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I got a new HD radio with the Artist Experience!

N

nd2023

Banned
I was at Best Buy yesterday and saw the Insignia portable HD radio with Artist Experience on clearance for $25. So I bought it just to see how it performs. I can't believe it once was for sale at $70, and I didn't buy it then because it wasn't worth it.

It was a disappointment compared to the regular Insignia portable. The HD reception was much worse. Analog reception suffered from birdies (artificially generated noise) on certain frequencies. It was not as sensitive in analog as the regular Insignia, and definitely not as sensitive as my Sony XDRF1HD. Stations that were barely detectable on the regular Insignia were undetectable on the Artist Experience radio, and came in stereo on the Sony. I had to hold the antenna in the right spot just to get HD to decode from stations 30 miles away, whereas on the regular Insignia, HDs decoded without having to hold the antenna in the right spot. In comparison, the Sony can get stations 60 miles away to decode in HD (it's also got an outdoor antenna). None of the stations transmitted "artist experience" data, and I could care less about seeing album art (I'd rather see station logos or weather radar). Tuning around is cumbersome, you have to unlock it on the touch screen (like unlocking a smartphone) and then press the tuning buttons. So I can't tune around without looking at the display with it in my pocket. You also can't tune between presets without going into another menu. On the regular Insignia, I can tune between presets, seek, or tune up and down without looking at the radio. The live pause is OK. Fast forwarding or rewinding is choppy. The sound quality is like a low quality MP3 when in live pause mode, whether on analog or HD stations. It also doesn't automatically record stations, so you have to be in live pause mode to rewind. Haven't tested the battery life yet, but presumably it would be worse.

I wonder if I should return it. I know that this radio is discontinued, and might be a good reminder of HD radio's failure decades from now. It's going to collect dust if I keep it. It would be an OK gift to someone who lives in the city and likes a particular HD2.
 
Nick said:
I wonder if I should return it. I know that this radio is discontinued, and might be a good reminder of HD radio's failure decades from now. It's going to collect dust if I keep it. It would be an OK gift to someone who lives in the city and likes a particular HD2.
Click to expand...

I'd hang onto it - there are HD fanatics out there, and in a few years HD radios will be going for a lot of money on eBay.
 
I bought it at Xmas and had to return it because of poor recepection as above. Got the opriginal model.
 
rbrucecarter5 said:
Nick said:
I wonder if I should return it. I know that this radio is discontinued, and might be a good reminder of HD radio's failure decades from now. It's going to collect dust if I keep it. It would be an OK gift to someone who lives in the city and likes a particular HD2.
Click to expand...

I'd hang onto it - there are HD fanatics out there, and in a few years HD radios will be going for a lot of money on eBay.
Click to expand...

The only HD radio selling for a lot these days is the Sony XDRF1HD, because of its superior reception. Only DXers are buying it, that model flopped for the public.
 
Now I'm glad I didn't buy one of those units. I considered it, but changed my mind after recently finding another SONY 'F1HD tuner at a pawn shop for 50 bucks! (now have two of them and love 'em).
 
Why would someone want to send an XDR-F1HD to a pawn shop?? Apparently he or she is not an FM DXer or maybe this person had bad luck with HD, or badly needs money. I have two of them also.
 
Nick, did the birdies or reception problems improve when the display backlight timed out? I've noticed that my older Insignia's self-noise goes away completely on some frequencies when the backlight goes off. Poor shielding, I guess.
 
They improved somewhat when the backlight went out. But overall, worse than the regular Insignia portable.
 
Nick said:
None of the stations transmitted "artist experience" data, and I could care less about seeing album art (I'd rather see station logos or weather radar).
Click to expand...
Just posted in another thread that we had our first "AE" with the Narrator, and it was...it was...was...(drum roll, please)...a big gray heart with an "i" cutting into it :D
What anoys us is that with our third HD radio, none of them, not one, can set their clocks from received data.
All satrads do, and we wonder whether any or all of these web radios on the market set their clocks.
One last point: we think you meant that you couldn't care less about the AE (unless of course, you do care about it to a certain degree)!
8)
 
@ddsparxx--
I'd think the third condition is the most logical explanation. I mean, what else do people give stuff in general to pawn shoppes for, let alone the highest-performance receiver they've probably ever had (and chances are, probably ever will have) their mitts on?

(Yes, I have two of them myself, as well.)
 
ai4i said:
Nick said:
None of the stations transmitted "artist experience" data, and I could care less about seeing album art (I'd rather see station logos or weather radar).
Click to expand...
Just posted in another thread that we had our first "AE" with the Narrator, and it was...it was...was...(drum roll, please)...a big gray heart with an "i" cutting into it :D
What anoys us is that with our third HD radio, none of them, not one, can set their clocks from received data.
All satrads do, and we wonder whether any or all of these web radios on the market set their clocks.
One last point: we think you meant that you couldn't care less about the AE (unless of course, you do care about it to a certain degree)!
8)
Click to expand...

Do you see the AE option as a possible revenue enhancer for a radio station? Do you feel that WX radar, ball scores, news headlines, commercials, traffic and etc can be used on the AE in any profitable manner? Could a station advertise a business while showing a picture, map, address and phone #s of the business during the ad?

Seems like a good way for a savvy station owner to add income with this "AE" feature! A radio station now has the capability to augment it's offerings with photos! Somebody other than myself must see new possibilities for and with this ability.

Thanks!

-
 
Is there a list of which stations transmit the Artist Experience? And is it true that the signal has to be stronger for Artist Experience data to load than for just HD decoding?
 
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