Coby rolls out HDR-650, HDR-700 HD Radios

Your HD Radio options are hardly as limited as they once were, but if you're still shopping around for one, you may want to take a gander at Coby's latest offerings, which promise the usual better-than-FM sound for a decent enough price. On the lower end, $100 will get you the HDR-650 component radio, which includes some standard RCA connectors to let you hook it up to your existing home audio system, as well as a headphone jack if you want to use it on its own. The $150 HDR-700, on the other hand, is a fully standalone unit, and includes an integrated rechargeable battery to let you take it outdoors, an SD card slot, and a line-in jack to accommodate the portable audio device of your choice. Look for the pair of 'em to hit stores sometime in August.

Update: Coby has informed us that these radios are, in fact, the result of a co-branding effort between it and Revo, which accounts for the striking similarity between them and Revo's Pico and Mondo radios.

[Zach Hardt @ Jul 21st 2008 12:47PM]

Wow, the exact same design as Revo's Pico Portable WIFI Radio minus the WIFI. Too bad. I have been shopping for a decently priced WIFI radio to stream music from my server.

[darkstar @ Jul 21st 2008 12:47PM]

i am seeing this deal at JandR
http://www.jr.com/sony/pe/SON_XDRF1HD/
sony hd reveiver for 50 bux after rebate. anyone has it?

[Shane @ Jul 21st 2008 6:26PM]

The Sony XDR-F1HD actually has very good specs. It performs well in both analog and HD mode. The secret is the fact that it actually uses a digital chipset for both analog and HD reception.

[icepop4who @ Jul 21st 2008 12:48PM]

I don't remember the last time I listened to a radio. I have no patience for it at home, and outdoors I have my mp3 player (since i'm in NYC and i take the subway, I don't get reception most of time anyway).

The least appealing part about all of this is that it's a COBY. (especially the fire hazard part: http://www.engadget.com/2007/04/25/coby-recalls-boomboxes-due-to-potential-fire-hazard-crappiness/ )

[LemSkroob @ Jul 21st 2008 12:50PM]

SatRad still has a better chance than HD radio does. If people really cared so much about the sound quality, the MP3 player market wouldnt exist.

[From My Cube @ Jul 21st 2008 1:09PM]

your saying that Sat Radio has higher quality than HD radio....no win

[kneeyogi @ Jul 21st 2008 2:09PM]

From My Cube,
Actually he is saying the opposite.

[Shane @ Jul 21st 2008 6:44PM]

First, let me clear something up...HD does NOT stand for 'High Definition' in this technology. Some have said it stands for 'Hybrid Digital' which is technically correct although I suspect iBiquity marketing intentionally chose the acronym to ride on the success of HD video content.

HD radio actually has very similar audio quality to satellite, sometimes better. It depends on the bitrates in use for the various channels.

Both HD and Sat essentially both use the same audio codec, a variant of AAC-HE. I have no idea what bitrate the satellite channels run at but it sounds like it may be 24 kbps or less in some cases.

HD Radio gives a radio station a total of 96 kbps to allocate to audio channels in addition to their existing analog signal. However, the minimum bitrate for the digital mirror of the analog host signal (HD1) is 48 kbps. This leaves only an additional 48 kbps to split between the second and third audio channels.

There is an 'Extended Hybrid' mode to give slightly more than 96 kbps of digital bandwidth but this starts to eat into the bandwidth occupied by the analog broadcast signal. It does, however, allow more bandwidth for the second and third audio channels.

Broadcast radio is alive and well, even though I'm not entirely thrilled with HD Radio as a means of going digital for radio broadcasters...It was a compromise at best. I wish we would have been allocated new spectrum by the FCC or had a transition to all digital operation mandated by the FCC on our existing allocations. TV broadcasters received new channel allocations for their mandatory digital transition...

I really feel sorry for anyone who doesn't have a good public radio station to listen to. It's more than just NPR and PBS...Lots of cutting edge new music and local bands.

Commercial broadcast radio is in a sad state these days and has given all broadcasters a bad name.

[icepop4who @ Jul 21st 2008 12:50PM]

Normally i'll defame you for commenting "first"
but since this is such a boring post, whatever.

[Mile @ Jul 21st 2008 1:12PM]

How can a radio be high definition?

Back in the 50's or so, everything was advertised as Hi-Fi (High Fidelity). Technology turned into Marketing hype.

Is this the same thing?

[Chad @ Jul 21st 2008 1:58PM]

HD Radio is just the "brand name" its developers gave it.
You can read the Wikitisement here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_Radio

[Shane @ Jul 21st 2008 1:22PM]

Wow...My favorite crap electronics maker has finally adopted HD Radio. We're steps away from seeing $50 HD Radios in every truck stop and big box store.

HD might yet stand a chance if commercial radio stations can get back to their roots of compelling content....

Public Radio...Give it a try...Most of them are broadcasting a good selection on their main channel and one or two additional HD channels with decent content as well.

[CarrotAndStick @ Jul 21st 2008 1:25PM]

Is this a rebadging of the approx. $350 Revo Pico radio? Or is it a cheap knock-off? Coby??


Revo Pico is a WiFi radio which accesses the Reciva portal to play over 7000 stations online, and is one of the few players out there with a RealAudio compatibility.

[Hi there @ Jul 21st 2008 3:52PM]

These things sure look like twins of Mondo and Pico units from Revo -- but those are wi-fi radios, not HD. I am confused.

[Shane @ Jul 21st 2008 6:25PM]

I suspect COBY just swiped the form factor from Revo. I sure HOPE that these things are better than most COBY branded products...

[Boarderwoot @ Jul 21st 2008 1:56PM]

HD radio is such a joke. Thy're in all the rental cars I get when I travel for work and sure you get a ton of stations but drive half a mile and the signal fades gets fuzzy and transforms into another station. Besides, all the stations play the same 10 songs anyways...

[Shane @ Jul 21st 2008 6:23PM]

I'd like to know what rentals you get that have HD Radio in them...As far as I know it hasn't been widely adopted in OEM radios yet (though hopefully soon...)

[konshuss @ Jul 21st 2008 1:57PM]

steer clear 'HD Radio' it's s sad marketing gimmick from a fledgling industry currently being outmatched in every way by satellite radio - save for being 'free' - but in my book it's well worth it to spend 12 bucks a month and not have to put up with a half hour of commercials every hour - do you really want to listen to those horrible ads in "HD" ?

By the way, they mix the channels or something to create a slightly more stereophonic effect. how that equates to 'high definition' radio is beyond me.

[konshuss @ Jul 21st 2008 1:59PM]

sorry i meant 'failing' not 'fledgling'

[Big Wizz @ Jul 21st 2008 1:59PM]

If you buy anything 'Coby' be prepared to return it within two weeks...

[Tom Smykowski @ Jul 21st 2008 2:00PM]

http://www.potomacgraphics.com/images/slowforum/congrats.gif

[mykie @ Jul 21st 2008 2:14PM]

I can hardly wait to pick one of these up from Big Lots or Ross: Dress For Less.

[fronk @ Jul 21st 2008 9:05PM]

heh... liked how they have Z-100 on there

[Mic2000 @ Jul 22nd 2008 5:48AM]

What the hell is Coby, a rip off from Sony?

[James @ Sep 11th 2008 3:50PM]

AWFUL radio! I bought one and wish I had not requested the rebate because now I cannot return it (no UPC code). Cant pick up anything HD and barely picks up analog 10 miles from the transmitters. Did I mention what a disappointment this radio is?