[BC] IBOC AM Quality

[Cornelius Gould]

Well, as a follow up, My wife is neither blonde or 25, and far from
"bubbly"  ;-)

With that being said, even with the (talk) programs she enjoys (that are on
FM around these parts), she refuses to listen to them on AM (analog) because
of the typical "AM sound".

Albeit, that sound comes mostly from the horrible AM radios....

Content is a major, MAJOR factor to the success of a station or format but
when the technical quality can be considered worse than you can get even
from low bitrate audio delivered on an I-pod, it has the potential to give
great content a considerable step backwards!

Not necessarily a cheerleader for any broadcast transmission mode, but
again, an observation from living with someone who is nowhere as passionate
about broadcast technology as I am.

If I decide to sit here right now, and try to DX something, the heterodyne
and static noises would just drive her insane, while I would just "tune it
out".   BTW, same applies to listening to an FM signal on the verge of the
"lunatic fringe" before the signal is completely gone.   I can listen to
great programming through that.  My wife would rather gouge her ears out
with an icepick than to listen to that kind of FM noise.   Any "static" in
her audio source is a bad thing.

I've run into many a "joe / jane public" types that are like my wife.   I
think when the art of tuning out clicks, pops and other surface noises were
lost when the Compact Disc became the standard, it raised the expectations
folks have for their audio on the go.  Make it portable, and no static
noises.

FM hangs in there because of its dramatically lower background noise levels
for most of the main coverage area, IMO.

Having said all that, HD Radio doesn't impress her much either  The static
just comes back "as usual" when you are on the fringes...and the HD signal
drops out....

-Cornelius

On 3/23/07, Craig Bowman <craig1 at shianet.org> wrote:
>
> Not if she is a Rush or Hannity fan!  She will turn it up to hear
> through the static.  It's content, content, content!  And for the
> record, a 25 year old female is no more sensitive to audible sound
> pressures than a 25 year old male.  The male hearing does not
> demonstrably change until he reaches his 40's.
>
> Craig Bowman
>
>
> Bailey, Scott wrote:
> > Well said Cornelius! The typical, bubbly, perfect, blonde female, 25
> > years old will scream "bloody murder" if she hears an AM Radio!
> >
> > Scott
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: broadcast-bounces at radiolists.net
> > [mailto:broadcast-bounces at radiolists.net] On Behalf Of Cornelius Gould
> > Sent: Friday, March 23, 2007 12:44 PM
> > To: Broadcasters' Mailing List
> > Subject: Re: [BC] IBOC AM Quality
> >
> > A perfect example is my wife.  She HATES the sound of AM from typical
> > radios.  She refuses to listen to it.  It drives me nuts when its a talk
> > show I'm interested in, but what are you going to do?
> >
> > Anyway, my point is if I can tune to a HD-AM station, and turn the
> > volume
> > down til the HD side locks, and then turn it up, she won't complain,
> > because
> > the "sound" of AM isn't there...that is, until I drive under a high
> > tension
> > line, which rolls the radio back to AM, and then she screams "IS THIS
> > AM?!?!
> > I HATE THE SOUND OF AM..."
> >
> > Us as radio folks, and folks who love radio can have a warm place in our
> > hearts for the sound of Ancient Modulation, but the general public does
> > not.  The sound of AM, with all its buzzes and crackles is far more
> > annoying
> > to most folks than compression artifacts.
> >
> > Folks like us sometimes wish it were the other way around, but
> > "progress"
> > marches on, and people's expectations from their audio entertainment
> > changes
> > with the "progress".
> >
> > -Cornelius
> >
> >
> > On 3/23/07, padrino <padrino at telos-systems.com> wrote:
> >
> >> I think you're missing my point. Most of us, in the biz, are too close
> >>
> > to
> >
> >> it, and we can hear the various 'ills.' Most consumers will not hear
> >>
> > the
> >
> >> anomolies that are debated in these threads. Considering that, the
> >>
> > greater
> >
> >> majority of consumer listeners have noticed, what they perceive, as
> >> improved audio quality on HD-AM, as compared to conventional AM.
> >>
> >> -Frank Foti
> >>
> >> Broadcasters' Mailing List <broadcast at radiolists.net> writes:
> >>
> >>> --- padrino <padrino at telos-systems.com> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>> Odd...That is not the reaction I have received from
> >>>> radio listeners about
> >>>> AM. Their common complaint is that the audio is
> >>>> dull, in comparison to FM,
> >>>> CDs, or even records, when those were popular. Not
> >>>> to mention that most
> >>>> people do not like static interference that affects
> >>>> AM.
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> My Zenith "High Fidelity" has a wide enough AM to be
> >>> almost as good as the FM section. It MAY be. I just
> >>> don't have any station that simulcasts AM and FM.
> >>> There will be static. However, if the thunderstrom IS
> >>> severe enough, you WILL INDEED hear the static on FM.
> >>> I'd expect IBOC tu belch in that case.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>> Even though there is no free lunch, in any tech, HD
> >>>> on AM is perceived by
> >>>> *most* who hear it as an improvement over
> >>>>
> >>> conventional AM >audio.
> >>>
> >>> That's true if you listen to a muffled radio.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>> I support Jim's original comments, as those parallel
> >>>> what I have heard
> >>>> from casual consumers who have heard HD on AM.
> >>>>
> >>>> -Frank Foti
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> I hear artifacts on the MW IBOC. It's better than the
> >>> muffly AM on the Accurain.....but....
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Powell
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>>
> >>>
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> >>>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >>
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> >>
> >
> >
> >
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-- 
--


- Cornelius Gould
________________________________
"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of
thinking we were at when we created them."
- Albert Einstein (1879-1955)