HD Radio: It's Better, But Is It Compelling?
More than 1,000 radio stations have taken the HD Radio plunge, offering better sound and more channels within the same frequency allocation. At this stage, however, consumer interest is low.
By Bill Machrone
Posted Feb. 19, 2008, at 1 p.m.
HD Radio is a new way of using the existing AM and FM bands: It sends a digital version of the signal along with the conventional analog version.
The digital signal, called HD1, boasts higher fidelity, especially on the noise-prone AM band. HD Radio requires a new receiver to decode the digital information, but it can also give you more channels and choices, since the technology can send a second digital signal, HD2, with different content than the analog signal. In these early days of HD Radio, however, most broadcasters limit themselves to replicating their analog signal.
With the tremendous publicity surrounding HDTV, it's natural to assume that HD Radio means high definition, but that's not the case. It originally stood for hybrid digital, but now it doesn't stand for anything, according to iBiquity Digital, which created this technology. The name is part of the company's brand for digital AM and FM radio.
HD Radio has also been confused with satellite radio, provided by XM and Sirius, but there are distinct differences. HD Radio is terrestrial and, unlike satellite, it's free, other than the cost of the new receiver. Like conventional AM and FM radio, HD Radio carries commercials, but some satellite channels also run commercials.
HD Radio sounds dramatically better than AM and marginally better than FM. Even in a noisy car, AM's sound is akin to listening through a soggy cardboard tube and is further marred by hiss, the buzz from power lines and static. HD AM is crystal clear, but it's still subject to dropouts under bridges.
Most listeners find FM audio quality satisfactory, but you can definitely hear the improvement when the tuner acquires an HD signal: It has better bass response and brighter trebles — typically with better stereo separation.
Sound Quality and Selection
Satellite radio generally sounds as clear as FM, but the services limit the frequency response in order to pack more channels into the allocated bandwidth. As a result, HD Radio's audio fidelity is better overall than satellite's.
But terrestrial stations can't match the genre-focused satellite channels, with their unending streams of jazz, country, pop, salsa, classical, etc. Nor can they broadcast unexpurgated Howard Stern. And satellite programming is the same wherever you are: There's no need to find new stations as you drive long distances, nor will you fall into rural radio wastelands.
Some HD Radio receivers have an interesting trick for avid music consumers: iTunes tagging. If your radio has this feature, you can press a button when you hear a song that you'd like to own. When you sync the radio with your iPod/iTunes, it marks the song for purchase.
HD Radio receivers are readily available, in both in-dash and add-on configurations. JVC, Dual and Alpine, among others, offer HD Radio in CD and DVD receivers. Prices range from around $130 for an in-dash radio with CD player to $1200 for a high-end receiver with both CD and DVD capabilities. Other receivers are HD Radio-ready, and accept add-on modules that decode the HD signal. Unless you have the room and are adding HD Radio to a high-end system that you're satisfied with, it makes more sense to replace a non-HD Radio receiver with an HD Radio receiver.
Some expand the capabilities of your existing receiver in other ways, such as iPod integration. The $199 HD Dice, for example, provides HD reception and iPod integration, while preserving your in-dash and steering wheel controls.
BMW was the first to offer HD Radio from the factory, and Ford will offer HD Radio in virtually all of its product lines in 2008 models. Other makes have dealer-installed options.
Fad or Future?
More than 1,000 radio stations have taken the HD Radio plunge, offering more channels within the same frequency allocation, in order to compete with satellite radio. At this stage, however, consumer interest is low. In the noisy environment of the car, increased fidelity is not a huge selling point, especially when FM is good enough for most consumers.
In addition, satellite radio provides many genre channels, and consumers bring gigabytes of their own music through CDs, digital audio players and even car-based hard-disk drives. Unless the FCC mandates digital radio, as it did with television, there is a possibility of commercial failure.
For consumers buying a new car — or an aftermarket receiver — it doesn't hurt to get one with HD Radio: It doesn't eliminate other options, and unlike satellite, reception is free.
Bio: Bill Machrone, a writer for Ziff Davis Media, is the former Editor in Chief of PC Magazine. He has written numerous articles about automotive technology topics, including onboard performance monitoring devices, automotive upgrades, remote camera/backup systems and sonar parking systems.
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