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WRIF's audio sounds like shit again

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MWmetalhead
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WRIF's audio sounds like shit again

Post by MWmetalhead » Thu Aug 25, 2022 6:13 pm

Loudness is one steady drone with no dynamic range effect and squashed bass. Sounds like shit.

Why do radio stations think unnaturally sounding music sounds good?



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Re: WRIF's audio sounds like shit again

Post by MotorCityRadioFreak » Thu Aug 25, 2022 11:07 pm

I doubt it’s intentional. They just don’t care and leave it to some board op.


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Re: WRIF's audio sounds like shit again

Post by MWmetalhead » Fri Aug 26, 2022 9:24 am

Apathy *is* intentional, if ya ask me.

Also possible their equipment or software keeps failing.

I thought WCSX's chain sounded terrible, too, when I tuned in a couple nights ago.

I think the speeding up of the music creates a lot of the processing issues.



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Colonel Flagg
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Re: WRIF's audio sounds like shit again

Post by Colonel Flagg » Wed Oct 19, 2022 6:17 pm

Here we go again...had WRIF on while out and about earlier. Audio sounds squashed with way too much high end. Alice In Chains "Man In the Box" was playing, and that was as poor as it gets with absolutely no bass.

MW, or Mega, what do you guys think?


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Re: WRIF's audio sounds like shit again

Post by Mega Hertz » Wed Oct 19, 2022 8:36 pm

I haven't had a chance to check it out. I'll tune in tomorrow and see what's up.


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Re: WRIF's audio sounds like shit again

Post by MotorCityRadioFreak » Wed Oct 19, 2022 10:48 pm

MWmetalhead wrote:
Fri Aug 26, 2022 9:24 am
Apathy *is* intentional, if ya ask me.

Also possible their equipment or software keeps failing.

I thought WCSX's chain sounded terrible, too, when I tuned in a couple nights ago.

I think the speeding up of the music creates a lot of the processing issues.
Fair.


They/them, non-binary and proud.

Remember that “2000 Mules” was concocted by a circus of elephants.
The right needs to stop worry about what’s between people’s legs. Instead, they should focus on what’s between their ears.
Audacity sucks.

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MWmetalhead
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Re: WRIF's audio sounds like shit again

Post by MWmetalhead » Thu Oct 20, 2022 6:42 am

Some songs sound worse (i.e. more squashed) than others. The more prolific the rhythm section, the crappier the fidelity and sound stage on WRIF. Bass tends to suffer most when songs get "busy."

I completely agree that Man in the Box almost never sounds "right" on 101.1. Song always sounds better on 106.7 and 98.7, with 106.7 sounding best of the group.

Over the past couple weeks, though, the audio processing on 101.1 at least to my ears seems more tolerable than it did in late August.

Processing issues of various severity have been happening at 101.1 intermittently for over a decade. Either Beasley's engineering department is incompetent, some non-engineer keeps messing with the settings, or their processing software / equipment is trash. I suspect the issue lies with one of the latter two.



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Re: WRIF's audio sounds like shit again

Post by Mega Hertz » Thu Oct 20, 2022 6:45 am

I don't know if it makes ANY difference, but when the music was recorded into AudioVault over at Riff, the songs were recorded really low, so the compressors had to really pull the sound up. I tended to record it with higher volumes next door. I never did any work like that at 101, though. I just saw the levels. Of course, this was 10 years ago so Idk what's changed.


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Re: WRIF's audio sounds like shit again

Post by MWmetalhead » Thu Oct 20, 2022 6:49 am

Smooth Criminal by Alien Ant Farm sounds cartoonish and horrendous when 101 plays it. Song is sped way up, the rhythm section sounds not even remotely close to the way it should, and it almost sounds like only one channel of audio is playing.

Their PD should get off her ass and fix that.



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Colonel Flagg
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Re: WRIF's audio sounds like shit again

Post by Colonel Flagg » Thu Oct 20, 2022 3:10 pm

MWmetalhead wrote:
Thu Oct 20, 2022 6:49 am
Smooth Criminal by Alien Ant Farm sounds cartoonish and horrendous when 101 plays it. Song is sped way up, the rhythm section sounds not even remotely close to the way it should, and it almost sounds like only one channel of audio is playing.

Their PD should get off her ass and fix that.
There's no reason to speed up "Smooth Criminal" for godsakes.

I know I'll get laughed at, but earlier today, Whitesnake's "Still of the Night" was played. During the long keyboard solo, I couldn't even hear the "clunk!" of the cowbell. It was buried in the morass of audio mush. It just goes to illustrate how bad these settings really are.


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Re: WRIF's audio sounds like shit again

Post by MWmetalhead » Thu Oct 20, 2022 3:46 pm

That indeed is another song that sounds washed out thanks to their crappy processing.



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Re: WRIF's audio sounds like shit again

Post by Mega Hertz » Thu Oct 20, 2022 4:56 pm

I think Smooth Criminal was ripped from YouTube and they didn't get the right version. Mike Kernen used to jump us for downloading shitty YouTube videos and loading them into Vault for over-the-air play. Sounded like garbage. Same with "My Own Worst Enemy". I always ripped from CD or from .wav files. The best version possible. As for the chain, I seem to notice smashed highs often.


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Re: WRIF's audio sounds like shit again

Post by MWmetalhead » Thu Oct 20, 2022 5:20 pm

Damn right; the audio mixing / processing sounds worse than garbage in the case of Smooth Criminal.

High School radio stations have higher quality control standards evidently.

Smashed highs and buried bass do indeed seem common.



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Re: WRIF's audio sounds like shit again

Post by SolidGoldDancers » Fri Oct 21, 2022 10:09 am

There has to be some political lines drawn over who touches the knobs. The chief there has done stints at other stations that didn't have this problem where she took care of it.

There is no reason for bad audio in this day and age. The loudness wars are over, the iPod won.



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Re: WRIF's audio sounds like shit again

Post by MWmetalhead » Fri Oct 21, 2022 2:09 pm

Worn out Whitesnake song with crappy audio mixing is playing as we speak.

I do think the source audio (from the recording) is the issue here. Prior couple songs sounded decent to my ears.



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