HD Radio Component Tuner
Sangean's HDT-1X HD/AM/FM Radio Component Tuner adds the new medium of HD-Radio to your home entertainment options. HD-Radio provides static free, crystal clear sound & allows simultaneous multi-casts from a single station. It also has Data Services -- the ability to get song information, traffic reports, news updates and more, all on demand. Simply plug in and attach through a set of stereo RCA cables and you're ready to listen to crystal clear digital radio. Information displayed - Call sign, channel frequency, data rate, radio text, audio mode, service mode, signal quality and signal strength indicator Split audio & force analog mode Selectable stereo/mono mode FM RBDS function available with PS, PTY, RT and CT features Optical SPDIF and Stereo-RCA out Includes large, hardcase infrared remote Dimensions(WxDxH) - 16.8 x 10 x 2.8
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HD Radio Component Tuner Reviews
It won't receive any AM stations in HD besides the Disney channel at night when they cut the power though. I found that an 8' CB whip on the roof works very well to receive AM and FM and will get all the HD stations from Phoenix 30 miles away in the daytime. It falls short on AM by having just a two connection terminal strip for the antenna input but you can make up an F connector by soldering two short pieces of wire to a connector and mounting it in the two terminals in order to connect the cable to an outside antenna. It receives slightly better on AM than the Sony due to having an RF amp at the AM input. Software is more refined and it works and receives better than the Sony XDRF1HD HD Radio Tuner and doesn't overheat. You can punch in stations by frequency and it remembers favorite settings if power is off unlike the Sony. Very nice unit. It does lose the time if power is off though.
There is no reason for this to be listed under the satellite category, because you cannot access any of the quality content available with Sirius or XM.
In short, for audio performance versus price, it is an excellent value. The HDT-1X is well made, offers a variety of output formats, is well made, reliable, and sonically acceptable. They do, however, offer it 24x7 on their HD band, so I went in search of an HD tuner/radio. DaveM Our local public radio station (WERN Madison WI) offers classical music programming, but not 24x7. I found the Sangean and thought it worth a try given the reasonable price point. While HD lacks the uncompressed audio quality of analog FM or CD (I run a Magnum Dynalab MD-100 for analog FM w/roof antenna), that is the fault of the medium, not the tuner. For background music and for the occasional need to "crank up the volume" when a favorite selection is being played, this tuner is very adequate to the task.
Most in the neighborhood have gone to cable or satellite. I have also found it easy to use. High tech AND friendly. FM reception has never been great, either, so I wasn't sure how this tuner would work. I ordered the Sangean HDT-1X tuner somewhat on a gamble. The AM side of the story is not so great, but in this area, better fidelity for talk radio is not necessarily a plus. Our location gets notoriously bad TV broadcast signals due to being near interfering hills. After setting up with the antenna in the box and going through the station seek function, I was amazed by the signal clarity from both analog and digital.
If the programming quality ever improves, I might have to look into better antenna solutions. The "near CD quality" claim for digital is not overblown. But I'm not holding this against the tuner.
But its limitations are mainly a factor of the availability of HD Radio. I live in Southern New Hampshire and have a large rooftop antenna pointed toward the Boston area (50 miles away). While most stations except for those in very rural areas broadcast HD Radio, the little-known fact is that the power of an HD signal is only 5 per cent of the power of the normal (analog) signal. Sangean has designed an excellent product in the HDT-1X. And when it receives HD Radio, it sounds great.
Without getting too technical, HD Radio "rides along" on the sidebands of analog FM. What this means is that it doesn't carry anywhere near as far as analog FM. Bottom line: This is mainly a tuner for those who live in major metropolitan area. I can get dozens of analog stations, but only FIVE that broadcast HD Radio.
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