• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Which cars are now have HD Radio Factory installed?

Here's an answer. BMW, & Next Years Ford. If you want a Ford this year HD is a dealer installed option. Hopefully that helps answer your question.
 
BUT they will be available as a factory installed option. Air conditioning is an option too. New cars are loaded with options With every gain HD makes the anti crowd responds with junk like this, Who's ya gonna believe, me or your eyes.
 
Before there was AC in cars they had only vents which only provided outside temperature air, AC is a definite improvement over vents, correct? This option (which really is standard nowadays on all but the cheapest cars) makes sense, no?
Before there was HD radio available in cars there was analog radio which comes in well, sounds good and is reliable and predictable, no? HD cuts the receive range significantly, interferes with adjacent channels and the sound is worse than MP3 players. Is HD an improvement? Does anyone here actually think that anyone besides people who order all the latest gadgets just to have them will order these radios with their new cars? Especially when people start taking them back because they don't "work"?
 
I don't know what to tell you. I have three HD radios and they all work as intended. Maybe it's because I have an extra class ham license that I know how to turn on a radio, and tune it too.
 
I have an extra class license too, but that hasn't helped the 3 multicasting HD-FM stations here when the audio quality goes down when the HD1 kicks-in, nor the useless same 12 songs of crap for programming on the HD-2, or the crud I hear 20KHz above the HD-AM station when I'm tuning a station on my analog AM radio (trying to listen to my station on 580 when a flea-powered HD station on 560 is spritzing-up my audio).
On the flip-side, the graveyard HD-AM station on 1230 sounds great - not stereo music, but decent-sounding mono at least without the resulting feeble analog audio like WJR has since installing HD, and the non-multicasting HD-FM stations sound almost as good as their analog counterpart, with only a slight loss at the high-end (cymbals, tambourines, brass). Using one of my HD radios instead of my analog radios also 'magically' filters out 80% of the HD crud (not sure what type of filter is in the HD radio, but I CAN hear the 580 audio on the HD radio).
 
HD Radios are software based and use DSP which is why you can tune 20 K away from a HD station and not hear the HD sidebands. That's because they aren't there. The reason you her HD sidebands 2 channels down on a analog radio is due to the way typical ceramic filters work.
 
R.F. Burns said:
BUT they will be available as a factory installed option. Air conditioning is an option too. New cars are loaded with options With every gain HD makes the anti crowd responds with junk like this, Who's ya gonna believe, me or your eyes.
Click to expand...

Bad analogy. Yes, HD will be available for Fords; but not as standard equipment in ANY of their models. So, you'll have to go to the trouble of ordering HD radio and having it installed. This is something that most consumers won't even think of doing.

Air conditioning is standard equipment in all high and mid-priced cars and is often found in lower price models as an installed option as well. You can pretty much find a car in any model on the lot with it already installed. This doesn't sound like it will be the case for HD radio and, as a practical matter, it makes a joke of Ford's deal with Ibiquity. Very few people will end up with HD radios in cars under this arrangement.

So, you'll have 2% of Fords and certain BMW models with HD Radio available. As for the rest [cue crickets....] no plans yet.

Sure, I may sound negative - but of the dozens of cars I rent every few months and of the multitudes of people I interact with on a monthly basis....I have yet to see ONE in possession of an HD radio. Now, if you change that modifier from HD to Satellite, then I have seen lots of them. Just had a rental car last week with XM. But no HD. Ever.

Call it "junk" if you will, but HD's market penetration is dismal at best and I don't see it bursting on the scene any time soon. Early adopters aren't interested and there's no 'buzz' about it. All are bad signs.
 
BRNOUT, huh.

Try looking up information prior to placing half-assed comments:

From: http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2008/01/ford-expands-hd.html
"Ford announced it will include HD radio either standard or as an option in all of its models beginning with the 2009 model year. It did not elaborate on which models would have the technology standard and which would leave the upgrade as only an option, but all Ford, Mercury and Lincoln vehicles will be affected.

Ford included HD radio as a dealer-installed option on some models back in the fall of 2007, but the switch to factory installation, plus the addition of Ford’s new Sync system, shows how eager the automaker is to get a leg up any way it can..."

Also, http://news.****************/cgi-bin/$rol.exe/headline_id=n17466

"Ford Motor Co. becomes the first U.S. automaker to add factory-installed HD Radio technology as a standard, or optional feature, on Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles beginning with its 2009 vehicles. The announcement follows Ford's launch of HD Radio technology in the fall of 2007 as a dealer-installed option..."


Oh yeah, and this: http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=27314

"Boston, MA, November 27, 2007 - Announced today at the Boston International Auto Show, Volvo will be the first automotive manufactures in the U.S. to offer innovative digital HD Radio technology on almost all models. Equipped with the HD Radio system, Volvo owners will enjoy a higher-quality AM/FM radio system that features more channel choices, crystal-clear sound and new data services. Volvo Cars of North America, LLC will be offering factory installed HD Radio receivers as standard and optional equipment.

"We believe Volvo will have the largest standard equipped HD Radio technology fleet in the world. Our drivers expect the highest quality in every aspect of their vehicles," Dirk Bott, Vice President Brand, Business & Product, Volvo Cars of North America, LLC. "Adding HD Radio capability to our S40 T5, V50 T5, C30, C70, S80, V70, XC70 and XC90 models truly makes our audio systems state of the art, giving Volvo drivers an even more enjoyable driving experience." Introduction is scheduled for Fall of 2008..."

Yet, there's more: http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/autoshows/detroit/2008/2009hyundaigenesis.html

"Hyundai is hoping to give its new flagship sedan an even bigger boost in the cachet department by offering high-end options similar to that of more expensive European sport sedans. In addition to the 17-speaker Lexicon audio system, the Hyundai Genesis will offer adaptive xenon headlights, heated and cooled front seats, iPod and USB audio inputs, adaptive cruise control, a factory HD Radio receiver and even reflective leather on the steering wheel to keep it cool in direct sunlight..."

Ok, this is enough: http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2007/01/hd_radio_being_.html

"BMW, which is already offering HD tuners on select models, will have them available across its entire lineup by March 1. Although no specifics were offered, iBiquity also said that nine other car manufacturers are planning to offer them on more than 50 models over the next two to three years. This puts HD Radio at about the same place that satellite digital radio was at about five or six years ago..."
 
I'll believe it when I see it. If anything around here is "halfassed," it is Ibiquity's rollout of their technology in products that people would actually buy. I don't know anyone who has an HD radio yet, nor do I know anyone who's interested. That's Ibiquity's fault.

BTW - Ford owns Volvo, so that's basically the same thing. One high-end Hyundai (itself a questionable venture) does not comprise a revolution in radio habits. BMWs are fringe - not even a making ripple in the pond of mass marketing. Show me standard HD radios across most of the fleets at Ford, GM and Toyota and then you'll have something. That's a long, long way off - if it ever happens.

Maybe I wasn't 100% accurate about next year (though I am dead on about the present), but at least I didn't spin things to make this thing seem oh-so-much more successful than it actually is. In the end, you'll end up with 5% of cars with the equipment instead of 2%. My mistake..... ::)
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom