This is an interesting thread for the most part, I certainly learned quite a bit from those who could describe the radio broadcast chain. Never knew the details but I did know there was a lot of variability based on the station and engineer.
For instance I live in the NYC and Philly metro areas. I listen to two classical stations (among others) that each broadcast the Metropolitan Opera live on Saturday afternoons:
WQXR 96.3 in NYC and WWFM 89.1 in Mercer County NJ. The differences in quality of the broadcast are very noticeable with WWFM winning hands down. Not to say QXR is wretched but WWFM betters it by a country mile.
Of course having the same broadcast material played at the same time helps a lot in the A/B comparison. And the MD-108 don't hurt either.
I listen to a LOT of FM but I am fortunate to live within these two large markets, and there are a lot of good stations.
Cheers all.
For instance I live in the NYC and Philly metro areas. I listen to two classical stations (among others) that each broadcast the Metropolitan Opera live on Saturday afternoons:
WQXR 96.3 in NYC and WWFM 89.1 in Mercer County NJ. The differences in quality of the broadcast are very noticeable with WWFM winning hands down. Not to say QXR is wretched but WWFM betters it by a country mile.
Of course having the same broadcast material played at the same time helps a lot in the A/B comparison. And the MD-108 don't hurt either.
I listen to a LOT of FM but I am fortunate to live within these two large markets, and there are a lot of good stations.
Cheers all.