+1 on HD radio. . . I don't have it in my truck, but when I drive my wife's Santa Fe, I often listen to local HD stations--much better quality than Sat radio.
Any HD Radio users here?
- Thread starter celicaxx
- Start date
Speaking of HD radio, Sangean makes a portable one that's not terribly expensive:
It got good reviews from many radiophile youtubers such as todderbert, although, I question whether you can really appreciate the improvement in sound quality through a tiny built-in speaker like this. I imagine sound quality via headphone-out might show some improvement.
Amazon.com: Sangean HDR-14 HD Radio/FM Stereo/AM Portable Radio, standart, Black: Electronics
Amazon.com: Sangean HDR-14 HD Radio/FM Stereo/AM Portable Radio, standart, Black: Electronics
www.amazon.com
It got good reviews from many radiophile youtubers such as todderbert, although, I question whether you can really appreciate the improvement in sound quality through a tiny built-in speaker like this. I imagine sound quality via headphone-out might show some improvement.
When I had it some 10 years ago, XM used a different codec and compression scheme than Sirius. Sirius didn’t sound as good as XM did.
insurance gave me a rental car when my car was in the shop for a stolen cat. Hertz had a Chevy Cruze with XM activated on it. It sounded a little worse than FM.
So though it's a bit old of a thread, I ended up finding another head unit to replace my glitchy Clarion.
I ended up buying a Pioneer FH-X830BHS for my Fusion.
So far I really like it. HD reception is good so far, but I've not used it much while actually moving, just waiting around. Seemlessly handles my 90gb of music (13K files) and I can access it all through the menus, but it has about a full minute of bootup time to read all my files from USB. Bluetooth works fantastic on it from my LG G8, and even without the ARC app it all works great. I can even access my mp3s via bluetooth from the phone's SD, using the radio buttons, and switch stations on Radiotunes/Di.FM with radio buttons, too (only audio streaming platform I use...) CD playback works well. Sound quality is phenomenal, and even my stock speakers sound better. I'd say about 10% better than my Clarion, and 100% better than my failing stock Ford head unit with a broken screen. Have not tried phone calls with Bluetooth, nor hooked up the mic, though. Lastly, though it is sort of a gimmick, the RGB color changes you can do are super fun to mess with sometimes.
So if you want a sort of traditional radio without an LCD smartphone style screen arrangement, and physical buttons, and of course HD Radio being important to you, I highly recommend it. It was pretty much everything I asked for all pretty seemlessly working OK without glitches or drama.
I ended up buying a Pioneer FH-X830BHS for my Fusion.
So far I really like it. HD reception is good so far, but I've not used it much while actually moving, just waiting around. Seemlessly handles my 90gb of music (13K files) and I can access it all through the menus, but it has about a full minute of bootup time to read all my files from USB. Bluetooth works fantastic on it from my LG G8, and even without the ARC app it all works great. I can even access my mp3s via bluetooth from the phone's SD, using the radio buttons, and switch stations on Radiotunes/Di.FM with radio buttons, too (only audio streaming platform I use...) CD playback works well. Sound quality is phenomenal, and even my stock speakers sound better. I'd say about 10% better than my Clarion, and 100% better than my failing stock Ford head unit with a broken screen. Have not tried phone calls with Bluetooth, nor hooked up the mic, though. Lastly, though it is sort of a gimmick, the RGB color changes you can do are super fun to mess with sometimes.
So if you want a sort of traditional radio without an LCD smartphone style screen arrangement, and physical buttons, and of course HD Radio being important to you, I highly recommend it. It was pretty much everything I asked for all pretty seemlessly working OK without glitches or drama.
Yeah, I dont get it either. Cars have eluded me to having HD radio though I know how much better they sound ... I think much the public doesnt really care about sound quality anymore, meaning what is out there is good enough for the general public.
Really goes for all media formats now.
We still are in a world where mp3s are better then the current streaming services and superior to the satellite group. Sadly a decades old CD is still the gold standard among them *L*
I think any better sound quality just does not matter to the general public.
Really goes for all media formats now.
We still are in a world where mp3s are better then the current streaming services and superior to the satellite group. Sadly a decades old CD is still the gold standard among them *L*
I think any better sound quality just does not matter to the general public.
