Wayne S. Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 As I have clicked around to different stations, I've noticed a lot of clipping and distorted radio stations! How many of you are not normalizing your content before it is broadcast? I think there are several people that need to really check your sites for this, as it sounds distorted and really sounds bad. I personally wouldn't stay on a station for long that sounds that bad! If your not normalizing your content, a song or two may be playing fine, while others are recorded at higher volumes and are clipping really bad. you need to be normalizing everything, including ads, jingles and promos! Here is a link to an article that may help you understand this better: http://www.shoutcheap.com/normalize-your-mp3-files-for-better-audio-quality-experience/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djgary72 Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 If they were running a Proper station then they would at least have all their mp3 files volume levelled with mp3gain b4 they broadcast them. I've spent a lot of time and effort making sure all my files are Tagged and volume levelled. If someone can't be bothered to put the time in makiing their station sound good they shouldn't be broadcasting. It's the Old Adage Crap In = Crap Out My Blog https://djgarybaldy.blogspot.com User of RadioDJ FREE radio playout software since 2010. How to Install RadioDJ: https://djgarybaldy.blogspot.com/2020/08/how-to-install-radiodj-free-radio.html RadioDJ is my FAVOURITE piece of software it works when I need It Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne S. Posted February 18, 2013 Author Share Posted February 18, 2013 I listened to some of your cast (Gary) over at facebook, and yours is fine, even turned all the way up with headphones. I've listened to some sites with Yamaha studio monitors turned down to less than 20% and player turned down to less than 70% volume and just sounds extremely bad! I would hope they realize that people are not going to stay tuned in to a station where the music is so distorted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djgary72 Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 I listened to some of your cast (Gary) over at facebook, and yours is fine, even turned all the way up with headphones. I've listened to some sites with Yamaha studio monitors turned down to less than 20% and player turned down to less than 70% volume and just sounds extremely bad! I would hope they realize that people are not going to stay tuned in to a station where the music is so distorted! Thanks Wayne i try my best. It took a lot of learning how to acheieve a great sound, 10 years later I'm able to produce some great stuff when i put my mind to it. It also has a lot to do with the software i use i could never get a great sounding stream from SAM yet with RadioDJ everything sounded 10 times better. Tips I'd recommend for a perfect sounding stream would be A) All mp3 files encoded at 320 kbps or Use Flac B) All files volume levelled with mp3gain (mp3 gain on Ubuntu levels Flac files) C) Streaming at either 128kbps mp3 or 48kbps AAC+ on Shoutcast/Icecast D) Use Stereo Tool or Breakaway to process the sound. Like you Wayne i have listened to some truely awful stations who just didn't put the time or effort into the way their stations sounded. Some of those stations are thankfully no longer broadcasting. We're in an age where everyone thinks they have what it takes to run an Internet Radio station unfortunately a lot of them Do NOT! My Blog https://djgarybaldy.blogspot.com User of RadioDJ FREE radio playout software since 2010. How to Install RadioDJ: https://djgarybaldy.blogspot.com/2020/08/how-to-install-radiodj-free-radio.html RadioDJ is my FAVOURITE piece of software it works when I need It Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cr08 Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 I have always advocated this even if you are running AGC's/compressors in your pipeline. Not doing so just asks for trouble. Simply listen to a track normalized vs. not normalized and it will give you an idea what the post-processing has to deal with. And when you go from one track to another which have wide volume differences, it just exacerbates things. I will have to quote gary and that is the fact that as things have progressed, it has made things easier for random joe user to come along and start their own station with no experience. I dont agree or disagree with it. Learning experiences and all. But given this is a 100% audio-based medium, audio quality is key. Even if you do not run any post-processing, normalize your tracks! It will make it all sound 20x better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PapaBearPW Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 I guess I've been lucky. I have never had to worry about normalizing my tracks. Probably since all the music on my PC was ripped by me from original CD's using the same software (iTunes) with the same settings. It took a couple of days to do it all. But it was worth it. Adding more music to my collection remains an easy task. Put in the work once and the rest is just upkeep. http://www.lunarcaster.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djgary72 Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 I guess I've been lucky. I have never had to worry about normalizing my tracks. Probably since all the music on my PC was ripped by me from original CD's using the same software (iTunes) with the same settings. It took a couple of days to do it all. But it was worth it. Adding more music to my collection remains an easy task. Put in the work once and the rest is just upkeep. The files are generally level when i rip them from CD but i still put them through mp3gain just to make sure they are ALL the same volume helps better with crossfading. As for using iTunes ....... Not a chance in Hell Apple are just Evil!!! My Blog https://djgarybaldy.blogspot.com User of RadioDJ FREE radio playout software since 2010. How to Install RadioDJ: https://djgarybaldy.blogspot.com/2020/08/how-to-install-radiodj-free-radio.html RadioDJ is my FAVOURITE piece of software it works when I need It Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PapaBearPW Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 As for using iTunes ....... Not a chance in Hell Apple are just Evil!!! LOL...yeah...I don't disagree with that. But, I've been using iTunes for quite some time now and just like how easy it is for things like that. I don't use it for anything else though. http://www.lunarcaster.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andhow Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 We normalize all of our music with MP3 Gain before it is put into rotation. It gives our broadcasts a professional & polished sound. It is simple to use and works a treat! Reverend Aquaman | Station Manager | andHow.FM Where it's *ALL* about the music! A world-class, always eclectic, commercial-free, alternative, modern, retro, indie rock radio station. Jamming the free world, one person at a time since 1998. Got Indie? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urban Hitz Radio Posted May 10, 2013 Share Posted May 10, 2013 Amen! I started transforming all of the 4,000+ MP3 media to 320 kbps, about 1 Year ago. It's a drastic difference. What I have also noticed is that some stations/owners that are just jukeboxes or run multiple genres from one server, really could care less. One song will be poor quality at prolly 56kbps, then 128kbps, then, 112, then 96... All they want are the listeners. They put no effort or sweat into making their station stand out. -- JE .::.(())::. Urban Hitz Radio™ USA .::.(())::. The People' Choice for Hip-Hop & R&B! Listen to Urban Hitz Radio - GET A Local or TOLL-FREE Request Line NOW...Only $2 Monthly *Request Line: (855) 588-6767 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djgary72 Posted May 10, 2013 Share Posted May 10, 2013 One song will be poor quality at prolly 56kbps, then 128kbps, then, 112, then 96... All they want are the listeners. They put no effort or sweat into making their station stand out. I will quote myself again about some stations sounding piss poor ..... We're in an age where everyone thinks they have what it takes to run an Internet Radio station unfortunately a lot of them Do NOT! It's not great when you listen to a station and the music levels are all over place. I have about 6000+ tracks in my RDJ Database at present and all of them are levelled and the sound is perfect. Taken me a long time to get my collection sorted.... mind it's a never ending job. My Blog https://djgarybaldy.blogspot.com User of RadioDJ FREE radio playout software since 2010. How to Install RadioDJ: https://djgarybaldy.blogspot.com/2020/08/how-to-install-radiodj-free-radio.html RadioDJ is my FAVOURITE piece of software it works when I need It Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andhow Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 Amen! All they want are the listeners. They put no effort or sweat into making their station stand out. Usually with that attitude they don't get the listeners. Reverend Aquaman | Station Manager | andHow.FM Where it's *ALL* about the music! A world-class, always eclectic, commercial-free, alternative, modern, retro, indie rock radio station. Jamming the free world, one person at a time since 1998. Got Indie? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fnord Posted May 17, 2013 Share Posted May 17, 2013 I use replaygain to stream my content, it is RMS based, so peoples don't have to fiddle on the volume. i don't like audio compression, that does not make any sense at all, it destroys the fidelity. There are many jerks using DSP compression with such already high compressed music titles, so it make anything more worse. The result is: lots of artifacts in low bitrate streams, distortion, clipping, and pissed off listeners Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.