CMS Author MikeRivers Posted November 17, 2007 CMS Author Share Posted November 17, 2007 I listen to virtual radio quite a bit. Since WAMU-FM has moved practically all of their music off the broadcast radio and on to their full time streaming site Bluegrass Country I've been listening to that a fair amount. In the past month or so, it's developed ticks that sound very much like surface noise. They play a lot of records that DO have surface noise, but the announce mic doesn't have any, and it's present on CDs, too. It sounds a lot like what you get when two digital devices are connected together without word clock synchronization. I'll bet there's something in their chain that isn't set up properly but the couple of times I've e-mailed them with a description of the problem, once attaching a small file with the noise, I get canned replies back from the interns telling me to clear my web browser cache. I hear the noise on three computers here, but since they're all fed from the same DSL router, will a couple of you check it out and let me know if you hear the ticks on your system? I think that if you go to the main web site, you have to register to get the page with the links to audio stream (I'm talking about the high speed one - the low speed one sounds like it's playing under water) but you can probably just stick this URL into your favorite MP3 player or maybe your web browser (be sure to copy the whole link, not the shortened version with the ... in the middle that the forum displays): http://www.live365.com/play/324317?sid=138.88.28.21-1178478997873260&lid=&from=pls You might even like the music, but don't feel obligated to like it or to comment on it. I'm just interested in getting enough of a handle on the problem so I can steer them in the right direction to get it solved. If it's no place but at my house, then I'll forget it. But if it's everywhere, they'll probably be interested in fixing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author MikeRivers Posted November 20, 2007 Author CMS Author Share Posted November 20, 2007 Nobody interested enough to click on the stream link and report what you hear? Or is it only simple for me because I'm already a registered user? Surely you can stand a few minutes of bluegrass music to help me out here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alfonso Posted November 20, 2007 Members Share Posted November 20, 2007 Nobody interested enough to click on the stream link and report what you hear? Or is it only simple for me because I'm already a registered user? Surely you can stand a few minutes of bluegrass music to help me out here. I like bluegrass. I play the guitar, it's for sure a genre of some interest for me, I have some nice old vinyls with Norman Blake, David Bromberg and David Griesman, with killing players in them. I just noticed this thread now. BTW I like the stuff I'm hearing from the station a bit less, to be sincere.... I can definitely hear some clicks and pops, although they seem a bit eq.ed out on the high end than if they where occurring in my system as digital mistakes. A wordclock sync error makes some more regular ticks, and more frequent. They occur also on the speaker's announcements, it can't be vinyl. They aren't connection gaps, it doesn't seem anything related to the streaming, but I'm not an expert and I might well be saying b.s. What could also be is that their hd is too full or at the end of its life and that also the speaker is recorded....or their audio card connections are a bit f#d up. Anyway it's not at your end. That's all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted November 20, 2007 Members Share Posted November 20, 2007 I love bluegrass so I registered but because I have an anti-spam thing that requires a new email contact's server to resend, it'll likely take a while before I get my password (assuming they do re-send; it's usually only spambots that don't). FWIW, I listen to a fair amount of public radio on the net and problems are not infrequent. As they say at fund drive time, each stream costs money/infrastructure/bandwidth... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author MikeRivers Posted November 20, 2007 Author CMS Author Share Posted November 20, 2007 I can definitely hear some clicks and pops, although they seem a bit eq.ed out on the high end than if they where occurring in my system as digital mistakes. A wordclock sync error makes some more regular ticks, and more frequent. They occur also on the speaker's announcements, it can't be vinyl. Thanks for the check. I'm not sure what you mean about the clicks a bit eq.ed outon the high tend except that perhaps that they're present when the audio signal goes into the MP3 compressor. I don't know if it's a function of my connection speed or if everyone gets the same feed, but Winamp shows that I'm getting 56 kbps, 22 kHz. WIth a top end of 11 kHz, you wouldn't hear a "full CD quality" tick. My experience with word clock being just a tad off (free-running, no synchronizatin) is that the ticks are fairly random and can be several seconds apart if that's how long it takes for the incoming data to drift far enough from the destination clock to lose a few bits of data. The programming on Bluegrass Country is pretty varied. Each of the hosts seems to have his or her special flavor, though most of them play a good bit of the contemporary (that is, trying to make a living at it) bluegrass groups. Without them, there would only be history. Now that you know how to get there, check the schedule and catch one fo Gary Henderson's shows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted November 20, 2007 Members Share Posted November 20, 2007 OK... I'm logged in and listening now... Definitely hearing two kinds of pops/crackles. Small, quick tiny fairly hi freq crackles, very quiet but there and, every once in a while a bigger pop. The Mp3 stream is a relatively lo b/w 56 kbps stream but sounds pretty decent otherwise. But, yeah, you're not imagining the noise. Nice resource, anyhow. I listen to a lot of BG on my subscription service but I tend to hit my faves a little too much... I need to be reminded there's more out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cry Logic Posted November 20, 2007 Members Share Posted November 20, 2007 I just clicked on the link and had a listen.(Don't know why you need a password Blue...)It's a very low quality stream ...22Khz 56kbps MP3.Definitely some pops and clicks.It has the effect of sounding like very worn vinyl .Some nice country pickin' on there though. Edit: Damn it Blue ..you beat me by 2 seconds!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted November 20, 2007 Members Share Posted November 20, 2007 It's that touch typing class in 7th grade.* It was like putting a loaded weapon in the hands of a crazy man... but while I was just typing on my old Smith-Corona, the damage was pretty limited... But now that I've found my medium... *Fast typing... but slow editing. I'm usually still editing one of my epic posts when the thread is long dead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cry Logic Posted November 20, 2007 Members Share Posted November 20, 2007 LOL ... Yeah you're quick on the draw man.....When I was at school typing was only for girls!If only they'd known what was to come... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted November 20, 2007 Members Share Posted November 20, 2007 Remember the Honeymooners episode where Ralph is hunting and pecking out a letter to the members of the Loyal Order of Moose Lodge and Norton offers to do it for him? After Norton's typical hand-twirling warm up (same as before shooting pool, working on pipes, etc) out comes this flurry of super fast typing. Ralph's amazed and Ed says that after the war he went to touch typing school on the GI Bill. Ralph says something like, "Well, if you can type like that, why didn't you get a good office job instead of getting a job working in the sewer?" And Norton says, "Well, I didn't want to be cooped up in an office all day long." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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