Why You Can Trust CNET JVC KT-HDP1 Portable HD Radio review: JVC KT-HDP1 Portable HD Radio
JVC KT-HDP1 Portable HD Radio
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
HD Radio may be increasing in popularity, but the number of car stereos that come with built-in HD compatibility is still very limited. The JVC KT-HDP1 is an elegant solution for drivers who want to receive HD Radio without replacing their existing car stereo and without installing a clunky HD module in the cabin. The JVC KT-HDP1 can be used either as a conduit for HD Radio programming, transferring audio via its built-in FM transmitter to an existing car stereo, or as a true HD Radio receiver, hard wired to the existing stereo to deliver the improved audio quality of a digital signal.
Design
In contrast to Sony's unwieldy XT-100HD, the JVC KT-HDP1 is an elegant solution for bringing HD radio into the car. And with a sleek, ergonomic design, a bright (albeit monochrome) display, and straightforward control cluster, it has the added benefit of being compatible with any in-car stereo that has FM playback capabilities. The buttons on the JVC KT-HDP1 are clearly laid out and easy to operate while driving along. A row of hard buttons above the dot-matrix display give drivers the ability to select between three display configuration, change the current frequency band, adjust volume, and get one-touch access to the menu. A corresponding row of buttons of under the display gives drivers a means of toggling between six preset stations.
The JVC KT-HDP1's display can be set to show readouts in either a black-on-white or white-on-black color scheme. While listening to FM radio stations, the display can be set to show the frequency of the station in large numbers or a graphic showing real-time EQ levels. When the system is locked onto an HD Radio signal, the display shows information for station name, artist name, track name, and whatever other text information the individual station bundles with its digital signal. Pressing the display button can make the artist/song title appear in oversize letters that take up the entire screen. While this makes it easy to read song tags at a glance, the letters are so big that only five can fit on the screen at once, making it difficult to see what's playing without waiting the requisite 10 seconds for the big letters to starts scrolling across the screen.
Another minor gripe we have with the design of the JVC KT-HDP1 is the arrangement of its volume buttons, which live rather inconveniently in between the Menu and Band buttons, making them difficult to locate on the fly. Also, to turn the volume up or down using the device itself, drivers have to either hold down the "Vol +" or "Vol -" button for a long time (a feat that requires not a little dexterity, as the buttons are so small and inconspicuous) or push the required button up or down repeatedly. In our test of the JVC KT-HDP1, we found it far easier to use the volume dial on our Sony CDX-520 car stereo than to fiddle about with the hard buttons on the HD receiver.
In contrast to the kludgy interface for adjusting volume, the JVC KT-HDP1 does have a very useful four-way button cluster for HD and standard FM radio stations. For those who want to listen only to HD stations, the buttons at the top and bottom of the cluster set the tuner to search only for stations transmitting an HD signal. Those to the left and right search for any available FM/AM/HD signal radio station. In practice, we found this to be an ingeniously simple means of differentiating between HD and non-HD output. The button cluster is also used to navigate through the JVC KT-HDP1's menus for display options and audio tweaking.
Performance
The JVC KT-HDP1 can be connected to your car stereo in one of four ways, depending on whether you want to invest in a professional install (or try pulling your dashboard apart on your own), and whether or not your stereo has an auxiliary-input jack. The two more permanent installs require routing the car's own FM antenna through the JVC KT-HDP1's HD connection unit, which is then connected to the antenna port on the back of the car stereo. With this done, output from the JVC KT-HDP1 can be routed to the stereo using either an auxiliary input jack, or, if your car doesn't come with a 1/8-inch input jack, using a wired FM transmitter cable.
For those who don't want to go to the trouble of removing their car stereo--or the expense of paying someone else to do it--the JVC KT-HDP1 can pick up FM and HD programming using a sleeve-type input antenna that uses a thin self-adhesive component, which can be stuck to the inside of the windshield. Output can then be sent to the car's own FM receiver by a patch cable to the auxiliary input jack, or via another output sleeve antenna. The receiver itself also has a built-in FM transmitter, which appears to be adequate for streaming HD, FM, and AM programming at short range.
For our evaluation of the JVC KT-HDP1, we hooked it up each of the four possible ways to establish the difference between the HD signal with the various connection methods. As we suspected, the hard-wired connections worked best, although we were surprised at the difference in sound quality between the aux-in connection (which is the only true digital connection of the four options) and the hard-wired FM connection. Using the aux-in jack on our stereo, HD programs sounded crystal clear, with crisp sound separation and a rich output across the acoustic range. With the hard-wired FM connection, the sound was still clear, but we did notice the faint fizzle of FM static. With the sleeve-type antenna, the sound quality was predictably fuzzier, although there was very little difference between the audio quality via the FM transmitter and the aux input. In all four cases, the sound quality of the HD Radio signal via the JVC KT-HDP1 was far clearer than the corresponding programming being broadcast on the FM band.
The JVC KT-HDP1 comes with an impressive range of audio control options, including five preset EQ configurations as well as a 10-band user-configured EQ, tone control for bass and treble, and a setting for loudness. As we found in our test, the EQ controls of the receiver can be combined with those of the car's stereo to compound signal processing, but this can lead to distortion of the output. For the clearest audio output, we found it better to turn up the volume on the JVC KT-HDP1 rather than on the car stereo, despite the fact that this was the more difficult means of adjusting volume as mentioned above.
In sum
The JVC KT-HDP1 is a stylish, inexpensive way to bring HD Radio programming into your car. Despite a couple of design niggles, we are generally impressed with its usability and range of programming options. We also like the multiple options that drivers have for connecting it to their car stereos, but if you want the true audio benefit of HD, we suggest a hard-wired install.