G'day from Downunder


IBOC has been going in the US for some time now.

Is it as good as the people at iBiquity said it was?

Does it sound any better than FM stereo or AM stereo?

Are receivers easy to buy?

How is AM stereo doing in the US?


Ian
Melbourne

In article , Seagull wrote:

IBOC has been going in the US for some time now.

Is it as good as the people at iBiquity said it was?

Does it sound any better than FM stereo or AM stereo?

IBOC FM is a mixed bag. It doesn't sound all that wonderful, but again
I think most of the FM sound quality issues have to do with overprocessing
more than anything else, and digital transmission doesn't do anything about
that.

IBOC AM sounds pretty awful to my ears. Much worse than good wideband AM
transmission with a good receiver (which is something hardly anyone here
will ever get a chance to hear, I am sorry to say).

Are receivers easy to buy?

No. Typical consumers don't even know they exist.

How is AM stereo doing in the US?

Do we have AM stereo here?
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

On 9 Jun 2004 22:27:57 -0700, (Seagull) wrote:

G'day from Downunder


IBOC has been going in the US for some time now.

Is it as good as the people at iBiquity said it was?

No.

Does it sound any better than FM stereo or AM stereo?

Slightly worse than analog FM, depending on how the analog is
processed. It can be better than a badly processed analog signal.
The AM is very artifacty, significantly degrades the fidelity of the
analog signal, and creates significant adjacent channel interference
problems. For the latter reason, its use is forbidden at night.

Are receivers easy to buy?

No. AFAIK none are widely available.

How is AM stereo doing in the US?

Just about dead. Few receivers available except for some OEM car
radios, fewer and fewer stations broadcasting it.

Mark Howell

"Scott Dorsey" wrote in message
...

IBOC FM is a mixed bag. It doesn't sound all that wonderful, but again
I think most of the FM sound quality issues have to do with overprocessing
more than anything else, and digital transmission doesn't do anything
about
that.

I am "in the building" with one of these, and on the available receivers, FM
IBOC has definite advantages, one you realize you are hearing audio without
the preemphasis curve we are used to hearing on FM. That done, it sounds
better to everyone who has heard real-world music programming on it.

IBOC AM sounds pretty awful to my ears. Much worse than good wideband AM
transmission with a good receiver (which is something hardly anyone here
will ever get a chance to hear, I am sorry to say).

While it will take time to enter the market, the sound of AM IBOC now is
very, very good. When running music on the one of these that is also in the
building, it sounds better than some local FMs.

... and creates significant adjacent channel interference
problems. For the latter reason, its use is forbidden at night.

And likewise, it should be forbidden for daytime use also since important
componants of the signal are outside of the defined bandwidth. If all stations
go IBOC then the mutual interferance will severely reduce the coverage areas of
all stations, even the 50KWs.

IBOC = I.nterfering B.adly O.ff C.hannel

Bob Radil
A ?subject=NewsgroupRes ponse" E-Mail /A

"Bob Radil" wrote in message
...
... and creates significant adjacent channel interference
problems. For the latter reason, its use is forbidden at night.

And likewise, it should be forbidden for daytime use also since important
componants of the signal are outside of the defined bandwidth. If all
stations
go IBOC then the mutual interferance will severely reduce the coverage
areas of
all stations, even the 50KWs.

Most stations don't care today about anything except their home metro
groundwave coverage. Any damage in the secondary or skywave coverage areas
is irrelevant.

On 12 Jun 2004 16:30:53 GMT, "David Eduardo"
wrote:

Most stations don't care today about anything except their home metro
groundwave coverage. Any damage in the secondary or skywave coverage areas
is irrelevant.


As an employee of one of several AM station owners, including CCU and
Disney, involved in a battle over interference from stations in
Northern Mexico, I beg to differ. We care a lot, and have joined in
legal action to protect our signal.

There is also some evidence that IBOC interference can affect home
metro groundwave coverage of adjacent channel stations.

Mark Howell

On 13 Jun 2004 22:49:37 GMT, Mark Howell wrote:

As an employee of one of several AM station owners, including CCU and
Disney, involved in a battle over interference from stations in
Northern Mexico, I beg to differ. We care a lot, and have joined in
legal action to protect our signal.

There is also some evidence that IBOC interference can affect home
metro groundwave coverage of adjacent channel stations.

Between the cubans and the mexicans, I can't get WLS reliably here in
Charlotte at night. I also have trouble with a lot of the locals. (I don't
know if they are flea power at night or what, but there is almost nothing on
the band (other than WBT) that seems to come in clearly at night.

sigh

I dread seeing what IBOC will do to the local scene.. will get even worse.

How's FM Quadrophonic doing?

"Mark Howell" wrote in message
...
On 12 Jun 2004 16:30:53 GMT, "David Eduardo"
wrote:

Most stations don't care today about anything except their home metro
groundwave coverage. Any damage in the secondary or skywave coverage
areas
is irrelevant.


As an employee of one of several AM station owners, including CCU and
Disney, involved in a battle over interference from stations in
Northern Mexico, I beg to differ. We care a lot, and have joined in
legal action to protect our signal.

But you are concened about the damage to the local signal, not the abilty to
hear an AM hundreds of miles form its city of license.

There is also some evidence that IBOC interference can affect home
metro groundwave coverage of adjacent channel stations.

But not much. I can listen to the 1050 in the Riverside market within 10
miles of the KTNQ 50 kw IBOC site.