Are there any good HD radio tuners?

Emmbee

Well-Known Member
I searched but couldn't find a thread on this. My iphone app options kind of stink for searching AK. I'm toying with the idea but have mostly heard very negative things regarding HD Radio.
 
Search for Sony XDR-F1HD

It is covered in the FM Tuner Info site. There are posts by those not liking it but it often gets good reviews. One thread goes on about how to disable the HD because there is no switch on the tuner. TAS magazine loved it.

Short history:
Apparently Sony lost supply of a chip so they quit making it. I would suspect a more involved scenereo, like maybe they sold it way too cheap at $100. It is going for $200 plus used now.

One post here said that the Sangean HD tuner is similar but different software. It averages a little cheaper used.

They get mentioned in the tuner shopping threads, eg mine:
http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=527030

http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/sony.html
 
Is it true that all HD radio signals are only 9600 Kbps? If so, that pretty much negates my interest. Info seems contradictory.
 
HD radio is a bit of a sore point with me. Smooth Jazz 98.7 in Detroit changed their format years ago but before they did, they suggested people buy an HD radio if they wanted the Smooth format. I just bought the smallest one I could find and it works pretty well. It's an Insignia NS-HD01. The new 98.7 hip-hop people recently showed up at a local store doing a promo and I took the opportunity the let them know I wasn't happy with the format change. It's happened in other cities as well. The advent of the new corporate radio.
 
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My old Sony XDR-F1HD out performs every tuner Ive ever had in all aspects.
It pulls in stations 300 miles away in the middle of the day.

Its not just HD only. You dont have to be in an HD market to use it. The specs is where you find the truth and the little Sony has/had the best going when I bought it several years back.

Also a mod to defeat the HD if you want.
I hear they are discontinued, pricey and sought after now. That tells you something.

Our local PBS station went HD but it did not affect the sound using the old tuners.

The HD works just like current airwave TV works. The HD signals are "side bands" of the original signal. In HD, a station that holds a 95.5 will play other formats on 95.6 and or 95.7 or 95.4...and on and on. Or is it 95.55 in tenths/hundredths? I dont remember. Im havent been in an HD market for awhile now. The original station at 95.5 stays the same-ish on the receiver end. Your PBS station (TV right?) or do you mean NPR?. now has 3 or 4 other formats playing just one click away.
In an HD market, there is a station at almost every click of the dial, all the way across. It acts similar to XM Radio without the "All Sting, All Day" channels.

Theres a question, Why would anyone want to listen to one artist all day? Thats actually the reason I gave up on XM. they have more proprietary channels than not.
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New broadcast TV is different. Digital only (no backwards compatibility with older sets unless on a converter box). HD FM does have a conventional FM carrier and the HD coexisting. Main tuner choices now are McIntosh, Day-Sequerra, Sangean, Inovonics, and several other broadcast monitors.
 
Oh, thats good to know.
They present similar but work different.
Still a great way to get both TV and radio programming for free.
Thats what Im after. I dont like the idea of me paying them to provide me with commercials.
Ug.

..
 
I have a sony tuner and there's nothing complicated about it. It pulls in both types of signal. No fiddling needed. And it does so better than any other tuner I've had. The best previous tuner is my yamaha cr-2020.
 
With good reception conditions, I consistently prefer the analog broadcast to the HD Radio broadcasts using a Day-Sequerra M4. I suspect that is as good as HD gets and the low bit rate is to blame. For distant-station reception your preference might be different. Good luck!
 
The HD bandwidth can change with how many HD channels a signal can carry. Even at best, most can hear a decrement in sound quality against a good analog station although, to be fair, some people accept the signal and find that it has some advantages, like less static.

I had two of the little Sonys and sold both as I could not stand HD and the analog sound wasn't that hot either.

Here in the SF Bay Area, many stations have dropped HD and gone back to pure analog.
 
I searched but couldn't find a thread on this. My iphone app options kind of stink for searching AK. I'm toying with the idea but have mostly heard very negative things regarding HD Radio.

Well as most will say the Sony is a real gem. Unfortunately it is now lost to what I think are some very questionable circumstances. Given the outright sales then no comeback? I don't know...:scratch2:

I found next to nothing comparable in my search. I just wanted HD in one other room so I bought a Sangean HDT-1X just to check it out. Pricey buy on the auction site but nowhere near the Sony's price of 250 + dollars.

It really is a nice sounding tuner perhaps not as refined or smooth sounding as the Sony but it does the job. I have had no trouble picking up stations 100 miles away. Separation is great and the sound is clear through the mids up into the highs. Nice enough I think.

I would really like to take it's SPDIF output and run it into a good DAC but I have none.

This tuner is one alternative to the Sony but not a replacement. HD seems to be everywhere but try to find a tuner now days...

Forget it!

I still can't get past that. :smoke:

OT
 
Picked up an Insignia tuner on the super cheap from a certain site. I'm not
expecting anything, but it at least it has digital outs so I can use my DAC. With Insignia you never know who makes it.
 
I can't understand Sony's marketing strategy at all. When the Sony HD tuner came out, NO stores in Cleveland carried it. I called the Sony Store, gave them the model number and they didn't even know what it was! I didn't want to buy one without checking it out in person. Manufacturers seem to make them only for the car and kitchen radio market, even though HD is supposed to be the future of broadcast FM. Maybe the manufacturers are waiting to see if commercial radio is going to survive.
 
Lo and behold, the lowly Insignia HD tuner sounds rather good through the tube section of my Maverick D1 DAC via both the optical and coax outs on the tuner. Our community college station has never sounded better.
I'm sure the Sony sounds significantly better, but until I can afford one this $45 cheapie works fine.
 
New guy here...

Hello, I must of bought a dud, the Sony xdr-f1hd unit I have is a POS. But then again it was purchased on ebay and sometimes it's a 'who knows what your really going to get' thing from ebay. It was sold as NOS, never used. Within days (after the 14 day return period, that's funny) of getting it the thing would shut it self off, the panel would stay lit. Pushing the reset button did nothing. Its latest trick is shutting it self off just like it was unplugged. Sometimes pushing the reset button works, but not every time. It would do this 5-6 times in a row.

I know heat is problem with these units. Sony lets you know in the manual. I used muffin fans to help cool it. I even pulled the cover off to let the heat out plus fans, but still had problems. I'm not spending more cash on another Sony, I lost trust. If you live in St. Louis come by get this thing, I'll trade for a 12-pack of Bud.....ok, maybe a 6-pack.

I have to admit, I like HD much better than commercial radio. There are some collage stations that do a good job. I don't want to spend a lot of cash anyway, I figure 50% or more of the time the station is going to play stuff I don't care for. I just use it for background music when I'm running around the house.

Mark
 
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