I am disappointed in this adapter. The biggest failing is that you cannot save a subchannel as a favorite. In my area we have several stations that broadcast the usual commercial rubbish on analog and their HD1 but have interesting second subchannels with Jazz and Blues. I cannot save the subchannel as a favorite so each time the unit is powered up it defaults to the primary subchannel and I have to switch manually to the desired subchannel. Sony's own XDR-F1HD table top tuner does this correctly. The second issue is you cannot force it to analog-only so if you are driving in a marginal area for the HD it drops in and out and you have to select the regular built-in tuner in your Sony head unit, which is not particularly convenient when driving. Sony must have known this was to be used in a mobile installation and such dropouts would be an issue when on the move. For $50 (considering the XDR-F1HD price and features) these problems could be forgiven but for this price (almost what I paid for the head unit) it cannot be.

I purchased this unit to combine with my Sony XNV-770BT Head Unit. The unit itself works fine and does a good job receiving HD Radio stations. Where the unit fails is in it's integration with the Sony XNV-770BT. The HD Tuner only offers a minimal subset of the features available from the normal non HD Tuner built into the HU. Since the Sony XNV-770BT was released in Fall 2010 this tells me that Sony doesn't really try to support the HD Tuner.

For example, via XNV-770BT standard Tuner when you store a station it shows the Preset station # and the station stored. For the HD tuner integration it only shows you the preset button # 1-6. The standard tuner offers a PTY List that allows you to select stations based on categories like "Adult Hits", "Soft Rock", "Top 40", "Country", etc. This feature isn't even offered by the HD Tuner. The Tuner is thus very very out of date when compared to Sony's current line of radio tuner feature set.

If you know what stations you want to listen to and they come in HD then this may be a worth while investment. But you'll probably still want to use the standard radio tuner too. For this you'll need an antenna splitter like Metra 40-UV44 Female to 2 Male Y Antenna Adapter.

Sony's customer support will tell you that you don't need it. but you probably will since they don't disable the tuner selection on the XNV-770BT if it has no antenna signal. This means you'll get static.

I'm disappointed. I got this unit so I could hear some of the local stations better than in regular FM. Yes, they are at the ends of the dial, but still, I expected to hear them. Instead, I may have to circumvent the unit to even listen to them. Installation was easy, I just needed to find the right location under the seat and string wires. It works well with the Sony radio that goes with it. It just isn't that great a tuner for me. Sorry. I should have saved my money.

This HD Tuner is very easy to install and a perfect compliment to your new or old radio receiver. I love having all the options HD gives you and many, many stations broadcast on HD now. Great CLEAR sound and a great Crutchfield price to boot. Very happy with my purchase.

Does exactly what its supposed to do. You can tell the difference its like someone put more tweeters in your car. The music is more crisp and clear. It gets a little hot and depending on the car it could be tricky to figure out where you want it.

I purchased this along with the CDX-GT820IP. Both work great together. The installation was kinda tricky, of course, that's probably because of my inexperience. It's no more difficult than installing an amp, which I had never done before. Now that I have it up and running, I can say that it was well worth the effort. It's true, the FM is just under CD quality, and the multicasting is awesome in that I
have so many more choices for music when I'm on the road. When I tune to a station, it acquires the HD signal within seconds, much shorter than I had expected it to take. I love that some radio stations send artist and song title info, which shows up nicely on my radio display. Unlike other reviewers, I did not have trouble storing the HD stations. I
did notice that when scrolling presets it scrolls through all three HD FM bands, which confused me at first when I would have 3 different preset #3's for
example. Analog FM reception is greatly improved as well, although since I installed it along with my new head unit I can't be sure which one gets the credit. The UniLink passthrough will also let me use my CD changer when I get around to installing that.
All in all, a fantastic product. I would rather have
not had to install this and instead had the HD Radio tuner built-in. Other manufacturers do this, why can't Sony? Also, it's a tough call whether or not this is worth the money, but if you consider that HD has no monthly fee I suppose it's not bad.

I purchased Sony's CDX-GT710 and the XT-100HD last year and found the time to
install them this past winter. The HD unit is quite an improvement and it's true that
FM is like listening to a CD. The sound improvement alone really helps in a Miata
convertible especially when the top is down.

The stereo unit is quite an improvement over the stock 1996 Mazda stereo. I must
say the buttons are quite tiny (like on a Blackberry) so precision is a must when
going for station presets. If any HD channel is interrupted for some reason then it
does revert back to that FM channel until it can reacquire the HD signal again. Then
you'll have to hit that preset again or Seek+ to get back to additional HD broadcasts
on that channel. Every time you change stations then the unit has to lock in the HD
signal again. Once done then HD or HD1 appears and any additional HD broadcasts
are instant on that channel...until you change stations again.

To resolve the dead "TUNER" source as mentioned in prior reviews you only need to
do two things. First, purchase an antenna splitter (female to two male) adapter cable
and wire it to your car stereo's default and to the XT-100HD unit. Next, when wiring
everything behind the car stereo, be sure to wire the antenna power from both the
stereo unit and the XT-100HD. This allows both the "TUNER" and the "HD" sources
to power up the antenna. The only drawback is that the antenna will power down
and power up as you scroll through the different sources that do and don't require
the antenna.

If you choose to wire your car this way then you will be able to show family and
friends the audio difference between HD and FM; be able to compare signal strength
and audio quality over distances; and you will have enabled the "TUNER" source
again since it remains to be an option on the stereo unit anyway.

Over all, two great purchases and a good match together. Don't forget to purchase
a carrying case for the removable faceplate.

If you live outside a major metro area, than the HD signal will come and go
depending on terrain.......a very fustratrating listen overall between the
secondary stations dropping and the primary switching between analog
and digital signals

Had I known this when I purchased, I would of held off until the technology
improves.....or goes away

Should have gone HD radio a long time ago. The quality of the sound amazes me. It definitley sounds better than regular FM and there are a lot of HD stations in my area, some of them commercial free.

I also installed this with my CDX-GT610Ui. I admit I was skeptical at first dropping $100, but with the $50 rebate its a no brainer. Whether HD radio will give satellite a run for its money, I dont know, but it does sound a heck of a lot better. The FM radio sounds a lot better, and the AM almost soudns like FM, although there are only a few AM channels in HD. Overall, worth it for $50 after rebate!