Audiographics: 'We were told back in the beginning that the HD coverage would be equal to the analog signal. Unfortunately, the industry is now finding out this is not the case, that the HD coverage is considerably less, something like 60% of the analog coverage. We've also found that even in a strong HD signal area, a dipole antenna is required.We were also told that the HD would lessen interference with adjacent channel signals. That also appears not to be the case. This is really very discouraging and is leading us to wonder why we should bother to promote HD. To do so will only disappoint, and, perhaps, antagonize a significant segment of the audience who finds that the system doesn't deliver.'"

http://www.orbitcast.com/archives/hd-radios-dirty-little-secret.html

With HD Radio having only 60% the coverage of analog, plenty of listeners must be experiencing this annoying "feature", well within the usual analog coverage areas.

Great a fair aticle from orbitcast magazine. Have you read the column called why is no one subscribing?

 

[PocketRadio]

Great a fair aticle from orbitcast magazine. Have you read the column called why is no one subscribing?

"Commentary: IBOC Has Been a Mistake"

"Consider the letter to Radio World from Robert Conrad (Reader's Forum, July 19), the president of Cleveland's classical WCLV(FM) and Seaway Productions, who complained that IBOC audio quality is not what was promised, and that signal coverage is terrible. I admire his courage. Most people in his position would be embarrassed to say that after having put so much of their money - and, in some cases, their prestige - behind this junk technology. As Mr. Conrad said, broadcasters' efforts to promote IBOC will only disappoint, and perhaps antagonize, a significant segment of the audience who find that the system doesn't deliver. Let's hope the industry as a whole will recognize that IBOC has been a mistake, and that it does so soon enough that it will be only the larger broadcasters - and, I'm afraid, all too many financially strapped public broadcasters - who will have invested prematurely, and unwisely, in this ill-conceived technology."

http://www.rwonline.com/pages/s.0044/t.357.html

You were saying ?

 

[R.F. Burns]

Great a fair aticle from orbitcast magazine. Have you read the column called why is no one subscribing?

"Commentary: IBOC Has Been a Mistake"

"Consider the letter to Radio World from Robert Conrad (Reader's Forum, July 19), the president of Cleveland's classical WCLV(FM) and Seaway Productions, who complained that IBOC audio quality is not what was promised, and that signal coverage is terrible. I admire his courage. Most people in his position would be embarrassed to say that after having put so much of their money - and, in some cases, their prestige - behind this junk technology. As Mr. Conrad said, broadcasters' efforts to promote IBOC will only disappoint, and perhaps antagonize, a significant segment of the audience who find that the system doesn't deliver. Let's hope the industry as a whole will recognize that IBOC has been a mistake, and that it does so soon enough that it will be only the larger broadcasters - and, I'm afraid, all too many financially strapped public broadcasters - who will have invested prematurely, and unwisely, in this ill-conceived technology."

http://www.rwonline.com/pages/s.0044/t.357.html

You were saying ?

Oh My Robert Conrad (Old story) has come down from the mountain and told the flock that HD is bad. Now we must all obey. You gonna post this stuff over and over again?

 

[PhilJSmith67]

This whole lame tactic of hunting down the URLs of other people's opinionated rants from every corner of the Internet, then reposting the URLs here as if they were somehow factual, is getting REALLY tiring. Did you ever pick apart footnotes in research papers, only to find out that 95% of them are anything but factual, and simply remain within a small, incestual ring of biased opinions? I wouldn't be surprised if we could find a URL to back up claims that interstellar aliens passing gas are the true cause of our planet's depleted ozone layer -- with another dozen articles cross-referencing it!

 

[Chuck]

This whole lame tactic of hunting down the URLs of other people's opinionated rants from every corner of the Internet, then reposting the URLs here as if they were somehow factual, is getting REALLY tiring. Did you ever pick apart footnotes in research papers, only to find out that 95% of them are anything but factual, and simply remain within a small, incestual ring of biased opinions? I wouldn't be surprised if we could find a URL to back up claims that interstellar aliens passing gas are the true cause of our planet's depleted ozone layer -- with another dozen articles cross-referencing it!

I agree. For what it is worth, I did a Google search for "interstellar aliens passing gas are the true cause of our planet's depleted ozone layer." and came up with 375 results. I'm sure some of them are more valid than some of the stuff I've seen here.