Would HD convert you to digital radio?

Cause for celebration? Next year's BBC Proms could be available as an HD internet stream.

There is no shortage of appetite among viewers for high definition television, so how will listeners feel about the latest concept in home entertainment – "high definition radio"?

The BBC is to start broadcasting on what it is calling "HD Sound", an extra high-quality audio stream which will initially incorporate BBC Radio 3 in its entirety and special events on other networks such as BBC Radio 2's Electric Proms later this month.

The quality of the BBC's digital broadcasts, particularly over digital audio broadcasting (DAB) radio has long been a bugbear for audiophiles. HD Sound – broadcasting at 320 kbps – will be more than twice the quality of most DAB broadcasts (and a whole lot better than analogue FM as well).

But it will initially be available online only, so unless your computer is linked up to a half-decent sound system, you are unlikely to notice the benefits. But what exactly is HD Sound? Over to the man from the BBC.

"HD Sound uses improved encoding and higher bit rates to offer the BBC's highest audio quality broadcast to date. It also offers a wider dynamic range, accentuating the difference in volume between quiet and loud sounds.

"Appreciation of the improved sound quality will depend on the equipment used; those using small speakers built into a laptop may not notice a big difference, but listeners with a computer connected to a good-quality sound system or high-quality headphones should be able to appreciate the extra clarity and detail in the sound."

The new service will be shown off at the Radio Festival, which begins in Salford today.

It will initially be available on the station's websites – the Radio 3 service will launch in December – with plans to incorporate it into the iPlayer and the cross-industry online Radioplayer, more details of which are also expected to be revealed at the festival.

About a quarter of all radio listening is now via digital platforms, but one of the reasons that takeup has not been quicker is that it has failed to offer the tangible benefits of digital TV.

Millions of people bought into high-definition television. Will you be buying into high-definition radio?


Source:-
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/organgrinder/2010/oct/18/hd-radio-3

How perfectly dreadful!
Does this mean that the degredation in voice/music balance and overall control of audio levels brought by the advent of these 'developments' on TV will at last reach Radio? Oh dear!