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DRC? Is That..... YOU!?!?!

Ok now we are getting there!

12:45pm - Blood Sweat & Tears "And When I Die"

Depth and Stage, Punch and bite! Highs are clean! Dynamics are handled sweetly and gently, with transitions from low to high passages having no "Dig In and Lock" (as I like to call it).

As an aside, CTlistener, there's your Dancing Queen. It sounds awful. It's an awful song and an awful, busy, overdone recording-- no fault of the processing. Processors love processing overprocessed crap, especially when they are so called remastered. What I'd like to really hear that pretty black box do is "You Make Me Feel Like Dancin' by Leo Sayer. That with the current setup I'm guessing would sound fantastic!!!

Wow... I'm in Heaven! DRC sounds like a REAL radio station again!

Thanks so much TOM RAY for FINALLY setting things right!

Maybe I can get the dime tour sometime...??

DE N1UJU

-Alan
 
1pm - Hollies - Long Cool Woman (The pump test- he even says pumpin' LOL!)

One of the hardest tracks to process in this genre of music and passed with flying colors as far as I'm concerned. Now, question is, How are those levels looking on the console? I suggest anything above +3dB invokes a blinding strobe light directed at the jocks' eyeballs! Compellor? What Compellor???

-A
 
The only thing that would tighten this thing up even better is an Ariane. I have one in front of all of my airchains and it helps on so many different levels. It is leaps and bounds ahead of a Compellor.

As for the Vorsis once again, it's getting buzz on the left coast. I'd like to hear a few here in the Northeast... maybe soon... ;)

Stay tuned

But DRC sounds really good!
 
For what it's worth, a word to the wise...

Turn the cans down and listen. Think sleeping volume. I can't do it the way it sounds now.

It pounds my head at low levels, you can hear the action and it makes your head wanna explode. Loud volumes induce natural 'ear compression' - i.e. 'human modulation protection'. Sounds fantastic at loud levels, but induces almost instant listener fatigue at low volume.

I would say drop the input level to the box down 5dB, Increase the output to meet modulation limits within +/-0dB and leave it. The ratios sound right to me now but it's just too hot. The ratios are right, but the box is just being slammed too hard. Remember the audience is not listening loud like I and most of us normally do, but remember the audience can always turn it up, once it's ba's to the wall in the chain, they can't turn it down.

'Engineers who fry their ears'... well, you know the rest.....

That's my half a cent...

-A
 
I was considering playing with a Vorsis (it looks like a fun box), but with things going on in Syracuse, I didn't have time to learn what a new box sounds and reacts like. I know how the Omnias react (and the Orbans, too), but for what it's worth, I think the Omnia has a smoother high end. I think Frank Foti handles the preemphasis curve better. Just my opinion.

A Compellor is a device made by Aphex. It is intended as a compressor/leveler. I use them in front of STL's to protect them from being over driven - the Compellor is extremely good at peak control, and is relatively transparent. I have one in front of the STL's at WOR, in addition to having them in front of the feed to the uplinks for the WOR Radio Networks.

When spring comes, I'd be happy to arrange a tour of WOR (studios and transmitter), WDRC, or both. Right now, I need to get a new digital audio system cut over in Syracuse, so I'm going to be a tad tied up until April....I'll be spending several days a week in Syr until this thang is cut over. You can feel free to contact me off line at tomray at wor710 dot com, or tomray at buckleyradio dot com regarding tours.

Tom Ray
Buckley Radio
W2TRR
 
Tom, you rock, and it 'sounds' like you've really got your 'plate' full right now... HA HA HA!

When I said "Compellor, What Compellor??" I wasn't asking what a Compellor is, I was making a sarcastic joke, as in if you blind the talent's eyes every time the meters hit past +/- 3-5dB, you won't need a compellor in front of the STL. <grin>

Sadly, it protects the input from clipping, but it does not alleviate the problem of 'the fader lands where it lands' syndrome... ahhh in a perfect world... hmmmph....

Anyway,

I've got my head full of visions of what is actually going on up on the hill and with the compellor in the studio especially. My running commentary on this is simply for my entertainment and for that of others, but also intended as additional 'thinking tooks' for any members of your engineering team who may be tweeking up there. I know you can laptop into the 06 from anywhere, but the compellor is not so fortunate, and honestly, I can hear it. As you said, work in progress. I am staying tuned...

Thanks for taking the time to post here and keep us posted, and please, let me know if you need an additional set of ears. I'm ALL ears!

-A
 
Alan Fletcher said:
As an aside, CTlistener, there's your Dancing Queen. It sounds awful. It's an awful song and an awful, busy, overdone recording-- no fault of the processing. Processors love processing overprocessed crap, especially when they are so called remastered. What I'd like to really hear that pretty black box do is "You Make Me Feel Like Dancin' by Leo Sayer. That with the current setup I'm guessing would sound fantastic!!!

Wow... I'm in Heaven! DRC sounds like a REAL radio station again!
Click to expand...

So the problem with "Dancing Queen" was the source material all along, like the Moody Blues' "Go Now"? I didn't think major labels were still putting out such low-quality stuff in the mid-'70s.

Most of the songs I've heard so far have sounded 500 percent better with the new processing. "Out of Touch" and "Brother Louie" really pop out of the speakers and, whaddaya know, there's a bass guitar and actual cymbals in "Needles and Pins" now! Even "Rag Doll" sounded good. The one disappointment was Major Lance's "Um Um Um Um Um Um," still sounding distorted and overprocessed. Maybe that's the source material, too?

BTW, I've got the HD-2 on, and it seems to be improved as well. Ray Charles' "What'd I Say" is on right now and sounding a whole lot better than it did last time I heard it. (When are we gonna get the song/artist data on the HD display?)
 
BTW, I've got the HD-2 on, and it seems to be improved as well. Ray Charles' "What'd I Say" is on right now and sounding a whole lot better than it did last time I heard it. (When are we gonna get the song/artist data on the HD display?)
Click to expand...

Depending on where the source material came from really depends on what the processing will do with it. Up here in Syracuse (and futzing with their processing), I'm finding I can tell things that came directly from CD from things that came from other sources. Then, there are those songs that come from the "greatest hits" CD's and aren't that great to begin with. It's frustrating trying to strike a balance.

Regarding the title/artist data....that's in the works. Easy to do on the HD1. The HD2 is being fed by an older digital audio system that doesn't have the ability to spit this data out, so the HD2 for now will end up with "static" messages that will simply change on a timed basis - which is whole lot better than a blank radio :)

Oh, and Alan? You know that VU meters are simply for decoration on the boards. I'm considering making one with a scale that goes to +11 - so we'll be that much louder.

Tom Ray
Buckley Radio
W2TRR
 
I enjoy WDRC. A great station, the audio sounds much improved.
Great veriety of music.
 
Tom I have been reading your posts for years over at the New York Radio Message Board and followed your HD radio trials over at WOR waiting for each update.

I don't know why but I actually feel excited and honored to hear that you are personally involved in bringing quality sound back to DRC. This is Americas First FM and from where I sit it has been neglected over the past few years. To hear that you are working your magic here gives me that warm feeling that I get when I think back of how great WDRC was as a station.

If you do give a tour I would love to be able to come. I myself will be soon working on some WDRC history which I can't wait to share with everyone, this history courtesy of Dick Robinson and Arnold Chase. Its a project I am very much looking forward to.

Thanks for your work on once again helping WDRC to shine, with your magic WDRC is quickly going from sounding like America's First FM, to Connecticuts bets sounding FM.

Best,

Scott Greczkowski
SatelliteGuys.US
 
scottg said:
Thanks for your work on once again helping WDRC to shine, with your magic WDRC is quickly going from sounding like America's First FM, to Connecticuts bets sounding FM.

Best,

Scott Greczkowski
SatelliteGuys.US
Click to expand...

Here, Here!

As you know, this has been long awaited. It's only going to get better once Tom has the time to finish tweeking the processing!

-A
 
Alan Fletcher said:
As you know, this has been long awaited. It's only going to get better once Tom has the time to finish tweeking the processing!

-A
Click to expand...

Amen, brother. It's certainly been a welcomed change for the better!
 
I've been listening to WDRC-FM on and off since 1967. They had the best sound out there until sometime around the early eighties when, I assume, Wayne Mulligan decided there didn't need to be any more advances in processing. The station sounded OK, but it lagged behind the sound of everyone else.

When digital came along, DRC-FM sounded as if they simply took the carted songs and loaded them onto the hard drive. Then, it became loud, not from a better processor, but from pushing whatever grizzled-veteran that sat in the rack.

Not only has the processing improved tremendously, but the source material sounds equally first rate. For a station that plays songs that can be 40+ years old, that was a very nice move on their part. As more and more stations sound digitally anesthetic, it’s exciting to see a station, a “friend” really (you’ve got a friend here in Hartford) make this major an improvement.

WDRC-FM not only sounds good on my car radio (JVC HDR1) and home system (Sony & Boston Acoustic HD), but also on my mono portable (Grundig YB-400PE).

Tom - a job well done.
 
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