Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Hawkins, who comments in reply to our post about the Sangean HDR-18:
Darn. Just when you thought you read a review of the latest Sangean radio another one comes out. I have yet to find a review of the Sangean HDR-16.
[The] HDR-16 is a portable AM-FM HD radio with stereo speakers. Runs on household AC power or four C cells. At 10? long this is not exactly pocket sized but small enough for beach or nightstand duty. I wonder how fast it eats up the C batteries?
I don’t think HDR-16 will hit the shelves until mid-September.
Dan then followed up with pre-order prices:
- Sangean HDR-16 on Amazon. Pre-order price is $159.99.
- Sangean HDR-16 on Adorama. This looks like another pre-order offer for the HDR-16 but the price is only $99.99!
That Adorama price is correct! I just noticed that Universal Radio also has a pre-order price of $99.99.
$100 US is not a terrible price for a quality portable AM/FM stereo analog/digital radio. Indeed, that may be the best price I’ve seen for that particular feature set. I bet four C cells will power it for quite a long time, too.
At second glance, the HDR-16 has an impressive feature list (via Sangean):
- HD Radio digital and analog AM / FM-Stereo reception
- 10 Memory Presets (5 FM, 5 AM)
- PAD (Program Associated Data) Service
- Support for Emergency Alerts Function
- Automatic Multicast Re-Configuration
- Automatic Simulcast Re-Configuration
- Auto Ensemble Seek
- Real Time Clock and Date with Alarm and Sleep Function
- 2 Alarm Timer by Radio, Buzzer
- HWS (Humane Wake System) Buzzer and Radio
- Snooze Function
- Tone & Bass Control
- Information Display for Channel Frequency, Call Sign, Radio Text, Audio Mode, Service
- Mode, Signal Quality and Clock Time
- Easy to Read LCD Display with Backlight
- Battery Low LED Indication
- Auxiliary Input for Additional Audio Sources
- Record Output for Connecting to Hi-Fi System or Recording from Audio Program
- I/O Jacks: DC In, Line-Out (Rec-Out), Aux-In, Headphone and HD / FM Rod Antenna
The feature set sounds like something that would appeal to my buddy Jeff McMahon. He’s been looking for a bedside radio for quite a while. This one has a “Human Wake System”–perhaps meaning the alarm gradually increases the volume? Of course, I question if the HDR-16 will perform well on the AM broadcast band–I suppose it depends on how well the receiver is shielded from CPU noises, etc.
I might be tempted to grab one of these and test it. I like the price tag much better than that of the HDR-18, though I’m not sure its audio fidelity will be comparable. While I doubt I can receive an HD broadcast from my home, it might be fun trying.
Have any SWLing Post readers pre-ordered the HDR-16? Care to do a review?
I purchased the HDR-16 about a week ago and am somewhat disappointed with the HD on AM. I’ve got a 50,000 what radio station (WTIC) twenty miles from my house and have difficulties getting a solid HD lock in both the morning and evening. I’ve also noticed that the analog AM sensitivity is somewhat low. I’ll wait for the winter months to see if that improves.
HD FM on the other hand sounds great most of the time.
I see these two functions listed on all HDR ads, but no explanation of what they mean:
Automatic Multicast Re-Configuration
Automatic Simulcast Re-Configuration
Someone, please figure your answers out and post them here.
Universal Radio just changed its web page. It said the radio was due out 8/8/16, but now it says:
“This new model is expected 09/28/16. Information shown is preliminary.”
Well, there isn’t much LW activity to hear on the the US West Coast… except for a few beacons. The 909X tunes SSB, both USB and LSB. It doesn’t do NOAA VHF weather or Bluetooth or DRM, though. Sorry.
I knew Sangean was going to come out with a high end receiver that has a 200 mm ferrite rod antenna inside. One of my friends has one of these radios, but without the HD Radio tuner. I wish they would of included Bluetooth 4.1 inside the receiver for those smart devices we have today. I don’t buy radios like this, because first of all, they are not in my budget or price range. And second, they don’t tune long wave and short wave and don’t have SSB on them. But I believe this one will take off if the price becomes reasonable and not over priced. If Sangean could come out with one like this with DRM and HD Radio with LW-MW and Shortwave and FM and Weather, then I would definitely buy it. Sangean needs to start coming out with surveys so we listeners can tell them what we feel about their products. I have a ATS-909X, and it’s a great AM-FM-SW, but poor LW receiver.
Sangean Humane Wake-up System explained. I have this alarm clock function on the Sangean ATS-909X. The alarm sound may be a radio station of your choice or the buzzer. The buzzer is actually more of a pleasant beep than a buzz. This is the same beep used by the 909X when certain function buttons are depressed or when the user tunes past the end boundary of a SW band. HWS works only when the buzzer is selected for the alarm. The HWS alarm begins quietly and gets louder for the next 30 seconds. During this time the number and the duration of the beeps changes several times. After 30 seconds the alarm goes silent. 60 seconds later HWS will sound again for another 30 seconds. This process will repeat for up to 30 minutes unless the standby button is pressed to silence the alarm.