HD Radio Very Disappointing

[landtuna]

I was looking forward to trying out "HD" radio in my new Genny but the results have been very disappointing in both signal quality and content.

I live in the Phoenix metro area which is generally flat and without a lot of tall buildings. Nevertheless, the HD signal in my Genny has frequent drop-outs as I drive around. Most seem to happen around intersections where taller buildings exist but these buildings seldom exceed four stories.

I haven't driven significant miles out of the metro area yet so don't know what the range might be compared to analog FM (which can be close to 100 miles in the case of KOOL-FM towards Tucson). Reports from others have pointed out that the range of an FM-HD signal is substantially shorter than analog FM.

The other very disappointing thing is HD content. Here in the Valley the primary FM signal is the station's format. Oldies, CHR, Talk, Sports, Alternative etc. The HD sub usually carries another totally different format - there are no simulcasts I am aware of. One of our FM's is continuous Christmas right now and is one of the best FM signals here. Their HD-2 signal is supposed to be Oldies/Classics but I can almost never hear them. The signal is dead. Another is Classic Hits with 70's Oldies as HD but they are playing music now that sounds like early 50's R&B.

HD AM radio has been harshly criticized on many forums for adjacent channel splatter where it makes neighboring frequencies unlistenable. Since there is nothing on AM in my market I listen to I did not test the AM side. Since a great many of these AM-HD stations are dropping their HD capability because of this interference it is a declining listener base anyway.

I am of the *ahem* older generation and my hearing isn't what it once was. Nevertheless, HD, when it is working does not sound any different than analog FM. My opinion has been confirmed by a friend who actually measured several HD signals and found that, although a digital signal is supposedly capable of higher frequencies than analog it never measured higher than the normal 15KHz of analog FM. So much for improved audio.

So, even if HD radio was a significant audio improvement over analog the lack of content, at least here in the Valley, makes it uninteresting to me. Fortunately, there is an app which makes possible creating audio-DVD's (not DVD-Audio) of my library to play in the CD changer or I can dump my mp3 library to the flash stick and play through the USB port.

If any Hyundai engineers are reading these forums I would strongly suggest dumping HD radio and saving the iBiquity licensing fees and the aggravation which some dealerships will suffer when vehicles are returned because HD radio does not work as advertised.

 

[QuantumRift]

Honestly, I also cannot discern the difference between HD radio and analog FM. Maybe its my tinnitis. LoL. The only think I like better about HD Radio is that I can see what's being played, etc akin to Sirius XM, in regard to the display.

 

[twotimer]

Just picked up my 2013 White Genesis Sedan R Spec. After an hour in the parking lot with the salesman and general manager, we concluded that "6 disc changer" as shown on the sticker from the manufacturer was, in fact, a single disc player. Does anyone know if this is standard issue? I should find out more tomorrow.

 

[EXBMWGUY]

I think these issues are primarily with stations and their power (and of course, programming). Both our cars have HD radio and they behave identically.

Some HD AM stations have had solid reception for us at 125+ miles away, and when they drop out of range, the signal doesn't deteriorate for 60 miles. Being digital, they are on or off.

 

[GenesisCaptain]

HD Radio is one of the features that totally blew me away. Before my Genesis, I regarded HD Radio as a waste of money-- something I never would have paid for. I had been listening to Sirius and my iPhone for years. However, I was blown away by both the quality and selection.

Maybe the HD Radio experience varies greatly by market.

In Atlanta, I have all of my presets filled with channels I like, and only one or two are not HD. Also, there is a massive quality difference. I can hear the radio shift from standard to HD, and it is a radical jump. It is kind of fun to listen for it. It really highlights the poor quality of standard radio and XM.

HD Radio is now one of those features I would insist on for all future cars.

 

[DubaiRich]

Just picked up my 2013 White Genesis Sedan R Spec. After an hour in the parking lot with the salesman and general manager, we concluded that "6 disc changer" as shown on the sticker from the manufacturer was, in fact, a single disc player. Does anyone know if this is standard issue? I should find out more tomorrow.

The disc player, although a single slot, allows loading of 6 discs. You have to wait until the disc is accepted prior to loading another.

 

[snork]

Twotimer...all Genny's should be 6-disc, even base model audio system.

For HD Radio, when it works there is a definite big improvement in audio quality. I live in North Jersey and work north of NYC. It's rather hilly around here so the HD Radio signals come and go Even though I like the sound quality, the signal here is too spotty that it shifts back and forth between digital and analog that I ended up just disabling it IMHO it's more annoying hearing it shift back & forth.

When I visit my parents up in CT, they live close to Hartford and I turn it back on because it is way better when it work consistently. So I'll definitely agree it depends on your location and signal strength.

 

[kman]

The disc player, although a single slot, allows loading of 6 discs. You have to wait until the disc is accepted prior to loading another.

If this is true, you just made my day. I have been disappointed from day one that I cannot load more discs. Did not try since I didn't want to get them jammed. The sales people were telling me about a 6 disc changer, but I assumed once I saw what was in the car that they were mistaken since 6-disc changers are so common.

 

[landtuna]

The only think I like better about HD Radio is that I can see what's being played, etc akin to Sirius XM, in regard to the display.

RDS, the technology that allows display of title and artist, should work on analog FM as well but the station must have enabled it at their source.

 

[landtuna]

Just picked up my 2013 White Genesis Sedan R Spec. After an hour in the parking lot with the salesman and general manager, we concluded that "6 disc changer" as shown on the sticker from the manufacturer was, in fact, a single disc player. Does anyone know if this is standard issue? I should find out more tomorrow.

I have a '12 R-Spec and it does indeed load six discs. You must load one at a time and wait for the message to load an additional disc. If you try loading subsequent discs too quickly you will be locked out.

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[Jbo]

The issue is terminology, it is a disc player with six disc magazine. I too had high hopes that there was an undiscovered random and shuffle feature built in...but no joy. On the plus side it works very well as designed.

 

[landtuna]

Since some of you may not be aware, the 6-disc player can handle regular CD's and also audio-DVD's but NOT DVD-audio.

If you would like to put lots and lots of music on your DVD media you can either load so many MP3's formatted discs that it would take forever to play all tracks or, like me, you can make audio-DVD's with full, uncompressed WAV files to take advantage of the excellent Lexicon audio system.

To make your own audio-DVD's first rip source tracks from your CD's/DVD's using any available ripper software. I use CDex but there are many others.

Then download and use a free formatter that will turn the extracted tracks into DVD files. I use Apollo Audio DVD Creator from this site:
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/download/Creator-Audio-Apollo,0301-4482.html

Using a program like DVD Shrink (freebie) to format the files into DVD format (yes, the same format as your video DVD's). Then burn the generated ISO to disc.

Your disc will now be read as a video DVD in your Genny and can even display video on the nav screen so long as your car is in 'Park'. Audio will continue to play once the car is moving but no video will be displayed.

Congratulations! You have just increased your audio file capability from 700MB per disc to 4.7GB.

 

[mikec]

In the Southern California Los-Angeles/Orange County area I have quite a few "Hybrid Digital" radio stations. The HD AM sound quality is quite dramatic compared to standard AM; it makes AM sound almost as good as regular/analog FM. FM HD is slightly better than analog FM generally though nowhere near as dramatic a difference as AM. To my ears, FM HD has an odd equalization: some high frequencies seem over-exaggerated. It reminds me of a cassette recorded with Dolby noise reduction played back on a non-Dolby player - lots of extra high frequencies. Yes, I'm old enough to remember cassettes & non-digital Dolby.

Where I live I rarely have signal drops that dump me from HD back to standard... unless I'm driving out of town. As soon as I hit the local hills the HD blinks on and off like Morse Code and I have to disable HD mode in the DIS/radio control settings to keep my sanity. HD range is much less due to restrictions on broadcast power to limit interference between adjacent cities/markets. HD can use a wider swath of radio frequency spectrum compared to the original analog; so what used to be sufficient spacing between stations in neighboring cities is not enough in HD mode. Ergo limit transmission power and thus range to reduce interference.

6 disk changer on Tech packages: push the button to load a disk, wait for the on-screen prompt to insert the disk. Gently insert the disk until the system grabs it. Once that disk in the system and is playing, hit the LOAD button again and it'll (eventually) ask for the next disk to be loaded. Just trying to stuff them in one after the other, without hitting the LOAD button between each disk and then waiting for the on-screen prompt, will get you nowhere.

mike c.

 

[kman]

If this is true, you just made my day. I have been disappointed from day one that I cannot load more discs. Did not try since I didn't want to get them jammed. The sales people were telling me about a 6 disc changer, but I assumed once I saw what was in the car that they were mistaken since 6-disc changers are so common.

Ok, you didn't make my day. Tried it and I can load only one cd or dvd, no hidden 6-cd/dvd changer. I have the touchscreen system, this may be the reason for it. You guys seem to be discussing the DIS navigation one with HD ratio.

 

[PMCErnie]

Ok, you didn't make my day. Tried it and I can load only one cd or dvd, no hidden 6-cd/dvd changer. I have the touchscreen system, this may be the reason for it. You guys seem to be discussing the DIS navigation one with HD ratio.

Buy a thumbdrive and rip all your CDs to it. Case cloesed.

 

[PMCErnie]

Ok, you didn't make my day. Tried it and I can load only one cd or dvd, no hidden 6-cd/dvd changer. I have the touchscreen system, this may be the reason for it. You guys seem to be discussing the DIS navigation one with HD ratio.

Buy a thumbdrive and rip all your CDs to it. Case closed.

 

[landtuna]

Ok, you didn't make my day. Tried it and I can load only one cd or dvd, no hidden 6-cd/dvd changer. I have the touchscreen system, this may be the reason for it. You guys seem to be discussing the DIS navigation one with HD ratio.

Checking the available options and standard equipment on Edmunds.com it looks like the Genny's with the Tech package are the only ones with the 6-disc changer. The base model and those with the Premium package have a 1-disc system.

 

[twotimer]

The disc player, although a single slot, allows loading of 6 discs. You have to wait until the disc is accepted prior to loading another.

Thanks for some of the feedback and ideas. I had a 2010 Genesis that had a 6 disc player and a 2012 R Spec for 90 days while waiting for the white 2013 R Spec, and the 2012 also had the 6 disc player. I understand the load and eject functions. The 2013 R Spec player has a different face on it and no ability to load more than one disc. Friday, Hyundai confirmed it had a single disc player, but was supposed to be equipped with a 6 disc player. Don't know if this is a one off or a more common problem in assembly.

 

[snork]

Weird...an R-spec should definitely be 6-disc.

 

[Aquineas]

I've noticed the same HD radio issues both in Austin and in Houston. I figured it was just OTA issues over distance to the radio. I pretty much gave up on OTA radio and now listen exclusively to XM and iPod :/.