[BC] Sangean HD component tuner - IBUZ Processing

[James Somich]

I think younger people just haven't been through this before. New technology
always starts out a little rough. You are so right about HDTV. I understand
that it will even work with rabbit ears now!

The first serrasoid fm exciters were terrible, and do I have to mention all
the lousy audio processors that came and went over the years?  The good
designs were improved, the bad ones just died. Do you remember how bad color
tv looked in the 60s?

Maybe HD radio is not the answer, but we need a digital broadcast system.
Let's give this one a chance and see if it will improve and survive. There
are a lot of entrepreneurial engineers out there who will devise
improvements to the system and market them too! Ibiquity has to make this
possible.

There is nothing wrong with being a nay-sayer. It can motivate creative
engineers to prove them wrong.

Eureka never caught on, even though it didn't have the problems of a hybrid
system. There were other reasons like poor marketing and lackluster
programming. Low-cost Eureka radios are available, disproving the theory
that high receiver cost alone is a barrier to success.

Other comments about the lack of great programming are right on. Too often,
the medium has become predictable and boring. Some of the more inventive
programming is being done on the internet. Check out
www.radioparadise.comfor a good example.

There is no question that radio has degenerated over the past decade.
Engineers and programmers must work together to bring it back.

I prefer to be an optimist and believe that it WILL HAPPEN.

On 12/21/06, Bob Tarsio <Bob at broadcast-devices.com> wrote:
>
> Jim:
>
> Right on brother! The spirit of invention is purely the reason that we are
> as advanced as we are. This is in every one of mankind's endeavors. This
> will not happen with digital radio if the naysayer mentality has its way.
> Sure the system isn't perfect. What system is? These are the opportunities
> that individuals and corporations alike are presented with to make things
> better.
>
> Even if we did what the Europeans and our neighbors to the north did and
> adopted a system that utilized a new band there would be problems. Eureka
> has its problems too. There is a parallel to DTV here. I was involved with
> its implementation a few years back and the receivers were terrible. There
> was little provision for the correction of pre ghost time delays. Now, the
> latest generation of receivers has near symmetrical correction of pre and
> post ghost signals. This has made a huge difference in total system
> performance. Coding and compression algorithms have also improved making
> for
> a more robust transmission medium. This didn't happen overnight. Millions
> of
> dollars and thousands of smart people working on the problem made the
> system
> better. The same will be true with digital radio.
>
> I think we need to face facts. America needs a good, robust over the air
> radio broadcasting infrastructure. We have one that is getting better. The
> business model is changing but the business still has legs. Satellite, the
> internet, etc. are all great but there is still something to be said for
> the
> practicality of a simple point to multipoint transmission system such as
> AM/FM/digital broadcasting. In emergency situations satellite operators
> will
> be reticent to use precious air time to disseminate information to a
> localized emergency like New Orleans. Terrestrial broadcasting will
> continue
> to fulfill the role of emergency communicator. The internet can't do this
> as
> it relies too heavily on ground based distributed infrastructure to be of
> use in natural disaster scenarios. Perhaps some of the others on the list
> can tell of how long it took to get high speed internet up and running
> after
> Katrina. Or for that matter what its effectiveness was during the
> disaster.
>
> In the final analysis Jim is right. It will get better. More to the point,
> it better get better because we all need broadcasting for the vital role
> it
> plays in our daily lives.
>
> Bob Tarsio
>
> www.Broadcast-Devices.com
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: broadcast-bounces at radiolists.net
> [mailto:broadcast-bounces at radiolists.net] On Behalf Of James Somich
> Sent: Thursday, December 21, 2006 13:16
> To: Broadcasters' Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [BC] Sangean HD component tuner - IBUZ Processing
>
> Rich:
> You are 100% right about the "blend problem" mainly existing in a mobile
> environment. So far, my Sangean HDT-1 hasn't blended once and I just have
> the supplied dipole tacked up on the wall.
>
> And we haven't even discussed the lack of any blend whatsoever on the
> HD-2s.
>
> How many people will listen to a signal that just drops out time and
> again?
> Not many.
>
> Ah, problems to solve and devices to invent. Problems like this just
> challenge engineers to design solutions.
>
> Look how far we have come with analog fm-stereo.....in 40 years!!!!!
>
>
> On 12/21/06, Rich Wood <richwood at pobox.com> wrote:
> >
> > ------ At 02:23 AM 12/21/2006, Robert Orban wrote: -------
> >
> > >You missed my point. At least in mobile reception, there will be
> > >areas where a significant amount of crossfading occurs between the
> > >analog FM and HD1 digital streams. If the volume drops 10 dB each
> > >time the radio crossfades from analog to digital, this will be a
> > >HUGE irritant -- far worse than excessive compression or peak
> > >limiting. Indeed, I believe that this would cause 95%+ of the
> > >audience to tune out after it happened a few times.
> >
> > That's exactly my point. How do we deal with it? To sell a receiver
> > to anyone other than a radio station employee we need to show there's
> > a reason to buy one. I assume the Sangean is capable of entertainment
> > quality in digital. It doesn't move, so the crossfading happens less
> > often. My Accurian with an attic antenna crossfades often, mostly
> > with changes in the weather. The audio section isn't good enough to
> > notice. The NPR station here processes gently, so I should notice the
> > alleged advantage of digital. With the Accurian there's no
> > difference. I can force it to analog by using its supplied antenna.
> > When I connect the attic system it sounds exactly the same. All that
> > happens is the logo lights up.
> >
> > We have two incompatible scenarios here. Entertainment quality for
> > home systems and lack of irritation in a mobile environment.
> >
> > >These days, who has the time or budget to carefully adjust the
> > >loudness level of every element (including each commercial) before
> > >it get entered into a playout system? In theory, this could be done
> > >automatically by analyzing each file's subjective loudness level and
> > >adjusting the file's level appropriately (which is NOT the same as
> > >peak-normalizing the file; peak normalization has nothing to do with
> > >subjective loudness). But in practice, this isn't what happens at
> > >most stations.
> >
> > I have to disagree. In the olden days things were often done on the
> > fly. In AM, in particular, riding gain meant pinning meter needles
> > and letting the processing take care of everything. Today, a cut is
> > loaded into an audio system once. There certainly should be time to
> > make sure the quality of that cut is the best possible. I find it
> > very hard to accept "good enough" when it comes to our only product.
> > We don't have time because most of the staff has probably been fired.
> > The other problem is the loudness wars going on in CD mastering. How
> > do you correct something that has absolutely no dynamic range? How do
> > you process it? The YouTube file was a great example. I guess when
> > showbiz has been reduced to bean counting you can't expect much.
> >
> > Rich
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> >
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