Does anyone use HD Radio?
Dec 3, 2021 09:19:18 #
I've done some research on the drop out issue with digital radio and apparently there are some units that can seamlessly switch back and forth from the digital to the analog broadcast signal without all the annoying drop out. However, these units appear to be hard to find and rather pricey as well. At least for use in my car, I would consider this feature to be very important, maybe not so much for listening at home. Anyway, my wife wants to know what I want for Christmas and I'm currently thinking that a portable HD radio may be a good choice, but I'm still looking for the appropriate model. Thanks for all the information provided here and if you have recommendations for a good portable HD radio, I'd sure like to hear about it! I wonder if they make one that might also be used as a bluetooth speaker?
Dec 3, 2021 11:56:05 #
Worse feature of vehicle HD radio is the need to upgrade the audio system to get it. My 2013 Ford Edge had it and I really enjoyed the alternative HD stations, most notably NPR. My current 2017 Lincoln has the stock audio system and doesn't have it. Bummer. However, since there's always SiriusXM and the abundance of podcasts, the pain is eased a "little."
Dec 3, 2021 13:23:14 #
Amielee
Loc: Eastern Washington State
I had Sirius XM in my car and discontinued it because it only had two classical music stations and I could get a better selection by copying my CD's to a SD chip. At home I some time listen to Radio Garden over my computer or a regular FM radio.
Dec 3, 2021 14:52:05 #
does anyone know the annual rate is for 'mostly music' on Sirius? I've attempted, but all Sirius did was give me more google pages to click on.
Dec 3, 2021 15:28:53 #
One question is do you like the serendipity of programming and talk show/news aspects of radio, or just as a source of music? If the latter, let me suggest that Apple, Tidal, Amazon and others are now streaming high definition (CD, FLAC or better quality) audio. To get the benefits, it requires both selecting the HD stream (as opposed to the DR and frequency response limited MP3 streams) and an external DAC, which can drive headphones or amps/speakers. I have a new external THX Onyx external DAC arriving today, and I intend to compare it using Apple’s 192KHz 24 bit HD stream to CDs and SACDs on a high quality system to see if it measures up.
Dec 3, 2021 15:52:18 #
elliott937 wrote:
does anyone know the annual rate is for 'mostly music' on Sirius? I've attempted, but all Sirius did was give me more google pages to click on.
My wife recently re-upped for another year of mostly music. She paid $72.20, which is about $65 plus tax. I have the full service, which includes some sports and something (?) else for $118.24, which is about $110 plus tax. You should also know that they will tell you that's a special rate and that the price will go up at the end of your trial period. That's nonsense. I call every year and advise them that I'll cancel because I want the lower rate and I always get it. You can also push for $5/mon plus tax and see what happens. Don't be afraid to negotiate a little. No one (that I know of) pays full price.
Dec 3, 2021 22:28:02 #
TriX wrote:
One question is do you like the serendipity of pro... (show quote)
Okay, THAT's one I'm seriously interested in!
Dec 4, 2021 00:31:58 #
burkphoto wrote:
Okay, THAT's one I'm seriously interested in!
Just tried it tonight, and I have to say at first blush, it’s impressive. Tomorrow, I’m going to set up an A-B test with the same music on CD or SACD. I’ll report my findings. Too bad they don’t have a good pink noise, THD, IM and square wave test album on Apple streaming and then I could provide objective measurements on the whole playback chain, end-to-end.
Btw, while searching for that streaming test “record”, I ran across this interesting Apple document for music producers describing the requirements to maximize the benefits of Apple’s digital mastering process: https://www.apple.com/apple-music/apple-digital-masters/docs/apple-digital-masters.pdf
Dec 4, 2021 08:12:31 #
Just to share information, did you know that you can pay a one-time fee for a 'life long subscription' to Sirius?
Dec 4, 2021 10:50:15 #
elliott937 wrote:
Just to share information, did you know that you can pay a one-time fee for a 'life long subscription' to Sirius?
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the “life long” subscription only applies to one unique serial number radio. If you replace it, the subscription doesn’t transfer.
Dec 4, 2021 11:58:54 #
Dec 4, 2021 12:17:53 #
Dec 4, 2021 12:24:37 #
I love classical music & prefer to own my recordings vs streaming services --
Since 2012 I have been downloading 24bit majority at 192HZ sampling rate digital recordings from three sources --
Linn Recordings, Berlin Philharmonic & Chandos --
At last check, I now have 189GB worth of classical music -- All playing through a large in-house audio system
On the other hand, my more modern son likes to use streaming services such as Tidal & Apple
Since 2012 I have been downloading 24bit majority at 192HZ sampling rate digital recordings from three sources --
Linn Recordings, Berlin Philharmonic & Chandos --
At last check, I now have 189GB worth of classical music -- All playing through a large in-house audio system
On the other hand, my more modern son likes to use streaming services such as Tidal & Apple
Dec 4, 2021 12:30:47 #
Another site is called Radio Garden which is also free and gives you the ability to listen to radio stations all over the world. I do not know if any are HD Radio.
Dec 4, 2021 13:39:50 #
ken_stern wrote:
I love classical music & prefer to own my recordings vs streaming services --
Since 2012 I have been downloading 24bit majority at 192HZ sampling rate digital recordings from three sources --
Linn Recordings, Berlin Philharmonic & Chandos --
At last check, I now have 189GB worth of classical music -- All playing through a large in-house audio system
On the other hand, my more modern son likes to use streaming services such as Tidal & Apple
Since 2012 I have been downloading 24bit majority at 192HZ sampling rate digital recordings from three sources --
Linn Recordings, Berlin Philharmonic & Chandos --
At last check, I now have 189GB worth of classical music -- All playing through a large in-house audio system
On the other hand, my more modern son likes to use streaming services such as Tidal & Apple
And which DAC are you using?
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