SONY | SONY STYLE.COM

A value priced hybrid digital receiver

Pros: Bang for the buck,nice space heater

Cons: Controls on top,needs a switch to control either analog or digital reception

Ran it 24 hours a day till the warranty expired.I live in a condo so no roof-top antennas are allowed.I use an indoor di-pole and the reception on this unit is outstanding.My location is plagued with multipath and this unit is immune to it.Being in a metro area you have the bonus of a lot of extra stations that a Fred Flintstone tuner will not receive. Would like to see Sony address some minor issues with the unit and come out with a new,improved version.This is now the only tuner I use.

close but no cigar

Pros: fantastic tuner, great display, small footprint

Cons: NO DIGITAL OUT, runs hot

Almost everything about this product is perfect except for the GIANT GLARING OMISSION of a digital output. When connected to a modern receiver your sound signal is converted between analog and digital 4 times on the way to your speakers, each time information is lost. Only 2 A/D, D/A conversions are necessary. Seriously Sony? Why would you not allow for a fully digital path by failing to include a digital output?

Fantastic

Pros: unequalled reception ability, hiss-free classical music over FM

Cons: some flipping between regular and hd even with 3 bars, no digital out, need a UPS

I've been a classical music listener for decades but have been put off by the hiss normally received over FM. This radio provides the solution - 30 miles out from Cincinnati and Dayton, and I can now get classical stations from both cities without the usual hiss. This receiver also picks up stations that FMFool tells me should be problematic, yet they and stations not even on the list come through cleanly! Limitations - in spite of what the instructions say, this box easily loses its stored channel memory. I plug mine into a UPS to compensate. Like some other hd models, no ability to type in the frequency you want, you can only type in the preset#. No digital output. Smells like melted plastic the first few weeks. It would be nice to have a 'stay on analog' button for when it flips between, better that it didn't do that but I have some stations that do that in spite of being 3 bars. Since I got this when the coupons were handed out, I got a fantastic deal on a fantastic receiver!

Great Tuner goes great with sony radio

Pros: Sound Quality, Easy to use, New HD channels and improved AM/FM quality.

Cons: It does run slightly warm but has never been an issue.

I wanted HD radio for a good price and great quality. I got what I wanted with this Tuner. I took it out and it took me no time to hook this up to my Sony Radio Shelf system. This Tuner really booted my signal on FM/AM. It gave me new HD channels. If your looking for a good HD radio get this one. The sound quality is also improved not quite CD quality but very good. I have had this Tuner for over a Year now and have had no problems at all. I will reccomend this Tuner to all my friends.

Great HD Tuner !

Pros: This little gem is the best buy in the home stereo market...

Cons: For the price, none..........

This simple little box is probably the best external HD tuner on the market today. The sound quality is far better than any other FM Stereo Tuner on the market today (including the high-end very expensive tuners). For the price, it is the best external tuner on the market today.

Pros: Low price,great reception,small.

Cons: None

I've used this unit for 9 months now and it is definitely a winner.Instead of having to replace your entire audio unit,just plug this into an aux jack and it's ready to use.Great way to check out HD without spending a lot of money.Best of all,no subscription rates with HD.

Great FM receiver

Pros: Great FM reception, small footprint, clear display

Cons: Runs hot, just OK on AM

This is an outstanding analog FM receiver. It is obviously designed for HD-Radio reception and does what seems to be a good job on that, but there are still far more regular, analog stations and that's where this receiver really shines. It's ability to reject adjacent channel interference is superb. In my experience there simply is not adjacent channel interference. Period. The ability to pick low level signals out of the noise is also exceptional. On AM the performance is somewhat less stunning. It does okay, but doesn't really shine like it does on FM. Some people may be put off by the need for an external AM loop antenna (included) and the necessity of keeping it away from the receiver to avoid excessive noise in the signal. (The receiver could be shielded better.) Sadly, if you buy this receiver strictly for its HD Radio capabilities you may be disappointed. Not due to anything with the radio, but with HD Radio itself. Most of the AM HD stations I've heard sound worse in HD than in analog. All but one sound rather tinny with a clear echo effect. The situation on FM is better, but still not great. At best the HD signal may sound very slightly better than the analog signal. On stations that choose to offer multiple channels the sound is generally worse than normal analog. Again, this is nothing against the XDR-F1HD. It's an issue with HD Radio and the way the various stations have things configured. There are a few negatives about the XDR-F1HD. It runs rather hot. Sony should have included a small fan to keep the air moving. The time and presets are only maintained for a rather short time when power is removed. If the power goes out for more than a few minutes you'll probably have to reprogram it. There is no way to directly enter a frequency. You have to step through the channels sequentially or use the presets. (You can directly jump to a preset using the remote.) The unit does not display the station call letters embedded in the RDS. They only show up if the station has them programmed in the data stream. Overall, this receiver is an exceptional performer on FM and an incredible value.

XDR-F1HD - Close, but still missing..

Pros: price/sound

Cons: missing HD TV sound

XDR-F1HD would be perfect when it has HD TV Sound. HD TV also CD quality or better and free over the air and would make this better