HD Radio - Movement in the Real World
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Your HD Radio prejudice may be generated by either a radio industry paycheck or an affiliation with competitors such as internet or satellite radio. In the Audio Graphics audience, this could swing either way.
The one common thread we all share, though, is that everyone who reads the articles here have heard commercials about HD Radio: station between the stations, CD quality sound on FM, digital display, no crackles, hisses or pops, etc., etc.
I also offer this opinion, and guess most of you will nod "yes": Few of us have had the real-life experience of being offered an HD Radio to buy, to decide if it's something we want to part with our money to purchase.
For those with a broadcast radio industry affiliation, you've seen in the industry trades how HD Radio will soon be included with the 2008 Jaguar XJ - as an option with a $500 price tag. Good news, you think, especially with an earlier story about HD Radio being offered in the BMW line of cars since the first of the year.
You can read about Jaguar and HD here, at Autoblog. It's a glowing story of quality sound, shown with a footnote as having been produced by Ford Media. (Ford owns Jaguar.) Just below this is another glowing article. This one appears to come from some source within the HD Radio industry, evidenced by sentences that we have seen elsewhere:
"HD Radio technology is the most significant advancement in
radio broadcasting since the introduction of FM stereo."
"HD Radio broadcasters also offer valuable information that
appears on the HD Radio receivers' display screen..."
"Given that customer demand is increasing rapidly, we predict
that the number of HD Radio stations will continue to grow..."
But you need to read further down the Autoblog column, through the "Reader Comments," and then listen as I relate a first-hand experience. For it is in these reflections that the reality of HD Radio exists, and it's not so positive or glowing as words provided by the HD Radio industry.
First, skim the Reader Comments section at Autoblog; there are only five so this will be quick. Here's a sampling from these comments that include quotes from other publications, which one reader posted:
"...crappy content is still crappy content."
"...interest in HD shows no signs of a pulse."
"...HD Radio is a high-level corporate scam, a huge carny shill."
"HD Radio is a farce..."
"'Hefty $500'? Buy an aftermarket deck and get the HD option. It's $450.
"HD radio sounds great compared to FM and satellite!"
We left this on a positive note because what comes next isn't.
After shopping for a new car for months, I recently took possession of a new 2007, BMW 328xi. BMW, as mentioned, is the only automaker offering HD Radio as an option. In the early negotiations for my new BMW, satellite radio was brought up as a selling point. HD Radio was not mentioned until we were in the final stage of discussion, as the salesman was going down a list of options.
Here's the telling sign: He glided over HD Radio. I will paraphrase his words: "HD Radio, it's $500 extra. But you probably don't want that because you could also get satellite radio."
Just for the record, I declined both HD and satrad.
Also, for the record, I present this fact: Though we read about HD being "offered," we don't hear that it's being "pushed." There's a big difference in those two words.
In a conversation with the BMW salesman a couple of weeks after taking possession of my car, he revisited satellite radio by pointing out that "your BMW 328xi, like all BMWs today, have satellite radio electronics factory-installed in the vehicle." That all I'd need to 'step up' to Sirius was a $350 module which plugs into somewhere on the car. HD Radio wasn't brought up in this second conversation.
I still declined... but having the BMW salesman "push" satellite radio has started me thinking about getting Sirius.
HD? It's not being considered.
In the real world of marketing new technology, getting the consumer to start thinking about the product is the real hurdle to jump. As a consumer, I wasn't edged on to do this for HD Radio.
From my real-world experience, HD Radio is not only an aftermarket product, but an afterthought.
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