In article , Chuck Ritola wrote:
Karl Uppiano wrote:
"equalizing songz," wrote in message
oups.com...

Hey all,


I have hooked up my boom box to my "line in" in my computer, and then
use a song file recorder/editor to record the music as wav directly to
the hard disc.

The songs sound very close to the way they do when played from a cd,
and I don't have the heart yet to tell a couple friends that the cds I
made for them were burnt with songs recorded this way from the radio,
not downloaded or ripped from cd.

However, I would like to know if radio-source songs can be re-processed
with equalizers, to remove or hide that slightly "distant" sound that
radio-recorded songs have, and maybe make it sound more like it came
directly from a cd...?

So far, after a long night of loudness, and playing with midranges, the
best sound yet seems to be merely increasing the gain to just below the
level of buzzing. But that slightly "distant" sound is still there.

I was thinking maybe the distance effect is just the stereo signal the
song came through, and perhaps mixing the radio wav file down to mono
(with a few other boosts) will make the song sound more like it came
straight off a cd?

thanks in advance for your answer and any other options you may know
of.


I'm not sure what the "distant" sound is that you're referring to. But as a
former commercial radio engineer, I can tell you that radio stations do
horrible things to the audio, most of them quite irreversible.

Station managers and program directors strive to create a "sound" for their
station, and many of those people have no clue about audio, so you end up
with some really bizarre effects. Most of them want it "louder" than the
other stations on the dial. They accomplish this primarily by removing as
much dynamic range as possible from the original recordings. They start with
some kind of automatic level control, usually followed by a three or
four-band compressor, followed by a one or two band limiter, usually
followed by a clipper. In addition to that, they sometimes add reverb and
"stereo enhancers" (either of which might be responsible for the "distant"
sound you describe). They often fiddle with equalization as well, usually
attempting to add more bass -- a futile exercise if they're driving the
compressor and limiter very hard. The typical result is muddy sludge.

The sad part is, if they would turn off everything but the ALC and use the
limiter sparingly, if anyone could find them among all the other noise, they
could have the cleanest, punchiest sound on the dial. It would be nearly
indistinguishable from the source material in most cases.


I would assume the "distant" sound being described is caused by the
250-600HZ range being compressed/notched down to sound more "hi-fi" on
systems that aren't all that hi-fi. Lots of dash/box resonances and
other dirt occur in that range. The range obviously has to be there, but
sparingly.

Not sure, but radio stations have been using 3 band compressors, so the balance of the orginal
is going to be off. I have used peak unlimiters to increase peak levels, or dynamic range.
Phase Linear used to make them as well as DBX, and I used one that I
built. I would use it to listen to radio stations. I don't know about new releases. There is
so much compression on CD's and plus the FM. An equalizer can be used
to cut back the lows and adjust so it sounds a little better.


greg


I hear KISS FM Chicago puts reverb in their chain. Dear lord.

And to top it off, you will have the inescapable loss of audio data as
it is being modulated into FM stereo. FM employs some filtering which
limits your highs a little, as well as some cheating to create the
"stereo" effect (it's not actually stereo but a mono and difference
channel) since FM cannot support the entire audible range in stereo, you
get some lower fidelity. The modulation/demodulation processes at the
transmitter and receiver pretty much finish off any chance. ):

Sorry to rain on the parade, but radio's a nasty thing to music.