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Long live FM!

reggaenaut

reggaenaut

Addicted Member
This week I listened extensively to the easter transmission of my favorite fm station in the NY area. WQXR 96.3khz is a classical station. While I was impressed with its programs, I was particularly struck by the quality of the transmission. When fm is done correctly it has no rival; yet there is talk of its demise.
 
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yet there is talk of its demise.
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Because in most places, it's the suck.

There's maybe one FM station here worth listening to, and the rest play the same regurgitated drivel over and over again with way too much compression.

For most other college students my age, they'd rather turn on their Ipod or listen to XM or Sirius in the car.
 
Without FM I would not hear anything that is new out there and Listening to the same old, same old gets old pretty fast. One of the stations here has started a no repeat for 7 days. That is pretty neat. have been hearing a lot of music I have forgotten about or not heard for a long time.
 
JimJ have you or any of your collegians ever made representation to these stations to change their ways?
 
reggaenaut said:
JimJ have you or any of your collegians ever made representation to these stations to change their ways?
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Unless it's the campus FM station, I highly doubt it. Commercial stations aren't going to cut down on the number of ads they play, and as much as I love the accessibility of noncommercial stations playing good music and programs, that alone won't keep the medium alive. People are going to go to satellite radio because there are less commercials, a better selection of stuff and the quality is "better" (not great, yes, but a step up from a station running balls-to-the-wall compression with adjacent channel interference).

Personally I haven't gone the sat. radio route yet because I have broadband internet, an Oink membership and friends with eclectic music tastes :) Gives me enough new stuff to download/listen to...
 
Mudder said:
Without FM I would not hear anything that is new out there and Listening to the same old, same old gets old pretty fast. One of the stations here has started a no repeat for 7 days. That is pretty neat. have been hearing a lot of music I have forgotten about or not heard for a long time.
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If you're talking about KHITs 96.3 then I would have to agree. The 7 days w/ no repeat sure is bringing back a lot of songs and I'm hearing some stuff I have not heard before. I have been enjoying the no repeat format for several months now. Great station.
 
I am truly happy to be in a city where the fm choices are real. I do hope it continues as is or even for the better.
 
I'm in my small listening room with WDCB-FM, the station from The College of DuPage. "All Jazz", playing a small jazz trio with piano, drums, and bass. Running through my Fisher 400 and a pair of Paradigm Mini-Monitors. It sounds marvelous. At one point I almost jumped out of my chair because I thought the filter caps had blown. There was an incredible 50-60 Hz rumble that rattled things in my bookcase. It took me a second or two to realize it was a bow being drawn across one of the bass strings.

I'm going to have to send these people a donation. Seriously. They deserve it.
 
Fisherdude said:
I'm in my small listening room with WDCB-FM, the station from The College of DuPage. "All Jazz", playing a small jazz trio with piano, drums, and bass. Running through my Fisher 400 and a pair of Paradigm Mini-Monitors. It sounds marvelous. At one point I almost jumped out of my chair because I thought the filter caps had blown. There was an incredible 50-60 Hz rumble that rattled things in my bookcase. It took me a second or two to realize it was a bow being drawn across one of the bass strings.

I'm going to have to send these people a donation. Seriously. They deserve it.
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It is a pleasure to know that they are people out there still transmitting quality fm.
 
reggaenaut said:
It is a pleasure to know that they are people out there still transmitting quality fm.
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I strongly second what Fisherdude says. I turn to WDCB about 90% of my listening time now. :thmbsp:
 
Rex Everything said:
If you're talking about KHITs 96.3 then I would have to agree. The 7 days w/ no repeat sure is bringing back a lot of songs and I'm hearing some stuff I have not heard before. I have been enjoying the no repeat format for several months now. Great station.
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Is that in St. Louis?
If so, I may have to try pulling it in.
 
JimJ[VT] said:
Because in most places, it's the suck.

There's maybe one FM station here worth listening to, and the rest play the same regurgitated drivel over and over again with way too much compression.

For most other college students my age, they'd rather turn on their Ipod or listen to XM or Sirius in the car.
Click to expand...

I think there may be a transformation in the offing for FM, but we'll need to be patient and watch it develop. We all know that FM is facing fierce competition from content sources that were not on the map even 5 years ago: the rise of internet streaming audio "stations", the iPod. Satellite radio has also taken a share of the market.

However, there will still need to be a source for localized content: traffic reports, local news, local news-talk will have a home on AM. For FM, I think there will be a market for local entertainment - local music broadcasts, local artists, live broadcasts and feeds, etc. I think the "live and local" component will be a huge marketing advantage for FM and AM. Advertisers will still want and need a local distribution source for their advertising, and podcasts, internet radio stations, and sattelite don't provide that.

It really will become all about content, and FM will need to determine what content listeners want, and are willing to get, from terrestrial FM and AM radio.
 
Fisherdude said:
I'm in my small listening room with WDCB-FM, the station from The College of DuPage. "All Jazz", playing a small jazz trio with piano, drums, and bass. Running through my Fisher 400 and a pair of Paradigm Mini-Monitors. It sounds marvelous. At one point I almost jumped out of my chair because I thought the filter caps had blown. There was an incredible 50-60 Hz rumble that rattled things in my bookcase. It took me a second or two to realize it was a bow being drawn across one of the bass strings.

I'm going to have to send these people a donation. Seriously. They deserve it.
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Its nice to hear someone else listens to WDCB around here. I stumbled across them late one night on a Friday listening to the Ecletic Picnic. At that point my it stirred my interest, and now I listen to them on my morning commute. When I'm at home the sound quality of there station is out of this world. Its nice to be able to really push the limits of my F-91 tuner. Anyone in the Chicago area really needs to check it out. Also on Sundays at midnight, they have their Blaze radio broadcast. Nothin but late 80's hair bands from midnight to I think 6am, perfect for me, I grew up during that period.:thmbsp:
- Mike
 
Kansas City is blessed with four great non compressed public FM stations: 89.5 UMKC's station, 90.1 KKFI no university affiliation, 90.5 Central Mo State and University of Kansas at 91.5. Almost always something good on one of these stations. I think all but 90.5 stream so check them out on the web. Many of the shows are stored for listening at any time. Try the "Fish Fry" on 89.5 and "Retro Cocktail Hour" on 91.5 for starts.
 
Mudder said:
gearhead............ yes its khits 96.3 in St Louis.
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WOO-HOO! It's coming in!
I'd like to try tuning in WDCB, but I don't have a rotor, and my antenna is pointing south.
I doubt I could get it, anyway.
WCCD-107.9 in Canton, IL is pretty good about keeping their mouth shut & playing music.
 
gearhead said:
WOO-HOO! It's coming in!
I'd like to try tuning in WDCB, but I don't have a rotor, and my antenna is pointing south.
I doubt I could get it, anyway.
WCCD-107.9 in Canton, IL is pretty good about keeping their mouth shut & playing music.
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The Community supported radio here in St. Louis has several very good shows also. It's 88.1. give it a try some time.
 
gearhead said:
WOO-HOO! It's coming in!
I'd like to try tuning in WDCB, but I don't have a rotor, and my antenna is pointing south.
I doubt I could get it, anyway.
WCCD-107.9 in Canton, IL is pretty good about keeping their mouth shut & playing music.
Click to expand...

They are available online too.
 
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