[JK1]

I have been waiting years for a decent one. I don't want a Zune HD or an Insignia one. I want something decent that gets long battery life on a AA battery, and that will run on an nimh rechargeable. The Zune HD is expensive. It has a built in battery.  It also requires using the Zune software to manage files on it. The Insignia models have a built in battery and very short battery life(only around 8-10 hours). I want something cheap with long battery life on a single AA battery. So far the longest battery life AA battery powered radio I have found is the Sony SRF-59, which gets 100 hours on FM, or 140 hours on AM on a single AA battery. While its sound quality is good, I want to take the next step up to HD radio. HD radio won't take off until decent pocket sized receivers are available.

 

[Achmedisdead]

Quote:

HD radio won't take off until decent pocket sized receivers are available.

 
I wonder if it will take off at all.....
 
So many people these days on the move are using Pandora, Slacker, Spotify, etc...or listening to their own songs on cloud storage like iCloud, Amazon MP3, Google Music. Either that, or they have their own songs on their devices with them.
 
I wonder how many of the people (percentage-wise)  that still do listen to radio are even aware of the existence of HD radio?

 

[Bogan]

I use my Zune HD daily and love HD radio. In my area there is only one decent HD radio station--it's university sponsored so there's plenty of socialist crap during the day and hourly NPR (National Propaganda Radio) news interruptions at night, but their classical music programming is good which is all that interests me.
 
Battery life on my Zune HD is fine and it gets its charge from the A/V dock I found on eBay. Zune software is WAY better to use than iTunes, and the SQ is pretty good. My Sansa Clip Zip will also receive HD Radio but the sensitivity isn't nearly as good as the Zune HD.
 
FWIW

 

[JK1]

The Clip Zip does not receive HD radio, just standard FM.
 
HD radio will take off when cheap small receivers become available. Within 5 years I expect it to built into most new mp3 players. Some claim its introduction was delayed due to the receivers consuming too much power. I think decent progress has been made to get the power consumption down.

 

[Bogan]

The Clip Zip does not receive HD radio, just standard FM.
 

That is correct. It will receive the HD radio station as a standard FM signal without the data stream. Sorry for the broad stroke.

 

[Bogan]

I have to correct my last post in that the Clip Zip FM receiver does indeed receive data stream from HD FM stations. It may not receive music in noise-free HD format, but I've found four more FM stations in my area in which the zip displays the station by its call letters and the song being played. Neat.

 

[Nagasaki_Kid]

 
Quote:

I have to correct my last post in that the Clip Zip FM receiver does indeed receive data stream from HD FM stations. It may not receive music in noise-free HD format, but I've found four more FM stations in my area in which the zip displays the station by its call letters and the song being played. Neat.

 
That RDS it's been adopted by alot of stations. It displays small amounts of text such as song title or station name.
choices for pocket HD radio is very limited since lack of worldwide adoption of the standard. ZuneHD is probably the best right now. for an upgrade you can diy xin mod the srf59 (simple cap upgrade) or upgrade to a better pocket radio. 
 

 

[JK1]

I am still looking for a low priced mp3 player with HD radio. In the NYC area, all the news and talk stations are on AM. Some of the AM stations are simulcasted on FM HD. For several months there was one regular FM news station, however that converted back to a music format.

 

[Achmedisdead]

Quote:

I am still looking for a low priced mp3 player with HD radio. In the NYC area, all the news and talk stations are on AM. Some of the AM stations are simulcasted on FM HD. For several months there was one regular FM news station, however that converted back to a music format.

Maybe you could find a used Zune HD? 

 

[JK1]

The Zune HD isn't what I have in mind though. I want something that works in MSC mode using drag and drop. I also don't like the idea of buying an old used player with a built in battery. I guess using a separate small AM/FM radio and listening to news on AM is probably the most practical option for now.
 
Insignia(Best Buy's house brand) makes a pocket sized HD radio(no built in mp3 player though) however it has a built in battery with only around 8 or so hours of battery life. This also seems very unappealing.

 

[Nailzs]

Quote:

The Clip Zip does not receive HD radio, just standard FM.
 
HD radio will take off when cheap small receivers become available. Within 5 years I expect it to built into most new mp3 players. Some claim its introduction was delayed due to the receivers consuming too much power. I think decent progress has been made to get the power consumption down.

 
Better be sooner than 5 years. Analog radio will die 2015 and radio will be digital only.