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KDHDR1 vs. Wal Mart's knock off?
- Thread starter henry
- Start date
I've had the KD-HDR1 for about two years and I'm generally pleased with its FM performance. Even if you listen exclusively to analog FM, you'll find the selectivity is very good and the audio quality is more "natural" than some of the competitive car radios with a digital IF (for example, the Blaupunkt Alaska). My only disappointment is that it does not decode RDS.
FM digital performance depends greatly on the station's signal quality. Some stations decode well, others at similar distances and powers do not, but this may be due to problems at the transmitting end.
However, the AM section suffers from front-end overload to a greater extent than most "classic" factory-installed car radios. If you drive past a moderately noisy power line, the wideband garbage seems to saturate the RF stages, causing a loss of digital decoding. But out in the wide-open spaces, along an Interstate with no nearby power lines, it does OK.
I don't use the CD/MP3 player frequently, but when I've tried that feature, it has performed well.
Overall, it's a good receiver for the money, but I'm not sure how the Wal-Mart version differs.
FM digital performance depends greatly on the station's signal quality. Some stations decode well, others at similar distances and powers do not, but this may be due to problems at the transmitting end.
However, the AM section suffers from front-end overload to a greater extent than most "classic" factory-installed car radios. If you drive past a moderately noisy power line, the wideband garbage seems to saturate the RF stages, causing a loss of digital decoding. But out in the wide-open spaces, along an Interstate with no nearby power lines, it does OK.
I don't use the CD/MP3 player frequently, but when I've tried that feature, it has performed well.
Overall, it's a good receiver for the money, but I'm not sure how the Wal-Mart version differs.
Thanks for the input. I opted instead for a deck that lets me put an SD card in with all my favorite songs.
Part of the reason is because none of the HD2 channels here are anything to get excited about (meaning, no all-dance channel). And regular FM sounds fine.
Also, I live about 50 mi. south of the towers and I couldn't lock on to any of the HD signals in the store. That said, a store is a big magnetic shield. Either way, I decided I didn't want to take the chance of buying a radio that would only be useful the few times a month I drive into the central city.
But this does make me sad for the future of HD radio. If I (a radio nut) am not that excited about HD, how exited could consumers possibly be?
Heck, I went to Best Buy because of all they "upgrade to HD" commercials, and when I asked the clerk where the HD radios were he replied, "You mean HDTV, right?" He then said he'd never heard of an HD radio. When he went to check, he came back saying "they do make them, but we've never carried them."
Part of the reason is because none of the HD2 channels here are anything to get excited about (meaning, no all-dance channel). And regular FM sounds fine.
Also, I live about 50 mi. south of the towers and I couldn't lock on to any of the HD signals in the store. That said, a store is a big magnetic shield. Either way, I decided I didn't want to take the chance of buying a radio that would only be useful the few times a month I drive into the central city.
But this does make me sad for the future of HD radio. If I (a radio nut) am not that excited about HD, how exited could consumers possibly be?
Heck, I went to Best Buy because of all they "upgrade to HD" commercials, and when I asked the clerk where the HD radios were he replied, "You mean HDTV, right?" He then said he'd never heard of an HD radio. When he went to check, he came back saying "they do make them, but we've never carried them."
henry duly reported:
That is absolutely hilarious considering that on April 14, 2006, my good friend autopaint-1 suggested:
It is now just over 2 years from that date and it would appear that iBiquity is not now functionally any closer to raising the "awareness level" of IBOC (or HDradio) than it was in April, 2006. I'd love to talk with autopaint-1 but he mysteriously disappeared from the message board quite some time ago.
Or did he?
That is absolutely hilarious considering that on April 14, 2006, my good friend autopaint-1 suggested:
It is now just over 2 years from that date and it would appear that iBiquity is not now functionally any closer to raising the "awareness level" of IBOC (or HDradio) than it was in April, 2006. I'd love to talk with autopaint-1 but he mysteriously disappeared from the message board quite some time ago.
Or did he?
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