pharding

HD Radio

My 08 550 Sport has the High Definition Radio Option. The audio quality is comparable to a CD for the stations using HD Broadcasting which is to say that the audio quality is awesome. Absolutely beautiful sound quality. In Chicago all of the 12 stations that I listen to, except for 1, have HD Broadcasting. In Fort Wayne, Indiana, where my parents live, none of the local FM Stations have it. Once you select the HD option in a detail menu, the audio system works seamlessly in the background to select the HD signal automatically when one is available. Stations with HD broadcast two signals, one HD stream and one conventional. If you live in a major market area with HD broadcasting this option is Highly Recommended. If you live in a small market without HD Broadcasting and no future HD broadcasting then this option is obviously a waste of money.

Sirius Satellite Radio

Of any option on the car this was the most disappointing. The audio quality is disappointing. The programming for me is disappointing. I like two types of music Classical Music and Classic Rock. There is one Classical Music station plus other stations with variants of Classical Music that I don't listen to, Broadway, Pops, Opera. It is hard to believe but Sirius does not have a high quality Classic Rock station. Possibly because they split Classic Rock into too many categories/stations that they end up broadcasting too many obscure classic rock songs. If you are in a major market and travel between major urban areas infrequently this option is a waste of money. Plus as much I like choices, I am not optimistic about the future of this medium. I personally think that I-Pod Technology and integration is going to kill it. The monthly fees are too expensive for what you get. Not Recommended. If one travels between urban areas frequently or is in a small market area and one does mind the audio quality shortcomings. Neutral Recommendation.

I-Pod

Integration is superb on my 08 550. The audio quality is not as good as Cd's or HD radio stations, but is adequate. Audio quality is better with the new Apple 256k file format which is noticeably better to my untrained ears. I-Pod Technology is clearly the future of automobile audio and audio in general. IMO it will kill the other media options as the sampling rate increases. I-Pod option: Highly Recommended. 256 k Format: Highly Recommended.

Euro Delivery Note: When you pick up car in Europe, you do not get the I-Pod cable. This is absurd and annoying. The delivery center does not stock the cables so you have to go to a local BMW Dealer in Munich and buy one for $60. If you walk in the dealership and say a few words of American English you don't even have to ask for the cable. They just tell you where to go for the I-Pod cables.

Rudy

To add to what Paul has already said, HD radio stations can transmit up to three channels or streams (HD-1, HD-2, and HD-3). The car automatically tunes to the "HD-1" stream so nothing has to be done to hear it (as long as the HD box is checked in the iDrive settings) but it's a bit tricky to tune the alternate streams though. The key is that you need to be in manual mode (not presets or autostore). Once you're in manual mode and have an HD station tuned (HD-1), press the right arrow key (or the up arrow key on the steering wheel) to change to the HD-2 stream, etc.

BMWSTL

Paul, I disagree with your review in a couple of areas.

HD Radio does in fact sounds wonderful. Although I like the audio quality, the commercials push me over to SAT for causal listening. Most of my driving is during commuting time, and that's when you get the traffic reports, news, commercials, DJ's talking instead of playing music, etc. You don't get that with SAT. And, as Rudy points out, you need to go into manual mode to move to HD-2, HD-3 on a particular station channel. That is an unnecessary pain, and one I hope BMW fixes with a software update.

I find SAT audio quality to be excellent. I agree it is not as good as HD Radio, but it is close. We probably listen to the same classic rock channels (Sirius 10, 14, 15 and 16), so my comments are not based on listening to other streams. I enjoy the programming, and listen to SAT most of the time. Cost is not a factor for me, as I received a lifetime subscription when I activated the service. Perhaps that was just plain luck, perhaps BMW is now providing that as part of the SAT package.

Although I would still order both options (especially HD Radio, as the cost is much lower now than when I ordered it), if I had to recommend one over the other I would chose SAT for its no-commercial format and extensive programming choices.

I agree that the iPod/USB interface is great. I recorded .wav files from the source CD's into album folders on my hard drive using Exact Audio Copy. Using iTunes, I converted the .wav files to .acc files at a less compressed 320 kbps bit stream rate. BMW states that the maximum bit stream rate the USB interface will handle is 256 kbps, but I have had no issues at 320 (which is the maximum iTunes allows). To my ears, the audio quality is equal to CD's (or playing uncompressed .wav files recorded from the source CD's onto a USB stick). I'm not sure that the iPod interface will replace SAT or HD Radio, as both of those formats are convenient and have broader music libraries and entertainment content that an iPod user could ever hope to assemble.

Lou

pharding

What are the differences between HD-1, HD-2, and HD-3?

After I posted this a search on the internet yielded this:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn41...17/ai_n16539274

Rudy

In my city, there are stations that play entirely different formats, etc. on the sub-channels. In other words, the Jazz station plays Blues on HD-2 and BBC news on HD-3.

Go to http://www.hdradio.com to see what stations in your area are broadcasting what.

One more neat thing -- AM stations can also broadcast an HD stream. An AM-HD broadcast, quality-wise, sounds like regular FM (as opposed to the FM-HD signal which approaches CD-quality.)

subterFUSE

As someone who spends a lot of time recording and producing music, I can tell you that the sound quality of even an uncompressed WAV file played out of an iPod (even with the line output) is noticably inferior to CD. I have tested every format in my own car, and nothing compares to a well recorded CD. Not even a WAV.

iPods are cheap electronic gadgets. While ultra-convenient, they are not high-end solutions in terms of quality. So anything you play out of them will be degraded.

kscarrol

No doubt it but for 90+% of folks, it is a choice/convenience issue. Most don't have your experience or ear to detect subtle sound differences. Hell, just look at how many Bose surround sound and Wave radios get sold! All are fine systems with pretty good sound quality, but they will not hold up to higher end audio equipment.

BMWSTL

I agree that a .wav file is nowhere near CD quality when played through a high-end system at home. My home CD player is a tube/solid state hybrid, and I can hear the differences. On the other hand, I would not equate the quality of the Logic7 (or any car audio system) to any high-end home system. Given that limitation, using a iPod in the car affords (to me) the "CD quality" I'm looking for.

Lou

JSpira

That article has a major flaw - HD does not stand for high definition yet the writer even tries to make a comparison to high def TV. Caveat lector, I say.

Read iBiquity's Web site for authoritative info - http://www.ibiquity.com/about_us/company_history

BMWSTL

Is he related to Hannibal Lecter?

"HD" Radio is an interesting marketing play. Everyone thinks "HD" stands for "high def." Brilliant!

Lou