4 ms·

Interesting, I’ve always thought HD was for High Definition, not Hybrid Digital. I don’t think we have similar radios in Europe.

ddingus 5y ago
You don't. In the 00's I was into this tech and largely felt good about the FM implementation, though the initial work did make some very aggressive trade offs, some of which may be improved by now. One was receiver side synthesized high frequency sound. Initially, real audio cutoff around 5khz and on a Bangles song, a finger cymbal could not be heard. There were some other issues, and I believe it was bumped up to 8.5 or maybe 10 on higher bitrate streams. Some radios detect the IBOC easily, making seek, scan type functions less useful. My own SONY car radio was impacted. Would tune static, then the station, then static on a scan. On AM the system was not all that robust, but did deliver low noise, but compression artifact laden audio. To be fair satellite radio does too. In order to make it work, AM stations had to use a brick wall 5khz filter. Many stations were running 8khz. Major downgrade on nicer radios. It also required analog AM stereo be removed. Analog stereo worked well and I listened a lot. Fringe areas were good too. Basically the noise floor would come up and eventually the broadcast would go mono, then fade away. Classic AM. IBOC did not work well, and the difference in sound was jarring! Fringe areas were maybe half too, so very limited range. Buildings and other things made a mess of it all. Rural flat terrain AM HD worked! I even liked it. Analog AM Stereo at 8Khz worked better overall everywhere else, but there were not many radios... I could go on, but AM was a mess and few stations are on air today. FM sort of happened. There are plenty of stations and the in car experience has been improved a lot.
- HNHatesUsers 5y ago
martijnvds 5y ago
In Europe we use DAB or DAB+, which use a different frequency and are 100% digital.
- weberer 5y ago
  Coverage seems to be limited to a few countries. We don't have it at all in Finland. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/DAB_coverage_map.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/DAB_cove...
- ElephantsMyAnus 5y ago
  Almost nobody does. There is just no advantage in switching to digital radio, and most likely there never be.
  - emteycz 5y ago
    You've never heard it, I suppose? It's not like it's a must, I agree, but it's definitely a big improvement.
    - jhoechtl 5y ago
      I did hear ot, I have it and its a dead birth. Not worth the investment. Instead of classic FM broadcast DAB+ might be aside a while next to FM and.then give way to internet radio.
      - emteycz 5y ago
        No FM radio was able to stream my favorite songs without cutting off a lot of important tones. That problem is gone with digital, my speakers became the limiting factor.
        ElephantsMyAnus 5y ago
        Absolutely not. While FM has a bit lower bandwith than healthy ears, digital adds fake high frequencies. There is just no way to cram enough data in the same signal to make digital any better.
        skyde 5y ago

ddingus 5y ago

You don't. In the 00's I was into this tech and largely felt good about the FM implementation, though the initial work did make some very aggressive trade offs, some of which may be improved by now. One was receiver side synthesized high frequency sound. Initially, real audio cutoff around 5khz and on a Bangles song, a finger cymbal could not be heard. There were some other issues, and I believe it was bumped up to 8.5 or maybe 10 on higher bitrate streams. Some radios detect the IBOC easily, making seek, scan type functions less useful. My own SONY car radio was impacted. Would tune static, then the station, then static on a scan. On AM the system was not all that robust, but did deliver low noise, but compression artifact laden audio. To be fair satellite radio does too. In order to make it work, AM stations had to use a brick wall 5khz filter. Many stations were running 8khz. Major downgrade on nicer radios. It also required analog AM stereo be removed. Analog stereo worked well and I listened a lot. Fringe areas were good too. Basically the noise floor would come up and eventually the broadcast would go mono, then fade away. Classic AM. IBOC did not work well, and the difference in sound was jarring! Fringe areas were maybe half too, so very limited range. Buildings and other things made a mess of it all. Rural flat terrain AM HD worked! I even liked it. Analog AM Stereo at 8Khz worked better overall everywhere else, but there were not many radios... I could go on, but AM was a mess and few stations are on air today. FM sort of happened. There are plenty of stations and the in car experience has been improved a lot.

HNHatesUsers 5y ago

martijnvds 5y ago

In Europe we use DAB or DAB+, which use a different frequency and are 100% digital.

weberer 5y ago
Coverage seems to be limited to a few countries. We don't have it at all in Finland. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/DAB_coverage_map.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/DAB_cove...
ElephantsMyAnus 5y ago
Almost nobody does. There is just no advantage in switching to digital radio, and most likely there never be.
- emteycz 5y ago
  You've never heard it, I suppose? It's not like it's a must, I agree, but it's definitely a big improvement.
  - jhoechtl 5y ago
    I did hear ot, I have it and its a dead birth. Not worth the investment. Instead of classic FM broadcast DAB+ might be aside a while next to FM and.then give way to internet radio.
    - emteycz 5y ago
      No FM radio was able to stream my favorite songs without cutting off a lot of important tones. That problem is gone with digital, my speakers became the limiting factor.
      - ElephantsMyAnus 5y ago
        Absolutely not. While FM has a bit lower bandwith than healthy ears, digital adds fake high frequencies. There is just no way to cram enough data in the same signal to make digital any better.
        skyde 5y ago