Bad sound at KHYI

[LibertyNT]

signal has never been an issue for me since I'm in the northern 'burbs. It still sounds like an AM broadcast to me :/ I have not heard overmodulation/splattering in quite a while so I guess that's good. Still hope yall can get the lo-fi AM style audio fixed and not tell us to listen online as a solution.

I'm actually thinking that this has something to do with the Barix link from the Dallas Studio on Greenville to the Allen Studios, and if so, it's determined by the amount of internet bandwidth available. Just a guess as I don't know enough about the Barix.

A HA! I KNEW IT! I knew it sounded like a low-bitrate stream! You guys REALLY need to kill that off and go back to using what you were before this whole mess. Before that both these stations sounded great.
(What happened to the Allen Downtown Studios by the way?)

 

[CTaylor]

signal has never been an issue for me since I'm in the northern 'burbs. It still sounds like an AM broadcast to me :/ I have not heard overmodulation/splattering in quite a while so I guess that's good. Still hope yall can get the lo-fi AM style audio fixed and not tell us to listen online as a solution.

I'm actually thinking that this has something to do with the Barix link from the Dallas Studio on Greenville to the Allen Studios, and if so, it's determined by the amount of internet bandwidth available. Just a guess as I don't know enough about the Barix.

A HA! I KNEW IT! I knew it sounded like a low-bitrate stream! You guys REALLY need to kill that off and go back to using what you were before this whole mess. Before that both these stations sounded great.
(What happened to the Allen Downtown Studios by the way?)

Barix boxes are actually utilized by a lot of radio station to get audio to transmitter sites when a microwave shot is not possible, so it's not that we are using Barix, that's the issue, I just am not sure that it was set up properly, which is what I'm working on as my next step. I had to get other pieces of the chain fixed first. As I said when I first addressed this issue, small steps, small steps.

As for the downtown Allen studios, they are still in Allen and able to be used as backup studios.

 

[Bob E. Nelson]

As I said when I first addressed this issue, small steps, small steps.

I'm in the <ahem> older demos, so I hardly listen to any music radio anymore and a trip over to that newfangled "experimental band" is pretty rare for me.

Nevertheless, last night I did an A/B comparison on the drive home from Frisco, punching between KZPS and KHYI. The signal itself was solid on 95.3 and the audio was very good. KHYI was every bit as loud and attention-grabbing as the 100,000-watter down the dial. KZPS was very "swishy" sounding, almost like low bitrate MPEG.

You're doing a fine job getting the chain optimized. I did listen a few weeks ago and the improvement is self-evident.

 

[dakareedog]

KZPS was very "swishy" sounding, almost like low bitrate MPEG.

You are correct in your assumption of low bitrate MPEG. Their NEX-GEN system uses it's own conversion program that is much lower than a 128 mp3. If it were an actual mp3 it would be about 95. All the CC stations use this "to save hard drive space". I can't even listen to their stations the music quality is so bad.

 

[OKCRadioGuy]

With the lesser cost of hard drives, it amazes me any broadcaster would go with mpeg crud at this point on their automation systems. To the KHYI guy, you might want to consider another alternative to using Barix for your airchain. It's fine for an emergency or occational use, but ACC or other algorythms are MUCH more efficicent these days. Consider something like a Tieline Bridge-IT, Comrex BRIC, or the Telos ZEP-IP units to get the audio across your link. If you're using something other than the public internet, consider going linear. The Tieline Bridge-IT will go Stereo linear at 32k sample rate. I'm doing it with one of my stations down a T-1.