Sony XDRF1HD HD Radio Tuner
by Sony
|
Our Price: $499.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
|---|
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sony XDRF1HD HD Radio Tuner
Customer Review: excellent FM in my apartment
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought Sony's XDRF1HD HD Radio based on reviews about its sensitive analog reception and, I must say, lives up to its reputation! On analog FM, the XDRF1HD pulls in distant New Hampshire country station WOKQ 97.5 despite being sandwiched between New Bedford's WJFD 97.3 and Boston area WKAF 97.7. Other (less sensitive) radios in our apartment don't detect WOKQ at all. Same with WRIU 90.3 Providence, RI. Religious 90.5 WSMA from Scituate totally covers up 90.3 on every radio but the XDRF1HD. The XDRF's high sensitivity is what I expect and appreciate.
HD reception is fairly good. Living (south of Boston) in a first floor apartment, a necessity because my wife is handicapped, does keep us from experiencing optimal reception. In spite of that, we get HD signals from WGBH 89.7, WSNE 93.3, WTKK 96.9, WKLB 102.5 but can't get a lock on Kiss 108's HD signal despite a strong 3-bar reading. Seems HD FM stations need the almost 100kw power level of WGBH to adequately get their HD channels into area homes.
Unfortunately, the "empty space" on each side of an HD signal is far from empty. The adjacent space is filled with a hashy sound, byproduct of the HD signal. That "hash" does block reception of many weak, distant stations
and messes up others. I used to get Cap Cod's 96.3 WRZE fairly well here, but not now because of HD hash from 96.1 WSRS Worcester.
As for AM, no problem locking into WBZ-HD. Boston's Radio Disney on 1260 also broadcasts in HD but the Sony cannot log into it. At night at least a dozen HD signals from other states are detected yet none strong enough for a lock. AM HD can work if the FCC lets stations up their power levels. Small stations with 5kw signals can't get their HD content out very far.
One major downside is that all AM HD stations create heavy "hash-sounding" static that wipes out adjacent signals. So now, at night, there's
no chance to hear KDKA-1020 (PA) or WHO-1040 (IA) because of the side hash produced by WBZ-1030.
Over all, despite the disadvantage of a first floor apartment, this Sony provides excellent analog and good HD reception.
However, while I totally adored HD at first, I feel that HD sound quality isn't that different from analog on FM, and that the heavy interference caused by HD stations to adjacent signals is not worth its existence. No radio station should suffer degraded reception due to any technological advancement.
Mind you, this receiver is worth buying for all its reception quality, but HD has to go. The lack of HD listeners and the amount of money wasted on HD by its maker Ibiquity and major broadcasters shows what a failure HD radio really is.
Customer Review: Yes, terrestrial radio can be amazing. Welcome to the new world.
Summary: 5 Stars
It is amazing how such a great product can go under the radar. I have been a bit suspect of the HD Radio technology and the lack of general adoption by radio stations. Fast forward a few more years later and it seems the technology is not going away. I spent some time considering an all in on HD radio from CSW, but ended up deciding I didn't need it. Instead I purchased a Tivoli Model One. It is a great radio with a good tuner, but it still has the same problem all analogue radio's have, somewhat limited music selections. The other thing that got old was the manual tuner. It was fun for a few days, but gets old. I prefer the ease of a digital tuner and presets.
Not too long ago I read a favorable review of this tuner in Stereophile. The glowing review, affordable price, and technology starts to grab my attention. I started looking around and found that there are a bunch of stations that support HD radio in my area (Sacramento region of California), and a large portion of them have "HD2" stations. This is the great part. These HD2 stations are exactly the kind of stuff I have been missing. Blues, Oldies, Comedy, Live Rock, R&B, and a 2nd Classical station. Sure enough after researching the same radio which received great reviews in Stereophile, I find the majority opinion is this is an amazing piece of hardware. Some even consider it one of the best FM tuners on the market. This seems amazing considering the price tag on this bad boy.
Well I ordered it, enjoyed Amazon's free shipping, and received it very quickly. Set it up today and couldn't be happier. I have it in my office and the clock on the display is actually a welcome feature (I needed a clock in this room). The sound is great (you can definitely hear the volume increase and sound floor clean up when the HD station locks on), and the extra material completely sells this product. Contrary to what I read, the sound is not over compressed. Yes a lot of the HD2 stations are definitely highly compressed, but the main station (HD1) sounds great. Over the warm amp/speaker setup I have for radio listening I want to actually say the HD stations sound much better than the analog versions.
Pandora is fun, but the music they play is very repetitive. I love getting new music for free over my new tuner. As long as this tuner continues to function like it does today (I have only had it running a few hours), this is the easiest FIVE STAR review I have ever given. It is hard to have $80 make someone this happy. Great stuff!
Customer Review: Great FM tuner
Summary: 5 Stars
I found out about this device from a mention in a Ham radio publication, CQ-VHF, then I began to research it. I read reviews geared to Audiophiles, Ham radio operators, broadcast engineers and hackers. They all agreed it is a great tuner. They all say it is very sensitive has great sound and they are all in love with the HD performance. All saying it is better than a more expensive unit by Sangean. I agree with all the statements I've read about it's performance. Here is what I observe about the unit. Most people complain it runs hot, I disagree, it is a little warm but nothing out of the ordinary. They complain you cannot shut off the display when it is off, so what, I don't care, it doesn't bother me at all. It's said that the memory is lost very quickly when it is unplugged, I haven't tested that and I can mod the unit to fix that. The only other comment I've seen relates to its behavior with a weak signal and how it blends the channels to reduce noise. I haven't noticed anything in that regard.
Here is what I don't like about it. It doesn't come with batteries for the remote. I discovered this at 9PM and had to make a mad dash to the corner store for two AAA cells. I have a lot of AA cells but almost no one uses AAA cells. The remote will not change the volume, this is really annoying, no mute either. You cannot use the buttons on the remote for direct frequency entry. The photo of the unit is almost misleading, it is very small. It will almost hide behind a $100 bill.
HD is broadcast with a power level -20db from the main FM transmitter, that's 1% of the main carrier power. Understanding that you can see my concern about WQXR-FM in NYC going from a 6,000 Watt carrier on 96.3 MHz to a 600 Watt transmitter at 105.9 MHz. Thats a drop in HD power from 60 W down to 6 W. Imagine a 6 Watt light bulb on top of the Empire State Building! That is the power this tuner is dealing with. Yet, in North Brooklyn, using a roof TV antenna "temporarily" in my bedroom, HD reception is perfect. Forget the monthly fees of XM and Sirius, go HD. Buy this tuner.
Customer Review: Great little tuner!
Summary: 5 Stars
I am giving this little tuner 5 stars for what it does well and for what price you pay for what it does well.
I read reviews of this item before I bought it and I was a little worried about the heat issue, so I put it up on some taller feet. I have not noticed it running hot at all. I actually ran it all day on an HD channel and it was lukewarm at best. If yours runs hot, I would suggest putting it up on some feet.
I really like the small size of this unit and I may get another one for my office. Also, I have mine under a TV, so the ability to dim the face is a huge advantage. Yes, it would be better if I could turn the light off, but it is not any more noticeable than the light that my receiver gives off.
The performance of the FM tuner and HD tuner is fantastic. I wanted to hook it up quickly, so I layed the antenna out on a shelf that is behind my TV. To my amazement, I did not need to have it setup properly because all of the local FM and HD channels came in crystal clear. The clarity on this tuner is amazing.
The AM is more sketchy with the included antenna, but it will pick up the two channels that I like to listen to. However, I will probably pick up a better AM antenna at some point.
The presets are easy to setup, so I am not too worried about losing them with a power outage. If I lived in an area with a lot of power outages, I would invest in a battery backup that you can plug it into. The remote sensing is very good (better than the one that came with my Oppo 980h) so it is easy to get to the channel I want via presets from the couch.
Also, I do not see the point of taking away stars because it does not have its own speakers. It is liking blaming a horse for not having zebra stripes. I wanted it to attach to an amp.
In short, I mainly wanted a tuner that could lock into local HD and FM stations and give me a clean signal. The tuner does this as good as any tuner I have heard, so it deserves the highest recommendation on that feature alone.
Customer Review: Great FM & HD TUNER
Summary: 5 Stars
First of all, yes, this is a tuner, NOT a radio, and Amazon should correct that! Also, HD radio is NOT High Definition radio. The HD stands for Hybrid Digital. So don't assume you'll have better sound in HD than analog radio! That said,
I have been interested in getting an HD radio to try out the format. Being an audiophile, I checked several audiophile review sites for the Sangean tuners, and they weren't getting too good of reviews. Also, their price is $200-250.
Then I came across a review for this tuner, and how much better it is, saying the FM analog portion alone is worth the price.
I have to agree, the FM tuner is much better than the tuner in my $1000 PrePro! Analog reception picks up more stations and the sound is great! Haven't heard analog FM sound this good since the 60's! Analog AM is also better than my Prepro (though not by much). Great sound, and only $99 ! This is a steal, grab it before they jack up the price! Audiophie FM tuners go for $200 & up. All this performance, and it's about the size of a car stereo!
There are about 20 FM HD stations here in Chicago, and it pulls them all in great, except for one, which keeps switching between analog and HD. There are some AM HD stations in Chicago. It would show which were HD, but none of them had enough strength to switch the tuner from analog to HD, so I couldn't judge AM HD.
Now for some things that need improving: there are 40 presets; 20 for FM and 20 for AM....not enough for FM and too many for AM. If you want to hear a HD station in analog, there's no way to switch it back to analog, you have to listen in HD. The dial glows like a cellphone, which is great while you're using it, but when you turn it off, it still glows, like a night light in a dark room. When powering down, it should dim. You can dim it down in the menu so it doesn't glow in the dark, but then when you turn it on, you can't read it because it's dark. Who wants to set the dimmer everytime you turn it on and off?
Overall, it's more than worth it.