Sarei il cliente ideale per chiunque fornitore di tecnologie audio, scrive Douglas MacMillan recensendo per Business Week il ricevitore HD Radio RadioShack Accurian (è solo la prima di una serie tutta dedicata alle radio compatibili con la tecnologia Ibiquity oggi presenti sul mercato). Sono giovane, dice il recensore, non mi sento particolarmente attaccato ad alcuna piattaforma in particolare. Non ho abbastanza soldi da buttare nel pay radio satellitare. E mi hanno perfino rubato l’iPod all’ultima festa cui ho partecipato. Insomma, il cliente perfetto per un sistema che promette di diffondere in FM una molteplicità di canali tematici nuovi, di alta qualità, privi di interruzioni pubblicitarie (almeno per ora).
Comincia così un articolo molto divertente, che alla fine emette un verdetto non molto lusinghiero per quella che oggi è la più economica delle radio digitali terrestri negli Stati Uniti (200 fruscianti dollaroni). Vi lascio il piacere della lettura, limitandomi a tradurvi i due brani per me più significativi. Dopo aver ammesso che la prima impressione visiva è stata pessima a causa di un look and feel troppo sgangherato per un apparecchio con un marchio così famoso e un prezzo non propriamente economico, MacMillan racconta di aver piazzato la sua nuova Accurian su un angolo della scrivania per provarla. «Inizialmente, delle 23 stazioni HD che secono Ibiquity si possono ascoltare nell’etere – FM, per MacMillan le onde medie non esistono neppure – di New York, sono riuscito a sintonizzarne solo quattro. Con qualche imprecazione sono andato a grattare il fondo della confezione per estrarne un oggetto di cui la maggior parte degli individui della mia generazione aveva dimenticato l’esistenza: una antenna! In poco tempo il mio tavolo di lavoro era coperto di fili come una scena di Natale in casa Griswold [una commediaccia con Chevy Chase di vent’anni fa], ma riuscivo a sintonizzare 15 stazioni. Siete avvertiti: con quasi tutte le radio HD, ci vogliono diversi secondi di silenzio prima di sintonizzare una stazione, dovrete esercitare molta pazienza.»
MacMillan prosegue dicendo che dopo aver individuate qualche stazione adatta ai suoi gusti che propendono per il jazz e il classico, la radio digitale aveva fatto presa. Ma con un piccolo problema: «il punto più dolente a mio parere è proprio la qualità audio. Delle quindici stazioni ricevute, due soltanto potrebbero a giusto titolo fregiarsi dell’insegna “qualità audio quasi-CD” tanto propagandato dal marketing di HD Radio. Le altre ronzavano e fischiavano un po’, come le stazioni radio normali e in alcuni casi capitava frequentemente di avere intervalli di uno o due secondi senza segnale.»
Diciamo la verità, anche se il parere complessivo del giornalista sul potenziale di mercato di questo standard non sia del tutto negativo (anzi), la sua non è un’immagine molto promettente. Vedremo le prossime recensioni ma MacMillan si dice francamente deluso di come RadioShack ha affrontato l’ingegnerizzazione del prodotto. Ma una spiegazione forse c’è, scrive alla conclusione dell’articolo. «Sotto l’apparecchio c’è una targhetta che recita ” su licenza di Ibiquity”. Invece di costruire una radio capace di produrre un audio di buona qualità, il mio sospetto è che RadioShack abbia versato a Ibiquity il prezzo di una licenza troppo esosa e che poi abbia sfornato un oggetto più basso della media trasferendo il costo di questa licenza sul consumatore.» I soldi faranno anche girare il mondo, ma se le cose stanno davvero così, rischiano anche di azzoppare la radio digitale.
product review April 9, 2007
RadioShack’s Inadequate Accurian
This is the cheapest HD Radio receiver now on the market, but even at $200 it’s too expensive given its subpar sound
by Douglas MacMillan
For the consumer audio industry, I am the ideal target customer: A twenty-something male who loves music but has no current loyalty to a single listening platform. My once-treasured CD collection is buried beneath old clothes and textbooks in the closet; a turntable handed down from my grandparents is accompanied by one record each by Al Green and Johnny Cash; my Apple iPod was stolen at a house party last year; and I have neither the expendable income nor the allegiance to Howard Stern to go the satellite radio route with a provider like Sirius Satellite Radio. So I’m dabbling in HD (hybrid digital) Radio, kicking off a series of reviews aimed at helping you pick from among a crop of receivers designed to deliver the gamut of HD signals. A hybrid digital-analog technology developed by iBiquity Digital and approved by the Federal Communications Commission as the new standard for local broadcast radio a few years back, HD Radio allows up to eight programming channels to stream on one FM frequency. So if you’re into jazz like me, this means your favorite station may one day broadcast bebop on one channel and big band, fusion, Latin, Dixieland, free jazz, smooth jazz, and funk on the others. Dig? Oh yeah—HD channels are purported to stream in CD-like quality, and at least for most of this year, they’re meant to be commercial-free. Best of all, HD Radio is free. The catch? You need a specially equipped FM receiver to pick up the channels. That’s where this series comes in.
Tuning in
I’m beginning with RadioShack’s Accurian HD Digital Radio, which at $199.99, is the cheapest HD receiver on the market. Aside from a sleek curved face and a nice big LCD screen, the radio didn’t look or feel much more high-tech than the one I used to crank Nirvana in the 4th grade. The same power/volume knob in the center, the same black metal-grated, 2-inch speakers and the same clunky metal tuning buttons that go clickety-clack made me double-check the label on the box. Was this the best RadioShack could contribute to a state-of-the-art category? Once over my initial disappointment, I gave the Accurian a home on the corner of my desk and had a listen. At the outset, of the 23 HD stations that iBiquity says are now available in New York City, I was able to tune in about four. After some grunts and moans, I dug through the box to find something most of my generation forgot existed—an antenna. Before long my desk was strung up in wires like something out of the Griswold family Christmas, but I did manage to pick up 15 HD channels. Be warned: On most HD radios, it takes several seconds of silence to tune into each one so you’ll need to exercise patience. Once I found a few stations I liked, I was hooked. The Accurian’s no-frills preset controls made it easy to preprogram six stations and then toggle between them at whim. For an entire week I spent my mornings basking in the symphonic splendor of NPR’s classical music-dedicated channel and my afternoons bopping my head to Hot 97’s old-school hip-hop. It’s in niche programming like this, along with easy-to-navigate receivers, that HD Radio fares best in a head-to-head rivalry with satellite radio. When I can get from Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 to A Tribe Called Quest’s Bonita Applebaum with one click, I am a happy customer.
Sound off
Where I believe HD Radio fares worst is sound quality. Of the 15 HD stations I got, only two could justifiably claim “near-CD quality” sound, living up to the HD Radio marketing hype. The others lightly fuzzed and hissed just like regular radio stations, and some actually experienced frequent one- to two-second outages. This is not really RadioShack’s fault—it also happened to various degrees on three other leading HD Radio receivers I’m testing. It shows that broadcasters have yet to achieve the right blend of analog and digital signal output. However, the Accurian did encounter connectivity problems more frequently than the others, possibly because of its small size. I mostly used the Accurian as an office radio, listening at low volumes or with headphones while I worked. The headphone jack is in the front, which always makes life a little easier. And despite my gripes about its down-market appearance, the Accurian does look at home in the office setting. It even drew envious glances from several co-workers passing by my desk. But at home, where my lifestyle calls for pounding bass beats and crystal-clear guitar licks, the Accurian is laughable. Its 2-inch speakers can barely produce a sound louder than my 13-inch TV, and that sound is tinny, harsh, and devoid of a bottom. There’s also no auxiliary output, so I couldn’t direct my favorite HD Radio station through my roommate’s killer sound system if I’d wanted to.
What price digital
It’s true that the RadioShack Accurian is the most affordable way into the appealing new club that is HD Radio, but it’s costly for all the wrong reasons. One look underneath the base of an Accurian explains its $200 price tag. There, a sticker reads: “HD Radio Technology Under License From iBiquity Digital Corporation.” Instead of developing a radio capable of superior sound quality, I’m guessing that RadioShack paid iBiquity a fortune for the license, cheaply put together a subpar product, and passed the licensing cost on to consumers. I’m not an early adopter of anything—I’ll remain on the sidelines of the digital music playing field until at least the end of this series. But anyone who is ready to pony up for HD Radio now should spend at least $300 on a product that will sound great and last for years to come.
