Holding Off on Purchasing an HD Radio
When one of my favorite radio programs was moved to an HD radio station, I investigated purchasing an HD radio. WAMU transmitted The Ray Davis Show, playing bluegrass music over 88.5FM for many years before recently moving the program to their 88.5-2 HD radio station.
Hybrid-digital (HD) radios pick up additional stations, such as the one now carrying the show I like. Additionally, HD radios are also said to offer better sound quality. A key advantage over satellite radio is that once you have an HD radio, you do not have to pay any subscription fees.
However, since the show I’m interested in is available online for free without an HD radio at bluegrasscountry.org, and since HD radios cost a couple of hundred dollars, I’ll hold off on purchasing an HD radio. Maybe someday, I’ll buy a new car with an HD radio already included. Until then, I’ll file HD radios under ‘things you don’t need.’
January 22nd, 2008 at 6:02 am
Good decision, because HD Radio is a farce:
http://hdradiofarce.blogspot.com/
January 22nd, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Hi:
I held off for a short while, but, having decided to upgrade my car’s audio
system to accomodate an iPod and get HD, I found that JVC made an HD radio (with an iPod interface that lets one control the ipod form the radio) for about $140. (Installation brought it up another $100+; if I had to do it again I’d have gone through Cructhfield - which provides free installation instructions and hardware with each radio - and saved a bunch.)
But: am VERY pleased with my decision. I like listening to public affairs as well as bluegrass programming - and the local Cspan station has - like WAMU - two additional HD channels - so my listening options have tripled. And the quality is very good. And it’s free once you have the HD radio.
Getting Dick Spottswood’s show from time to time in the car is alone worth the price of admission.
January 22nd, 2008 at 1:21 pm
PocketRadio and Orrin: Thank you both for sharing your different perspectives. I see both the pros and cons.
January 22nd, 2008 at 3:40 pm
I made a donation to bluegrasscountry.org, something I would have done anyway, and they sent me an HD radio for home. The sound quality seems better than online, and I never lose the feed. The unit I have costs about $100 if you pay retail.
The price of HD radios will come done as production volume increases, and car manufacturers are starting to provide them. I’ll be adding it to my car, where I spend a lot of time, as soon as I can. I have XM, and will keep it, but XM is national and can’t provide any local information. The number of HD channels means that a lot of programming that would not be broadcast because it doesn’t appeal to a broad enough audience will again have a home on the air, just like bluegrasscountry.org
So HD provides a better signal than online, will let me hear shows away from home once I put it in my car, provides local information and lets me hear shows that would not otherwise be broadcast. That also means that people who might not seek out an online bluegrass show may be exposed to it by finding the on-air show.
So, what’s not to like?
January 22nd, 2008 at 6:24 pm
Thanks, Kent, for all of the info. I may have to consider this down the road.
January 31st, 2008 at 10:57 am
What a cool blog, I found it by accident but am glad I did