I finally got my first listen to FM IBOC along with the HD2's.
First jaw dropper was the cost of the IBOC set.(Kenwood)Can you say $750??!!! I thought we were talking $3-400 for a system. The engineer's employer bought the system....!!
Was it worth it? We rode around downtown Atlanta for a little while....only difference I heard was no multipath.(Of course, with a diversity antenna system, the multipath problem becomes VERY minor with analog FM.) Now, I admit, my ears are not "acclimated" to his sound system, but the analog sounded similar to the IBOC. The processing was even squashed on the IBOC....at least we know now that IBOC will pass a square wave just as well as analog!
I was impressed with the HD2 channels and the sound quality. I do not know how the data rates are split between the main and HD2 but I was expecting HD2 to be dramatically inferior. For the few minutes I listened, it was, at least, listenable.
The data scrolls were fun....somg title, artist, etc. We could do that with RDS.
I did not get a chance to hear IBOC AM since it was at night. I hear it sounds like Sirius....a little grungy but better than the typical AM performance most of us are accustomed to.
Will the prices come down? With the outrageous Ibiquity fees,probably not enough. As an broadcast engineer....will I buy one? No.....not at this price. My cap ex budget ain't that big....besides, there is the engineering jacuzzi to build.
First jaw dropper was the cost of the IBOC set.(Kenwood)Can you say $750??!!! I thought we were talking $3-400 for a system. The engineer's employer bought the system....!!
Was it worth it? We rode around downtown Atlanta for a little while....only difference I heard was no multipath.(Of course, with a diversity antenna system, the multipath problem becomes VERY minor with analog FM.) Now, I admit, my ears are not "acclimated" to his sound system, but the analog sounded similar to the IBOC. The processing was even squashed on the IBOC....at least we know now that IBOC will pass a square wave just as well as analog!
I was impressed with the HD2 channels and the sound quality. I do not know how the data rates are split between the main and HD2 but I was expecting HD2 to be dramatically inferior. For the few minutes I listened, it was, at least, listenable.
The data scrolls were fun....somg title, artist, etc. We could do that with RDS.
I did not get a chance to hear IBOC AM since it was at night. I hear it sounds like Sirius....a little grungy but better than the typical AM performance most of us are accustomed to.
Will the prices come down? With the outrageous Ibiquity fees,probably not enough. As an broadcast engineer....will I buy one? No.....not at this price. My cap ex budget ain't that big....besides, there is the engineering jacuzzi to build.