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The FM broadcast in the United States starts at 88.0 MHz and ends at 108.0 MHz. The band is divided into 100 channels, each 200 kHz (0.2 MHz) wide.

Both CDs and MP3s have a maximum sampling rate of 44.1kHz (kilohertz); high-resolution music can have a sampling rate of between 96kHz and 352.8kHz. A vast majority of high-resolution music files have a sampling rate of 96kHz or 192kHz, both of which are appreciably higher than the 44.1kHz cap on other digital files.

A challenge HD Radio has faced is the lack of a federal mandate to convert, as was in place for digital television, Bass said. Additionally, there was ?so much consolidation in FM radio that there wasn't much interest in having a range of new services within local markets,? he said.

For all that, though, HD Radio isn't going anywhere anytime soon. The fact that GM elected to nix the feature in a number of models may be a bad sign, since consumer adoption of the format is so intrinsically linked to new car purchases, but the overall install base continued to tick up after that decision.

48kbps: AM radio. 64kbps: FM radio. 96kbps: Near CD quality. 128kbps: DAB quality.

It's not likely that you will get better reception as the HD signal being broadcast with the analog signal is lower power. The base analog signal needs to be fairly strong before any HD radio can lock onto the digital signal.

It offers better sound quality The HD Radio sound quality delivers deeper bass, higher treble, more stereo separation, and a greater dynamic range (the difference between the loudest and quietest sounds) than FM or AM signals.

HD Radio receivers are available at local Electronics retailers and online. To see a list of retailers, visit the 'Get A Radio' section of HDRadio.com.

The HD Radio sound quality delivers deeper bass, higher treble, more stereo separation, and a greater dynamic range (the difference between the loudest and quietest sounds) than FM or AM signals. At its best, HD Radio pushes FM sound quality closer to that of CDs and makes AM broadcasts resemble those of analog FM.

Sample rateQuality levelFrequency range22,050 HzNear FM radio (high?end multimedia)0?11,025 Hz32,000 HzBetter than FM radio (standard broadcast rate)0?16,000 Hz44,100 HzCD0?22,050 Hz48,000 HzStandard DVD0?24,000 Hz2 more rows