In article ,
"David Eduardo" wrote:

"Rfburns" wrote in message
...
A friend let me borrow his Sony XDR-S3HD radio before he sells it on
eBay to try and recoup some of his money. Trying it out I kept
wondering – what’s so compelling about this? I could detect virtually
no difference in audio quality between FM analog and FM “HD”.

On a larger radio, there is a definite improvement in audio, but one of the
big advantages is the near total absence of multipath in vehicles in motion.

Oh baloney, a larger radio? What the hell does the size of the radio
matter?

Yeah, in vehicles the audio drops out instead of you hearing the picket
fence effect like that is an improvement? Only in your twisted little
world Eduardo.

What was even more irritating was that the analog and
digital signals were out of sync by about 5 seconds. So much for a
smooth transition. No CD Quality here boys.

The delay is supposed to be synchronized by the station. Obviously, the
station did not do this right, which is not HD's fault. All stations I have
heard transition seamlessly.

The stations don't bother to get it right because HD is crap to begin
with. No fixing that.

The real shocker was how power hungry the radio must be – and this is
just a tabletop clock radio – nothing fancy. It comes with a MASSIVE
external power transformer “brick” that you could use as an anchor for
a boat.

The available second generation receivers, overall, suck.

You don't get anything right do you. They are first generation radios.
These radios use general purpose IC's with program instructions on ROM's
so they function as a HD radio. Do you understand these simple facts?

The second generation will have IC's that are specifically designed for
HD. This will allow them to use less power however, they will not work
any better than the radios work now. For HD to work better the system
has to change so don't expect an improvement other than power
consumption, heat generated or battery life in a portable device should
any show up.

Sorry to burst your bubble.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California