Radio, MP3, all punched up?

[DanG]

Is all the stuff we hear on radio and MP3 punched up? Boosted in the bass and treble to catch our attention?

And then if we acquire the vinyl or CD and play it on a good home system, it barely resembles our memory of the MP3 or radio version?

[Dan]

You got it! There's all kinds of processors for radio stations on the market. There's an entire engineering science devoted to it. That's one thing stations do to stand out in a crowd, especially in large markets like NYC or LA.

I think it's taken even more of a turn for the worse in recent years though. Couple all of that enchanced loudness, composite clipping, and compression with compressed audio coming off a hard drive and.....yeeoowch!

[Doug Hess Jr.]

Not only are they compressed, but many radio stations speed up their songs by 1.5% to make the other stations sound like they are dragging.

This is from www.omniaudio.com Omnia is one of the many companies that make processing for Radio and TV:
First read some background here: http://www.omniaaudio.com/techinfo/retro/default.htm

Then from their product page:

"Successful programmers don't like to compromise. They need loudness to stand out from the crowd and grab button-happy listeners, but they need clarity to keep listeners from becoming fatigued and tuning out.

That's why leading stations around the world choose Omnia. Omnia makes it possible to achieve unbelievable loudness without sacrificing clarity. Nothing else can compete. Omnia enables programmers to get the sound they need to increase TSL [Time Spent Listening] which means better sound, higher ratings, happy listeners.

5 of the top 6 most-listened to stations in America use Omnia.* Not only that: 4 of the top 5 New York City stations rely on Omnia to help keep their listeners tuned in longer. So do major international broadcasters like Skyrock, the BBC, NRJ and Swedish radio. Proof positive that people who demand only the best demand Omnia."

[Doug Hess Jr.]

NOTE: This is kinda long.

Originally posted by DanG
Is all the stuff we hear on radio and MP3 punched up? Boosted in the bass and treble to catch our attention?

And then if we acquire the vinyl or CD and play it on a good home system, it barely resembles our memory of the MP3 or radio version?

This is exactly what is behind MY view of the "average listener" which has been criticized in the past as my being a stuck up audiophile.
My point is that many people listen on clock radios or small jam boxes at work or they listen in the car surrounded by road noise and they are listening to heavily processed audio OR they are listening to MP3s on small computer speakers on a regular basis. They don't have 2000 CD's or even 100 CD's like people on this board. Therefore, they haven't heard the real songs from vinyl or CD to know that what they listen to daily and I'll quote again "barely resembles our memory of the MP3 or radio version" AND...the average people I'm talking about don'tt care about this-- so when you play them a DCC CD, it's not that they don't notice, but it is not important to them.
So I'm not criticizing the "average listener" as I refer to them, I'm simply pointing out what I see as the reality. Otherwise instead of tubes and gold CDs and vinyl being a neat club to be in-- just like this forum-- we'd see ads for "A new all-tube system audio system with turntable, just $299 this week at Wal-Mart".
That's why I have been skeptical in the past when people have posted on the old DCC board about how if all record companies just put out all gold CDs from the true original master tapes that all would be well. Again, the "average listener" (according to my definition) wouldn't care and sales would not make it worth the company's money to do it.

[DanG]

I have not used the separate tuner on my stereo in several years (gotta unplug that sucker!). Partly it's because I am plugging my T.V. into the amp tuner inputs to listen to movies through the stereo. But I am never really motivated to switch inputs to the stereo tuner and listen to FM at home.

I have ten FM and five AM pre-set stations in the car, but I'm mostly listening to NPR. Talk and music. Much less hype.

It was very interesting reading at omniaaudio. It's making me think I should scan the dial to see who's broadcasting unprocessed music. Maybe NPR and some AM reggae!