Posted: 7/15/2007 12:46:26 PM EDT
| My truck stereo is crapping out on me. Does anyone have the skinny on HD radio? Is it worth getting? |
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NO, seems to be a waste of money. I don't have one, but have had rental cars with it, and was unimpressed. XM and Sirius are a different story though, and typically much cheaper. Actually my wife just reminded me her car has HD radio, and she isn't that impressed with it either, and she drives it everyday. Myself I stick with plain old FM and full speed Ipod interfaces, the HD isn't impressive enough to justify the cost, and I am too old fashioned or cheap to pay for something that I can get for free. |
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HD is free, I didn't phrase that well, did I? Yep, HD is free, Sirius and XM charge. The HD set up in my wifes car is an Alpine HU and a Alpine HD add on Module, the only reason I got it is that the place I bought it had a return that they were selling cheap, and even then it was probably money wasted. From what I have seen XM is much cheaper as far as the hardware goes, and the programming is very inexpensive. The main reason that I don't care much for sat radio is the same reason I don't really like most of the local morning radio shows, they are syndocated and have no local flavor at all. It comes across as very generic and bland. Yes the local DJ might be an idiot whose voice sucks and wouldn't know a good song from a bad one of his program manager told him what was what, but at least you can relate to what they say. |
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I work in radio, not the broadcast side but I get the typical industry engineering related rags.. they are pushing HD HARD, really hard. I was looking into a new deck for my car when I wasn't finding much locally for them.. crutchfield had a few... didn't seem like something to invest in at that moment and I went and signed up for Sirius. I can listen to my sirius channels here in CO and in FL (or anywhere esle I travel) and it's all familliar. buzzsaw the vault classic rewind blues rawdog patriot radio etc... 
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while I do not have HD radio I do have Sirius...I would take the uncencored, drive across the country listening to the same channel satelite radio over the HD, which is supposed to have a cleaner sound then regular FM but the same progrmming and rules and having to change from channel to channel while traveling. Anyways sat radio is a whole 12 bucks month and the you can get a reciever for cheap, if not free with promos |
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What is so bad about FM. 70 year old technology that works just fine. I don't want to pay for a new radio...and I don't want to pay for sattelite...I just want my the local DJ's back...and not this "Bob FM" crap. I listen to my Ipod most of the time...every know and then, I find an old fashioned local radio station that plays a decent variety of stuff. |
The problem is that it is analog, and uses too much of the very limited bandwidth for each station, and the stations bleed over each other. Going to digital means 3-4 times as many stations are possible, that each station will have additional range, that the station will come in much clearer at longer distances, and that there will be no (or little) conflict between stations. So, from a technology point of view, it's superior. But since nearly all radio stations have been bought out by 3 big companies (with Clear Channel being the largest), "local" radio has been destroyed, with most "local" air talent being replaced with syndicated shows programmed out of the company's headquarters. That isn't likely to change much. And, right now, HD radio equipment is WAY overpriced, much like SAT radio was in the beginning. In a couple of years, HD radio will be "standard", and portable receivers will be well under $50. -Troy |