Ask questions via twitter! Message any question to @answers on twitter. We'll publish the question and send you a reply each time there's a new answer.
Next Question

Answered Question

evan evan
 
M$2 February 03, 2009 06:31 PM

Is HD radio worth it?

Have you ever used HD radio? Is the sound quality significantly better? What about all the extra stations? Does it justify the cost of upgrading?
Interesting Question?  Yes (0)   No (0)   
RSS
 
 

Best Answer  Chosen by Asker

albanian albanian
 
 February 03, 2009 07:17 PM
It depends upon where you live and what you listen to. For me the answer is yes. I listen to public radio to hear classical and jazz. I am quite far from the stations. I stopped listening to FM because of the noisy reception until I bought an HD receiver. Since then I have not only been able to enjoy the two stations within range, but one of them has an extra channel that I can choose.

If you are getting good FM reception and enough stations now there may be no benefits. The actual sound is not higher fidelity.

I don't know about using HD in a car, it seems likely that reception would be difficult as you drive around.
Asker's Rating:


Helpful Answer?  (0)   (0)    Tip albanian for this answer
Permalink | Report
   Reply  
 
 
pocketradi... pocketradi...
 
February 04, 2009 12:53 AM
You are welcome! I just hope to eduate the General Public about HD Radio. For lively debate, go to Radio-Info.com:

http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php/board,194.0.html

Report
 
 
pocketradi... pocketradi...
 
February 04, 2009 02:08 AM
I love it! I knew someone would step up to the plate and tell me "that I had an axe to grind" and "completely distorting the discussion of HD radio"! Perhaps, you work for NPR, iBiquity, or the HD Alliance? Too late - my blog has gotten about 15,000 hits in six months from over 75 countries!

Report
 
 
albanian albanian
 
February 04, 2009 02:31 AM
I work in an unrelated field and have nothing to do with radio except that I have been an NPR fan for many years. How anyone can stand commercials is beyond me. More to the point in answering this Mahalo question, I have an HD radio and am happy with it. It is a Sangean component tuner.

Report
 
 

Other Answers (3)

Sort By
mampersat mampersat
 
February 03, 2009 08:55 PM
I'd say no - if you're in a car the noise of the car will cancel out improved reception - and if your at home you're better off streaming from the internet.

If you don't have high-bandwidth internet at home than you probably also are not in range of an HD radio broadcaster.

Helpful Answer?  (0)   (0)    Tip mampersat for this answer
Permalink | Report
   Reply  
 
 
pocketradi... pocketradi...
 
February 03, 2009 10:39 PM
HD Radio is nothing but a farce!

http://hdradiofarce.blogspot.com

HD Radio/IBOC is jamming our airways, especially on AM radio, with adjacent-channel interference. This is a scam to hijack our airways by iBiquity/HD Radio Alliance-owned larger stations, by jammig community-owned stations off the dial. HD Radio/IBOC is totally unnecesessary, as FMeXtra does the same thing, but without the adjacent-channel interference.

Consumers have zero interest in HD Radio, and the programming is many times, just clever reworks off the main analog channels. Terrestrial radio is trying to prop iteself up through HD Radio receiver sales. HD Radio suffers from dropouts, digital artifacts, and poor coverage - it's all in my blog.

Helpful Answer?  (0)   (0)    Tip pocketradio for this answer
Permalink | Report
   Reply  
 
 
evan evan
 
February 03, 2009 10:41 PM
Some explanation would be helpful!

Report
 
 
pocketradi... pocketradi...
 
February 03, 2009 10:53 PM
Done! One other thing - iBiquity gets about $50 royalty fee for each HD Radio sold, so I hope this helps everyone in making their decisions to purchase HD radios. If you love radio, as I do, then I have already given you the answer.

Report
 
 
albanian albanian
 
February 03, 2009 11:10 PM
Public radio in my area was among the first to broadcast in HD. They are not forced off the airwaves, they now have more channels that they can broadcast on. The station which could only broadcast either jazz or classical at one time can now broadcast both. And, the royalty can't be anywhere near $50 or the radios would be much more expensive. And if you can stand what they put on AM radio then now you can listen to it, the quality improvement for AM is great.

Report
 
 
pocketradi... pocketradi...
 
February 03, 2009 11:23 PM
It's the smaller broadcasters who are suffering, such as Bob Savage WYSL 1020 AM radio in Rochester, NY - WBZ's IBUZZ adjacent-channel hash has cost Bob a large sports advertiser. NPR is a major problem, since CPB/NPR bilked Congress out of tens-of-millions in upgrades to thie useless, destructive technology:

"HD Radio: Fun with Math"

"I think it is fair to say that the audiophile community, those people who take their FM seriously, is dead set AGAINST HDRadio. Not only do most people never intend to buy a radio, unless as a plaything for early adopters and collectors, but are aghast at the FCC for even allowing IBOC to thrash up the FM bandwidth. Plus, people with enough technical savvy to read the specs are insulted by the false claims of 'CD sound quality' or even 'near-CD sound quality'. These are transparent marketing hype, beyond mean puffery. Sorry, but HDRadio has sworn enemies. This goes beyond just business but has political reprecussions for FCC and for Congress. This has the whiff of political scandal - and I'm a rock-ribbed Republican! The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is especially vulnerable. My advice for any businessman is to avoid any association with HDRadio."

http://hear2.com/2006/06/hd_radio_fun_wi.html

NPR shoud be boycotted.

Report
 
 
pocketradi... pocketradi...
 
February 03, 2009 11:27 PM
"RadioShack's Inadequate Accurian"

"This is the cheapest HD Radio receiver now on the market, but even at $200 it's too expensive given its subpar sound... Instead of developing a radio capable of superior sound quality, I'm guessing that RadioShack paid iBiquity a fortune for the license, cheaply put together a subpar product, and passed the licensing cost on to consumers."

http://tinyurl.com/685yfr

"The ongoing tragedy of HD radio"

"Supposedly, it costs a manufacturer about $50 to implant an iBiquity HD chip into a radio, thus transforming it into an HD radio. That $50 (or so) is the fee the manufacturer pays to iBiquity."

http://www.hear2.com/2007/10/the-ongoing-tra.html

Most HD radios are close to $100, so when you see a rebate from the scammers at iBiquity, they are getting desperate enough to waive their royalty fees. Of course, not every one ends up getting their rebates... hmmmm...

Report
 
 
evan evan
 
February 04, 2009 12:38 AM
Interesting debate! Thanks for the extra info.

Report
 
 
albanian albanian
 
February 04, 2009 02:03 AM
I don't know what your axe to grind is but you are completely distorting the discussion of HD radio. I looked into this Mr Savage thing and he is an operator of a tiny 500 watt station which could only be heard 20 miles away AM at night and now suffers more interference at night. Who cares? For the normal listener HD is an advantage using FM and a big advantage using AM. The problem that AM really has is that it sounded so bad for so long that now its stations only broadcast stuff that sounds bad no matter what. If HD catches on we may have decent AM stations again someday.

Report
 
 
pocketradi... pocketradi...
 
February 04, 2009 02:10 AM
I love it! I knew someone would step up to the plate and tell me "that I had an axe to grind" and "completely distorting the discussion of HD radio"! Perhaps, you work for NPR, iBiquity, or the HD Alliance? Too late - my blog has gotten about 15,000 hits in six months from over 75 countries!

Report
 
 
drw9798 drw9798
 
February 04, 2009 04:05 PM
I use it it to listen to AM stations that are broadcast on HD Radio in my cubicle at work. There is no way I could pick up the AM signals in the building, but FM works just fine. Although it does drop out every now and then.

Helpful Answer?  (0)   (0)    Tip drw9798 for this answer
Permalink | Report
   Reply  
 
 

Answer this Question

How tips and payments work

This question has already been resolved. You may add an answer to it but you will not be eligible to win best answer or any associated tips.

Related Questions

No questions found.
View All Music Questions

Ask a Question


140 characters left
Top of Page
Buy Mahalo Dollars with Credit Card or PayPal

Top Members

This Week All Time
  • buddawiggi
    buddawiggi
    2nd Degree Black Belt
    27115 Points
    M$783.09 Earned
  • kty2777
    kty2777
    Purple Belt with a Brown Tip
    5444 Points
    M$199.92 Earned
  • opher
    opher
    Purple Belt
    4166 Points
    M$187.17 Earned
   See All
 

Most Popular Tags

mahalo(1592)
twitter(945)
iphone(462)
music(459)
google(355)
food(315)
internet(303)
online(293)
beer(278)
money(262)
movies(255)
facebook(253)
apple(251)
aotd(235)
answers(221)
health(217)
video(204)
dog(204)
free(202)
windows(195)
   See All
 

Categories

Welcome New Members


 
 
Mahalo Dollars are the currency of Mahalo Answers.

Each Mahalo Dollar costs $1.

Once you earn more than 40 Mahalo Dollars, you can request to be paid via PayPal. Each Mahalo Dollar is currently worth $0.75 when paid out via PayPal. Learn More

 
 

Please log in to use this function.

Answers Home | Ask a Question | Earn Points | How Tips Work | Widget