I Sonic ES2 FM Tuning

[joashn]

Hi, I cannot tune the FM radio to "even decimal frequencies" (e.g. 98.0; 96.4 or 99.2). This is proving quite frustrating as my favourite radio stations are no longer clearly detected.

Regardless of whether I "seek" or "tune", the radio only detects "odd decimal frequencies" (e.g. 94.7; 95.9) thus precluding stations I usually listen to.

How can I resolve this?

[dorokusai]

You'll have to wait for the crew on Monday. I'll email them offline so they know you're here.

[joashn]

Hello,

I still haven't received a response to this question.

Please assist.

[Eric W]

joashn,
I spoke to the engineering department and unfortunately it cannot tune to even decimals. Where do you live? Based on the way "favourite" is spelled- I don't think you're in North America, where stations broadcast on the "odd decimal" frequencies.

[mitchb105]

Eric,
I just got a n I-sonic radio which for some reason does not pick up any HD stations. It does regular am/FM excellent but I cannot get a single HD station. I read the manual several times, I press the seek button twice so it seeks HD stations but it does not connect to even one and the search simply ends at the station I started from and sounds bad. Any ideas? This thing cost a fortune?
Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Also when I registered my product there didn't appear top be place to note the serial;l number of my unit. Did I overlook whee to put the serial # or is there just no place to record it. I have my original receipt and the yellow warranty card with the sticker with the serial number on it which matches my radio. I just hope the lack of receiving any HD stations is an easy fix. Maybe I missed something in the manual??

[Eric W]

HD Radio reception can be finnicky. It's digital, so it either works or it does not (where analog will fade) and currently the FCC does not allow the digital broadcast to be as strong as the analog counterpart.

First- are there any specific stations you know are broadcasting in HD? Go here first to confirm: www.hdradio.com . On that note- does the HD indicator blink at all? If it does and just never locks on, that means the HD signal is too weak to get a lock.

Second- are you using the included antenna- if so, do you have it fully extended, as high as it will go?

Third- where is the unit? (geographically and in the house). Is it on the ground floor? And where do you live? Middle of the city? Suburbs? etc etc.

[mitchb105]

HD Radio reception can be finnicky. It's digital, so it either works or it does not (where analog will fade) and currently the FCC does not allow the digital broadcast to be as strong as the analog counterpart.

First- are there any specific stations you know are broadcasting in HD? Go here first to confirm: www.hdradio.com . On that note- does the HD indicator blink at all? If it does and just never locks on, that means the HD signal is too weak to get a lock.

Second- are you using the included antenna- if so, do you have it fully extended, as high as it will go?

Third- where is the unit? (geographically and in the house). Is it on the ground floor? And where do you live? Middle of the city? Suburbs? etc etc.

Thank you for your quick reply. I now have faith. The radio's on the second floor of my home in a townhouse but the reception for regular stations is quite good but the hd only once blinked briefly and has not since lit up at all. I will try the website you reccommended and will experiment with Antenae placement but I've got the bipole antenae which came with the radio quite highand the bipoles are spread apart. I am getting all the local stations excellent plus a few stations I didn't even know existed so my reception is excellent for regular AM/FM. I don't know if regular reception can be excellent while HD reption is not at all. I imagine it could be possible. Any further help would be appreciated. Other than the lack of Reption for HD and the necessity to reset the ipod occasionally the radio sounds good. On some music off the ipod the sound can sound muffled and very veiled sounding dampened very much while on other tracks the sound is spectacular. I don't know where the fault may be? I hope you can further help.
This radio was unavailable anywhere in Canada that I could find so I had an American Buddy of mine purchase it for me and I have the original receipt and warranty card which matches the radio. I do not know whee I would send it to in Canada as I couldn't even purchase one in Canada. What do I do???

[Eric W]

OK this may explain things a bit- if you live in Canada- Canada does not have too many HD Radio stations just yet. It was only in late 2006 that the Canadian Government allowed HD Radio to broadcast. So naturally it will take some time for the broadcasters to start actually transmitting. So if you don't live anywhere near a major American (or Canadian) City for that matter, most likely the stations simply aren't transmitting HD just yet.

As for songs on the iPod- it depends on the coding. With a high quality play back system such as the IES2- you'll be able to tell poor quality recordings (much like how you can see imperfections more clearly on a HDTV). If possible try re-ripping the cut or downloading a differnet version.

[mitchb105]

OK this may explain things a bit- if you live in Canada- Canada does not have too many HD Radio stations just yet. It was only in late 2006 that the Canadian Government allowed HD Radio to broadcast. So naturally it will take some time for the broadcasters to start actually transmitting. So if you don't live anywhere near a major American (or Canadian) City for that matter, most likely the stations simply aren't transmitting HD just yet.

As for songs on the iPod- it depends on the coding. With a high quality play back system such as the IES2- you'll be able to tell poor quality recordings (much like how you can see imperfections more clearly on a HDTV). If possible try re-ripping the cut or downloading a differnet version.

Thanks again,
My local main stations, the major popular ones, do have digital signals for HD players as I remember having a demo HD radio showed to me in my long time ago house and there were the main popular stations did have digital signals and even a few stations that were unavailable on regular air were received by this digital receiver and I was in the mountains back then. Now I am in Richmond BC where it is flat and the regular stations signals are strongly received here in richmond. I will firther experiment with antenae placent and maybe it will work.What happens if my radio is defective???It was purcghased at the closure of an Audiostore in the States by a friend of mine who paid much less than retail on sale but I registeed the radio and I have the original receipt of purchase where my friend purchased t his radio for me just a week ans a half ago. Am I covered???

[mitchb105]

I should mention that my ipod sounds good on all tracks on very sophisticated gear I own as well hooked up by a seperate dock made especially for my ipod and for both audio and video. IOf course some tracks are from better original sources but when I say sometimes the ipod sounds bad it is quite a bit worse than a bad recording. I took that into consideration but dismissed it upon futher listen with poor sound quality. No recording IO own is as the ipod will sometimes sound but if I unplug the ipod and reset the radio by powering it off for 30 seconds withthe ac unplugged upon restart the sound will be fine. I just thought this info may help diagnose my radio issues.

[Eric W]

Yea if you have the receipt you should be fine. It doesn't sound like the unit is defective though-

I wonder if you were listening to DAB (Digital Audio broadcasting) http://www.cab-acr.ca/drri/index.shtm instead which is available in Canada (and has been there much longer- you did mention "long time ago house") and not compatible with HD Radio. With HD Radio- if you cannot get the analog station, you will not be able to receive the digital counterpart.

More on DAB:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Audio_Broadcasting

[mitchb105]

Hi Erik,
Now that you mention it it was DAB player I was being demo'd. With adjusting the antanae across the room I received one channel only in HD radio FM but at least I know it works if the station is present. It appears that there is only one single HD station that I receive but the regular am/FM stations are received very well and sound good. Since I get the one station I get this means my HD reception in the radio is good but there's just know available stations in my area???? Richmond British Columbia. Yes it was DAB about 9 years ago probably before HD. I did not know there was a difference till now. The ipod dock now appears to be getting the wrinkles out and the regular analogue stations sound very goos so I guess I'm OK. I would think a big city like Vancouver or Seattle even would have HD stations???

[Eric W]

True, however last I was in the Pacific NorthWest- Seattle is still a good 3 hours from the Canadian border, so unless you have an extremely tall outdoor, high gain, directional antenna on a rotator, chances are you won't be able to pick up HD Radio from Seattle. HD Radio's range is not as far as its analog counterpart. As for Vancouver, they're likely to get more HD Stations, but just like anything else relatively new, it takes time, as that format is still catching on in Canada.