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: Amazing Selectivity and Sensitivity
Summary: 5 Stars
This tuner has superb sensitivity and possibly the best selectivity of any FM tuner on the market. I think the form factor on the FM bandwidth is around 1.15 or 1.2 (6db/60db). On FM ou can hear stations that are 200 khz from everything but your very strongest local station (unless a station is in HD and is exceeding their 200 khz bandwidth). And that is for analog reception.
The small size is very nice for conserving desk space.
For FM it is an excellent deal. FM radio enthusiasts would buy it for $300-$500.
On AM it is ok but not as good as your typical $100+ shortwave radio at receiving analog signals.
Downsides: it runs very hot. Also HD radio is destroying the FM (and AM) dial by increasing the bandwidth that a radio station takes. One used to be able to hear FM radio stations that are 200 khz apart, but now a local HD radio station will cause a white noise interference that wipes out a station 200 khz from it. You won't realize it since it sounds like static and the signal is generally just below the threshold of the tuner's signal strength meter. In Philadelphia, in the past several years, HD radio has decreased the number of open FM frequencies from around 15 to 2.
Customer Review: Fantastic bargain!
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been ignoring HD Radio for some time, and finally, attracted by the low price on this unit, searched out some reviews. It looked like a bargain, so I went in. I'm very glad I did.
HD Radio sounds much better than most FM standard signals. The tuner is compact and has all the features I could ask for. It also does a better job tuning in standard signals than most tuners I've experienced.
It does run a little hot, which is easily remedied by the addition of a miniature brushless 12VDC fan to the top of the unit above the vent holes. I got mine at Radio Shack for 15 bucks, but they are available for much less. Using an old cell phone charger to run it at lower voltage (5V) results in whisper quiet cooling that really works. Put a couple rubber bands around the edges of the fan and it won't vibrate or slip off the top of the radio. Really works well to help keep it cool. (I doubt if the internal heat of the unit would diminish component life much, but I like to cool solid state to keep it happy.)
I like tinkering, but didn't want to mod this internally, but there are tons of great ideas for those with more energy for that kind of thing. See K6STI's review - do a search.
Great tuner!
Customer Review: Wow. Great sound quality at bargain price.
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the best and best valued product I've bought in a long time.
I'm a newbie audiophile. I've recently put together a stereo system and was lacking a radio to listen to NPR and classical music station. This is my first HD radio. As promised, this Sony HD Radio tuner provides great sound quality as every other reviewers has stated. The difference between HD radio and regular radio couldn't be bigger.
Please note that this is not a standalone radio but a wonderful little tuner that would go into your receiver/preamps.
[...] is a handy website. It provides a list of HD channels, and also has a list of consumer products with HD radio capability. As you'd see, most other HD radio capable products cost $200-$4000(in HomeTheatre system). So, at this price, it's truly a bargain!
Pros:
**** Sound quality
**** Easy to use
***** Reasonable price
*** Slick looking
Some drawback:
*** Channel memory gone if unplug(item has to be left plugged in)
* No capability to enter station frequency directly (must use Up/Down)
* It takes 1sec-2sec to "link" the HD station (even in preset channels)
Customer Review: Great Tuner-No need for Sirius anymore.
Summary: 5 Stars
This item works very well in my area. HD radio stations are not all that common yet, but what I received (about 15 extra HD2 stations in Windham CT Area)came in Great. On HD2, I get commercial free, pop, rock, Country or classical music (which allowed me to get rid of my Sirius account). This tuner offers a nice increase in the musical styles found on FM radio. The Sony does a nice job locking in to HD channels and you can preset your favorite programs on HD or regular stations. The LCD display offers signal strength, HD and HD2 signal detection, Channel name ID, display format, and clock (the clock by the way, stays brightly lit all the time, even when the tuner is off, but that works well for me, as I use it in the kitchen, but may be a problem if you use it in the bedroom). A remote comes with it, which I dont use. It comes with a wire dipole FM antenna and external AM loop antenna, Which I didn't use either because I used my old TV antenna. The tuner does run a bit on the warm side, and the first few days after I bought it, you could detect a faint plastic kind of smell, but that went away soon enough. Performance wise though, the Sony is a fine tuner.Customer Review: Amazing FM Tuner
Summary: 5 Stars
From my review title you can figure that I'm mainly using this tuner for FM reception. I have purchased maybe five of them at this point, and they continue to amaze me whenever I install them. I could quibble with the ease of use (not *that* easy), but I'm using them in place of commercial receivers that are bulky, costly, and simply do not have the selectivity or sensitivity of these for receiving analog FM stations. I live in a rural area where HD Radio stations are few and far between, so I don't find that feature important. The digital signal processing that is performed on analog signals is just phenomenal. It takes a little time, so if you compare it with an analog receiver the audio seems just a tad "behind", but the results are so worth it that unless you're monitoring yourself on the radio in real-time you'll never have reason to notice anything but the great sound. I'll be buying more of them, and I hope Sony comes out with more variety of radios that use the same electronics. It truly is amazing what they accomplish with almost no input signal if you're trying to receive a distant station.