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The Best and Worst sounding FM stations in your area

Caleb,
They are simulcasting 96.7 KSOB/1290 KMMM...which I've DX'ed the FM before from here (on sporadic-E skip). The station sounds so bad. Songs skipped while I was listening. Dead air like crazy. Knock knock, anybody home? Are they using beat-up CDs for gosh sakes...or running songs off Windows XP?
KZZW 104.5 in Mooreland/Woodward, OK is just as bad. Lots and lots of dead air. 60,000 watts worth of dead air. It's ridiculous.
That’s quality Rocking M cheapness for ya. We’ll see if this consent decree and these short term license renewals recently handed out by the commission finally deal their hands and they have no choice but to sell off their stations. (Likely a pipe dream, but a man can dream, right?)
 
Caleb,
They are simulcasting 96.7 KSOB/1290 KMMM...which I've DX'ed the FM before from here (on sporadic-E skip). The station sounds so bad. Songs skipped while I was listening. Dead air like crazy. Knock knock, anybody home? Are they using beat-up CDs for gosh sakes...or running songs off Windows XP?
KZZW 104.5 in Mooreland/Woodward, OK is just as bad. Lots and lots of dead air. 60,000 watts worth of dead air. It's ridiculous.
It really is incredible. Now, add KWME 92.7 to that. May not be quite as bad as what KVWF sounds, but I can tell you my mother even noticed how bad 92.7 was, and she isn't much of a radio listener! Never have heard KZZW OTA, but that is upsetting. That's the only station around (with a reliable signal, at least) for a lot of folks wanting to hear CHR.
 
Caleb,
They are simulcasting 96.7 KSOB/1290 KMMM...which I've DX'ed the FM before from here (on sporadic-E skip). The station sounds so bad. Songs skipped while I was listening. Dead air like crazy. Knock knock, anybody home? Are they using beat-up CDs for gosh sakes...or running songs off Windows XP?
KZZW 104.5 in Mooreland/Woodward, OK is just as bad. Lots and lots of dead air. 60,000 watts worth of dead air. It's ridiculous.
And, while I might add Crainbebo, I'm reliving my old times as a teenager going through my older posts on here. I didn't post a lot, but you gave me a lot of radio insight as an 18 year old back in 2012. Seeing how many stations you had received and saying, "That's a DX'er!" in your bio just got me into the hobby even more. Have not forgotten those times. I remember driving my friends around in my old S10 pickup receiving stations from Utah, Vegas, Phoenix etc. and my friends thinking I was some kind of genius. (Hey, wasn't me! Pure luck) Those were the good days.
 
Why thank you! Perhaps we'll link up on sporadic-E this coming summer. Last year I snagged Wichita at least twice, with one opening to the top of the band (confirmed KWLS-107.9 in Winfield). Those same openings also brought Oklahoma stations. Probably my favorite catch this summer was ALSO a Kansas station - I finally heard the standards/Easy listening format that operates on KVSV 105.5 in Beloit. It is a shame that they have no stream, because it sounds like a radio station from decades ago. Like a time warp to the '70s.
 
IIRC, Robert Orban commented that HD radio audio doesn't use pre-emphasis, so there's the possibility of a better spectral balance in the processed audio from an HD radio signal.

I just have a Sony HD table radio and I haven't taken the time to compare the FM audio with the associated HD audio, anyone with a spectrum display, use it to see if the HD audio has more treble than the associated FM audio?


Kirk Bayne
 
The HD Radio audio does indeed allow for a superior spectral balance, possibly depending on the setup. However, the AAC-based codec that HD Radio uses has a tendency to introduce high-frequency aliasing at lower bitrates, which can negatively impact audio and make for a "shrill" sound. My personal experience indicates that while the HD Radio audio does have more treble, the analog FM signal is more pleasant to listen to. That said, most stations in my market run very low bitrates across all of their HD channels.
 
IIRC, Robert Orban commented that HD radio audio doesn't use pre-emphasis, so there's the possibility of a better spectral balance in the processed audio from an HD radio signal.
Digital doesn't need preemphasis like analog because: 1. HD doesn't have a spectral noise floor like analog. 2. There is no need to have low pass filters to protect the 19kHz. pilot like analog FM. Most FM analog receivers start rolling off high frequencies starting at 13kHz.
I just have a Sony HD table radio and I haven't taken the time to compare the FM audio with the associated HD audio, anyone with a spectrum display, use it to see if the HD audio has more treble than the associated FM audio?
The frequency response of FM-HD is 20Hz through 20kHz.
 
The HD Radio audio does indeed allow for a superior spectral balance, possibly depending on the setup. However, the AAC-based codec that HD Radio uses has a tendency to introduce high-frequency aliasing at lower bitrates, which can negatively impact audio and make for a "shrill" sound.
Much of that depends on the amount of audio processing and the file format of the original material. Some stations are still stuck in the analog FM loudness wars, are doing a lot of hard-clipping, especially in the upper end. Same with high end (upright bowl) equalization. Digital processing has helped a lot and hurt some when it comes to processing audio transmitted on HD digital. The excessive clipping of high frequencies to enhance high frequencies on analog, create many more noticeable artifacts listening to digital.
Some stations are still stupid enough to air MP3 compressed files too. MP3's sound horrible after going through not just a digital audio processor, but the HD radio processing algorithm. The net result is an old long-time concern known as 'dueling algorithm's".
My personal experience indicates that while the HD Radio audio does have more treble, the analog FM signal is more pleasant to listen to. That said, most stations in my market run very low bitrates across all of their HD channels.
Sure, some people think listening to music on AM sounds better to FM as well. I wouldn't be one of them, but to each their own.
 
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