2. misc-audio
  3. 1131139650

Question = High Definition Radio Capabilities

Boston Acoustic is releasing a radio in December (2005) that provides high definition capabilities. The product name is Recepter Radio HD and their web site is http://www.bostonacoustics.com/.

Does listening to FM via High Definition provide increased sound quality? I was told that “the performance of a radio station that now does NOT compress their signal is better today than it will be with HD radio. With HD radio, they will break down the bandwidth to accommodate other channels on the same frequency”,

Do you have any experiences or comments regarding high definition radio? Thanks
hgeifman

Showing 2 responses by kr4

kr4's avatar
kr4
3,649 posts
 
HD is a poor term for it. Does anyone really call it High Definition?

It is also known as IBOC (In Band On Channel) radio. It is a compressed digital transmission which allows the channel lessor to pack more channels/functions in his alloted bandwidth. Quality can be good but there's no guarantee.

Kal
kr4's avatar
kr4
3,649 posts
 
Elevick-

I am sorry you have such horrible experiences with broadcast radio and I cannot offer contrary evidence, with only a rare exception or two. I have no experience with ClearChannel, I am happy to say.

However, my point was that the so-called HD-Radio is not an improvement and will likely lead to further corruption as more and more channels are packed into the fixed bandwidth.

Lately, I've been fooling with XM reception which is a good example of such. The broadcast quality is no better than it has to be to accommodate all the channels. By comparison, my reception from WQXR-FM in NYC is superior, as is what I get from digital DMX cable-radio in CT. I do not expect this to continue and I will have to rely even more on my music collection (and the internet).

Kal
More to discover