reverb, etc.

[rickganley@juno.com]

On Thu, 17 Jun 1999 11:56:25 -0400 "Bill O'Neill" <billo@erols.com>
writes:
>Rick writes:
>
>
>>Honestly, I think us Radio Geeks are the only ones who would care
>about
>>this stuff... reverb, audio processing, etc. means nothing to Joe
>>Listner... <snip>
>
>If processing (of any setting or config.) is done correctly, then it
>_should_ mean nothing to Joe Listener!  Sort of like breath...we all
>have it...but if it's bad it becomes an Altoid moment.
>
>Bill O'Neill
>

Exactly! At every station I've ever worked at (including my own), I've
heard from a handfull of listners that have said "how come it doesn't
sound like the album?" meaning the CD/ cassette/ LP sounded 'better'. Of
course, you could go into a long explanation about compression to
overcome noise floor/ road noise/ weak signal, equalization to give
everything a uniform and signature sound, reverb to make the music sound
"fuller" or stroke the talents ego, etc. But the listner doesn't give a
you-know-what.

 I'm not a purist audiophile, and you obviously need to process to a
point, but reverb??? That was a 1950's/ 60's novelty used for AM stations
that were played on a 3" speaker... it's 1999! 

Truth is, we compromise the sound on purpose, because we want our
stations to sound unique. FM CAN be high-fidelity, but in reality, there
are very few stations that are. Most of Joe Q. public knows that CD's and
LP's sound better then radio stations... doesn't have to be that way, but
it's true. Having said that, does anybody really want digital
broadcasting? I doubt there's much interest in it... especially if they
try to shoe-horn it into existing spectrum... most enginners familiar
with digital coding will tell you it'll sound worse then the analog
signal!
(kinda like better-quality Real Audio)

(useless ranting stop)

- -Rick Ganley
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