HD Radio - do you care about it?

[RagingBITCH]

So in setting up my new house and unpacking and painting, I've been listening to a hell of a lot more radio lately. As is the usual Clear Channel way, I get assaulted with the same 5 songs on loop every day and night, and the same 6 radio ads on loop. One of those ads, of course, being the HD Radio ads for the 'hidden' stations between stations.

Now does anyone actually have it? I was thinking - people really can't be listening to it for the "better" sound quality...they truly have to be doing it to either: A) be on the cutting edge of technology and be an early adopter and/or B) to have more stations for free.

With as crappy as stock radios are in cars, and the varying differences in quality, sound output, etc in some home theaters, and the fact that we as humans are visual/care about aesthetics, (and less about the minor difference in sound quality that prob exists b/t regular radio and HD radio) does anyone truly care about HD radio?

 

[Slick5150]

Well, if both are free, and you have the choice of CD quality or FM quality, wouldn't you choose the HD feed? Lots of people are willing to actually pay for satellite radio, part of which is because of the lack of commercials, but also because even on crappy car speakers, it does sound a lot better.

I'm not in my car enough to warrant geting Sirius or XM, but it is much nicer to listen to standard radio in HD than not.

 

[Wuzup101]

Honestly, I don't recall ever hearing about it until now. However, after looking at the HD radio website, the logo does look really familiar. In any case, I don't really listen to a lot of radio in the first place (so I probably would never consider it). With digital downloads and such, I would be even less likely to use it at home (I would either be watching TV or listening to my choice of music via media that I control the play order of). I will say that my folks have Serius (or however you spell it) satilite radio in both of their cars, and if I was going to spend a lot of time in my car, that is what I would go with (personally - not because it's in any way superior). I did check my local stations on the HD radio site, and I wouldn't get a whole ton anyway, so there's another disadvantage for me :/

I really don't have a problem with the sound quality of radio to begin with. As long as you are not on the borders of the transmission area, it sounds just fine for what I need it to do. My car doesn't have $100,000 worth of speakers... and it's hardly the ideal or most relaxing listening environment...

 

[Muadib]

I have it in my preamp, and it is pretty nice. I would kill to have it in my car though. It's much better than XM radio is for sound quality.

 

[Shawn]

there aren't even any stations in my area broadcasting in digital so it would be pointless for me to get it.

 

[minime72706]

I have it in my car I needed a CD/Aux input, and I found a dual with HD radio for about the same price as competitors. I live in the Boston area where almost every station that I listen to is broadcast in HD. There is a noticeable difference when I lose the HD signal in terms of quality. The extra stations are nice, but I rarely listen to them mostly cause I forget them. I wouldn't really care that much if I didn't have it, but for the minimal cost that its available for its definitely nice to have.

 

[JackBurton]

Fvck HD Radio. That is one of the biggest gimmicks out. I can just see through their little marketing ploy. HD TV/movies are the big thing so the radio stations wanted to cash in on that catch phrase "HiDefinition." "Hey, what about HD sound?" WTF is that exactly? SACD or DVD-A sound quality? Hell no. What you get is a little better sound quality with all the commercials and censorship you've grown to love with regular radio. Give me a freakin' break. On top of that, you have to PAY for an HD receiver to even get HD Radio. Seriously? And I still get an ass load of commercials? What a joke. The REAL action is on the XM and Sirius side. Content is king, and satellite radio has more than you could ever ask for with ZERO or few commercials, and best of all, UNCENSORED.

 

[FeuerFrei]

I know nothing much about it. I probably wouldn't be willing to pay much extra for integrated HD capability in my HU.

Is there a site where you can check and see if there are any HD radio stations in your locale?

 

[Wuzup101]

Originally posted by: FeuerFrei
I know nothing much about it. I probably wouldn't be willing to pay much extra for integrated HD capability in my HU.

Is there a site where you can check and see if there are any HD radio stations in your locale?

http://www.hdradio.com/find_an...ital_radio_station.php

 

[43st]

I'm really excited about HD radio, I'm in the NYC area and we have a ton of choices. My only issue right now is the rather lame selection of hardware.

 

[Slick5150]

Originally posted by: JackBurton
Fvck HD Radio. That is one of the biggest gimmicks out. I can just see through their little marketing ploy. HD TV/movies are the big thing so the radio stations wanted to cash in on that catch phrase "HiDefinition." "Hey, what about HD sound?" WTF is that exactly? SACD or DVD-A sound quality? Hell no. What you get is a little better sound quality with all the commercials and censorship you've grown to love with regular radio. Give me a freakin' break. On top of that, you have to PAY for an HD receiver to even get HD Radio. Seriously? And I still get an ass load of commercials? What a joke. The REAL action is on the XM and Sirius side. Content is king, and satellite radio has more than you could ever ask for with ZERO or few commercials, and best of all, UNCENSORED.

Wow.. Your arguments make pretty close to zero sense..

It isn't a gimmick any more than HDTV is itself a gimmick. Its a transition from analog AM/FM transmission to digital, which provides MUCH better sound quality (most reviews suggest, and I would agree, that its better than Sirius or XM simply because they don't have to compress their signals like they do over satellite). So the technology itself is sound, and much like the TV market will eventually transition to a solely digital/HD one, it would make sense that eventually the terrestrial radio market will as well.

Now, the question you're raising is whether free w/ commercials is equivalent to monthly fee w/ better content, and that's obviously a judgment call. If you take cost out of the equation then absolutely satellite would be better, but as I stated earlier, I'm not in my car enough these days to justify paying for satellite radio, but HD is a nice option for me as it at least gives me a much better sounding radio.

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: JackBurton
Fvck HD Radio. That is one of the biggest gimmicks out. I can just see through their little marketing ploy. HD TV/movies are the big thing so the radio stations wanted to cash in on that catch phrase "HiDefinition." "Hey, what about HD sound?" WTF is that exactly? SACD or DVD-A sound quality? Hell no. What you get is a little better sound quality with all the commercials and censorship you've grown to love with regular radio. Give me a freakin' break. On top of that, you have to PAY for an HD receiver to even get HD Radio. Seriously? And I still get an ass load of commercials? What a joke. The REAL action is on the XM and Sirius side. Content is king, and satellite radio has more than you could ever ask for with ZERO or few commercials, and best of all, UNCENSORED.

Nice attempt, but you've had better rants.
B+
:thumbsup:

 

[tenax]

as a canadian broadcaster with i'd like to think a fairly informed opinion, i'll go on record saying that HD radio is indeed a scam. as most things go, canada is behind the u.s. the benefit is we can see, we can evaluate things likes HD radio before we have to consider adopting it. HD radio is not sufficiently better than standard radio for listeners en masse in sufficient numbers unless it's a free upgrade and even then...consider in a car, the amount of road noise generated. if you want to do a little test, turn the radio down to an audible but not a loud level and listen to a song...listen to that same song at home..you'll be amazed how much information you don't hear driving in a car.. you have all kinds of harmonics being generated..i've heard radio promos produced in a studio where i wondered if the mix of the music bed was to hot against the announcer voice..that when you listen to in the car, you can't even hear the music bed and think it's a "cold" (no music) promo! you will never get a "pure" sound in your car..at home you would likely notice more improvement, but 60% of tuning plus across north america to radio is not done in the home, but in the car. it is indeed a ploy against satellite radio to lessen it's impact. some u.s. broadcasters..and many canadian broadcasters, are going a different route, attacking satellite radio by virtue of it's lack of containing local content which is a big drawback to it...and creating a one on one relationship with listeners via rewards clubs.

the great "lie" about satellite radio since day one, by the way (and a tip if you're ever into buying stocks in those companies) is that they count growth based on receivers sold, not active subscriptions. of course satellite radio is growing, as more and more cars come equipped..satellite radio manufacturers get to count a radio sold for x period of time as if it were actually being used. you would be shocked how many people get a satellite radio for xmas..and stick it in their closet..or are starting to let their subscriptions lapse. that's why there's lots of talk of the 2 satellite radio companies merging...they know they are going to get nailed at some point with the reality, plus they stimulated growth by hiring people like howard stern, oprah etc for huge sums of money. it's all a big gamble to try to get some astronomical growth asap before the stuff hits the fan and share prices nose dive. in canada, satellite radio companies have lobbied our govt to let them sell advertising..just like a radio station what's that about when "commercial free" is what they say is the biggest benefit. i will also tell you i was party to a big research study of where people are getting their music..mp3, ipod, radio , internet, cds and satellite radio were all researched as part of the study..the interesting fact is the biggest threats to terrestrial radio are not ipods..or satellite radio..or mp3 players..it's still...cds. people like to have their collections with the pretty covers and liner notes and complete albums from artists they like. most go figure..now, that will change as more and more people find it easier to create their own collections..assuming they want to bother and have the time. my 16 year old daughter will spend hours making her own cds..then again, she's not working much, she goes to school and goes out 3 nights a week..wait until she's an adult, has a job, kids and a husband. i'll be very surprised if she wants to sit at a computer and spend hours downloading songs for a cd..not based on the current tech available...

and secondarily, the study found that not only are most other medias not a threat to radio, but one of the main problems with satellite radio, is they don't tell you what the new songs are..for example, the new seether tune is a huge breakout hit for them. sure, you can hear it on satellite radio, but if radio ..or a friend, isn't there to tell you who's playing it..what it's called...how are you ever going to buy it..unless you luck out or take the time to do a lyric search. easier to listen to a radio station for most..given that the number 2 listener complaint constantly is "they don't tell me the name of the songs enough"...any programmer who has any brains is encouraging their on air talent to name ever band, and every song..whether it's a classic hit..or a new song..and as a programmer who teaches that to his staff..i can tell you, it works..and that's a part of what makes my radio stations valuable to our listeners.. and why satellite radio tuning has fallen in our city from 15%, to 11% in the last year, in spite of the impact of "new sources of media"

 

[darkswordsman17]

Originally posted by: Slick5150

Originally posted by: JackBurton
Fvck HD Radio. That is one of the biggest gimmicks out. I can just see through their little marketing ploy. HD TV/movies are the big thing so the radio stations wanted to cash in on that catch phrase "HiDefinition." "Hey, what about HD sound?" WTF is that exactly? SACD or DVD-A sound quality? Hell no. What you get is a little better sound quality with all the commercials and censorship you've grown to love with regular radio. Give me a freakin' break. On top of that, you have to PAY for an HD receiver to even get HD Radio. Seriously? And I still get an ass load of commercials? What a joke. The REAL action is on the XM and Sirius side. Content is king, and satellite radio has more than you could ever ask for with ZERO or few commercials, and best of all, UNCENSORED.

Wow.. Your arguments make pretty close to zero sense..

It isn't a gimmick any more than HDTV is itself a gimmick. Its a transition from analog AM/FM transmission to digital, which provides MUCH better sound quality (most reviews suggest, and I would agree, that its better than Sirius or XM simply because they don't have to compress their signals like they do over satellite). So the technology itself is sound, and much like the TV market will eventually transition to a solely digital/HD one, it would make sense that eventually the terrestrial radio market will as well.

Now, the question you're raising is whether free w/ commercials is equivalent to monthly fee w/ better content, and that's obviously a judgment call. If you take cost out of the equation then absolutely satellite would be better, but as I stated earlier, I'm not in my car enough these days to justify paying for satellite radio, but HD is a nice option for me as it at least gives me a much better sounding radio.

Go read up on it, you'll find that it is not what it seems. There are some big issues with HD radio, not the least of which is a good chance of a loss in audio quality. Considering how fubar the radio industry is already, imagine how bad it will be with them trying to transition people to "HD" radio.

 

[JackBurton]

Originally posted by: zinfamous

Originally posted by: JackBurton
Fvck HD Radio. That is one of the biggest gimmicks out. I can just see through their little marketing ploy. HD TV/movies are the big thing so the radio stations wanted to cash in on that catch phrase "HiDefinition." "Hey, what about HD sound?" WTF is that exactly? SACD or DVD-A sound quality? Hell no. What you get is a little better sound quality with all the commercials and censorship you've grown to love with regular radio. Give me a freakin' break. On top of that, you have to PAY for an HD receiver to even get HD Radio. Seriously? And I still get an ass load of commercials? What a joke. The REAL action is on the XM and Sirius side. Content is king, and satellite radio has more than you could ever ask for with ZERO or few commercials, and best of all, UNCENSORED.

Nice attempt, but you've had better rants.
B+
:thumbsup:

Due to time constraints, that's all I could come up with. But hey, B+ is good.

 

[FeuerFrei]

Originally posted by: Wuzup101

Originally posted by: FeuerFrei
I know nothing much about it. I probably wouldn't be willing to pay much extra for integrated HD capability in my HU.

Is there a site where you can check and see if there are any HD radio stations in your locale?

http://www.hdradio.com/find_an...ital_radio_station.php

There we go. Thanks.

 

[Slick5150]

Originally posted by: darkswordsman17

Originally posted by: Slick5150

Originally posted by: JackBurton
Fvck HD Radio. That is one of the biggest gimmicks out. I can just see through their little marketing ploy. HD TV/movies are the big thing so the radio stations wanted to cash in on that catch phrase "HiDefinition." "Hey, what about HD sound?" WTF is that exactly? SACD or DVD-A sound quality? Hell no. What you get is a little better sound quality with all the commercials and censorship you've grown to love with regular radio. Give me a freakin' break. On top of that, you have to PAY for an HD receiver to even get HD Radio. Seriously? And I still get an ass load of commercials? What a joke. The REAL action is on the XM and Sirius side. Content is king, and satellite radio has more than you could ever ask for with ZERO or few commercials, and best of all, UNCENSORED.

Wow.. Your arguments make pretty close to zero sense..

It isn't a gimmick any more than HDTV is itself a gimmick. Its a transition from analog AM/FM transmission to digital, which provides MUCH better sound quality (most reviews suggest, and I would agree, that its better than Sirius or XM simply because they don't have to compress their signals like they do over satellite). So the technology itself is sound, and much like the TV market will eventually transition to a solely digital/HD one, it would make sense that eventually the terrestrial radio market will as well.

Now, the question you're raising is whether free w/ commercials is equivalent to monthly fee w/ better content, and that's obviously a judgment call. If you take cost out of the equation then absolutely satellite would be better, but as I stated earlier, I'm not in my car enough these days to justify paying for satellite radio, but HD is a nice option for me as it at least gives me a much better sounding radio.

Go read up on it, you'll find that it is not what it seems. There are some big issues with HD radio, not the least of which is a good chance of a loss in audio quality. Considering how fubar the radio industry is already, imagine how bad it will be with them trying to transition people to "HD" radio.

Oh, I'm not saying its the radio messiah. Some stations split their bandwidth and the result is inferior sound quality (still better than analog FM, but not CD quality at all), but for those that do it right, it really is pretty good. The huge difference is listening to AM stations. You wouldn't think it'd make that big of a difference for news and sports and whatnot, but it really does.

But with the price of HD car head units down around $100 already, it seems likely that the car companies will start just putting them in standard and then the stations could eventually start shutting off their analog broadcasts and free up more of that spectrum.

 

[uli2000]

Unless you live in a large metro area (and dont leave it), HD (stands for hybrid digital, not high def) radio isnt really a good option. The digital signals only have a transmission range of about 25 miles. Because of that limitation, I cant see analog broadcasting ever ending like digital tv is doing to NTSC. Also, when hd radio becomes more popular, they will start broadcasting commercials on the secondary channels. I wouldnt mind having it, but I wouldnt pay a premium for the equipment to do it. I live in a small town with 2 radio stations, so wont ever see it here anyways. OTOH, my XM is a lifesaver, even if its only for 5 minutes on the way to work. I once was firmly in the 'what sane person would ever pay for radio camp' before I bought it 2 1/2 years ago, but now, its a necessity.

 

[TheAdvocate]

HD radio is pointless because it's still clearchannel content in most places.

Content > *tech tricks

Viva Sirius. And Tenax, satellite radio is not a scam. It offers the only real choice I have in my completely clearchannel monopolized market.

You can take my Sirius channel 26 (Left of Center) from me when you pry it from my cold, dead grasp. I have no idea how I lived without it for so long.

[edit] Also - I own a iPod Video, an older iRiver 512mb mp3 player, I have about 300 CDs, about half of which are on a 2nd HD on my PC, and a Sirius S50 radio that records and saves up to 50 hours of content.

99.9% of my listening time is spent with my S50. Having access to that much content is crack. being able to build a playlist that's currently approaching 300 songs, all of which are absolute 5 star favorites of mine, and being able to shuffle replay that when the current broadcast isn't doing it for me, and bounce back when I am done, is the best music delivery experience I've ever had. They're updated it with a new model, but it bridges the gap between iPods and broadcast, and it's awesome.

 

[Yreka]

and secondarily, the study found that not only are most other medias not a threat to radio, but one of the main problems with satellite radio, is they don't tell you what the new songs are..for example, the new seether tune is a huge breakout hit for them. sure, you can hear it on satellite radio, but if radio ..or a friend, isn't there to tell you who's playing it..what it's called...how are you ever going to buy it..unless you luck out or take the time to do a lyric search. easier to listen to a radio station for most..given that the number 2 listener complaint constantly is "they don't tell me the name of the songs enough"...any programmer who has any brains is encouraging their on air talent to name ever band, and every song..whether it's a classic hit..or a new song..and as a programmer who teaches that to his staff..i can tell you, it works..and that's a part of what makes my radio stations valuable to our listeners.. and why satellite radio tuning has fallen in our city from 15%, to 11% in the last year, in spite of the impact of "new sources of media"

Am I missing something here ? Why can they not just look down at their receiver to get this information ?

Every Sat Radio I have seen has the Artist Name and Song Info available real time on the receiver.

Edit.. And no I dont care about HD radio... Content is king, enough with the commercials already.

SAT Radio is where its at for me.

 

[LS21]

Originally posted by: TheAdvocate
HD radio is pointless because it's still clearchannel content in most places.

Content > *tech tricks

exactly

commercials are annoying. even if commercials werent there, like some satellite radio, i just cant stand other peoples programming.

loaded 80gb digital music player on random > *

 

[Zorba]

Originally posted by: JackBurton
Fvck HD Radio. That is one of the biggest gimmicks out. I can just see through their little marketing ploy. HD TV/movies are the big thing so the radio stations wanted to cash in on that catch phrase "HiDefinition." "Hey, what about HD sound?" WTF is that exactly? SACD or DVD-A sound quality? Hell no. What you get is a little better sound quality with all the commercials and censorship you've grown to love with regular radio. Give me a freakin' break. On top of that, you have to PAY for an HD receiver to even get HD Radio. Seriously? And I still get an ass load of commercials? What a joke. The REAL action is on the XM and Sirius side. Content is king, and satellite radio has more than you could ever ask for with ZERO or few commercials, and best of all, UNCENSORED.

I had Sirius for a while and on the music stations they had self advertisements all the time which drove me CRAZY. Between every song "NASCAR NASCAR NASCAR!!!" Just pissed me off I was paying for no commercials, but they were constantly trying to get you to turn to stations with commercials. Still a lot better than regular radio if you are going to be in your car all the time, but it is not commercial free, either.

Also since I canceled they won't stop calling me, even though I've told them not to at least 7 or 8 times.

 

[GrumpyMan]

There is nothing better that I like than crystal clear commercials in good HD quality. As a matter of fact they should just cut out the music altogether.
:roll:

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: Yreka

and secondarily, the study found that not only are most other medias not a threat to radio, but one of the main problems with satellite radio, is they don't tell you what the new songs are..for example, the new seether tune is a huge breakout hit for them. sure, you can hear it on satellite radio, but if radio ..or a friend, isn't there to tell you who's playing it..what it's called...how are you ever going to buy it..unless you luck out or take the time to do a lyric search. easier to listen to a radio station for most..given that the number 2 listener complaint constantly is "they don't tell me the name of the songs enough"...any programmer who has any brains is encouraging their on air talent to name ever band, and every song..whether it's a classic hit..or a new song..and as a programmer who teaches that to his staff..i can tell you, it works..and that's a part of what makes my radio stations valuable to our listeners.. and why satellite radio tuning has fallen in our city from 15%, to 11% in the last year, in spite of the impact of "new sources of media"

Am I missing something here ? Why can they not just look down at their receiver to get this information ?

Every Sat Radio I have seen has the Artist Name and Song Info available real time on the receiver.

Edit.. And no I dont care about HD radio... Content is king, enough with the commercials already.

SAT Radio is where its at for me.

Yes, but you don't get some DJ telling you "here's the brand new song by <artist here>"

So you really don't know if it's new or old if you're never heard it.

 

[Muadib]

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd

Originally posted by: Yreka

and secondarily, the study found that not only are most other medias not a threat to radio, but one of the main problems with satellite radio, is they don't tell you what the new songs are..for example, the new seether tune is a huge breakout hit for them. sure, you can hear it on satellite radio, but if radio ..or a friend, isn't there to tell you who's playing it..what it's called...how are you ever going to buy it..unless you luck out or take the time to do a lyric search. easier to listen to a radio station for most..given that the number 2 listener complaint constantly is "they don't tell me the name of the songs enough"...any programmer who has any brains is encouraging their on air talent to name ever band, and every song..whether it's a classic hit..or a new song..and as a programmer who teaches that to his staff..i can tell you, it works..and that's a part of what makes my radio stations valuable to our listeners.. and why satellite radio tuning has fallen in our city from 15%, to 11% in the last year, in spite of the impact of "new sources of media"

Am I missing something here ? Why can they not just look down at their receiver to get this information ?

Every Sat Radio I have seen has the Artist Name and Song Info available real time on the receiver.

Edit.. And no I dont care about HD radio... Content is king, enough with the commercials already.

SAT Radio is where its at for me.

Yes, but you don't get some DJ telling you "here's the brand new song by <artist here>"

So you really don't know if it's new or old if you're never heard it.

You still have DJ's on sat radio. Most were horrible during my 2 years of XM, but there were a few gems.