"Insignia's hand-held player unlikely to boost HD Radio's popularity" LA times

[KB1OKL]

"Insignia's hand-held player unlikely to boost HD Radio's popularity" LA times

Again, if you are still considering wasting more money on yet another HD radio which the hype promises to be the best one yet (especially here), you might want to read this review from the Los Angelas Times, an excerpt of which follows:

"HD Radio, introduced amid much hype in 2004 as a way to digitally improve the sound of FM and AM stations, has never much caught the ears of U.S. radio listeners.

Special receivers-- most of which are relatively expensive, tabletop models -- have to be bought to pick up the HD Radio signals. And the sound improvement, while noticeable, is not all that startling on FM.

"For most people, FM is quite sufficient," said Richard Robinson, an analyst at research firm iSuppli Corp.

The very name HD Radio seemed to promise a lot in this era of high-definition television, better known as HDTV. But the HD in the radio technology doesn't stand for high-definition. In fact, it's such pure hype that it actually stands for nothing."


read more at:


http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hd-radio6-2009aug06,0,716211.story

 

[BRNout]

Re: "Insignia's hand-held player unlikely to boost HD Radio's popularity" LA times

Thanks for linking that - I think the reviewer pretty much summed it up for most users. Also, his comments on the HD2 and 3 content were a bit broad-brushed, yet generally accurate.

Unless you're in an area blanketed by strong signals with a number of interesting HD2 channels, it's probably not worth the $50. Now that I'm spending some time around Salt Lake City, I am actually getting my money's worth out of the unit. However, most markets are nothing like this one when it comes to signal penetration and strength. You're within (visual) view of the towers from almost everywhere in Salt Lake County and strong (and unchallenged) signals reach Ogden and Provo as well. Yet even here, the HD2 signal sometimes drops out when you're walking around behind a building or you're deep within a building. Areas where the analog signal is still quite strong.

Again, it's as good as it gets around here. Back home near Chicago, I need to find the right spot and freeze the radio and headphones in place to prevent drop outs. Walking around or jogging? Forget it unless you're within 10 miles of the transmitter site. That's more typical for this unit and it's not acceptable to most consumers.

The technology has been developed in such a way that it has the radio equivalent of an aircraft pilot's "coffin corner" (Google the term if unfamiliar). In other words, the digital signals suck when transmitted at a power level that allows them to coexist with analog - yet cranking up the power causes unacceptable interference with analog broadcasts and with nearby frequency digital signals (which are decapitated by images).

Nice work Ibiquity!