At what bitrate does your local public radio station stream? In other words, is it at 128 kbps (kilobits per second), also referred to as CD-quality audio? Is it faster and better than CD-audio quality sound; like at 192 kbps? Or, is it substantially slower, at speeds around 20, 32 or 48 kbps? If that slow, how good does the audio sound--what is its quality? Does it sound muffled or compressed at low bitrate speeds? You bet it does!Also, does your station stream its broadcast in MP3, Windows Media Audio, Real Audio or Ogg Vorbis content? If so, can you download you stations streams or podcasts to your portable music player? How do these podcasts sound to you? High quality? Low quality? How much high-quality downloadable content is available?
Is HD radio really the answer? Here is a link to an inexpensive JVC-brand HD-radio for your car, from Circuit City, and here is a link to the Cambridge Soundworks 820 HD Radio from Etronics.Com (remember, installation may cost extra). Before installation, shipping & handling, and tax charges, BOTH of these HD-radios would cost you $500 total!
Colorado Public Radio Blog advises that you withhold $500 IN TOTAL from your Colorado Public Radio subscriptions for this year, and the next, and the next, and the next . . . so that you finally can afford buy new HD equipment for your home and your automobile when CPR switches off and sells off all their legacy AM stations in Denver (1340-AM), Boulder (1490-AM), and Pueblo (1230-AM).
Expect HD-quality audio content delivered to you in the ways you already listen to public radio, and to the fully digital equipment you already own! Save your money for a new computer, MP3 player, I-Pod, or I-Phone--not for an HD radio. So, how much of your public radio subscription--how many years--are you willing to withhold?
