HD Radio

[KEVKEV]

Has anyone heard of HD Radio? 107.1 announces that they are broadcasting in HD. Any info.?

[nakedeye]

Actualy I'd bet htat most around here are doing hd. it si a simulcast of the regular channel that is on a VERY close frequency for the uner to pick up. As of right now I belive there are only outboard tuners that work for it. Last year when I looked into it, they ran 2-300 bucks.

HD on FM is CD quality if they don't multi cast. They can however lower the quality if they multicast.

HD on AM is FM quality with stereo seperation. I personly belitve that AM is going to make a huge coem back with this tech given the broadcast distances AM goes.

[TvPat]

Here are the stations in Columbus Broadcasting in HD:
Call Letters Group Owner Main Frequency HD2 Channel Format
WAZU-FM CBS 107.1 FM '90s Alternative
WBWR Clear Chan. 105.7 FM Metal
WCOL-FM Clear Chan. 92.3 FM All New Country
WHOK CBS 95.5 FM Christian Country
WLVQ CBS 96.3 FM Deep Rock Tracks
WLZT Clear Chan. 93.3 FM Love Songs
WNCI Clear Chan. 97.9 FM All New Hits

It looks like the biggest thing holding back HD Radio is the price. Each radio requires a 500 MHz processor to decode the digital signals, and you can't get that for 10 bucks. Also, a 500 MHz processor will wear down a battery pretty fast. I don't have one yet.

Listen to many of the HD-2 stations from Clear Chanel at:
http://www.clearchannelmusic.com/hdradio/

Read more about HD radio at
http://www.hdradio.com

[gkx10]

Add WOSU to your list... follow link for more info on HD... I don't know of any others in town, but there might be, I just don't have a receiver!
http://www.wosu.org/radio/radio-digital/

[Timcredible]

ok, so with FM-HD we'll have toilet humor and 40 minutes of commercials per hour in CD quality? who cares? that doesn't apply to wosu obviously, but the rest of the worthless fm stations in columbus. as you can probably tell, i bought sat. radio when it first came out and haven't listened to fm/am since.

[nakedeye]

I belive 610 WTVN is also up in HD.

I went with Sirius last year thinking it would be HD quality. I couldn't stand it. Worst thing I ever heard. Tried XM and while not CD qual by a long shot, much better and worth it for the price.

[Timcredible]

i have sirius via dish, xm in my car, wife's car, at work, and i think sirius is just a tad better quality, but neither are anywhere near CD quality (CD quality sucks, by the way, for you youngsters who have never heard an album). i'm anxiuosly awaiting the large-scale adoption of dts 5.1 (or either of the new audio formats for hd-dvd and blu-ray) sound as the standard (anyone hear the Eagles hell freezes over DVD in DTS? - now that's good sound!!)

[nakedeye]

BAH hum bug.

Now see thats not fair as you know I'm just a kid LOL

Actualy DTS is crap compared to DVD-A or SACD. Ever hear one of those? They blow me away. Even compared to my albums....

[Smak Runner 2K]

You guys do realize that you can pay a few extra $$$ a month to get a CD-quality stream from Sirius. It's either live now, or will be in a matter of weeks...the rep told me about it, but I forget the details.

[TvPat]

Below is the list of Columbus HD Radio stations according to this link:
http://www.ibiquity.com/hd_radio/hdradio_find_a_station/OH/StnMarket#stationlist

Station Freqency Format (HD2 Format)
WAZU-FM 107.1 New Rock
WBWR-FM 105.7 Rock
WCKX-FM 107.5 Urban
WCOL-FM 92.3 Country (All New Country)
WOSU-AM 820 News/Talk
WOSU-FM 89.7 Classical (News/Talk)
WSNY-FM 94.7 Lite Rock
WTPG-AM 1230 Sprts/Talk
WTVN-AM 610 Nws/Tlk/Spt

Both the list above and the one in my earlier posts missed a few stations. Below is a comprehensive list combining the two. I do not have an HD Radio to validate this.

Station Freqency Format (HD2 Format)
WAZU-FM 107.1 New Rock ('90s Alternative)
WBWR-FM 105.7 Rock (Metal)
WCKX-FM 107.5 Urban
WCOL-FM 92.3 Country (All New Country)
WOSU-AM 820 News/Talk
WOSU-FM 89.7 Classical (News/Talk)
WSNY-FM 94.7 Lite Rock
WTPG-AM 1230 Sprts/Talk
WTVN-AM 610 Nws/Tlk/Spt
WLVQ-FM 96.3 Classic Rock (Deep Rock Tracks)
WHOK-FM 95.5 Country (Christian Country)

[Timcredible]

BAH hum bug.

Now see thats not fair as you know I'm just a kid LOL

Actualy DTS is crap compared to DVD-A or SACD. Ever hear one of those? They blow me away. Even compared to my albums....

Haven't heard dvd-a or sacd. i'll take your word for it that it's good (anything is better than cd). although, i'll admit, cds sure are easy to handle and they last a long time.

[nakedeye]

sad thing is sacd is dead and dvd-a is virtualy dead

[Scott]

Yeah, I have DVD-A and SACD in my car and finding current titles for the format is a pain. I don't think they're really promoting either format any more. Too bad because they sound phenomenal.

[nakedeye]

You have SACD in your car? I was not aware of any head units for that....

Hell I wish I had it in my car...... Oh well spent 400 bucks last year on a new head unit....Don't think the wifey will understand the NEED for a new one. BAH.

[Scott]

Double-checked last night and you're correct--no SACD. It has DVD-A and DTS capabilities.

[jchiso]

I think the current in-car audio options today are terrible, and woefully behind the curve of other consumer electronics products. I used to think the "carputer" geeks were out of their minds, but they are starting to look more sane every day.

Here's what I want in my next car; an open DIN slot. I don't want to pay for a system with an XM tuner control (I have Sirius) or in-dash DVD or navigation. I also don't want some kludgy add-on i-pod connectors and such. I don't even want a six-disc changer (an certainly not an in-dash model) anymore.

Just give me a receiver that will accomodate a satellite tuner and (this is important) a USB port! You can buy a 60GB 2.5" hard drive and an external usb enclosure for around $90. I'd like to be able to take my entire ripped CD collection with me just that easily. For now, Kenwood seems to be the earliest adopter of what I hope will be standard equipment in two years.

[nakedeye]

i almost always buy kenwood for car stereo

[Scott]

I think the current in-car audio options today are terrible, and woefully behind the curve of other consumer electronics products. I used to think the "carputer" geeks were out of their minds, but they are starting to look more sane every day.

Here's what I want in my next car; an open DIN slot. I don't want to pay for a system with an XM tuner control (I have Sirius) or in-dash DVD or navigation. I also don't want some kludgy add-on i-pod connectors and such. I don't even want a six-disc changer (an certainly not an in-dash model) anymore.

Just give me a receiver that will accomodate a satellite tuner and (this is important) a USB port! You can buy a 60GB 2.5" hard drive and an external usb enclosure for around $90. I'd like to be able to take my entire ripped CD collection with me just that easily. For now, Kenwood seems to be the earliest adopter of what I hope will be standard equipment in two years.

I agree that in-car options are pretty bad; however, I was pleased with the options in mine. DVD-A, DTS, XM, 7.1 surround, iPod cable option, Bluetooth. All that--and a tape deck, WTF?

[rossl]

this is a cut and paste from Mark Waldrep of AIX records:

HD Radio Isn't High Definition!!

While I was visiting the recent CEDIA show in Denver, I was disheartened to learn from one of the vendors of the new "HD Radio" format, the so-called "High Definition" new age of broadcast radio, that HD Radio actually delivers quality that is less than half the fidelity of most downloaded MP3 files [96, 64 or even 32 kbps vs. 128 for downloaded MP3 files]! Yet during my drives back and forth to Boulder in my rented PT Cruiser, I heard time and time again about the advantages of "High Definition" Radio...more stations, better sound and choice.

The "HD" in HD Radio doesn't stand for High Definition, I was assured by the gentleman at the Cambridge Sound Works booth, but for "Hybrid Digital". I'm guessing that a poll of average radio listeners, or anyone else for that matter, would have associated HD with the growing world of HD television. The campaign for HD Radio is deceiving and only adds to the confusion over what is really high definition. I'm in the midst of the media world and I get confused over all of the audio encoding methods and standards...is DTS-HD / High Resolution Music really High-Definition or High-Resolution or Lossless or Lossy or what?

So I'm starting a non-profit organization called the HDSMA to try and clarify the current state of affairs for all those interested in getting past the marketing hype and falsehoods. The High Definition Surround Music Association [HDSMA.org] will create, promote and distribute REAL high-definition, surround music through workshops, giveaways, web tutorials and branding. I'm just getting started and hope to enlist contributions from manufacturers of high-end equipment toward the effort. It's time to spread the word that audio deserves better.

[nakedeye]

cool.

I hope sacd/dvd-a finds some sort of life.... even if its undergound (pink floyd)