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Astonishing Sony XDRF1HD Tuner

I agree with chathamdad; the little Sony in digital trim does seem to sound better than what I stream over the net, regardless of data-rate. However, this one observation about its digital performance ignores the tuner's analog abilities, which are quite good indeed. By far, most of the stations I receive here in the sticks have analog-only transmission capability.
 
It's interesting to see that there's a mod that will allow you to force analog reception, even when the HD signal is adequate.

I agree that the analog capacities of this tuner are superb.
 
I ordered one through amazon, a vendor that sells through amazon. Should have received it last week, but vendor said they are now out of stock. They asked if I wanted to wait or cancel and I said wait. Amazon said they won't hit my credit card until it is delivered. So I am just going to wait.

I blame this thread. :D

Cheers, Snade
 
Okay, after reading this thread with some interest, I have a question.

I work in an building that, to date, seems basically impermeable to commercial radio transmission. My office is on the second floor, but our local police, fire and public works departments are on the first floor. There is a ton of radio traffic coming in and out of the building from those departments and I assume it's causing some level of interference. The construction of the building itself may also be causing some problems, but I have no idea. Cell phones don't always work that great up here, either.

The radios I've tried in here only receive two nearby FM stations and no AM stations at all. A couple years ago, I bought a Tivoli Audio radio that (based on its advertising) was supposed to have a superior tuner, but it's reception here is no better than the others.

Is there any chance that this Sony unit can cut through whatever fog is clouding my reception? FWIW, my car stereo sitting in the parking lot outside the same building gets dozens of stations.

I am limited to a small, indoor antenna -- probably whatever comes with it, or something else kinda small hung up by the window.

What do you guys think?
 
If you put the antenna by the window you should get reception unless the windows are shielded. For $99 or less it is worth a try.

Thanks,
Ron-C
 
ron-c said:
If you put the antenna by the window you should get reception unless the windows are shielded. For $99 or less it is worth a try.

Thanks,
Ron-C
Click to expand...

I haven't had much luck doing that with the tivoli antenna. How do you think this Sony is going to compare?
 
Certainly if you buy it through Amazon you can use their "no questions asked" return facility if it doesn't work in your office.
 
crooner said:
Well, I think this bargain wouldn't have been possible without resorting to the typical plastic case. Kudos to Sony.

I hope some audiophile outfit doesn't put the guts inside a flashy aluminum case and then charge $6000 for it. Look at the "Edge" CD player, which has the guts of a cheap DVD player and sells for six grand!

For the adventurous DIY'er, one can buy a nice aluminum case and transplant the insides. There's a place online that custom machines the opening for the display. I did it for my Squeezebox and it looks fantastic.

Perhaps I'll "recycle" the case when the Squeezebox becomes obsolete. However, I have more than enough "eye candy" with the Marantz 10B sitting on my equipment rack!
Click to expand...

I was thinking about doing this with my Sony HD tuner and Squeezebox in the same case. :scratch2: I hate these micro components but they sure work great. :yes:
 
charlottemi said:
Okay, after reading this thread with some interest, I have a question.

I work in an building that, to date, seems basically impermeable to commercial radio transmission. My office is on the second floor, but our local police, fire and public works departments are on the first floor. There is a ton of radio traffic coming in and out of the building from those departments and I assume it's causing some level of interference. The construction of the building itself may also be causing some problems, but I have no idea. Cell phones don't always work that great up here, either.

The radios I've tried in here only receive two nearby FM stations and no AM stations at all. A couple years ago, I bought a Tivoli Audio radio that (based on its advertising) was supposed to have a superior tuner, but it's reception here is no better than the others.

Is there any chance that this Sony unit can cut through whatever fog is clouding my reception? FWIW, my car stereo sitting in the parking lot outside the same building gets dozens of stations.

I am limited to a small, indoor antenna -- probably whatever comes with it, or something else kinda small hung up by the window.

What do you guys think?
Click to expand...


While the Sony is indeed an excellent little tuner, it still is a tuner and needs a signal - the stronger, the better, as always - and it seems as though your office has pretty dismal reception. I hope the Sony works for you, but wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't. Stands a much better chance than most, I believe.
 
ron-c said:
Much has been discussed on the little Sony. It does redefine what to expect out of FM. To quote Brian Beezley, "on stereo FM the sound quality is spectacular and unprecedented".

Ron-C
Click to expand...

Briam felt obligated to undertake extensive modifications to the XDR-F1HD, but then he'd probably mod a brand new Lamborghini.

I've listened, albeit briefly, to a stock one on a decent system A/B-ing with an MR78 and found the audio wanting a bit of depth, though for the money it was quite good. Can't say I liked the quality of any of the HD content though it was as good as a high bitrate internet stream.

All in all the word "spectacular" did not come to mind.
 
For those of us who lack 1.5 kilobucks or so to kick out of the end of our shoes for an MR-78, the fact that many folks keep comparing the Sony to some of the most venerated and expensive tuners of the past gives us hope that we can enjoy top quality FM on the cheap. Comparing it to the Mc is somewhat akin, pricewise, to comparing a Yugo to a Lamborghini; the Sony appears to come in second by a bit, the Yugo...not so much. At 89 bucks, I call it a bit spectacular. BTW, I have played with more than a few -78's in the past and if you want to put yours up against the Sony, best make sure it's in trim.
 
Good point. Unless you have some retarded preamp with one input ,just keep your classic tuner and use the Sony where appropriate. Works for me.

thanks,
Ron-C
 
To drknstrmyknight and ron-c:
ron-c misquoted Brian Beezley. The quote reads:"Sound quality for slightly impaired to deeply impaired signals is strikingly better than from a conventional tuner. The performance of the Sony XDR-F1HD on stereo FM is spectacular and unprecedented."
Beezley was not referring specifically to the ultimate stereo FM performance of the XDR-F1HD on an ideal clean signal.
 
There are some cures for that preamp problem. I do not have any problem with the Sony tuner performance. If you like it use it and lets be honest, on some stations it just sounds better than whatever your main tuner is.

Thanks,
Ron-C
 
Ok, I've been kicking the tires on this tuner for about a week.

Impressions:

It does the one thing I wanted - pulls in WFMT, the classical station in Chicago that's hard to get a good signal here in the burbs. It eliminates the background noise compared to my receivers / tuners in my basement family room.

So I like it.

But, when I A / B it against my vintage Marantz 2330b receiver on the jazz FM station here in the western burbs (easy to pull-in a strong signal), the sound of the piano on the Marantz has noticeably more depth / fidelity compared to the Sony. So score one for the old Marantz.

But highly recommended for the price as a tuner that can pull in favorite FM stations that may be noisy using your other tuners / receivers.

Thanks for recommending it. :thmbsp:

Cheers, Snade
 
I've seen a few issues cited as well.
  • Runs very hot and remains quite warm when "off".
  • Backlight remains on, even with unit off--talk about unnecessary power consumption.
  • Presets not remembered when unit is unplugged (OK, there goes the backlight solution).
  • HD signals have a noticeable lag for lock-in, and the poor control layout makes it easy to accidentally turn off HD... thus forcing another lag while you wait for HD to be activated again.
  • No optical output (for those not running with vintage, kind of a bummer).

What's a worthwhile alternative?
 
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