Wright County Guy
Frequent Participant
NightAire said:
And now at 104 days, same Twitter update.
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What's the worst sounding station you've heard?
- Thread starter bturner
- Start date
And now at 104 days, same Twitter update.
I loved the WSLV clips posted earlier; I modified the Wootens Collision commercial to "seem" local,
changed "Ardmore" to to "Ardmore Ave", as here in Chicago.
I edited all the swap shop phone numbers so I could run it...
Appreciation is a sliding scale.
I wish I could have heard some of the 1920's hobbyist stations.
Good/Bad is not even relative but fresh is.
As a major market resident, I always appreciate perspective from everywhere, and find always/ever/perfect
major market production/presentation a fine thing, but there's nothing finer than hearing a 250w daytimer
on a remote out at the county fair on a walk through of the Poultry exhibit.
Time iteself changes then, and radio brings to me in the city what major market radio never could.
"Worst" is a linguistic tool that too easlily becomes the property of those who see only money,
defining what will be acceptable to place valuations upon.
I love WSLV. Unfortunately it won't connect now on the live link...
changed "Ardmore" to to "Ardmore Ave", as here in Chicago.
I edited all the swap shop phone numbers so I could run it...
Appreciation is a sliding scale.
I wish I could have heard some of the 1920's hobbyist stations.
Good/Bad is not even relative but fresh is.
As a major market resident, I always appreciate perspective from everywhere, and find always/ever/perfect
major market production/presentation a fine thing, but there's nothing finer than hearing a 250w daytimer
on a remote out at the county fair on a walk through of the Poultry exhibit.
Time iteself changes then, and radio brings to me in the city what major market radio never could.
"Worst" is a linguistic tool that too easlily becomes the property of those who see only money,
defining what will be acceptable to place valuations upon.
I love WSLV. Unfortunately it won't connect now on the live link...
In response to the person who was talking about wduf radio, just to let you know that was my wonderful father & his radio station. The ole ridgerunner. My father had more talent than a lot of ppl could ever have. For over 50 yrs that man worked in radio & bmuegrass was his baby. He was with the grand ole opry for several yrs in carl smiths band & they traveled many places but the opry was their home back in the 50's. To each his own but to speak of my dad in that way i did not like esp when you referred to him as dead. Yes he died on 2007 after my mother in 2005. The station was their baby & myself & my sister worked on air also as dj's along side my father. It must have not been too bad of a station as the people in that area loved him & our music. We were on air over 25 yrs before their deaths forced us to have to shut the doors. People loved us & the station & hated to see it go. But please understand my father was someone who was admired & looked up to. They followed him & i still see some who just miss him as i do. He was in radio over 50 yrs. He was great at what he done. The people loved the things he talked about. So please be kind.
joebtsflk1
Star Participant
WDUF...only had the privilege to hear it once. Wife and I camped in the Duffield area back in 1995 and we kept our radio on WDUF the entire time. Sad to discover a few years ago that WDUF isn't around anymore.
FreddyE1977
Star Participant
In my most humble opinion (and I do NOT intend this comment to start a religious fight and upset Mr. Berry) it is WAOB in Pittsburgh. It is owned by a splinter Catholic group, and actually broadcasts on THREE frequencies (106.7, 860 and 1510).
The people who own this station are a minority group of old-school Catholics who want to go back to the days of Gregorian Chant and the Latin Mass. In fact Gregorian Chant is one of the things you can hear on WAOB regularly. Along with long, dry, deep-in-the-weeds dissertations on Catholic theology. And, something that you are taught to NEVER do in radio.....long stretches of DEAD AIR.... intended for personal prayer and reflection. Plus lots of technical glitches (like the live broadcast of the Mass where the microphone is placed so far away, in such an echo-prone position, that you have absolutely no idea what is being said by anyone).
I don't mean to denigrate these folks or their beliefs, but from a pure radio listener's perspective it is a painful slog.
And it's really not a very effective tool for evangelizing if your goal is to reach out and try to generate interest in Catholicism.
The people who own this station are a minority group of old-school Catholics who want to go back to the days of Gregorian Chant and the Latin Mass. In fact Gregorian Chant is one of the things you can hear on WAOB regularly. Along with long, dry, deep-in-the-weeds dissertations on Catholic theology. And, something that you are taught to NEVER do in radio.....long stretches of DEAD AIR.... intended for personal prayer and reflection. Plus lots of technical glitches (like the live broadcast of the Mass where the microphone is placed so far away, in such an echo-prone position, that you have absolutely no idea what is being said by anyone).
I don't mean to denigrate these folks or their beliefs, but from a pure radio listener's perspective it is a painful slog.
And it's really not a very effective tool for evangelizing if your goal is to reach out and try to generate interest in Catholicism.
The radio stations R & J Broadcasting bought from Red Rock in Brainerd, MN: 95.9, 100.1, 101.5
KKCK FM 99.7 can easily be seen as a terrible radio station, but it has done CHR it's own way for decades. They owned and run by an independent small towm broadcast outlet.
Don't let the negative comments bother you, Kandy. Most of the posters here have no concept of radio programming and if your station doesn't sound like CKLW or WABC then it is not worthy.
I'm guessing I would have been a fan of your family's station as I love bluegrass music and love to hear the old timers tell their stories. You're right....twenty five years operating a small town radio station is quite an accomplishment; I know many, many who have failed after a year or two, some in spectacular fashion. You have every right to be proud of your dad!
K271AH 102.1 Camano Island, WA when it first came on around 2008. Used to repeat KBRC-1430 (Oldies) from Mt. Vernon, with horrific audio quality. Sounded like telephone quality. They finally improved a few years later when they started repeating KAPS/660.
KMNA 98.7 Mabton had dead air for several days a few weeks back. It runs Regional Mexican 'La Maquina Musical'. NO WEBSITE!
KMNA 98.7 Mabton had dead air for several days a few weeks back. It runs Regional Mexican 'La Maquina Musical'. NO WEBSITE!
1430 AM in ST Louis got shut down like 2 1/2 month I am going to talk about that. This station had the worst audio quality ever it was equal to 32kbs or 48kbps MP3 and it was really muffled the station has a decent playlist audio so bad you could not even listen to it for more than a few min 80kbps AAC would have been fine for a AM station
KDCY FM Cotulla, Texas. I admit I never heard the station but the managing partner portion of KDCY's ownership worked from the desk in front of mine at KITE FM in Kerrville around 1992/93. Later I had an employee at the station I managed in Houston that briefly dated a guy that worked a short time at KDCY. The Managing Partner was Mike Clark, a school teacher before getting in radio. Mike's a real good guy personally and I'd bet his students loved him.
Per Mike Clark, managing partner: the station was north of Cotulla an exit or two in a tiny community called Gardendale. In a farm field was the tower with a mobile home that housed the station. The studio was a pair of Radio Shack microphone mixers, a couple of Radio Shack microphones and 4 dual cassette decks. The music was whatever 'country music' they could scrounge and record onto cassette tapes. The emphasis was on older country. There was some thought that was used in building each 24-26 minute segment of music to create a decent blend (ie: to create some balance). The station operated 6am to 10pm. Early on a guy came in offering to do a Spanish language show 7 days a week 5pm to 10pm with an agreement to give the station 50% of what he could sell. As Mike put it, the guy really didn't sell anything but he felt he was far ahead of the curve not having to cover an extra 35 hours a week in payroll.
Mike had a tough job: manage, do traffic and sell in addition to writing spots he sold. I asked him about sales as we were both selling at KITE at that time. He said the station averaged about $5,000 a month in sales. The published spot rate was $5 but as he put it, that was a joke. The reality was Mike said he got anything he could for a spot rate, mostly $1 per spot. He said he had no luck selling in Cotulla, so he sold out of town, mostly San Antonio and Laredo. In Mike's mind, you only failed if you didn't get something from every business you visited. I saw this firsthand. We had driven together to Fredericksburg to canvas downtown for a live remote KITE FM was doing there. We had a package of 50 mentions for $100. The business owner said she was tapped out. Mike halved the package. She said no. In the end he gave her 25 mentions for a $20 from the cash register. He was smiling at the door and says 'and that's how you sell'. So selling 25 cent or 50 cent spots, it didn't matter as any dollars added up to the needed $5,000 to meet payroll and expenses.
I asked Mike if they did news, weather and such. He said (and this stuck with me) 'Cotulla is too small to have any news'. He said the morning guy had cable TV and got the forecast off the Weather Channel before coming to work.
The hourly clock worked like this: play one side of a C-60 cassette with 24-26 minutes of country music, then read and/or play all the commercials and repeat. I don't know how many cassettes of music they had but I suspect it was not an extensive and well rounded library as the music was simply put together from personal collections of people the two owners knew.
I talked to an engineer that built a station not too far away from Cotulla who told me he thought the station had little if any processing. The signal was lower in volume than all other stations. He thought the songs on the cassettes did not overlap, as if recorded one song at a time with maybe a second of silence or more between songs. He figured they were 'thinking ahead' if they needed to do more than 2 breaks an hour for commercials. As for those commercial breaks, the spots were generally voice only and they ran about 5 to 7 spots per stop set with the jock sometimes reading one or two of them. It was implied one Radio Shack mixer and one microphone could be used to record spots directly on cassette. There was no production library.
The numbers: the 'money' owner wanted $3,000 a month from the station but wanted no involvement with the station. Mike, I gathered, made no paycheck because breakeven was around $4,500 to $5,000 a month. Mike implied he got a paycheck after the station reached $8,000 a month in billing (ie: hit $10,000 an Mike gets $2,000 in his pocket). The station never paid the 'money' owner or Mike. It seems Mike tired of this and bailed out of KDCY. From what I can gather, it is likely the guy that did the Spanish language programming took the station. It didn't last long before the station went dark and the license went back to the FCC.
Today you can jump on the street view of Google Maps and see where KDCY used to be. There's still the tower in that farmer's field on the south side of the few square blocks of Gardendale. Go to Cotulla, Texas and follow the freeway north. You can see it from the freeway. Warning, there's another Texas town called Gardendale near Midland that defaults so go to Cotulla to find this Gardendale in La Salle County.
I think KDCY qualifies as one of the worst because the facility was subpar, the lack of understanding when it comes to embracing the community and the way Mike sells. The way I sell is by getting to know the client and their business so I can bring long term ideas that are customized for their business. My sales are not immediate. Mike sells 'product' from the stance of here's my product, now what do I need to do to get you to buy it now?
I sure am not critical of Mike Clark in his radio owner/management role. I have way too much respect for him as a person. I'd rather say he did not have some knowledge he needed to make KDCY go forward. It is obvious to me Cotulla likely never embraced KDCY because there was nothing local on the air. The ads were from distant cities. There was no news. No local PSAs. I'm guessing locals might have thought the station was broadcasting from some other place than Cotulla.
Per Mike Clark, managing partner: the station was north of Cotulla an exit or two in a tiny community called Gardendale. In a farm field was the tower with a mobile home that housed the station. The studio was a pair of Radio Shack microphone mixers, a couple of Radio Shack microphones and 4 dual cassette decks. The music was whatever 'country music' they could scrounge and record onto cassette tapes. The emphasis was on older country. There was some thought that was used in building each 24-26 minute segment of music to create a decent blend (ie: to create some balance). The station operated 6am to 10pm. Early on a guy came in offering to do a Spanish language show 7 days a week 5pm to 10pm with an agreement to give the station 50% of what he could sell. As Mike put it, the guy really didn't sell anything but he felt he was far ahead of the curve not having to cover an extra 35 hours a week in payroll.
Mike had a tough job: manage, do traffic and sell in addition to writing spots he sold. I asked him about sales as we were both selling at KITE at that time. He said the station averaged about $5,000 a month in sales. The published spot rate was $5 but as he put it, that was a joke. The reality was Mike said he got anything he could for a spot rate, mostly $1 per spot. He said he had no luck selling in Cotulla, so he sold out of town, mostly San Antonio and Laredo. In Mike's mind, you only failed if you didn't get something from every business you visited. I saw this firsthand. We had driven together to Fredericksburg to canvas downtown for a live remote KITE FM was doing there. We had a package of 50 mentions for $100. The business owner said she was tapped out. Mike halved the package. She said no. In the end he gave her 25 mentions for a $20 from the cash register. He was smiling at the door and says 'and that's how you sell'. So selling 25 cent or 50 cent spots, it didn't matter as any dollars added up to the needed $5,000 to meet payroll and expenses.
I asked Mike if they did news, weather and such. He said (and this stuck with me) 'Cotulla is too small to have any news'. He said the morning guy had cable TV and got the forecast off the Weather Channel before coming to work.
The hourly clock worked like this: play one side of a C-60 cassette with 24-26 minutes of country music, then read and/or play all the commercials and repeat. I don't know how many cassettes of music they had but I suspect it was not an extensive and well rounded library as the music was simply put together from personal collections of people the two owners knew.
I talked to an engineer that built a station not too far away from Cotulla who told me he thought the station had little if any processing. The signal was lower in volume than all other stations. He thought the songs on the cassettes did not overlap, as if recorded one song at a time with maybe a second of silence or more between songs. He figured they were 'thinking ahead' if they needed to do more than 2 breaks an hour for commercials. As for those commercial breaks, the spots were generally voice only and they ran about 5 to 7 spots per stop set with the jock sometimes reading one or two of them. It was implied one Radio Shack mixer and one microphone could be used to record spots directly on cassette. There was no production library.
The numbers: the 'money' owner wanted $3,000 a month from the station but wanted no involvement with the station. Mike, I gathered, made no paycheck because breakeven was around $4,500 to $5,000 a month. Mike implied he got a paycheck after the station reached $8,000 a month in billing (ie: hit $10,000 an Mike gets $2,000 in his pocket). The station never paid the 'money' owner or Mike. It seems Mike tired of this and bailed out of KDCY. From what I can gather, it is likely the guy that did the Spanish language programming took the station. It didn't last long before the station went dark and the license went back to the FCC.
Today you can jump on the street view of Google Maps and see where KDCY used to be. There's still the tower in that farmer's field on the south side of the few square blocks of Gardendale. Go to Cotulla, Texas and follow the freeway north. You can see it from the freeway. Warning, there's another Texas town called Gardendale near Midland that defaults so go to Cotulla to find this Gardendale in La Salle County.
I think KDCY qualifies as one of the worst because the facility was subpar, the lack of understanding when it comes to embracing the community and the way Mike sells. The way I sell is by getting to know the client and their business so I can bring long term ideas that are customized for their business. My sales are not immediate. Mike sells 'product' from the stance of here's my product, now what do I need to do to get you to buy it now?
I sure am not critical of Mike Clark in his radio owner/management role. I have way too much respect for him as a person. I'd rather say he did not have some knowledge he needed to make KDCY go forward. It is obvious to me Cotulla likely never embraced KDCY because there was nothing local on the air. The ads were from distant cities. There was no news. No local PSAs. I'm guessing locals might have thought the station was broadcasting from some other place than Cotulla.
PTBoardOp94
Walk of Fame Participant
Looks like that mobile home is there too. Coordinates 28°30'38.84"N 99°12'53.27"W
My vote for the worst sounding station is WWDC-DC-101 in Washington DC. Last night they were playing the new Weezer that I hadn't heard before. The dynamic range was so limited, that my ears/brain couldn't decipher what the song pre-vocals sounded like.
I don't know if it's the PD, some leftover from the 70's who insists that his station is overly-processed, or whether the CE actually wants the station to sound that bad.
I don't know if it's the PD, some leftover from the 70's who insists that his station is overly-processed, or whether the CE actually wants the station to sound that bad.
valvashon
Frequent Participant
SuperStation KK-FM in Fargo
Without a doubt the worst station I have ever heard was KKIB 105.1 licensed to Breckenridge, MN. KKIB on 105.1 was a move in from Breckenridge to the Fargo-Moorhead area. The original station was on 104.9 and was known as KBMW-FM. It was a class A FM, 3KW at the time and probably on the KBMW-AM tower. I lived south of Fargo in the mid-70's and discovered this sleepy sounding little FM after getting a decent tuner and an FM antenna on a pole next to my house. I was probably the only listener at that distance. KBMW was a fun station to listen to, a good mix of current hits and some older music, probably automated if I remember correctly with gentle processing. Something different and fun to listen to compared to the Fargo stations.
One day in 1983 a signal at 105.1 signed on, completely wiping out 104.9. After an afternoon of testing, they were off again and shortly afterwards, 104.9 signed off and the “New Superstaion KK-FM” signed on. It was a three station network playing hot hits in tight rotation, KKIB, KKWS in Wadena, MN and KKVC in Valley City, ND. KKIB and KKWS were simulcast, KKVC also called itself “Superstation KK-FM” but was not a simulcast as they were never able to microwave the signal out to Valley City (so I heard).
The reason this was the worst sounding station ever is that it was put up by one of the many “Ingstad” broadcasting entities (you've probably heard this name before). The Ingstad's have had their hand in what seems like every radio station in North and South Dakota and Minnesota. So this was not some backwater, cassettes and scratchy records on an AM daytimer like so many of the ones in this thread, this was a station put up and funded by radio professionals with long time experience.
And this station sounded awful. I wish I had a tape to let you listen. Over processed and over modulated to the point of distortion. And this is how they wanted to sound because it sounded like this for the year and a half or so that they lasted. Turn your stereo way up until the speakers start to crackle and die. That's how they sounded. Almost to the point of unintelligibility.
I'm guessing that listener fatigue finally did them in. When the rating show that nobody listens to your station for more than 20 minutes or so I'm sure your ad sales drop right off.
At some point in 1984 they flipped to “Lite Rock 105” and backed the processing way off and of course changed the format. Winning the loudness wars will eventually lose you listeners.
Without a doubt the worst station I have ever heard was KKIB 105.1 licensed to Breckenridge, MN. KKIB on 105.1 was a move in from Breckenridge to the Fargo-Moorhead area. The original station was on 104.9 and was known as KBMW-FM. It was a class A FM, 3KW at the time and probably on the KBMW-AM tower. I lived south of Fargo in the mid-70's and discovered this sleepy sounding little FM after getting a decent tuner and an FM antenna on a pole next to my house. I was probably the only listener at that distance. KBMW was a fun station to listen to, a good mix of current hits and some older music, probably automated if I remember correctly with gentle processing. Something different and fun to listen to compared to the Fargo stations.
One day in 1983 a signal at 105.1 signed on, completely wiping out 104.9. After an afternoon of testing, they were off again and shortly afterwards, 104.9 signed off and the “New Superstaion KK-FM” signed on. It was a three station network playing hot hits in tight rotation, KKIB, KKWS in Wadena, MN and KKVC in Valley City, ND. KKIB and KKWS were simulcast, KKVC also called itself “Superstation KK-FM” but was not a simulcast as they were never able to microwave the signal out to Valley City (so I heard).
The reason this was the worst sounding station ever is that it was put up by one of the many “Ingstad” broadcasting entities (you've probably heard this name before). The Ingstad's have had their hand in what seems like every radio station in North and South Dakota and Minnesota. So this was not some backwater, cassettes and scratchy records on an AM daytimer like so many of the ones in this thread, this was a station put up and funded by radio professionals with long time experience.
And this station sounded awful. I wish I had a tape to let you listen. Over processed and over modulated to the point of distortion. And this is how they wanted to sound because it sounded like this for the year and a half or so that they lasted. Turn your stereo way up until the speakers start to crackle and die. That's how they sounded. Almost to the point of unintelligibility.
I'm guessing that listener fatigue finally did them in. When the rating show that nobody listens to your station for more than 20 minutes or so I'm sure your ad sales drop right off.
At some point in 1984 they flipped to “Lite Rock 105” and backed the processing way off and of course changed the format. Winning the loudness wars will eventually lose you listeners.
Remember KEAR-AM 610 am San Francisco they started the 2011 Judgement Day hype on Bay Area Billboards on Near the Bay Bridge and on other freeways by Harold Camping. I thought this was some bad ratings ploy at first or money issues at the time that Family Radio was facing.
JustinSaysRadio
New Participating Member
The worst-sounding radio station that I ever heard was my own internet radio station, Free 99, from between June 2020 and August 2020. Let me explain: My station was using a website called RadioJar to operate. The problem with them is the fact that the silence between songs and sweepers could be up to 10 seconds at some points. However, the music sounded great, luckily.
We did switch to StationPlaylist and Zeno in August of 2020. Now, it sounds like any other radio station, minus the fact that it broadcasts my own radio format called Contemporary Freeform.
#NotAnAdvertisement
We did switch to StationPlaylist and Zeno in August of 2020. Now, it sounds like any other radio station, minus the fact that it broadcasts my own radio format called Contemporary Freeform.
#NotAnAdvertisement
This is an old thread and and I didn't scroll through all of it, so I'm. sorry if I'm repeating anything. Nomination for worst station of all time WERM, Wapakoneta, Ohio. Located between Wapakoneta and St Marys, this FM was family operated----the epitome of mom and pop. The audio was bad from beginning to end, distorted and off LPs. It was Beautiful Music by day, then the kids took over for the 6 to 10 club, which was sort of top 40. They did carry Wolfman Jack's show for the US Air Force, as well as some of the others geared to other formats, including Al Gee's soul show. Eventually the station was left to the sons, who turned it into.....a hobby with screeching rock, and vinyl records worn beyond ability to play. I worked at this station when the next ownership took over. It was a technical mess.....safety interlock disabled on the transmitter, other disasters. The station became A/C WAXC, and eventually top 40 WZOQ. I believe it's sports now.
Also, from way back, WPGW, a daytime on 1440 in Portland, IN. Owned by founder Glenn West and his wife, the two ran the station until it was sold around 1974. An FM CP was built out after that. Under the Wests, the format was album sides and 3 of the 4 ABC networks. You'd often hear Mrs. West talking between the Contemporary and Information feeds in a sing-songy voice "your ABC Network News Station, WPGW in Portland, Indiana.".
More recently, I'm going to nominate WSEV (AM930/now with translator at 104.1). (WSEV-FM, "MIXX 105.5 is under separate ownership). For many years, AM 930 was the voice of tourism in Sevier County....and, unlike others who have contributed to this board, I never had a problem with that, including the constant repetition. It wasn't there to be your go-to listen at work station; it was supposed to be tuned in when the visitor saw the billboard on I-40, and the station would provide enough enticement to get one to stop at the designated welcome center, and hopefully, sign up for a time share tour. Nothing wrong with that EXCEPT when the recording got so far out of date that it was talking about closed shows and attractions. The problem was, no one, apparently even the FCC, knew where the control point was. Once the decision was made to suspend operations, somehow the transmitter kicked back on and ran dead air for a couple of months. Bringing things to present day, the station was purchased by Bristol Broadcasting which ran a 3 song rotation for awhile, built out a translator, loaded music into the automation and forgot about it. It sounds like it's being fed by a cheap internet feed, or a cassette that's sat in a hot car all summer.
Also, from way back, WPGW, a daytime on 1440 in Portland, IN. Owned by founder Glenn West and his wife, the two ran the station until it was sold around 1974. An FM CP was built out after that. Under the Wests, the format was album sides and 3 of the 4 ABC networks. You'd often hear Mrs. West talking between the Contemporary and Information feeds in a sing-songy voice "your ABC Network News Station, WPGW in Portland, Indiana.".
More recently, I'm going to nominate WSEV (AM930/now with translator at 104.1). (WSEV-FM, "MIXX 105.5 is under separate ownership). For many years, AM 930 was the voice of tourism in Sevier County....and, unlike others who have contributed to this board, I never had a problem with that, including the constant repetition. It wasn't there to be your go-to listen at work station; it was supposed to be tuned in when the visitor saw the billboard on I-40, and the station would provide enough enticement to get one to stop at the designated welcome center, and hopefully, sign up for a time share tour. Nothing wrong with that EXCEPT when the recording got so far out of date that it was talking about closed shows and attractions. The problem was, no one, apparently even the FCC, knew where the control point was. Once the decision was made to suspend operations, somehow the transmitter kicked back on and ran dead air for a couple of months. Bringing things to present day, the station was purchased by Bristol Broadcasting which ran a 3 song rotation for awhile, built out a translator, loaded music into the automation and forgot about it. It sounds like it's being fed by a cheap internet feed, or a cassette that's sat in a hot car all summer.
Greg Strickland
Leading Participant
In the mid 90's I drove coast to coast. Listened to 200+ FM stations for long enough to gauge the audio. To my ear and taste, just two stations had broken audio, such as heavy distortion, hum, intermittent audio, etc. Every other FM station sounded like commercially available processors on a factory pre-set or a slightly modified factory pre-set, sometimes with something added in front. Microphone sound was all over the place, from no processing at all to full enchilada- EQ, compression, sometimes reverb etc. Room acoustics were all over the place as well.
On the entire trip just one station had an audio sound that perked my ears up, sounded inventive and made we wonder who did it and how. As I recall it was somewhere in Oklahoma or Missouri.
On other trips I've noticed the most musical and best sounding (subjective, of course) stations are generally lower in loudness. Processor era is part of this, more recent processors can sound better at greater loudness than the vintage models.
These days I'd guess there is more sound consistency than ever because the major groups can establish guidelines, and in some cases import a pre-set from corporate into a processor in a distant market, and lock sound adjustment access to the processor.
Last time I heard NYC audio it sounded sane, compared to excesses of the past. NYC engineers have always been great and at the top of their game. Consolidation has brought a more balanced and healthy approach to audio, in my opinion.
btw stand-alone individual owner AM/FM translator station about an hour from here has a single band compressor working its heart out, like there is no tomorrow. When local voices come on it sucks up room and breathing sounds. But it's all good... someone is making their radio dreams come true.
On the entire trip just one station had an audio sound that perked my ears up, sounded inventive and made we wonder who did it and how. As I recall it was somewhere in Oklahoma or Missouri.
On other trips I've noticed the most musical and best sounding (subjective, of course) stations are generally lower in loudness. Processor era is part of this, more recent processors can sound better at greater loudness than the vintage models.
These days I'd guess there is more sound consistency than ever because the major groups can establish guidelines, and in some cases import a pre-set from corporate into a processor in a distant market, and lock sound adjustment access to the processor.
Last time I heard NYC audio it sounded sane, compared to excesses of the past. NYC engineers have always been great and at the top of their game. Consolidation has brought a more balanced and healthy approach to audio, in my opinion.
btw stand-alone individual owner AM/FM translator station about an hour from here has a single band compressor working its heart out, like there is no tomorrow. When local voices come on it sucks up room and breathing sounds. But it's all good... someone is making their radio dreams come true.
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