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: Wow! Great Sound For Very Little $$$
Summary: 5 Stars
When this little firecracker appeared in the April 2009 issue of Sterophile, I nearly pooped my pants! It's now a RECOMMENDED TUNER in the magazine. I bought it as soon as the flurry of buying ended and Amazon restocked it. I only have a few HD channels in my area 50 miles outside of NYC. This may be because I am using and indoor amplified Pi squared FM antenna. Even still, the sound is really nice on these HD channels. What blows me away is the performance on regular old-school FM stations. South Jersey's 106.5 comes in crisp and clear without repositioning the antenna. My reference HK 3480 receiver (also Stereophile recommended in November 2004 issue) in my bedroom system (connected to NHT SB3's) has trouble getting it at all! And it sounds good. I can also compare this to some other made in Japan greats which I own, the HK Citation 23, Onkyo Integra 9090II and the Denon TU800. These sound a little better most of the time, but for $85 bucks, nothing beats this one! Its the size of a cigar box, runs hot, clicks as it scans through the stations, has a tiny remote, and the (poor) display always stays on. And it weighs less than three pounds. I will eventually hook this up to my Radio Shack rooftop antenna and see how it goes. But for $85 bucks, don't waste your time on cheapie Ebay tuners. And don't expect a digital output for so little money! Get it. This will turn out to be a classic in 20 years! If you don't like it, sell it on Ebay and get back what you paid for it. Bababooey!Customer Review: Amazing tuner
Summary: 5 Stars
Even if you are of the "Anti-HD" crowd, you will like this tuner. The sensitivity and selectivity of it is nothing short than stellar. I am able to hear stations next to locals that no other tuner I own can receive. The audio quality is superb, with no noise, hiss, or hum from the unit when tuned into a station broadcasting dead air (hello WDOM). Some important notes about the tuner to know.
1)The tuner does not store it's memory for more than 2-3 minutes after AC power is disconnected. There is a fix on the internet that involves replacing the "memory storage" capacitor. Just be careful you don't get one of too high value and destroy the power supply.
2)You can't directly enter a frequency. Simple fix for this is to save some presets scattered throughout the band. Its quicker to preset jump and tune from that point.
3)You can't disable the HD blending without modification. This is troublesome for when you are listening to a station where the chief doesn't care about the HD signal and it sounds like garbage.
4)It does put out a lot of heat. A minor fan modification may actually help this. Do not cover the top vent holes or put it in a cubby when running it.
Those notes aside, this is truly a radio guy's dream tuner, and an amazing performer.
Well worth the skimpy price for it.
Also a quick note: it has been noted some HD radios do AM stereo. This one does not.
Customer Review: Exellent Tuner for Receiveing IBOC HD on FM & AM
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been quite pleased with the Sony XDR-F1HD. The pluses: Sensitive and selective on FM. Good weak signal handling (low background noise) on weak FM stations. Pretty good sensitivity on AM. When an AM HD signal locks on, the audio is almost FM like. Minuses: No FM stereo defeat. No HD defeat. No way to turn off the display light which may be of concern for a bedroom. Analog AM bandwidth is quite narrow which results in muddy audio on non-HD signals, so don't buy this tuner for analog AM listening. The unit has no internal AM ferrite antenna or built-in FM telescoping antenna. An FM wire dipole with F connector and 3-inch square AM loop (remember to remove the wire insulation from the twin leads before inserting into the AM antenna clip jacks) are included. The 3-segment signal strength meter is of limited utility vis-a-vis orienting the antenna(s) for maximum signal level. The XDR-F1HD is a good match for the Kloss Model 88 table radio which has two auxiliary inputs. The XDR-F1HD has line-level RCA phono L & R channel audio out (interconnect is not included.) The tuner's light blue display shows frequency, time, and when transmitted RDS and HD station & program information; due to limited display real estate this station information scrolls continuously both horizontally and vertically which makes for challenging reading. But you get this tuner for its remarkable radio performance and very good FM audio processing.Customer Review: Best bargain for HD tuner
Summary: 5 Stars
I've worked with 4 other HD tuners and, despite some moderate gripes about this Sony, this is the best HD tuner I have found at ANY price.
I agree with many of the others who point out some short comings in the user interface and button usage.
BUT these are minor compared where it counts: bringing in stations clearly and cleanly, and sound quality. In these crucial areas the Sony is absolutely the best I've tried. Setup was easy, the manual was easy to follow, and after learning its quirks, I have no problem or irritation; and I switch between stations a lot.
Competitor models, all much more expensive, cuts out on the same signal, can't receive stations, and/or don't sound clean when they are tuned in.
The Sony does a simple, clever things when tuning into and HD signal [which take several seconds or more]. It tunes and plays the standard FM analog signal until it gets locked strongly onto the HD, then switches with NO noticeable pop or other audible artifact. Great! This is as easy as switching station in my car.
I liked it so much I bought a second one and now use it instead of my $1400 receiver's built in HD tuner. It is just better; and cheaper than other separate tuners too.
If Sony wants to improve this, read the other reviews; but keep the electronics the same.
Customer Review: Stunning performance
Summary: 5 Stars
The Sony XDR-F1HD is, without a doubt, the finest FM receiver ever offered - it even blows away the so-called SuperTuners from companies like Accuphase, Onkyo and McIntosh that cost several thousand dollars - and it does it all for less than $100 bucks, which makes it an absolutely incredible bargain! Of course, the fact that it's so cheap and not from a 'tweako' company will make Stereophile and The Absolute Sound hate it, but who cares about them. It's a first-class piece of engineering and uses 100% digital techniques to tune in and demodulate FM signals - other so-called "digital" tuners just use digital processing for displaying the station, etc... the Sony digitizes the RF signal from the antenna and demodulates it digitally, returning the signal to analog only at the RCA jacks on the back panel. This is why the tuner is so incredible... it can tune stations others can't, and for the FIRST TIME, an FM tuner offers FM Stereo sound without the 20-db noise penalty over mono FM that is inherent in the FM Stereo system. So, if you are in the market for an FM tuner, buy this Sony... you won't regret it... also, search the web - there are many sites listing all kinds of modifications you can do on the Sony to implement different features or add features. Again, it's quite a performer!