It was time for a new vehicle last summer. Being a frugal Yankee, I lean toward well reviewed but value-oriented cars. But being a techie I tend to upgrade those with some shiny options. It turns out one of those options this time around was HD Radio.
I wasn't surprised, given the dismal results of the HD Radio marketing campaign, that I had to teach the sales rep what it was and that it wasn't satellite. On this radio, HD is a global on/off setting i.e. you can't enable a couple of HD2 channels but disable HD1 switch-over on others.
Having had the family in the car now enough times, I made the decision to turn it off. I live about 30 miles from most of the Boston market's FM transmitters in Needham MA. It was result of two conversations. The first from my teenage son:
Him: Dad, why does the sound of the music keep changing?
Me; It's called HD radio. It's switching from old fashioned radio to digital. But the station set their sound processing so different on each side that it sounds like a different song whenever it switches..
Him: Can you make it stop?
The second was with my teenage daughter, listening to the local NPR affiliate:
Her: Why does the guy keep stuttering?
Me: It's called HD Radio. It's switching from analog to digital. But the station hasn't aligned the two signals in time correctly.
Her: Can you make it stop?
At no time was any advantage to HD noticed by any of my family. And HD2 channels are unlistenable in the suburbs. So I made it stop today.
