Analog Tuner Existence.....

Trumpetbri,

The radio situation is a bit different than TV. Most TV users have cable, so the transition to digital didn't affect them at all, and the TV industry was willing to risk pissing off a few customers to bring in a system that benefits them and their advertisers. Make no mistake, the TV move was all about advertising; more side channels and bandwidth utilization equals more ad revenue.

Contrast radio, where virtually all listeners use the broadcast signal. Until HD capable radios reach critical mass, there's no way stations can go exclusively HD, as they'd cut off a huge piece of their audience. Radio stations are going to HD for the same reasons TV did, and none of them have to do with helping the consumer.

It will be analogous to the introduction of FM; it took 20 years for FM to really take off. I would expect analog broadcast signals to be around for a long time. That said, I completely agree with Samujohn that it makes little sense to invest in a high buck tuner at this point. A decent $200 tuner with a good antenna will squeeze pretty much all you're going to get out of an analog broadcast signal these days, even the ones that use little or no compression.

Tune in with something reasonable and relax; I haven't owned a TV in 15 years and my Yamaha T-85 is plenty.

David

Eldartford,

Digital radio will produce great stereo separation to go along with the totally compressed signal. HD radio streams at 96K max, and that's only if they dedicate their whole bandwidth to one channel. If they decide to divide it up to make more money, you end up with 48K or less.

Go listen to any Internet station streaming at 96K, then tell me whether you'd trade it for a decent analog signal. All the stations I listen to here also stream, and I'll take the broadcast signal every time.

Your complaint about weak signal areas is totally valid, and roughly analogous to old scratchy vinyl vs. CDs. HD radio may not help you, though, because just like HDTV it's either on or off. If the signal where you live is too weak, with HD radio you'll get nothing, whereas now you can at least listen, albeit in mono.

As HD radio becomes more prevalent, those of us with analog tuners will become a fringe group, just like those of us with turntables. I can live with that.

David

Jerryko,

Because there are still plenty of stations (we have 3 right here in Eugene) that still play music from the CD or even directly from (gasp!) vinyl. These are all public stations, and you can definitely tell the difference from the crappy compressed commercial stations you're referring to. If such commercial stations are your only choice, I agree that it doesn't matter what the signal OR the receiver is doing.