HTML is getting a bit complex for me.
> We've already established that you have a crappy radio to begin. That's a non-starter.
70 mile HD FM reception for me, robust enough to be taken seriously. Why they want to screw it up by boosting the sideband power is beyond me. Of course my reception is with a really great FM head unit in the car and REAL antenna - not a nub or shark fin or windshield. The elimination of car whip antennas could not have come at a worse time for HD radio.
> Still better than many stations are providing with their analog channel.
I agree if the station is providing only HD-1. I'd argue the point with two subchannels - pretty much a wash except for frequency response which is better. More than two sub-channels, it is not as good as analog. I've got pretty good ears for music, I can tell the difference between "CD quality" with 96 dB SN ratio and a good analog signal chain with greater than 120 dB SN ratio. Not many people can tell the difference - I can. The human ear is admittedly subjective, but is still a much more sensitive instrument than most test equipment. A good Agilent network analyzer has a noise floor of about 110 dB - so does Anritsu. I seriously doubt HD FM comes anywhere close to the noise floor on either unit, although I would come nearer believing it for HD-1 only, provided there are more than 16 bits in the word size of encoded audio. If it is 16 bits, as I recall the theoretical limit is 96.23 dB S/N so, no. It would not be as good as analog if the care is taken at the station.
> If I am passionate about a format as many people are with blue, jazz, oldies, classical....then it's not just old and unwanted formats.
I'm passionate about the same formats as you. That is why I own HD radios. Unfortunately, the perception among station owners appears to be that these formats should be left to die off on HD-2. If that weren't the case, they would be out there fixing HD-2's when they are down with same vigor and enthusiasm as their main analog / HD-1. Instead, when they go down, they are left down for hours, days, even a couple of weeks as was the case with the "Point" format here in Houston. Not even the reality of revenue from commercials elevates the status of HD subchannels. It isn't just one owner - multiple owners and groups in Houston at least just don't care about HD reliability. I suspect it is the same in all other markets. HD-2 and up are poor stepchildren, unwanted formats, formats put on the air to shut people up, etc.
> Again...reality or opinion. In all studies I have seen....people prefer the HD signal audio to the analog AM audio. The quality is quite striking.
I would like to see those studies. I have a good HD radio, plenty of signal strength to put the HD AM station into stereo. That is really difficult as you know. A song by Jessie McCartney has a high frequency "ding" in it. It is frequency shifted. NO amount of rationalization or dubious studies can argue away a measurable frequency shift on musical tones. It is real, and makes HD music on AM probably unusable. Now if you assume HD AM is only for talk and sports, who cares.
> Well, there is a reason every major broadcaster, every major station in every major market is using it.
Yeah, high pressure sales people brainwash station owners that if they don't do it, they will be left behind. Or they threaten them that the rates to license will only go up astronomically if they don't jump now. Problem with all that is - people brainwashed and coerced will be the first to abandon the system when they quit feeling threatened. Don't deny the high pressure pitch, I've got video of the presentation. Classic high pressure sales pitch.
> Just letting the discussion touch base with reality once in a while.
Reality is - FM HD is on life support, waiting for a big 3 automaker to adopt it and save it from otherwise certain death. Even that doesn't guarantee market success because massive adoption of C-Quam in cars by big 3 automakers didn't save AM stereo. It was a solution for a problem whose time had passed. FM HD is also a solution for a problem that ever existed in the eyes of consumers. If all big three automakers adopt it, people may get an appetite for HD-2 formats, assuming they are reliable which is a big IF given station apathy, lack of real antennas on cars, 10.4 MHz to 11 MHz jamming, etc. FM HD has real reliability issues, and they should have been caught in the design and initial testing phases. Now it is too late without a massive recall of transmission and receiver hardware for firmware changes. They were way too concerned with preserving RDS, SCA, and blind reading services than they were with reliable operation. HD FM would not be in the reliability mess it is in now if they had put the sidebands into the existing channel and obsoleted those seldom used services which could be done better by HD radio anyway.
> If you listen to the people on these boards all they do is whine and never make the distinction between AM HD and FM HD.
Most posters on here make and know the distinction. You can't save AM HD, it is a failure. So will FM HD be without adoption by the big 3 automakers. Good luck with that - they were burned by C-Quam and may be in no mood to repeat an investment in better radio. They get more revenue and more customer acceptance of Pandora, MP3 integration, satellite, GPS, backup cameras, and DVD video players because people ask for those things. HD radio is no nobody's radar. I just had to demonstrate it to a car service person who was vaguely aware of HD radio but didn't know the first thing about it. He works on car radios for the dealer - and is barely aware of HD radio. User apathy is massive, the marketing campaigns have failed, consumers don't care. Another Edsel, new coke, PC Junior, Cue Cat, Microsoft "Bob", and C-Quam. Too bad because I like the formats, can actually hear the improvement over analog on stations with only HD-1, and am willing to put up with the massive technical problems to listen. But I am a DX'er. The vast majority of people aren't and whip antennas are "uncool", HOA's ban outdoor antennas, and without adequate antennas HD FM is crippled.
> FM HD is here to stay.
For now. But in ten years, I predict 30 to 40% reduction in stations running HD. In 20 - 80 to 90% reduction in stations running HD. Very similar numbers to C-Quam, which consumers also rejected. In 30 years, HD radios will go for high dollars on eBay, there will be a contingent of HD fans and activists, and die-hard station owners clinging to a past that could have been, but wasn't.
