High-Def Radio Gets Out of the Car

If you're after a high-fidelity radio experience--and you don't want to pay for satellite--you do have an option: HD Radio.

HD Radio (technology by iBiquity) promises to dramatically upgrade the quality of audio you get from your FM and AM stations. Of course, you will have to get new hardware, and your favorite stations must also broadcast in HD.

The HD-Radio site says that about 2500 stations nationwide are going HD; Las Vegas certainly has its own HD stations live already, and you've been able to get cars or buy in-dash devices that will add that functionality to your vehicle of choice for several months.

This summer, there will also be tabletop or portable devices that will bring HD radio to your home.

For example, in June, Boston Accoustics will come out with its Recepter Radio HD, with port for your IPod or MP3 player (below). In the same month, Radiosophy will release its $249 MultiStream device, which handles HD Radio and multiple digital streams, and comes with an optical out port and dual jacks for stereo and PCs--you can remove the receiver part of the unit and take it to other rooms and connect it to other devices, too.



In August, Polk Audio's $599 I-Sonic entertainment system will debut, which not only has HD radio but also plays DVDs, CDs (including MP3 CDs), and like the Recepter, can take input from digital music players.

Come June, Yamaha will also be one of the first to offer a high-end receiver with HD Radio capabilities: its $1900 RX-V4600 A/V digital home theater unit (below). It not only offers HD Radio, but also HDMI and dual i.Link connections, and can provide new information with the music, including song titles and artist names.