Just doing some scanning and light dxing on my new C Crane EP PRO and am listening to WCRN out of Worcester MA(Which is Talk during the day and North Star Music at night) What sounds better to your ears. Music on AM or FM? I feel like when i'm relaxing or at night I like AM for music. Just feels more soothing and relaxing I don't know. What's your opinion?
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Listening to Music on AM Vs FM
- Thread starter Carltheradioguy
- Start date
Does this station broadcast in HD? That's the only way I can imagine any music on AM sounding decent.
Not to my knowledge it doesn't. Even if it did, the radio I have isn't HD capable.
I have an HD radio with the AM band and there's two HD stations in my area on AM: WSCR AM and WBBM AM. They sound fantastic but they're not music stations. One station that does play music on AM is WIMS even though it's not HD. However, because I'm close to WIMS, it sounds so good during the daytime that it sounds almost as good as FM. But they just recently got an FM translator on 95.1 W236BD and for some reason the audio is muffled on 95.1 and doesn't sound as good. I've been wondering why the audio is worse on the FM translator for awhile now.
IMHO, music can sound very nice on regular (as opposed to HD) AM radio. But one major problem is that most AM radios are coupled with FM and thus all too often are essentially an afterthought. Thus music....or anything else...sounds nowhere near as good on AM as it does on FM. But if you do find a high-quality AM radio or tuner....with good speaker(s) or headphones, the audio can sound quite rich, full and pleasing indeed.
EXACTLY MY ISSUE!!!! I have a signal on 1180 that always sounds better than its translator on 104.3 because i'm on the outskirts of its range. It's muffled and forget enjoying it with a hiss in the background and driving down the road it does the usual picketfencing. If you are really close (as you said you are) to an AM transmitter than it certainly might sound great.
Yes! agreed. If it's a fringe signal forget sound quality. If it's within 20 miles or so from the transmitter than it sounds great. Usually AM sound isn't great for me but just invested in a C Crane EP Pro which makes AM listenable and like a champ just like the Superadio's do.
Bandwidth, modulation index, and kbps all aside for now,
the advantages of going from AM to FM and from analog to digital lie not in simple frequency response, but in how they handle noise, interference, and distortion.
Of course these issues can be and usually are covered over by unnatural processing techniques on analogue systems that fatigue the long-term listener.
AM can only approach perfection in that regard with brute force signal strength of at least 25mv/m or more.
FM can only do it to stationary receivers within their full quieting area.
Digital will always sound perfect or non-existent and when various forms of diversity reception are used, the potential coverage area becomes unlimited.
the advantages of going from AM to FM and from analog to digital lie not in simple frequency response, but in how they handle noise, interference, and distortion.
Of course these issues can be and usually are covered over by unnatural processing techniques on analogue systems that fatigue the long-term listener.
AM can only approach perfection in that regard with brute force signal strength of at least 25mv/m or more.
FM can only do it to stationary receivers within their full quieting area.
Digital will always sound perfect or non-existent and when various forms of diversity reception are used, the potential coverage area becomes unlimited.
Not necessarily. I can hear quite well, and I don't mind hearing music on the AM band. I have never really enjoyed FM music, except on rare occasions. And I grew up in the FM age. Music on AM sounds mellower and warmer, FM is more hi-fi but sounds sterile sometimes. A lot of it depends on the processing used on FM.
Then you have the issue of the music itself. A lot of music on FM is homogenized junk. So what if it is more high fidelity.
But basically everything comes down to personal preference and perception.
Exactly what i'm thinking. I thought my hearing was okay but according to him I guess not LOL. It most certainly depends on the processing. Some signals for me sound fantastic on FM while some are just pure garbage in my opinion. As i said before, Distant AM signals won't sound great at all most likely but if you are in the local range of certain music signals I think they sound more soothing and relaxing versus the hiss and static of an FM translator.
As a great man once said, "FM, no static at all!" FM has no static. That's why Major Armstrong invented it in 1936.
"No static at all", as soon as a full quieting signal level is reached, not one db sooner.
Have you listened to FM signals that are distant? Plenty of static.
True enough, as long as someone doesn't walk in front of a window, or walk through a part of the house or apartment that interferes with the signal, or if the signals aren't marginalized by terrain shadows, etc. Then you hear the hiss, the distortion, and other fun artifacts. Time to move the antenna all around to try to catch that magic spot, or move the radio a few feet.
When FM is in the clear, it can sound terrific. No denial that Mr. Armstrong was a radio genius.
Good point, Carl. On my GE SuperadioII. A clear AM signal arguably sounds as good if not better than most FM. There's a "presence" and richness there that FM doesn't have.
I think it sounded better on AM. it was a more solid sound to me.
That's why I was thrilled when AM Stereo was being used in the early and mid 80's.
I'll never forget how excited I was when I got my Sony AM Stereo Walkman and I no longer had to use two portable radios.
Nighttime DXing took on a whole new level with AM Stereo, hearing the stereo signal over long distances with the fading too.
Back in those days, Q-105 (104.7) in Tampa simulcast on AM 1380 in Stereo and that was a perfect way to compare the sound.
I liked the sound on 1380 a lot better.
That's why I was thrilled when AM Stereo was being used in the early and mid 80's.
I'll never forget how excited I was when I got my Sony AM Stereo Walkman and I no longer had to use two portable radios.
Nighttime DXing took on a whole new level with AM Stereo, hearing the stereo signal over long distances with the fading too.
Back in those days, Q-105 (104.7) in Tampa simulcast on AM 1380 in Stereo and that was a perfect way to compare the sound.
I liked the sound on 1380 a lot better.
Multi-path interference and fading is not static. Static is electrical and used to be pretty much limited to an occasional lightning strike affecting AM. Now, it's almost the entire listening experience on the band!
And static is, essentially, an amplitude modulated noise that is very, very broadband. You don't get true static on FM, although you may get other kinds of artifacts. True static can be from lightning discharges or from atmospheric noise and even solar emissions.
That said, most people under about 50 use the term in a more modern context, meaning "any kind of noise that interferes with clear reception".
Language changes. Static has a new meaning in this era.
I learned the differences between QRs Mary and Nancy and QSB early and am bothered by how today's Yeunglings abuse and misuse the word.
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