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Radio stations that speed up songs/change pitch

DavidEduardo said:
In the 70's when just a few station discovered the process, it made the same music on a competitor sound draggy. There was a definite perceived benefit that one could measure when doing research.
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Great example was Top 40s WLOF/950 and WHOO/990 Orlando in the late 60's early 70's. WHOO's quality was better, but WLOF sped up the music, making them have more "energy", and resulting in more listeners.

Also, some Talk stations speed up some programs they get off network so they can cram in more news and commercials, but they do it digitally so the pitch stays the same. WSB/Atlanta was notorious for speeding up Rush Limbaugh; his program would start a minute or two later - delayed - and end each hour on time. It made Rush sound hurried (and his "dramatic pauses" were lost.
 
When I was a kid I never understood why the music on WABC always sounded hotter and faster than it did on my record player.
 
The Mighty 690 did this to an extreme, giving the singers a chipmunk effect. There are a few unscoped airchecks on YouTube. WABC just made the music sound brighter and louder, like you were at a concert either right on stage with the band or in the first row.
 
radio128 said:
WABC just made the music sound brighter and louder, like you were at a concert either right on stage with the band or in the first row.
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Aren't you describing "normal" audio processing (compressor, limiter, EQ etc.) instead of speed and pitch manipulation?
 
radio128 said:
The Mighty 690 did this to an extreme, giving the singers a chipmunk effect. There are a few unscoped airchecks on YouTube. WABC just made the music sound brighter and louder, like you were at a concert either right on stage with the band or in the first row.
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I just remembered that there was a small station here in the SFV that did that. It was KSFV 106.3. They simply played their 45 rpm singles at 78. The station lost their license and the freq assignment was transferred to Lancaster. The FCC had made an inspection visit to the station and asked to speak with the chief engineer and/or First Phone license holder. They told them that they had neither, and so were told to "turn the transmitter off immediately". That was probably over fifty years ago.
 
TomasEstefan said:
I just remembered that there was a small station here in the SFV that did that. It was KSFV 106.3. They simply played their 45 rpm singles at 78. The station lost their license and the freq assignment was transferred to Lancaster. The FCC had made an inspection visit to the station and asked to speak with the chief engineer and/or First Phone license holder. They told them that they had neither, and so were told to "turn the transmitter off immediately". That was probably over fifty years ago.
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Here in Pittsburgh, PA 104.7 FM WPGB the country station pitches their music up a bit.
 
Another reason for stations to speed up their music back in the '70s was to match what people were experiencing in their own homes with the ubiquitous BSR record changers of the time. Those were calibrated to run at the correct speed with the full weight of a stack of six LPs on the platter, which meant that if you were playing just a single record at a time, they all run about 2% fast. Thus if a radio station played their records at the correct speed, it would likely sound slower than if someone bought the same record and played it on their own record player at home.

Even today, inexpensive record players and cassette players are almost all calibrated to run 1% to 2% too fast. You will almost never get one that runs too slow, because even high-end audiophile brands like Rega give more leeway in their factory specifications for running too fast than too slow:

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kevtronics said:
Even today, inexpensive record players and cassette players are almost all calibrated to run 1% to 2% too fast. You will almost never get one that runs too slow, because even high-end audiophile brands like Rega give more leeway in their factory specifications for running too fast than too slow:
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Just as a point of clarification, the current date is July 31, 2021, not 2016. New cassette machines haven't been on store shelves for over twenty years. One can still find them, but it's not like they're popular. There is small renewed interest in vinyl and turntables, but I think it would be a stretch to assume ones made now, not five years ago, all run 1-2% fast.
 
Kelly A said:
Just as a point of clarification, the current date is July 31, 2021, not 2016. New cassette machines haven't been on store shelves for over twenty years. One can still find them, but it's not like they're popular. There is small renewed interest in vinyl and turntables, but I think it would be a stretch to assume ones made now, not five years ago, all run 1-2% fast.
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WalMart still sells Casette players / recorders.
 
Walmart sells their house brand Onn portable mono cassette recorder, the Sony CFD-S70 CD/cassette boombox, and blank "Groove Onn" C90 tapes. I've seen all three in stores recently. Target sells a portable cassette recorder and a Walkman-style Jensen player in stores. There are also some all-in-one systems from Crosley, Victrola, etc. which have a car radio-style slot-loading cassette player in the side -- I've seen those in Kohl's. And Best Buy has two models of ION cassette boomboxes in stores.

And among their usual assortment of cheap record players and vinyl records, Urban Outfitters also sells cassette players and new music albums on cassette:

 
kevtronics said:
Walmart sells their house brand Onn portable mono cassette recorder, the Sony CFD-S70 CD/cassette boombox, and blank "Groove Onn" C90 tapes. I've seen all three in stores recently. Target sells a portable cassette recorder and a Walkman-style Jensen player in stores. There are also some all-in-one systems from Crosley, Victrola, etc. which have a car radio-style slot-loading cassette player in the side -- I've seen those in Kohl's. And Best Buy has two models of ION cassette boomboxes in stores.
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I checked all our market's Walmarts for the Onn as well as the Sony, and none of the 5 locations had them in stock. When I clicked, all were available for order with pickup 3 days from now. So availability must depend on market demand in each location, something Walmart is famous for doing quite well.

Two models are listed in stock at each of the area Best Buy stores, one is a $30 economy model but the other is over $125. There are numerous ones available for later pickup... 3 to 5 days out..

Amazon of course has a number of them, mostly odd brands. I think the Chinese electronics manufacturers have software that takes the first syllable from one word and the last syllable from another and combines them to make names for brands and models, none of which we've ever heard of.
 
frankberry said:
I don't understand why anyone would want to buy a cassette deck. Do they even manufacture cassettes today?
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Yes. Best Buy and Walmart have them in stock at all my area locations.

(No Fidelipacs though!)
 
Kelly A said:
Scotchcarts? What about Audiopacks?
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And the lesser-known Amerline carts... better mechanically than any of the others.
 
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