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Astonishing Sony XDRF1HD Tuner

Anyone care to actually comment on sound quality? I've heard these are great for DX capability, though a bit more tiring to listen to compared to their supertuner 70's and 80's counterparts. Still, for $100, or less, not a bad deal for a sweet DX'ing unit.

From what I gather sonically, they're not as audiophile quality as many of the great tuners out there.
 
As far as sound a lot depends on the antenna used. Especially on the HD side. If you are hearing a station without noise, that you could not get on your old tuner, the sound quality of the Sony will win.

Thanks,
Ron-C
 
Somebody on the bay sniped that purdy-faced tuner I wanted, so my order for the Sony is in, and I can't wait to get it. So, how does the sound compare with non-HD tuners when signal conditions are good?
 
I feel that my kenwood KT-9900 sounds better, but I think it's because of the prettier face. When conditions are good for both tuners, it's a crapshoot. I prefer the Kenwood, my wife prefers the sony.
 
My experience is that HD loses a little top end on FM and more on AM, compared to analog. Others have said the opposite. The high end of AM HD sounds a little bright/brittle/artificial, to me, but the only local HD music station is Disney. I'd like to know the official specs for the Sony. On AM, the Sangean HDT-1 rolls off at something like 3 or 4k.

In terms of moderate listening, I can't tell much difference in low and mid range.

With a strong signal, it's very quiet.

I'm using an Onkyo T-4711 for comparison.
 
I got mine the other day and have had only limited time to listen to it with the supplied antenna. It does pull in the stations better than the Sansui I was using. I have only listened to the HD section so far. It does run rather hot and created a new hot electronic smell in the room it was in. As far as the sound I am surprised at how quiet the background is and the detail it reveals with talk radio. I need to spend a little more time with music stations.

All in all a nice little package/unit.

Scott
 
At first I really liked the sound but I think in retrospect what is making the difference is the absence of noise. My Proton 440 has the Schotz circuitry but still can't beat it in terms of quietness. The only thing in my mind that comes close was my old Sony ST-A6B which was dead quiet.

Not considering the skewing effect of background sound, I think my Proton sounds smoother, but the Sony sounds very good, crisp and clear, maybe more along the lines of a KT-7500.
 
Sounds Faaan-tastic!

Based on the comments in this forum, my lovely wife got me this for X-Mas. Right now it is hooked up in my office. I'm driving this throug my SX-980 and a pair of Minimus 7 speakers.

For casual listening, I'm listening to WXX! 1370 AM's HD channel, which is re-broadcast on 91.5-2 (HD). Lovely. As far as the analog channels go, I can now listen to 89.7 FM with out any noise or drift!! And I'm only using the dipole antenna that ships with the unit. So in my house, then , the Sony is the king of tunas! :banana:


sigloxx said:
Anyone care to actually comment on sound quality? I've heard these are great for DX capability, though a bit more tiring to listen to compared to their supertuner 70's and 80's counterparts. Still, for $100, or less, not a bad deal for a sweet DX'ing unit.

From what I gather sonically, they're not as audiophile quality as many of the great tuners out there.
Click to expand...
 
Sound quality improves with antenna quality just like any other tuna. The HD signal is very small so a better antenna will allow more info and higher quality.
Certainly this is the best sounding $100 tuner of all time and is a good demonstration of the power of DSP tuning.
High end tuners using this technology will shock and amaze many very soon. Don't ask how I know that!


Thanks,
Ron-C
 
I have a Proton 440, NAD 4020A and the Sony.

Reception: 1. Sony 2. Proton 3. NAD

Sound Quality: 1. NAD 2. Proton 3. Sony Analog 4. Sony HD

For me the Proton is the best mix of sound quality and reception.
The difference in sound quality between Sony analog and HD is quite big. You can hear the life being sucked out of the music as it switches to HD.

Of course if I had HD channels I had to have or fringe stations that I could only listen to on the Sony it's stock would go up.

The best "HD only" stations I've heard in the SF Bay Area are: 102.1 KDFC-HD2 Classical without commercials and 105.3 KITS-HD2 Older alternative rock.
 
I hope this means DM Holdings has a DSP based FM tuna in the works. Perhaps by Denon, Marantz, McIntosh or all three.

With current DSP technology it may be possible to produce a Marantz 10B commemorative unit or something like that. The CRT in the scope can be replaced with an OLED or TFT display, for instance...

ron-c said:
Sound quality improves with antenna quality just like any other tuna. The HD signal is very small so a better antenna will allow more info and higher quality.
Certainly this is the best sounding $100 tuner of all time and is a good demonstration of the power of DSP tuning.
High end tuners using this technology will shock and amaze many very soon. Don't ask how I know that!


Thanks,
Ron-C
Click to expand...
 
McIntosh does not share tuner design with the others so I do not know what they are doing.

thanks,
Ron-C
 
To sigloxx and others concerned about the sound quality of the Sony XDR-F1HD tuner:
The "deemphasis correction" portion of Brian Beezley's review of the tuner tells how to modify the audio portion to improve audio. Be forewarned it is a project only for those with heavy experience in electronics. There are other modifications as well, all of which accomplish their objectives effectively. On Google, type in "Sony XDR-F1HD" and look for the header "k6sti/ham radio" on the first page that comes up to access the report.
 
crooner said:
I hope this means DM Holdings has a DSP based FM tuna in the works. Perhaps by Denon, Marantz, McIntosh or all three.

With current DSP technology it may be possible to produce a Marantz 10B commemorative unit or something like that. The CRT in the scope can be replaced with an OLED or TFT display, for instance...
Click to expand...
Hmmm...that'd be excellent (not that I could afford one!). If Sony can do this with a sub $100 buck marvel, perhaps it'll put the boot to other manufacturers to get on with some of their own tuner improvements.
 
sony st-s500ES this is my chance to brag up my sony tuner

I have never been so impressed with the ease of use, sound quality and stereo separation that this little 500es analog tuner of mine has. this thing blows away hands down any yamaha t1, etc. that I have owned... In short I love it, and the stations are so clear.:thmbsp: Mine is circa 1988 from the first ES stuff I believe. But has anyone had any ES gear that sucked? I had a ca7es 5 disc that sounded so sweet but, it skipped at random so I returned it. I still think it rivaled my hk and the denon I had... :scratch2:
 
I bought one of the Sony XDRF1HD tuners several months ago and was praising it in another thread, the general consensus was that I was nuts. (put in a nice way of course)

I'm telling you this thing is great!!!
 
Strange, I've really read very little negative press about the tuner since months before I bought mine in July/August time frame. Maybe they knew you were nuts for other reasons. :)
 
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