I'm thinking of getting a JVC KD-HDR1 for my '98 Cherokee. Anyone have experience with them? They're pretty reasonably priced, and look to have enough features they'd be relatively future-proof.

The Jeep still has the default factory system, w/out even CD, so adding that alone should be useful. Having HD radio is just icing on the cake, but I could save $100 and just get a CD if that part sucks. And it's not like it's a brand new car I'll be driving for the next ten years, either.

-Chris

4HiMarks...
I've had my KD-HDR1 for over a month now and enjoy it more every day.

In the Detroit area we have plenty of HD Radio stations and many of them multicast (HD2), usually broadcasting different programming than the main HD1 program. That offers even more variety to listen to. HD Radio quality is more dynamic and musical than standard FM in my opinion.
HD Radio FM sounds very CD like, no background hiss at high volumes and less compressed; HD Radio AM (in stereo, too!) sounds like good FM. Overall tuner reception is great. You can adjust the sensitivity, too. 18 FM and 6 AM presets.

The CD player supports MP3 and WMA with folder, track and tag info. The display offers plenty of status info and is easy to read. In addition to typical EQ presets, the unit also has a user accessible 7-band EQ so you can tweak the sound. The included wireless remote control makes navigation easy while driving.

What really knocks my socks off, everytime I use the KD-HDR1, is the SRS Circle Surround Auto (CS-A) feature...
You can check out the SRS Labs web site for tech specifics, but in a nutshell SRS CS-A compensates for less-than-ideal acoustics, car speaker size and placement and creates incredible surround sound in your car.
CS-A combined with HD Radio...commuting is real treat.

SRS CS-A creates surround to mono and stereo sources via Circle Surround II, along with a phantom center channel and variable bass enhancement. The SRS Focus, built-in to CS-A, 'steers' the sound UP and AROUND so even back-seat passengers get the surround effect. Like a good home surround system, as you switch CS-A on you really feel the sound field expand and collapse when you turn it off. Playing Dolby Surround encoded CDs is where CS-A really takes off.

My Jeep Liberty has 4 door-mounted 6 1/2" speakers mounted low in the doors.
With CS-A turned on, I get a wide open sound field, great channel separation: front to back, left to right and diagonally; voices lock in dead center. In addition, all of the CS-A effect are user adjustable.

Once you get a chance to check one out in a car, as opposed to hearing one in a typical store display, I think you'll really enjoy getting one.

RWardMI

I have this unit for about 3 weeks now. Nice sound and inexpensive. There are about 9 stations I can pick up in central Florida near Orlando. One of them uses the HD2 side but I wish their format wasn't hip-hop. I am listening to HD radio quite a bit becuase it sounds so much better then the Sirius tuner.

Thanks guys. Sounds like a winner.

-Chris

I have had the radio for a few weeks too and I'm very happy with this deck! In ABQ, there are only 3 stations on air right now and they all sound great!! I've only began experimenting with the CS-A, but that was another of the features (along with the built-in HD tuner) that drew me to this deck. Totally recommend!

I couldn't have put it any better than RWardMI has! The receiver sensitivity is weighed towards "noise-free" reception. That said great conventional FM stereo reception can be had within 30 miles of most stations. The SELECTIVITY (ability to tune between closely spaced stations along with the ability to hold on to your desired station while in close proximity of a closely spaced local) is PHENOMINAL. That's thanks to JVC's DIAS (forgot their acronym) which uses digital signal processing at the IF stage to remove noise and interference from the signal that would normally "mask-over" the sound you're trying to listen to. The effect is more pronounced when listening to conventional AM. Although, I find the useable sensitivty to be much lower than my wife's stock Delco unit, the AM stations, I DID receive were far more immune to powerline interference and sounded better surviving fading action in general. I got my JVC the same day it was promised for shipment: March 13 2006. I'd jump on picking this model up. Right now it's $100.00 less than the $300.00 or so I paid for it; no doubt to stimulate mobile HD Radio sales. JVC did come out with a newer more expensive (HD) radio-only (no CD) unit but I don't know what the story is with its technical performance. I would hope that for the money they want for their "new baby" , that they fully concentrated on vastly improving the HD capturing sensitivity on both bands because obviously the useable reception contour of HD-only mode is a bit less than the FM stereo capture. I'm in the Akron Ohio radio market. There are NO local AM HD radio stations. The only one I can barely get in that mode while parked over here is 760 WJR. By my apartment, I'm about 112 miles away from the station and I get their HD in clear clean MONO only. If I travel up to Independance OH which is about 96 miles East-Southeast on WJR, I get them in moble-friendly clear noise-free stereo which is AWESOME for AM HD. All in all, one GREAT set that KD-HDR1 but to please more of the masses, and give sat-radio a real run for the money, a slight tweak in overall HD-mode useable sensitivity couldn't hurt.

I ordered one from Crutchfield last night. They promised delivery in only a day or two.

-Chris

I ordered one from Crutchfield last night. They promised delivery in only a day or two.

-Chris

Cool, I should have one in the next couple of weeks (birthday coming up) to put in my 93 300ZX with the sometimes-working Blose system. Already have the RoadyXT XM receiver in it so should be interesting to compare the quality.

I ordered one from Crutchfield last night. They promised delivery in only a day or two.

-Chris
Wow, just got their catalog and I see it listed for $200. I maight have to buy a 2nd unit for the office. I got mine for $300 and have it hooked to my home stereo. It seems to run awefully hot, but it works great.

Crutchfield shows another JVC HD unit (the KD-SHX900) marked down from $799 to $324. It has a color OEL display. Maybe I need *that* for the office! :)

Just installed mine this afternoon in my 300ZX with Bose amplified speakers. Used the preamps out of the JVC and the remote wire to turn the amps on/off but am getting two very loud pops each time I change the FM channel, switch to CD, or skip CD tracks.

Edit:
Found a thread on 300zxclub that says the 'muting' of the preamp outputs is a state which the Bose amps in the speakers do not like. Adding 100uF/50V caps in series is supposed to fix/alleviate this problem. I did this on mine, but am still getting small pops when changing sources / stations / tracks. Not too bad, so I will live with it until my Bose amps at the speakers blow up then I'll rip that out too. Bose Blose.

Here's the post: http://300zxclub.com/showpost.php?p=853118&postcount=19

I just installed mine last night. I must admit, the drive home from my friend's house was pretty sweet. I found myself listening to just about anything, didn't matter what type of music. I sounded so good! I will say that there is a much more pronounced "difference" on the FM stations when people are talking as opposed to music playing. The ESPN show sounded just like sportscenter on ESPNHD! It was amazing how much noise and hum were removed from the signal. I had a few spots where the HD signal kept going in and out, which is kind of a pain. The AM HD stations I could find sounded MUCH MUCH better in HD. A world of difference there.

I am a bit disappointed that the Dallas area doesn't have more news talk stations on HD yet. AM 820, which plays stuff like Rush, Mark Davis, Hannity, etc... apparently doesn't have an HD broadcast yet. I hope these stations 'get on the ball' and upgrade their service soon!

I have a VW and, as anyone who owns a foreign car knows, when you put in an after market head unit, you have to go buy an 'antenna adapter'. Well, I went to Fry's and they had the plain adapter which was about $10, and for $15, one with an amplifier. I got the amplified one since I thought it might help with reception. Was that a good idea? Do you think it's actually making a difference? With the sporadic drop-outs I'm still getting, I would hate to see what the reception was like without the pre-amp.

-Neil

Neil - Haven't had much experience with pre-amps on antennas, but this article seems to indicate it's a worthwhile investment in rural or fringe areas....

http://www.termpro.com/articles/antenna.html

The 'HOLD' feature on the JVC unit is intended to keep the tuning locked in one mode or another so you don't get it flipping back and forth. Press 'MODE' then 'HOLD [4]' and it will switch between 'digital' -> 'analog' -> 'auto'. It's on page 9 in my KD-HDR1 manual.

HTH,

Steve

Thanks, Steve.

I actually just read that in the manual last night :)

In your area, are there many AM stations using HD? I was suprised that there weren't more in Dallas. :(

Another thing I've noticed is that the sound from this JVC unit seems more... "tinny", than my OEM unit. Granted, I had a professional installer hook up my amp and speakers to the OEM unit, so maybe I just have to tweak the output settings on the JVC to get it sounding right. The old unit didn't have line level outs so I had 10:1 reducers hooked to the speaker outs. The JVC, of course, has all the line level outputs I need. I'm wondering if it's an equalizer issue or what...

Also, my bass output seems... missing. I've lost all the punch that my old unit had.

-Neil

Interesting, I feel like I've got more bass punch than my old Bose unit, esp if set to 'hip hop', so I usually use the 'jazz' soundfield. I guess you could mess around with the 'user' setting and boost the bass.

I haven't checked for AM HD yet, but I've got 3 FM HD stations around the Raleigh area, one plays jazz when not NPR so that's cool.

I just installed my KD-HDR1 yesterday, and am pleased overall. I do like the HD radio stations for their sound quality, and the alternate channels available on some of them. Some of the stations broadcast the current song title/artist which is a nice feature. I'm in the Washington DC area, and we have several FM HD stations, but I have not tried the AM band for HD yet. There are several paragraphs that follow detailing a couple issues I had/have. Since they take so much text to detail, it makes it appear that I'm disappointed when I'm not. I'm happy with the reception and sound quality, and especially the built in HD tuner. Overall I give this radio a thumbs up :) .

Begin details of install and operation issues:
I had an issue during my installation. I tried to use the line out outputs to feed my car's built in amp, but the line levels were not loud enough (2.5V/20kOhm load full scale from the service manual). I had to use the speaker level outputs and install the PAC OEM-2 converter, which made the install very cramped, and added 13 more connections that had to be soldered, but once done it works fine. I complement Crutchfield for including all required adaptors and suggesting the purchase of the PAC OEM-2 converter.

I also installed their KS-PD100 iPod adapter. I'm a little disappointed with the control interface. I like to listen to podcasts, and navigating to them using the KS-PD100 requires navigating to Genres then scrolling through the list of genres until I get to Podcasts then scrolling by artist then selecting a podcast. This sounds simpler than it is because the 'scrolling' part is not like scrolling using the iPod. The KD-HDR1/KS-PD100 combination scroll at about one item per second. Eventually it starts to skip along the list, but it requires a lot of attention to control, and if in this process, you neglect to touch a control for a few seconds, you have to start all over again. The other problem is the display is only 8 or 9 characters long, and it doesn't scroll the podcast name across the display until too late, so you have no way to tell which broadcast of a podcast you're selecting because the identifier in each podcast title is well past the 8th or 9th character. This scrolling issue comes up anytime you want to select something near the middle of the alphabet in a long list. For example I have over 1000 artitst in my iPod, and if I wanted to listen to Led Zeppelin, I'd have to navigate to Artists, select, then scroll right past over 500 artitsts. Since the KD-HDR1/KS-PD100 started to skip through the list, this took me only a minute or two, but not as quick as using the iPod interface directly on the iPod.

I also purchased the KS-U57 RCA line input adapter, but was unable to install both it and the KS-PD100 iPod adapter. There's only one J-Bus connector on the back of the head unit, and no way to daisy-chain the two units that I can find. I wanted to be able to listen to, control and charge my iPod, and be able to listen to non-iPod players if or when the occasion comes up (e.g. friend's non-iPod player, and yes I'm aware I'd probably need an RCA to 1/8" stereo adapter).

I'm going to leave my KS-PD100 iPod adapter installed for now, since it is nice keeping the iPod charged and out of site, but I may go back and install the KS-U57 line input adapter instead.

My Current Sony car stereo does not have a "scan" mode which I really miss. Does this unit have a scan mode ?

Thanks,

Ken

My Current Sony car stereo does not have a "scan" mode which I really miss. Does this unit have a scan mode ?
I assume you mean scan radio stations. The answer i s yes. In fact, it has the capability to scan selectively by signal stregth, similar to the way a VCR or TV these days sets itself when you first buy it.

-Chris

I'm not aware of a 'scan' function, where you hit one button and it 'seeks' to the next station, pauses there for a few seconds, then 'seeks' for the next station and continues to do this until you hit a button to stop. Maybe 4HiMarks can educate us all on how to activate a 'scan' mode as I just described. The JVC KD-HDR1 has a Strong Signal Memory feature (press 'mode' then press '4') that 4HiMarks referred to where it will set one bank of your presets to the 6 strongest signals with a preference to the digital stations. It also has a simple Seek mode (press 'left' or 'right') where you hit a button and it searches for the next station and stops. It also has a digital only seek mode (press and hold the remote's seek left or right buttons) where the radio will search for the next digital station and stop.

I'm not aware of a 'scan' function, where you hit one button and it 'seeks' to the next station, pauses there for a few seconds, then 'seeks' for the next station and continues to do this until you hit a button to stop. Maybe 4HiMarks can educate us all on how to activate a 'scan' mode as I just described.

I am not aware of such a mode either. I wasn't even sure if Ken was asking about a radio function, so I had to guess at what he meant by "scan".

-Chris

I am not aware of such a mode either. I wasn't even sure if Ken was asking about a radio function, so I had to guess at what he meant by "scan".

-Chris


Yes I am looking for the scan mode that "SleepL8DrvFast" is talking about. Almost every factory radio has this, but it seems that most other radios do not. I find this a very useful feature when you need to keep your eyes on the road and you cant find anything to listen to.

-Ken

By the way this particular radio is available from ubid.com for $157 + $12. shipping. Now the key is to find someone to install it for me. I have an aftermarket Sony radio that was installed by bestbuy and god knows what will be found when the old radio is removed.

-Ken

I installed this radio in my Formula boat along with their cd changer. Great unit with lots of HD stations in the Detroit area. The cd changer is seamless. A big thumbs up. I have two 6 x 9 and two 5 inch speakers. A sub is the next addition.

Bill

I did buy one and had it installed by Bestbuy as they had the best installed price.
The radio is great and the HD stations sound great. I am a little disapointed in the HD coverage, I am less than 30 miles away from Boston. The the HD cuts in and out which makes any HD2 channel worthless since you get no sound at all when it drops to analog.

-Ken

I just installed this JVC unit over the weekend and so far I am not too enthused. The AM reception is much worse than the stock tuner I replaced in my '03 Honda Pilot. I live about 15 miles from downtown Boston, and I could pick up only the bare inkling of a signal from WBZ and WEEI - my OEM tuner could pick up clear signals from these stations from almost anywhere. As I drove into Boston this morning, the reception on WBZ got better, and eventually kicked into HD mode, but not without frequent fade-in/fade-out.

If anyone has any suggestions on how to improve AM reception, I'm all ears.

The FM stations seem to be coming in fine, the HD feed sounds great when I get it. I'm going to give this unit a chance, but so far I am leaning towards returning it - I can't live without my morning and eveining traffic reports and sports talk...

I just installed this JVC unit over the weekend and so far I am not too enthused. The AM reception is much worse than the stock tuner I replaced in my '03 Honda Pilot. I live about 15 miles from downtown Boston, and I could pick up only the bare inkling of a signal from WBZ and WEEI - my OEM tuner could pick up clear signals from these stations from almost anywhere. As I drove into Boston this morning, the reception on WBZ got better, and eventually kicked into HD mode, but not without frequent fade-in/fade-out.

If anyone has any suggestions on how to improve AM reception, I'm all ears.

The FM stations seem to be coming in fine, the HD feed sounds great when I get it. I'm going to give this unit a chance, but so far I am leaning towards returning it - I can't live without my morning and eveining traffic reports and sports talk...

I had this same problem when I hooked a stereo up to my Toyota Matrix. It turned out that my situation was that I had a boosted (powered) antenna. I had to hook the "power antenna" output to one of the wires (don't remember which one at this point).
If you got this from Crutchfields, give them a call. It is amazing how good those guys are and how they can talk you through almost anything on the phone.

Yep, that's what the Crutchfield rep just told me to do. I'll give it a go, hopefully that will solve the problem.

Thanks

The power antenna connects to the blue/white wire, the same wire used for external amplifiers. My KD-HDR1 works well on AM, picking up an AM HD station (KCBC, Modesto area) from over 60 miles away (and two sets of hills) pretty consistently. I can receive KMJ from Fresno (100+ miles away) enough to see its call sign on the JVC's display but not well enough to hear it in digital.

Yep, that's what the Crutchfield rep just told me to do. I'll give it a go, hopefully that will solve the problem.

Thanks

Hey Buddy.......... did that work?

I put this unit in my car the other day, 1996 Nissan. Looking to buy another one for another car. Love the HD!!

Fantastic unit, but I know from experience that the antenna on the car is really sub-par, and I get a lot of "noise" when the car is running. It's kind of like a popping sound that increases when I use the accelerator. The problem was there with the factory radio.

Does anyone know of a good aftermarket antenna that would boost the signal. It's getting really hard to find aftermarket antennas

Also, need advise on what I need to do to clean up the interference.

Yep, pulled it this morning, connected the blue wires and that did the trick. Reception was great on the commute this AM. Thanks for the tip!

pduncan-

I do not know about aftermarket car antennas, but it will be more important to fix the noise problem than to change antennas (unless the antenna or its cable is bad, and is the source of the problem). What year and model is the car with the problem? Ignition interference can often be fixed or helped by using resistor spark plugs and/or resistor ignition wires, or it could be caused by a bad ground wire connection somewhere that must be found and fixed. Did the car have the problem since it was new (if you got it new)? Has the car had any "unusual" electrical problems, flickering lights or other weird occurrences?

pduncan-

I do not know about aftermarket car antennas, but it will be more important to fix the noise problem than to change antennas (unless the antenna or its cable is bad, and is the source of the problem). What year and model is the car with the problem? Ignition interference can often be fixed or helped by using resistor spark plugs and/or resistor ignition wires, or it could be caused by a bad ground wire connection somewhere that must be found and fixed. Did the car have the problem since it was new (if you got it new)? Has the car had any "unusual" electrical problems, flickering lights or other weird occurrences?

Thanks for the reply Chris. The car is a 1996 Nissan Sentra. I've only had the car a couple of months now. The noise was there with the stock radio that I replaced with the JVC. As of right now, I haven't noticed a ground issue. The noise isn't present when I'm setting still with the car running, just when I'm accelerating.

The car has 108k miles. It does seem like I have limited power while accelerating and the wires look original...... I guess that could point to a problem with the plugs/wires.... But I'm a back yard mechanic at best, so don't know.

Something else. I used the ground on the wiring harness as the ground for the radio. Might it help if I grounded it directly to the chasse?

Yes, grounding to the chassis could help. Also, there are noise filters for the power wires, and one of those on the +12V wire could help as well.

I've been researching this Receiver for a few days, sounds like a good deal to try out this new HD Radio plus it can play MP3s which my current one can't.

One question I have, does it have RDS info built in,, "Radio data service" I think thats what it means. You know where infomation about the radio station, current song title and artist will show up on the screen.

I like that feature, Its a must have for me

Thanks

No, unfortunately the KD-HDR1 does not display RDS information. (The Boston Acoustics Receptor HD table radio does, though.)

If the radio station you are listening to is a HD station, then this radio does display artist/title information if the station includes it. Most digital stations I get here in the D.C. area include artist/title info. Some of the stations have a lag between the start of the song, and when they transmit the title/artist, other stations do this right on time.

Got my JVC the other day and it is awesome to say the least!

Phila has 13 HD FM stations which = to 26 HD stations!

HD AM is crystal clear, WDAS AM is in Stereo and sounds

like regular FM Stereo! HD Radio is the future!

I can't wait for a bookshelf system and of course full blown

receiver!

JohnnyJT :cool:
South Philly

hey guys, newbie here.....i have a question about this head unit. i bought it a few days ago and noticed it had the optional aux input and i was figuring i could use this to hook to my mp3 player so i can play the songs on it over my car speakers. i received the unit only to find a bigger input than what i thought. i have seen a lot of front aux inputs on other head units which are just a headphone jack that can connect to the mp3 player's headphone jack. my question is will this optional aux input on the back of the cd player work with an mp3 player? do i need to buy a certain cable at radio shack or some place like that with a 3.5mm headphone jack plug in on one side and the other side being whatever the other input is on the back of the cd player. or if they even make such a cable. any help is appreciated. thanks
paul

well i did some more searching online and i found out that JVC does offer a specific cable that i am looking for. the cheapest and pretty much only place i have found is on crutchfield for 39.99, however i am looking for an alternative. does radio shack sell any sort of cable like this or is the input on the back of this JVC head unit only an input for this specific cable that they sell? thanks again for any help
paul

well i did some more searching online and i found out that JVC does offer a specific cable that i am looking for. the cheapest and pretty much only place i have found is on crutchfield for 39.99, however i am looking for an alternative. does radio shack sell any sort of cable like this or is the input on the back of this JVC head unit only an input for this specific cable that they sell? thanks again for any help
paul

Sorry chipper. They only place you are going to find that is Crutchfields or the like. I researched it also....

well i did some more searching online and i found out that JVC does offer a specific cable that i am looking for. the cheapest and pretty much only place i have found is on crutchfield for 39.99, however i am looking for an alternative. does radio shack sell any sort of cable like this or is the input on the back of this JVC head unit only an input for this specific cable that they sell? thanks again for any help
paul

Chipper,

I just bought the cable from Crutchfield after searching around like you did. I don't think you are going to find it at a bargain price. It has a specific jvc connector on one end for the radio, and there is a little box containing some circuitry in the middle of the line, probably an attenuator to protect the radio from too much signal coming up the line.

By the way, it works like a champ!!!

-Ken

ok thanks for your help guys. i think i might hold off on the cable for now just because the cd player can play mp3's so i can fit quite a few songs on one cd. although i guess i shouldn't make too much of a big deal having to pay 39.99 for the cable considering i got the cd player for such a good deal off of ebay brand new

Mine finally shipped...are these things hard to put in? I've never really put in a car stereo before...

Mine finally shipped...are these things hard to put in? I've never really put in a car stereo before...

It you got it from Crutchfield... it will come with EVERYTHING you need to install, and will have step by step instructions. And, if you run into a problem, they are just a phone call away. It's kind of weird how it seems like they are in the seat next to you... they are that good.

But, if you got it from somewhere else, it's still an easy unit to install.

One word of caution....... if you have a powered antenna (a lot of new cars do), make sure you hook it up or you will have very little signal going into the unit.

It you got it from Crutchfield... it will come with EVERYTHING you need to install, and will have step by step instructions. And, if you run into a problem, they are just a phone call away. It's kind of weird how it seems like they are in the seat next to you... they are that good.

But, if you got it from somewhere else, it's still an easy unit to install.

One word of caution....... if you have a powered antenna (a lot of new cars do), make sure you hook it up or you will have very little signal going into the unit.

yeah i ordered my last unit from crutchfield (before this JVC i just got) and was able to install it with no problems. this one didn't take much longer either. like the the other person said crutchfield even gives you papers that show you how to install it for the most part.

I don't know why but the MP3 disk I burned didn't play at all.

I know this will sound kinda stupid but it really depends probably if it's REALLY a mp3....since mp3 players have gotten big there's a ton of different standards...apple says the ipod is a mp3 player but they are AAC files...then there's others for different units (real format, wma's etc)

the manual lists what won't work...it won't play mp3 pro for example. Also if it's a audio hybrid with a dvd it won't.

I have some cheap sony cdrw's I've been downloading podcasts on and then deleting it every night...so far so good.

I'd recommend

1) checking the files to make sure the file format is OK and it isn't too high or low of a bit rate

2) if it has a label that might not work well

3) if they do suddenly start to play you might want to make sure that the TAG id that's in the file doesn't contain anything bad...let's say you have a song title with swares...you turn it down but technically you could have it scrolling on the dashboard

My MP3 discs have played fine so far. They are just ordinary "Nero copy and paste data disc" format. I use only Verbatim CD-R discs, and they have always been the most compatible with all players I have tried.

For the owners f the JVC head unit: I've seen a lot of comments on the radio performance (which makes sense, given that the is the HD Radio forum :) ) but nothing on the CD performance. How does the CD player sound? A few years ago I bought a Nakamichi CD player head unit for my car. It has a 20-bit digital-to-analog converter, and I noticed a difference between it and the 1-bit "bitstream" players I'd had before. Now I see that 24-bit digital-to-analog converters have dropped in price and can be had much cheaper than they were when I bought my CD player. But the JVC has a 1-bit D-A converter with "24-bit resolution" (whatever that means). The JVC unit looks like a great deal, but I'd hate to see a large drop in CD playback quality from my Nak. Any opinions on the JVC's CD player?

For the owners f the JVC head unit: I've seen a lot of comments on the radio performance (which makes sense, given that the is the HD Radio forum :) ) but nothing on the CD performance. How does the CD player sound? A few years ago I bought a Nakamichi CD player head unit for my car. It has a 20-bit digital-to-analog converter, and I noticed a difference between it and the 1-bit "bitstream" players I'd had before. Now I see that 24-bit digital-to-analog converters have dropped in price and can be had much cheaper than they were when I bought my CD player. But the JVC has a 1-bit D-A converter with "24-bit resolution" (whatever that means). The JVC unit looks like a great deal, but I'd hate to see a large drop in CD playback quality from my Nak. Any opinions on the JVC's CD player?


My stock car cd player was pretty good but I'd say this one is better. There's more settings towards more of a surround sound than what I had...although I wish it did allow for a forward/rewind of a higher amount of space...like if I go back or forward it seems to only go about ten seconds back or forward per second pressed.

I will admit however that I haven't touched the bass and treble functions yet...it has preset ones but you can really manually adjust quite a bit of it. the only other product I have that allows for the same detail of it is a phillips hdtv!

The only bad thing I'd have to say about the radio is there's so many functions on it you should REALLY get to know them before driving...there's way too much to look at if you just had it installed. Let's say you messed around with the steps and put it in the EU mode and were listening to AM (steps are 9K instead of 10K) now unless you have presets it will take awhile to set back...

Also there is a volume function to go beyond (remember "But it goes to 11" from spinal tap?) what some would like. I think it would be extreamly easy to blow out the speakers of most cars with this but I wouldn't advise it.

Just installed this unit in my '00 Celica. It is an outstanding upgrade to my factory head unit. During the install I discovered I had a factory installed amp? A pleasant surprise considering it was not on the invoice.

The stereo station finding is nothing short of outstanding. I am picking up stations I didn't even know where there (this is based on old factory unit, another vehicle, 2 clock radios, and an $700 Pioneer surround receiver!)

The CD performance is excellent. It plays harshly scratched discs my original unit would hiccup on. The menus are so deep in this thing I won't post on my sound findings until I get it tweaked. For the time being, I would say that CD sound sounds like surround sound, nicely separated....

well i did some more searching online and i found out that JVC does offer a specific cable that i am looking for. the cheapest and pretty much only place i have found is on crutchfield for 39.99, however i am looking for an alternative. does radio shack sell any sort of cable like this or is the input on the back of this JVC head unit only an input for this specific cable that they sell? thanks again for any help
paul

I'm thinking about getting this receiver and I noticed that the connection for the aux input looks identical to the old Alpine AI-net connectors. If the wiring schematic is the same, then you can pick up an ai-net aux input for $20 from davidnavone.com

Not sure if it works, but I'll give it a shot if I get this receiver. I already have the ai-net aux input adapter.

Are there any other HD decks coming out soon that may be better than this? Does JVC have a next generation deck coming soon to replace this? just looking to get some info. thanks.

I don't think that nay technology company would let a product sit without doing some modifications.

I own one of these and can recommend a few things (in no real order)

1) end the muting of the radio while ejecting a disk

2) maybe have a feature that you could tune for a station without actually hearing it just to see if something could be received (bars could be nice)..

3) going direction to a subchannel would be nice

4) somewhat of a built in memory would be nice...say a 5-10 minute buffer to save...so you could hear what was said up to 10 minues ago and see in the text what it was

5) a variable speed for going forward on a track. most cd players I know of go faster the longer you hold it...this one doesn't....

Anyone using this with JVC's Sirius receiver? Was thinking of that combo but would like to know what the HDR1 display shows. Anyone have pics?

I'm thinking about getting this receiver and I noticed that the connection for the aux input looks identical to the old Alpine AI-net connectors. If the wiring schematic is the same, then you can pick up an ai-net aux input for $20 from davidnavone.com

Not sure if it works, but I'll give it a shot if I get this receiver. I already have the ai-net aux input adapter.

I just installed this head unit, and my old Alpine AI-net aux input works perfectly. You can pick one up for $15 or so. I believe the part# is KCA-121B from Alpine.

If anyone has any suggestions on how to improve AM reception, I'm all ears. The FM stations seem to be coming in fine, the HD feed sounds great when I get it. I'm going to give this unit a chance, but so far I am leaning towards returning it - I can't live without my morning and eveining traffic reports and sports talk...
I am in the same boat. FM reception on my KD-HDR1 is totally great... and CD's are fabulous... but I can't get even one AM station even sitting half a mile away from the station's 50,000 watt broadcast antenna. I even went so far as to replace my car's antenna and wiring with a brand new one... not an easy task... but still no AM signals whatsoever. Not even a bleep. :(

Is my KD-HDR1 radio defective? Or is it a setting I missed and/or messed-up? I have reset several times with no luck. Anyone have any ideas? All help is greatly appreciated! :)

TIA,
Rusty from Boston

Hey Rusty:
Sorry to say that the one area where the JVC receiver sensitivity suffers more than usual seems to be on the AM side of things. The FM side is superb for both useable sensitivity ( give or take aggressive FM Mono blending) and SELECTIVITY. You will hold onto your favorite FM while passing pretty closely into an adjacent channel market which makes for less "dial hopping" to get away from station splatter. So much for the FM side of things.
As far as AM goes, the selectivity is very good but the sensitivity is poorer than usual. I compared the pickup against a Delco radio that I had replaced with the JVC unit. I appears that that isn't an effective preselecter section that tightly tunes into the desired AM frequency while robustly rejecting strong signals. This hurts the AM HD reception range. I had to result to making a manually tuned preselecter which boosts the desired signal while rejecting other strong signals in the same AM band. It's getting hard to find small portable (walkman sized) radio circuit boards with variable capacitors on them these days; everything has gone digital, but that's what I'm using to trap the desired signals on AM in better. I wish that someone could make a fool-proof AM Band preamp with preselecter options ( match a frequency on this unit to the desired station frequency). Actually the closet ting to a preselecter is an antenna tuner from MFJ but I didn't plunk down the $80.00 or so dollars to check it out but that would work very nicely. Bottom line: until JVC goes back to the drawing board to tweak-up their AM front end, a passive antenna tuner inline with the car's whip antenna (and FM frequency bypassed to prevent degraded FM reception) can virtually DOUBLE the reliable AM HD reception range with this radio. I know that the engineers are dancing on a thin line between overload, self generated noise, and other things, but they COULD have added another teaspoon of AM sensitivity and they HAD BETTER with their next generation effort! The receiver manufacturers have to make this technology look as great as possible to the end user, and AM in particular is COUNTING on favorable opinions from end users like yourself to garner favorable attention and capitalize on the improved sound of AM HD.
By the way, Rusty, for 10 glorious seconds, using that preselecter I spoke about during one evening in October, I managed to hear your WBZ 1030 in AM HD Stereo. I couldn't believe my ears!. The atmosphere held their signal intact without stretching it to distort the digital signal virtually 500 miles west of Boston in Cuyahoga Falls Ohio near Akron.
.....Anthony W

My KD-HDR1 picks up AM stations quite well, in a Mercury Sable with factory power antenna. I can listen to KCBC 770 in Modesto, Cal. (60-70 miles away) with reliable HD reception. Other stations (analog) such as from Sacramento are about equal to my previous car stereo, a Sony CDX-MP70 I think.

My KD-HDR1 picks up AM stations quite well, in a Mercury Sable with factory power antenna. I can listen to KCBC 770 in Modesto, Cal. (60-70 miles away) with reliable HD reception. Other stations (analog) such as from Sacramento are about equal to my previous car stereo, a Sony CDX-MP70 I think.

Same here. I live 45 miles south of Indy (pick up 4 am-hd), 60 miles north of Louisville (pick up 2 am-hd) and 65 miles west of Cincinnati (pick up 1 am-hd). It could be your unit, or it could be you have an antenna with a factory installed amp (I had that same problem with a 2005 Vibe, couldn't pick up any AM at first.) If that amp is not powered by your radio, then that may be your problem. If you bought the unit from Crutfield, give them a call.... they will be able to help trouble shoot it over the phone and fix the problem or replace the unit if it's bad.

I noticed when installing the JVC in my Mustang, the antenna plug was a little long for the receptical and caused it ti short which rendered AM useless. All I did was pull the jack out just slightly and the problem was solved

FYI, regarding the Aux connector for the JVC KD-HDR1:

I bought one off ebay back in December. It works fine. Do a search on ebay for a KS-U57, which converts the AUX into two RCA plugs. I attached a 3 foot RCA cord and a converter to a stereo plug onto that. I have a little cubby under the head unit that I coil the cord into that contains my MP3 player also.

I got my adapter from darvex.

You have to set the JVC unit's Aux setting to EXT-IN for it to work properly. Reference the owner's manual for the instructions.

FYI, regarding the Aux connector for the JVC KD-HDR1:

I bought one off ebay back in December. It works fine. Do a search on ebay for a KS-U57, which converts the AUX into two RCA plugs. I attached a 3 foot RCA cord and a converter to a stereo plug onto that. I have a little cubby under the head unit that I coil the cord into that contains my MP3 player also.

I got my adapter from darvex.

You have to set the JVC unit's Aux setting to EXT-IN for it to work properly. Reference the owner's manual for the instructions.

If you get the KS-U58 it is terminated with the stereo mini plug for mp3 players etc so you don't have to do the conversion above. There is also a special cable for the ipod that will allow the radio controls to take the place of the ipod controls.

-Ken

You guys got me really excited. I just ordered mine through Crutchfield with the install kit and then I found this thread. Now I can't wait!

I have a 2001 Ford Focus so it will be interesting to hear how this thing sounds. I really like the stock 6 disc CD changer that came with the car. The only problem is that the darn thing starts screwing up after just a few years.

Will let you know how the install goes. Thanks for all the great info!

Quote deleted by admin

Why would I want another antennae? That item doesn't sound so integrated. Especially if I had a CD-Changer/Satallite on that input of the stereo. For $200? That is how much the JVC costs. Pretty soon we are going to look like HAM operators from all the antennae we have on our vehicles from the add-ons.

twisted_oak - don't pay attention to him. He's some kinda marketing bot (view all his posts, some of them are on totally irrelevant threads). I've already notified the mods about him.

twisted_oak - don't pay attention to him. He's some kinda marketing bot (view all his posts, some of them are on totally irrelevant threads). I've already notified the mods about him.Thanks. I got it. It's gone. :)

Got my radio from Crutchfield yesterday. Install went very well. Crutchfield sent me everything I needed (except for the tools of course). I've never ordered from them before. Very impressed!

The radio sounds great. Much better than my stock unit. We have 4 HD stations here. A few of them have HD2. There is one AM talk radio station that was apparently testing HD right after I installed the radio. Sounded great.

I do find it interesting that the JVC starts out in analog mode. Once it locks on to the HD signal, it switches over. Some of the stations here have a disparity between the analog and digital signal so I hear the same segment of music twice. Thought that was funny.

What a great unit! Highly recommended.

I do find it interesting that the JVC starts out in analog mode. Once it locks on to the HD signal, it switches over. Some of the stations here have a disparity between the analog and digital signal so I hear the same segment of music twice. Thought that was funny.
That's up to the radio station to configure. Some stations don't want to have a 5-8 second delay on their analog signal and some haven't bothered to turn it on so the digital will be a few seconds behind. This can be maddening if you're getting fringe reception causing it to bounce between analog and digital.

That's up to the radio station to configure. Some stations don't want to have a 5-8 second delay on their analog signal and some haven't bothered to turn it on so the digital will be a few seconds behind. This can be maddening if you're getting fringe reception causing it to bounce between analog and digital.It can't be set to ignore analog and purely use digital?

It can't be set to ignore analog and purely use digital?Yes, there is a setting to do that.

That's up to the radio station to configure. Some stations don't want to have a 5-8 second delay on their analog signal and some haven't bothered to turn it on so the digital will be a few seconds behind. This can be maddening if you're getting fringe reception causing it to bounce between analog and digital.


I don't know of any IBOC station that doesn't delay their analog audio. That goes against the IBOC set-up and makes no sense. In NYC when WFAN does a baseball game they shut off the IBOC to eliminate the delay but following the game the IBOC goes back in as does the delay.

WKSC Chicago "Kiss 103.5" and WCKG Elmwood Park-Chicago "105.9 Free FM" both have issues with the analog audio not being delayed, or delayed enough, to match the HD Radio audio. The problem is intermittent at Kiss 103.5. It's always mismatched at 105.9 Free FM. 104.3 Jack FM (WJMK Chicago) had the problem for a long time. I don't know if it had anything to do with my unanswered e-mail or not, but they corrected the problem about two weeks ago.

It can't be set to ignore analog and purely use digital?

The problem with using pure digital is that whenever the digital cuts out in a weaker area, you hear NOTHING. I can't use the HD2 channels in my town (28 miles from Boston) because they constantly cut out. The digital signal has less range than the analog.

-Ken

The problem with using pure digital is that whenever the digital cuts out in a weaker area, you hear NOTHING. I can't use the HD2 channels in my town (28 miles from Boston) because they constantly cut out. The digital signal has less range than the analog.

-Ken

I'm actually 30 miles from boston but I can get hd2 stations w/ this radio. Granted yes there are some drops here and there. I think it's better at night...it's actually gotten to the point where I know where the drops are within town. I can be a red light and not get reception...turn around and drive say 80 feet in a parking lot and park and then they'll show up fine.

For boston I think wzlx and wbcn work pretty well. I actually can get whjy from ri... I'm also starting to think that they might turn off the hd2 portions sometimes...just like not all have the text on the tracks. I'm going to probably change a bit of the sparkplugs for the am portion and get a new antenna later in the year. I've received these as being the furthest for the FM band

wpro which is nearly 39 miles from me, wcrb which is 46 miles from me, wwli which is 37 miles from me,

For AM
wpro (33 miles), whjj (33 miles) these are nearly on the boarderline of reception, I got a bit of wbur once which was nearly 42 miles....

As the channels increase I'm sure about of hd2 and hd3 (more?) content will increase.

I don't know of any IBOC station that doesn't delay their analog audio.
Well now you do. KMHD is run by a community college, it's pretty low power (7.5 Kw), and it plays stuff like jazz and blues that most people don't listen to so nobody complains. I'm sure they'll fix it someday.

I just got my radio about a month ago. I like it. I wish their were more optoins on the display interface. I am on the outside areas of HD though, so my HD stations come in and out. Kind of sucks, but it's not the radios fault.

Another thumbs up for this radio--especially for the price vs features category. I can't believe there is nothing else in this price range for HD tuner/CD headunits out there. Got mine from Crutchfield and installed it in my '01 Dodge Dakota Club Cab without any major issues (installing the new speakers were a pain but well worth the upgrade). I can get a half-dozen HD stations out here in Western MA and it stays locked on pretty well (had to use the 'Hold' feature a couple of times). The *only* real criticisms I have for this radio are minor:

1) Wish they hadn't wasted so much of the display space for the EQ settings, and instead added a couple more digits to the main display

2) Wish the volume knob had a finger detent on the front of it so you could 'one-finger' adjust it like some TV/VCR remotes have with shuttle dials. It can be a real pain with gloves on to adjust the volume

3) Wish it had a scan mode for FM stations where it plays 5-7 seconds of each station before moving onto the next one and you can press it again to stop on a station you want

Other than that (and those are all pretty minor things), it's exactly what I wanted.

I noticed they have this radio at Walmart now, it had a different model number with a W in it but it was the same as far as I could tell.

I've read quite a few reviews, may seem minor but is there something about the clock? Does it not always display? Can't recall details but someone stating you must hit the button to see time.

Also can you preset HD1 stations but must hit the button to get HD2?

You can toggle the display to several modes including the clock, but I never checked to see if it would "stay" on the time display. I am not home to check my KD-HDR1 now, otherwise I would test it for you. Personally, I abhor any radio/stereo that automatically switches back to a clock display and makes you hit a button to see the frequency. (I figure, how about if I agree to not play music on my watch, and they don't use stereos to display the time?) ;)

Regarding the presets, you are right-they only store the frequency and default to HD1 on multi-channel stations. Also, there is no way to switch to HD2 using the remote control. Other HD Radio tuners such as the Sangean home models do let you store HD2 stations/channels directly.

You can set it to a default display of:

(In MP3/CD mode)

-Clock & track number
-Elapsed time & track number
-Track name
-Album name
-Artist name

(In Radio Mode)

-Clock
-Frequency
-Radio Station Call Letters (HD)
-Artist Name/Track Name (HD)

You can also set scrolling to none, once or continuous.

Once you set a display mode for a source, it stays that way until you change it. I have mine so the clock is the default display. When a new song comes on, the display temporarily displays the new album/artist/title and then goes back to the clock.

As for HD2 stations, you are correct. You can only store HD1 stations as presets, but it's a simple tap of the up button on the 4-way rocker to pull up HD2 once you're on HD1.

Thanks guys...Exactly what I was looking for!

I put this unit in my car the other day, 1996 Nissan. Looking to buy another one for another car. Love the HD!!

Fantastic unit, but I know from experience that the antenna on the car is really sub-par, and I get a lot of "noise" when the car is running. It's kind of like a popping sound that increases when I use the accelerator. The problem was there with the factory radio.

Does anyone know of a good aftermarket antenna that would boost the signal. It's getting really hard to find aftermarket antennas

Also, need advise on what I need to do to clean up the interference.

Check the grounding on the antenna, grounding on the engine, and see if changing the routing of the antenna wire helps. Unless Nissan is different, it's rare these days to have a bad antenna.

Check the grounding on the antenna, grounding on the engine, and see if changing the routing of the antenna wire helps. Unless Nissan is different, it's rare these days to have a bad antenna.
That sounds more like a spark plug wire issue. Try buying quality aftermarket plug wires (they are better insulated). If it doesn't work, you can take them back.

$40 dollar rebate from ibiquity until July 3rd.

http://www.hdradio.com/2007_HDRadio_Rebate.pdf

just put this unit in my 2006 Jeep Liberty. Very easy instal (thanks to the directions from Crutchfield). Sounds great and I like the features. In reference to the rebate, it is good for purchases from April 29 thru July 3.

I'm having a KD HDR1 installed in my 2002 Marquis tomorrow. - Does anyone know whether this is a fairly high-power unit, and specifically, whether I should plan on adding a seperate amp to drive standard Ford/Mercury door speakers? I'm also debating whether to replace the front speakers with better ones, such as Polks, or Infinities. Anyone with experience with the standard Ford/Mercury speakers? Thanks.

Jim Cate

I'm having a KD HDR1 installed in my 2002 Marquis tomorrow. - Does anyone know whether this is a fairly high-power unit, and specifically, whether I should plan on adding a seperate amp to drive standard Ford/Mercury door speakers? I'm also debating whether to replace the front speakers with better ones, such as Polks, or Infinities. Anyone with experience with the standard Ford/Mercury speakers? Thanks.

Jim CateWhen I purchased my Ford Focus, I had the premium sound system installed and had the same concern when I put in my HDR1. It powers all four of my speakers just as well if not better than the unit I removed. Sounds better actually.

i started looking for a new radio in my car last week and i found this jvc. i really can't believe all that it does for the price. i got it installed today at best buy and suprisingly the installation was great. i got the jvc sirius tuner installed to ditch my unit with an fm transmitter like i had before. i also got the aux cable to plug my ipod into as well as my pocket pc when i want to semi watch/listen to something streaming from my slingbox on my phone.

i will probably rarely if ever use the HD radio but its nice to have. i really wanted it in hopes that i would be able to get the one sports talk am station that i like to come in since it also broadcasts in HD and the AM signal is really weak. unfortunately the HD signal also has the same problem as its the only station i can't get to come in good. perhaps i will try an amplifier to see if that helps but i'm not sure if its even worth messing with considering the amount i'll listen to it.

looking at all the head units though, this one really seems to be capable of everything and in comparison to other radios i really think its a bargain.

tipton,

Bargain is right. When I found the JVC on-line after being shocked at how hard it was to find HD Radio head units, I couldn't believe the price. I kept re-reading the specs thinking it was too good to be true.

I've not experimented with the aux input or satellite stuff, but after reading your post, I'm thinking about buying the aux input adapter. How much do they cost? Can I any digital source I want with it?

BTW, I did install an inline amplifier and I think it helped a lot.

tipton,

Bargain is right. When I found the JVC on-line after being shocked at how hard it was to find HD Radio head units, I couldn't believe the price. I kept re-reading the specs thinking it was too good to be true.

I've not experimented with the aux input or satellite stuff, but after reading your post, I'm thinking about buying the aux input adapter. How much do they cost? Can I any digital source I want with it?

BTW, I did install an inline amplifier and I think it helped a lot.


yeah, i have to say the aux input is really awesome. if you search on ebay for "JVC Auxiliary Input to RCA Adaptor iPod Same as KS-U57" that is what you need and you can get the cable for less than $10. i got this installed in my jeep and originally i listened to my ipod and satellite radio with an old school tape adaptor. this aux input and plugging in direcly has improved the sound quality a ton for my ipod. basically you can plug it into anything that you would have a headphone jack for.

for satellite radio, in the past i had an S50 from sirius so i would move the unit between my home and the car but oftentimes found myself never having it in the car since i did alot of recording on it. the sirius tuner built into the radio is great and its just great to have EVERYTHING in one easy head unit. i looked at everything and really i don't know of another head unit that had everything i was looking for in one head unit. with this jvc i have satellite radio, hd radio, regular radio, cd player and aux input all in one head unit for $160 or less after rebate.

i really want to get an amplifier now but i'm worried about taking the head unit out to plug in the antenna again since it was professionally installed i'm sorta aftraid of hooking things back up.

i really want to get an amplifier now but i'm worried about taking the head unit out to plug in the antenna again since it was professionally installed i'm sorta aftraid of hooking things back up.

Well, I don't know if this will help or not, but I am not very "mechanically inclined" and had a friend help me install mine. I couldn't believe how easy it was. The hardest part was soldering up all the wires to the new wiring harness, but you won't have to do any of that. The unit comes with two little "keys" that you use to literally slide it in and out of the dash. If your installers did a good job, there will be enough slack in the wiring so that you can pull it out enough to add the amplifier.

http://reviews.cnet.com/4505-6729_7-31881912.html

At a glance

* Editors' rating: 8.2 Excellent
* The good: The JVC KD HDR1 car stereo's built-in HD Radio tuner and its wealth of digital audio playback options set it apart from the competition in the sub-$200 price range.
* The bad: The limited number of characters on its display means that ID3 tag and HD radio channel information can be tough to read at times.
* The bottom line: The JVC KD HDR1 in-car stereo delivers HD Radio and most other digital audio playback options for a very competitive price.

CNET editor's review

Reviewed by ; Kevin Massy , Associate Editor, CNET
Reviewed June 22, 2007

JVC's KD HDR1 is one of the few in-car stereos on the market that comes with a built-in HD (hybrid digital) radio tuner. HD radio works by sending out a traditional analog signal as well as digital signal, which can be used to transmit text data such as song and artist details. Radios with a built-in HD receiver sort through the multiple signals and reproduce the original broadcast without the multipath distortion associated with standard analog FM and AM reception. The KD HDR1 can also play MP3 and WMA discs and can be connected to iPods and satellite radio via add-on modules.

Design
Like other products from JVC's KD range we've seen, the single-DIN-size KD HDR1 features a well-designed control interface with a good combination of buttons and dials for selecting and tweaking audio sources. On the left of the KD HDR1's faceplate, a backlit D pad provides the means of skipping tracks and folders (for disc-based audio) and radio channels (including multicast programs on HD radio); it also acts as a proxy control interface for iPods, which are connected via an optional module.

A volume dial and a standard row of hard buttons along the bottom of the system's single-line monochrome display rounds out the picture. While we are not crazy about the size of the display and the fact that it is limited to showing eight characters at a time, it is bright enough to be visible from the driver's seat, even in direct sunlight.

Features and performance
The KD HDR1's headlining feature is its built-in HD radio receiver. Comparing the sound quality of HD- and standard- analog broadcast on the KD HDR1 is easy, as it takes up to 10 seconds for the device to pick up the radio channel's HD signal after it has found the regular analog signal. During the time it takes to lock onto the digital signal, an HD icon flashes in the bottom right-hand corner of the display. The difference between the two signals is startling: when the HD mode kicks in, the audio output becomes far clearer, with the hissing and fuzz associated with regular FM broadcasts completely eliminated. In HD mode, the KD HDR1 reproduces instruments and voices with greater clarity, and acoustic separation is far more distinct than in analog mode.

Another benefit of HD radio (other than its being free) is its ability to carry multiple channels of music from the same radio station--so-called "multicasts." Most HD stations have only one or two channels on each channel to date, but there is potential for up to seven channels to be multicast on a single FM or AM frequency.

Many HD-enabled radio stations multicast two channels on the same FM frequency.

For disc-based media, the KD HDR1 plays CDs and homemade MP3 and WMA discs. If the latter are encoded with ID3 tag information, that can be called up on the stereo's monochrome LCD faceplate. Only eight characters of any one tag (artist/ track/ album etc) can be displayed at once, though tags can be set to scroll via an option in the Select menu.

Using JVC's KS-PD100 module ($50), the KD HDR1 can also be used to play music from iPods via a full-speed or "intelligent" connection, which transfers control of the iPod's library to the stereo itself. Navigation of the standard iPod menus (artists/ albums/ songs/ composers/ genres) using the KD HDR1 takes some getting used to, but it is surprisingly user-friendly for a device with such a basic display.

JVC uses the KD HDR1's four-way interface to mimic the buttons on an iPod itself. Pressing the Up button takes users back to a higher menu level (equivalent to pressing the Menu button on an iPod; Back and Forward select through menu options; and Down confirms a selection). As with digital audio discs, the ID3 tag information for iPod tracks is limited to eight characters, making it sometimes difficult to recognize songs at a glance. Also on the down side, there is no generic auxiliary input jack to enable drivers to connect any digital audio players other than iPods.

With an add-on module the KD-HDR1 can be used to control iPod audio libraries.

The KD HDR1 comes with a built-in MOS-FET amp, giving it 20 watts of power through four channels. Like many modern car stereos it also has a two-line output (2.5 volts), and a dedicated subwoofer out for those wanting to connect it to their own bass bin. Other settings include the option for Circle Sound surround sound signal processing for HD programs encoded with CS II. Circle Sound works by attempting to reproduce 5.1 surround-sound acoustics using only four speakers. Users can also select different intermediate frequency (IF) settings to reduce interference noise between stations, and can set amplifier gain control, which enables users to select the maximum power output level for the built-in amp to avoid blowing lower-powered speakers.

In sum
The KD HDR1 is a bargain for those looking for an in-car stereo with a built-in HD Radio tuner. While its monochrome display is a little small for navigating audio libraries, its user-friendly interface and range of supported sources make it an appealing option for the price.

User comments
Average user rating
Excellent 8.8 out of 10 Average user rating: from 5 users


User rating
Spectacular
9
out of 10
Great Product, Great sound!
by bparrott03 - October 1, 2006
Pros:
great Sound , Commercial Free Music, 100% free radio broadcasts, Multicasts, Remote, Sub Wof. Control, Text display, ID3 tag compat., MP3/WMA compatible

Cons:
Nothing really. Its a awsome radio.

4 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.

User rating
Excellent
8
out of 10
POWER PACKED
by mikepow75 - May 17, 2007
Pros:
Clean Powerful sound

Cons:
Cumbersome Ipod Navigation


User rating
Spectacular
9
out of 10
Great product, better sound!
by duece1981 - April 21, 2007
Pros:
Good use of HD Radio and available features

Cons:
Too few options for fine tone adjustment


User rating
Perfect
10
out of 10
Great HD radio with lots of features
by faun - March 29, 2007
Pros:
Easy to install, great add ons, easy to use, great sound

Cons:
No cons found


User rating
Excellent
8
out of 10
This Is a Great Head Unit
by Nanook331 - January 14, 2007
Pros:
Commercial Free Music, 100% free radio broadcasts, Multicasts, Remote, Sub Wof. Control, Text display, ID3 tag compat., MP3/WMA compatible

Cons:
The display is not very flashy, but other than that no real complaints



Basic specs for JVC KD HDR1

Audio system car audio type-- Radio / HD radio / CD / MP3 player
Tuner bands type-- Radio / HD radio tuner
CD system type-- CD / MP3 player
Remote control type-- Remote control

http://reviews.cnet.com/4505-6729_7-31881912.html

you can get this for $130 after rebate at circuit city right now. with a free install too... man what a bargain. i've had it for about 2 weeks now and couldn't be happeir.

now i just need to get this amplifier installed to see if it will improve the one AM hd station that i really want to get.

i highly recommend the sirius tuner for this as well, works great and its so easy to preset your favorite channels and being plugged in direct improves the sound quality immensely.

Does anyone have any suggestions for competing car radio/CD players that compare to the JVC Kd-hdr1?

I want

HD radio reception
Good quailty analog tuner
Line input (1/8" stereo plug?)
MP3 CD Player
standard size
USB flash drive input would be nice


The JVC looks good, but I want to shop around. Thanks in advance.

It's a good unit. The HD Radio add-on other companies have alone costs the same price as the KD-HDR1. I wish other units had it built in but less than a handful do. So if you want units that are comparable with HD Radio built in, there isn't at the price. I'm looking into other more pricy features so I'm going to be selling it. Otherwise this is an excellent unit!

tipton, I assume based on your location that the one AM station you speak of is ESPN1250 (WEAE-AM).

I try to listen to Mike & Mike in the morning and Madden in the afternoon on my drive from Penn Township to Monroeville. I can get the analog station pretty well in this range, except when I'm under utility lines (phone) or overhead traffic lights when the static is unbearable and drowns out the station. Unfortunately that is for a significant portion of the drive, making me just give up trying to listen. Weather conditions (humidity level) also can make the static worse.

Is it likely that the HD broadcast would be free of that problem? I'd been looking at the JVC unit as a possibility before reading this thread. Unfortunately I missed the $40 rebate, but I probably won't buy for awhile so maybe another rebate will come along.

The HD will not solve your problem. If interference is bad enough to disturb your analog listening, it will be more than bad enough to knock out the HD.

That's what I sort of suspected, probably no signal at all instead of a staticy one. But I thought maybe since the HD signal is (I guess) just a bunch of 1's and 0's that it may be able to arrive intact without the added static. Because if you take the overhead wires away I can still receive this AM station with minimal static. That, and the thought that "HD radio makes FM like CD quality, and AM like FM quality."

Anyway, it still blows my mind that in the 21st century we're still dealing with low-powered AM stations. I'm less than 20 miles from Pittsburgh and there are places where it's just awful trying to tune any AM station in. Fortunately, finally all 3 major sports teams in town now broadcast their games on FM stations.

Some of us are of the opinion that "FM quality on AM" ain't exactly the case either. The best I've heard (KDIS, Los Angeles) sounds like a low quality Windows Media stream to me. Whether that's an improvement over full bandwidth analog AM is open to debate. YMMV.

However, I can assure you that the 1's and 0's aren't any better at surviving static than the analog signal is. The HD will lose its lock, the radio will go back to analog mode, and you'll hear the exact same static you're hearing now. If your radio has forced digital mode (the JVC does), you can have it go to silence instead.

Note that a few AM's have started popping up on the secondary HD channels of co-owned FM stations. If yours is one of them, that would solve your static problem.

96kbps isn't CD quality or even good-bitrate MP3/AAC/WMA quality. What I noticed is the noise floor dropped and there was better stereo seperation. It sounded like Sirius/XM radio which uses a similar bitrate. It has lossy compression artifacts which may or may not bother you.

Here is an intersting link to read...
http://www.rwonline.com/reference-room/iboc/05_rw_aes_3.shtml

I have two of these HU. I have one in my 04 F-150 FX4 Super Crew. It really rocks in my truck. My speakers are Kenwood 6 x 8. The fronts are high end model number I don't know came in a black box with red and gold letters on them. The rears I just put in low end Kenwoods. Sounds awesome.

My issue is.
I first bought this HU for my wifes car a 2003 Pontiac Vibe.
Her car has a factory amp. It came with a package MOON and Tunes from factory. She blew some of the speakers. So I got her the HDR1. Also Polk speakers CC had on sale buy one get free. Polk db6501 component for fronts and Polk db521 for rears. These are great speakers. CC installed it some how the harness incorporates the factory amp. I have the JVC amp gain set to low. Treble set to F6, R4, Bass F1, R4, her speakers will buzz and rattle at volume levels 18 and above with some bass. EQ set on rock.

I read somewhere that the factory amp and speaker are 2 ohms. I have asked at gen vibe forums about two months ago.and no one has posted anything since then. Does anyone know if this is true and how to correct this? Will this cause speakers to sound bad if amp is 2 ohms? I am going to buy some Dynamat for the doors to see if this helps with this irritating noise. :(

Ok. I've finally read through the posts but don't think this has been answered. Please provide link if it's been discussed before. How would the KS-U57 differ in functionality or use to the KS-PD100. Not sure I understand why anyone would want to purchase the KS-PD100 since it's $20 more but seems to do the same thing.

Nevermind. Actually found an ebay auction for the KS-U57 that lists what it doesn't do. No display no control. Just power and sound.

ralfwolf,

Actually, if iPod display/control is not a requirement, I don't understand why people by the U57 when the PXA04 will give you iPod connector, 3.5mm headphone jack and stereo RCA connectors. It will charge the iPod when connected via the iPod connector.

ralfwolf,

Actually, if iPod display/control is not a requirement, I don't understand why people by the U57 when the PXA04 will give you iPod connector, 3.5mm headphone jack and stereo RCA connectors. It will charge the iPod when connected via the iPod connector.

Thanks. That cable looks to be quite expensive. It's at least $35 even on ebay. I can get the PD100 for the same price. Question is, is the radio control usable. I've gone through two different in-dash receivers (returned both) so I know first hand that iPod control is difficult at best. I do like the song info being displayed though. Also, I like the idea that the iPod is hidden in the glove box all the time. I assume I can't have the PD100 *and* an aux connection at the same time.

Thanks. That cable looks to be quite expensive
I guess it all depends on how you define "expensive" :)

Question is, is the radio control usable.
No, it only passes the audio signal and charges the battery. You would have to manually control the iPod (or other digital device).

I mainly got it because I am interested in a mobile PC solution to my digital music woes. I figure I can use this as an input and, hey, if my friend stops by and happens to have an iPod or other mobile device, we can at least plug it in and play songs off of it. If someone else is in the car to "man" the iPod, then I wouldn't need the interface on the head unit.

$35-50 is actually quite cheap for an iPod controller. I've seen them go for over a hundred dollars for other brands of head unit. One of my friends has a BMW and it is *very* expensive for him to get iPod integration with the stock radio.

I guess it all depends on how you define "expensive" :)

I meant compared to the price of the PD100 which gives you head unit control. Like I said, I do like the availability of the AUX input but my primary use will be for iPod.


No, it only passes the audio signal and charges the battery. You would have to manually control the iPod (or other digital device).

Sorry, I should have been more clear. What I meant is the head unit control using the PD100 module usable? I've heard, and seen on other units, that head unit control of the iPod is usually sub standard. Just trying to figure out if I'd rather have head unit control or ipod control. Head unit control just seems cleaner to me compared to a dangling cable with an ipod at the end.

Sorry if this has been answered already, but I didn't see it in skimming: can you connect a Sirius tuner AND have an auxiliary input for an ipod at the same time (not using at the same time of course)?

Richard

I just got My JVC KD HDR1 up & running. Looking for sugestions on IF settings Auto- Wide ? I know what it does(wide band) but what works best for most ? I think I am getting AM HD locking in better with Wide for long range distance. Does it effect FM ? ... I know this would be for each speaker system, What has worked better for most of You for the Rock, Jazz, for Example. What about the CS II. Circle Sound A,B,C, User or Off . I know this would be for each install but wanting some suggestions... Plus: the CS on HD Auto or Off.

Does anyone have Ideas on the Settings on this Radio ? JVC said CS - A should be on Auto for future CS II broadcasts... I am still finding out is Auto - Wide is for AM only? Most good radios in the past does this for better audio on AM for 10 Khz. I have never had one that works for FM though...

I'm assuming Auto- wide is for FM to. If it was my radio i would set it on wide because i would try to pull in some distant stations that may come in good enough on the radio, depending on the area and quality of antenna. This may cause some noise or interference on some distant stations trying to come in but are too weak to be listenable sometimes. Auto mode i believe would make the sound mono when the radio thinks the station is too weak. It may make the radio less sensitive to distant stations when set in wide mode.
I hate my delco radio in my 2000 impala because when the radio thinks a station is not strong enough, the radio is switching to mono or is just compressing the sound; Even when the stations not even fading out. I live in Houston area and this radio does that to me all the time. I blame it on my radio and the built in antenna in window which are working together to fustrate me.
On the 2000 impala u need the radio to reset oil change light, change alarm setting and other stuff.
Otherwise i would have a jvc hd radio by now.

I would leave the CS function off on the radio for now inless you know that radio broadcasts are encodeing in hd using the C.S.

I thought the audio on the rear speakers sounded distorted with CS enabled and I now leave it off. If you look in the manual it will explain how to configure the User portion of the CS setting and what the 3 preset choices are for.

I don't know what the wide setting does.

JVC says to have it on Auto for when a Stations is broadcasting CS II it will come On. They did not say if anything on the Radio would show You was getting it... You can leave it Off for everything else as well. http://www.mobile.jvc.com/technical.jsp#feat_27 Here is some info on the CS-A ... http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/08-31-2005/0004097094&EDATE=/ This tells about what Focus does. http://www10.mcadcafe.com/nbc/articles/view_article.php?section=CorpNews&articleid=202455 http://www.srslabs.com/consumers/technologies.asp

Wide: is good for local stations if You get them good for best quality AM & FM... Auto: would be better for long range. All My AM HD stations are 75 miles plus. I was hopeing someone had experimented some with Auto - Wide in AM HD ? GE Long Range Radio has had this for AM for a long time. But not for the FM. I do love the (Hold) for both HD or Analog. If you don't get HD good You can turn it off. If You know it is going to stop when going under a tree or underpass in HD, I don't mind it just go off & then come back. This keeps the going back & forth with delay. I have had a Cambridge Soundworks HD for 7 Mo. AM HD is tricky with more noise on any Radio. This Radio is very good for Long Distance on both bands...

My wife needed to use my pickup truck today and I have the JVC KD-HDR1 installed in it. She wanted to use her new Slacker G1 radio. I told her no problem because it has an iPod input. However, I go out to connect and when I push SRC I get only DISC or FM1/FM2/FM2/AM. I never get an option of EXT IN. I had used this feature in the past and I see the manual mentions that I need to be connected to the source, which I was, but I never was offered that choice. Can anybody suggest any ways to fix this problem?

I think your settings got messed up and the "EXT IN" setting may be on "CHANGER" instead of "EXT IN". Look at page 17/18 of your operation manual. If you don't have it: Press and hold the "SEL" button until the display shows some setting choice. Press the <<< or >>> on the round selector until you see "EXT IN", then turn the round volume knob to switch from "CHANGER" to "EXT IN". Finish by hitting the "SEL" button again.

I now see page 24 of the manual says to do the same thing if "EXT IN" does not appear.

How do I re-set the JVC KD-HDR1. The manual suggests a re-set as a troubleshooting technique, but I can't seem to tell how to re-set it.

http://resources.jvc.com/Resources/00/00/91/LVT1470-002A.pdf

I always lose my settings when I disconnect the battery. You can accomplish the same thing by pulling the radio fuse.

Thank you very much for the reply. Yes, it was loss of power that I suspect may have caused the problem. We were out of town last weekend. When we returned home Sunday I found a dead battery on my Chevrolet Silverado and since then I can no longer select EXT IN once again. I did finally find out how to re-set the radio and the problem was the same as before and the solution was the same.

http://resources.jvc.com/Resources/00/00/91/LVT1470-001A.pdf