Radio Station CD Players? What kinds?

Come on, guys! Radio stations use CD players. Let's not lose touch with the way the rest of the world does music.

During the late 80s, most commercial music stations began making the switch in a big way from records to CDs. For a lot of stations, including oldies and classic rock(and I would imagine jazz and classical), the breadth of music they had available on vinyl, and have not been replaced on CD(which was their thinking), has caused them to once again begin putting money into tuntables and the like.

My best friend, who worked at a radio station, used to use a commercial Sony at home that was destined for the dustbin during an upgrade. The stuff at radio stations is commercial, built to withstand more abuse, heavier cabinets/faceplates/displays/trays, have more features and buttons(most of which are useless), and be rack mountable.

Check out some pro sound rags once in a while, and you will see a whole world that we talk very little about there. And, that it really is true, we are the lunatic fringe.

I think the question was high-end stations, read public radio, local station, college stations, not clear channel. Some of the local stations, esp college and jazz stations WILL still spin vinyl. not sure on CD players. I like you have heard some sounds out of my tuner from stations below 90MHz and wondered why my CD player does not sound as good! Not all of it is mp3 quality. makes you wonder if they have dCS stacks or something similarly high-end.

Marakanetz is correct as to NPR in the Mid to Southern New Jersey which are 89.1FM, & 90.1FM still have an intense LP collection for Classical, & Jazz. Due to a major effective fund drive in early 2004, major upgrades where done at 90.1FM, the sound quality has drastically improved. I lately actually enjoy getting stuck in traffic, & find myself driving a little slower!

A few Saturdays ago I actually missed the exit of my destination as they played an hour of Dizzy Gillepie's Afro-Cuban Jazz. It was worth turning around, & back tracking!

I suspect Onhwy61 is correct. There is a fairly new classic rock station here in Dallas (70's-90's fare) that has very good sound. I mean I've heard these tunes a hundred times over the years! In this case I was so impressed I emailed the station congratulating them on the clarity of sound and inquiring about the CD players they used. The reply I got back was that the music was "ripped in straight 16 bit" and kept on a hard drive. I don't know much about the "hard drive" systems but I have a feeling that is the future of audio for the home and the reality for radio stations today. If anyone is interested I can send post the exact email I sent and the response.

I'm no expert on current radio station tech, but I don't think the majority of commercial stations use CD players. Computerized hard disk systems with proprietary software are the norm.

In Newark's 88.3FM Jazz radio they very often use turntable.