I always preferred FM stereo and since I'm partial to the free form format the music on those stations sounded best on stereo regardless of genre. A good FM tuner brought a lot of joy. The WBCN  FM airchecks are a good example. I transferred them at 320 KB ( Wav is too large a file) and they sound quite good today after 44 plus years.

Early FM Top 40 such as WRGQ ( Q 97) also sounded quite good in stereo  and actually those top 40 stations had wider playlists. They picked up selections which were FM hits and some of those were better suited for FM. I even preferred oldies in stereo as long as the mixes were not botched ( i.e. fake stereo).

Never a fan of AM stereo but I only experienced that on two Sony receivers.The CHUM AM cable feed in the late 80's and earl 90's delivered better stereo.

Last edited by Fitz (June 6, 2015 1:50 pm)

Mike Cleaver wrote:

Iain, if you like playing around with audio processing, there's a great software program called Stereo Tool..

It's funny you mention that.  In the old days before virtual private servers, when I'd stream stations from home, Stereo Tool was my 'internet radio' secret.  It allowed me to get the compression, limiting and loudness on an interent station that involves an Omnia and thousands of dollars on a terrestrial one.    People would ask how I got such loudness and clarity on a 128k stream.  It was amazing.

My first licence was bought in 2009 and I pleaded with him in 2011 to figure out an OSX version since I was working with a bunch of mac people.   Anyone I ran into who used that 'Sam Brodcaster' software with its brutal 'audio processing' section, I'd try to convince them to bypass the Sam processing, run it through ST and use Winamp to create the stream.  I walked away from Sam when they moved to an annual hand in my pocket deal so it might have got better.

Anyway, Stereo tool is an Incredible piece of software for what it does, and moreso for the price.

StereoTool





 

What was it that you disliked about AM Stereo Iain?
I will have to check out "Stereo Tool"
 

My hearing is shot from cranking the headphones too much while I was on the air.. that being said, the kids... mine included.. are really missing out only listening to mp3's

I bombed on the first three because I went for the "brightest" as sounding better (but my hearing has deteriorated badly as well).  On the last three, I chose the warmest/dullest sound (which I liked least ... lol) and got them right as "wave" format.  Show I'm not so much audiophile as I used to be.

That said, I still enjoy hi-fi equipment.
 

If you are over 40 and work(ed) in the music or entertainment business including radio and television, you seriously need to have your hearing checked regularly.
Approaching 70, I'm still good in quiet environments but anywhere it's noisy, I need my high end in ear aids.
At home in the studio, I use my hearing loss graph to set a sophisticated equalizer to compensate for the loss when using speakers and headphones.
All that loud music, concerts and high level noise we endure plus ageing naturally means your high end hearing starts to decline rapidly in middle age.
As for AM Stereo, CHUM started out with Kahn/Hazeltine and when the majority went the other way, so did they.
The Khan system was chosen because it sounded better.
Betamax was still the better video format but lost out to VHS when Sony failed to license the system to other manufacturers until finally giving in after it was too late to recover.
That's why Beta lasted so long with TV stations.
Final thought:  Everyone hears and sees differently.
Choose what works for you.