-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
Soundprocessing the new K-Hits 104.3
- Thread starter erwin33
- Start date
R
Raydiohead
Guest
I love the sound of the station! It's bright, up-tempo, with lots of personality! So glad they got away from lazy radio-Jack. Anyone can play songs back to back with sweepers every now and then. K-Hit is what radio is supposed to be about! ENTERTAINMENT!
O
oldhack1965
Guest
I agree with Audioguy, the processing is a bit overdone and can cause listener fatigue very quickly. With everyone owning digital now, why is FM still squashing the audio to make it sound like AM? Come on, CBS, get that sound crisp and clear like it should be.
Erwin, I don't know what box(s) they are using, but my friends used to laugh at me at how I could guess the line of processing and the settings on radio stations by just listening. We would all then go to the station and if we got to see the audio chain, I would usually be correct or darn close.
Guessing they have an Optimod. You can't get that sound from a Omnia unless you load it down on the front end. I would say they have first a compellor in the chain that is being driven HARD. Maybe a sound shaper of some kind like a APHEX Aural Exciter. Then a multiband Digital Optimod with heavy emphasis (probably 15db) on the multiband processors. Then to end it all, they are running HEAVY clipping. I am probably not 100% correct, but I'm betting I'm in the ballpark.
I agree with other posts that the processing is just too heavy and way too fatiguing, but I agree with doing it at this stage of the game. Cume is the only thing they are trying to build right now and with that, over processing sets mood of the station as exciting and alive. It also hides gain mistakes by the jocks that are going to be getting used to the controls over the next few weeks as well.
Guessing they have an Optimod. You can't get that sound from a Omnia unless you load it down on the front end. I would say they have first a compellor in the chain that is being driven HARD. Maybe a sound shaper of some kind like a APHEX Aural Exciter. Then a multiband Digital Optimod with heavy emphasis (probably 15db) on the multiband processors. Then to end it all, they are running HEAVY clipping. I am probably not 100% correct, but I'm betting I'm in the ballpark.
I agree with other posts that the processing is just too heavy and way too fatiguing, but I agree with doing it at this stage of the game. Cume is the only thing they are trying to build right now and with that, over processing sets mood of the station as exciting and alive. It also hides gain mistakes by the jocks that are going to be getting used to the controls over the next few weeks as well.
tpizzle said:
This is all ironic considering 104.3's sister stations are CBS-FM and K-Earth 101, two stations each known for their bigger than life, yet clean audio processing.
radiorob2.0 said:
"We're not sharing our secret with anyone, not even with other stations within our own company!" (-:
Whatever happened to sending out audio at 50 Hz - 15kHz flat, ± 1 dB? FM used to sound a LOT better when it was sonically unadulterated!
Like who's listening 100 miles out from the transmitter these days? I don't care who is the loudest station on the dial, I care who sounds the best!
stormy01 said:
Even if they are listening 100 miles away going smashy smashy with you audio doesn't really buy coverage on FM. The aggressive processing attitude worked on AM because of the nature of the beast.
Does their FM-HD sound like the over processed analog?
Because of the music they're playing, because this is the way it used to sound on the radio... I'm a fan.
Yeah, the highs on their stream are a bit... swishy... but it's that dense, multi-band sound that took the 45s of the day and made them LEAP out of the dial.
It also makes the densities of the songs more consistent... a VERY nice feature considering how much song production styles changed from the 60s to the 80s.
I just heard Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On" sounding like it was recorded yesterday, going into Steve Miller Band's "Rockin' Me" and they both sounds like the same producer mixed them down.
That voiceover guy is HUGE, too... sounds similar to a voice I remember doing show promos for ABC in the late 70s... and now they're into Greg Khin Band's "The Breakup Song (They Don't Write Like That Anymore)" and it all the same eq, density, etc.
..The highs ARE pretty "buzzy," but I'm still not gonna knock it... nice to hear somebody trying to make a station sound EXCITING instead of making it sound like a CD with the peaks clipped.
<SOAPBOX>
We've forgotten in radio that albums / cassettes / CDs are the Lincoln Towncars of music: smooth, comfortable, and quiet. Not that much fun, but very elegant.
Radio stations are the bumper cars of music: loud, flashy, noisy, with a slight burning smell mixed with axel grease.
You wouldn't take a bumper car on a cross-country road trip, & you wouldn't smash your Towncar into somebody else's Towncar for "fun."
When radio tries to compete with CDs, it loses. You can't play exactly every song everybody wants to hear all the time. Not talking over the intros & letting songs completely fade sounds like the station's been abandoned. Listeners will choose an album over you EVERY time.
On the other hand, if you're fun, exciting, entertaining, informative... you're providing something they can't get anywhere else.
The a good radio "carnival" includes a high-energy, funny DJ kissing up to the lyrics, seguing just as the song is about to fade, over-the-top sweepers, and yeah, hyper-processing.
Have you never gotten a call from someone saying they have a song, but they're rather hear you play it because "it sounds better on the radio?" That's the audio processing (& quality station production) that creates a complete, exciting package.
I don't remember EVER hearing a listener say, "I don't listen to XYZ anymore because their sound is just too fatiguing"... have you? Some sound better than others, but listeners will put up with 128k mp3s... do you think they're really critiquing attack / release timings & compression ratios?
That's not to less the work of a quality audio engineer. A pro creates a sound that LEAPS out of the radio without being obviously gain-ridden to your typical listener (who may be listening on a 3" speaker most of the time, BTW).
We keep trying to be a Lincoln Towncar when listeners want neon colors & blinking lights. The numbers continue to slowly drift down... the competition from other entertainment sources continues to grow... and we keep trying to get rid of everything that made radio appealing in the first place:
* Less talk
* Voicetracked jocks
* "Relate-able" voices
* "Transparent" processing
I don't see Hollywood saying, "Independence Day" was too over the top; we need to make a movie that the audience can relate to if we're going to get our target demo to the theaters!" I don't see video game manufacturers saying, "that last game was just too unbelievable. Let's research the demo, set up a gaming environment that mirrors their CURRENT environment!" I don't see web site designers saying, "there's too much animation, we're using flash & java too heavily; let's do black text on white backgrounds, to make it more like their home!"
</SOAPBOX>
I'm lovin' these retro jingles, too... fun station! Sounds like the stream is being pulled off an air monitor; about a 3db cut @ 10khz & another cut of about 1db @ 5khz seems to make it much more listenable.
Yeah, the highs on their stream are a bit... swishy... but it's that dense, multi-band sound that took the 45s of the day and made them LEAP out of the dial.
It also makes the densities of the songs more consistent... a VERY nice feature considering how much song production styles changed from the 60s to the 80s.
I just heard Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On" sounding like it was recorded yesterday, going into Steve Miller Band's "Rockin' Me" and they both sounds like the same producer mixed them down.
That voiceover guy is HUGE, too... sounds similar to a voice I remember doing show promos for ABC in the late 70s... and now they're into Greg Khin Band's "The Breakup Song (They Don't Write Like That Anymore)" and it all the same eq, density, etc.
..The highs ARE pretty "buzzy," but I'm still not gonna knock it... nice to hear somebody trying to make a station sound EXCITING instead of making it sound like a CD with the peaks clipped.
<SOAPBOX>
We've forgotten in radio that albums / cassettes / CDs are the Lincoln Towncars of music: smooth, comfortable, and quiet. Not that much fun, but very elegant.
Radio stations are the bumper cars of music: loud, flashy, noisy, with a slight burning smell mixed with axel grease.
You wouldn't take a bumper car on a cross-country road trip, & you wouldn't smash your Towncar into somebody else's Towncar for "fun."
When radio tries to compete with CDs, it loses. You can't play exactly every song everybody wants to hear all the time. Not talking over the intros & letting songs completely fade sounds like the station's been abandoned. Listeners will choose an album over you EVERY time.
On the other hand, if you're fun, exciting, entertaining, informative... you're providing something they can't get anywhere else.
The a good radio "carnival" includes a high-energy, funny DJ kissing up to the lyrics, seguing just as the song is about to fade, over-the-top sweepers, and yeah, hyper-processing.
Have you never gotten a call from someone saying they have a song, but they're rather hear you play it because "it sounds better on the radio?" That's the audio processing (& quality station production) that creates a complete, exciting package.
I don't remember EVER hearing a listener say, "I don't listen to XYZ anymore because their sound is just too fatiguing"... have you? Some sound better than others, but listeners will put up with 128k mp3s... do you think they're really critiquing attack / release timings & compression ratios?
That's not to less the work of a quality audio engineer. A pro creates a sound that LEAPS out of the radio without being obviously gain-ridden to your typical listener (who may be listening on a 3" speaker most of the time, BTW).
We keep trying to be a Lincoln Towncar when listeners want neon colors & blinking lights. The numbers continue to slowly drift down... the competition from other entertainment sources continues to grow... and we keep trying to get rid of everything that made radio appealing in the first place:
* Less talk
* Voicetracked jocks
* "Relate-able" voices
* "Transparent" processing
I don't see Hollywood saying, "Independence Day" was too over the top; we need to make a movie that the audience can relate to if we're going to get our target demo to the theaters!" I don't see video game manufacturers saying, "that last game was just too unbelievable. Let's research the demo, set up a gaming environment that mirrors their CURRENT environment!" I don't see web site designers saying, "there's too much animation, we're using flash & java too heavily; let's do black text on white backgrounds, to make it more like their home!"
</SOAPBOX>
I'm lovin' these retro jingles, too... fun station! Sounds like the stream is being pulled off an air monitor; about a 3db cut @ 10khz & another cut of about 1db @ 5khz seems to make it much more listenable.
317C50KW said:
Here's one more in agreement with both the quality and content of the post. The bumper car vs. luxury car comparison was excellent.
- Status