Charlotte HD Radio Signals

Although it has not received widespread popularity, HD Radio seems to be improving somewhat. I think Clear Channel in Charlotte may have increased the power of their HD Radio signals in recent months. I am now getting stronger reception on Channel 96.1 and 102.9 the Lake digital signals. Able to lock in with rabbit ears in the house, and often 96.1 in the car. In Greenville, SC. Even better in Spartanburg. Also get 107.9 the Link and V 101.9 HD Radio signals. More HD Radio signals need to increase power and offer alternative programming on the subchannels. But I wonder if CBS will ever add HD Radio to 95.1 and 103.7? They keep postphoning those plans, and those stations have strong analog signals, and 95.1 is on the tall Dallas tower. Better marketing and programming is needed, but the audio quality is very good, especially 96.1 HD in the car.

And speaking of audio quality, Channel 96.1 sounds so much better than Kiss 95.1. Better bass and stronger sound on Channel. Kiss sounds tinny and almost mono at times, and they still speed up the music too fast as they have continued to do for years.

tylerSC said:

And speaking of audio quality, Channel 96.1 sounds so much better than Kiss 95.1. Better bass and stronger sound on Channel. Kiss sounds tinny and almost mono at times, and they still speed up the music too fast as they have continued to do for years.

Click to expand...

Yawn. we have known this for ever.

Alex_0490 said:

tylerSC said:

And speaking of audio quality, Channel 96.1 sounds so much better than Kiss 95.1. Better bass and stronger sound on Channel. Kiss sounds tinny and almost mono at times, and they still speed up the music too fast as they have continued to do for years.

Click to expand...

Yawn. we have known this for ever.

Click to expand...

Yes I know. But you think they would do something about it by now. Why do they feel it is necessary to speed up the music? They have done it for years. None of the other CBS stations do this. Enough already. Channel 96.1 sounds so much better from a technical standpoint, both analog and HD Radio signals.

tylerSC said:

Alex_0490 said:

tylerSC said:

And speaking of audio quality, Channel 96.1 sounds so much better than Kiss 95.1. Better bass and stronger sound on Channel. Kiss sounds tinny and almost mono at times, and they still speed up the music too fast as they have continued to do for years.

Click to expand...

Yawn. we have known this for ever.

Click to expand...

Yes I know. But you think they would do something about it by now. Why do they feel it is necessary to speed up the music? They have done it for years. None of the other CBS stations do this. Enough already. Channel 96.1 sounds so much better from a technical standpoint, both analog and HD Radio signals.

Click to expand...

IMO, I am ecstatic that Channel 96.1 came into existence. Kiss 95.1 imaging is poor and everything overall is just poor.

tylerSC said:

Alex_0490 said:

tylerSC said:

And speaking of audio quality, Channel 96.1 sounds so much better than Kiss 95.1. Better bass and stronger sound on Channel. Kiss sounds tinny and almost mono at times, and they still speed up the music too fast as they have continued to do for years.

Click to expand...

Yawn. we have known this for ever.

Click to expand...

Yes I know. But you think they would do something about it by now. Why do they feel it is necessary to speed up the music? They have done it for years. None of the other CBS stations do this. Enough already. Channel 96.1 sounds so much better from a technical standpoint, both analog and HD Radio signals.

Click to expand...

It's been done since I was in High School (and THAT was a long time ago). Circa 1984. They (95.1) Always turn the "Pitch Up To 2" for whatever reason. Steve.

Alex_0490 said:

tylerSC said:

Alex_0490 said:

tylerSC said:

And speaking of audio quality, Channel 96.1 sounds so much better than Kiss 95.1. Better bass and stronger sound on Channel. Kiss sounds tinny and almost mono at times, and they still speed up the music too fast as they have continued to do for years.

Click to expand...

Yawn. we have known this for ever.

Click to expand...

Yes I know. But you think they would do something about it by now. Why do they feel it is necessary to speed up the music? They have done it for years. None of the other CBS stations do this. Enough already. Channel 96.1 sounds so much better from a technical standpoint, both analog and HD Radio signals.

Click to expand...

IMO, I am ecstatic that Channel 96.1 came into existence. Kiss 95.1 imaging is poor and everything overall is just poor.

Click to expand...

I agree. 96.1 is more impressive in all aspects. 95.1 has unnecessarily self destructed, beginning with the loss of Ace and TJ. I wonder if CBS will consider flipping this station, or will they realize they need to rebuild its current CHR format?

tylerSC said:

Alex_0490 said:

tylerSC said:

Alex_0490 said:

tylerSC said:

And speaking of audio quality, Channel 96.1 sounds so much better than Kiss 95.1. Better bass and stronger sound on Channel. Kiss sounds tinny and almost mono at times, and they still speed up the music too fast as they have continued to do for years.

Click to expand...

Yawn. we have known this for ever.

Click to expand...

Yes I know. But you think they would do something about it by now. Why do they feel it is necessary to speed up the music? They have done it for years. None of the other CBS stations do this. Enough already. Channel 96.1 sounds so much better from a technical standpoint, both analog and HD Radio signals.

Click to expand...

IMO, I am ecstatic that Channel 96.1 came into existence. Kiss 95.1 imaging is poor and everything overall is just poor.

Click to expand...

I agree. 96.1 is more impressive in all aspects. 95.1 has unnecessarily self destructed, beginning with the loss of Ace and TJ. I wonder if CBS will consider flipping this station, or will they realize they need to rebuild its current CHR format?

Click to expand...

I would reconsider on rebranding the station, Kiss 95.1 that is. I think it's been on Charlotte radio too long just to "go away". Better imaging and music selection will do. However I do not think they are in a desperate state to find its identity. Channel picked up the pieces that Kiss left off at the right moment. Kudos to Channel. However I am not a big fan of Saturday Night Online Live - I enjoy more of their mix shows. If Kiss does in the long road continue their not so positive trend, I would seriously consider putting Sports Talk "The Game" or "The Fan" on the FM Dial. Eh?!?

But I might be hopeful on this.

tylerSC said:

And speaking of audio quality, Channel 96.1 sounds so much better than Kiss 95.1. Better bass and stronger sound on Channel. Kiss sounds tinny and almost mono at times, and they still speed up the music too fast as they have continued to do for years.

Click to expand...

The Audio Fidelity observed while driving into Center City, CLT on 96.1 today was amazing. Even on non-HD. The Sound was literally jumping out of the Car Speakers and coming to life. Wow - blows 95.1 away totally...

Steve.Gates said:

tylerSC said:

And speaking of audio quality, Channel 96.1 sounds so much better than Kiss 95.1. Better bass and stronger sound on Channel. Kiss sounds tinny and almost mono at times, and they still speed up the music too fast as they have continued to do for years.

Click to expand...

The Audio Fidelity observed while driving into Center City, CLT on 96.1 today was amazing. Even on non-HD. The Sound was literally jumping out of the Car Speakers and coming to life. Wow - blows 95.1 away totally...

Click to expand...

Hey Kiss, you taking notes?!

Steve.Gates said:

tylerSC said:

And speaking of audio quality, Channel 96.1 sounds so much better than Kiss 95.1. Better bass and stronger sound on Channel. Kiss sounds tinny and almost mono at times, and they still speed up the music too fast as they have continued to do for years.

Click to expand...

The Audio Fidelity observed while driving into Center City, CLT on 96.1 today was amazing. Even on non-HD. The Sound was literally jumping out of the Car Speakers and coming to life. Wow - blows 95.1 away totally...

Click to expand...

That's my opinion exactlyl, as I stated previously. For whatever reason, Channel 96.1 sounds so much better than 95.1 from a technical standpoint. Much better sound quality, analog and HD. And they don't speed up the music.

With Sound like this, Channel 96.1 has to be running a very High-End Audio Processor, such as the Orban 8600. I'll bet they have the an Orban-8600-HD Model. Said piece of Equipment will set you back about $ 12,000.00 last time I checked. Steve.

Noticed that Kiss is up nicely and 96.1 took a little tumble in the July PPM. I'm not taking sides, just sayin'.

Update: WLNK has just boosted the power of the HD Radio signal for 107.9 the Link,with a technical upgrade this week. And the analog signal seems a bit improved as well, where there has been a bit of a null to the west in recent years. I get a solid HD lock on my home radio in Greenville, SC with rabbit ears. And the HD is more consistent in the car. Overall the signal should be improved in all fringe areas. And they now carry WBT on WLNK-HD2, which will help with 11.10 reception west of the Catawba River at night.

Another update: Today Kiss 95.1 appears to be at reduced power, as I can barely receive it here in Greenville, SC. Usually a very strong signal. Perhaps they are doing technical upgrades at the transmitter. Or finally, perhaps preparing for HD Radio.

Have you checked out the HD Signal for 106.5 The End? HD2 is now 100% 90s Rock. Sort of like what 106.5 used to be back when it started out. Steve.

tylerSC said:

Another update: Today Kiss 95.1 appears to be at reduced power, as I can barely receive it here in Greenville, SC. Usually a very strong signal. Perhaps they are doing technical upgrades at the transmitter. Or finally, perhaps preparing for HD Radio.

Click to expand...

WFAE was telling us during breaks about the Charlotte Jazz Channel. They still do, but instead of saying it's on HD they tell us how to listen on the phone.

This is some strange logic - I listened to them today and easily pulled in their HD Signal. It went out once or twice but I was too busy to investigate - it came back before I could address it.

IMHO, ''HD Radio'' needs to promote itself more if it is to possibly even compete with existing technologies, along with emerging technologies.

I told a client of mine about HD Radio last month, and he said he had never heard of it. He started calling me the "HD Radio Guru" after that. He has Sirius-XM and DISH but had never heard of HD Radio. Steve.

vchimpanzee said:

WFAE was telling us during breaks about the Charlotte Jazz Channel. They still do, but instead of saying it's on HD they tell us how to listen on the phone.

Click to expand...

vchimpanzee said:

WFAE was telling us during breaks about the Charlotte Jazz Channel. They still do, but instead of saying it's on HD they tell us how to listen on the phone.

Click to expand...

More people carry a smartphone than an HD radio.

They need to start selling tabletop HD Radios in the stores again. They are more available for car radios. The Charlotte stations are now adding signals and boosting power.