(1) We've had some fun with real real audio the past couple of days with all the problems, so maybe the abysmal preparation for this move is worth it in a kind of pathetic way. But this move was announced in November of 2010. You can build an entire radio station in that interval. I'm sure broadcasting and all that goes with it (making new machinery work, transferring information from one system to another) is complex and, since the move has to be instantaneous, there are bound to be disconnects. And they're moving multiple stations into the suite. But Cumulus is a big bad broadcasting boy with lots of resources and professionals at its beck and call. It's inexcusable to have a transition that sounds like it was managed by Jerry Jones.
Having said that, the actual sound problems were probably noticeable only if you were really listening for them. I'm kind of a radio junque, so I was. I would guess that a lot of listeners, especially on 1310, didn't hear much different about the physical sound of the station.
 |
| Damaged in the move |
(3) Agree with AP that some of the mics were very hot. I noticed it especially with Danny, but Corby's was EQ'd pretty hot as well. Danny's EQ was so different that it almost sounded like he was on a different show. The sibilants were very hissy; it sounded like the whole Hardline had developed a lisp. I'm sure this isn't the case, but it sounded like everyone was too close to the mic.
(4) This might not be audible to a casual listener, but I was in the Conestoga with the Philco on high gain during The Hardline, so I could concentrate pretty well on the sound. And I thought: Man, Mike's new high-gain mic is not kind to his voice; for the first time, he really sounded old to me, with that edge of whisperiness to it that more elderly gentlemen tend to get. And kind of a wateriness to the vowel sounds.
But then I heard Corby, and his voice had that slight water in it as well. And I realized that what I was hearing is that kind of bad digital translation sound of the kind that you hear in much worse form on TeeBox remotes. Just the slightest rattle in the voice, as though the system weren't sampling the voice signal cleanly. (I'm making up these terms -- I'm sure sound engineers can tell me what's actually going on, and I think we have some Confessors with some expertise in this area.) It isn't obvious and you kind of have to be listening closely, but it was there. More obvious with Mike, whose voice sounded noticeably different in the new studio.
================
Anyway, as I say, not a big deal. There are going to be some problems and our heroes are dealing with them in a mostly-amusing way. (I did not hear Dan McDowell's performance yesterday, although (the incomparable) AP reports that he was in need of a remedy for cramps and bloating.) On top of that, Gordon's hiccup extravaganza during Muse this morning was the icing on The Ticket's birthday cake.
See you at Guy's Night Out on Thursday.
