Radio Road

Which tuner to get and getting the most from it. Thank God, for the radio!

Return to Radio Road

Message Sort: Post Order or Asylum Reverse Threaded

HD Radio?

128.157.160.13
Posted on February 24, 2017 at 06:49:44
texanater
Audiophile

Posts: 1513
Location: Houston, TX
Joined: December 16, 2002
 I've thoroughly enjoyed my NAD 418 tuner for about the past 20 years. Its truly a wonderful tuner that punches waaaaay above its belt (as long as you can live with the light bulb burning out every 5 minutes). I live in Houston. As much as I love this city and all that it has to offer, the radio here is TERRIBLE! We have less than 5 serviceable stations. This is quite shocking considering the city's size and rich musical history. Making matters worse, our only classical station just moved to HD. So I either need to get an HD radio or basically abandon radio all together. KPFT has a couple good shows on weekends, but you have to wade through all the baggage of pacifica!

So anyway, please suggest a good affordable radio. NAD's current radio is $400, beyond what I would like to spend. I was hoping to keep it under $100 but am willing to consider more expensive options.

Thanks!

Nate
You can't cheat an honest man, never give a sucker an even break or smarten up a chump -- W.C. Fields

 

Hide full thread outline!
    ...
RE: HD Radio?, posted on February 24, 2017 at 11:41:28
6bq5
Audiophile

Posts: 4379
Location: SF Bay
Joined: August 16, 2001
 The Darling of the press a few years ago was the Sony XDR-F1HD HD Radio Tuner
It retailed for only a few hundred when it was in production IIRC- and is now discontinued-
However a quick search shows unit for sale from <$100 to $300...
I never heard one- but it was well liked and praised-
Happy Listening

 

RE: HD Radio?, posted on February 24, 2017 at 12:36:29
Eli Duttman
Audiophile

Posts: 10455
Location: Monroe Township, NJ
Joined: March 31, 2000
 Did the station move to HD2 on someone else's signal? IIRC, HD1 goes into the portion of the allocated bandwith "above" the traditional analog stuff. Of the 100 KHz. bandwidth, the portion above 53 KHz. is where the HD stuff goes. Before HD came on the scene, that area was used for "Muzak", beepers, etc.

It is pretty common for stations to broadcast the same info. in both analog and HD1, with HD2 being different content. You may not need new equipment.

BTW, HD2 spills over the 100 KHz. allotment and that IS a matter of concern.


Eli D.

 

RE: HD Radio?, posted on February 24, 2017 at 12:53:12
kh6idf
Audiophile

Posts: 1474
Location: Texas
Joined: May 2, 2001
 I'm also in Houston, and it is too bad we don't have a classical FM station with good audio quality anymore.

"HD" radio does not stand for "high definition" as most people would think, it stands for "hybrid digital", a way to shoehorn more channels into what used to be allocated for one analog FM broadcast station.

If you look at the classical stream on KUHF HD2, it says it is streaming at 128kb, not the highest fidelity. The old analog FM broadcast had superior audio quality, if you were in a location to get it noise and multipath free.

There are better quality streams available, once you are equipped for internet radio, as well as the free or paid music services (Pandora, Spotify, TIDAL, etc).

I have an old Logitech Squeezebox 'Classic' that I am not using, if you would be interested. It can receive internet radio and Pandora, but not Rhapsody/Napster, Spotify or TIDAL. I replaced it with a Denon HEOS Link, which can receive all of those plus it has better sound from it's internal DAC. For both devices, I use the digital outputs to an external DAC, but the HEOS Link internal DAC is good enough that it can sound fine by itself.

 

RE: HD Radio?, posted on February 24, 2017 at 12:59:09
kh6idf
Audiophile

Posts: 1474
Location: Texas
Joined: May 2, 2001
 Unfortunately, the classical station discontinued their analog broadcast and is HD-only now.

 

a new Sangean (non-desktop) is not under $100, but, posted on February 24, 2017 at 13:14:46
SAS2chan
Audiophile

Posts: 11
Joined: March 27, 2006
 you might find a HD1 used somewhere; I have that one which I liked. I live in Phila area where WRTI and WXPN offer analog and multiple HD bands. Possible heresy, and I don't care, but HD via these stations sounds excellent though my rig. Not a totally flat response, but quite noise free. I like it so much that I invested in a DaySequerra broadcast-type HD monitor and with it don't miss analog FM much anymore.

 

RE: HD Radio?, posted on February 24, 2017 at 13:55:54
texanater
Audiophile

Posts: 1513
Location: Houston, TX
Joined: December 16, 2002
 So are you saying the digital signal coming from the classical HD station here in Houston is 128kpbs or that streaming it from the internet is 128kpbs?

I'm sending you a PM about the squeeze box. I may be interested.

Thanks!

Nate
You can't cheat an honest man, never give a sucker an even break or smarten up a chump -- W.C. Fields

 

RE: HD Radio?, posted on February 24, 2017 at 20:00:30
kh6idf
Audiophile

Posts: 1474
Location: Texas
Joined: May 2, 2001
 The signal as received on my end (over the internet)is 128kb/sec. That also means the signal placed on the internet by the station is 128 kb/sec.


I assume the over-the-air HD radio signal is the same bitrate, but haven't verified this.

 

Why not, posted on February 24, 2017 at 20:42:22
Awe-d-o-file
Dealer

Posts: 21037
Location: 50 miles west of DC
Joined: January 10, 2004
 connect a laptop tablet or even a smart phone to your stereo and listen. You won't have to spend any money. Besides as Eli said HD radio is compressed, not as good as analog FM. See Link below



ET

"If at first you don't succeed, keep on sucking till you do suck seed" - Curly Howard 1936

 

Hybrid Digital aka HD is NOT High Definition, it is LOW Definition, posted on February 25, 2017 at 00:12:51
Timbo in Oz
Audiophile

Posts: 23221
Location: Canberra - in the ACT - SE Australia
Joined: January 30, 2002
 IF you want good radio get yourself a 'good' antenna.

One that gives you each desired FM station in low-noise low-distortion sound.




Warmest

Tim Bailey

Skeptical Measurer & Audio Scrounger


 

RE: Hybrid Digital aka HD is NOT High Definition, it is LOW Definition, posted on February 25, 2017 at 01:21:52
Eli Duttman
Audiophile

Posts: 10455
Location: Monroe Township, NJ
Joined: March 31, 2000
 HD radio is, like many other recent things, dumbed down and unsatisfactory. :>(

Говно! (Brown, smelly, stuff in Russian)


Eli D.

 

RE: Hybrid Digital aka HD is NOT High Definition, it is LOW Definition, posted on February 25, 2017 at 04:53:04
texanater
Audiophile

Posts: 1513
Location: Houston, TX
Joined: December 16, 2002
 I've got a great antenna and a great tuner. The problem is I have few radio stations and no classical ones at all. I just don't get it. Houston is a great and vibrant city with a rich musical history, especially with regard to Jazz, blues and classical. Its one of the best cities for live music. But the radio is just awful. We have 1 part time Jazz station and no classical stations if you don't have HD radio. We have a Pacifica station which plays wonderful music when they play music. The rest of their content is hard line pegged to the left political content in which I have absolutely no interest.


You can't cheat an honest man, never give a sucker an even break or smarten up a chump -- W.C. Fields

 

RE: Hybrid Digital aka HD is NOT High Definition, it is LOW Definition, posted on February 25, 2017 at 09:04:10
Eli Duttman
Audiophile

Posts: 10455
Location: Monroe Township, NJ
Joined: March 31, 2000
 For now, pick up the internet stream from WWFM.org, as your classical music source.

Consider founding a group that supports a WWFM repeater in the Houston, TX, area. If Steamboat Springs, CO, does it, Houston, TX, can too.


Eli D.

 

Radio Garden, posted on March 1, 2017 at 10:10:40
akatana2112
Audiophile

Posts: 32
Location: So. Cal
Joined: May 19, 2016
 Yes, you can even have fun doing some virtual DXing!

http://radio.garden/

 

RE: HD Radio?, posted on March 17, 2017 at 11:11:45
airtime
Audiophile

Posts: 11287
Location: Arizona
Joined: February 4, 2003
 I had the same problem in in NJ. I HAD to switch to a streaming network player, a Marantz NA7004. It works great and I never went back to FM.

I also have a HD radio and don't bother. The quality is awful. And I'm using a Sony HD radio.

 

RE: Hybrid Digital aka HD is NOT High Definition, it is LOW Definition, posted on March 17, 2017 at 11:19:54
airtime
Audiophile

Posts: 11287
Location: Arizona
Joined: February 4, 2003
 I had the same thing in NJ. I used to get NJ and NYC radio stations. For a such a world famous city known for culture they had CRAP radio.

While in NJ the few classical stations were situated between three military bases and then horribly compressed after they were upgraded???

Now I listen to Classical 90.3 from the Netherlands. These are the stations availble on a Marantz streamer

 

RE: HD Radio?, posted on March 18, 2017 at 15:58:29
airtime
Audiophile

Posts: 11287
Location: Arizona
Joined: February 4, 2003
 I had three of them at one time. I still have one sitting in the closet. Truth be told it really is a good sounding tuner and does do what the spec sheets claim.

I never don't use it anymore since I switched over to streaming.

 

My wife got a new car with an HD tuner, posted on March 22, 2017 at 10:28:39
jedrider
Audiophile

Posts: 15166
Location: No. California
Joined: December 26, 2003
 Very consistent QUALITY across the band. BLAND if you ask me.

My wife warned me NOT to change it because she knows what an audiophile will DO!!

I couldn't resist and I set it to prioritize FM analog over HD and I shifted the fader towards the rear so that we would get a more immersive sound.

So far, she hasn't picked up on the changes or else I wouldn't hear the end of it ;-)

 

RE: HD Radio?, posted on March 26, 2017 at 12:33:21
Crazy Dave
Audiophile

Posts: 14371
Location: East Coast
Joined: October 4, 2001
 I have had ridiculous amounts of fun with the long discontinued RadioShack AUVIO HD radio. If you can find one, you can probably get it cheap. I bought it new for around $20 on a clearance. It came with rack ears, which I installed just for the heck of it. It also has remote control, which is quite handy for scanning the airwaves. It doesn't have the cult following of the Sony, so you might be able to score one cheap. Then if you like it, you can buy a more expensive HD tuner, or you can do what I did. I decided it was good enough.

Dave

 

Page processed in 0.032 seconds.

[ Top Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]