I'm getting tired of the ads.

Does anyone actually have an HD radio and is the content any better than FM?

Yes, it is wonderful. you can hear the blemishes on their skin:tongue:

heh...

HD radio?

I'm still waiting for color radio!

HD radio?

I'm still waiting for color radio!
Hey, I just got one of those yesterday ! It came with a "free" case of dehydrated water from a Y2K warehouse. To use the Dehydrated water, "just add water"

I have heard a radio station claim to be broadcasting in
HD Radio. I thought to myself, "What's HD Radio?"
I thought FM was the best radio signal one could get.
What the heck is HD Radio?

Just as with any analog signal, radio is a waste of bandwidth. HD radio uses digital encoding for both better sound quality and the ability to compress several stations into the same space as an analog station.

Remember the old C-band analog satellite dishes? 24 channels per satellite. Now with digital satellite technology, each satellite carries hundreds of channels with better picture and sound quality than before. Same concept.

FM was a great improvement in signal to noise ratio (S/N) over AM. But, a higher bandwidth as well. Digital radio uses bandwidth more efficiently and also has an improved S/N. I have never heard of HD radio. Are you confusing HDTV with digital radio? HDTV is also digital, but it improves the resolution of the video, hence the name High Defintion TV.

Apparently Atlanta may be a "test market". The regular FM stations are bombarding listeners with ads for HD radios.

Here's a link that shows what you can buy: Amazon (http://amazon.com/gp/feature.html/?docId=985601&//sr=53-1/qid=1193660904/ref=tr_304641/002-7387286-3696826)

They are trying to get people to adopt it through "increased content and better sound without subscriptions".

Seems if you want increased content or better sound you'd listen to a CD.

Seems like the AM stereo push in the mid 80's (anyone besides me remember that?)

Most of the larger cities have stations that are pushing HD Radio. It's something new that's growing...it seems like it has the ability to function like satellite radio without some of the irritating problems with that service.

We have the advertisements for HD radio here in Cincinnati.

HD in this instance does not stand for "High Definition" as it does for TV's but instead stands for "Hybrid Digital". This allows a radio station to simulcast MP-3 quality compressed digital audio and analog audio on the same frequency band. The technology is also referred to as IBOC.. In Band, On Channel.

So, in the same frequency band of your local radio station you could have a sub-band digital broadcast at CD quality sound versus regular over the air broadcasts. It doesn't even have to be the same as the analog broadcast... you can offer variety. Here is what is listed for some of the HD stations here in town. I put their "standard" broadcast genre in parenthesis before the station call letter to show the differences

--(Hard Rock) WEBN-HD2: New alternative, what WAQZ-FM used to be.
--(Classic Rock) WOFX-HD2: Fox goes adult album alternative (AAA), similar to WNKU-FM.
--(Hip Hop) WKFS-HD2: Kiss107 doing "classic hip-hop" from the 1980s and '90s. Think Run-D.M.C.
--(70's-80's90's) WVMX-HD2: Mix offers urban variety. A softer version of MOJO, with groups like Earth, Wind & Fire.

They're hawking HD Radio in the Sacramento (California, in case you were wondering where that is) market as well, but my main problem isn't the quality of sound as it is the commercials. Instead, I've listened my iPod for the last couple of weeks and have been in music heaven. All of the music I like without the interruption or the "wacky" DJs talking about some variation of the same topic (sex). The only problem with my plan is that I also like to listen to new music and artists and being cut off from radio means I'm stuck.

If you still want commercial radio without the commercials, I'm afraid you may want to consider switching to satellite radio. Don't have one but a couple of people that I know tell me it's the best thing since sliced bread.

Seems like the AM stereo push in the mid 80's (anyone besides me remember that?)


Yep!
Used to sell AM Stereo radios by Sony where I worked in L.A.. Think I might have sold one of the 2 my store got.

Another hype to sucker us in. I watch HD nature, when I step out side. Better than HD-TV.

Well it's a bit like the digital cell phone scam. They sold consumers digital phones at a premium ("move up to what the big boys have"). They did this under the guise of increased features and better service. I found the first digital I had sounded worse and the feature set was available in analog, just not enabled by the provider. What it really enabled was more phones in a network that was at capacity.

HD radio is the same I think. They've used up the available bandwidth in large cities (FM that is; no room on the dial for more stations) and need more room to sell advertising. So they come up with a scheme to make consumers pay for upgraded radios so they can sell more ads!

Yes' There is HD radio - It is like HDTV - The broadcast is crisp and clean - You have to have a HD receiver to listen, thou - Some of the Radio Accesses are broadcasting HD - Here in Enid, OK - The 104.4 FM - The Rocket, is HD.

Gerry-Lynn

I guess I have heard of HD radio. It still doesn't make sense to me why they would call it that. But, they can call it whatever they want. It's all digital.

Radio? uh, nope your grandaddy's AM will work today like it did 50 years ago. Your daddy's FM receiver too.

The digital processing of new FM signals, so called HD radio, would remove the last vestige of static from FM broadcasts ("no static at all"...). Without digital some "washboard effect" exists today as you drive around".

Whether this improves fidelity, I don't know. Depends on how much bandwidth they use and how good your receiver is.

In the end I think the major gain is in metro areas where the dial is so full there's no room for more ads, I mean stations.

Just what I need -- a couple dozen new radio stations to which I shall not listen, to go along with the couple dozen existing stations to which I already do not listen. :thumbsup:

Qapla'

SSB

I didn't realize that HD is the same as IBOC (in-band on-channel for AM and FM). I learned somthing new. FMeXTRa is also an IBOC, except it's on a subcarrier instead of in the sideband. I don't have the time to follow everything that's going on right now.

Yep!
Used to sell AM Stereo radios by Sony where I worked in L.A.. Think I might have sold one of the 2 my store got.

My '89 Chevy Z-24 still has the factory cassette deck along with AM-stereo.

Does anyone still broadcast in AM stereo?

Just what I need -- a couple dozen new radio stations to which I shall not listen, to go along with the couple dozen existing stations to which I already do not listen. :thumbsup:

Qapla'

SSB

I guess with more stations made available, this will give us more choices to find just the right segmented category of specialized music style to listen to.
I wonder, will it get to the point where things are so specialized that there's an early-Beatles music only station competing with a later-Beatles music only station? :hat: