Telltale signs of an imminent format change.

[vchimpanzee]

I remember when WHQC in Charlotte, NC flipped from oldies to urban in 2004 - during the stunt, the bass dropped and became very loud and deep during a random song. That change stayed with the new format.

Rhythmic, not urban. The women shown dancing in the Charlotte Observer photo were white.

 

[seatownmedia]

It has been proven that high compression processing is enjoyable for about 15-20 minutes. Then it becomes irritating. How convenient to get that old quarter hour rating!

 

[Hole in your radio]

What are some signs a station is about to change formats? I think when a station let's a dj go and has no replacement, even a fill in, can be a sign during a popular time. If a playlist really starts sounding stale when before it didn't could also be a sign. Thoughts?

Your station's holiday party includes a speech by the GM about what a great year it's been and how much he looks forward to working with everyone for the next year. You've got about a week to go...

 

[davideduardo]

It has been proven that high compression processing is enjoyable for about 15-20 minutes. Then it becomes irritating. How convenient to get that old quarter hour rating!

This raises a number of questions:

• What is "compression?" (Peak limiting, clipping, restricted dynamic range?)
• What is "high compression"?
• Where is there proof that 15-20 minutes is the defining point?
• What is "irritating"?

Different kinds of music have different tolerance levels for "compression". And there are many different devices for AGC, peak limiting and compression on the market, and most of them have a plethora of settings.

I know of no study that has compared radio Time Spent Listening with audio processing brands and settings, let alone anything as specific as "15 - 20 minutes". Where is this, as you say, "proven"?

 

[Harvey_Dogg]

If used properly audio processing can make the music sound better. But if abused can make an FM station sound worse than AM. Even worse, you might think your amp and speakers are blown.

 

[Kelly A]

This raises a number of questions:

• What is "compression?" (Peak limiting, clipping, restricted dynamic range?)
• What is "high compression"?
• Where is there proof that 15-20 minutes is the defining point?
• What is "irritating"?

I think it's all rolled up into 'highly processed audio'. To your point, that could be any combination of compression, equalization, limiting, or hard clipping.

Different kinds of music have different tolerance levels for "compression". And there are many different devices for AGC, peak limiting and compression on the market, and most of them have a plethora of settings.

That, and different demographics have different tolerances. For example, it's common knowledge that females under 50 are less tolerant of excessive high frequencies through equalization, or processing that creates low dynamic range of frequencies above 2kHz. In particular, TSL can be effected depending on the music and format.

I know of no study that has compared radio Time Spent Listening with audio processing brands and settings, let alone anything as specific as "15 - 20 minutes". Where is this, as you say, "proven"?

You're right. Nothing based on processing brands, but particular 'hot button' processing artifacts.

 

[davideduardo]

You're right. Nothing based on processing brands, but particular 'hot button' processing artifacts.

I think we can say that the two major providers of audio processing devices have just two goals in mind:

1. Prevent illegal over-modulation.
2. Produce audio that is as close to the original source material as possible.

Beyond that, they provide an almost infinite number of ways of defeating #2 with mostly loudness as a goal. The second station goal is to provide a more limited dynamic range, knowing that we are nearing half of all listening in cars where road noise has to be overcome.

So the end result for Frank and the Bob & Greg Show is giving the cleanest processing while allowing each station to restrict, compress, mash and mutilate all they want. The challenge comes from today's record labels, who think that there is a high fidelity square wave.

For those who have no idea what we are talking about, this is a great source of information from Barry Mishkind, "The Eclectic Engineer":

https://www.thebdr.net/category/audio-processing/