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Rock stations



This section may contain original research. (August 2010)

The use of compressors began with competitive AM rock stations of the 1960s. AM broadcasters had no qualms about heavy compression since the format had such poor dynamic range. The Gates Sta-level and the Level Devil were often used compressors that would reduce high frequencies and boost low frequencies to yield a very "punchy" sound with the perceived increased volume.

Heavy compression also complemented the style of 60s DJs who talked/shouted over the music. With the proper setting, a DJ could be "mixed" into the music, rather than being heard over it. This demanded that DJs deliver their patter with a very loud voice to be heard over the music, which added to the energy of the broadcast sound. This allowed DJs to talk "in" rather than over the music without being as intrusive. AM stations started using the CBS Audimax/Volumax combination in the 60s to improve the level of loudness. The Audimax provided dynamic compression, while the Volumax controlled peaks and clipping for maximum modulation with minimum distortion. The combination gave higher quality sound, free from some of the artifacts of earlier products because it incorporated a platform-based gating system that would only raise program gain when there was a usable signal to work with. Such an arrangement stopped the compressor from bringing up background noise from below a set threshold, allowing level control without excessive swish up or pumping and avoiding the boosting of the noise floor (hiss) as many previous units did. However, it could create an annoying "sucking and pumping" effect (compression and expansion) if driven beyond its design limit or if adjusted (as many engineers tended to do) to greatly increase the compression action.

In its effort to deliver a constant modulation (volume level) to the listener, compression works against the wider dynamic range of FM (as compared to AM) which was traditionally one of FM's obvious strong points. Consequently, the so-called "album rock" stations of the 70s and classical music and "easy listening" stations of that era in particular, avoided heavy compression, but still used peak limiting to avoid transmitter overload. Classical stations hardly use any, which explains why a classical listener, particularly in the car, must keep turning the volume up and down, constantly fighting the ambient noise prevalent in car listening.

The same recording can have very different dynamics when heard via AM, FM, CD, or other media (although frequency response and noise are large factors as well).

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Дата публикования: 2015-01-26; Прочитано: 316 | Нарушение авторского права страницы | Мы поможем в написании вашей работы!



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