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In Reply to: RE: Why Does My FM Tuner Sound Better Then The Rest Of My Audio Gear? posted by Vinylly on June 28, 2009 at 11:30:08
If the tuner sounds better than the vinyl source, it could be due to a misaligned cartridge or RFI bleeding from the digital source. The first thing I'd try is remove the digital source from the system, then play the vinyl. What you hear might stun you.
The single biggest problem with vinyl playback is alignment of the cartridge. VTF, VTA, azimuth, overhang, anti-skate, etc. ...... This is so difficult to get right, unless you have extensive experience with vinyl rig setup and alignment, you should have someone who does have the experience set the system up for you.
I have about 1,000 LP's in my studio, in fact I probably will not hear all of them in my life time, then I have about 500 more down in my living room. CD's just don't excite me enough that I want to listen to them.
The cart. on my turntable was professionally installed by the dealer, and sounds great. If I didn't have that particular jazz station and an FM tuner, I would probably think I have a very good system. It's just that my old Kenwood analog tuner sounds the best. It may be that I live on top of a hill where that station is located close by, -I don't know.
I don't notice this effect so much today, but I remember back in the early 1970s, whenever I played a track on vinyl for the first time after hearing it numerous times on FM...... The first things I noticed were the increased dynamic range, background activity (including the "decays" of instruments and "intertransient silence"), and a "less electronic" quality to the music....... What really bothers me is *why* I don't hear this effect so much today. Too much ambient RFI, I suspect.
A related issue- There is a song by Tina Turner called "What's Love Got to Do With It"...... I remember when I first heard this song on FM in the 1980s, I noticed a "tszz-szzz-szzz-szzz" cymbal with a *slow* decay while Tina sings the refrain. When I hear this same song today on FM (on what I think is a far better system), that same cymbal sounds "leaden", and that decay sounds "vague"......
Maybe my hearing is in decline......
Chances are the FM station's audio processing is "doing the nasty" to the audio instead. These days, finding ANY FM station that isn't SLAMMING the 100% modulation point MOST of the time is EXTREMELY rare.
Sometimes I feel like the only person in the world who is fighting this trend of processing an audio signal to death. I have no problem with SOME compression and limiting, but when a station squeezes the life out of their audio in order to be the "loudest station on the dial", the result is total death and destruction of ANYTHING resembling "top-end."
Even many NPR stations are beginning to do this "death dance" to audio these days. More's the pity!
Bill
"Chances are the FM station's audio processing is 'doing the nasty' to the audio instead. These days, finding ANY FM station that isn't SLAMMING the 100% modulation point MOST of the time is EXTREMELY rare."
A lot of stations do sound awful. I try to listen to least of the offenders...... There is still some excellent-sounding FM out there.
"Sometimes I feel like the only person in the world who is fighting this trend of processing an audio signal to death."
You're not the only person...... I don't really say much about FM, but I have said a LOT about music production in general. From loudness wars to pitch correction. It's a travesty.
"I have no problem with SOME compression and limiting, but when a station squeezes the life out of their audio in order to be the 'loudest station on the dial', the result is total death and destruction of ANYTHING resembling 'top-end.'"
Once again, no argument..... I just listen to the stations that don't offend so much.......
"Even many NPR stations are beginning to do this 'death dance' to audio these days. More's the pity!"
KJZZ 91.5 Phoenix is a *fabulous* station that happens to be NPR..... If that station doesn't sound good, there's something wrong with the tuner.......
Preamp issue?
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