wibc 93.1 sound

[bigtime]

They no longer have the "gravitas" they had on AM. It's like when CBS-tv switched their audio delivery from land lines to satellite. Suddenly Walter Cronkite no longer sounded larger than life. He sounded just like the local tv news anchors.
Wibc now sounds like the high school stations sound, although of course the content is better. In addition, the difference in the audio quality level of the phone calls and the studio mike is much more pronounced on FM. For that matter, they seem to have erractic audio levels even in newscasts. It all leveled out on AM, but it sounds rough on FM. The warmth is gone as well. Greg Garrison sounds much more harsh. Seems like they would have been wiser to simulcast at first to see if the FM thing would work.

 

[justalurker]

Someone needs to tweek the processing.

 

[LTLFTC]

I didn't think it was possible to make Garrison sound more harsh.

 

[radioho]

Seems like they would have been wiser to simulcast at first to see if the FM thing would work.

???

Like they wouldn't have made the switch if they had tested it based on sound quality? Like people aren't going to listen because it sounds 'a little more harsh than it used to.'

"I think I'll start listening to WXNT now because they sound more WARM than WIBC. I don't care about the content, I want WARMTH!"

Cracks me up how the engineers on here all think listeners actually pay attention to things like that.

I thought it sounded BETTER than AM this morning. Maybe that's because I didn't lose the signal under the bridge! I'm sure they'll tweak their sound. Overall, I think it was a GREAT move on Emmis' part.

 

[justalurker]

People are more likely to listen when the processing is right ...
I'm more worried about management tweaking than a good audio engineer.

 

[radioho]

People are more likely to listen when the processing is right ...
I'm more worried about management tweaking than a good audio engineer.

I disagree.

You are saying people are LESS likely to listen to Rush because the processing isn't right?

This is TALK, not MUSIC.

If we were talking about a music station you would be, perhaps, more accurate.

 

[MACK184]

One thing that us radio folk have never really "gotten" is that 99% of the listeners have a tin ear. They are listening to the radio station, on a standard am/fm car radio, or a small box in their office at work. Most are not listening on the latest creation to come out the doors at Ovation. Radio programmers and engineers tweak & tweak trying to route out every little click, pop & peep. They spend nights awake worrying about things that almost all of their listeners couldn't hear if it was pointed out to them with a neon sign and a state of the art hearing aid. We worry too much!

 

[BobOnTheJob]

As a former Emmis employee, I listened with anticipation on 93.1. Like other posters, I noted the processing was quite a ways off from where it needs to be. Granted, many listeners have a tin ear, but the level differences required manually adjusting the volume control to keep from being blasted out of the car--even the worst tin ear will not tolerate that. At it's loudest, it's fine. But a high percentage of the programming is low in volume compared to the other stations on the dial. Emmis has a good track record of having good audio(IBOC AM stations excluded by design)...I'm confident that whatever the problem is, it will soon be polished to something close to perfection.

 

[flashback]

as I said on another wibc post (in diffrent words) the ambiance of "coast to coast am" will not be the same in fm.the am background sounds added to the show. as far as the rest of the shows it doesn`t matter to me.

 

[BobOnTheJob]

As a former Emmis employee, I listened with anticipation on 93.1. Like other posters, I noted the processing was quite a ways off from where it needs to be. Granted, many listeners have a tin ear, but the level differences required manually adjusting the volume control to keep from being blasted out of the car--even the worst tin ear will not tolerate that. At it's loudest, it's fine. But a high percentage of the programming is low in volume compared to the other stations on the dial. Emmis has a good track record of having good audio(IBOC AM stations excluded by design)...I'm confident that whatever the problem is, it will soon be polished to something close to perfection.

The audio is greatly improved as of this evening. Congrats to my former co-workers at Emmis Engineering.

 

[look4mission]

what's the annoying beep near top of hour? this was on the am
as well...but why the fm?

 

[11south]

It is the top of the hour time tone. Was added sometime in the late 80's or early 90's when WIBC went talk. I kind of like it, it allows me to see how far off my car radio clock is.

 

[justalurker]

People are more likely to listen when the processing is right ...
I'm more worried about management tweaking than a good audio engineer.

I disagree.

You are saying people are LESS likely to listen to Rush because the processing isn't right?

Yep ... or as Bob put it:

Granted, many listeners have a tin ear, but the level differences required manually adjusting the volume control to keep from being blasted out of the car--even the worst tin ear will not tolerate that. At it's loudest, it's fine. But a high percentage of the programming is low in volume compared to the other stations on the dial.

It is good to hear that it got straightened out today. Bad processing can give listeners headaches!

 

[justalurker]

It is the top of the hour time tone. Was added sometime in the late 80's or early 90's when WIBC went talk. I kind of like it, it allows me to see how far off my car radio clock is.

Those tones on AM were originally used to automatically set clocks. We have much better systems now (WWV and GPS time) but some stations kept the tone for style. Apparently WIBC has it for style too.

 

[oldiesfan6479]

It's like when CBS-tv switched their audio delivery from land lines to satellite. Suddenly Walter Cronkite no longer sounded larger than life. He sounded just like the local tv news anchors.

I've always thought just the opposite, as it was such an improvement in the
aural quality when program delivery was upgraded from the long-time 5 kHz
Telco line to initially a 15 kHz "diplexer" AT&T system (circa 1978, IIRC) and
subsequently a 15 kHz satellite feed (early 1980s).

It allowed audio anywhere downline on all the network TV shows to match
what folks in NYC and, to a lesser extent, El Lay, had been hearing all along,
as the upgraded bandwidth got rid of the Telco line noise, characterized by
a retired ABC Radio engineer as "slizzle"--see this link:

http://www.broadcasting101.ws/abctones.htm

Also see this link for a related item on Telco lines back in the heyday of
network radio:

http://users.adams.net/~jfs/netsnd.htm

 

[ChiefEngineer]

what's the annoying beep near top of hour? this was on the am
as well...but why the fm?

Part of the "new" "Hip" "younger" sound, like Garrison's dentures and the Riley ID.

Harsh is how Rush sounds on FM. The discussions about Harvey on FM canned him. Why not Limbaugh? I LIKE him. His commercials (he was off for the day) sound like the dad on Christmas Story yelling at Ralphie. Or my grandpa when he was soused.

This is how audio sounded for 10 years when tube mastering left for high fidelity. Something is amiss.

and help me, is is "IBC" or WIBC?" Liners say "IBC" but newscasts still use WIBC.

 

[mobilene]

I winced several times on day 1 as highs were too sharp, both on my car radio and my table radio at home. It's better today, but I think they still need to tone down the highs and warm it up. (Non-technical terms from a non-engineer.)

 

[ChiefEngineer]

Harsh audio. Technical refinement. Personal relationship.

Rush sounds like a pushy old man on FM. For all the planning this su stinks.

The friendly sound that we were used to as it came from AM now sounds like a caricature of Rush. It would be funny if it weren't so bad.

This isn't something the techs can fix unless they make FM sound like AM. Roll off the high end?. Add some power line noise?

The comment it sounds like the high school stations is the best description yet.

You can add all the liners into and out of the programs you want. (Saw a newscast where Emmis is explaining things they can do since it's on FM. Gain listeners won't be one.). These music trailers aren't going to fix what they broke.

New younger listeners are not going to listen to Rush if someone who likes him (closing on 50) like me thinks he sounds not like the friend I'm used to but a pushy old man. The former listeners hate the sound en mass. What audience will be left?

NPR has the friendly sound on FM that WIBC needs. Someone should discover how they do it from the network. (NPR-Their processing leaves much to be desired though.) The local audio still sounds like a high school station on NPR affiliates. Click and Clack, All Things Considered. This is what needs to happen to the audio. Make it sound unique and NOT like the local high school stations.

This small but deficient area is the same reason tv stations spend so much on lighting and sets. The same equipment can look film like and clear or harsh and nasty. The reason MASH used film mastering and not video mastering years ago. Watch reruns of MASH and reruns of different strokes to see the difference.

 

[mobilene]

NPR has the friendly sound on FM that WIBC needs.

That nails it.

 

[radioho]

Harsh audio. Technical refinement. Personal relationship. Rush sounds like a pushy old man on FM. For all the planning this su stinks.

Mr. Perfection, I mean, ChefEngineer God, they've been on the air for less than 48hours - a major changeover like this COULD take a couple of days. We all know they should have hired YOU to fix this problem. That little Emmis outfit may not be as intelligently inclined as you, but give them some time and they just may figure it out to YOUR satisfaction.

It's one thing to point it out, YESTERDAY, but you keep ON it. We haven't even HEARD the real Rush on the FM yet, only a fill-in.

New younger listeners are not going to listen to Rush if someone who likes him (closing on 50) like me thinks he sounds not like the friend I'm used to but a pushy old man. The former listeners hate the sound en mass. What audience will be left?

Well, there will be ME and the other MILLIONS and MILLIONS and MILLIONS of listeners across the country, that are NOT listening to Rush in PERFECT AM mono.

I travel the country, I hear Rush and many BAD radio stations. But I keep listening, like the rest of America.

You tuning him out and not listening anymore because you don't like the 'tinny' sound is like threatening McDonald's that you'll never come back because they have Coke product instead of Pepsi -

Like they'll miss you?

Rush will NEVER lose listeners 'en mass' because of a questionable audio feed. This is not the philharmonic you're listening to - IT'S TALK!

NPR has the friendly sound on FM that WIBC needs. Someone should discover how they do it from the network. (NPR-Their processing leaves much to be desired though.) The local audio still sounds like a high school station on NPR affiliates. Click and Clack, All Things Considered. This is what needs to happen to the audio. Make it sound unique and NOT like the local high school stations.

Uh, again, less than 2 days - we know you would have had it fixed before the station even flipped the switch, but you'll have to allow for the rest of the world, and your peers, to catch up to your higher intelligence.