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The New Insignia HD Boombox...

Ha ha… Best Buy showing their roots by having it display "Cities 97 KTCZ" out of Minneapolis.

And of course there's already a review by our very own Pocket Radio, claiming it didn't work in DC. I didn't know PR lived in DC, I thought he lived in central Mass. Guess I'm getting my haters mixed up. If I was still at an old job in B'ham this would be the perfect radio for me. I needed a boombox sized radio with an aux input. Of course HD would likely be a non-starter in that metal industrial building, because it was on the wrong side of a hill east of town. We couldn't even get good reliable mono FM reception on many signals and we were only 11 miles from Red Mountain.
 
There’s nothing there indicating if this model gets AM, either analog or HD. Unlike the portables, there should be enough room for a decent AM antenna.
 
Zach said:
Of course HD would likely be a non-starter in that metal industrial building, because it was on the wrong side of a hill east of town.  We couldn't even get good reliable mono FM reception on many signals and we were only 11 miles from Red Mountain. 
Click to expand...

Yup... that's another thing I don't like about the current implementation of HD.  I would have hoped that HD coverage would be more efficient than analog coverage - for example I would have expected to still get 100% HD decode even in situations where the analog signal was so faint that you had to use a BFO to tell there was even a carrier there, AND there were a bunch of stations (graveyarders for example) piling on top of it.  :-\

kc1ih said:
There’s nothing there indicating if this model gets AM, either analog or HD.  Unlike the portables, there should be enough room for a decent AM antenna.
Click to expand...

I would hope so...but if it's like almost all other portables I've ever heard of, any AM antenna (if it even has one) would likely NOT take the entire width of the radio.
And, let's see... with a product width of 13.9", and allowing a little for the plastic sides of the cabinet, I would hope it would have a 13.5" internal ferrite bar.  Chances are it doesn't have one that big - I'd be surprised if it was more than 1.5". :(

RadeoEngineer said:
Does it have a force analog switch?
Click to expand...

Considering the flaws HD has (IMO), I would hope it does.
 
Zach said:
Ha ha… Best Buy showing their roots by having it display "Cities 97 KTCZ" out of Minneapolis.

And of course there's already a review by our very own Pocket Radio, claiming it didn't work in DC. I didn't know PR lived in DC, I thought he lived in central Mass. Guess I'm getting my haters mixed up. If I was still at an old job in B'ham this would be the perfect radio for me. I needed a boombox sized radio with an aux input. Of course HD would likely be a non-starter in that metal industrial building, because it was on the wrong side of a hill east of town. We couldn't even get good reliable mono FM reception on many signals and we were only 11 miles from Red Mountain.
Click to expand...

You are getting mixed up, I'm from central MA, IBOC Hash Central and Pocket Radio who reviewed the radio is not the person you think he is. That seems to be a common misconception here in this forum
HD is a non-starter everywhere.
 
Nope, and no mediumwave either, it looks like! ;o)

That CrApple I-Pod slot certainly is a waste of space, fer shur. At least the unit uses a real battery type (6 "C" cells) instead of a sealled-in non-replaceable cell like the pocket radio has (pun intended.) If it's like other modern battery-operated devices I've used, it'd probably drain a set of alkalines in a matter of hours. But I've (conveniently) a set of rechargeable lithium ion "C" cells that I have yet to make use of. It'll make a good excuse to blow the dust off my old Archer battery charger that's been sitting in the closet at my Mum's house for the last 20 years!

If its tuner's analogue selectivity is anything like my first-generation portable, maybe I'll get one one of these days.

[size=7pt]Re: Pocket Radio--
I doubt it's the same guy, even though they both apparently are in the Maryland area. (The one who used to appear on this board still pollutes the Portland Radio Board under various handles from time to time, and always ends up getting kicked off after a couple days.)

The reasons for this theorem are:
(1) this guy doesn't use our Pocketradio's signature "copied blurb-link-copied blurb-link-copied blurb-link-sarcastic death wish for Ibiquity" format in his review, and
(2) allegedly "wanted to try" the Ibiquity system and allegedly bought one of these units. This forum's Pocketradio has made it perfectly clear that he'd never put any money toward the cause.

Or maybe this really is the same guy and he's had a change of heart? Maybe we've finally gotten through to him on the other forum, and this is some kind of revelation?
 
No one but radio geeks would spend $50 on the portable HD radio. Even fewer radio geeks would spend $100 on the boombox. Radio geeks would get the Sony XDR-F1HD is cheaper and better because it also does AM and can be connected to an external antenna. The Sony radio is so good it's used to feed translators that translate HD2s. Regular people would get the cheaper iHome.

Insignia's portable HD radio is the best portable radio out there.
 
Well, my portable Insignia unit set me back about $53 two years ago, after state-sanctioned consumer extortion sales tax was levied. Does that make me a r4d¡0 g33x0r? ;o)

Yeah, the $100 is awfully steep for anything Insignia badged. Think I'll wait until they go on clearance for $40.

[size=8pt](You know what probably did it? That waste of space I-Plod slot in the front panel. Consider that CrApple's royalties and licencing and other arbitrary fees they wants to tack on probably add at least an extra $40 to the price tag. Yet, much like the I-Plod device itself, that slot and its included interface are really only comprised of ~$5 worth of actual hardware! Godd bless the U$A!)
 
Stellar ratings thus far. Why no AM? IF it was up to me, all FM radios must include AM, just like VHF must include UHF tv tuner rule from the FCC. This is bull cockka. Will the tuner work WITHOUT the iPod? I've seen some that have to have the iPod for the display, at least this looks like it would work alone. I still don't get why it's more than $50. License fees to iBiquity = $xx and License fees to Apple = $x ?

Also, I would love to see someone make a cable/adapter: one end that will fit the bottom of an XM Satellite radio and the other end plug into where an iPod would!
 
Johnny that would be a great idea, except Apple will sue anyone into oblivion that uses their connector without their permission. And I doubt Apple would license the connector patent to someone wanting to circumvent the closed Apple ecosystem.

Blech.

At least it has a 3.5mm AUX jack.

I'm sure the tuner inside is EXACTLY the same hardware as the Insignia portable, connected to a different LCD display and hooked up to a piddly little amp and speakers. So it's really a $50 portable radio with a $50 premium for an iPod slot, AUX in and speakers.
 
If it has good full-range sound it might be worth it. The receiver in the Insignia portable is none too shabby, and if you couple it with a telescopic antenna it's probably pretty good at pulling in stations, though probably not as good as a Tecsun. But if the sound quality is good that would make up for it. My son has this Altec Lansing thing - I think the model is IM-7. Some fantastic sound from that little tube. So it's possible. Has anyone here actually heard one?

Dave B.
 
JohnnyElectron said:
Why no AM? IF it was up to me, all FM radios must include AM, just like VHF must include UHF tv tuner rule from the FCC. This is bull cockka.
Click to expand...

AM HD would compel more people to return the unit sooner than leaving it as FM only. Plus AM is getting passé and the iPod generation will not stand for the poor sound quality of AM, specifically listening to music. (Your VHF-UHF analogy doesn't work because NTSC is the same on both bands. Radio transmission works differently on MW vs. VHF II.; i.e. modulation: amplitude on MW, frequency on VHF II.) I think it won't be long for AM to ride off into the sunset the same way analog TV did a couple years ago.
 
AM-HD - for music - IS better than an MP3 amazingly enough. Voice talk shows sound like Mr. Roboto, but music does truly sound really decent on a well processed AM-HD station, using WCWA as an example. Sports talk = sounds like swirly, brokered music programs: better than XM sat radio!
 
Read an old piece I wrote a few years ago here. The question was where we thought the Ibiquity system would end up in a decade. But only pay attention to the stuff I said about mediumwave.

I still think it'll eventually become a HAM/pirate band.
 
JohnnyElectron said:
AM-HD - for music - IS better than an MP3 amazingly enough. Voice talk shows sound like Mr. Roboto, but music does truly sound really decent on a well processed AM-HD station, using WCWA as an example. Sports talk = sounds like swirly, brokered music programs: better than XM sat radio!
Click to expand...

Full bandwidth AM stereo sounds better than AM HD, and can be heard for a long distance. You have to see the tower to hear AM HD, and there can't be any lightning.
 
Not necessarilly. I've reliably pulled in KEX's Ibiquity broadcast on the F1HD in the truck clear up in Olympia almost every time I've gone up there with it.....70-some miles north from the tower, and behind many hills, yet!

Your results may vary, of course.....
 
I have a Sony XDRF1HD and live 60 miles from NYC and 30 miles from Philly and can't get HD to lock on AM for more than a few seconds in the day. Can't get HD at all in the night. Whereas I get great reception of their FM HD simulcasts.
 
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