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Silver Member Username: SuperjazzyjamesPost Number: 476 Registered: Oct-10 | The local jazz station and several others are advertising that they broadcast in HD. I've noticed that they have better sound quality and deeper bass than the stations that don't. It's almost cd quality. My question is this: Is that the full measure of HD radio, or do you need a special tuner (HD tuner) to get true HD radio? |
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Silver Member Username: SuperjazzyjamesPost Number: 572 Registered: Oct-10 | Hello? Anyone? |
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Gold Member Username: MagfanUSA Post Number: 1897 Registered: Oct-07 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_Radio and Yes, it would appear you need a special tuner. Somebody here had raved about the 100$ Sony so it's not a bank breaker. Personally? I get most of my 'radio' these days via XM/Sirius over my small dish. Jazz? Classical? Standards? 10 Different R+R feeds? For the next couple weeks I can listen to about 6 or 7 Christmas Music feeds from Manheim Steamroller to Gene Autry. |
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Silver Member Username: SuperjazzyjamesPost Number: 587 Registered: Oct-10 | Thanks Leo. I don't actually listen to radio very much. It's just burning curiousity on my part. If I had an integrated, I don't know if I'd buy a tuner or not. I like Gene Autry, Manheim, Trans-Seib, Nat "King" Cole and many other favs of Christmas. |
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Gold Member Username: MagfanUSA Post Number: 1902 Registered: Oct-07 | No tuner for me. Small Dish has me covered. Besides, I live 'tween LA and SanDiego sort of, and reception here is problematic. I DO have a Tivoli #1 which is fantastic and good sounding. |
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Silver Member Username: SuperjazzyjamesPost Number: 598 Registered: Oct-10 | I mostly listen to radio to & from work 5 to 10 min each way. I just happened to notice that the sound improved 2 or 3 yrs ago which was right when they started saying "Now broadcasting in HD." |
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Gold Member Username: MagfanUSA Post Number: 1903 Registered: Oct-07 | psychology. Same tuner, same ears, same signal. |
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Silver Member Username: SuperjazzyjamesPost Number: 608 Registered: Oct-10 | I don't think so Leo. First, I noticed the improvement, then I heard the reference to HD. Also, stations not in HD still sound like they always did, lame! |
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Gold Member Username: MagfanUSA Post Number: 1904 Registered: Oct-07 | Because of how FM is broadcast....your car receiver is Not Capable of receiving HD broadcasts...unless it is specifically made to do so. If your car radio WAS HD capable, you may have noticed the difference....if not, I'll fall back to my last post. I have no idea of the penetration of HD into automotive markets....or even the home market, for that matter. Sony had an HD tuner for cheap....just a few years ago, but I doubt it got much traction. FM is pretty nutty with hard wired 50->15k frequency response and a 19khz pilot or subcarrier 'tone'. This is ruthlessly notched out by the receiver. The 'stereo' part of FM is broadcast from about 20k to 35k and is added / subtracted from the mono signal to yield L/R stereo. Other services exist on FM. I remember SCA which I suspect is long gone. Anyway, Read the wiki about HD. it is pretty involved with all sorts of technical features including analogue 'fallback' if the digital signal is bad....that sort of thing. |
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Silver Member Username: SuperjazzyjamesPost Number: 622 Registered: Oct-10 | All I can tell you Leo, is one morning I got in my car to go to work and the music on the radio was almost cd quality which it never had been prior to that morning. The song playing ended, there was some talk, etc. The dj announced the next song and artist followed by a station plug that ended with "...now broadcasting in HD." At that time no other station around was talking about HD. Later some other stations started saying they were HD. They suddenly sounded much better than they had before. The radio section of the owner's manual for the car makes no mention of HD. That leaves me only one conclusion and that is that there is a biproduct of HD radio that improves sound for non HD radios. If you conclude something else, okay, whatever works for you. I know what I heard and have been hearing. |
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Gold Member Username: MagfanUSA Post Number: 1907 Registered: Oct-07 | IF the station had been broadcasting using cassettes or 8-track source material....than went to CD you'd notice.....Especially if they did the upgrade at the same time as going to HD..... However, unless you have a dedicated / dual use tuner which will decode the HD part of the broadcast, you don't have access to that part of the signal. Can stations broadcast better quality? Absolutely. Would they upgrade all signals when going to HD? Doable. Going to HD is probably an expensive process. Does quality sell? Not that I can tell except in limited markets, like hi-end audio or photography. As an example, just look at the junk that passes for 'HD Content' on your TV. Than look at a good sports/news feed or a BlueRay. An amazing difference. Most HD content to me looks no better than a premium upsampled DVD. Please read the Wiki article...or at least skim thru it. I don't have time to try to figure out HD Radio, but I know that FM radio can have maybe up to a 100khz bandwidth, which is plenty of room for all that extra stuff. |
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Silver Member Username: SuperjazzyjamesPost Number: 631 Registered: Oct-10 | The station I listen to has been using mostly cds and some records as long as I have been listening (8 yrs). I know this because the djs often talk about the cd and an issue they had with a cd player a few yrs ago. The records, scratches tell tale and one dj in particular plays records almost exclusively. |
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New member Username: SammerPost Number: 1 Registered: May-23 | I could advocate checking the specs of your cutting-edge radio or audio system to decide if it is already ready with an HD tuner. If not, consider exploring the options to be had to improve your device to absolutely experience the blessings of HD radio. |