[BC] Insignia Digital Portable

[Bob Young]

 I live in Central-Eastern MA and HD reception is terrible here. I have a Sony XDR-F1HD with stock antennas and can get no AM HD's and usually one or two FM HD's including one in Worcester which is less that 10 miles away. When I'm lucky I can get more Boston FM HD's, I think my banner day was 4 Boston HD's, all FM. I cannot count on the same stations being there the next day either even the Worcester stations. The odd thing is that I can get almost ALL the Boston analog FM's with little or no trouble on my 30 year old Marantz with the same antenna. Yes, I hate HD and feel it will just hasten to migration to online listening especially if the power increase is granted, but I digress, so you can use that to discredit what I've posted if you want. I have also compared the Worcester HD FM station with the Sony tuner going through the auxiliary input of my Marantz 2385 with double large Advents, and the HD station SOUNDS better in analog using the analog tuner in the Marantz, it has more highs, deeper bass and more articulate midrange, it sounds good in analog but lackluster in HD. When I get WGBH it sounds good in HD but then again it also sounds very good in analog so all in all, I would say that HD's obvious negatives far outweigh it's two dubious positives.

Bob Young
KB1OKL

Message: 9
> From: Rich Wood <richwood at pobox.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
> 
> ------ At 12:13 PM 7/16/2009, Sid Schweiger wrote: -------
> 
> >"I'm curious. Barry asked for comments on the new Insignia portable
> >receiver.  Doesn't anyone have one or has the digital system lost its allure?"
> >
> >Kirk Harnack's review is on YouTube.
> 
> I saw it. What I'm interested in is its performance, particularly in 
> normally difficult areas. On other lists I get the cheerleader 
> stories from people with Class C stations with high towers and not a 
> hill in sight. Specifically Houston and Rochester where transmitting 
> sites actually cover the entire metro.
> 
> I find those stories more like puff releases. I was listening to a 
> station yesterday with the radio in my pocket, a very strong signal 
> and the antenna fully unravelled. If I turned in the chair I lost 
> digital. When I moved back it came back.
> 
> Is New England such a terribly unique area that these problems only 
> happen here?
> 
> Rich