HD RADIO SOUNDS LIKE ITS JUST NOT READY

heres some interesting information on the am side of hd radio, that consumers need to understand prior to buying that expensive new unit .Will am radio survive or fall prey to this new technologie......


the following comments are from a very informative editor for the
cgc communicator

AM HD RADIO PERFORMANCE AT NAB 2006

Bob Gonsett noticed a new Boston Acoustics radio in the Press
Room at NAB2006 and spent some time trying it out. The radio
was fed by coax from an unidentified source and the internal AM
antenna was found to be disconnected. His observations on the
performance of the AM portion of this HD radio - a device that
should have been tweaked for flawless operation - follow:


o during the few seconds of analog-to-digital transition after the one and only AM HD demo station was tuned in with voice programming, an annoying echo or second audio source
was heard,

o once the receiver locked into the HD mode, the high
frequency response of the voice-only programming improved
markedly and the echo disappeared, but was replaced by annoying
digital compression artifacts. It was not clear whether the
average listener would prefer digital with artifacts or
reduced- fidelity analog for long term listening, assuming the echo
was removed, and

o few members of the press paid any attention to the HD
Radio receiver.