You would think that under the category of tabletop clock radios, there wouldn’t be much to attract a Tom’s Hardware Guide reader. Think again, with the Radiosophy HD100, a stylish device that delivers digital HD radio at a very reasonable $99 price. The neat trick with HD radio is called multicast. This means that a single radio station can broadcast multiple signals and programs over one frequency: you can have rock, talk and jazz “stations” all coming from a station that previously only had one program format. And all of this programming supposedly comes at near CD-quality sound with no static.
You can read more of my review that ran today on Tom’s Hardware here.
“Review: Radi-osophy HD100 — HD Sounds, But At What Cost?
Remember those crappy $15 AM/FM/cassette radios from the 80s? The HD100 looks just like one and has the sound to match. Basically a glorified clock radio, it has a chintzy, careless interface with speakers that spew a tinny unrefined sound. And while carefully tuning the HD stations results in an audible improvement over analog alternatives, the overall quality is still poor — even for a $100 device. Frankly we’d be happier keeping our money and sitting in silence. —Roger Thomasson
WIRED One of the cheapest HD devices available. Auxiliary input. Sleep mode provides adjustable auto-off. Backlit display.
TIRED Sound quality well below average with virtually no bass. Cheap plastic case and buttons. Inconspicuous snooze button makes it easy to ignore and snore. No EQ. Menu navigation is painful. Behemoth external power brick. No battery compartment.
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/08/review-radi-oso.html
clock radios that are fully digital are even better than those analog type clock radioes,””