[EAS] No such thing as too much compression

[David Turnmire]

On 11/25/2011 10:05 PM, Clay Freinwald wrote:
> ...Our solution - Create a
> state-wide CAP system where the sources 'input' their messages in Text and
> the EAS Boxes at the other end 'read' the message. Not only did this resolve
> the problem but it, for the first time, produced a system where the text and
> audio were transmitting the SAME message  (Think Cable and TV)
>
...
I can understand how the text to speech process cleans up the normal 
audio quality issues (compression, noise, etc, etc)... but how well does 
it work in practice for intelligibility... especially with odd words... 
place names, people's names, etc?  And... I would assume... that how 
well that works is in part dependent on the box at the recipients end.  
We know that some EAS box vendors cut more corners than others... and 
that $$$ is an issue for not a few broadcasters.  And it would seem to 
be hard to reflect in specs (I can imagine the asterisk next to "text to 
speech* "    *Not guaranteed for non-Anglo names").  For all the 
advantages to audio quality from a traditional, radio engineer 
perspective... the end goal is to get the EAS message out intact to the 
listener.  Does text-to-speech REALLY accomplish that?  Just asking... I 
don't have the experience at this point to know...

Dave