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Best Sounding Station

T

TakeItFromMe

I am sure this has been discussed before, but it is worth a second mention. Which station in Seattle sounds the best? I am not talking about music or talent, but actual air sound and processing. I have noticed a stark difference.
For Example:

MOVIN is rich sounding with lots of dynamic presence. KBKS seems squeezed and forced. KPLZ sounds like a background CD. The microphone processing on KPLZ is non-existant.

WOLF is the loudest on the dial, yet is clean. Microphones are crisp but add lots of bass and fullness, which is pleasing to the ear. KMPS sounds muddy and a bit squeezed.

KBSG is very loud and lots of processing on the microphones. KJR does the same thing. Makes for a fun battle between the two.

KRWM has nice microphone processing with rich sounding soft-ac DJ's compared to KPLZ which clearing uses no processing. Do you really want someone on the radio to sound like they are some dude in the same room with you. KRWM Music has similar dynamic presence compared to KPLZ that you have to turn up like a cd.

KMTT does a nice job, KZOK sounds flat and squeezed.

What I noticed in all of this is each chain as a certain sound on FM. Entercom seems the most dynamic, along with Sandusky and Clear Channel. Infinity seems muddy. KCMS (Christa and KPLZ (Fisher) must have no processing or very little. Sound just like the bland cd.

You want to be loud, dyanmic and yet clean. It is tough to do. Kudo's to Clear Channel, Sandusky and Entercom for winning that battle. Best sounding: KJR-FM, KBSG, MOVIN and WOLF.
 
You are new to town. We have been through this discussion about six months ago. The verdict, as I remember, was KPLZ has no processing (some say that is good, some say that is bad) KBKS and KUBE are super loud (some say that is good, some say that is bad). The discussion went on for days.
In the end, the listener probably doesn't even notice, only radio guys and gals.
 
I beg to differ Dan. Listeners DO notice, and the stations that are working their processing and more importantly, setting their audio in tune with their format are going to come up ahead. This idea is even more important now that the technology of the new radios is so much better than the old clock radio days. You don't go to the lame theatre for mono, non-processed sound when seeing the latest release anymore. People have gotten to notice the better sounding stations. Old school thinking in analog has to give way to the digital age. With that comes the use of enhancement technology to take advantage of digital.
The CE at Sandusky knows this and has the best sounding stations in town. I agree with Take it's analysis; you've got a good ear and a tuner that knows the difference between loudness vs. good processing.
 
TakeItFromMe said:
I am sure this has been discussed before, but it is worth a second mention. Which station in Seattle sounds the best? I am not talking about music or talent, but actual air sound and processing. I have noticed a stark difference.
For Example:

MOVIN is rich sounding with lots of dynamic presence. KBKS seems squeezed and forced. KPLZ sounds like a background CD. The microphone processing on KPLZ is non-existant.

WOLF is the loudest on the dial, yet is clean. Microphones are crisp but add lots of bass and fullness, which is pleasing to the ear. KMPS sounds muddy and a bit squeezed.

KBSG is very loud and lots of processing on the microphones. KJR does the same thing. Makes for a fun battle between the two.

KRWM has nice microphone processing with rich sounding soft-ac DJ's compared to KPLZ which clearing uses no processing. Do you really want someone on the radio to sound like they are some dude in the same room with you. KRWM Music has similar dynamic presence compared to KPLZ that you have to turn up like a cd.

KMTT does a nice job, KZOK sounds flat and squeezed.

What I noticed in all of this is each chain as a certain sound on FM. Entercom seems the most dynamic, along with Sandusky and Clear Channel. Infinity seems muddy. KCMS (Christa and KPLZ (Fisher) must have no processing or very little. Sound just like the bland cd.

You want to be loud, dyanmic and yet clean. It is tough to do. Kudo's to Clear Channel, Sandusky and Entercom for winning that battle. Best sounding: KJR-FM, KBSG, MOVIN and WOLF.
Click to expand...

Fitz would ya give it a REST already! GEESH!
 
radioplayer said:
The CE at Sandusky knows this and has the best sounding stations in town. I agree with Take it's analysis; you've got a good ear and a tuner that knows the difference between loudness vs. good processing.
Click to expand...

"Best sounding stations in town" if you listen to them on a dollar-store radio - maybe.

Best sounding stations in town on any quality radio? It's a tie between Entercom's cluster and CBS.
 
Rob,

You've got a real bent attitude towards Sandusky and it seems to me that you're probably an ex employee or something, so I'm seriously beginning to question your comments.

Processing is both a technical and art skill; the CE at Sandusky knows his stuff and technically he's the one in this town that is doing the best job of utilizing the technology of sound enhancement in my view.

You can argue format, to process more or less or not at all (like KPLZ) but you can't tell me that Movin's not sounding great at this point in time.

There's some merit towards Entercom and CBS, but they aren't doing all doing the same thing from a processing point with good reason. Compare apples with apples. Take the similar formats of Movin', KUBE, KBKS and KPLZ; compare processing on a good tuner at a fixed location and really listen for awhile. You'll hear far less artifacts on 92.5 and a lot more dynamic range throughout the different sets of the Movin format.
 
Okay, I listened to this group MOVIN, KUBE, KBKS and KPLZ. Here are my thoughts. MOVIN had the most dynamic range. KUBE was loud, but squeezed. KBKS was loud, squeezed and muddy. KPLZ must not have any processing. Sounded more like a cd than a radio station, worst of the group.
 
Your analysis is right on. KPLZ doesn't believe in "processing", therefore it's pretty much set as a mod limiter, and that's it. The rest of the group that you cited is processing in various forms, thinking loudness or some bass enhancement will get them somewhere. Movin's using a state of the art processor and they're going for the whole range of sound processing, including some bass enhancement but not too much. My wife really likes the sound at Movin' and has switched over, even though she's a country listener! The sound of the station is important to her and it's a BIG reason why she changed her opinion of the old KLSY of the past to now.
 
Good processing won't attract listeners - but bad processing will drive them away. The goal should be to build products with attention to the details which in total yield a better sounding product.

Equally -the MP3 revolution has redefined what 'good' sounds like. Since an MP3 has about 10% of the information contained in a comparable CD track, music simply doesn't sound as good as it could. That's the benchmark the audience listens for these days...so maybe running the signal through a John Deere Woodchipper would be about as effective.
 
Jackson Dell Weaver said:
-the MP3 revolution has redefined what 'good' sounds like. Since an MP3 has about 10% of the information contained in a comparable CD track, music simply doesn't sound as good as it could.
Click to expand...

That's probably why the "new" KIXI sounds so shitty. Sounds like they're using MP3's. Or just really lousy processing/equipment at the source.

Broadcasters: Pay attention to your product!

-Wrench
 
Jackson Dell Weaver said:
Since an MP3 has about 10% of the information contained in a comparable CD track, music simply doesn't sound as good as it could.
Click to expand...

That's about the dumbest thing I've ever heard. It actually contains a tremendous amount of the original information, unless squeezed to a terrible bit-rate. Mp3 just recognized the analog nature of the source that was originally lost in the 'digital revolution' and rebuilds the sound as a series of refining waveform approximations. Anything at 192+, especially VBR is pretty much spot on. There was actually far more lost in the transition from Vinyl to CD than there ever was in CD to MP3.
 
the problem with MP3 is the people who dont know better and put them on the air dont know enough to make sure the bit rate is high enough not to be noticed.

with the current new generation of processing MP3 stands out like a sore thumb. Also MP3 sounds really noticable on HD where any extra trips through a codec are easily apparent.

Its not just the music either... Ad agencies and production departments should not be taking delivery of production in the MP3 format. Its fine for a client copy but not for on air. Just listen to Tom Shane or Video Only spots on any station. they sound like sheet.

Its time production directors had the balls to refuse MP3 audio from agencies.
 
notalent said:
Its time production directors had the balls to refuse MP3 audio from agencies.
Click to expand...

It's not up to them. It's up to sales to stand up to the agencies. Like THAT'S gonna happen!
 
D7 said:
There was actually far more lost in the transition from Vinyl to CD than there ever was in CD to MP3.
Click to expand...

This statement is 100% untrue.

How many vinyl transfers have YOU done at 32-bit floating point rate at 44.1 kHz or higher?


-Wrench
 
It's not up to them. It's up to sales to stand up to the agencies. Like THAT'S gonna happen!

My bad, If it is up to sales people to be aware of something technical it will NEVER happen.
 
Radio Sales

..unless they're in the production room with the voice talent/prod mgr...

...and INSIST THE SPOT(S) BE DONE..."THIS WAY!"

wwwWHOOPS! - 2 hours before air and forgot to make those last-minute copy changes...

...er, do you have any more minutes??
 
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