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The Beginning of the end for HD Radio

rbc said:
Did they shut off HD1? If they didn't go back to analog, it sounds like it's just a change in programming. That's the advantage of HD Radio. You have flexibility to add and remove program streams without making significant changes to the broadcast equipment.
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Nope. They just pulled the HD2 channels. WRIT HD2 had been running the “Real Oldies” format for 10 years. WKKV HD2 had been running the Breeze Soft AC format beginning in late 2018. Their sister FMs (WRNW, WMIL) still have HD2 channels for now.

The ones they shut off were PPM encoded and had some small cume, but obviously not enough to keep them up and running.

WKKV’s HD2 just had it’s software fixed to allow PAD Artist - Title to show only 2 months before shutting it off. No idea why they bothered.
 
JeremyAndrews said:
The ones they shut off were PPM encoded and had some small cume, but obviously not enough to keep them up and running.
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Remember, much of the staff at most stations is fired or suspended. Maintaining an HD 2, HD 3 or HD 4 takes a little time and money. Not needed now.

And there is a benefit in killing the channels beyond HD (1): the simulcast channel of the analog one has the full bandwidth. That means better digital quality.
 
Andy Travis said:
Do you know anyone paying to download music in 2020?
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I know quite a few who like to get the songs and do mixes and create "mix tapes" in digital format.

I do that a lot, too, and have a bunch of different mood sets I can play in the house or the car.
 
DavidEduardo said:
I know quite a few who like to get the songs and do mixes and create "mix tapes" in digital format.

I do that a lot, too, and have a bunch of different mood sets I can play in the house or the car.
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Same here. In fact, I prefer to build and maintain my own collection as I've had experiences with streaming services taking away tracks and/or albums I've enjoyed without any warning or explanation.
 
rbc said:
That's the advantage of HD Radio. You have flexibility to add and remove program streams without making significant changes to the broadcast equipment.
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Agreed. I would add that it's not just turning on and off channels. It's also allocating digital bitrate. Due to the COVID-19 situation, we had to change our station's HD programming to accommodate changes in our community's needs. All my students are producing programs at home in record numbers; our local city council depends more on live meeting coverage than ever. We're even Broadcasting church services from pastors' homes. So now I need three stereo channels instead of the two stereo channels, and two mono channels that we're currently using.

Temporarily, I'll be slightly lowering the bitrate of HD1 and give it to HD3 so it can handle stereo. HD4 is on extended hybrid, so it'll stay as-is. Right now, HD4 serves as a forum channel where families "post" their experiences living in quarantine so it can easily remain mono. It's turned out to be a very poignant and essential channel at the moment. After we get back to "normal," I'll be changing our HD service back to its previous configuration.

I hope everyone is staying safe.

Ralph
KVCB-LP
 
DavidEduardo said:
Remember, much of the staff at most stations is fired or suspended. Maintaining an HD 2, HD 3 or HD 4 takes a little time and money. Not needed now.

And there is a benefit in killing the channels beyond HD (1): the simulcast channel of the analog one has the full bandwidth. That means better digital quality.
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In this particular case, dropping the subs has not improved the audio quality. Listening now, I’m thinking they might have simply have shut them off because of STL or other equipment issues. WRIT’s HD struggled with audio quality last year and is still having problems (Not matching, delay, etc) WKKV HD2 always sounded overmodulated (No processing) Had some really harsh distortion at times. Today I’m noticing that the main sounds like it has lower bitrate even without the HD2. I’m guessing they might resolve some of this when they’re able to get everybody back in the office.
 
DavidEduardo said:
And there is a benefit in killing the channels beyond HD (1): the simulcast channel of the analog one has the full bandwidth. That means better digital quality.
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The commercial stations that I hear are all processing their HD1s to sound exactly the same as their analogue channels; same overly compressed volume, same EQ, same everything.
 
ai4i said:
The commercial stations that I hear are all processing their HD1s to sound exactly the same as their analogue channels; same overly compressed volume, same EQ, same everything.
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That is true, especially lower-powered stations, such as ours, or stations that depend on their fringe coverage.

We have to minimize the jarring difference between HD and analog because all of our car listeners will experience blending between the two at some point -- maybe multiple times. In our case, the advantage is that it practically eliminates the negative experience caused by the multipath and signal blocking interference that plagues many LPFM stations. This is because HD seems to react differently and fill in when its analog counterpart fails and vice versa. For us to take advantage of this phenomenon, the HD1 audio has to be "dumbed down" to blend with the analog counterpart.

This may be less of an issue with higher-powered stations, but for an LPFM, class D, or A, a car doesn't have to drive too many miles to reach the end of our service contour. Properly blended HD does seem to help.

Full disclosure: I'm not an engineer. I'm a music teacher with an LPFM :)

Ralph
KVCB-LP/HD
 
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ai4i said:
The commercial stations that I hear are all processing their HD1s to sound exactly the same as their analogue channels; same overly compressed volume, same EQ, same everything.
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Most of the audio processing purchased by FM stations already come equipped with outputs that include: analog-L/R, analog composite stereo, AES L/R, and AES-L/R-HD output. As mentioned; this is so there are one set of processing settings used by analog and HD-1. There is also delay baked into the analog outputs to match the HD-1 audio.
 
ai4i said:
And as I have mentioned, this is why I always prefer HD subchannels
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We use Breakaway One Broadcast software designed by Leif Claesson for FM and HD1, but the HD1 is processed separately even though it's an exact simulcast of the FM program. To me, it just sounds better to do it that way. I also try to match our processing for smooth transitions to other nearby stations on the dial so that there is a smooth experience even as our listeners tune away from us to go to them. We always aim to be good neighbors. :)

HD2, HD3, and HD4 are each processed using Orban-1101 software. Their settings depend on the programming we present and can change using presets I've loaded into the software. I switch back and forth between HD channels to see if there is a pleasant experience between them.

Haha, I might be overthinking it a bit, mainly since kids produce the programming elements, so it's not always on point, but it's fun to see how good we can sound.

Ralph
KVCB
 
For being "dead", most local FM signals here in my metro have HD1's, as well as HD2's. Some still have HD3's. One pair of stations has issues with their HD2's for a couple days about a month ago, and brought them back on. Even corona hasn't apparently done them in -- yet.
 
boombox4 said:
For being "dead", most local FM signals here in my metro have HD1's, as well as HD2's. Some still have HD3's. One pair of stations has issues with their HD2's for a couple days about a month ago, and brought them back on. Even corona hasn't apparently done them in -- yet.
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I was called in to fix an audio problem with HD4 at 2 am - July 5th! bad A/D converter in the audio chain for school announcements [haha I only have myself to blame for that one.]

For HD being dead, the listeners sure let me know if there's even a slight problem with their favorite show.

We actually run ambient sounds on HD2 that listeners sleep to at night. Haha, a program designed to help people relax at night!! One of my students said, "Hey Mr. Martin, I just recorded frogs for two hours. It's for HD2." We're sure having a lot of fun with this dead medium.
 
Ralph Martin said:
I was called in to fix an audio problem with HD4 at 2 am - July 5th! bad A/D converter in the audio chain for school announcements [haha I only have myself to blame for that one.]

For HD being dead, the listeners sure let me know if there's even a slight problem with their favorite show.

We actually run ambient sounds on HD2 that listeners sleep to at night. Haha, a program designed to help people relax at night!! My student say, "Hey Mr. Martin, I just recorded frogs for two hours. It's for HD2." We're sure having a lot of fun with this dead medium.
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How many listeners called in?
 
KB1OKL said:
Yup, the money being wasted by these broadcasters is amazing.
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How would you suggest that we join the rest of the world in transitioning from analog to digital broadcasting?
I would say that analog-only receivers have no business being sold any longer and that the government needs to take the bull by the testicles.
They did this with the all-channel TV rule in the 60s, the "must include FM rule" whenever that happened, and most recently, the closure of analog TV receiver sales.
 
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