In article ,
SMS wrote:

So all-digital does allow for more "virtual CD" quality audio channels,
but no, you cannot combine multiple audio channels for even higher
quality audio.

Thank you for finally acknowledging that. I've only had to mention it
about five times. And YOU'RE the "expert"!

From the actual iBiquity handbook the rate is 96Kbps. There is no
"98Kbps" spec in the system. So going with the real figure, we find that
the bit rate is approximately one-fifteenth that of an ordinary CD, the
CD including forward error-correction. Amazing! "Virtual CD quality"
with seven percent of the data used by the CD. And using a ten-year-old
codec at that. You don't have to be an audio engineer to discover why
"HD Radio" sounds the way it does.

The big advantage of all-digital is that raising power levels no longer
will interfere with analog, presuming all stations do a complete digital
switchover. This is many years in the future of course.

But since there will be no improvement over the audio quality it
provides today, what does that buy you? And wait until digital start
interfering with other digital stations. Even though you're not willing
to admit it, the allocation table on the present FM band was designed
for analog, not digital.

It's a good thing it will never happen because it will never work, at
least not the way the stations expect.

--
John Higdon
+1 408 ANdrews 6-4400
AT&T-Free At Last