HDRADIO IN ORLANDO (WWKA GOES DIGITAL, WXXL DIGITAL with HD-2, WJHM HD-2 SILENT)

[byron]

The last Cox FM station in the market to go digital finally has done so. It looks like as of this morning, WWKA K-92 is broadcasting in HD. Not sure if or when WDBO will try using it, but they are the only signal Cox hasn't made digital as of yet. WCFB, WPYO, WHTQ and WMMO are already digital and have been for some time now. No Cox stations are trying any HD-2 testing as of yet.

Also, Clear Channel WXXL is their first station to test digital...They are also testing an HD-2 stream playing the "New Music" first format.

Finally, WJHM is the only CBS Radio station in Orlando to test digital, and they also have an HD-2 stream up--which is primarily silent. I've only heard testing on it one day and this was about three weeks ago.

Not to leave the non-commercial ones out, WPOZ Z-88.3 still has three digital stations up, and WUCF is also up in digital whereas WMFE is not yet testing digital. WDYZ 990 Radio Disney is the only HD radio station on the AM side in the Orlando market. (It sounds good, but the noise it creates in analog mode on 980 and 1000 KHz is really annoying.)


Byron

 

[FrankF]

How much does it cost?

How much more money does it cost for a station to operate each digital signal?

 

[Scott Lofskin]

How is the sound quality and reception of HD radio stations?

 

[byron]

No idea how much it costs, but on what seems like dozens of negative/bashing type HD radio messageboard threads, it sounds (or looks rather) like stations are spending thousands for the equipment. I have yet to see a true figure anywhere, and would like know for myself.

As far as sound quality, when you hear the FM kick into HD mode... the range of frequency response sounds a lot better. (If you're listening to voice on WUCF, the voice becomes much clearer and lifelike.... whereas if you're listening to Jazz, it gets a lot cleaner and more detailed. You can actually hear more of the high hat or mellow percussion instruments, etc.)

Station by station, you really don't get the full benefit of the cleaner/clearer sound on WHTQ with the classic rock, unless the original track has been remastered digitally or something. You really get a wider frequency range of sound though, vs. the FM compression I'm sure we're all used to dealing with. 102 Jamz and Power 95.3 aren't playing anything I care to hear just because its in HD... K-92... not sure about that one yet. Z 88.3 is so clean and crisp already (they have a nice processing sound and have for years now) you can hardly tell when it flips into HD on their channels. WMMO sounds good. Any station that has an HD-2 station sounds like a "streaming codec's feed changing from a lower bitrate to higher bitrate during play" for the first half a second it starts playing while the digital signal is gathered ... (that's the best wording I can use to describe the sound.)

 

[james32746]

When I tuned to WDBO this afternoon it was transmitting in HD (as evidenced by the call sign and HD radio logo icon on my receiver display), even though they are not authorized yet by the FCC to do so.

 

[Snafu]

The minimum I have seen for a clean install that requires nothing beyond orginal engineering estimates is $100,000. Probably about half the stations that have made the jump have discovered that something in the audio chain just isn't up for the extra work of HD and needs to be replaced. I know of one station up north that has replaced everything except their primary stick, has spent close to $500,000 and it still isn't right.

When done right HD sounds great. Crisp with decent range that can almost reach Cd quality depending on what station you are listening to and your listening environment (how close are you to the stick and what is around you and the stick). Trouble is the signal does not have the same range as analog and has much of the same reflectivity problem as a TV signal. Some station with side saddle antennas have even discovered the antenna mast can produce shading problems that did not appear before. One additional problem some of the old clear channel AMs on the East Coast have discovered is side channel splatter. FCC warned about it two years ago but have no solution to this point.