Looking for feedback on Audio Processing....

[willcalder]

Just wanted to hit up the pros regarding the sound of my internet station, iPartyRadio. It's a dance/pop format so I'm going for an aggressive sound, kinda looking to get as close as I can to the old B96 Chicago sound from the mid-late 90s (working with the tools I have available). Would love the feedback and suggestions!

2 easy ways to check it out:

1 - iTunes > Radio > Pop > iPartyRadio
2 - RadioTime - http://radiotime.com/StationDetails.aspx?StationId=47211

Thanks in advance!

Will

 

[The F Mister]

I'm not sure if bitrate is reduced for intercontinental traffic but here in The Netherlands it's awfull. I wouldn't push too hard on processing with these kind of bitrates. But from what I can make of it you’re in the ball park for my taste of processing

 

[oldiesstation]

Got 29.95? try this.(Try for free even before buying)

http://store.claessonedwards.com/product_p/bap-002.htm

Way over the top,even for the netherlands,does that tell you something?(ha) Nothing like smashing hyper-compressed music even more..

 

[Tom Wells]

Except for the artifacting, it does sound pretty much like B-96 10 years ago.
I think it would sound better if you brick-wall the upper end audio response at 10-12 khz BEFORE encoding,
the zizlies/swirlies are not as noticeable when the the source material does not exceed the resolution of the encoding.

I've heard a lot worse artifacting, this is not too bad, the peope who listen to streaming audio will probably accept this as OK.
Those who come from hi-fi stereo vinyl backgrounds may find it grating or grainy.

I must also suggest you try one of the Breakaway audio processing programs, Personal or Broadcast.

I bought Breakaway Broadcast Processor a few months ago, and I am very satisfied.

 

[willcalder]

I think it would sound better if you brick-wall the upper end audio response at 10-12 khz BEFORE encoding

Thanks! I've done this at 12, secondly L-R is brick-walled at 10k.... Our automation/streaming box is a Mac, so if were to try other things, they'd have to be Mac friendly.. Currently, it's a custom Waves VST plug-in chain that we've built to get the sound we have.

 

[Tom Wells]

You have taken the most important steps. Cutting the L-R is probably a very good idea too, as it gives the difference information less reason to zizzle. This is why your stream wasn't making me gnash my teeth.

It sounds like a 96k stream, but I couldn't find any way to confirm that. Is that correct?

What did it sound like before you lopped off high end?

We also have a Mac, but it's the family computer, the audio here runs on Zara/Breakaway Broadcast in XP.
I have thought about streaming..how much is your particular situation costing you to run?
Pt 15 AM is almost free, considering the audio equipment uses more power than the transmitter.

 

[willcalder]

We're streaming at 128k in iTunes. I do believe there are 128k links as well with RadioTower as well.

Our cume is around 250,000 a month so we're paying bandwidth accordingly - couple hundred a month, but we're getting a friends & family discount because one of our partners runs a data center. We are DMCA compliant as well so we pay our royalties - which around a hundred and some change each month.

PS - There's different bitrate links near the bottom of the our page on RadioTime.

 

[The F Mister]

WOW what a prices over there for streaming
If I'm honest I find it very poor quality for a 128k stream.

Try this site to compare with what we are doing in the Netherlands:
www.radiotuner.fm = streams of bigger stations in the Netherlands or specific format internet stations. Just try a few to compare.
www.radiotuner.be = same as Netherlands but then for Belgium.

As you may hear there's already a big difference between the Netherlands and Belgium in stream quality in favor of the Netherlands.

 

[willcalder]

As of monday, we're performing some maintenance on some of our severs, so we're in 64k mono for a few days, back to normal soon.

Thanks!