Sangean HDR-1 Table Top HD Radio Receiver
by Sangean
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List Price: Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sangean HDR-1 Table Top HD Radio Receiver
Customer Review: Comparing Sangean HDR-1 with Boston Acoustics Recepter Radio HD
Summary: 5 Stars
de K0UNX. I know radios.
A year ago I purchased the Boston Acoustics Recepter Radio HD, one of the few available at that time. I used it for a weekend and returned it immediately. It would pick up ONLY HD, not standard AM or FM stations. The receiver was so weak that even strong local stations in the Denver market didn't hold lock, and would have to rebuffer.
Last week, I decided to give the Sangean HDR-1 a try. Yippee! This one is a keeper! It picks up BOTH HD and STANDARD AM/FM stations. The receiver is much more sensitive than the BA model, and easily holds lock without even raising the FM antenna. The audio is clear and strong enough to fill the whole yard.
I was also impressed with the EQUALIZER. I'm an "old-timer", so I have high-frequency loss. Conversations sound "muddy" to me. This radio allows me to tailor the frequency response so that it sounds good to my failing ears.
Having an auxiliary input is VERY WELCOME, so I can use it for my XM radio or iPod as well.
One other really nice feature is NON-VOLATILE RAM, so it doesn't have to be completely reprogrammed after moving it from room to room or a power failure. You need to reset the clock, but that's all you lose. Being retired, I don't even care what time it is, so thats no show-stopper for me. I'm very happy not having to reprogram all the stations and equalizer.
Congratulations to the Sangean team!
Customer Review: Good sound, terrible interface and buggy
Summary: 2 Stars
I am returning this radio, even though the sound was very good and -- except for one difficult station -- the reception was also very good.
I bought this to use as a bedside clock radio. It has no real controls except those found on a poorly laid-out remote (the bose for some reason also just uses a remote only). If you lose the remote, or even if you can't find it in the morning, you can't operate the functions. Changing the clock time, changing the alarms or putting the radio into sleep mode all take endless button pushing on the remote. It got very frustrating after a while, but because I liked the HD sound I had planned to keep it.
That was before I found out that the radio alarm would sometimes just not go off. Then the machine sometimes jammed up when setting the functions and refused to respond to the remote or the on and off switch until the unit was "reset". Resetting the unit means unplugging it, unplugging it means you lose everything but your presets (you have to go through all the cycles to set the clock and alarms). The final final straw that caused me to return it and find a new radio was when it started losing the signal from a local station (but not the sister hd stations transmitting on the same frequency).
So, in sum, I liked the look, I liked the sound, I liked the hd stations, I hated the required remote, I hated the difficult and cumbersome user interface, I hated the buggy operation.
Customer Review: Handsome Design - Not Much Else
Summary: 3 Stars
I have two office computers and one more in my den. Each has its audio output connected to the aux input of a radio - one to a Bose Wave Music System with single CD, $449, one to a Cambridge Soundworks radio with single CD, $299, and one to a Sangean HDR-1, no CD, $223. I play classical CDs on my computer CD while working, occasionally catch the news on NPR, and on rare occasions use the FM tuner. Here is how I would campare them.
Design - Bose first with Sangean a close second. The Cambridge is an ugly duckling.
Sound - Bose first by far, Cambridge second, Sangean a distant third with poor bass. Only the Bose has any significant power.
Operating Ease - Bose first, Cambrige second, Sangean again a distant third with limited functionality without using the remote.
FM Tuning - I use FM too infrequently to rate this important category.
Value - Cambridge first, sorry the Bose is wonderful but just too expensive.
By the way, most computer speaker systems with a separate woofer and price of at least $49 will have far superior sound, but I just do not like the tangle of wires required by three speakers and a control unit. And I guess I like having the FM tuner as well.
Customer Review: Not cost-effective
Summary: 2 Stars
In the case of HD Radio, the HD does not stand for high-definition, but hybrid-digital. HD Radio implements something called digital IBOC, which has only 60% the coverage of regular analog radio, poor signal penetration into structures, and causes adjacent-channel interference. When an HD receiver goes out of range of the digital IBOC signal, there may be a delay, as it switches back and forth to analog. HD Radio has extra HD channels, which evidentually, are just extra low-bitrate streams of repetitive terrestrial radio. Save your money and get Satellite Radio, Wi-Fi Radio, or iRadio (iRadio will be appearing in Rokr E2 cellular phones), which have hundreds of stations HD Radio just carries local stations. Wi-Max, or wide-area wireless access, will bring Internet Radio to portable devices, including automobile radios, by 2008. Sirius has just come out with the Stiletto, which receives Internet Radio via Wi-Fi hotspots, as Wi-Max will eventually allow for reception everywhere. Cingular and Sprint Wireless have 50 radio channels, available through their cellular phones, for a small fee. As a matter of fact, over 200 XM Satellite Radio and HD Radio stations are free on AOL Radio, so there is no need to buy expensive HD Radio receivers.
Customer Review: Not cost-effective
Summary: 2 Stars
In the case of HD Radio, the HD does not stand for high-definition, but hybrid-digital. HD Radio implements something called digital IBOC, which has only 60% the coverage of regular analog radio, poor signal penetration into structures, and causes adjacent-channel interference. When an HD receiver goes out of range of the digital IBOC signal, there may be a delay, as it switches back and forth to analog. HD Radio has extra HD channels, which evidentually, are just extra low-bitrate streams of repetitive terrestrial radio. Save your money and get Satellite Radio, Wi-Fi Radio, or iRadio (iRadio will be appearing in Rokr E2 cellular phones), which have hundreds of stations HD Radio just carries local stations. Wi-Max, or wide-area wireless access, will bring Internet Radio to portable devices, including automobile radios, by 2008. Sirius has just come out with the Stiletto, which receives Internet Radio via Wi-Fi hotspots, as Wi-Max will eventually allow for reception everywhere. Cingular and Sprint Wireless have 50 radio channels, available through their cellular phones, for a small fee. As a matter of fact, over 200 XM Satellite Radio and HD Radio stations are free on AOL Radio, so there is no need to buy expensive HD Radio receivers.