[B-R-I] WBZ Audio (Was: Music Till Dawn on WEEI)

[Kaimbridge M. GoldChild]

Ron Bello wrote,

 > There was always a union tech on the other side of the
 > glass in master control.  The only jock who had any idea
 > of different levels in the mid 70s was Bill Smith.  He
 > would ask for adjustments.  Compression did it for the rest.
 >
 > At 03:32 PM 2/27/2008, A. Joseph Ross wrote:
 >>On 25 Feb 2008 at 18:42, kvahey@comcast.net wrote:
 >>
 >>> Well this didn't sit well with Westinghouse and they
 >>> devised a system to eliminate union jobs. The WEEI contract
 >>> stated that a technician must operate anything with a VU
 >>> meter. So WBZ whipped up combo boards with no VU meters and
 >>> made the jocks run them.
 >>
 >> Without VU meters, how did people keep from having the levels
 >> too high?  An automatic limiter?  I remember VU meters at WMUA
 >> in the 1960s, and we used to watch them while records were
 >> playing and while we were talking and adjust the levels as
 >> needed.

Ahhh, so that's what it was!
I remember liking to A/B between 1.030 and 106.7 back around
1979-81, when the FM cut in to the morning news:  The AM had
reverb and a nice thick, rich atmospheric depth, while the FM
sounded empty and close-up, like you were right next to them
in a small room or closet (like most stations——FM *and* AM——do 
now...UGH!!!).
I even preferred their AM mono sound over FM stereo because of
that rich atmospheric depth, though I didn't know what it was or
why (some said that it sounded that way because it was a "big,
powerful station", while others said it was because the records
ran a bit faster than normal—?).
Those were the days!

Then Steve Ordinetz replied,

 > They were still doing this in the late 70s/early 80s.
 > I remember seeing them broadcasting from their mobile studio
 > around that time and the jock was using a VU-less console
 > & just maxing the faders.
 >
 > Anyone know when 'BZ went with "traditional" boards?

I believe when they started xmting in AM stereo——from that
point on they sounded (and still do) just as flat and dull
as any FM station...as do most other AM-ers:  About the only
halfway decent sounding ones left are 0.920-CJCH NS (and they
are about to go dark for FM), 1.110-WBT NC and 1.170-WWVA WV (and
I think even THEY don't sound as good as a few years ago!).

      ~Kaimbridge~

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