2. analog
  3. 1326347796

Old tapes reveal how BAD FM became

A few weeks ago, I opened a box of old reel to reel tapes I made when I was a younger man.
I remember very well when people put serious money into tuners.
Any of you remember the DJ's announcing a week in advance they would be playing a new album front to back, without interruption?

Flash ahead 36 years and one would think the tapes I made as a younger lad on that Teac 4010 would be a joke.

Wrong.

Even though my present system was unattainable 36 years ago, the recording from 102 WAQY FM in Springfield, MA that night in 1976 stands the test of time...and then some.

A few days ago, I heard the opening bars of the same piece on FM using my NAD tuner. (Think about a upper end 90's NAD tuner compared to mid 60's budget Fisher gear.) I remembered that I had the reel still on the shelf, so I quickly grabbed it and cued it up before the song was even finished playing on the radio.
I played the ancient copy. The snap and crackle of the stylus could plainly be heard along with something we seem to have completely lost in broadcast. DYNAMICS!
I feel like a man who opened up a time capsule and found out it was better in the past.
I think through the years, I just became complacent to lousy FM radio.

I thought it was that my system had come to a level that it showed the shortcomings of FM radio. Not true.
36 years ago, with a very basic tuner, I captured real dynamic music that sets toes to tapping.
Stuff on FM radio now sounds like a very poor quality MP3 in comparison.

I understand it is no longer cost effective to have a DJ manning the board and spinning vinyl 24/7...but does it have to be flat, lifeless garbage?

My tape is proof that FM radio, even with its inherent issues, can be a source of pleasant music.
When is the last time you actually sat down and tried to listen to FM radio? What have they done to it?

Why has it been ruined?

gumbydammit
salectric
755 posts
 
By today's standards, I am fortunate to have 2 stations nearby that play very good sounding jazz and classical programming. Both are non-commercial university stations.

However, the very best sound I have ever heard from FM was from my college days in the early 1970s. A Philadelphia rock station occasionally had well-known artists in the studio with live performances. I recorded a number of these on my Sony 650 reel-to-reel such as Brewer and Shipley, America and Livingston Taylor. The sound was simply phenomenal. This was when I realized just how excellent my Dyna FM-3 was. The dynamics and detail were an order of magnitude better than normal programming on LPs.

It is truly sad how we have come to accept such an inferior sound from today's FM stations.
st01
36 posts
 
A few classical and jazz stations still have decent quality. Eg QXR in New York or FMT in Chicago for classical or BGO in newark, nj. They present live music occaisionally and the improved quality surprised me, an indication of the quality loss in recording to medium such as CDs. I dont know if it is compression, or poor quality recording. Some of the best sound I get is from SACDs made from 1950's and 60's analog masrers and from CDs that are upsampled 64 or 128 times befrore conversion to analog. So i suspect the weak link is the resistor ladder rack used in most CD players. Robert Harley explains this issue well in his book.

I have an upper end Sony tuner from 1985 and it is more sensitive and has better sound than current $1000 tuners from the higher manufacturers of today such as magnum dynalab. Another surprise!
corazon
210 posts
 
Isochronism,

Allison Steele! Need I say more?

Grew up on NEW & PLJ. Those were radio stations.

Thanks for the memory. Hadn't though about these for while.

Best,

Dave
kennythekey
593 posts
 
My local jazz station (Public Radio) plays LPs as part of their scheduling, so I still get to hear the clicks and pops through my McIntosh MR71 Tuner.

I'm affraid, those days are numbered.
buconero117
2,311 posts
 
I have many pre recorded R2R broadcast tapes, ones the FM stations used to broadcast, included are some tapes done by AFRTS. They still sound great. Since I have the LP's of many of the tracks I often can compare the sound. The tapes come very close to the actual LP's, from which most of the tapes were created. You never know.
More to discover