BE Will Adopt New Ibiquity Codec

Calling its action a “strong showing of support for HD Radio,” Broadcast Electronics said it will begin shipping units with the new HDC codec as early as this fall.
“BE engineers participated in critical listening tests of HDC that compared CD source material to that of HDC coded material,” the company stated.
“HDC demonstrated to BE’s satisfaction the ability to get across high-quality audio at the extremely low bit rates needed for AM HD Radio (at both the core bit rate of 20 kbps and the secondary bit rate of 36 kbps for enhanced frequency response). The codec likewise demonstrated excellent audio quality at the bit rates used for digital FM (96kbps and 64kbps),” BE stated.
The manufacturer said it will update its generator product line and begin mailing to stations a software upgrade with the new HDC codec as soon as it is released by Ibiquity Digital Corp. BE makes HD Radio generators, exciters and transmitters.
“ASi 10 and FSi 10 signal generators for digital AM and FM could ship from the factory with the new codec installed as early as the fall timeframe,” it announced. “At the same time, the company will begin offering a simple software upgrade on CD-ROM at no charge for existing customers who purchased BE HD Radio signal generators. The company’s HD Radio transmitter and exciter lines are unaffected by the codec change.”
BE said it has shipped approximately 30 HD Radio systems and believes it has the largest number of installed units by a manufacturer to date.
“There’s little doubt that this is the improvement digital radio needs,” Vice President of RF Systems Tim Bealor said in the statement.