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WDRC-FM Comes Back To Life!!??

It sounds awful. Then it sounds decent, and then it sounds awful again.

I can only attribute this to their music library and source material.

To drc-fm fan: You have a valid point about them being an independent, and in that respect you kinda make my point for me-- also reinforcing the opinions of others here. As an independent, oldies-based station, I think they should work to make it sound the best it can. Indeed, this is not a matter of money, but one of execution. From a programming standpoint, at least at this time, IMO it is perfectly fine. It's true that the average listener probably isn't as nitpicky as far as audio quality is concerned, at least not on a conscious level. However, psychologically, the audio quality does have an effect on TSL and desire to listen. Listener fatigue is a major tuneout, whether the listener consciously percieves it, or simply senses subconsciously that "something is wrong".

For all the valid points you make which I agree with, the station should embrace that unique situation by sounding the best they can. They clearly haven't done this, and just as Buckley does with WOR, they don't strive for improvement which there is clearly room for. They simply sit down and ride out the status quo. It don't cut it in my book, and although it may be working financially for them, the listeners are left out in the cold.

WDRC-FM is a heritage radio station, as you said, still privately owned. Definitely deserving of a little TLC.

Again, though, WDRC= "We Don't Really Care". I will refer to them with that moniker until the get off their lazy asses and do something about it.

-A
 
drc-fm fan said:
The station is one of a <very small> handful of independents left in this world, without deep pockets and access to many things other stations take for granted. The fact that DRC-FM does as well as it does given the tools it has to play the game, they should be applauded. LOUDLY. In a world filled with Wal*Mart radio stations, Buckley is an independent. I choose to support the last of this dying breed ...no matter what the issues I, as an outsider, might believe they have.
Click to expand...

But have you listened to Buckley's New York station, WOR-AM? In HD it's wonderful in comparison to the way DRC-FM sounds! Director of Engneering Tom Ray is very knowledgeable in his craft and he should be proud not only of the audio quality but of the facility he built. Buckley dumped major league cash into WOR-AM, from a totally digital studio facility to a new transmission plant, so somebody has to have a clue. If Tom were to come up to Hartford and unseat the GM's decisions on audio quality things would sound better. Ironically, I've been told it's their current GM, the station's former chief engineer, is the reason the audio sounds as flat as an ironing board. I think DRC-FM could have a high fidelity sound as good as any quality FM broadcaster, but it ain't gonna happen with the current management team in place!
 
Excellent points Bill, especially about how much money they dumped into WOR. If they can dump that much money into a 50KW satellite repeater, they certainly could do a little more for DRC-FM.

I still think it is more of a matter of the source material than the audio processing, although I think both elements are at play here. Assuming they are still running the Aphex 2020, and it is up to the latest revision (mkIII) then that processor has the capability to smoke pretty much anything out there-- it just requires alot of tweaking to make it happen.

Oh well. I can't really hear much of anything right now. I wish this lousy cold would go away!

And Bill... I think the audio on WCBS-AM is by far better than that of WOR. It's like it's the only thing CBS hasn't managed to screw up lately... :)

-A
 
The move to digital always exposes bad source material and bad processing.

While a station might have been able to slide on some iffy sounding music (downloaded from the 'net or old AAD CDs) in the past, it really has to clean up and re-rip the library with IBOC. (Of course, great source material was a good idea before, but the "good enough" mentality I hated back in my days on AM creeped onto Major Armstrong's side of spectrum a while back).

Television is having the same problems with audio and cheesy looking sets. News and talk sets that looked fine with 525 lines are being taken down and replaced with new HDTV-friendly replacements.

CJ
 
Kudos! I agree with everything you just said. There's a psychological angle to this too. It's not just limited to engineering and technical experience/concern. Society has become so used to hearing crap, that it has become passable and even acceptable. Just look at the success of the Amar Bose enterprise.... in this day and age I think you could sell a freezer to an Eskimo and make a decent profit.

To give you an idea, my main listening is done on a pair of 1968 JBL Athena 99's. The only processing employed is via an Ashly GQX series 3102 eq-- and that's just to correct for room acoustics. The average kid, if he were to come into this room and listen, he would be flabbergasted. He'd faint when I told him the speakers were almost old enough to be his grandfather!

"Where's the Subs??" -- "There ain't one dude, don't need it".
"What's THAT thing?" -- "That's a turntable, it's the successor to your iPod, it sounds better, too".

Ahh, I digress...

-A
 
So last night, I'm in the van on my way to get my "Tacorral" fix and I'm listening to Gay Johnson (whose picture has been "coming soon" to the DRC-FM website for close to a year now) and I hear "Look Through Any Window" by the Hollies. I almost had to pull over. I was surprised and impressed to hear things in the song I never heard before and I've played the song a million times. Did you know there is hand-clapping to the beat (in a 1, 1-2 rhythm) towards the end of the song? I actually shouted out in the van, "OK, You fixed it . . . . Don't touch anything else!!"
And then, the next song came on; "He's A Rebel" by the Crystals. It sounded like it was phoned in. It is clear to me that consistency is the on-going issue.
With that, I defer to the advice that Bluto gave Flounder in "Animal House" : "My advice is; Start drinking, heavily!"

By the way, I was listening this morning hoping to catch a "Beth Bradley Update" on Cadillac John's show this morning, but I couldn't keep it on for more than 10 minutes. John's voice is so abrasive . . . . much better when he was on 92.5!
 
That's the thing, the audio is so inconsistant it's sad - I would be embarrased to be associated with that station and have the audio sound as nasty as it does. Once in awhile a song sounds wonderful, but don't get too use to it, as the next song will sound like something from a tin can.

From what I hear about Beth, she's in really rough shape. I can't go into detail about what I heard as I was told in confidence, but don't expect her to be back anytime soon ... if at all.
 
Bill DeFelice said:
That's the thing, the audio is so inconsistant it's sad - I would be embarrased to be associated with that station and have the audio sound as nasty as it does. Once in awhile a song sounds wonderful, but don't get too use to it, as the next song will sound like something from a tin can.
Click to expand...

Bill, I am associated with DRC-FM, and I'm proud to be. It's not all about the audio chain. You seem to *hate* the station so much. Generally the people who have nasty things to say on this board...repeatedly...have some other underlying issue...what's yours...?
 
I haven't heard DRC-FM in over a year, make that almost 18 months.

I don't have the world's best radio nor am I an audio buff, but when I visit Colchester for a few weeks later this month, I'm going to sample the station and since if my once favorite station sounds like as much crap as the people here claim it does!

Paul Walker
walkerbroadcasting(at)gmail(dot)com
 
DRC-FM Fan is absolutely correct. A radio station that plays music from the late 50's to the late 70's has to carefully calibrate the audio chain in order to enhance a wide range of source audio quality. Some tunes are simply poorly produced and/or the original "clean" masters are missing or unavailable due to "rights" issues. Most of the older MONO titles are over compressed masters, which no processor on God's green earth can correct. It's like asking the waiter to take back an overcooked steak, and return it medium rare.

DRC-FM's audio sounds excellent in my opinion, considering the above challenges.
 
This is one reason why I like this board, as you get the views of many different type of people and there can always be reasonable debates on subjects.

I can surely bet that both "drc-fm fan" and "FlatTop" are not engineering types and are simply listeners making their own observations. I have yet to meet any professional engineer willing to disagree with the opinions stating just how bad the audio quality on DRC-FM really is. Frankly, I've been engineering both AM and FM broadcast stations for more than 32 years so I know from where I speak. If you enjoy lifeless, flat, less than stellar audio, then you have your wish with DRC-FM. The audio is far from consistant and is far from a pleasing listen the vast majority of the time. I've heard their SmartCaster automation sound worse than any mp3 music player I've heard in my life.

Poster "FlatTop" mentions the quality of the audio source as the main challenge for their audio sounding the way it does. I will concur that older recordings do present their own obstacles in audio processing, but any modern day audio processing past the CBS Audimax and Volumax can be made to sound great with a wide variety of music that would be played in an "oldies" or "classic hits" format. Were you ever in New York radio? I did my stint in it! I remember touring the CBS-FM engineering facilities prior to Jack and they had an Orban 8100 - yes kids, vintage 1981 mind you, sounding very good. DRC-FM's audio is simply pale by comparison. I have audio airchecks going back more than 20 years for DRC-FM and the audio sounded much better back then in comparison to how things are set up currently.

To address the comment by poster "drc-fm fan" - do I hate the station? No, I actually listen to it on occasion. What I do hate is the management's total lack of regard for the listener as far as audio quality - then again, perhaps most ordinary listeners just don't notice or care, considering all the available choices people have today for audio entertainment.
 
Alan Fletcher said:
"What's THAT thing?" -- "That's a turntable, it's the successor to your iPod, it sounds better, too".
Click to expand...

You mean "ancestor of," not "successor to," don't you, or is vinyl now the "next big thing" in audio?
 
CTListener said:
Alan Fletcher said:
"What's THAT thing?" -- "That's a turntable, it's the successor to your iPod, it sounds better, too".
Click to expand...

You mean "ancestor of," not "successor to," don't you, or is vinyl now the "next big thing" in audio?
Click to expand...

I was being sarcastic. And yes, vinyl can and does sound better than an iPod, when played back on the proper equipment.

-A
 
OK . . . Look, I gotta say this: I like DRC; I grew up with DRC. I think it is safe to say that DRC has had a special place in my heart for more than 40 years!! I won my first record from the Dickie Robinson show. It was "I Like It Like That" by The Dave Clark 5. That's the start of a string of more than 500 records I've won from the station over the years. I won my first transistor radio from DRC's "Summertime Sweepstakes" in '67. It was a Channel Master 6-transistor special. I was glued to their Mobile Studio D at Lynch Toyota for their annual promotions. I was there almost as long as the contestants. When I attended CSB in '74, I booked 6am studio practice time every morning so I could get the key from Barry Grant or Ted Dalaku. (They frequently let me sit in with them. I was very fortunate!) Even when I was getting into album rock, DRC was never totally disregarded. In the mid 70's, I was "Peach Keane", reporter for the "Pit Chronicle" on the John Larrabee show. (Sometimes my sides hurt for days) When I attended New England Broadcasting Institute (Dick Korsen's response to CSB) in '83, I shared the classroom with current DRC-FM air talent. Instructors included Charlie Parker, Tom Ray, Walt Dibble & Jerry Kristafer come to mind immediately. And more recently, I've had the priveledge of working with DRC-FM during some of the classic car cruises I've DeeJayed. They are great to work with.
I declare this because I want to make CLEAR that I'm not trying to trash DRC-FM. I DON"T hate DRC-FM. DRC-FM is my favorite station. I am sincerely concerned with their on-going audio issues. It hurts. It's disappointing. I will continue to listen to DRC-FM; and, I will continue to post when the poor audio frustrates me (like today). I'm concerned that the foundation of their legacy may be deteriorating due to this on-going issue. That's something I could never be ready for. It would not surprise me if budgeting is the issue. If it is, I hope this is on the agenda for the '07 fiscal year.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!
 
As much as I'm not a fan of the recent audio quality issues with DRC-FM, but I have to mention an interesting listen, just the same.

Today I was playing with a new Radio Shack HD radio and clicked on the HD2 channel of DRC-FM. Low and behold, it seemed like a flashback to the old days of "The Big D". Where there was common fare of what is played today, there's a variety of music you won't hear on the main channel. The audio quality was fairly decent with the "Jazz" preset on the RatShack radio, but there was noticeable digital overmodulation on the HD2 channel at times.

Listening to the selections it does seem that DRC-FM still has this music available ... it would be nice if they treated more of their main channel listeners instead of limiting the selection to the HD2 channel. I doubt many will invest in HD radios just to catch the lower bitrate HD2 channel.
 
Bill DeFelice said:
As much as I'm not a fan of the recent audio quality issues with DRC-FM, but I have to mention an interesting listen, just the same.

Today I was playing with a new Radio Shack HD radio and clicked on the HD2 channel of DRC-FM. Low and behold, it seemed like a flashback to the old days of "The Big D". Where there was common fare of what is played today, there's a variety of music you won't hear on the main channel. The audio quality was fairly decent with the "Jazz" preset on the RatShack radio, but there was noticeable digital overmodulation on the HD2 channel at times.

Listening to the selections it does seem that DRC-FM still has this music available ... it would be nice if they treated more of their main channel listeners instead of limiting the selection to the HD2 channel. I doubt many will invest in HD radios just to catch the lower bitrate HD2 channel.
Click to expand...

DRC-FM has an HD2 channel? I thought all they were doing was simulcasting the main signal. Was this HD2 stream continuous music, voicetracked or what? Examples of songs heard?
 
CTListener: Yes, there is a separate HD2 channel on DRC-FM. For the most part it's safe to say the music is a mix of the older stuff that's on the main channel and a bit more of the early 60's/late 50's vintage from my sampling. They have a little bit of imaging stating "HD2" and some of their older jingles have been heard (as a friend informed me, I have yet to personally catch any of the jingles so I can't say what era they're from). I was just as shocked to discover an HD2 signal on of all stations! BTW: Not voicetracked, but certainly automation.
 
It would appear to me that after looking at some of the other topics (subjects) on this board that Big D is not the only station experiencing audio hassles.
 
DJ Jim Wayne said:
It would appear to me that after looking at some of the other topics (subjects) on this board that Big D is not the only station experiencing audio hassles.
Click to expand...

That may be true, but DRC-FM suffers from audio quality issues on a consistant basis, hence the number of rants about their sub-par audio.
 
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