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HD4

WXNY 96.3 recently added an HD4 channel. It is currently rebroadcasting WOLD, a low power oldies station in nearby NJ.
I believe the only other station in the area with an HD4, is WVIP 93.5.
 
How is the stereo separation, it being on a HD4 with less width, I know on WPRB HD3 there is absolutely no stereo separation, its flat...I guess its real purpose is an excuse to fuel their new translator, they don't care about the HD but its a nice way to receive an out of market signal you like, I enjoy them in Medford where I cannot receive the main OTA signal.
 
I think most car radios that have HD don't even give listeners access to HD-4. I know my new car does not. Only HD1, 2 & 3
 
I think most car radios that have HD don't even give listeners access to HD-4. I know my new car does not. Only HD1, 2 & 3

That doesn't sound right. My first HD receiver was an early Insignia model, and when WEBE 107.9, Westport, briefly put ESPN Radio on HD4 around 2008-09, I got the HD4 just fine -- kept pressing the little button and clicking up to the next stream. My current Insignia portable (2010 vintage) works fine with WMRQ's (104.1, Hartford) four HD signals, too. I don't see why any manufacturer would hamstring its receivers in the way you describe.
 
Maybe your in an area where there is no receivable HD4, my new ford explorer titanium receives wogl and wsjo hd4's and my three portables at home receive the hd4's also. I am pretty sure all hd radios can receive all the hd's that a station can put out, but I don't think any us station has more than 4, at most, maybe I'm wrong. When I tried my new hd I could not receive any AM HD's so I thought my radio only was FM HD capable, but that was because there was no HD AM's in my area, but then WPHT and WCBS turned their HD's on and now I receive AM HD. I think all Insignia HD Radios cannot receive AM just FM.
 
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Doesn't adding an HD4 reduce the bitrate on the other channels?

Yes, Barry...there is only so much "HD" to share. If you add another channel you must reduce data in the other multicast services. "Extended hybrid Mode" or MP3 mode, allows the maximum data rates ,120 kbps, so the total rate for all services can not exceed that limit.

Most HD4s I have heard are running 8-18 kbps and the data compression is very noticeable.
 
Maybe your in an area where there is no receivable HD4, my new ford explorer titanium receives wogl and wsjo hd4's and my three portables at home receive the hd4's also. I am pretty sure all hd radios can receive all the hd's that a station can put out, but I don't think any us station has more than 4, at most, maybe I'm wrong. When I tried my new hd I could not receive any AM HD's so I thought my radio only was FM HD capable, but that was because there was no HD AM's in my area, but then WPHT and WCBS turned their HD's on and now I receive AM HD. I think all Insignia HD Radios cannot receive AM just FM.

Where I'm located, there are no HD-4's. Buy reading the manual for the car (2019 Subaru) it says HD-1, 2 & 3. No mention of HD4
 
The HD4 signal is very poor. It breaks up a lot and the sound quality reminds me of a pocket AM radio. Why would they waste bandwidth on an oldies station from Central NJ on an ESB signal?
 
The HD4 signal is very poor. It breaks up a lot and the sound quality reminds me of a pocket AM radio. Why would they waste bandwidth on an oldies station from Central NJ on an ESB signal?

I'm guessing that this was a rhetorical question but in the event its not I'll entertain it... I would venture a guess and say that the O/O of WXNY would have no trouble saying YES to anyone who is willing to write a check to lease one of their HD channels. I don't know if there is a general "rate" that these channels garner in NYC but I would imagine it cannot be cheap even with a lower-tiered subchannel limited on bandwidth and therefore fidelity. On the other hand, maybe *that* makes it more desirable to someone's checkbook with the deficiencies factored in. In the end... its a business and you stay in business by making money!

Just curious... Where were you that it was breaking up? I sampled it and ran into some issues in the burbs to the west...
 
I think most car radios that have HD don't even give listeners access to HD-4. I know my new car does not. Only HD1, 2 & 3

Didn't/Doesn't Nash have a religious group on their HD4 that feeds their network of translators?? I tend to agree that their aren't that many HD4's in use but any HD-ready receiver should be able to detect it if one is present...
 
Nash 94.7 is odd, because they have long had the HD4, but no HD2 or HD3. They briefly added a simulcast of WABC, but for some reason could not get its audio to sound decent.

I've noticed that HD3's and HD4's are often more difficult to receive than HD1 or HD2. Sometimes at my location only the latter will be received on certain stations. Perhaps this HD reception issue is leading some to believe that their receivers are not designed to pick up the higher channel(s).
 
WXNY's HD4 simulcast of WOLD is mono and actually doesn't sound terrible. It's easy to listen on my Sangean HDR-16 -- the processing sounds excellent and I hear no obvious bitrate compression artifacts through the built-in speakers.

Listening through a higher-end sound system or through good headphones, the treble sounds a little shrill and you can hear the graininess of the bitrate compression, but it still sounds better than SiriusXM channels to me. I think this HD4 might be using a higher bitrate than WXNY's HD3, but I don't know if there's a way to get any of my HD radios to display the actual bitrate.

By the way, WOLD is a fun listen -- I didn't expect to hear something as good as that from a LP broadcaster. The music is mix is really well curated and interesting, the talent is live and sounds great, the board is tight, jingles are spot on, processing is impressive. The whole station has fantastic energy and sounds like a real part of the community it serves. Kudos to the operator -- it's a great addition to my presets, even in NYC, and I'm not even a huge fan of Oldies stations usually.
 
WXNY's HD4 simulcast of WOLD is mono and actually doesn't sound terrible. It's easy to listen on my Sangean HDR-16 -- the processing sounds excellent and I hear no obvious bitrate compression artifacts through the built-in speakers.

Listening through a higher-end sound system or through good headphones, the treble sounds a little shrill and you can hear the graininess of the bitrate compression, but it still sounds better than SiriusXM channels to me. I think this HD4 might be using a higher bitrate than WXNY's HD3, but I don't know if there's a way to get any of my HD radios to display the actual bitrate.

By the way, WOLD is a fun listen -- I didn't expect to hear something as good as that from a LP broadcaster. The music is mix is really well curated and interesting, the talent is live and sounds great, the board is tight, jingles are spot on, processing is impressive. The whole station has fantastic energy and sounds like a real part of the community it serves. Kudos to the operator -- it's a great addition to my presets, even in NYC, and I'm not even a huge fan of Oldies stations usually.

The talent on WOLD is not live, the morning guy whos the boss may be live.. but the afternoon guy Tom Lawler is not live or local
 
Just based on the fact that someone can’t tell if it’s live or not then they’re doing something right. I guess it’s an anomaly to find anything LIVE now-a-days. Some people make their living off of voicetracking multiple stations in multiple markets. An evolution of the industry and maybe not in a good way, but depending on how much tlc is put into the shifts it could be a better listen in some cases.
 
For what is supposed to be a non-commercial station, WOLD-LP plays an awful lot of commercials, which are only passable as "underwriting announcements" under the most lenient interpretation of the FCC rules. And while I appreciate the broad playlist, it's full of trainwreck segues from '50s Doo-Wop to '80s New Wave.
 
For what is supposed to be a non-commercial station, WOLD-LP plays an awful lot of commercials, which are only passable as "underwriting announcements" under the most lenient interpretation of the FCC rules.

You do what you can get away with. Nobody's awarding trophies for Best Compliance.
 
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