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Why Does FM Quality Always Have That 'Unique' Sound To It?
t0264
Posts: 893 Forum Member
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I've noticed this a lot. Obviously CD is better quality and usually is quite noticable, however sometimes on my car stereo when I have listened to stations such as Peak FM or Galaxy I sometimes feel as though the sound quality is better than CD. Of course it isn't, but I just think the slight 'uniqueness' on the sound quality, whether it's a treble boost or something like that I don't know but it makes FM sound really good on some stations. Does anyone know what it is?
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If your looking for something similar on your laptop try something called Breakaway.
They insert identification jingles and etc, but also they process the sound in level and station´s sound.
My system isn't high-end by any means but some of the most true-to-life audio it has produced has been via the Yamaha T-85 tuner.
http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/audio_processing.htm
Yep very true
its a fact Radio 1 compress their sound more than any other station, it goes through about 10 compression units before going out.
Although in fairness I always thing R1 have the most polished sound so it obviously works for them.
Every station has their own processing units which their sound goes through, hence the unique sound.
As for whether FM is better than CD, well that's subjective really.
They also compress the sound to make it sound loud.
Then those CD's are played on radio stations which add the same things again, so you get massively boosted bass and treble and double-dose compression. By this stage, the sound is untidy and unpleasant.
Pirate stations are the worst for this - they tend to whack every knob up to at least 11 and the sound gets *really* ragged and tiring.
Thing is, some people think this is great!
http://www.orban.com/
Capital had the best audio quality I have ever heard on any FM radio station, it even sounded better than the excellent audio on German FM stations which took some beating.
Sadly these days everything is compressed and processed to buggery. Now you can tune through the FM band and all of the commercial stations sound the same - bloody awful.
Ten compressors?
I could understand there being a limiter at each stage to ensure that no link in the chain is overdriven which would be quite possible with the type of music they play and some of the people playing it but I find it hard to imagine ten compressors in the chain or even ten points in the chain where they could compress. Can you describe where they are used
Breakaway is excellent but whats the best preset for a bit of echo and for that punch effect ?
Interesting what you say about German radio. I find the audio on German radio more pleasant-sounding than UK stations. They have a lower modulation than other European stations and I'm sure that this is part of it. The audio is so clean, clear, detailed and yet natural, particularly on cultural or classical stations.
Radio 100,7 in Luxembourg also has fantastic audio quality. Makes me wonder if some of the Europeans are better at sound engineering than here in the UK!
Its what I read in an old Sound on Sound article, so I don't have more info!
I wonder if some of it was the tuners in use back in the 70s & 80s. I know I keep saying this but the Yamaha T-85 has amazing audio quality with superb stereo separation (manual quotes 68dB at 1kHz). This model was in production from 1986-1988.
I think that because the FM tuner market was very competitive back then it encouraged manufacturers to produce the very best product that they could whilst remaining affordable. These days proper hi-fi FM tuners have become a very rare beast as the market is dominated by portables or in-car audio. Of course there are also the likes of iPods, iPhones, internet, DAB, and Freeview for getting radio content too.
Breakaway's fantastic, but rather RAM hungry, plus it's shareware, so only free for 30 days.
To be fair it's well worth forking out the pounds and getting Breakaway. It is THE best software-based audio processor out - period!
Oh, and if you find it RAM-hungry then hide the actual oscilloscopes - it's the visual aspects of the application that are greedy for your memory cycles - the processing works like a pussycat!
I used it on WCBS-FM's AAC+ stream. The TOTH jingle sounded magical!
Breakaway uses a Virtual Audio Pipeline and in doing so presents a virtual output to the OS for other applications to route audio into before processing occurs. Hence Breakaway gets full - and exclusive - access to the audio which is a primary reason why it is so good.
If you are serious about audio processing, look at Breakaway Broadcast. Some of the best peak control I've ever seen (and I've seen Omnia and Optimod's!!).
Breakaway gave me a blue screen first time I tried it. I might give it another go at some point. What does the 'echo' effect do? Does it literally make the sound have a slight echo on it?
Agreed.
We use it on our DAB stations.
It's fantastic.
I completely agree!
I listened to a lot of FM stations while in Germany last year, and one of the best sounding is Hit-Radio Antenne Niedersachsen - their online stream is fed off-air.