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B102 - my ears ache for some dynamic range

J

jimbo

Hi B102, would you guys ease off the Optimod or whatever you're using to compress the life out of your signal? My ears are aching for some dynamic range. I recorded a few minutes off the air today and the VU meters hardly move. My Cooledit session shows an almost completely flat recording. The signal has been flat for quite a while and I've given up trying to listen anymore. Q923 almost sounds life-like in comparison.

So can you dial back on the compression?

Thanks,
Jim
 
Dont hold your breath on that one. There's only about 3 people in the building at any given time and none of them know anything about processsing.

They are using an Omni that shoots to cowboy hill and then is land line to Terry Peak.

Lots of ways to have poor quality.

The owner back in New Hampshire is still LMA'ing the station so he is not going to put any more money into the deal.

A bad deal all around.
 
Having a land line does not equal having bad audio quality. Many factors about how it's used would determine if there is a loss in quality, including the encoding format and digital compression rate, among other factors. I think a T1 is used to connect the studio to B102's Terry Peak site, which is capable of sending a very precise stream if used correctly.

I'm guessing the "flat" audio you're hearing is because of one of these factors:

1. They play oldies, most of which were recorded on less than perfect equipment.
2. You're listening somewhere in the interference area between their booster and main sites. That would mean a poor signal, which in turn would result in lower audio bandwidth from your speakers. (The interference area could be anywhere between Rapid City's west side and Sturgis, especially in high locations) Q92.3 doesn't have a booster and thus would likely deliver a strong signal in B102's interference area.
3. Heck, maybe their processor is out of adjustment. It used to sound great, but I haven't really listened within the last few weeks.

Compression is how engineers can get a station to sound loud without illegally overmodulating. When you back off of the compression, than more of the highs get through, and you can't crank the audio as loud because you start overmodulating sooner. When you don't strive to be loud, than the other stations in town sound much louder and stronger than you, and you could lose listeners. It's a tough balance to strike between compression/loudness and purity.
 
Marconi,
Thanks for the engineering lesson that not one listener of the station cares about. They only want good quality audio.

Tell me the time, don't explain how to build a watch. In this time crunched world, which is highly disposable, none one cares, the end product is the most important factor. How you get there, is not great starbucks conversation.
 
Dang dude, Jimbo told you the time.
If you don't want to build a watch, but still find you have time to complain about someone telling you how to build a watch, then your world ain't that "time crunched." You got time all over your hands.
Might wanna lay off the coffee or whatever.
 
As an ex-broadaster, I find it just painful to listen to any of RC radio anymore, B102 included, for any number of reasons. Bad signal, bad audio, bad jocks, the same tired formats, ad nauseum. It's just easier to fire up my own "vast collection" and roll my own format. I can set my own processing (Winamp + SoundSolution) to what sounds good to me, plus I don't have to endure marginal to poor on-air "personalities" who think they're God's gift to Rapid City radio.
 
Field,

My sincerest apologies about the rant. Too much caffiene so early in the morning.
I know the Badlands Owners and have no regard for them. They are bottom feeders, only want to get by with as little as possible.

I promise to watch my tongue.
 
No hard feelings.

It is a shame that Badlands doesn't do more with what they have. The potential is there to have great success with the oldies format, if only they would make some small changes.

Rapid City is simply an over radioed market. We have 14 full-power FM stations, and that doesn't even include the non-comms in the area. On top of that, another FM is coming to the air before March, and the potential is that 2 other FMs could arrive within a few years.
 
Thanks for the info Field_strength. When B102 signed on about a year ago I thought their audio sounded pretty good. But lately it's just been smashed flat for the sake of loudness. B102 reminds me of the old 63-KDWB where they compressed the snot out of their audio to jack the loudness up to the legal modulation limit which I presumed was to compensate for their 5000/500 watt signal compared to WDGY's 50kw. Again, after a short while the ears would beg for some dynamic range.
Give a listen here to some vintage KDWB: http://www.divshare.com/download/2638864-1d6 About 30 seconds in you'll hear a transition from "Live and Let Die" to "Daisy Jane" where you can really hear the compression on the opening vocals. "Flying me back TO Memphis....." Pre-Optimod smashing at its finest.

I'm not a huge fan of public radio but whenever I sample them their audio processing is so much better and life-like. The stations here at 97.1 and 89.3 have much better dynamic range. Maybe most folks don't notice the smashed audio.
 
If you hear any hissing on B102 it's probably from the over compression amplifying the dirt in the original recordings. For bad audio quality due to dirty phone lines check out Hot 93 (if you can get past all that rap music.) There is noticeable hissing, pops and clicks in that signal.
 
It's not hissing that I noticed so much as just totally flat and lifeless audio. I've recorded B102 a few times and the VU meter hardly moves. They are somewhat tolerable on a small portable radio but with a decent receiver or in the car it's just awful. FM 92.3 almost sounds life-like compared to 101.9. Sirius and XM sound like audio heaven after a few minutes of B102's audio chain.
 
Hey Jimbo - how's things in the Black Hills?

Livin in Mich. now - not a lot of great radio here but can also listen to B102 stream - what's happen to that station? When it went on it was such a great station - now I'm hearing classic rock tunes mixed in with the oldies, not liking what I hear, so I don't listen much anymore but every once and a while.

take care!
 
Hi Nodaker - I see Michigan is getting lots of snow. Wish we had more snow here in the Hills.

I rarely listen to B102 with their overprocessed, compressed audio. It's sounds so darn flat and lifeless. Last November I sent an email to someone on their web site and got a reply that said I am always glad to hear from our listeners. I will talk over your observations with our engineer and rest assured you will hear from me with an answer. Thank you for a loyal listener to B102!
I did some assured resting but, of course, nothing more came of it.

Plus there's nobody there. I think they are live in morning drive and iPod the other 148 hours of the week. At least Hit Parade from Drake-Chenault featured time checks and some song titles. Give a listen: http://www.divshare.com/download/3824221-f69
 
B-102 has maybe three employees, front office, salesperson and morning show, count might be off by one. There's a good argument to be made that the FCC should really investigate the financial worthiness of a company before they had out licenses to yahoos like this group.
 
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