Sony XDRF1HD HD Radio Tuner by Sony
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Our Price: $499.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more digital camera details and other models |
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Digital camera reviews of Sony XDRF1HD HD Radio Tuner
Digital camera Review: Blown Away!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this radio after a brief online research and must say that I was pleasantly surprised for several reasons including (1) ease of set up (2) sound quality and (3) its compact size. In addition, I'm now hearing stations I've never heard before and find pleasure in listening commercial free music from some of the HD choices. I live on the 17th floor of an apartment complex and thus cannot say much about the radio's tuning capabilities (all AM & FM HD stations - at least the ones I'm interested in - come in uninterrrupted). It's definitely an alternative to TV and I find I'm now more productive when I'm at home. This is a good addition to home entertainment and gets my 110% recommendation!Digital camera Review: Buy it for the analog reception - forget HD
Summary: 2 Stars
I bought one for my office and now I'm buying another for home. Why then the mediocre two star rating?
First, the positive. It is the most sensitive tuner of FM signals I've owned. I was able, with the supplied ribbon antenna, to pick up a very difficult station (KPIG) on the far side of the Coast Range from Silicon Valley. I've only been able to get this station with a big rooftop antenna when the marine layer here in coastal California allows "bounce." With the Sony, it comes in loud and clear. This works on a numeber of other distant stations.
Two downsides. First, the sound quality of moderate to strong FM analog signals is decent but no match for my best classic FM tuners. Second, a station with a HD radio signal will default to the digital signal and there is no way override the digital choice - you just can't get the analog signal if the station also includes HD.
Both of the downsides and the positive benefit can be traced to the processing in the digital domain of both analog and digital channels. The HD sound always comes out sounding like cheap, low bandwidth digital. "Hollow", "edgy", "lifeless" are words that sorta describe the HD stuff although the analog stations are adequately, but not completely, free of "digititus". From the HD specs, the HD bandwidth is, at best, inferior to a decent (but not best) MP3.
Frankly, HD Radio is a terrible FCC mistake, poor government policy, and should be abandoned. The only advantage seems to be allowing the commercial stations more opportunities to sell advertising and private subscriber channels (which the Sony will not receive). Better sound is NOT part of the deal, no matter what the advertisements claim. It is most definitely NOT "CD-quality."
I bought these for the long distance analog reception only. I'm thinking of taking them to a technician to delete the HD reception permanently. Why Sony didn't capture some of this money by putting a HD override switch is beyond me.
Digital camera Review: Contact
Summary: 5 Stars
We live 40 miles from any radio tower and got very little radio reception with our old dial tuner receiver. With this high def. tuner we get good coverage from a station we like 60 miles away. Also pick up a blues station that is all music? The unit does run warm and the light is to much, but for the sound we can live with these annoyances. I think we will buy another we like it so much.Digital camera Review: Convenience, performance, HDFM at a reasonable price
Summary: 4 Stars
This is an AM/FM/FM Stereo/ XD Radio tuner, but I can't report on the AM section because I don't use it. The XDRF1HD it easy to set up; the included instructions are brief because there isn't much to tell. In my system it replaced an analog tuner, so the antenna cable was right there. FM sensitivity is excellent; it really 'draws in' stations. The display is large enough to be readable from several feet away, so the remote is actually useful.
Minuses: 1) There is no power off memory, so it must be connected to a 'live' outlet. Otherwise it will power up to the bottom of the AM band, pink noise and all. 2) If a station's FM and XD signal share a frequency address, the radio will lock on the XD signal; no way to get the FM signal. As you may know, XD sound fidelity is worse than FM's. Doesn't matter for news, but does for classical music listening.
Digital camera Review: DOES NOT PERFORM AS ADVERTISED
Summary: 1 Stars
DOES NOT PERFORM AS ADVERTISED. DOES NOT DESERVE A SINGLE STAR. RETURNED ITEM. WAITING REFUND.