funny you should say that today of all days,
Mapperly Ridge 96.2 (ex trent fm) dropped off air this afternoon
i tuned in at 1422 (hilltopping at Buxton)
and was surprised to hear the side of Rother FM 96.1 which is rare for me!
At 1425 Mapperly came back with reduced power before
quickly being turned up

either they're seeing if they can get away with less power to cut transmission costs or they're testing to see if anyones listening

i thought it was a fault but your post is too much of a coincidence
the other day when i was compiling a bandscan from home (congleton) i did think 96.2 was weaker than in its heyday
i couldn't get it, and i used to be able to null revolution and get it

Indeed they did. They're not moaning now though are they?

Bit of a worry when one of commercial radio's best friends, The Guardian, starts putting the boot in.

I expect they've given up!

Everyone i speak too moans about the processing quality, but they've given up complaining now.

It feels like a fait acomplix......

Any idea of the thinking behind Capital's unusual processing, mikw?

Nobody I know at Global knows why it has been set to sound so tinny.

As they have a vested interest in the success of Smooth & Real they could be keen to put the boot in to Global, rather than commercial radio in general.

The Heart & Gold networks are direct competition for their stations.

All true.

Strange though, given that Global Sales sell GMG's Real and Smooth - as well as Heart, Capital, Classic, Choice, LBC and Gold.

http://www.thisisglobal.com/radio-sales/

I think it's supposed to be to sound "punchy", so it leaps out the radio to the listener.

Trouble is though, it grates.

Although i'm told that the evil-sith Lord Tabor likes it in his limo, so it's unlikely to change even if millions complain!

A hit in the Rajar figures may make a difference though.

I was wondering how long it would take until the conspiracy theorists arrived.

So, an opinion piece which is critical of Capital FM (which GMG have no rival to) is their attempt at 'sticking the boot in' to the company which sells national advertising for the GMG stations?

On the other hand, it might just be the authors own opinion on Capital, but I realise it's probably something far more sinister!

Punchy it ain't!

It doesn't leap out either - if anything it's incredibly flat.

Just to add to the above - has there not been a "standardisation" of processing on Heart? Since moving I've noticed that Crawley is a lot punchier than Birmingham. Very top-heavy too, but just enough - certainly not to the extent of Capital.

Crawley used to be a hit music station, they probably haven't bothered changing it!

Ah, yes - I forgot Crawley's only just changed! It'd be an ideal setting for Capital - very punchy but with BASS! Seriously - CHR music NEEDS BASS!

Well, Ashley doesn't really know what he's doing.......

But it was all FM services.

One can only assume the EQ in his Bentley was shagged at the time...

Is anyone else preferring Capital Breakfast (London) this week without Johnny Vaughan and the canned laughter when a caller is on air? A much better listen.

ah, my bad, misunderstood your post, just engineering work then

My analysis on it:

- Andi Durrant's show... the processing is setup appropriately for the music he plays. I have it up REALLY loud in the car, and it sounds really good. The definition of the tops and lows is really there.

- Daytime FM listening, its very tinny, raspy and hissy

- Online stream is worse than FM, and really sounds scratchy, hissy and its impossible to listen to even at a low level.

I think you're just imagining the processing differences during Andy's show, Global stations are probably like most commercial stations, processor is set up at the TX and just left, I doubt they change the settings for different shows, like the BBC do. It'll be the same 24/7

It might be great if you want a quick fix of 20-min pop like the article suggests but after that, nothing really.

One.. I'm a DJ my self, and audio quality is prime to me. I hate the sound of shite through my speakers.

Two... I have super sensitive hearing, and there is definitely a difference. You can hear it just from when he speaks on the radio.

Three... I'm 20, my hearing is better. No offence

Four... this is edit three because I can't type for sh*t

I listen on DAB mostly, and have untrained ears, but I don't understand what's wrong?

Just to clarify this, Capital do not use a different processing setting when Andi Durrant is on-air.

As the previous poster suggested, the processors are set based on the group spec.

Maybe you hear a difference simply because the music on that show is generally more bass-heavy, but no, Capital are not changing processing settings for friday/sat nights.

It did also suggest that Hirsty's Daily Dose was good (which it is), calling it the "Grand Royale with Cheese."