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: Nice Product
Summary: 5 Stars
I had heard of HD radio, but hadn't really looked into it much. It seemed like maybe a year ago I thought about obtaining the new technology, but when I looked at the prices of the receivers, I said "No thanks".
I found this unit, and was impressed by it's features. I was also happy to find a price that would fit my budget.
The only problem I had was it requires a pretty healthy signal in order for the HD to lock on the stations. We live 70 mile from a major city, and our new HDTV antenna was fine for the digital TV stations we receive. However, it was not broadband enough for FM radio. The analog stations came in fine, but the HD's would not stay locked.
I just recently added a Winegard HD6000 FM antenna to our system. Now, all of our HD radio stations lock in great. We are enjoying Classical, and Smooth Jazz stations that have left the analog broadcast dial.
For those who want to enter the HD radio age, I highly recommend this item.
Customer Review: Sony HD radio is truly amazing!
Summary: 5 Stars
This little Sony HD radio is truly amazing. It was purchased to use as a receiver for a broadcast translator in a New Mexico community. It is able to provide clean, clear sound in a very hostile environment -- it's picking up a signal from a 10 watt translator nearly a hundred miles away, and its antenna is "looking through" a bunch of high-power FM transmitters located atop a ridge just six miles away, and directly in the path of the weak signal it's getting from the distant translator. Frankly, it out performs the translator's own receiver section, which is remarkable, considering the Sony's low price, small size, and lack of large, "lumped constant" cavity or helical filters. One drawback: it's memory "forgets" everything when the power goes off. Remedy: either float a battery on it, or, as in this case, just put it on a small UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) such as the ones commonly and inexpensively available for use on computers.Customer Review: Excellent Tuner!
Summary: 5 Stars
I was a bit skeptical about buying this after reading some reviews from other people local to me that said they had reception issues with this tuner. But, I had read so many other good reviews I decided to try it for myself.
Bottom line - I love it!
It was extremely simple to hook up. I had a few reception issues right out of the box and placing it close to the floor. Once I picked it up about 3 - 4 feet off the ground it worked much better. Then I realized it came with an AM and FM Antenna in the box. I don't listen to AM, so I only plugged in the FM Antenna and located the wires behind my cabinet about 6 ft off the ground and - PRESTO - I started receiving many stations I could not receive before.
Easy to program the presets and clock display with just the punch of 2 buttons. Comes with a nice little compact remote. Definitely worth the price and highly recommended.
Customer Review: Great sound, Great value
Summary: 5 Stars
For a tuner the size of a bedside alarm clock and packed with features and good sound quality, its amazing for the price. I've used tuners for 20 times the price that weren't any better. Note that I barely listened to the AM, except to check it worked, so my comments are on the FM.
There are a couple of things that I'd like to see implemented differently. I'd like to be able to choose between the analog and HD signal, as the way the tuner is set up, once it finds the HD signal, you can't go back to the analog signal. There seems to be no memory backup, so it looses presets if you unplug it. Since there is a numeric pad on the remote, I wish they had allowed you to enter a frequency number to go directly to a station, a feature that very few tuners have. Finally it runs very warm, which always make me worry about its longevity, but for the price its amazing.
Customer Review: Sony HD Tuner
Summary: 5 Stars
The Sony tuner is a powerful tuner-very sensitive and selective. One test- an FM station (NJ) that used to be difficult to tune because of another local station (PA)is always tunable without having to reposition the FM antenna (indoor CCrane's "Reflect" model). Thirty five miles from Philadelphia, HD broadcasts come in loud and clear. Unfortunately, the tuner puts out an anlog signal rather than digital. The Sony tuner approach makes much more sense than buying a tabletop HD radio since the tuner can be used with a fullblown stereo system and good speakers. I use it with a receiver and my Logitech speakers at my computer desk. The tuner is a pleasure to use and is physically unobtrusive. And the Amazon purchase price is the best one available.Sony XDRF1HD HD Radio Tuner