The station with the best sounding audio?

[austingrace]

Hello all. I wanted to start a topic for all the audio nerds on these boards. I was wondering what everyone thinks is the best sounding stations are audio wise? I'd have to say my top picks are z 88.3 and hot 95.9. next I would have to say WMMO then sunny 105.9. I'm sorry but most cc stations i have heard have crap processing. You can clearly hear the bit ratyness of certain files over some cc stations. I can't wait to see what you all add. 96.5 sounds good as well for what it is. The magic games sound way better now.

 

[DJ Mo]

You can also hear some of the bitrateness on the station I'm on, WPRK-FM 91.5.
We have a new engineer (who also does 95.7 The Hog in Daytona & taught me at CSB School of Broadcasting here in Orlando), so our station sounds louder than it did a year ago when we had a different engineer.

I have an HD Radio. The one that sounds the best in HD is WUCF-FM 89.9. However, in regular FM, it doesn't sound as good.

The loudest I think is Rumba 100.3 or 102 Jamz.

The station that probably gets my vote for best processing in regular FM radios (without HD) would be Sunny 105.9.
WMMO would be next, because I can hear the quality difference in voices when I know they're voicetracking.

WHTQ 96.5 would have been my top pick before they flipped & went mono.

 

[Ai4i]

Best way to compare is when all stations are simulcasting something like a major presidential speach, but then, they could have different quality feeds.
We are old enough to remember a day when almost every station on the air ran this at high noon.
Not in the Orlando area, but experience has taught us that the secular noncoms tend to have the least processing (WUCF was mentioned).

 

[austingrace]

I'd like to give a second vote to WPRK as well. ESP since they came back last week. It honestly sounds better than before and the signal is a bit better here in Altamonte like i said in another topic. Someone said something about apopka. Apopka is farther from winter park than Altamonte so i don't think it would matter to you either way. I have proven my theory on WPRK here in Altamonte by driving with it on a car radio. Before WPRK was known to drop the stereo during movement here in Altamonte. It does here and there but not as bad as it used to. Plus you have to remember, you have Holly hill and cocoa on the frequency as well. If they were not on, WPRK would be a whole lot better off. I can tell you that holly hill was the one I had blasting in most times when WPRK was gone. Cocoa would come in at times but holly hill would win out most times. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on anything. BTW I was in the car with someone else. I unfortunatly cant' drive or else I may be dead by now. LOL.

 

[Ai4i]

Many years ago, we had a ten element FM Yagi antenna mounted fifty feet above the roof of our building of residence in Gainesville, FL.
It was wild, we could rotate the thing and choose between three or four stations on the same frequencies on a regular basis.
Talahassee-Thomasville, Brunswick-Savanah, Tampa-St Pete, and Miami-Ft Lauderdale all share a few frequencies.
That was in a time when most stations were not on kilofoot towers, so I don't know if the situation could be repeated, or if the nearer stations would dominate their channels.
BTW...this one does not get clipped at the end.

 

[vadar]

Where can I get that Yagi??? ;D
I brought this topic up a few months ago, my vote still goes to Sunny 1059, not only a great signal, but the audio is clean, not overly compressed and sounds smooth. CC stations have a whole different sound to them. I too did like WHTQ (96 Rock) before they flipped to Talk.

 

[austingrace]

Yes. 105.9 sounds good as well. That is one of the ones I started off this thread with. I will agree that wucf's HD sounds incredible. It sounds better than regular fm. I'm sorry but most CC stations I have heard in the state sound very loud and very bit raty at times. I'd have to say the best CC station I have heard was magic. I guess that CC has the files on their computer systems compressed with very lossy codecs. Cox has some good sounding stations as well audio wise. 96.5 did sound very good as a music station. 103.1's audio has gone down hill in my oppinion since the flip. When they were smooth jazz they had the best audio right up there with 88.3. Their stereo separation was really good.

 

[DJ Mo]

I'd like to give a second vote to WPRK as well. ESP since they came back last week. It honestly sounds better than before and the signal is a bit better here in Altamonte like i said in another topic. Someone said something about apopka. Apopka is farther from winter park than Altamonte so i don't think it would matter to you either way. I have proven my theory on WPRK here in Altamonte by driving with it on a car radio. Before WPRK was known to drop the stereo during movement here in Altamonte. It does here and there but not as bad as it used to. Plus you have to remember, you have Holly hill and cocoa on the frequency as well. If they were not on, WPRK would be a whole lot better off. I can tell you that holly hill was the one I had blasting in most times when WPRK was gone. Cocoa would come in at times but holly hill would win out most times. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on anything. BTW I was in the car with someone else. I unfortunatly cant' drive or else I may be dead by now. LOL.

The current sound of WPRK was partly & indirectly my doing. 8)
I actually referred the staff of WPRK (the ones who make decisions) to one of our current engineers.
It's the same guy that engineers for 95.7 The Hog in Daytona & taught me at CSB School of Broadcasting.
I do agree that WPRK sounds nice & loud ever since he came in.

I live near the intersection of 434 & 436 where Altamonte changes to Apopka.
Reception of WPRK is about the same on my end in the car.
However, all my FM radio antennas (dipoles, rabbit ears, & single wired) in my apartment are in the "sweet spot" where I can pick up WPRK the clearest.

 

[austingrace]

Ah so my ears were not lying to me afterall. I remember at times back even a month ago WPRK would have partial stereo. Things would favor the left or right channels. It was not just in one channel but one channel would be a bit weaker than the other. Glad to see you guys made things a lot better. I know that WPRK was able to put the antenna a bit higher. WPRK is becoming one of my fav radio stations in this area. It's real nice to hear music I have not heard before or have not heard in a long time on the radio. Now if we just could get a really good AM music station and that made good use of the sound that can be had on AM that would be cool. I know, I'm old school but what can I say? I really miss the true oldies. One of very few formats like that I can stand. I'm not sure if you guys knew this but Scott Shannon actually DJed at WABB in the Pensacola area. When 97.5 WABB did the last day of the top 40 format they were doing flash backs. Now that was very good radio. I had the ootunes on that online stream all day. Sorry for the OT stuff. A little more OT but I have noticed that 810 plays music on the weekend at times. It's too bad that 810's signal sucks at night but I can hear them OK here at night with the PL-390. I have to go outside though. I heard reggae on Saturday night and that was cool to hear.

 

[JH_Radio]

As far as Orlando radio goes and the stations I can get, nobody stands out for good audio.
I cannot get all of the stations though. WPRK is a not, here its WNDd/Silver Springs that comes in.
WTRS comes in wel too, but 102.5 is a translator too.

 

[Ai4i]

Where can I get that Yagi??? ;D

Try a landfill!
We are talking a 3'rd of a century ago, and I meant on most nights, rarely when the sun was up.

 

[austingrace]

Hello to all. I want to bring this one back. WPOZ is still up there in the audio department and always has been. Sunny 105.9 is still there and 101.9. But this PPM crap has really made some station sound like crap. The best sounding AM is still WDBO. Get a good AM radio and 580 sounds almost FM quality.

 

[davideduardo]

But this PPM crap has really made some station sound like crap.

It's not the PPM encoding itself that causes audio deterioration... it's the processing some stations do to make sure that no opportunity to encode is lost.

 

[EBFeaster]

My 3 best sounding stations in Orlando would be Sunny105.9, WMMO, & Z88.3. I may be a bit biased on that last one. Since PPM started, audio quality has been going downhill as stations crank the processing & loudness up to “11” (Who got the Spinal Tap reference?) to make sure the digital encoding can be recorded properly by the meters.

 

[byron]

audio quality has been going downhill as stations crank the processing & loudness up to “11” (Who got the Spinal Tap reference?) to make sure the digital encoding can be recorded properly by the meters.

This.

I find this particular pro-encoding engineering habit makes any big FM station that does it incapable of being enjoyed. My ears will find it in like 2-3 seconds of tuning into it, and once there I can't lose it. It sounds like I'm listening to the ringing effect of audio with my ears setup between two pie trays. Destroys rock, destroys the acoustics in almost any songs actually, and destroys the audio quality of music beds behind any promo during breaks. It happens on AM too. DAE in Tampa sounds terrible because of it, as so does every Cox, IHR and Entercom station. It just sounds like they're all fed out of the same nasty audio chain. To imagine this is done "for ensuring the ratings" just boggles the mind, but maybe not everyone hears it like an audiophile type will.

I hate when I land on station airing a song I haven't heard in a while, and it's ruined by the pie tin effect.

To stay on topic, anytime I'm in the market I'll go through the dial to see what's changed or what things sound like. WPOZ always has a quality to it that places it far above any other offerings in the market.

Byron

 

[byron]

....so does every Cox, IHR and Entercom station. It just sounds like they're all fed out of the same nasty audio chain...

Sorry. Not Entercom. Every Beasley one. Basically every station that cares more about the PPM hearing them than an actual set of human ears. Must've had the ringing effect on my mind as I typed this.

Byron

 

[austingrace]

Can I vote for WPRK and WDBO AM? Another station that sounds good is WLBE. That is if you are able to catch it without much static. Another one with good audio is Sunny 105.9. Then again 105.9 has always had good audio. The worst audio would have to go to the iheart stations and the PPM encoding they use. Also Z88.3, hot 95.9 and G 106.3 are also up there. Z88.3 has always had good sounding audio and beats a lot of the big guys at that game. I'm not a huge CCM guy but for some reason I have been finding my radio on 88.3 more. Plus you will not find anything more live and local besides these guys and WPCV. That one actually has good audio as well.

 

[austingrace]

How about for cool oldies 102.5 when it was on for 2 days? Dean and company you guys absolutely could have the oldies game on lock in town. I mean cool 105.9 never sounded that good. I don't know how you all do it but z88.3 and company are the best for audio in this market.

 

[someguyonline]

I don't know how you all do it but z88.3 and company are the best for audio in this market.

I've heard rumors they've got an inside relationship with somebody who manages airwaves (and a lot of other things).

 

[austingrace]

New answer to this question. Any station that does not encode with this PPM crap is the best sounding station. This PPM has ruined every station I have heard. Even awesome sounding cox radio stations sound like garbage. so thanks for ruining radio PPM...... And somehow, talk makes it that much worse... I guess music is doable but listen to talk programming and you will long for the pre ppm days. at least I do......