[[email protected]]

http://theaudiocritic.com/blog/

H"D Radio FM/AM Digital Tuner
Sony XDR-F1HD

This is a $100 (thats no typo) tuner that blows away the classic super
tuners of McIntosh, Marantz, Sequerra, Accuphase, etc., according to
FM experts who know more than I do."

He referes to this in depth technical review:

http://ham-radio.com/k6sti/xdr-f1hd.htm

[Arny Krueger]

wrote in message


http://theaudiocritic.com/blog/

H"D Radio FM/AM Digital Tuner
Sony XDR-F1HD

This is a $100 (thats no typo) tuner that blows away
the classic super tuners of McIntosh, Marantz,
Sequerra, Accuphase, etc., according to FM experts who
know more than I do."

He referes to this in depth technical review:

http://ham-radio.com/k6sti/xdr-f1hd.htm

It had to happen - the complex, expensive analog filters in their IF strips
that made the classic high performance FM tuners what they were, get
replaced by a DSP that costs a few bucks.

Now, if there was only any reason to bother to listen to FM, except maybe in
my car. :-(

BTW car radios are the intended major market for this technology.

[Kalman Rubinson[_3_]]

On 9 Jul 2008 22:25:01 GMT, "Arny Krueger" wrote:

wrote in message


http://theaudiocritic.com/blog/

H"D Radio FM/AM Digital Tuner
Sony XDR-F1HD

This is a $100 (thats no typo) tuner that blows away
the classic super tuners of McIntosh, Marantz,
Sequerra, Accuphase, etc., according to FM experts who
know more than I do."

He referes to this in depth technical review:

http://ham-radio.com/k6sti/xdr-f1hd.htm

It had to happen - the complex, expensive analog filters in their IF strips
that made the classic high performance FM tuners what they were, get
replaced by a DSP that costs a few bucks.

Now, why did they not provide a digital output?

Kal

[Sonnova]

On Wed, 9 Jul 2008 15:25:01 -0700, Arny Krueger wrote
(in article ):

wrote in message


http://theaudiocritic.com/blog/

H"D Radio FM/AM Digital Tuner
Sony XDR-F1HD

This is a $100 (thats no typo) tuner that blows away
the classic super tuners of McIntosh, Marantz,
Sequerra, Accuphase, etc., according to FM experts who
know more than I do."

He referes to this in depth technical review:

http://ham-radio.com/k6sti/xdr-f1hd.htm

It had to happen - the complex, expensive analog filters in their IF strips
that made the classic high performance FM tuners what they were, get
replaced by a DSP that costs a few bucks.

Now, if there was only any reason to bother to listen to FM, except maybe in
my car. :-(

BTW car radios are the intended major market for this technology.


So true. It wasn't always that way, though. When I was a teen (early 1960's)
living near Washington DC, stereo FM had just come in. In those days, there
were only a handful of FM stations in that market and they were w-i-d-e-l-y
spaced on the dial so nobody was using compression and nobody cared if the
stations overmodulated a bit, so no one used limiters either. The two college
stations, one belonging to American University (WAMU) and the other belonging
to George Washington University (WRGW), followed the live music concert scene
in DC. On any given summer Friday or Saturday night, the National Symphony or
one of the President's armed forces bands (Army, Navy, Air-Force, Marines)
would be playing at the Watergate down by the C&O canal (Watergate had a
different connotation then) in front of the Lincoln Memorial. People would
pull-up alongside the floating bandshell in their boats, or sit on the steps
leading down to the river or just spread-out blankets on the grass and
listen. Couldn't attend? Tune in on FM and hear it live (complete with the
sound of airplanes from National Airport taking-off and landing overhead). It
was marvelous. People today have no idea how good live FM could be in the
early days. It was like having a good pair of Neummann U87 microphones
running from the Watergate to your stereo system! In the winter, most of
these concerts moved indoors to the State Department Auditorium and were
broadcast from there which was even better because of the hall acoustics (and
no airliners).

If you'd like to get an idea what the Watergate concerts were like in those
days, watch the beginning of a movie with Cary Grant and Sophia Loren called
"Houseboat." It sort of begins at a Watergate concert where Sophia's
character's father is a visiting Italian symphony conductor.

Then of course there was the WQXR "network" which, in the early 1960's
relayed (via the receive-and-rebroadcast method) programming from WQXR in New
York City to a chain of stations going north into New England and south to
DC. It was a little noisier than the local live broadcasts. The 'QXR
affiliate in DC, was (IIRC) WMAL-FM and their chief engineer told me once
(because I called and asked) that they received their feed by rebroadcasting
the signal they picked-up using a high-gain single-frequency yagi antenna
from the Philadelphia affiliate. So what we got was an FM signal that was
captured by the Philly station off the air from WQXR New York, and then they
rebroadcasted it and WMAL picked up that rebroadcast and then rebroadcasted
it themselves, so there were TWO FM outlets between my FM tuner and the
originating FM station in NYC. No matter. What we got (while it lasted) was
live broadcasts of the NY Philharmonic from Lincoln Center, concerts from
Carnegie Hall, and smaller ensembles directly from WQXR's studios. It was
glorious!

I really miss those live stereo FM broadcasts and I was saddened to see, the
last time I was in DC, that the powers-that-be had allowed the band-shell
barge at the Watergate to sink. Youngsters today wonder why we old farts
think that the world has gone downhill since our youth. Well, its because it
has!

[---MIKE---]

Sonnova wrote:

I really miss those live stereo FM
broadcasts

Before I retired and moved out of range I used to listen to the live
Boston Symphony broadcasts on WGBH. They were great. Now I listen to
concerts (taped of course) from around the world on Vermont Public Radio
(classical - digital on a Sangean HDT-1) Fidelity is good except for
dynamic compression. The VPR classical feed is 24/7 classical music. I
have about 1500 CDs but rarely play them any more.

---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')

[Sonnova]

On Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:23:49 -0700, MIKE--- wrote
(in article ):

Sonnova wrote:

I really miss those live stereo FM
broadcasts

Before I retired and moved out of range I used to listen to the live
Boston Symphony broadcasts on WGBH. They were great. Now I listen to
concerts (taped of course) from around the world on Vermont Public Radio
(classical - digital on a Sangean HDT-1) Fidelity is good except for
dynamic compression. The VPR classical feed is 24/7 classical music. I
have about 1500 CDs but rarely play them any more.

We used to get live feeds from the San Francisco Symphony on one of the two
Classical stations that we used to have in the area. Now we have only one.
Unfortunately, it simply wasn't the same. The FM spectrum in this market is
incredibly crowded (99.99% is commercial crap as well) which means that all
of the FM stations utilize heavy compression and hard limiting - necessary to
be loud (to gain listener share) while still avoiding the dread
overmodulation. This robs the music of any semblance of the palpability that
one could get over FM in the "good ol' days". Theoretically, one could play a
DAT of some great orchestra performance from one of the digital transcription
services available to radio stations these days and get essentially the same
sound as I was getting in the early 60's from live feeds. Unfortunately,
that's just not the same, either. It has to be the FM outlets themselves,
there's no other difference that I can come-up with.

---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')

[Earl Kiosterud]

"Sonnova" wrote in message
...


The two college
stations, one belonging to American University (WAMU) and the other belonging
to George Washington University (WRGW),

Georgetown U. had an FM station. I had a show on Sunday nights in the '62-63 year. I
should be able to remember the call letters -- maybe it'll come back to me. I'll not look
it up, because if it's changed, it might bias my memory. The transmitter was in the control
room (I was the announcer -- it was the studio and control room type of setup), and when you
heard that 120 Hz acoustic hum stop, you knew you'd gone off the air -- probably SWR
kickout. It only happened to me once.

--
Earl

[Sonnova]

On Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:13:23 -0700, Earl Kiosterud wrote
(in article ):

"Sonnova" wrote in message
...


The two college
stations, one belonging to American University (WAMU) and the other
belonging
to George Washington University (WRGW),

Georgetown U. had an FM station. I had a show on Sunday nights in the '62-63

year. I
should be able to remember the call letters -- maybe it'll come back to me.
I'll not look
it up, because if it's changed, it might bias my memory. The transmitter was

in the control
room (I was the announcer -- it was the studio and control room type of
setup), and when you
heard that 120 Hz acoustic hum stop, you knew you'd gone off the air --
probably SWR
kickout. It only happened to me once.

--
Earl

WGTB? Yes, I remember them. AFAIR, that was their call back in the early 60's
as well. In fact, it might have been them and not George Washington
University that I'm remembering. It has been, after all, close to half a
century and the names are similar. Do you remember the Watergate concerts?

[Harry Lavo]

"Sonnova" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 9 Jul 2008 15:25:01 -0700, Arny Krueger wrote
(in article ):

wrote in message


http://theaudiocritic.com/blog/

H"D Radio FM/AM Digital Tuner
Sony XDR-F1HD

This is a $100 (thats no typo) tuner that blows away
the classic super tuners of McIntosh, Marantz,
Sequerra, Accuphase, etc., according to FM experts who
know more than I do."

He referes to this in depth technical review:

http://ham-radio.com/k6sti/xdr-f1hd.htm

It had to happen - the complex, expensive analog filters in their IF
strips
that made the classic high performance FM tuners what they were, get
replaced by a DSP that costs a few bucks.

Now, if there was only any reason to bother to listen to FM, except maybe
in
my car. :-(

BTW car radios are the intended major market for this technology.


So true. It wasn't always that way, though. When I was a teen (early
1960's)
living near Washington DC, stereo FM had just come in. In those days,
there
were only a handful of FM stations in that market and they were
w-i-d-e-l-y
spaced on the dial so nobody was using compression and nobody cared if the
stations overmodulated a bit, so no one used limiters either. The two
college
stations, one belonging to American University (WAMU) and the other
belonging
to George Washington University (WRGW), followed the live music concert
scene
in DC. On any given summer Friday or Saturday night, the National Symphony
or
one of the President's armed forces bands (Army, Navy, Air-Force, Marines)
would be playing at the Watergate down by the C&O canal (Watergate had a
different connotation then) in front of the Lincoln Memorial. People would
pull-up alongside the floating bandshell in their boats, or sit on the
steps
leading down to the river or just spread-out blankets on the grass and
listen. Couldn't attend? Tune in on FM and hear it live (complete with the
sound of airplanes from National Airport taking-off and landing overhead).
It
was marvelous. People today have no idea how good live FM could be in the
early days. It was like having a good pair of Neummann U87 microphones
running from the Watergate to your stereo system! In the winter, most of
these concerts moved indoors to the State Department Auditorium and were
broadcast from there which was even better because of the hall acoustics
(and
no airliners).

If you'd like to get an idea what the Watergate concerts were like in
those
days, watch the beginning of a movie with Cary Grant and Sophia Loren
called
"Houseboat." It sort of begins at a Watergate concert where Sophia's
character's father is a visiting Italian symphony conductor.

Then of course there was the WQXR "network" which, in the early 1960's
relayed (via the receive-and-rebroadcast method) programming from WQXR in
New
York City to a chain of stations going north into New England and south to
DC. It was a little noisier than the local live broadcasts. The 'QXR
affiliate in DC, was (IIRC) WMAL-FM and their chief engineer told me once
(because I called and asked) that they received their feed by
rebroadcasting
the signal they picked-up using a high-gain single-frequency yagi antenna
from the Philadelphia affiliate. So what we got was an FM signal that was
captured by the Philly station off the air from WQXR New York, and then
they
rebroadcasted it and WMAL picked up that rebroadcast and then
rebroadcasted
it themselves, so there were TWO FM outlets between my FM tuner and the
originating FM station in NYC. No matter. What we got (while it lasted)
was
live broadcasts of the NY Philharmonic from Lincoln Center, concerts from
Carnegie Hall, and smaller ensembles directly from WQXR's studios. It was
glorious!

I really miss those live stereo FM broadcasts and I was saddened to see,
the
last time I was in DC, that the powers-that-be had allowed the band-shell
barge at the Watergate to sink. Youngsters today wonder why we old farts
think that the world has gone downhill since our youth. Well, its because
it
has!

Hear hear!!

Thanks for bringing back the memories. I moved into the NYC area right
after grad school in 1963...and boy, the sounds!

I am currently fortunate to live in western mass where WFCR
broadcasts....they only do opera and Tanglewood live, but their signal is
not terrible compressed and they feature top quality classical and
jazz...with my Carver TX-11 or Fisher 90C tuned in, it is hard to tell I'm
not listening to CD. I can turn up the volume on a performance and have no
hiss or noise, and reasonable dynamics. So I guess I am one of the lucky
ones.

Harry

[Sonnova]

On Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:52:13 -0700, Harry Lavo wrote
(in article ):

"Sonnova" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 9 Jul 2008 15:25:01 -0700, Arny Krueger wrote
(in article ):

wrote in message


http://theaudiocritic.com/blog/

H"D Radio FM/AM Digital Tuner
Sony XDR-F1HD

This is a $100 (thats no typo) tuner that blows away
the classic super tuners of McIntosh, Marantz,
Sequerra, Accuphase, etc., according to FM experts who
know more than I do."

He referes to this in depth technical review:

http://ham-radio.com/k6sti/xdr-f1hd.htm

It had to happen - the complex, expensive analog filters in their IF
strips
that made the classic high performance FM tuners what they were, get
replaced by a DSP that costs a few bucks.

Now, if there was only any reason to bother to listen to FM, except maybe
in
my car. :-(

BTW car radios are the intended major market for this technology.


So true. It wasn't always that way, though. When I was a teen (early
1960's)
living near Washington DC, stereo FM had just come in. In those days,
there
were only a handful of FM stations in that market and they were
w-i-d-e-l-y
spaced on the dial so nobody was using compression and nobody cared if the
stations overmodulated a bit, so no one used limiters either. The two
college
stations, one belonging to American University (WAMU) and the other
belonging
to George Washington University (WRGW), followed the live music concert
scene
in DC. On any given summer Friday or Saturday night, the National Symphony
or
one of the President's armed forces bands (Army, Navy, Air-Force, Marines)
would be playing at the Watergate down by the C&O canal (Watergate had a
different connotation then) in front of the Lincoln Memorial. People would
pull-up alongside the floating bandshell in their boats, or sit on the
steps
leading down to the river or just spread-out blankets on the grass and
listen. Couldn't attend? Tune in on FM and hear it live (complete with the
sound of airplanes from National Airport taking-off and landing overhead).
It
was marvelous. People today have no idea how good live FM could be in the
early days. It was like having a good pair of Neummann U87 microphones
running from the Watergate to your stereo system! In the winter, most of
these concerts moved indoors to the State Department Auditorium and were
broadcast from there which was even better because of the hall acoustics
(and
no airliners).

If you'd like to get an idea what the Watergate concerts were like in
those
days, watch the beginning of a movie with Cary Grant and Sophia Loren
called
"Houseboat." It sort of begins at a Watergate concert where Sophia's
character's father is a visiting Italian symphony conductor.

Then of course there was the WQXR "network" which, in the early 1960's
relayed (via the receive-and-rebroadcast method) programming from WQXR in
New
York City to a chain of stations going north into New England and south to
DC. It was a little noisier than the local live broadcasts. The 'QXR
affiliate in DC, was (IIRC) WMAL-FM and their chief engineer told me once
(because I called and asked) that they received their feed by
rebroadcasting
the signal they picked-up using a high-gain single-frequency yagi antenna
from the Philadelphia affiliate. So what we got was an FM signal that was
captured by the Philly station off the air from WQXR New York, and then
they
rebroadcasted it and WMAL picked up that rebroadcast and then
rebroadcasted
it themselves, so there were TWO FM outlets between my FM tuner and the
originating FM station in NYC. No matter. What we got (while it lasted)
was
live broadcasts of the NY Philharmonic from Lincoln Center, concerts from
Carnegie Hall, and smaller ensembles directly from WQXR's studios. It was
glorious!

I really miss those live stereo FM broadcasts and I was saddened to see,
the
last time I was in DC, that the powers-that-be had allowed the band-shell
barge at the Watergate to sink. Youngsters today wonder why we old farts
think that the world has gone downhill since our youth. Well, its because
it
has!

Hear hear!!

Thanks for bringing back the memories. I moved into the NYC area right
after grad school in 1963...and boy, the sounds!

I am currently fortunate to live in western mass where WFCR
broadcasts....they only do opera and Tanglewood live, but their signal is
not terrible compressed and they feature top quality classical and
jazz...with my Carver TX-11 or Fisher 90C tuned in, it is hard to tell I'm
not listening to CD. I can turn up the volume on a performance and have no
hiss or noise, and reasonable dynamics. So I guess I am one of the lucky
ones.

Harry


You are lucky. There is simply nothing like a broadcast of a live concert.
The knowledge that the music to which one is listening is going on RIGHT at
that second as you listen-in may form some sort of psycho-acoustical bond
with the broadcast that simply isn't replicated when listening to "canned"
music, no matter how effective or perfect that canning process might be. Live
broadcasts generated an excitement and a sense of anticipation (as well as a
sense of participation) not present in canned playback. Sure, it's an
illusion, but isn't that what hi-fi is all about? The Illusion of a live
performance in one's listening room? I'd trade all of my "state-of-the-art"
gear to be able to go back to my attic room in my parent's house for ONE live
Watergate concert in 1962 over my Eico HFT-90 FM tuner, my Knight-Kit stereo
FM demodulator, my pair of Knight-Kit 18-Watt mono integrated amplifiers and
the bass-reflex speaker cabinets my dad made for me, each holding a Knight
KN-812 12" "full-range" speaker and a Layfayette horn tweeter. Crude, yes,
but none-the-less satisfying to my then 16-year-old ears.

[Arny Krueger]

"Sonnova" wrote in message


Sure, it's an illusion, but isn't that what
hi-fi is all about? The Illusion of a live performance in
one's listening room? I'd trade all of my
"state-of-the-art" gear to be able to go back to my attic
room in my parent's house for ONE live Watergate concert
in 1962 over my Eico HFT-90 FM tuner, my Knight-Kit
stereo FM demodulator, my pair of Knight-Kit 18-Watt mono
integrated amplifiers and the bass-reflex speaker
cabinets my dad made for me, each holding a Knight KN-812
12" "full-range" speaker and a Layfayette horn tweeter.
Crude, yes, but none-the-less satisfying to my then
16-year-old ears.

I've never been all that satisfied with reproduced sound. That is probably
because I've been exposed to live music, often several times weekly, for my
whole life.

In 1962 or there-abouts I owned a Sherwood stereo tuner, an Eico ST-70
integrated amplifier, and a variety of headphones and loudspeakers. I think
my first hifi record player was a Glaser-Steers changer, which was followed
by a number of AR turntables. Several times I sold my AR turntable, bought
"something better", sold or scrapped that, and bought another AR turntable.
My last turntable was a Thorens TD-125 with a SME 3009 arm.

it was obvious to me in the late 1960s that analog record/play technology
had pretty well done all that it was going to do. I figured that sometime in
the early 70s that digital would become available. I was totally amazed when
it took until the early 80s for that to happen.

[C. Leeds]

wrote:
http://theaudiocritic.com/blog/

H"D Radio FM/AM Digital Tuner
Sony XDR-F1HD

This is a $100 (thats no typo) tuner that blows away the classic super
tuners of McIntosh, Marantz, Sequerra, Accuphase, etc., according to
FM experts who know more than I do."

He referes to this in depth technical review:

http://ham-radio.com/k6sti/xdr-f1hd.htm

The technical review cited doesn't support audiocritic's claim.

[[email protected]]

This is a $100 (thats no typo) tuner that blows away the classic
super
tuners of McIntosh, Marantz, Sequerra, Accuphase, etc., according to
FM experts who know more than I do."

He referes to this in depth technical review:

http://ham-radio.com/k6sti/xdr-f1hd.htm

"The technical review cited doesn't support audiocritic's claim."

How so? One would assume any valid answer would provide contrary
information at the same level of measured detail.

Did you read the full article of the 'audio critic' or just the cut and
paste blurb used to introduce the thread? If not read it, therein is his
full review.

[C. Leeds]

wrote:
This is a $100 (thats no typo) tuner that blows away the classic
super
tuners of McIntosh, Marantz, Sequerra, Accuphase, etc., according to
FM experts who know more than I do."

He referes to this in depth technical review:

http://ham-radio.com/k6sti/xdr-f1hd.htm

I answered:

The technical review cited doesn't support audiocritic's claim.

oustor sez:

Did you read the full article of the 'audio critic'

Yes.

If not read it, therein is his
full review.

The full review does not support the claim. It compares the Sony to a
Sangean HDT-1X, and never cites any measurements made from the
supertuners mentioned by audiocritic. Perhaps the Sony is all that
audiocritic supposes, but there's nothing to support that in the review.

Moroever, the review cites shortcomings of the Sony:
does not display carrier-to-noise ratio, HD Radio transmission mode, HD Radio station ID, firmware version, or the audio spectrum. It does not provide forced mono, forced analog, split-audio mode, direct frequency entry, or digital output. It does not have a stereo indicator

It's all probably moot, however, because so few people care about the
very, very lo-fi HD radio scheme. Even broadcasters are reluctant to
invest in HD radio programming. Mostly, HD radio is home to cheap
automated formats that have already failed on conventional FM.

[Sonnova]

On Sat, 12 Jul 2008 09:32:43 -0700, C. Leeds wrote
(in article ):

wrote:
This is a $100 (thats no typo) tuner that blows away the classic
super
tuners of McIntosh, Marantz, Sequerra, Accuphase, etc., according to
FM experts who know more than I do."

He referes to this in depth technical review:

http://ham-radio.com/k6sti/xdr-f1hd.htm

I answered:

The technical review cited doesn't support audiocritic's claim.

oustor sez:

Did you read the full article of the 'audio critic'

Yes.

If not read it, therein is his
full review.

The full review does not support the claim. It compares the Sony to a
Sangean HDT-1X, and never cites any measurements made from the
supertuners mentioned by audiocritic. Perhaps the Sony is all that
audiocritic supposes, but there's nothing to support that in the review.

Moroever, the review cites shortcomings of the Sony:
does not display carrier-to-noise ratio, HD Radio transmission mode, HD
Radio station ID, firmware version, or the audio spectrum. It does not
provide forced mono, forced analog, split-audio mode, direct frequency
entry, or digital output. It does not have a stereo indicator

It's all probably moot, however, because so few people care about the
very, very lo-fi HD radio scheme. Even broadcasters are reluctant to
invest in HD radio programming. Mostly, HD radio is home to cheap
automated formats that have already failed on conventional FM.


A number of years ago, I had a Marantz 10B FM tuner. The thing was really
good sounding (unless the station one listened to had an SCA (muzak)
subcarrier attached to it, then the Marantz stereo demodulator (a
sum/difference unit) tended to whistle (I understand that they all did that).
Anyway, a friend brought over a then new Yamaha T-85 tuner with it's ceramic
filters and IC phase-locked-loop stereo decoder. It blew the 10B out of the
water, performance wise. It not only was more selective and more sensitive,
but it had better separation and sounded better. So, in my estimation, these
classic tuners were bested more than 20 years ago. Oh, I sold the Marantz for
lots of $$$$ and bought the Yamaha T-85 to replace it. It's still my only
tuner but I do miss the imposing regality of the 10B and it's neat
oscilloscope (which on mine, still functioned).

[Steven Sullivan]

C. Leeds wrote:
wrote:
http://theaudiocritic.com/blog/

H"D Radio FM/AM Digital Tuner
Sony XDR-F1HD

This is a $100 (thats no typo) tuner that blows away the classic super
tuners of McIntosh, Marantz, Sequerra, Accuphase, etc., according to
FM experts who know more than I do."

He referes to this in depth technical review:

http://ham-radio.com/k6sti/xdr-f1hd.htm

The technical review cited doesn't support audiocritic's claim.

from the technical review:

"Sound quality for slightly marginal to deeply compromised signals is strikingly better than
that from conventional tuners. The performance of the Sony XDR-F1HD on stereo FM is
spectacular and unprecedented. "


--
-S
Poe's Law: Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humorous
intent, it is impossible to create a parody of a religious Fundamentalist that
SOMEONE won't mistake for the real thing.

[kappclark]

I bought the Sony tuner, and it is far superior to my Yamaha T-80 ...

I always thought my tuner was a holy grail of sorts for FM, and I was
very happy with the analog performance.

BUt now, there is ZERO noise ... I am hearing background vocals much
more clearly now, and classical (in analog and especially in HD) is
much more detailed.

Dynamic range is better, but not CD-quality. I notice the signal to be
less compressed, and there is no fatigue.

All this for less than I paid for my stock Yamaha tuner off ebay ..

Bill Clark
Windham, VT


On Jul 8, 6:45*pm, wrote:
http://theaudiocritic.com/blog/

* *H"DRadioFM/AM DigitalTuner
* *SonyXDR-F1HD

* *This is a $100 (thats no typo)tunerthat blows away the classic super
* *tuners of McIntosh, Marantz, Sequerra, Accuphase, etc., according to
* *FM experts who know more than I do."

He referes to this in depth technical review:

http://ham-radio.com/k6sti/xdr-f1hd.htm

[Angus Stewart Pinkerton]

Originally Posted by kappclark

I bought the Sony tuner, and it is far superior to my Yamaha T-80 ...

I always thought my tuner was a holy grail of sorts for FM, and I was
very happy with the analog performance.

BUt now, there is ZERO noise ... I am hearing background vocals much
more clearly now, and classical (in analog and especially in HD) is
much more detailed.

Dynamic range is better, but not CD-quality. I notice the signal to be
less compressed, and there is no fatigue.

All this for less than I paid for my stock Yamaha tuner off ebay ..

Bill Clark
Windham, VT


On Jul 8, 6:45*pm, wrote:
http://theaudiocritic.com/blog/

* *H"DRadioFM/AM DigitalTuner
* *SonyXDR-F1HD

* *This is a $100 (thats no typo)tunerthat blows away the classic super
* *tuners of McIntosh, Marantz, Sequerra, Accuphase, etc., according to
* *FM experts who know more than I do."

He referes to this in depth technical review:

http://ham-radio.com/k6sti/xdr-f1hd.htm

Considering that well-made MP3s at 192kb/sec are very hard to tell from CDs, that AACs at the same bit rate are well-nigh impossible to split from CDs (or even from 24/96 recordings), and that HD uses an even more advanced Codec than AAC, it shouldn't really come as any surprise that the 'analogue classics' such as the Day Sequerra, Marantz and Yamaha FM tuners (and my own trusty Onkyo!) should have been eclipsed in more than 30 years of development. Modern digital technology is very powerful *and* very cheap and consistent to produce, so such a result is well-nigh inevitable. Now, if only the programme makers can produce some decent content....

[Damon Hill[_2_]]

wrote in :

http://theaudiocritic.com/blog/

H"D Radio FM/AM Digital Tuner
Sony XDR-F1HD

This is a $100 (thats no typo) tuner that blows away the classic
super tuners of McIntosh, Marantz, Sequerra, Accuphase, etc.,
according to FM experts who know more than I do."

He referes to this in depth technical review:

http://ham-radio.com/k6sti/xdr-f1hd.htm


Got mine last year for about $60 after the $50 rebate from Ibiquity.

The Sony cleaned up my FM reception (multipath) problems with the
stock dipole mounted randomly, apparently thanks to the digital format.
To get my older tuners to work cleanly with the same stations I'd
have to put up a directional outdoor antenna, which I may do
anyway just to see how many long distance stations I can reliably
pull in.

The AM HD radio market in Seattle is virtually non-existant with only
one station (all sports, news and talk). On rare occasions I can
tell that the format does offer a clean stereo signal in AM, although
it's from commercial jingles and has outrageous compression/limiting
effects.

KING-FM offers good classical broadcasting, albeit with variable source
material quality that the Sony tuner reproduces mercilessly. Voice
music, especially large groups, can reproduce more cleanly than I recall
from any other tuner I've owned.

Still not quite as good as a decent CD recording on a high quality
player, but HD Radio obviously offers performance improvements on FM and
could benefit a lot of listeners who have reception problems. I'd like
to hear the performance in a car, to see how it copes with severe
multipath as the vehicle moves.

It's a technological tour de force, that could probably be improved upon
in a serious "audiophile" version for not much more money at
all--assuming someone doesn't tweak the design with a better analog
output stage. Between getting this new tuner and having sold my entire
vinyl record collection during a recent forced move to more modest
housing, I'm now almost totally digital.

Will HD Radio save broadcasting? Well, that remains to be seen, but the
price of trying out the format is pretty reasonable.

--Damon

[Jason Flinders]

On 2 Aug 2009 14:16:25 GMT, Damon Hill
wrote:

I live in Southwestern Ohio (near Cincinnati) and enjoy AM HD
broadcast DX from St. Louis, Missouri. KMOX (1120 AM) broadcasts an
all-night IBOC signal and they broadcast 50's and 60's music
programming on Friday and Saturday nights. The IBOC really shines on
my Sony HD table radio. The IBOC signal sometimes is lost, but I
would say that it comes in clearly about 80% of the time. I wish that
more AM IBOC stations would broadcast music programming!