HD Newbie

[landtuna]

Just took delivery of my new Hyundai Genesis 5.0 R-Spec. This thing has more tech than the first space shuttle and I'm in the process of working down through the pile as we speak. I haven't put but about 200 miles on it yet so on-the-road experience with HD radio is a bit limited but I thought a few observations were in order.

Signal quality - the car has a 17-speaker Lexicon radio in it which audiophiles tell me is about the best of the best in vehicles these days. I can attest to the fact that it sounds very, very nice! But to be honest, I cannot tell a great deal of difference, if any, between a normal FM signal and it's HD counterpart. I tried listening to KOOL (where oldies are played on both) and I cannot tell which is which with my eyes shut - except that HD will pop in and out every once in awhile especially when driving close to a tall building (which is about 4 stories in Phoenix). I also tried KEZ which is playing Xmas music on their main signal and 70's pop/rock on their HD side. Tough to compare the two but again, not significant enough for me to tell. KSLX sounds like crap but I my need to play more with that station. Summary: not enough difference in SQ between the two. No skips/outages with FM but a few experienced with HD.

The Genesis forum guys report there is a significant improvement when listening to DVD-Audio which is a relatively new format that carries much higher bit rates than normal CD's. Unfortunately, there are very few new releases in the DVD-Audio format so I probably won't know any time soon. Note that DVD-Audio is not the same as audio-DVD (putting normal CD content on DVD media).

The Lexicon also has an XM tuner and by coincidence I heard 'Rhiannon' by Fleetwood Mac on both sides within several minutes of each other this afternoon. WOW! XM's signal is vastly underperforming KOOL-HD2. I used to think XM/Sirius was OK until I heard it next to a really good signal.

More to come as I spend more time in my new tech center. ;D

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Welcome to a rather small, but non-exclusive club!

I think your FM experience on the oldies station had to do with the station, not the quality of HD. As long as they don't fool with HD, there is usually a big difference. I can easily hear a difference on my five speaker system - admittedly they are four really good interior and a 12 inch sub in the trunk. What I think is happening is your station is patching their analog signal chain into the HD exciter, so it will never sound any different. A station that cares about HD will do it the other way around, they will have their audio chain really clean and wideband, which will be the HD channel, and then they will throttle it to accommodate analog limitations.

I'm definitely getting 55 miles in the car with occasional dropouts in the places analog would be compromised anyway - so I don't really count that against the system. Of course I have a REAL antenna, not one of those nubs or windshield or back windshield things.

Like you, I can tell the difference between satellite and FM, but the difference is even greater between satellite and HD, even if the station is also putting out HD-2's. It doesn't sound the same until the station is splitting into three equal HD subchannels. Still, it is the availability of content and formats that attracts me and others to satellite. I'll take a bit of compression if the music doesn't suck like it does on the cookie cutter formats the stations in Houston condescend to provide us.

 

[K6JHU]

For mind blowing FM sound on the HD main channel, try KBAQ (89.5) in Phoenix. The HD signal gets out quite a ways as well. But it helps to kind of like the middle ages top 40

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

The Genesis forum guys report there is a significant improvement when listening to DVD-Audio which is a relatively new format that carries much higher bit rates than normal CD's. Unfortunately, there are very few new releases in the DVD-Audio format so I probably won't know any time soon.

Make that NO new releases. The format is on its last legs and the distributors that carried the disks have hardly any left. (I saw an eBay listing a while back for Fleetwood Mac's "Rumors" DVD-Audio disk with an asking price of $300. Acoustic Sounds, which used to carry several hundred DVD-Audio titles, has just 12 left, mostly classical.) Acura putting DVD-Audio systems in all its cars for a while and Apple Records releasing the soundtrack for the Beatles' "Love" show in Las Vegas in DVD-Audio couldn't save it.

However, on a good system it will blow away any other digital format.

 

[luperm]

Sirius/XM sound quality is poor when received over the satellites. Sounds like an over compressed MP3. A better sound system only amplifies the problem.

 

[landtuna]

For mind blowing FM sound on the HD main channel, try KBAQ (89.5) in Phoenix. The HD signal gets out quite a ways as well. But it helps to kind of like the middle ages top 40

I have actually experienced KBAQ (8.4) over my HDTV which is connected to my home stereo system (which is probably not as good as the Lexicon but still pretty impressive). I hadn't thought to try it in the car. Thanks!

BTW, did you mean "music for middle aged people" or "music from the Middle Ages"? ;D

 

[landtuna]

On another related subject.....

There is a web site listing all the HD signals for the Phoenix area. KEZ (99.9) is listed as having an HD-2 as smooth jazz but when I tuned it, it was Oldies (70's-era stuff actually).

Does anyone listen to this and, if so, do they have a schedule for smooth jazz or is it kaput?

 

[K6JHU]

Actually the Middle Ages is too far back. Mostly 1700 on up. Claasical is holding on. Look at what Dudamel has done.

HD-2 stations will go on, go off, change programs at the drop of a hat. Since they assume nobody is listening, they don't care all that much.

In my case, I am in the MON (Middle of Nowhere), so the only workout my HD radiio gets is on my occasional trips to town. At that point I scan the dail and see what's new