No Point To HD Signal If Radio Is Lousy

[SUPERCASTER]

Forget blue ribbons, though, for what really counts: sound quality, construction quality and value. If this is the face of affordable HD Radio, then the broadcast industry must think it's dealing with a nation of airheads.

One year into the rollout of HD Radio, which promises noise-free FM reception with CD-type sound and AM reception rivaling today's FM, it's plodding along like a pathetic E! reality show. Does anyone really care about HD Radio?

http://www.courant.com/technology/hc-hunt0302.artmar02,0,439478,print.column?coll=hc-headlines-technology

 

[Mike Walker]

Yes. I am somebody. I care. But of course a great signal conveying lousy programming is worthless. It's why I'm not an "audiophile" anymore (I WAS CURED!) How lame is it listening to beautifully recorded performances of totally uninspiring music by second tier musicians? How pointless is a beautifully bound edition of AWFUL fiction? Content first. But there is SOME (certainly not enough, but some) great content out there. More of that, PLEASE

 

[700WLW]

Yes. I am somebody. I care. But of course a great signal conveying lousy programming is worthless. It's why I'm not an "audiophile" anymore (I WAS CURED!) How lame is it listening to beautifully recorded performances of totally uninspiring music by second tier musicians? How pointless is a beautifully bound edition of AWFUL fiction? Content first. But there is SOME (certainly not enough, but some) great content out there. More of that, PLEASE

UK DAB and digital cell phones exhibit the same lousy coverage as HD/IBOC. To answer the article's question, no one cares about HD Radio:

http://www.google.com/trends?q="hd+radio",+xm,+sirius,+podcast

 

[Mike Walker]

You are aware, aren't you, that NOBODY clicks on your links?

 

[PhilJSmith67]

Funny, but I played with a whole bunch of radios at a Dixon's store in London, and the only radios that actually worked were the DAB receivers. The AM/FM radios were completely deaf inside the store.

As for comparing DAB to HD Radio, there are hardly any similarities at all between the two, except for the word "digital." The whole technical, economic, and social infrastructure of radio is different between the US and UK.

 

[700WLW]

Funny, but I played with a whole bunch of radios at a Dixon's store in London, and the only radios that actually worked were the DAB receivers. The AM/FM radios were completely deaf inside the store.

As for comparing DAB to HD Radio, there are hardly any similarities at all between the two, except for the word "digital." The whole technical, economic, and social infrastructure of radio is different between the US and UK.

http://www.radioandtelly.co.uk/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.pl?board=DAB

Looks like, you are in the minority from these consumer comments. As I stated, there are common reception problems between digital cell phones, DAB, and HD/IBOC - the above comments prove my point. With table-top HD and portable DAB receivers priced $100 - $300, portable HD would be priced, accordingly.

 

[PhilJSmith67]

I actually followed the link you posted this time, and the first post I came across had this within it...

"How does it work? Like this. Plug it in, switch it on. It works. Within a minute or so, it had found 70-odd stations."

(... another quote ...)

I've been really please with mine. I have it atop my hi-fi in a cabinet against a wall, and even with the wire-antenna I can get all the stations advertised for my area. It took a bit of positioning to get right, but it hasn't been moved for ages and I get low-single-figure signal error on most stations.

I found as many positive comments as negative in the threads.

As for digital, I don't theorize that iBiquity's HD Radio is the best scheme to add digital information to analog stations on FM. It really shouldn't even qualify as "I-B-O-C". It's bloody awful on AM concerning the interference it causes. But come on... Not all digital modulation schemes are bad. Not all schemes result in poor reception, either. Some schemes actually overcome multipath and noise, which is highly beneficial. And, it does take years to perfect these schemes. Look how long it took to perfect AM receivers. And FM. And FM Stereo.

Believe it or not, I actually found a specific station and antenna position this evening that caused an FM station's analog signal to sound like crud, but the HD Radio signal kicked in and cleaned up the whole mess (this was receiving WKQX Chicago @ 35 miles south). I had to switch the receiver several times to witness it over and over... When it works, it's pretty darn cool. I have had even more experiences like this with my 5th generation ATSC DTV tuner, too. Ghosting on the analogs, and clear uninterrupted reception on the digitals, 35 miles out with a $4 bow tie.

 

[Mike Walker]

I have HD (FM) stations in two directions. South (Charlotte NC), and east (Greensboro NC). I actually found a position for my SR100 antenna where reception comes in equally well from both directions. I have NEVER found one antenna position before where I get equal reception from Charlotte and Greensboro for FM or TV. So I agree with Phillip's point...in many cases HD is LESS sensitive to antenna orientation. Less "fiddly".