Interesting observations.
Actually, speaker sensitivity has nothing to do with how audible compression artifacts are. In fact, after decades of punishing myself listening to and adjusting broadcast processing, I've found I'm more sensitive to artifacts when listening at lower volumes, more tolerant at higher volumes. By lower volumes, I'm mean average SPL of 55-65dB.
I think this is because there is a form of compression that human hearing does naturally at higher SPL which makes compression artifact more tolerable at high SPL.
Well Nigel, I'm sure Ms Routledge held her own against many actresses, she adapted herself quite well as I see.
I do enjoy some of those "Brit" shows, I remember mom watching Benny Hill on our 23 inch black & white console TV.
As Time Goes By is another good show that I catch sometimes.
Love Judi Dench, great actress.
And for some dirty comedy, Mrs Brown's Boys.
As for old radiograms.... my 1963 RCA Victor console has got a tuning eye too....
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Sorry my comment was a bit sexist. Been watching too much Benny Hill !
Mrs Browns boys was quite ground breaking on BBC television.
I hadn't heard much of the F word until that program started.
The radiogram eventually packed up and I got it to strip down at the ripe age of about 8. At 12 I was swapping valves in the black and white TV when it broke.
The B&W TV's were great, a wagon went by outside and the picture would roll. No AFC in those days.
I do not understand the question. OF COURSE we can. I'm sitting here with two rotten ears and one new hearing aid, on a "digital" TV with 2" speakers. I can hear most audio edits, background sounds cued in and out, mis-phased speech mikes. And EVERY mis-compression along the line (my cable company re-compresses already-compressed network programs). On car-radio call-in show I hear steady-talk ironed-flat at 99.44% modulation, and the gasp when (rarely) both caller and host shut-up for a blessed moment.
I don't have so much opinion between my old 1970 CBS Audi/VoluMax and today's OtoMod or whatever they call a hammer now. Whatever they do is consistent, unlike the chaos of post-production and programming.
Yes indeed.
With a CD/record/tape/etc., you basically KNOW what you're getting, you've selected it.
You're "in control" of your world in that situation.
The only time you have control over radio listening is knowing what the station is known for, music-wise..... a.k.a "pop", "classical", "country", "jazz"... etc.
Pharos,
I listen to a lot of radio when I’m working or driving (mainly to stay in touch with the real world....have no live feed tv!) and there are big differences in sound between stations.
It’s not just distance either, one of our local stations did an equipment upgrade a couple yrs ago and it really sounded good, then after they came back on air (post hurricane Michael) they lost the edge and have never got it back......I keep meaning to stop by and talk to the station manager but either forget or I’m in a hurry!
There’s also a pop station I listen to just to see what ‘pop’ equates to....it has some of the best sq I’ve ever heard from a fm station.
From what I can tell it’s possible to transmit 10hz-15kz (up to 17k in hd) so it seems if the source is right audiophile grade radio is possible?
I listen to a lot of radio when I’m working or driving (mainly to stay in touch with the real world....have no live feed tv!) and there are big differences in sound between stations.
It’s not just distance either, one of our local stations did an equipment upgrade a couple yrs ago and it really sounded good, then after they came back on air (post hurricane Michael) they lost the edge and have never got it back......I keep meaning to stop by and talk to the station manager but either forget or I’m in a hurry!
There’s also a pop station I listen to just to see what ‘pop’ equates to....it has some of the best sq I’ve ever heard from a fm station.
From what I can tell it’s possible to transmit 10hz-15kz (up to 17k in hd) so it seems if the source is right audiophile grade radio is possible?
Radio has come on over the years.
I remember getting one of the first battery transistor radios for xmas in the 1960's.
And listening to Radio Luxemburg in bed late at night.
The station would fade in and out and constantly need constant frequency control adjustment.
My car now has DAB as well as FM and sounds amazing.
I remember getting one of the first battery transistor radios for xmas in the 1960's.
And listening to Radio Luxemburg in bed late at night.
The station would fade in and out and constantly need constant frequency control adjustment.
My car now has DAB as well as FM and sounds amazing.
It seems to me that we are in a bit of a quality malaise SQ wise, and that we could have the best ever given technological advances, but they are being used for more commercial aspects.
Also the equipment available to singer/songwriters is so sophisticated but the apparent quality of song writing has plummeted. This is a human/humanistic factor, maybe related to or even enforced by the current economic and power dynamics of the cultural climate effectively persecuting the young.
PF; razor blades, large loops of tape across several machines etc., great creativity, poetic with political insights and use of 'sculpturing' with live sounds.
Modern pop; samplers, synths, sequencers, powerful software with editing facilities and voice correction, low quality songs and over-stylised singing devoid so often of real from the heart expression. Or is this just my opinion?
Also the equipment available to singer/songwriters is so sophisticated but the apparent quality of song writing has plummeted. This is a human/humanistic factor, maybe related to or even enforced by the current economic and power dynamics of the cultural climate effectively persecuting the young.
PF; razor blades, large loops of tape across several machines etc., great creativity, poetic with political insights and use of 'sculpturing' with live sounds.
Modern pop; samplers, synths, sequencers, powerful software with editing facilities and voice correction, low quality songs and over-stylised singing devoid so often of real from the heart expression. Or is this just my opinion?
I switched to DAB+ over internet, and that works flawless in my home. FM reception on the Belgian countryside is also getting worse everyday, so DAB+ is a solution. The sound quality (both are overlimited (broadcast limiting) low bitrate mp3 streams, like everywhere in the world today) is not better, but the stability of the signal is.
But as working in broadcast as hobby (Urgent.fm is my station), i know it's hard to keep a strong signal on fm due to regulations on power of broadcast and many disturbing factors, going from wheather and landscape, over other radio activity and the way buildings are constructed today (steel frame with concrete, wich act as a cage of faraday).
But as working in broadcast as hobby (Urgent.fm is my station), i know it's hard to keep a strong signal on fm due to regulations on power of broadcast and many disturbing factors, going from wheather and landscape, over other radio activity and the way buildings are constructed today (steel frame with concrete, wich act as a cage of faraday).
Well if anyone listened to Johnny Walker this afternoon, I'm interested in what they thought of the SQ.
Early on S & G's "Bridge Over Troubled Water was played, and it was horrible in the lower mid, congested and distorted, but later other tracks were relatively good, especially some Fleetwood Mac recordings.
Does anyone concur?
Early on S & G's "Bridge Over Troubled Water was played, and it was horrible in the lower mid, congested and distorted, but later other tracks were relatively good, especially some Fleetwood Mac recordings.
Does anyone concur?
Interesting thread
I read this and thought wow, quality of FM broadcasts??? Where I live, in eastern PA USA, we have always had spotty FM, and even TV reception due to our geography. My FM listening has never been of a critical nature, but mainly in the car or while having the radio on while doing something else. And I have not listened to commercial radio in probably 35 years. Can't stand the endless commercials and limited songs in rotation.
Now I do most of my FM listening by way of streaming the stations. It really is nice to be able to listen to something without having the reception go out because you drove in a certain area. Or taking a trip out of the range of a favorite station and not having to hunt for something else to listen to.
I've always just done my critical listening at home via vinyl, tape, or CD.
I read this and thought wow, quality of FM broadcasts??? Where I live, in eastern PA USA, we have always had spotty FM, and even TV reception due to our geography. My FM listening has never been of a critical nature, but mainly in the car or while having the radio on while doing something else. And I have not listened to commercial radio in probably 35 years. Can't stand the endless commercials and limited songs in rotation.
Now I do most of my FM listening by way of streaming the stations. It really is nice to be able to listen to something without having the reception go out because you drove in a certain area. Or taking a trip out of the range of a favorite station and not having to hunt for something else to listen to.
I've always just done my critical listening at home via vinyl, tape, or CD.
I may ruffle some feathers in stating that FM reception, along with many current things in life, are purposely made less stellar though the years in order for another thing to "take hold" of your money.
FM was once a fabulous new "high quality" way to listen to radio in the 1950's, followed by Multiplex Stereo broadcasts in 1960.
See the "upgrade" in order to generate more revenue?
Most radios, tuners, console stereos, were made with provisions (at additional cost) for Multiplex modules.
The "already stereo" models were, naturally, more expensive..
NOW......
FM, being somewhat lackluster today, pushes people to invest in "HD" radio, "streaming services".... etc., and again, it "costs" you to hop on the "new" bandwagon.
Just like cable/satellite TV did...... once offering commercial free programming, which eventually turned about face and shoved those lousy commercials at you anyway.
The story is this...
They get you hooked by some attractive or unusual new feature, then eventually make it boring, uninteresting....... gradually.
But by this time you've been "programmed".
So you, brainwashed, look to something "better".
And it will cost you........ of course.
You have to keep feeding the power mongers, the masters of the world... you're their slave.
It will never end.....
Unless you make strides to become less dependent on the "weaknesses" programmed into you.
I've done that to a substantial degree, and guess what?...... it's fantastic!...... to be free of all that crap, like taking the harness off a dog.
Living life and really enjoying it.
The ones touting "I switched to streaming" haven't done anything but feed the evil dragon once more.
Because once you're accustomed to "the new thing", something else will come along.
Masked as "new technology"
FM was once a fabulous new "high quality" way to listen to radio in the 1950's, followed by Multiplex Stereo broadcasts in 1960.
See the "upgrade" in order to generate more revenue?
Most radios, tuners, console stereos, were made with provisions (at additional cost) for Multiplex modules.
The "already stereo" models were, naturally, more expensive..
NOW......
FM, being somewhat lackluster today, pushes people to invest in "HD" radio, "streaming services".... etc., and again, it "costs" you to hop on the "new" bandwagon.
Just like cable/satellite TV did...... once offering commercial free programming, which eventually turned about face and shoved those lousy commercials at you anyway.
The story is this...
They get you hooked by some attractive or unusual new feature, then eventually make it boring, uninteresting....... gradually.
But by this time you've been "programmed".
So you, brainwashed, look to something "better".
And it will cost you........ of course.
You have to keep feeding the power mongers, the masters of the world... you're their slave.
It will never end.....
Unless you make strides to become less dependent on the "weaknesses" programmed into you.
I've done that to a substantial degree, and guess what?...... it's fantastic!...... to be free of all that crap, like taking the harness off a dog.
Living life and really enjoying it.
The ones touting "I switched to streaming" haven't done anything but feed the evil dragon once more.
Because once you're accustomed to "the new thing", something else will come along.
Masked as "new technology"
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I agree wiseoldtech, but more as a general philosophy than just applicable to our audio passion, and I'm very reticent to become involved in new things which seem to take off rapidly because I have a constant suspicion about predatory capitalism.
I also watch TV ads and check to see if I ever buy, or have bought the advertised products, and very rarely have done so; the I/P filter is strong.
Releasing something very good, and then de-qualitying it over time is a very constant strategy.
My analogous statement to the old English expression; "Posession is 9/10 of the law", is,
"Self posession is 9/10 of achievement".
I also watch TV ads and check to see if I ever buy, or have bought the advertised products, and very rarely have done so; the I/P filter is strong.
Releasing something very good, and then de-qualitying it over time is a very constant strategy.
My analogous statement to the old English expression; "Posession is 9/10 of the law", is,
"Self posession is 9/10 of achievement".
It feels great to plop a Patty Page album onto a (paid for) vintage old console stereo from 1963, and do the chores around the house like cleaning, cooking, or whatever, reading a book.
And not concerned with having "the latest" stuff.
Not fussing over stuff like CD player "jitters" or Burr Brown IC chips.
And not concerned with having "the latest" stuff.
Not fussing over stuff like CD player "jitters" or Burr Brown IC chips.
In the USA FM died decades ago...
I'm sorry, I see that this thread was about the technical quality of FM, but the problem is the programming. It is pure
There are tiny exceptions, such as NPR with Jazz or other programs. But commercial FM? I would sooner gouge my own ear out with a red hot poker before I would (for example) listen to a library of 500 "classic rock" songs over and over and over and over...
The cheapest smart phone can store all that and lots more, or a music player, for under what, $50?
I think they should just shut down FM radio and auction the spectrum for better uses.
I'm sorry, I see that this thread was about the technical quality of FM, but the problem is the programming. It is pure
There are tiny exceptions, such as NPR with Jazz or other programs. But commercial FM? I would sooner gouge my own ear out with a red hot poker before I would (for example) listen to a library of 500 "classic rock" songs over and over and over and over...
The cheapest smart phone can store all that and lots more, or a music player, for under what, $50?I think they should just shut down FM radio and auction the spectrum for better uses.
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