Zune HD Difference Between HD Radio and Regular Radio?

[itss danny]

The difference between HD Radio from Zune HD and regular radio, i see no difference besides HD radio has more stations. The audio quality seems to be the same, and it doesn't seem to get better radio signal than regular radio. Anyone know the differences?

[CrowdAds]

[musichound]

Big difference. I believe HD radio is nationwide and is not restricted to a location.

EDIT: It was found this is not true, and HD radio is not nationwide.

[itss danny]

Originally Posted by musichound

Big difference. I believe HD radio is nationwide and is not restricted to a location.

Is there a difference between sound quality?

[musichound]

Not sure, your stations may vary.

[jbgrzy]

HD radio is not nationwide. When a device connects to a HD radio channel, the sound is clearer, and there can be several "sub-channels" on the same channel, which the Zune HD lists as "HD1, HD2, HD3, . . ."

I know this from experience with certain channels in my area that have regular signal, but also have HD signal for the devices that can support it.

For example, NPR has HD signal in my area, and I think the rest of the country as well, though I am not sure about that.

I hope this helps.

[LittleDaveJ]

Crystal-clear sound
HD Radio broadcasting gives listeners CD-like quality sound on FM and FM quality sound on AM stations. With an HD Radio receiver, unwanted pops, hisses and dropouts are a thing of the past

Taken from: http://www.zune.net/en-us/products/l...do/hdradio.htm

Another difference is that the HD stations display a lot of information including (but not limited to) the song title and artist currently playing. The Zune allows you to hear a song on an HD channel, and then tag it so you can purchase it from Zune Marketplace or automatically download it the next time you sync if you have a Zune Pass.

[jbgrzy]

Originally Posted by LittleDaveJ

Another difference is that the HD stations display a lot of information including (but not limited to) the song title and artist currently playing. The Zune allows you to hear a song on an HD channel, and then tag it so you can purchase it from Zune Marketplace or automatically download it the next time you sync if you have a Zune Pass.

While this is true, regular radio channels can send this information over the air. For example, the zune sd, which does not support HD radio, can get song information and allows you to add the song to the cart.

[Satellite_6]

I doubt any FM signal is close to CD quality. . .

[selectortone]

SD is 1,280×720 pixels, HD is 1,920×1,080 pixels. Hear the difference!

[jbgrzy]

Originally Posted by Satellite_6

I doubt any FM signal is close to CD quality. . .

You might be surprised, the sound quality is very good, when you got good signal.

Interestingly, HD radio seems to act like HD tv signal. If you get good signal, its crystal clear, if you get not-so-good signal, your don't hear anything at all.

[McGyyver]

Originally Posted by selectortone

SD is 1,280×720 pixels, HD is 1,920×1,080 pixels. Hear the difference!

As far as I know that'd be HD and full-HD .
But just to know, is HD radio limited to the USA? That'd explain alot ,)

[jbgrzy]

Originally Posted by McGyyver

But just to know, is HD radio limited to the USA? That'd explain alot ,)

I am not sure if HD radio is limited to the USA. You could try looking it up on wikipedia, it might say there. But I would probably guess that it is limited to the USA

[Briankealing]

With good headphones, HD radio is far superior to SD radio. Depends on the station though. Sometimes you'll see little to no difference, sometimes you'll see a big difference.

[MikeM132]

Originally Posted by itss danny

The difference between HD Radio from Zune HD and regular radio, i see no difference besides HD radio has more stations. The audio quality seems to be the same, and it doesn't seem to get better radio signal than regular radio. Anyone know the differences?

"HD Radio" is kind of a trick name. "HD" does not stand for "high-definition". It stands for "hybrid-digital". It is a digital radio overlay on the analog frequencies. Like anything digital (TV, cell phones) it improves upon analog signals by eliminating static, pops, etc. It is either "on" or it is dead air. Is the sound any better? Not really. They claim it is, and if you have an HD radio that gets AM (Zune does not) you could argue the signal is vastly better. Not that I can tell on FM, however.
You get more stations if you have any HD stations in your area. Often a "regular" station broadcasts one or two additional stations with different programming. Another plus is you get better program/song data than normal RDS (this is again a function of what the station sends out). With this data (assuming it is correct) Zune HD can allow you to "buy" right off the radio (their is a little shopping cart button). This flavor of "HD Radio" is a monopoly of Ibiquity Corp in the US. Europe has another flavor---not sure if Zune works with it. I have no idea what Canada has.

[Vyp3R]

The major difference between HD radio and normal FM radio (apart from what others have mentioned above, like song names etc.) is the same difference between analogue mobile phones and the current digital mobile phones. If you remember using the old mobile phones, in weak signal areas you would get static on the line but (on some occasions) you could still talk to each other. With digital mobile networks it is either you have a connection, or you don't. No static inbetween. HD radio works the same way. So if you have static around the radio signal it is not a HD radio signal you are tuning into.

And as for HD radio outside of the US, yes there are plenty in Europe and even here in Australia (even though a lot of people aren't aware of it yet).

http://www.digitalradioplus.com.au/

[LittleDaveJ]

Pretty cool resource about HD stations in your area:

http://www.hdradio.com/stations/

[Vyp3R]

Originally Posted by LittleDaveJ

http://www.hdradio.com/stations/

Again US based, not worldwide.

[rubenbest]

sounds better when in hd you dont get that stupid static. and on the zune hd it makes the radio a little better cause i remember my 4GB zune radio was trash

[saratoga]

Originally Posted by selectortone

SD is 1,280×720 pixels, HD is 1,920×1,080 pixels. Hear the difference!

It doesn't stand for "high definition".

HD Radio == 24 to 64kbps AAC-HE.
FM Radio == Analog broadcast more or less directly.

I wouldn't say either sound amazing, but as long as you're not on a 24kbps channel, HD should sound better.

[steinburger1109]

HD sounds better (although mobile devices aren't the greatest at picking up signal, so that can always through a little static in there), it displays information on the device, and there should be a little cart image in one of the corners of your screen so that you can add whatever song is playing to your cart from the Zune Marketplace to download next time you're in wifi range.

And yes, people are right, it's not High Definition, it's Hybrid Digital. It is supposed to sound better, though.