fuzzymoomoo Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 Play song "Temple of the Syrinx"... Ding! "Calling your shrink" Getting it to play MCMXC a.D. by Enigma is impossible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sullynd Posted August 25, 2016 Author Share Posted August 25, 2016 I would bet most Model X customers and the demographic it's aimed at don't list to AM or FM radio at all. Sure, who listens to radio for music? But AM is not about music. AM is largely sports and talk. I listen to AM mostly for local talk (WGN 720) and while I can stream that, sports are often blacked out. The demographic that listens to AM talk is largely the same as the demo who can and do purchase the Model X (likely less so the Model 3). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danglin Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 I have AM/FM Radio, Sirius, SYNC, and a 6 disc changer..... ...and summer nights are still most perfect driving down a country road with the moonroof open, windows down, and a baseball game on AM radio. I grew up listening to Marty and Joe on 700 WLW "The Big One" announcing Cincinnati Reds games. Now it is Marty, Jim, The Cowboy and Thom. Watch them mostly on Fox Sports now, but when out and about I will get them on the old AM. If in the Cincinnati Area, the Superduty brings them in HD! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BORG Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 I listen to Podcasts which I stream in my car, they always sound much better than radio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blazerdude20 Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 AM is great for sports and occasionally talk radio. As someone who drives extensively for work it is nice to not listen to music 100% of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 AM is great for sports and occasionally talk radio. As someone who drives extensively for work it is nice to not listen to music 100% of the time. I agree, I often end up on MLB Network Radio on Sirius for that very reason (plus I'm interested in it), but don't often tune into AM radio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donaldo Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 AM radio is the sound of depression to me, it's such a horrible mumble. HD AM radio is in stereo and sounds really close to FM. Not sure how popular these stations are. It isn't as good as HD on the FM band, though, which is just like CDs. Hopefully the Model X can accommodate aftermarket head units if someone wants other features not found on the OEM. I'm glad my Ford does, it's great to be able to get update the tech without replacing the whole car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 AM is great for sports and occasionally talk radio. As someone who drives extensively for work it is nice to not listen to music 100% of the time. That's what I use podcasts for. I can only handle sports talk for so long, beating the same tired topics further into the ground than the RWD Lincstang rumors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atomcat68 Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 What is AM radio? For that matter - what is FM radio? I can't stand all the commercials. I define AM radio as a signal that has poor sound quality full of distortion that sounds like an FM. The AM station can be 10 feet away from the car but sound like an FM station that is 10 miles out of range. Most of the weaker signals have other stations broadcasting over them so that the radio alternates between the two signals. My first car had an AM radio and I usually drove in silence until I bought a new radio for the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 Can you get AM and FM radio streamed on the internet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 Can you get AM and FM radio streamed on the internet? I see a lot of FM stations doing that, not sure about AM. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 Can you get AM and FM radio streamed on the internet? Yes, for many you can. I work with a lot of radio stations with their online efforts and most offer streams (AM or FM). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StangBang Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 The only time I have ever listened to AM radio was at home when I was a kid to request songs to be played from the local station. I have never listened to AM in any car I have owned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 "HD AM radio" is an even worse misnomer than HD FM. It's not really high definition, it just means that the signal is digital transmitted over analog radio waves just like HDTV. It doesn't mean anything about the quality of the audio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sullynd Posted August 26, 2016 Author Share Posted August 26, 2016 Can you get AM and FM radio streamed on the internet? Yes, though AM is often sports, and sports will sometimes get blacked out due to local programming restrictions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 I thought the purpose of Sports radio game broadcasts was in case the game was blacked out on TV. Never heard of blacking out a game on radio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 I thought the purpose of Sports radio game broadcasts was in case the game was blacked out on TV. Never heard of blacking out a game on radio. MLB and NFL both black out games on web streams. MLB has an app where you can stream any game live for a few (I think it's $20) and for a season the cost is well worth it if you're a baseball fan. NFL has archaic blackout policies and hate their fans so you're SOL there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 I thought the purpose of Sports radio game broadcasts was in case the game was blacked out on TV. Never heard of blacking out a game on radio. not on radio, on streaming radio over the internet--and even the local universities here do that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted August 27, 2016 Share Posted August 27, 2016 (edited) Thanks guys, the reason I asked is because I'm not in your "Zip Codes" but even our local FM station does live streaming and like many here I gave up listening to AM well over 30 years ago.... Edited August 27, 2016 by jpd80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Posted August 27, 2016 Share Posted August 27, 2016 I used to listen to 1010WINS religiously when I lived in NY (I am a news junkie). Now that I moved to CT I can still get 1010 but never listen anymore because it is mostly local NY news that no longer pertains to me. I mostly listen to the live national cable news channels on Sirius when I want a news fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old_fairmont_wagon Posted August 27, 2016 Share Posted August 27, 2016 "HD AM radio" is an even worse misnomer than HD FM. It's not really high definition, it just means that the signal is digital transmitted over analog radio waves just like HDTV. It doesn't mean anything about the quality of the audio. While true that "AM HD" is indeed digital radio transmission on the AM band, in a similar fashion to FM; it is not utter crap. Due to the nature of AM radio transmission, it has a lower bandwidth for data transmission than FM. This means that it can only manage to move a portion of the data per unit of time that can be fit in an FM signal. While digital radio transmission allows for data compression and naturally sends a bit more usable information than old analog AM, it can't achieve the same effective signal quality as FM HD. This results in sound quality that is roughly similar to FM analog, and in stereo, for AM HD. So, as compared to analog AM, AM HD is indeed a higher definition signal. I tealize that some of you know this well, I felt that it would be helpful for the general audience to know more of the details. There are other limitations for AM HD as opposed to FM HD, but they aten't relevant to this discussion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted August 27, 2016 Share Posted August 27, 2016 I understand it's higher quality - no disagreement. HD FM sounds quite good. My issue is that the improvement in sound quality for HD radio does not match the improvement in the tv signal going from analog SD to HDTV. HDTV also has a set standard for picture quality (720p, 1080i/p, 4K) whereas I don't think that exists for HD radio. So yes it's high-ER definition but not may not really be high definition in the same sense as HDTV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old_fairmont_wagon Posted August 28, 2016 Share Posted August 28, 2016 Well, honestly, HD FM and Satellite radio both sound the same to me, clean and tonally full. I'm not an audio connoisseur though, so I'm a poor judge of that. Also, there are standards for HD Radio in so much as there are only a few defined bit-rates and power levels available to transmit on. FM HD formats are up to an individual station to decide with the constraints being the encoding method, and the bandwidth allotted to each digital stream and the analog stream. A station may elect to be digital only, and transmit just one stream at 300 Kbps. This can accommodate CD quality audio in 5.1 channel surround sound, or higher quality with fewer channels. That can be subdivided into an analog channel, an HD simulcast of equivalent or better quality (HD1) and additional channels that can have quality that ranges from better than analog down to barely as good as AM Motorola stereo. AM Hd is much more restricted, it can support a single pure digital stream at 60 Kbps, or a more robust 20Kbps mode.Conflating the TV HD standards with FM HD or AM HD is not appropriate. The HD is a trade name and not an indication of fidelity as it is in the TV world. Though, I have to agree, it is disappointing when a station doesn't use the higher quality modes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted August 28, 2016 Share Posted August 28, 2016 Conflating the TV HD standards with FM HD or AM HD is not appropriate. The HD is a trade name and not an indication of fidelity as it is in the TV world. Though, I have to agree, it is disappointing when a station doesn't use the higher quality modes. But consumers don't know all that. They see HD and immediately equate it with HDTV. It would have been better labeled digital radio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mettech Posted August 28, 2016 Share Posted August 28, 2016 The only time the AM button has been pressed in any of my cars has been by accident. However, I am trying to get my 8-track player mounted in my 2016 Super Duty...lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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