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!

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• radio
• shack
• auvio
• hd
• iboc
• dab
• ibiquity
• am
• fm
• tuner
• receiver
• stereo
• system
• hdr
• wfan
• wor
• wabc
• analog
• digital
• reception
• noise
• static
• interference
• similar
• to
• insignia
• ns-hdtune

[harleykman]

HD-AM will sound better after the analog is shutoff, just as HDTV improved after the analog signals were eliminated. HD-AM will jump from 40 k to 60 kbit/s which is like jumping from FM to CD quality (perceived) and also eliminates the digital artifacts

.

The one problem with Digital-AM is the same problem Digital TV has on channels 2-6 - susceptibility to noise creates "skipping" or fallback

.

[vwestlife]

@harleykman North America will probably never get to the point where we have an all-digital AM band, due to the hundreds of millions of analog receivers in use and the band's steady decline in popularity. Even Europe's big push to turn all radio into digital has not been nearly as successful as expected. I think all terrestrial radio broadcasting will remain mostly analog until it is effectively replaced by other broadcasting media such as Wi-Fi and satellite.

[maplewoodsp]

Thanks for posting and all of the details in words. I don't want AM analog to go away. I enjoy distant stations. The air waves are rich with signals in the US. Not so much in the UK fom my experience, and the UK government seems intent on shutting down analog. Does the the US have the same intentions?

[vwestlife]

@maplewoodsp That was the thinking about a decade ago when the system was first introduced: that stations would eventually switch over to digital-only mode. But thankfully they never set a fixed switchover date, and now that the system has proven itself to be a failure (at least on AM), nobody is going to give up their analog signal anytime soon.

[vwestlife]

@AnalogueJosh DAB is better, because it operates in its own frequency band(s), and uses higher digital audio bitrates, so you don't get that cruddy metallic sound so much. "HD Radio" (also known as IBOC) is a stupid idea to let radio stations transmit a digital signal alongside their existing analog signal on the AM (MW) and FM radio bands. This causes interference to neighboring stations on the dial, and causes very poor digital reception, especially in a moving car.

[superarticulation]

If any static can interrupt HD signal, well, HD radio will be not proper for most Chinese users.

[1290WGLI]

Of course, WFAN sounds best when you can't hear it!

[viewerhds]

Sounds good on Digital AM in Chile the AM radio sound awful and fm is good but with interference I think iboc performs good I have heard that dab sounds inferior quality than a standard analogue stereo and here are thinking in digital radio

[superarticulation]

To receive a decent HD radio sound, there must be no statics at all... OK, think of a HD radio station in downtown...

[vwestlife]

@mazakman1957 Your fears are misdirected. It is the corporations which have an increasing amount of control of the airwaves, not the government. For example, every station which broadcasts an HD Radio signal must make licensing payments to iBiquity Coporation, who owns the HD Radio system. So if the FCC ever mandates use of HD Radio, then all 4000+ radio stations in the USA would have to play by iBiquity Corporation's rules, or else they could have their license revoked.

[Pokemon978IsBackOn]

0:16 Omg someone farted.

[bikdav]

My AUVIO HD TUNER does this. If the signal is too weak, it drops back into "analog" and the background noise returns. If the signal is good, the background is almost dead silent and the general sound quality is very good.

[jeffhanson1]

Excellent comparison. I've decided to get a Sony car stereo with built-in HD thanks to you.