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[mms]

Working in radio, I strive to make the broadcast portion of the light show as "authentic" as I can.  I make "legal" IDs, imaging, promos, etc.  I like doing it and I think people appreciate the tongue-in-cheek humor of these items and how they're executed.

Instead of using my own voice, I thought I would ask the guys that have the #1 afternoon radio show in Denver to do a little something.  They agreed, and well, here is the result:

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[zwiller]

Dig it!  I have a nice recording setup but never can find the motivation to put on a radio voice and do something.  How awesome to have pros do it for you. 

Now tell us how to get that 100k watt FM sound without racks of signal processing...   I think no amount of processing will help when using a $100 transmitter. 

[mms]

Dig it!  I have a nice recording setup but never can find the motivation to put on a radio voice and do something.  How awesome to have pros do it for you. 

Now tell us how to get that 100k watt FM sound without racks of signal processing...   I think no amount of processing will help when using a $100 transmitter. 

I'm actually working on a tutorial for Sean to demo in a Nutcracker broadcast.  The main issue I'm coming across is Audacity doesn't have some of the features I use in my other programs (Sonar and Cool Edit Pro) so I'm trying to find similar add-ins that do the same thing.  That and I'm still trying to convert sequences for my dad's house - so time is tight.

You can get decent sound out of your transmitter.  The only way to have the crystal clear, optimized sound that you describe is to have a 100K watt transmitter with broadcast/professional grade rack effects.  I'd rather spend the $$$ on the lights!  The 2 "major" things I do that improve my audio are:

1.  I use an FFT filter to match the frequency response of the transmitter.  No sense in broadcasting frequencies that can't be transmitted.  It helps clear things up.

2.  I de-ess everything.  Sibilance from sleigh bells, high hats/cymbals, and the letter S become highly distorted on my transmitter. 

2.5  I do some light compression too, but that's more to make my voice sound better.  LOL. 

And it can all be done with software for free.  No need for expensive equipment or crazy setups (and I've heard and seen some doozies - some that border on or even violate FCC rules.)

[zwiller]

Sonar user too.  Never used it for blinky (yet!).  Great ideas.  FFT and de-ess.  I tend to run my signal a bit hotter to keep it up with other stations and there's a bit of distortion from that maybe the FFT and d-ess will help.  Last year went on wild goose chase when someone suggested a better antennae will improve signal quality and since then I've learned different. 

[mms]

If you use Sonar, download Spitfish and install it in the appropriate directory.  "Hi-hat sizzle" is the one I use the most.