[BC] Digital Intgerference (was AM Interference)

[Rich Wood]

------ At 09:53 PM 12/17/2005, Robert Orban wrote: -------

>This result was no surprise to me, because I have been comparing the 
>HD and analog FM processed outputs of our processors for over three 
>years in the lab. What is still a mystery is why Rich Wood heard 
>none of this on any station he auditioned.

Actually, I found it on only one of all the stations I heard. WBOS, 
Boston, was the only station that was clearly properly processing 
separately. WSRS, Worcester, MA, between Boston and Springfield, was 
separate but the digital had such an artificial high end that no 
glass was safe. I can only think it was adjusted using the GM's muddy 
car radio to make it sound good on that receiver. Add all female 
jingles and it was sheer masochism to hear. I think WBOS would fit 
your requirements for punch and the stuff in the mixes that gets lost 
in analog processing. It wasn't CD quality but there was a definite 
difference. Artifacts would be the only thing that would bother me in 
listening to the station. There was no secondary on WBOS, so I assume 
it was 96Kbps.

Having lived for many years in the Southwest (sorry "The Great 
Southwest" Dallas) and California I can tell you there's a dramatic 
philosophical difference between coasts. Maybe it's because New 
Yorkers are so used to constant high ambient noise that everything 
must be loud and mashed just to punch through it. It might be that 
WPLJ, in the early years, was so dramatically louder than anything 
else that it became the standard. Larry Berger might have been the 
first PD to crank it up. Those who followed followed the tradition 
and "improved" on it as new processors allowed it. On a specrum 
analyzer, WPLJ has no energy above 10KHz and the audio was/is so 
dense that there's no dynamic range. I can only image what the 
WPLJ-HD (when it comes) processing will be. You ain't heard loud, yet.

California, historically, has revered good quality radio, both in 
programming and technical quality. There's no comparison between New 
York radio and San Francisco. Maybe the risk in New York is too 
great. Once you lose your position it's almost impossible to regain 
it. That will be painfully obvious to WCBS-FM. New York radio seems 
to either sit tight or make stupid decisions, then spend years and 
repeated format changes trying to recover.

I believe you're hearing good processing in San Francisco. Except for 
WQXR and the NPR stations I doubt you'll hear it in New York or in 
many places on the East Coast. For AM, that's understandable. The 
spectrum here is so jammed up that you need high power and heavy 
processing to punch through. As AM IBUZ proliferates it'll become impossible.

Rich


Rich Wood
Rich Wood Multimedia
Phone: 413-303-9084
FAX: 413-480-0010