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WDRC-FM Comes Back To Life!!??

T

Turntable

Inactive
Inactive User
Well folks, I'm so overtired, I can't believe I'm even writing this... but...

Could it be that all of our pissing and moaning has finally done some good? There have been big-time changes at the Big D!! Thank the Lord!!! If it's true that our collective p&m has influenced this marvelous change, I cannot give enough praise to them for listening to us, and making the improvements they've made!!!!

That said, it's still a bit hot on the squashy side, but the stereo separation is amazing, and, it has... HIGHS!!!

I'll give them some time to tweak it out, this is a new box, in my mind there is no boutadoubtit...

Any guesses as to what the new box is? I'm guessing Omnia6... Maybe DSPX but I... ahh... dunno. Don't sound too Orban to me...

Lets hear your guesses folks, and lets all give Buckley a big congrats!!!

Yay!!! ;D

-A
 
Re: WDRC Comes Back To Life!!??

Ok, second thoughts, nothing too harsh, pun intended.....

Smooth. Smooth as all getout...

Suggestions:

1) Work on the voice processing, faster attack, higher ratio. Parametric EQ, I assume the 528 or 628 Symmetrix... again dunno... But there is a definite problem with the Annc based on what I'm hearing tonight. It sounds stuffy and plain with alot of distortion, and makes your airstaff sound pale in comparison to the music and spots....

2) No matter what box, leave it, but back off the agc just a tad and back off the overall g/r. It sounds to me like you're hitting the box just a little too hard. Open it up a little and let it sing.... pre-processing? If so, where in the chain?

...just talking to myself I suppose... still listening... DRC-FM is finally starting to sound competitive in the Hartford market again...

Keep up the good work...!

-A
 
Kevin Lagasse said:
And what average listener will understand all of that?
Click to expand...

Apparently, not one who makes a living as a Wal-Mart Associate, and is supposed to have only positive things to say. I sure hope you are not a Wal-Mart Greeter, because if you are you need to work on your skills... Is there a point to your post? I know there's a point to mine.

Normally, I wouldn't even bother with the above, but trust, dude. I won't take this any further, and I don't think anyone else will, either. I'll leave it at this:

It's better to be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. Take it to the bank Kevin. It will do you lots of good.

Much peace to you and yours...

-A
 
Yeah, it's still the same. Muddy and lifeless. But the person who started the thread does have some valid points. In this day and age, you shouldn't have a radio station that has audio quality that is THIS poor.

Speaking of which, WTF is with 95.9 The Fox? I can do better with a Urei 1176LN. Only WLNG uses more compression and at least they have a reason to have that kind of signature.
 
Yeah, I guess you guys are right, listening today, it does sound pretty much the same as ever, but I could have sworn I heard a dramatic improvement last night... Oh well.

My apologies to Kevin for lashing out like that, I was really overtired and in a sour mood.

-A
 
The IBOC is killing alot of stations analog audio (Mostly cause they dont know how to process it right)

The whole IBOC thing should be dropped!!!!!
 
Face it, as long as the current GM is there the audio is going to stink to high heaven! There are times where it almost sounds decent, but inconsistant is the main word at "Big-D-103" - I have airchecks of them that sound better than they do now!
 
DRC is actually the only radio station I listen to lately. I think it sounds fantastic. Sometimes the presenters can be a bit corny, I'm 27 so it's a bit painful to listen to that when I've grown up on sarcasm, but still the music is great and it sounds alive!
 
Whale said:
DRC is actually the only radio station I listen to lately. I think it sounds fantastic. Sometimes the presenters can be a bit corny, I'm 27 so it's a bit painful to listen to that when I've grown up on sarcasm, but still the music is great and it sounds alive!
Click to expand...

Well, they've finally gotten their playlist back to a manageable size. All the "power" oldies you can think of -- "Oh Pretty Woman," "Respect," "Last Train to Clarksville," "Good Vibrations" -- are getting daily airplay, as are classic hits staples such as "Jet Airliner," "Show Me the Way," "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "You Really Got Me." There seem to be just two or three slots an hour set aside for either pre-Beatles stuff (Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Coasters, Sam Cooke) or deep-catalog oldies (Honey Cone's "One Monkey Don't Stop No Show," the Animals' "San Franciscan Nights," the Clique's "Sugar on Sunday," Flaming Ember's "Westbound No. 9"), rather than the every-other-song-a-headscratcher format they were running over the winter and spring. Nice to see someone in a demo the advertisers care about listening to it.

For what it's worth, I also think the audio generally sounds better, although there are still some songs that have that mushy sound to them. In the car about an hour ago, "Mack the Knife" didn't sound good at all.
 
While I agree that the playlist is better lately, I really do wish that management would give a hard listen to the announcers. I tend to leave a station on through breaks if they have a good streak of music going, but DRC has hands down a group of jocks that make me lurch towards the preset. I've never heard a more unlikable staff of announcers than these guys (and beth). Although I will exclude Mike Stevens from this group. I always thought he came off as down to earth, and "one of us" as oppossed to the others who are just painful for many reasons
 
Well, just when I thought the audio was all set . . . .
I was listening for a good 90 minutes aroung the noon hour and was really disappointed and impressed, too! I was impressed with the playing of "Ohio" by CSN&Y which I've always regarded as "Classic Rock" that you usually hear on neighboring "Rock 102". The song that Larry Wells played immediately after that was simply a disaster. The high end was just all hissing. I have a headache from trying to remember the name of the tune but I'm confident I've heard it cleaner in the past. Is that what they call "MP3 Cross-shift"?
 
You must have had a similar 'otherworldly experience' to what I had, Jim. I was absolutely convinced something had improved.

At first I thought it was just a figment of my imagination, fueled by the "phase-master" factory stereo in my '89 Olds. Then when I got home, I played it on various vintage JBL based systems, the Klipsch setup downstairs, and even through a pair of AKG K-240 Studio headphones. Results concluded that night that something had really changed. Not the best I've heard, mind you, but seemingly much better... I posted my findings and my questions and then I went to bed. Woke up in the morning and felt like I'd been had. Sad

For an example, listen to Jack Carney on WWYZ. Compare that to what he used to sound like on DRC. WWYZ does not have the best audio by a long shot, but what an improvement!

I'm confused. If it's a digitized audio issue, why is the live audio so crummy? And why is the live audio sometimes acceptable and sometimes sounding like garbage? Why does the same intermittent quality issue go for their music library as well? Is it an STL issue, a processing issue, a studio wiring issue, a board problem, or a combination of the four acting in concert?

What GIVES??? This problem should have been fixed a LONG time ago. I could probably trace it out and fix it in a matter of one day-- and this has been going on for HOW LONG? Maybe they should up the rotation of "How Long" by Ace... LOL!

Again, WDRC = "We Don't Really Care"

-A
 
Alan Fletcher said:
You must have had a similar 'otherworldly experience' to what I had, Jim. I was absolutely convinced something had improved.

At first I thought it was just a figment of my imagination, fueled by the "phase-master" factory stereo in my '89 Olds. Then when I got home, I played it on various vintage JBL based systems, the Klipsch setup downstairs, and even through a pair of AKG K-240 Studio headphones. Results concluded that night that something had really changed. Not the best I've heard, mind you, but seemingly much better... I posted my findings and my questions and then I went to bed. Woke up in the morning and felt like I'd been had. :(

For an example, listen to Jack Carney on WWYZ. Compare that to what he used to sound like on DRC. WWYZ does not have the best audio by a long shot, but what an improvement!

I'm confused. If it's a digitized audio issue, why is the live audio so crummy? And why is the live audio sometimes acceptable and sometimes sounding like garbage? Why does the same intermittent quality issue go for their music library as well? Is it an STL issue, a processing issue, a studio wiring issue, a board problem, or a combination of the four acting in concert?

What GIVES??? This problem should have been fixed a LONG time ago. I could probably trace it out and fix it in a matter of one day-- and this has been going on for HOW LONG? Maybe they should up the rotation of "How Long" by Ace... LOL!

Again, WDRC = "We Don't Really Care"

-A
Click to expand...
 
Alan Fletcher said:
What GIVES??? This problem should have been fixed a LONG time ago. I could probably trace it out and fix it in a matter of one day-- and this has been going on for HOW LONG? Maybe they should up the rotation of "How Long" by Ace... LOL!

Again, WDRC = "We Don't Really Care"
Click to expand...

"How Long" is one of the songs that sounds good!

I'm hearing a ridiculously wide range of audio quality in the music being played on DRC-FM this week. Observations from the past couple of days:

"Little Deuce Coupe" (Beach Boys) -- Excellent. Bright, undistorted, a pleasure to listen to.
"Kind of a Drag" (Buckinghams) -- Muffled and muddy, like a cassette tape after several hundred plays.
"Good Thing" (Paul Revere & the Raiders) -- Painful. A cacophony of sibillant cymbals and screeching guitars. No bass to speak of.
"Positively Fourth Street" (Bob Dylan) -- Thin, flat. Must come from the same source as "Like a Rolling Stone," which has the same quality.
"Indian Lake" (Cowsills) -- Nice. Not quite as bright as the Beach Boys tune, but very listenable.
"Are You Man Enough" (Four Tops) -- Not awful, but a bit distorted on the high end.
"Leavin' on a Jet Plane" (Peter, Paul & Mary) -- Dull and lifeless, just sits there.

After a couple of months of generally decent audio, the station now sounds just like it did a year ago. I listen because it's nice to have an oldies station that actually plays songs like "Good Thing," "Positively Fourth Street" and "Indian Lake," but it's a real puzzle why the audio quality must vary so greatly from song to song.
 
Their HD signal is as crappy as their analog channel!

A friend of mine was visiting from out of state with his brand new car, equipped with HD radio! Of course I just had to give it a spin and check out DRC-FM's HD signal. All I can say is Rick Buckley wasted a whole lot of money upgrading that station to HD - It's just as crappy sounding in HD as it is in analog. I know this for a fact since I listened to other HD FM's and they were simply stunning in comparison.

Between whatever they have in their SmartCaster automation, the way their Aphex 2020 is set and the decision maker who determines the sound, they never have to worry about becoming a market leader because the only way it's going to happen is when Hell freezes over!
 
The station is one of a <very small> handful of independents left in this world, without deep pockets and access to many things other stations take for granted. The fact that DRC-FM does as well as it does given the tools it has to play the game, they should be applauded. LOUDLY. In a world filled with Wal*Mart radio stations, Buckley is an independent. I choose to support the last of this dying breed ...no matter what the issues I, as an outsider, might believe they have.
 
Please do not compare other radio to Wal-Mart...it's an insult to Clear Channel! :)
 
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