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| Sony XDRF1HD HD Radio Tuner | 
 enlarge | Brand: Sony
Category: CE
List Price: $99.95
Buy New: $94.95
You Save: $5.00 (5%)
New (10) Used (3) from $72.03
Avg. Customer Rating:  37 reviews
Sales Rank: 257
Color: BLACK
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.7
Dimensions (in): 6.4 x 7.1 x 2.4
MPN: XDRF1HD
Model: XDRF1HD
UPC: 027242730304
EAN: 0027242730304
ASIN: B00168Q248
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Pretty good with some flaws August 15, 2008
First the flaws -
1) Runs warmer than normal. I find this part baffling. Why does a tuner in this day and age have to run this warm??. I am not sure how well the electronics will stand up in the long run to higher than normal operating temperatures. I might replace the top with a perforated metal sheet to improve its looks and give it some more ventilation.
2) Looks like a cheap clock radio with buttons on top. My radio is located on a shelf above eye level. If I can't find the remote, I have to bring the radio down to see which button to press. Buttons placed on top also gather dust - leading to "button malfunctions" down the road. It'd have been much better (looks as well as functionality) - if the buttons were angled at 45 degrees (or place them on the front).
3)On the AM band - I have so far received only ONE HD radio station. At least its the traffic+news station and not one where super-rich blabbers like Rush pout garbage.
4) For weak AM HD stations - like Radio Disney at my location - the radio switches to high clarity HD for a second or two and then switches back to noisy and distorted AM. This continues intermittently. Makes for an unlistenable experience. There does not seem to be a way to specify "analog only" for certain stations.
4) It takes an eternity to do an HD scan - so slow.
5) 20 presets on the FM band is too few (since stations typically have two channels - now there are many more stations to preset).
6) No auto fill of pre-sets after a scan. Would have been a convenient feature.
7) Loses all internal data after un-plugging from a power outlet for a few minutes - meaning I cannot swith it on and off with my main stereo receiver like I had originally planned to. Bad bad engineering. In this day and age - it is easy and cheap to use non-volatile type of ram.
Positives -
1) On AM HD (for the lone station that I can receive right now) - the quality difference is dramatic. Even makes music on AM quite acceptable.
2) On FM - with the included antenna - modified slightly as per instructions on ham radio sites - I am able to receive many HD stations (all that I normally listen to), but haven't bothered to count how many. The analog tuner section is far more advanced than the one on my hefty receiver - so in general the sound has way less distracting distortion with an analog only broadcast.
3) When you tune into an FM station, the tuner first goes to the analog feed (if one is available) and then switches to the digital feed a few seconds later. Unlike AM, in most cases you won't note the difference. HA! So where's the catch? It seems to me that many FM stations may not yet have a high quality feed to their HD transmitter (basically a case of "garbage in - garbage out"). With an FM or sub-FM quality feed to the transmitter from the studio - HD will make no difference.
4) On some stations - you will hear the difference. The clarity just goes up. Much nicer. These radio stations probably have the required technology in place to feed a higher quality sound signals to their transmitter.
5)Tuner is very sensitive - google this tuner model and ham radio sites for some very informative reviews and hacks.
6) Front panel backlit LCD display is very clear and the song info is just great to have.
Since it does have a good tuner (my main criteria), and the price is very affordable (especially with the HD radio rebate), this is a good buy and I'll give it 4 stars.
 Great Analog FM - Average HD August 12, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is an amazing analog FM tuner. A few stations are listenable in stereo even when there's no signal indication on the display.
There are a couple of annoying things that have nothing to do with the quality of the analog FM reception. There are three display brightness settings. The highest will light up the room. The dimmest is hard to read.
In the Northeast we've had an unusual number of severe thunderstorms with power outages. When power is lost the tuner loses its memory and you have to reset all your presets. Since my total cost for it was $49 after the rebate I can deal with it.
The HD reception is average and, as with most HD radios, you'll need an outdoor antenna if you're not close to the stations' transmitters. The antennas supplied are OK for regular FM but inadequate for HD. This is common for HD radios and not unique to this tuner.
It's a tuner, not a radio, so you need to connect it to an amplifier and speakers. If you connect it to a high quality stereo system you'll love the analog quality when tuned to a high quality station. I find the artifacts created by HD Radio to be annoying and you can't force this tuner to analog to avoid them. They bother me. They may not bother you, especially if you're used to MP3.
It's well worth the few dollars you'll spend, especially if your stations are distant. It has a very effective ability to eliminate noise in a regular FM signal.
 great modern tuner August 12, 2008
what a surprise, this little tuner pulls in the stations better than many modified tuners- a real joy to use as a dx tuner and the HD circuit removes much noise. Overall sound is quite nice also. Price is low considering what you get.
 Sony XDRF-1HD August 12, 2008
I really like this tuner and wanted to keep it. But ... it gets incredibly hot when turned on (OK when just plugged in), and it keeps losing one channel. Maybe the two problems are connected; maybe I have a bad unit. I did notice when I unpacked the Sony that there were no instructions included, so this unit may have been returned for the same problems I'm having. In any event, I don't think I'll be trying another one. I also have the Sangean digital HD tuner. It costs twice as much, but then again, I didn't have to return it.
Great value August 8, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is just what it says it is. A great little tuner with "HD" capabilities. Easy to set up. Reception is better than I thought. 20 miles north of Boston and I get all but one of the HD stations in the area. My only gripe is that it doesn't save presets if you unplug it. Nonetheless, for $50 (after rebate) it is providing great value.
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