106.7 Audio Processing Issues

[BarryATL]

What is going on with 106.7's processing? I was listening to them this afternoon. When they went from music to the traffic, I had to turn up the radio. The audio level then dropped again during the traffic and I turned the radio up again. When they went back to music it blew me away. On some of the songs the audio seems to fade a little and then come back up.

The analog and HD1 audio levels do not match. I live in an area that drops in and out of HD on 106.7 so it is annoying. It is a just a slight difference in level, but it is enough to notice every time it changes. I do not get this on the other HD stations.

Overall, the compression rate has been dropped tremendously. I have always that 106.7 was so compressed that it verged on an AM sounding station. Now, it seems they have gone in the opposite direction. Even if they are getting it ready for voice, it is not.

So, all of you engineering types (you know who you are), could someone please drop a gentle hint to one of the Cumulus guys?

 

[wpb1999]

I agree. I have actually been to the new Int. North site and it looks nice, at least the new Kicks studio, but I have no clue as to where 106.7 is broadcasting from. A box?

 

[secondchoice]

What is going on with 106.7's processing? I was listening to them this afternoon. When they went from music to the traffic, I had to turn up the radio. The audio level then dropped again during the traffic and I turned the radio up again. When they went back to music it blew me away. On some of the songs the audio seems to fade a little and then come back up.

The analog and HD1 audio levels do not match. I live in an area that drops in and out of HD on 106.7 so it is annoying. It is a just a slight difference in level, but it is enough to notice every time it changes. I do not get this on the other HD stations.

Overall, the compression rate has been dropped tremendously. I have always that 106.7 was so compressed that it verged on an AM sounding station. Now, it seems they have gone in the opposite direction. Even if they are getting it ready for voice, it is not.

So, all of you engineering types (you know who you are), could someone please drop a gentle hint to one of the Cumulus guys?

I am not one of the Cumulus guys, but right now they (for the sake of their jobs) are only concentrating in the 106.7 News operation coming. I know 10 of 15 years ago someone would have been called in to fix such an issue, but as long as there is no revenue lost, it can wait.

BTW: I bet they will turn the "AGC" up when they go all news.

 

[littlejohn]

That audio has been flaky for a year and change - it's merely gotten worse recently. I'd go gently on the AGC and lean on the limit/clip functtion. You can get away with a lot more on voice than you can in music before the wheels fall off.
If it was me, I'd put the thing on the Chester Avenue tower, turn off the stereo, run the hard limit/clip function up to about 19, and remove all music from the product. Then I could tell ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC to go to hell and save some money in the bargain.
I just did 1500 miles into the midwaest a couple weeks ago - all the Cloud Co stationa along the way picked crap for audio quality.

 

[BarryATL]

Friday at 4:50 PM. Music... DJ... commercial... :60 WSB-TV commercial... more commercials... traffic.... music.

The WSB-TV commercial was so low that I could not hear it. The next commercial blew me away. I do not believe there is any AGC going on. To make matters worse, some of the music slowly goes up and down in volume. I hope this is a function of operating out of a box or a temporary studio while the work/trials are going on in the main studio. If not, this will need to be fixed before going live.