Sunday, January 1, 2012

AM digital "HD Radio" vs. static


iBiquity has long claimed that HD Radio eliminates the static and interference typically associated with analog AM reception. Here, some RFI produced by my well pump disproves their claim -- the static causes the receiver to drop back to analog mode, and then it takes several seconds to regain the digital signal. The receiver is an Auvio HD Radio Tuner from Radio Shack. On FM it is fine, but on AM it has very poor performance, even on analog signals. WOR is the only "HD Radio" (IBOC DAB) signal I can reliably receive in digital mode on the AM band. WFAN is flakey at best, and all other digital signals just show a flashing "HD" symbol on the receiver but never can decode the digital audio. Also, the compression artifacts in the digital audio produce a very gritty, metallic sound -- very harsh and unpleasant to listen to. The analog signal from WABC sounds much better, once the receiver gradually opens up to its maximum analog AM audio bandwidth of 8 kHz. The last time I tried an "HD Radio" receiver was in 2007, and nothing has improved since then. Even on the best FM signals, the digital audio is still harsh and metallic, the digital reception is still very flakey, and radio stations still have problems synchonizing their analog and digital audio. So despite all the hype, "HD Radio" just isn't worth the money, and analog AM/FM radio still works and sounds better!

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