cheap portable hd radio

[jeffski]

Even tho I love my XM,I've been thinking of trying hd radio. Finally there is an affordable product out there ($50) which is portable. Doesn't have am or amhd but for the price,still not bad.
http://www.zatznotfunny.com/2009-07/best-buy-launches-first-portable-hd-radio-i-gots/

[duncantuna]

Interesting .. been thinking of buying an HD Radio.

So, did you get it?  What do you think?  Milwaukee HD Radio worth it?

[jeffski]

Yeah. Trying it out now. WMYX has a cool blues sub as well WUWM has a cool sub. However,WRIT 95.7 is suppose to have a sub listed as WOKY,The Mighty 92...it's either down or there is no such channel. If Milwaukee radio would add a deep tracks sub  ,Chicago has 2 , I would seriously consider canceling XM.

added note: just came in after trying it in car thru aux input...sounds fantastic! wklh is in hd but no sub channel yet  i cant stomach w-stale-h ..even with hd quality..they should add a deep tracks sub!!!

added note: found WOKY Mighty 92 ..its hdsub#3 of WRNW 97.3  Nice to hear the old jingles and songs

[ArgMeMatey]

Thanks for posting.  For $50 it's probably worth checking out.

[duncantuna]

Curious, especially in the car, how is reception?  A friend had one and it was highly dependent on the antenna in use.  I realize it's digital radio, but just like DTV, you can get tons of drop outs if signal is crappy.

[DJay]

Bought Insignia HD Portable radio yesterday at Best Buy for $39.99 after reading other replies on this unit. So far so good. Playing it through my stereo system sounds great for such a small unit. Picks up sub channels good including WOKY 920 "The Mighty 92" on 97.3 sub channel 3 and Smooth Jazz 106 on 106.9 sub channel 2. For this cost not a bad deal and also sounds good through my full Sony headphones. Satisfied so far for this compact little hd radio.  Charge it through your computor. Live in Hartland and picking up stations real good. Try it you can't go wrong for the price!

[jeffski]

There is a digital sub out of Zion Ill Deep Tracks hd-2 of The Drive. Sure wish I could pick it up on the Insignia unit Been listening to it online . If Milw.had a deep tracks sub like this ,I'd cancel XM for sure.. A milwaukee station should add a free form sub and call it WZMF :rock:.
 
Driving to work this am (Muskego to Wauwatosa) WUWM HD-2 held strong signal,WOKY held once I hit hiway 100

[ArgMeMatey]

Thanks for the note on the $40 special.  I picked up the unit tonight.  Was listening to it in the car within a couple of minutes.

Notes:
1.  Seems to use the headphone cord as an antenna, as is typical.  In the car, I had it hooked up to a cassette converter.  While sitting in the Best Buy (Fox Point) lot, it worked fine, but as soon as I started the car I lost reception.  So I hung the audio cord over the rear view mirror post and set the HD unit on the dash.  Worked fine then, except turning left from Port Washington Rd south to Hampton east, it dropped out during the turn but was fine once the car was eastbound.  

2.  Once I was here at home, about .5 mi east of the Ch. 6 tower, no reception trouble at all.

3.  I have it connected to the auxiliary input on my PC speakers for the time being and it's driving the little speakers and the subwoofer just fine.  So I can mix PC audio and this thing with no trouble.  Usually much better for my unsophisticated listening than streaming, and not dependent on the PC not being in sleep mode, although I'll have to think about powering it.  

4.  For power, it seems to work fine with the same USB and auto (12V) cords that I use for my Motorola KRZR cell phone.

[kevbeck122]

Does it move seamless from digital to analog when reception is iffy or is there no analog tuner in it?  I tried a JVC HD radio head unit in my car about four years ago and that was one thing that I liked about it.  

I remember WKLH sounding overly compressed; is that still the case?  Not that I really listen to it anyways... but just wondering.

[ArgMeMatey]

Does it move seamless from digital to analog when reception is iffy or is there no analog tuner in it?  I tried a JVC HD radio head unit in my car about four years ago and that was one thing that I liked about it.  

I remember WKLH sounding overly compressed; is that still the case?  Not that I really listen to it anyways... but just wondering.

It definitely tunes analog.  As I tune manually, it locks on the frequency, such as 89.7 and shows the analog symbol, and then after a second it will automatically switch to the HD symbol.  Whether it will go backward I don't know.  If it does fall back, my drive last night seemed to indicate that it's not instantaneous.  But I wouldn't generalize from one example.  

Regarding WKLH, I just listened for a few minutes and it sounded OK to me, but again, I wouldn't generalize from that.  

One more thing:  The armband is big.  I am skinny to begin with so it's not even close to fitting on my arm, or my ankle.  I doubt I'd use it anyway.

[cheersgifoltc]

Is Fox 6 audio still on 106.1-3 or on one of the other Clear Channel stations?

[ArgMeMatey]

Is Fox 6 audio still on 106.1-3 or on one of the other Clear Channel stations?

Yes, the display says
 
WITI
Fox 6
106.1/WMIL-FM
HD3

Currently featuring a Guthy Renker infomercial "starring" Valerie Bertinelli and Cindy Crawford.  

[ArgMeMatey]

I see Best Buy now has an NS-HD02, SKU 9972092, on sale for $49.99.  Has anybody tried that one?  Wondering if it has any advantages over the HD01.

[duncantuna]

Wow, all 4 of those Best Buy reviews of that product are TERRIBLE.    Sounds like the user interface is horrible, and the actual performance is abysmal.

It's amazing how products like these get put on the market.   Don't the engineers try out their products?  Aren't they just embarrassed when they spend thousands of hours of time and their product just works like crap?  

And that Best Buy would bother putting them on the shelves.

[ArgMeMatey]

The sleep mode thing and damage to screen from setting "always on" are huge drawbacks.  

I have the HD01 plugged into the aux input on my computer speakers and I'm very happy with that setup, but I thought about getting another to plug into the car.  Not this one!

I haven't seen that there is anything in the same price & size ballpark, however.