Last typewriter factory in the world shuts its doors

[D. Hugh Redelmeier]

| From: Yanni Chiu <yanni-bJEeYj9oJeDQT0dZR+AlfA at public.gmane.org>

| Does anyone else think that a radio station broadcast often sounds better than
| the CD playing in the CD player (i.e. not CD transferred to MP3)? Is this due
| to the audio engineer fine tuning with the equalizer, or has the CD
| "recording" been intentionally neutered. I've been seeing on the playlist of
| internet radio stations, something like "AAAA (radio edit)" for some songs.

For sure FM doesn't have the dynamic range of CD.  And it doesn't
carry nearly as high frequencies: the FM L+R signal is 30Hz - 15kHz,
the CD is sort of DC to 22.05kHz (that high-end presumes a perfect
band-pass filter).  So the best FM cannot be as good as the best CD.

As others have explained, many radio stations do quite radical
compression of the dynamic range.  Compression is used to make the
majority of the sound louder, closter to the peaks of volume.

If you think that this sounds better, you are lucky.  At first
superficial listen, compressed sounds sounds better.  I find it
wearing so I don't enjoy listening to it for long.

Besides: louder always sounds better.  But your listeners can turn up
the volume.  Compression takes control away from your listeners.

Compression of dynamic range in radio is useful to me because I only
listen to radio in a car and the noise floor in a car is very high.
That leaves a narrower than usual range between too quiet to hear and
so noisy that it hurts.

Last time I paid attention (a long time ago) there were only two
stations that didn't compress their dynamic range: CBC FM and CJRT.

The explanation for radio station dynamic range compression used to be
that people tuned their radios to the loudest station they heard when
scanning the dial.  This may be obsolete: an AM-radio feature.

The biggest sin in broadcasting: dead air.  Apparently listeners tune
out immediately.
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