WRCJ Detroit - digital (?) audio problems on Jazz evenings

[DC]

Hi - I listen to WRCJ a lot, and I've noticed a problem with their evening audio. It's jumpy - digital streaming problem, obviously. The announcements seem fine, but this is driving me nuts.

I've emailed and got a polite "we've forwarded your note to the engineers, but nobody else has said anything" reply.

Give a listen - I can't be the only person annoyed by this. I hear it at home, in the car, in my office (if I'm there at night).

Eh?

 

[Bozzmonster]

Hi - I listen to WRCJ a lot, and I've noticed a problem with their evening audio. It's jumpy - digital streaming problem, obviously. The announcements seem fine, but this is driving me nuts.

I've emailed and got a polite "we've forwarded your note to the engineers, but nobody else has said anything" reply.

Give a listen - I can't be the only person annoyed by this. I hear it at home, in the car, in my office (if I'm there at night).

Eh?

I tuned in and didn't hear anything... until the music program came back on. YUCK! Sounds like a buffering issue. I'll send a note too. I usually listen to CBC2 for jazz this time of night, so I'll tune back.

 

[DC]

It's unlistenable. I made a recording of about 4 min of music, then announcement, then music - it's awful. I'll email them the .WAV file.

Tony Mowod's voice had the buffering problems, too - I didn't notice until I put the headphones on to record a sample. Ugh.

 

[Bozzmonster]

Unfortunately, this is what you get when all the programming is off the bird. At least in the old days, if the record was skipping, the DJ would move the needle when he got done in the john!

 

[DC]

I know ... I know.

It seems to me that the engineer(s) don't like Jazz - they certainly aren't listening to the transmitter in the evenings, anyway.

 

[NeonDriver]

Did this just start? I listen to WRCJ a lot too and think the Jazz sounds really great for FM. They do sometimes have a little digital hash, but it only lasts a second or two. I haven't listened as much in the last week or so, however.

 

[Naptown Rob]

It might be a number of things. "Buffering" at any part in the chain is doubtful.
Sounds more like a problem with their digital STL (Studio Transmitter Link), the microwave shot from their studio to the transmitter. It can be quite intermittent - & therefore a bitch to diagnose. Has it been windy there lately?
Kent or one of our other Broadcast Engineers should chime in.

 

[jmathers]

Definitely not windy here in Michigan lately.

DC can you post a sample of the file somewhere? Some good ears around here.

Most of the stuff that bothers me on the radio is compression - listen to Doug FM for instance.

Jazz on CBC2 and WEMU is fantastic sounding I think that is mainly because they use very little compression. You need to turn it up to actually hear the music.

Jeff

 

[DC]

It's been consistent, though intermittent, for some time - off and on for a couple of months, I think. I'll try to post the .WAV file I emailed to them.

 

[Vintageman1]

I listen to the jazz on WRCJ as well but not in the last week. Although it is a Detroit station, I thought the actual program originates from somewhere else (???)
Even at 60 miles away here in Chatham, Ontario, the sound is usually excellent.

 

[DC]

Here's a direct link (right click and select download, I think):

http://home.comcast.net/~chisholm/WRCJ_audio_sample_WAV_Nov_20_2012_740pm_approx.wav

File is about 36MB, about 4 min. long, 16-bit/44.1kHz .WAV

 

[NeonDriver]

What is wrong? I only listened on my puny built in computer speakers, but I thought it sounded good. In fact, I usually think WRCJ sounds very nice, I have always wondered how they do it so well. Tony Mowod's show is not from Detroit (I do like it though), I would assume that they stream it in over the internet. Maybe that causes issues?

 

[DC]

Listen to the clip and you'll hear it - not good.

I've actually never been thrilled with their overall audio quality, but I've heard much worse. The digitally-sourced Jazz shows are usually pretty good, just the audio problems have been frustrating.

Tonight it was better, but then got cruddy again. I'm spinning Ray Charles records, instead.

 

[djnagle]

I've been listening to WRCJ, intently, for the last couple nights on my Tivoli radio and have not heard any issues. I wonder if you are getting some kind of local interference?

 

[DC]

I've been listening to WRCJ, intently, for the last couple nights on my Tivoli radio and have not heard any issues. I wonder if you are getting some kind of local interference?

Nope, it's on their end, somewhere in the digital chain before the actual transmitter. It's been better the past few nights, but still there occasionally, and not as bad. I'm not sure I'd notice it on a small radio or in the car, but on the main system it's still clear and annoying.

The other night when I made that recording, I could hear the problem clearly in my car driving up Telegraph - it was bad.

I still have the CD recorder upstairs so I'll try to get another recording if I hear it again, especially if it's not real bad.

 

[djnagle]

To be fair, I was not listening critically. It was on while I've been writing so my concentration was not really focused on the music. My big system is down while I wait for parts so I couldn't tell there now anyway.

 

[Bozzmonster]

Definitely there was something of issue to be heard. Here is the reply I got from my e-mail to the staff at WRCJ back on 11/20:

Dear .....,

Our engineers are trying to correct the problem. It sounds like the signal we are receiving from our satellite is causing problems with our computers. They are still working on it. Sorry for the inconvenience but we appreciate your understanding and support.

-WRCJ 90.9 FM

To me, I like the processing a bit better on CBE/CBC2, but WRCJ is usually good - just a bit more limiting. I appreciate the fact that I have to turn it up a bit to hear the analog goodness on CBC2! I installed a small Winegard FM only antenna to try to pull in WKAR here in my new home among the RF funfest around here. I can get a clean mono signal on WKAR, but now CBE, WRCJ and WDET have an absolutely pristine FM signal. I appreciate the fact the staff there at the station took time to reply.

 

[jmathers]

Here's a Audacity spectrogram of the file DC uploaded. Not much info above 15khz.

I'm not sure this isn't typical of radio broadcasts anyway (?) but you can see that there aren't many peaks and valleys here - lots of hash. The real peaks and valleys start when the announcer comes in at 2:25 or so.

Definitely worse than on a well-recorded CD. Unfortunately I don't have recording capability up and running on my PC. Be nice to compare CBC2's waveform with this one. Instead I included a Brian Bromberg CD for comparison.

Jeff

 

[Punker X]

Not suppose to be any info broadcast above 15Khz on any FM broadcast. Interferes with the 19Khz stereo carrier.

 

[jmathers]

Not suppose to be any info broadcast above 15Khz on any FM broadcast. Interferes with the 19Khz stereo carrier.

Good to know. That would explain the WRCJ's radio graph's peaks.

Also pretty fascinating to me.

So is an FM radio signal really hi-fi?

Jeff