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New Rock 101.9: stereo/mono? Sound quality

E

erwin33

FM News was mono, I still hearing that mono sound with music. Some of the imaging is stereo. But still no stereo effects on the music.
And the sound is annoying distorted. Sounds like a heavily tweaked Omnia or something.
 
I believe the HD is still off. I have not received the station in HD in several weeks, and today is no exception. They are identifying on-air as WEMP HD1, so perhaps the HD will eventually be back on.
The RDS display: "101.9 New Rock."
I wonder whether Merlin will bring back the WRXP callsign, since the sweepers repeatedly state that alternative rock is back.
 
I guess they find the stereo on/off switch ;-). It's totally stereo again. Still distorted audio so there is still lots of tweaking needed.

Edit: still not all tracks are in stereo. Maybe some difficulties with there playout system or something.
 
Barry said:
I believe the HD is still off. I have not received the station in HD in several weeks, and today is no exception. They are identifying on-air as WEMP HD1, so perhaps the HD will eventually be back on.
The RDS display: "101.9 New Rock."
I wonder whether Merlin will bring back the WRXP callsign, since the sweepers repeatedly state that alternative rock is back.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't be surprised, actually. The imaging seems to treat "New Rock" more like a slogan than a station brand, and almost seems to have been created to be able to eventually insert a set of call letters or other such branding. Plus, they seem to talk about themselves as if they are the same station they used to be, in spite of the non-use of the RXP branding. Maybe they're trying to work something out with Emmis...
 
As of this posting: (Edit: I've seen the many responses since I started this post that answer the question posed)

there is no HD being broadcast on 101.9 FM (although on the station ID heard at around 12:44pm the HD1 is mentioned).

Likely the processing being used now is the same as it was for the FM News 101.9 format: mono (maybe occasionally weak stereo) for the main programming (in this current case, the music), then weak stereo (that could be heard on the HD signal only in the past) for the ads, bumpers, sweepers, etc.

There is no HD2 on 101.9 FM now, nor has there been for several weeks now. That used to be the Smooth AC format formerly known as "CD101.9", changed to "Smooth Jazz 101.9 HD2" or "Smooth FM 101.9 HD2" or "New York's Smooth 101.9 HD2" or similar wording.

+++For the New York Merlin station:

Besides the player currently on the WEMP-FM website www.newrock1019.com - player link: http://www.newrock1019.com/listen/

there are these "Listen Live" links:

pop-up flash player link: http://den-a.plr.liquidcompass.net/player/flash/audio_player.php?id=WEMPFM&uid=579 64 K, 44.1 kHz stereo

direct URL link: http://204.209.255.119/WEMPFMAAC 64 kbps, 44.1 kHz, stereo

direct URL link: http://204.209.255.119/WEMPFMAACS 32 kbps, 44.1 kHz, stereo

+++For the Chicago stations that are Merlin Media properties:

---WIQI-FM-101.1 - http://www.i101fm.com - i101 player link: http://www.i101fm.com/listen/

there are these "Listen Live" links:

pop-up flash player link: http://den-a.plr.liquidcompass.net/player/flash/audio_player.php?id=WWWNFM&uid=578 64K, 44.1 kHz stereo

direct URL link: http://204.209.255.119/WWWNFMAAC 64 kbps, 44.1 kHz, stereo

direct URL link: http://204.209.255.119/WWWNFMAACS 32 kbps, 44.1 kHz, stereo

---WLUP-FM-97.9 "The Loop":

pop-up flash player link: http://den-a.plr.liquidcompass.net/player/flash/audio_player.php?id=WLUPFM&uid=576 64K, 44.1 kHz stereo

direct URL link: http://204.209.255.119/WLUPFMAAC 64 kbps, 44.1 kHz, stereo

direct URL link: http://204.209.255.119/WLUPFMAACS 32 kbps, 44.1 kHz, stereo

---WKQX-LP-87.7 "Q87.7" - http://www.undergroundq.com/ Q87.7 player link: http://www.dqtech.net/Q877/

direct URL link: http://64.37.241.111:8000/q877

Check the playlist on the Q87.7 site above; likely it's similar to what will be used on WEMP NYC for the time being.
 
I can confirm the Stereo indicator is back on at WEMP New York 101.9FM. However, the crappy, tinny, worse than a low bitrate mp3 processing remains the same as it did for the FM News format. This needs to be readjusted back to the settings when this station was WRXP airing the rock format.

pjc1961 said:
there is no HD being broadcast on 101.9 FM (although on the station ID heard at around 12:44pm the HD1 is mentioned).

Likely the processing being used now is the same as it was for the FM News 101.9 format: mono (maybe occasionally weak stereo) for the main programming (in this current case, the music), then weak stereo (that could be heard on the HD signal only in the past) for the ads, bumpers, sweepers, etc.

There is no HD2 on 101.9 FM now, nor has there been for several weeks now. That used to be the Smooth AC format formerly known as "CD101.9", changed to "Smooth Jazz 101.9 HD2" or "Smooth FM 101.9 HD2" or "New York's Smooth 101.9 HD2" or similar wording
Click to expand...

Hey pjc1961, please explain what you mean by "occasionally weak stereo" AFAIK, the signal is either stereo or mono. Of course, the signal could be stereo, yet be a mono feed. Haven't heard that terminology before...
 
Strange is that sometimes it sounds fake stereo and sometimes it's with stereo effects and wide, like all the music stations. Don't know what they doing everytime with the playout or on the controls but that needs to be fixed.
 
The MPX stereo pilot tone is on, but I'm also not hearing any actual stereo separation in the music they're playing.

And they have liners saying "we're playing Alternative again", making it sound like they're trying to pick up where WRXP left off. But in that case, why not just call it WRXP, or "New York's Rock Experience" again? Or does Emmis still hold the rights to that name? According to FCCInfo, there is no station currently using the call letters WRXP, so they didn't "park" it on another station.

NYC has a long history of bringing back old call letters and slogans -- K-Rock, WPLJ, CBS-FM, WNEW, WKTU, WNSR, and WYNY, just to name a few -- so they should bring the WRXP call letters back to 101.9.
 
No stereo seperation on the webstream also, so I guess the problem is deeper in there equipment.
Also audio output level on the stream is too low.
 
satech said:
The MPX stereo pilot tone is on, but I'm also not hearing any actual stereo separation in the music they're playing.

And they have liners saying "we're playing Alternative again", making it sound like they're trying to pick up where WRXP left off. But in that case, why not just call it WRXP, or "New York's Rock Experience" again? Or does Emmis still hold the rights to that name? According to FCCInfo, there is no station currently using the call letters WRXP, so they didn't "park" it on another station.

NYC has a long history of bringing back old call letters and slogans -- K-Rock, WPLJ, CBS-FM, WNEW, WKTU, WNSR, and WYNY, just to name a few -- so they should bring the WRXP call letters back to 101.9.
Click to expand...

Emmis owns the myrxp.com web site that has been streaming a rock music format branded "RXP" since the sale last year. They own the calls, Merlin doesn't.
 
IMHO Call letters are not as important as dial / frequency position with PPM. If they get the music right folks will listen to whatever call letters they use.
 
It's 6:40PM here Tuesday. This senior is listening to their music on whatever sound-player was provided. Perhaps the web stream has different processing than the terrestrial signal.

The music here has lots of bass -- or a lack of high ends. The song that ended at 6:40 seemed to wobble back and forth between channels but the last few are okay. Besides, this stuff was processed 15 ways to Sunday when it was released. The stereo phasing was mildly disturbing. But I've had only one working ear for forty years.

Not bad, actually. It's sitthroughable for maybe 20 minutes. A fifth car button. To me it sounds like a more melodic version of Atlantic City's WJSE from about eight years ago.

(It's weird, listening to a 101.9 station from NYC in this house, loud and clear, with WAVT-FM 101.9's tower about three miles away, lol).
 
I know it's a busy day with a new format, but they gotta fix the audio processing on the FM.

If there was one lesson to take away from "FM News" it was that you can't make a first impression a second time. People heard the "fluff/Kardashian" news and never bothered to tune back even when they were doing real news later on.

Musically, it sounds like a slightly more rock version of FNX from Boston, which is going away this coming Monday.
 
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