FM radio has become the greatest of wasted technologies. It has the ability to sound as good as anything you've ever heard but nobody uses it in that way anymore.
My FM radio sounds great. Maybe you need a better tuner or antenna? Did you know that US FM radio now has many digitally transmitted stations? Hmmmmmm.
@@stinkycheese804 We have a lot of hybrid digital FM channels here but they all just use the same over processed BS on it. Besides, have you looked at the bitrate for HD FM? Typically around 64k. Same as a low quality internet steam.
The worst part of the "one syndicate owns all stations" is (at least where I live) that all stations repeats the same commercials over and over again all day. Day after day after day after... like every 15 minutes. And they're wonder why there are fever and fever listeners tuning in.
There were several great ones run by community colleges around here in western Washington state, but they got bought out and removed from the air. I miss the random human DJ picking out the music, not one of these computerized stations which has the same random playlist which plays the same few songs over and over. KPLU which was run by Pacific Lutheran University has changed their call sign to KNKX, but is referred to as Jazz24. Public radio station, every weekend from 6 to midnight is all blues. I loved the blues timeline where they would play a set the the same song done by different artists from the oldest recording, as far back as the 1920's, to the most modern version.
Thank goodness for the BBC still going strong on FM in the UK! DAB came in about 10 years ago and it was great at first then the bandwidths started getting squeezed as more and more stations got added. Now some of the DAB stations are just 80 kB/s with just 2 or 3 at 192 kB/ s Nationaly.FM was supposed to be turned off 3 years ago, but they can't do that until over half the population have DAB and that doesn't seem to be the case any time soon. FM is still the best sounding radio medium when played through a decent tuner 😀 most of the cars have had DAB for the last two or three years now.
Having a good old school receiver or tuner from the late 70's, early 80's, with a wide bandwidth selector, strong signal, etc, will blow away any streaming service easily (as far as technical audio quality is concerned). It's the programming that killed FM.
Only with tuners like the Day Sequerra and the Magnum Dynalab, They had S/N near 75dB, freq resp from 20 to 15-17k, and distortion around .1% THD. No match for the best streaming services like Qobuz, but would best Spotify, Deezer, etc. But stations broadcasting quality signals anywhere near that were almost nonexistent. 99% of the stations were more like 50-12k, 50-55dB S/N, and several tenths of a percent THD.
@@doowopper1951 I understand what you are saying and the Dynalabs and McIntoshes were stellar, but there were more than just esoteric/premium brands that had great specs. The Kenwoods and Sansuis of their day were top notch. Pioneer and Onkyo made some great tuners as well, among others...
Yep, and the beauty of it is that those vintage tuners (and sometimes receivers) are sold at pocket-money prices on eBay nowadays. I picked up a Luxman T-111 for £40 not too long ago, and a Technics ST-S3L was thrown in for free with an audio timer for £25!
terrywho22 Back then, I was selling the Sansuis, Pioneers, Nikkos, Rotels, Accuphases, etc. only the Accuphase gave very good performance. I had the top end Pioneer receiver (SX9100??), as Pioneer gave salespeople at their retailers 50% off. Although it was better than most available, it was no match for the best streaming available today. And, the specs weren’t really that great (except adjacent channel selectivity, which was superb, besting the alternate channel selectivity of most units available)
My Dad had a Quad FM4 tuner & a whopping FM aerial profesionally fitted back in the 80's which was great for UK BBC stations that I listened to (Radio 1 & BBC radio London) & made some great recordings but even on the best stations (BBC radios 3 & 4) there could still be noise at times in the quiet parts. And we had way better than most. There are good Internet stations that sound better than FM. Just a shame our DAB radio in the UK is so lo-fi.
FM radio in UK is very good -especially Radio 3 . They broadcast live performances almost every day. The program "In Tune" has guest musicians playing live. If you want excellent FM Radio move to the United Kingdom ( be sure to research the best reception areas) get a good FM radio tuner and an aerial and you will be happy!
Thanks for addressing this question. I love my FM tuners, from my mono tube Sherwoods to solid-state Rotels. I listen to mostly college stations, public radio, and even (gasp!!) AM... especially at night when I can pull stations from 500+ miles away. Honestly, the tuner(s) get as much work in my system as the turntable and cd player combined. Granted, over the air broadcast feels more and more like a dying media & I know that I can pull stations from anywhere in the world via stream, but there is just something special about hearing a station that is anywhere from 100 (FM) to 1000 (AM) miles away via radio that just misses the mark when you stream it. The quality of the stream for one... or it could be that I'm just getting old.
I am a broadcast engineer, so I know about FM audio quality. There are a few exceptions, but the audio on most stations these days is like running your CDs and albums through a buzz saw. Multiband compression, followed by multiband limiting, followed by multiband clipping, followed by composite clipping, and a dynamic range of, in some cases, less than 3 dB. No wonder people have found better alternatives. It doesn't have to be that way, though. A few (very few) stations actually try to transmit in something close to high fidelity. They can sound quite pleasant.
Personally, I have found that many colleges and universities have very fine FM stations which I enjoy listening to. That’s why when recently shopping for a replacement amplifier I chose to go with a Yamaha receiver that I am very happy with. Just my humble opinion.
For background music I mostly listen to a Sangean HDRadio with an attic dipole antenna played through a modest Modi3 DAC. The Sangean’s internal DAC is horrid. The SQ on many stations broadcasting in my area are generally pretty decent. Notably, NPR has quite good and relatively uncompressed jazz and classical programming. I leave NPR’s left leaning newscasts to guys like Paul. Cheers!
I considered getting a Sangean HD Radio... but there is NO MUSIC worth sending thru the rest of my system on local FM radio stations... I do better checking out my Spotify suggestions, or just choosing a playlist and let it play for hours, for background or otherwise. Even with the last reciever I used, with an amplified antenna, there was nothin in range to listen to, was a waste of money.
Beans O"Matic, I’ve never had luck with amplified antennas. Mostly the just seem to amplify the noise inherent with over the air broadcast signals. With a simple $30 S shaped dipole in the attic with strongest pattern directed to the middle of FM towers, I pick up about 16 stations with decent signal strength. Even the worst analog station I receive sounds better than SirusXM, Direct TV music channels or other overly compressed crappy mp3 music files. Your results may vary!
@@motorradmike Luckily I didn't spend too much money on the amplified antenna, so tossing it was no problem, and I did try it with some different receivers. But there just are not enough stations or programming worth sending the money on. If money wasnt the issue, I would get a Yamaha tuner to go with a fairly recently acquired SA-701 integrated amp. It would look cool, and I could listen to the 3 pm classical hour on my local NPR Station. For now though, I get an amazing variety of music, including pieces I've never heard before, from Spotify. The next piece of gear I'm eyeing is a Schiit (mmph?) Loki 3 DAC to put between my smartphone or iMac so I can enjoy more music with more detail. Thanks, enjoy the music.
Here in the UK certain national stations use heavy Dynamic Compression and it may sound loud and beefy but its really bad for almost all music.FM tuned right on a BBC station is great but the network called H...T it really distroys FM. To all school kids...A Louder station is NOT Quality.
I used to listen a lot to fm radio, there were local news, good, varied music and interesting chatter. Nowadays it’s all commercial radio that plays the same 10 songs over and over and over on all stations, ads every 15 minutes and dull presenters that have absolutely nothing to say. Same as TV channels I would say. I sometimes stream over the internet my hometowns only independent radio station left and it sounds very good. But it sounds even better on a good tuner.
Would have happily adapted Internet Radio if the bit quality on most stations weren’t so miserable. Discovered that my Orlando has several fine HD Radio stations and bought a Sangean tabletop. Terrible headphone output BUT excellent line out. So I bought the Tuner with optical output. Heavenly! Very close to CD quality and the piggy-back “HD2” stations are often what I prefer to hear in Classical and one variant in jazz. But I’ll check out Paul’s favorite on the Internet.
Hi Paul.....Vince from Lodi NJ here. Watch and listen everyday. Bought your book on Amazon Audibles too! Today, you mentioned being an NPR listener. Well, I am as well. LOVE "Wait.....Wait......Don't Tell Me" each Saturday. I look forward to it. Interesting and informative programs for sure. Keep up the great work. Wish I lived closer to Boulder 'cause I'd be there in a flash. Be well.
BFM and George here in nz i regularly listen to on the FM airwaves as data is a little to expensive but both are online ,BFM being the first online station in the world pioneered way back when
Thanks Paul for doing a segment on FM radio. I am lucky enough to live close enough to the Philadelphia market ( 60 miles ) to receive some of the best FM around. Sorry that others don't have good stations with good programming. I am addicted to eBay and buy tuners from the 1970s for a steal. Coupled with a good antenna on the roof I have a quality set up. WOGL in Philly has a Saturday night dance party hosted by a live DJ ( Bob Pantano ) with a live audience. We also have the Geator with the Heater, Jerry Blavat with a live audience playing oldies on Kool 98.3 from Margate on the Jersey Shore. On weekdays we listen to Temple University's Jazz/ Classical station, one of the best in the country. Finally there is the station from the University of Pennsylvania, WXPN, for some real variety. You know Philly is known for its music. I don't think FM will ever die here. Pick up a Kenwood, Marantz, Technics, Denon, or Sansui tuner from the 70s, you don't know what you are missing. All of those stations are on the internet. No comparison to a good FM tuner. There is a guide to vintage FM tuners called FM Tuner Info Page, google it.
I like to use AM to listen tp Baseball and news, while working or when sound quality is non essential, . however the AM tuner is gone from about 75% of clock radios and boomboxes!
I’ll use the call sign WGN-FM Chicago although it was back in the 60’s and I can’t remember if that was the exact station. “WGN” broadcasted the Chicago Symphony live lets say Saturday evenings a dozen times a year or so. In addition to that they would broadcast various live, and recorded, content one of which was Folk music like Midnight Special. At that time FM music was the most accurate source you could have for your HiFi System. I had a famous H.H. Scott receiver and would always be listening to the Saturday night program.
We have many good FM stations (low end of the dial public and college) in the NY metro area. The sound quality beats the standard MP3 streams I get over the Internet. Some streams use AAC, like Paul’s Jazz24 and WFMT Chicago and that is an improvement. Streaming noise levels are lower though, so choose your poison. As far as getting a tuner goes, you could get a little Yamaha R-N303 receiver and use the line out jacks on it. It’s kinda big for a tuner and you’d be making some class A-B amp heat as waste, but the Yamaha receivers have pretty good tuners if you have the room.
I am 55 miles to your north west, north of worcester near the N.H. border. With a roof top yagi i get just about all the stations i want. but i mostly restore and use late 70's and early 80's receivers ( technics , yamaha ) for sound quality and receiver performance. After the early 90's tuner quality really took a nose dive across the board. My old junk gets WERS with almost no hiss and WGBH boston sounds better than most of the affiliates in the region - to my ear and speakers anyhow.....
I only occasionally listen to FM radio so I just use my Denon AV Receiver. For those who are really into FM radio perhaps this Accuphase unit is one of the good ones that’s still in production?
First of all ,Hello Paul, I accidentally watched one of Your videos and now regular by 2 months and recently subscribed after watching a lot of videos, Great work and knowledge, About FM Radio, 20-25 years back when my country or in my district started FM and till that time we only get AM stations, but when FM started and when we started enjoying stereo sound we were like in heaven, some times the signals won't get clear, then it automatically changes into mono mode and an LED lights up when stereo signals are back...that enjoyment still in mind,..nostalgic.but anyway we love FM, ..Thanks Paul.
I love your idea for 'real radio' on the internet and I would be the first to sign up! ...But still there is something about "live" ...community interaction etc. that can't be abbreviated. I studied broadcasting in school, thinking that was a route I might take (also a musician). Didn't happen, I pursued other things. But it kind of 'kills me' that our mainstream music sources have become such joke! It really is harming to our culture I believe. The commonality we shared when we heard something amazing for the first time seems to be lost. And I'm thinking anything from Glen Miller, to Presley, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Roy Orbison, Beatles/Stones, The Clash, Steely Dan (Oh yeah!) and way beyond. ...I fear those less divisive times are gone. I would love to do a radio show that celebrated those incredible times when we were brought together/not divided by media. "FM, no static all" Thanks Donald Fagin! ...Sorry if I got off on a tangent, but I think you would understand. 😉 Great sound used to be something everyone (almost) cared about; now it's just an afterthought if at all. A phone is not a substitute for a real camera... nor a "Hifi"system!
What bothers me is there is not many cars with manual tuning for the AM/FM radio. In my daughters Ford Focus, the 'seek' and 'scan' function doesn't stop on any radio station and just keeps running non-stop until you touch the button again and it stops on a frequency with no radio. We do have a FM station up in Akron, Ohio, WNIR 100.1 that does broadcast their content over their website. It is a talk radio station where people call in to talk about any topic. There is a 3 second delay between the content and released over the air. That gives the host time to hit the button to block out anything they say that's not nice.
If you miss classic radio stations but want great sound try the Radio Paradise application on apple IOS. Eclectic, commercial free, you can choose the bit rate up to CD quality, There are 4 different genres and it's free although donations are casually solicited. The DJ is great too. You can also get CD quality streamed through Bluesound hardware with Radio Paradise (Node II analog into a C20 McIntosh preamp) I have a wonderful restored McIntotsh MR65B FM tuner that was originally purchased by my grandfather in 69' and there are only a couple of stations in Eastsound, Washington I would even bother listening to and most of them are Canadian. Even when I lived in Portland, OR there were only a few stations that had decent programming, although the ones that did were always a treat to listen to- and I still do, I just stream them now.
Hey, Paul, KPLU is one of my favourite FM stations, too. However, they went private and the employees bought the station, with help from the listeners. Now the station is called KNKX, since it's no longer connected with Pacific Lutheran University. Its new slogan is "KNKX connects you with jazz, blues, and NPR news!" KNKX is still at 88.1 FM, but with all the new condo towers in my town blocking the signal, it's really noisy in my home system now. However, I can get it on Net Radio for free. The signal is strong and clean, and the format is the same as always: jazz, blues, and NPR News. I'm glad it's still there.
I have TWO fm tuners in my stereo. One analog, one digital. I'm still trying to figure out which I like best. I'm blessed with several commercial free college stations near me. And I donate to them. It's nice to have somebody show me new music I wouldn't have chosen on my own. For free!
I still have a few fm/am anolog tuners and now using a Kenwood. It is a beautiful tuner and we still have a hand full of excellent stations in the Maryland/ DC area...
I'm using a McIntosh MR67 tuner and fortunately have a good local all music public radio station. The sound quality is great. As long as they stay in business, it's good enough for me. Looking forward to PS Audio Radio!
FM is still very relevant for listening to live classical music concert broadcasts. Internet radio doesn't sound as good and we are audiophiles at the end of the day, aren't we?
I have a Yamaha t-s500 tuner and I love it. The sound is way better than internet radio and we have very good non commercial radio stations in Quebec City. (Classical radio, university radio, radio Canada , etc.)
Here in the uk, we the excellent bbc, radio 3, has outstanding sound quality, if you have a rooftop aerial, there's no hiss, but you have to have a rooftop aerial.
The best MP3 internet radio station I have found is Classic FM, a commercial English station. It sounds better than regular US FM stations. Perhaps, they run flat without the std. 50 or 75 us emphasis on regular FM.
The only FM I listen to is KGNU, but I enjoy streaming FM stations from places hundreds or thousands of miles away. KUTX, KOOP, and KVRX in Austin are notable for their new and obscure programming.
I like some FM stations but I think it's really easy to solve the problem by just connecting a device capable of receiving the signal. I think it should be good enough.
As cars increasingly have CarPlay, Android Auto, Sirius XM, simple Bluetooth or even mobile modem allowing streaming, FM radio will go away eventually. But for now in some areas, FM radio is more reliable than mobile streaming. Also, analog FM radio is complemented by digital HD radio in north America and DAB radio in Europe using the FM radio frequencies. Reality is people are preferring “on demand” content where they can choose more exactly what they want to hear and the internet is winning for that reason.
FSXgta⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻ Yes, too much compression is too often making digital radio poor performing for DAB, HD radio and Satellite radio. I can’t stand digital audio of this sort.
I like having a tuner in my system. It hasn't been turned on in 15 years but sometimes I walk into the room and it feels like 1978 when I had about 75 records and a couple of hundred cassettes. The equipment was worse back then but the enjoyment was better.
I'm happy with my McIntosh MR-88 with HD. There are a couple of University radio stations using the HD format that play good music with-in reach of my area. Fusion, Blues and some 1960s - 1970s R&R. McIntosh stopped making tuners that are HD capable, there latest tuner does not offer HD. I was on a audio forum and someone that works for them stated they had trouble getting particular parts for the HD section of the tuner.
I'm old enough to remember when FM in the Chicago area had very few commercials and a lot of classical music. I bought a used tube table radio back then. If you ever start your internet radio station I'd sure like to know about it (maybe you already did it).
I primarily listen to FM . In Toronto Canada we have one of the best Jazz stations in the world. Its a not for profit station that has been around for years. I also have sirius and occasionally listen to channel 67 Jazz but its no where near as good as 91.1 Jazz FM. At home I have a technics st-8600 Tuner with a 5 gang tuner. Its great and pulls and locks channels like nobody's business.
@ Mike...great to hear. I think FM radio, (non for profit), has plenty to offer of all genres. I'm not sure how it is in other countries exactly, but I suspect with a little searching on the dial many places have college/university, independent etc channels. Seems to me reading the comments and listening to Paul, that few make the effort to find what's out there or bother to give them a listen, largely assuming they are all commercial garbage run by big conglomerates. Pity that....keep on enjoying your jazz station. Cheers!
I used to listen to FM a lot in the 70’s and 80’s, those were the days when FM was my constant companion. I had a Magnum Dynalab tuner that was very expensive, but worth every penny when listening to a good station. Now it’s just bad programming and bad sound, TV has gone that way too- not worth my time. BTW, one of my favorite local stations used to bring people into the studio to play live; you may want to consider that with your new station.
Check out 1061 The Corner in Charlottesville. Radio the way it used to be with the addition of the Corner Lounge where visiting artists come for recording/interviewing. Also promote local artists.
Agree! Over-the-air FM or TV beats streaming and internet digital. The clarity and resolution with simple rabbit ears for OTA is unmistakable in comparison and it's free. No need to complicate things. The only potential problem is not having an unabstructed signal path from the source.
I'm using an old Sony Walkman as a tuner and indeed it sounds good. Sometimes I miss listening to FM. There's always an excitement when the DJ plays your favorite song lol
The best part of FM currently is the LPFM set. These little guys, 5 watts or less, do it for the sheer love of the medium and music. I discovered one a few years ago, WZML, who also do simulcasting online. Their sets are usually a decent mix of the more popular rock genre, but often alternative recordings. Ie, not the album cuts. That and many lesser known recordings or rarely heard tracks that take you way back in time. (At least they do for me) Yeah, the IHeart and ClearChannel shlock has really degraded real broadcasting. Reminds me of the WKRP episode where the competing station tried to lure Venus away only to find it was an automated station and he was to be the token ethnic personality. Oh the non-humanity of it all. Now take me back to the AM days of Texaco Theater and I'd be really happy. Those were true golden years.
Years ago, I read an article in The Audio Critic which suggests using car radios for your home tuner. Why? They're of better quality and better engineering for much less money. I tried it, and with great success. Home audio tuners are generally of low quality these days. But an Alpine is significantly better. But with that said, Paul is right on. Radio has lost its soul... And HD radio is too compressed to make it worthwhile...
To the consumer the cost of FM was originally only for the device. Now, we pay way more for a device than a radio costs, we pay exorbitant ISP fees to despicable companies so the devices are actually useful, and pay again for streaming service(es) most of whose programming aren't all that much better than Clearchannel's (Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, etc.), and don't treat artists well. (KCRW Santa Monica is cool though, with a good variety of DJs who know their stuff AND treat artists well.)
That would be cool! Especially the Rock station! I know the FM stations in our area suck now. The one I listen to has changed their format from "Classic Rock" to just "Rock" . A lot of '80's junk I can't stand now. They also had "Psychedelic Psunday" which I LOVED. Now gone. I'd certainly listen to what you guys would come up with.
Hi Paul I really like your idea for your radio station good luck with it. I don’t know if you can get it outside the UK but the BBC sounds app has content from BBC Radio 3 where they have amazing live concerts, interviews and performances by the classical world’s greatest artists there’s even some jazz, world music and experimental pieces. I would really recommend it to any of your followers 👍
IT's a shame everything is becoming internet based.Still the UK has "Radio1,2,3,4,5 and more dedicated each to current pop,classic rock,classical music,speech,drama,sport etc on good quality FM and DAB, not so good quality and signal coverage .Plus many local radio stations of a high standard manly FM .Most phones have an FM radio built in and house and car radios still I look forward to Paul's service though good luck !
I'm seeing a bit of tunnel vision here. There is demand in the US, it is not different than Singapore (who also has internet and streaming, lol), which is why there is a large assortment of receiver-amps in the US market. Many of us do casual listening, background music. It is not some "big event" where we want to involve a client "computer" to interface the internet and manually set streaming up. We want to just tune to a station playing the type of music we want to hear, with minimal fuss or extra expense doing so. While this might make me seem like a non-audiophile with simple needs, it is a bit of the opposite for the former. I have built amps and headamps, and worked as an engineer at a radio station, though I usually tune to a different station. It's not station loyalty.
The majority of FM radio in Boston is pretty bad but WUMB (U Mass Boston FM radio) is a bright spot. They have a good mix of light rock, Folk, and blues; they also have artist interviews with live tracks several days a week I used to listen to WGBH every day until the benighted people running things turned it into talk radio. The Classical fair they used to play is now on WCRB which has it's transmitting antenna in a sewer - zero signal strength. Even with my Kenwood KT-7500 FM tuner getting WCRB without a lot of noise is very spotty. It would help a lot if I didn't have to shoot through downtown Boston (and all it's mega stations brodacasting crap 24-7) to get their signal but not much I can do about that. I really miss the lively FM scene we had here 10-20 years back but as things are now I can see why almost nobody makes good FM tuners anymore..
A side note on AM Radio. The government ( FCC ) continues to promote, and support, AM Radio. Virtually every car has an AM radio in it. Because of the broadcast band and frequency of AM radio it’s dispersal pattern is wide and far. In the LA Basin there are two 5-Ton trucks one for the San Fernando Valley the other for LA and South. In time of disaster those two trucks can cover most of the entirety of the LA basin with emergency news and information. And most, if not all, cars can pick that up. That system has been in place for decades and most large metro areas have such a system.
@@morrisonAV I'm not up to speed on the status of that right now. A few years ago I saw a news report on one of the LA TV Stations about the "Two 5-ton trucks". They were enormous things like 6-wheel drive and a 50ft mast. Broadcasting on several frequencies one of which was on the AM Band. They were staged one near downtown LA the other in the Valley. Imagine if the "Big One" hit LA and took out all AC power for a couple weeks. Most/many private cars would stil be able to use their AM radio to get emergency info.
Best radio station for sound quality and classical music (all genres) in Chicago is 98.7 FM. Stream on wfmt.com anywhere in the world. Your viewers should check it out. Also, on Saturday nights they have a folk music program called the midnight special. One of the very best, if not the best stations in the world. FM radio in Chicago is not dead. You are right, corporate America has basically ruined FM radio with bland sameness. For live music (Chicago Symphony, Piano recitals,etc.etc.) and FM radio, I am glad to live in the big City of Chicago.
I used to listen a lot to AM FM SW radio with external diy antennas during my college days, but FM nowadays sounds awful due to blaring ads, RJ chatter, poor production standard. And as Paul mentioned rightly, same stuff is available from streaming services catering to.more personalised tastes with better audio quality. I was hopeful about satellite radios but they died an untimely death. Not to mention UA-cam killed MTV which had killed the radio stars.
Depressingly similar story in Britain, commercial radio owned by big companies and digital audio lousy audio quality. The Government even wanted to turn off FM and sell the bandwidth, but backed down.
This is funny ... almost all stations in Spore are also streaming on the internet. Streaming at high quality. So why would he want a tuner and the hassle of attaching the antenna? But again, many streamers today don’t have internet radio. 😢
That might make a tiny bit of sense if mobile phone carriers used, or had any intention of using, the same frequencies. Technically it is impossible, FM can't carry that data load.
Paul, I agree with virtually every position you take, but I can't support you on this one. I still love FM, and wouldn't consider a tuner that didn't include coverage of the band. I find that a station "broadcast" over the net loses significant quality. In my bedroom I have my computer wired into a receiver - nothing high end, it's a mid range Sony from 20 years ago - and I find that when I compare the over the air signal to the internet stream, OTA always wins. There's an audible difference. Is it possible that the lack of decent local FM stations has colored your viewpoint as to the popularity of FM? Give it some thought. If you build it, they just might come. And now, on a COMPLETELY different topic... I really wish that there was a radio receiver that offered the same functionality that a PVR offers for television. That is, I'd like to hit a button and record a show digitally. I'd also like to be able to pause a show, or replay the last 30 seconds in case the announcer said something important, and I missed part of it. Granted, this would be much more useful in a car radio than a home receiver, but it doesn't exist anywhere. And I want it... Given that you're not real excited about building FM tuners, I can't see your putting a lot of effort into making that happen. But please, feel free to pass the idea on to anyone who is looking for a way to add a bold new feature set to their product. I always enjoy your videos, and wish you the best. Keep rockin! >Charlie
Like I have stated many times I listen to FM and AM daily. I stream at times, used to have XM but having FM and AM just is likecan old friendcwhether in the Jeep or at home.
Not only is the music on commercial FM poor, but the audio quality is awful. I have had, for years a Kenwood KT-815, which is pretty much as good as it gets, but contemporary stations sound very disappointing. But, if I needed to steer someone to a good FM tuner one of the Kenwoods from the 1980s, restored with new capacitors would be my recommendation. The KT-815 will give you 80 dB S/N at 0.04% THD in stereo mode at full quieting.
In the US today, both FM and AM (MW) radio flat-out suck. Too many stations play the same things. No longer can you tune across the AM band at night and find fifty to a hundred different local programs. Instead, you get thirty stations running Art Bell repeats and/or his follow-ons, and the rest running various conservative personalities who all say pretty much what the rest say. BOR-RING! FM has a few odd ducks, mostly college stations, that occasionally turn out something interesting, but not enough for me to bother with. Having a good tuner is nice for nostalgic reasons, and I have one that looks really attractive when it's on, but when the best you can say is "I USED to listen to FM", it's not worthwhile to have one in your system any more.
You should offer at least one model. Can't be expensive to put one together. Throw AM on it too. I picture very thin and cool looking. People want to listen to baseball game. Never met one but must be some out there?
FM radio has become the greatest of wasted technologies. It has the ability to sound as good as anything you've ever heard but nobody uses it in that way anymore.
My FM radio sounds great. Maybe you need a better tuner or antenna? Did you know that US FM radio now has many digitally transmitted stations? Hmmmmmm.
@@stinkycheese804 We have a lot of hybrid digital FM channels here but they all just use the same over processed BS on it. Besides, have you looked at the bitrate for HD FM? Typically around 64k. Same as a low quality internet steam.
The worst part of the "one syndicate owns all stations" is (at least where I live) that all stations repeats the same commercials over and over again all day.
Day after day after day after... like every 15 minutes.
And they're wonder why there are fever and fever listeners tuning in.
*fewer. You're right BTW.
Spot on! That is exactly how i think, and i love stations without commercials. (hate them)
College FM radio stations are great, every genre, student DJs as well as professionals. And commercial free!
There were several great ones run by community colleges around here in western Washington state, but they got bought out and removed from the air. I miss the random human DJ picking out the music, not one of these computerized stations which has the same random playlist which plays the same few songs over and over. KPLU which was run by Pacific Lutheran University has changed their call sign to KNKX, but is referred to as Jazz24. Public radio station, every weekend from 6 to midnight is all blues. I loved the blues timeline where they would play a set the the same song done by different artists from the oldest recording, as far back as the 1920's, to the most modern version.
Thank goodness for the BBC still going strong on FM in the UK! DAB came in about 10 years ago and it was great at first then the bandwidths started getting squeezed as more and more stations got added. Now some of the DAB stations are just 80 kB/s with just 2 or 3 at 192 kB/ s Nationaly.FM was supposed to be turned off 3 years ago, but they can't do that until over half the population have DAB and that doesn't seem to be the case any time soon. FM is still the best sounding radio medium when played through a decent tuner 😀 most of the cars have had DAB for the last two or three years now.
Totally agree with you there. I use my old Naim NAT 01 more than any other source,mostly on Radio 3-it just sounds so right.
Having a good old school receiver or tuner from the late 70's, early 80's, with a wide bandwidth selector, strong signal, etc, will blow away any streaming service easily (as far as technical audio quality is concerned). It's the programming that killed FM.
Only with tuners like the Day Sequerra and the Magnum Dynalab, They had S/N near 75dB, freq resp from 20 to 15-17k, and distortion around .1% THD. No match for the best streaming services like Qobuz, but would best Spotify, Deezer, etc. But stations broadcasting quality signals anywhere near that were almost nonexistent. 99% of the stations were more like 50-12k, 50-55dB S/N, and several tenths of a percent THD.
@@doowopper1951 I understand what you are saying and the Dynalabs and McIntoshes were stellar, but there were more than just esoteric/premium brands that had great specs. The Kenwoods and Sansuis of their day were top notch. Pioneer and Onkyo made some great tuners as well, among others...
You got that right!
Yep, and the beauty of it is that those vintage tuners (and sometimes receivers) are sold at pocket-money prices on eBay nowadays. I picked up a Luxman T-111 for £40 not too long ago, and a Technics ST-S3L was thrown in for free with an audio timer for £25!
terrywho22 Back then, I was selling the Sansuis, Pioneers, Nikkos, Rotels, Accuphases, etc. only the Accuphase gave very good performance. I had the top end Pioneer receiver (SX9100??), as Pioneer gave salespeople at their retailers 50% off. Although it was better than most available, it was no match for the best streaming available today. And, the specs weren’t really that great (except adjacent channel selectivity, which was superb, besting the alternate channel selectivity of most units available)
My Dad had a Quad FM4 tuner & a whopping FM aerial profesionally fitted back in the 80's which was great for UK BBC stations that I listened to (Radio 1 & BBC radio London) & made some great recordings but even on the best stations (BBC radios 3 & 4) there could still be noise at times in the quiet parts. And we had way better than most. There are good Internet stations that sound better than FM. Just a shame our DAB radio in the UK is so lo-fi.
FM radio in UK is very good -especially Radio 3 . They broadcast live performances almost every day. The program "In Tune" has guest musicians playing live. If you want excellent FM Radio move to the United Kingdom ( be sure to research the best reception areas) get a good FM radio tuner and an aerial and you will be happy!
Thanks for addressing this question. I love my FM tuners, from my mono tube Sherwoods to solid-state Rotels. I listen to mostly college stations, public radio, and even (gasp!!) AM... especially at night when I can pull stations from 500+ miles away. Honestly, the tuner(s) get as much work in my system as the turntable and cd player combined. Granted, over the air broadcast feels more and more like a dying media & I know that I can pull stations from anywhere in the world via stream, but there is just something special about hearing a station that is anywhere from 100 (FM) to 1000 (AM) miles away via radio that just misses the mark when you stream it. The quality of the stream for one... or it could be that I'm just getting old.
What happened to FM radio... Clear Channel happened...
Actually, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 happened. It changed the ownership rules which in turn made "Clear Channel (and others) happen".
What ever happened to telegraph machines? I keep calling my cellular provider and they have no idea what I'm talking about.
I am a broadcast engineer, so I know about FM audio quality. There are a few exceptions, but the audio on most stations these days is like running your CDs and albums through a buzz saw. Multiband compression, followed by multiband limiting, followed by multiband clipping, followed by composite clipping, and a dynamic range of, in some cases, less than 3 dB. No wonder people have found better alternatives. It doesn't have to be that way, though. A few (very few) stations actually try to transmit in something close to high fidelity. They can sound quite pleasant.
I love fm tuners with analog dial... just love them
Me to!
Personally, I have found that many colleges and universities have very fine FM stations which I enjoy listening to. That’s why when recently shopping for a replacement amplifier I chose to go with a Yamaha receiver that I am very happy with. Just my humble opinion.
For background music I mostly listen to a Sangean HDRadio with an attic dipole antenna played through a modest Modi3 DAC. The Sangean’s internal DAC is horrid. The SQ on many stations broadcasting in my area are generally pretty decent. Notably, NPR has quite good and relatively uncompressed jazz and classical programming. I leave NPR’s left leaning newscasts to guys like Paul. Cheers!
I considered getting a Sangean HD Radio... but there is NO MUSIC worth sending thru the rest of my system on local FM radio stations... I do better checking out my Spotify suggestions, or just choosing a playlist and let it play for hours, for background or otherwise. Even with the last reciever I used, with an amplified antenna, there was nothin in range to listen to, was a waste of money.
Beans O"Matic, I’ve never had luck with amplified antennas. Mostly the just seem to amplify the noise inherent with over the air broadcast signals. With a simple $30 S shaped dipole in the attic with strongest pattern directed to the middle of FM towers, I pick up about 16 stations with decent signal strength. Even the worst analog station I receive sounds better than SirusXM, Direct TV music channels or other overly compressed crappy mp3 music files. Your results may vary!
@@motorradmike Luckily I didn't spend too much money on the amplified antenna, so tossing it was no problem, and I did try it with some different receivers. But there just are not enough stations or programming worth sending the money on. If money wasnt the issue, I would get a Yamaha tuner to go with a fairly recently acquired SA-701 integrated amp. It would look cool, and I could listen to the 3 pm classical hour on my local NPR Station. For now though, I get an amazing variety of music, including pieces I've never heard before, from Spotify. The next piece of gear I'm eyeing is a Schiit (mmph?) Loki 3 DAC to put between my smartphone or iMac so I can enjoy more music with more detail. Thanks, enjoy the music.
Here in the UK certain national stations use heavy Dynamic Compression and it may sound loud and beefy but its really bad for almost all music.FM tuned right on a BBC station is great but the network called H...T it really distroys FM. To all school kids...A Louder station is NOT Quality.
I used to listen a lot to fm radio, there were local news, good, varied music and interesting chatter. Nowadays it’s all commercial radio that plays the same 10 songs over and over and over on all stations, ads every 15 minutes and dull presenters that have absolutely nothing to say. Same as TV channels I would say. I sometimes stream over the internet my hometowns only independent radio station left and it sounds very good. But it sounds even better on a good tuner.
Would have happily adapted Internet Radio if the bit quality on most stations weren’t so miserable. Discovered that my Orlando has several fine HD Radio stations and bought a Sangean tabletop. Terrible headphone output BUT excellent line out. So I bought the Tuner with optical output. Heavenly! Very close to CD quality and the piggy-back “HD2” stations are often what I prefer to hear in Classical and one variant in jazz. But I’ll check out Paul’s favorite on the Internet.
Paul Cragin, Paul’s favorite, KPLU, is now KNKX (NPR & “Jazz 24”), from Seattle. Jazz 24 is available on its own app for mobile devices.
Hi Paul.....Vince from Lodi NJ here. Watch and listen everyday. Bought your book on Amazon Audibles too! Today, you mentioned being an NPR listener. Well, I am as well. LOVE "Wait.....Wait......Don't Tell Me" each Saturday. I look forward to it. Interesting and informative programs for sure. Keep up the great work. Wish I lived closer to Boulder 'cause I'd be there in a flash. Be well.
BFM and George here in nz i regularly listen to on the FM airwaves as data is a little to expensive but both are online ,BFM being the first online station in the world pioneered way back when
Thanks Paul for doing a segment on FM radio. I am lucky enough to live close enough to the Philadelphia market ( 60 miles ) to receive some of the best FM around. Sorry that others don't have good stations with good programming. I am addicted to eBay and buy tuners from the 1970s for a steal. Coupled with a good antenna on the roof I have a quality set up. WOGL in Philly has a Saturday night dance party hosted by a live DJ ( Bob Pantano ) with a live audience. We also have the Geator with the Heater, Jerry Blavat with a live audience playing oldies on Kool 98.3 from Margate on the Jersey Shore. On weekdays we listen to Temple University's Jazz/ Classical station, one of the best in the country. Finally there is the station from the University of Pennsylvania, WXPN, for some real variety. You know Philly is known for its music. I don't think FM will ever die here. Pick up a Kenwood, Marantz, Technics, Denon, or Sansui tuner from the 70s, you don't know what you are missing. All of those stations are on the internet. No comparison to a good FM tuner. There is a guide to vintage FM tuners called FM Tuner Info Page, google it.
Love Temple University's WRTI from Philly. Classical and Jazz curated by live local music lovers.
I like to use AM to listen tp Baseball and news, while working or when sound quality is non essential, . however the AM tuner is gone from about 75% of clock radios and boomboxes!
Paul, the program you've described sounds like Copper Magazine Live. That would be great to hear.
I’ll use the call sign WGN-FM Chicago although it was back in the 60’s and I can’t remember if that was the exact station. “WGN” broadcasted the Chicago Symphony live lets say Saturday evenings a dozen times a year or so. In addition to that they would broadcast various live, and recorded, content one of which was Folk music like Midnight Special.
At that time FM music was the most accurate source you could have for your HiFi System. I had a famous H.H. Scott receiver and would always be listening to the Saturday night program.
We have many good FM stations (low end of the dial public and college) in the NY metro area. The sound quality beats the standard MP3 streams I get over the Internet. Some streams use AAC, like Paul’s Jazz24 and WFMT Chicago and that is an improvement. Streaming noise levels are lower though, so choose your poison.
As far as getting a tuner goes, you could get a little Yamaha R-N303 receiver and use the line out jacks on it. It’s kinda big for a tuner and you’d be making some class A-B amp heat as waste, but the Yamaha receivers have pretty good tuners if you have the room.
The big issue is you can't steam NFL games over iHeart radio only actual FM
I was setting up Naim's tuners in the late 80s, it really was a great time for FM
My Grandfather had a radio exactly like the one in your thumbnail. I wanted it after he died but was only 12 and no one would take me serious.
The grundig radios are very nice looking. I'd love to fix up an old floorstander
I'm lucky enough to live near Boston and listen to FM radio all the time. It's much better for my brain than watching TV.
I am 55 miles to your north west, north of worcester near the N.H. border. With a roof top yagi i get just about all the stations i want.
but i mostly restore and use late 70's and early 80's receivers ( technics , yamaha ) for sound quality and receiver performance.
After the early 90's tuner quality really took a nose dive across the board. My old junk gets WERS with almost no hiss and WGBH boston sounds better than most of the affiliates in the region - to my ear and speakers anyhow.....
@@johnrobinson357 I love the old Yamaha stuff, used to sell it back in the 70s.
When stations added the digital carrier for HD Radio, the analog signal suffered, making good clean analog FM reception harder than ever.
I only occasionally listen to FM radio so I just use my Denon AV Receiver. For those who are really into FM radio perhaps this Accuphase unit is one of the good ones that’s still in production?
First of all ,Hello Paul, I accidentally watched one of Your videos and now regular by 2 months and recently subscribed after watching a lot of videos, Great work and knowledge,
About FM Radio, 20-25 years back when my country or in my district started FM and till that time we only get AM stations, but when FM started and when we started enjoying stereo sound we were like in heaven, some times the signals won't get clear, then it automatically changes into mono mode and an LED lights up when stereo signals are back...that enjoyment still in mind,..nostalgic.but anyway we love FM, ..Thanks Paul.
I'm from India ,Kerala
I love your idea for 'real radio' on the internet and I would be the first to sign up! ...But still there is something about "live" ...community interaction etc. that can't be abbreviated. I studied broadcasting in school, thinking that was a route I might take (also a musician). Didn't happen, I pursued other things. But it kind of 'kills me' that our mainstream music sources have become such joke! It really is harming to our culture I believe. The commonality we shared when we heard something amazing for the first time seems to be lost. And I'm thinking anything from Glen Miller, to Presley, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Roy Orbison, Beatles/Stones, The Clash, Steely Dan (Oh yeah!) and way beyond. ...I fear those less divisive times are gone. I would love to do a radio show that celebrated those incredible times when we were brought together/not divided by media. "FM, no static all" Thanks Donald Fagin! ...Sorry if I got off on a tangent, but I think you would understand. 😉 Great sound used to be something everyone (almost) cared about; now it's just an afterthought if at all. A phone is not a substitute for a real camera... nor a "Hifi"system!
Does the regular compressed FM audio broadcast sound any better than average 64-kbps stream for music? Talk and news is usually fine.
What bothers me is there is not many cars with manual tuning for the AM/FM radio. In my daughters Ford Focus, the 'seek' and 'scan' function doesn't stop on any radio station and just keeps running non-stop until you touch the button again and it stops on a frequency with no radio. We do have a FM station up in Akron, Ohio, WNIR 100.1 that does broadcast their content over their website. It is a talk radio station where people call in to talk about any topic. There is a 3 second delay between the content and released over the air. That gives the host time to hit the button to block out anything they say that's not nice.
Paul: When are you starting PS Audio Internet Radio {or whatever it will be called}? I’d like to listen in and give it a try.
If you miss classic radio stations but want great sound try the Radio Paradise application on apple IOS. Eclectic, commercial free, you can choose the bit rate up to CD quality, There are 4 different genres and it's free although donations are casually solicited. The DJ is great too. You can also get CD quality streamed through Bluesound hardware with Radio Paradise (Node II analog into a C20 McIntosh preamp) I have a wonderful restored McIntotsh MR65B FM tuner that was originally purchased by my grandfather in 69' and there are only a couple of stations in Eastsound, Washington I would even bother listening to and most of them are Canadian. Even when I lived in Portland, OR there were only a few stations that had decent programming, although the ones that did were always a treat to listen to- and I still do, I just stream them now.
Hey, Paul, KPLU is one of my favourite FM stations, too. However, they went private and the employees bought the station, with help from the listeners.
Now the station is called KNKX, since it's no longer connected with Pacific Lutheran University. Its new slogan is "KNKX connects you with jazz, blues, and NPR news!"
KNKX is still at 88.1 FM, but with all the new condo towers in my town blocking the signal, it's really noisy in my home system now. However, I can get it on Net Radio for free. The signal is strong and clean, and the format is the same as always: jazz, blues, and NPR News. I'm glad it's still there.
I have TWO fm tuners in my stereo. One analog, one digital. I'm still trying to figure out which I like best. I'm blessed with several commercial free college stations near me. And I donate to them. It's nice to have somebody show me new music I wouldn't have chosen on my own. For free!
I still have a few fm/am anolog tuners and now using a Kenwood. It is a beautiful tuner and we still have a hand full of excellent stations in the Maryland/ DC area...
I'm using a McIntosh MR67 tuner and fortunately have a good local all music public radio station. The sound quality is great. As long as they stay in business, it's good enough for me.
Looking forward to PS Audio Radio!
FM is still very relevant for listening to live classical music concert broadcasts. Internet radio doesn't sound as good and we are audiophiles at the end of the day, aren't we?
FM is dying because of the such bland, repetitive and "Walmart of radio" commercial stations. It's happening in TV too, sad!
I have a Yamaha t-s500 tuner and I love it. The sound is way better than internet radio and we have very good non commercial radio stations in Quebec City. (Classical radio, university radio, radio Canada , etc.)
"beemp boomp boomp"
-Paul McGowan 2019
Is he related to Shane?
Here in the uk, we the excellent bbc, radio 3, has outstanding sound quality, if you have a rooftop aerial, there's no hiss, but you have to have a rooftop aerial.
The best MP3 internet radio station I have found is Classic FM, a commercial English station. It sounds better than regular US FM stations. Perhaps, they run flat without the std. 50 or 75 us emphasis on regular FM.
The only FM I listen to is KGNU, but I enjoy streaming FM stations from places hundreds or thousands of miles away. KUTX, KOOP, and KVRX in Austin are notable for their new and obscure programming.
I like some FM stations but I think it's really easy to solve the problem by just connecting a device capable of receiving the signal. I think it should be good enough.
I love radio. AM, FM, talk radio especially. I like audio equipment also. I appreciate radio in my equipment.
As cars increasingly have CarPlay, Android Auto, Sirius XM, simple Bluetooth or even mobile modem allowing streaming, FM radio will go away eventually. But for now in some areas, FM radio is more reliable than mobile streaming. Also, analog FM radio is complemented by digital HD radio in north America and DAB radio in Europe using the FM radio frequencies. Reality is people are preferring “on demand” content where they can choose more exactly what they want to hear and the internet is winning for that reason.
DAB+ sounds like garbage. In norway they shut down FM and now we have worse coverage and the sound is worse
FSXgta⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻ Yes, too much compression is too often making digital radio poor performing for DAB, HD radio and Satellite radio. I can’t stand digital audio of this sort.
I like having a tuner in my system. It hasn't been turned on in 15 years but sometimes I walk into the room and it feels like 1978 when I had about 75 records and a couple of hundred cassettes. The equipment was worse back then but the enjoyment was better.
I'm happy with my McIntosh MR-88 with HD. There are a couple of University radio stations using the HD format that play good music with-in reach of my area. Fusion, Blues and some 1960s - 1970s R&R.
McIntosh stopped making tuners that are HD capable, there latest tuner does not offer HD. I was on a audio forum and someone that works for them stated they had trouble getting particular parts for the HD section of the tuner.
I have a McIntosh MR 71 FM tuner with a outdoor Omni directional Magnum Dynalab - ST-2 FM Antenna that makes any FM station sound crispy clean.
I'm old enough to remember when FM in the Chicago area had very few commercials and a lot of classical music. I bought a used tube table radio back then. If you ever start your internet radio station I'd sure like to know about it (maybe you already did it).
I primarily listen to FM . In Toronto Canada we have one of the best Jazz stations in the world. Its a not for profit station that has been around for years. I also have sirius and occasionally listen to channel 67 Jazz but its no where near as good as 91.1 Jazz FM. At home I have a technics st-8600 Tuner with a 5 gang tuner. Its great and pulls and locks channels like nobody's business.
91.1! Probabaly one of the best jazz stations I've ever heard. One of my go-to stations to listen to in the evening.
@ Mike...great to hear. I think FM radio, (non for profit), has plenty to offer of all genres. I'm not sure how it is in other countries exactly, but I suspect with a little searching on the dial many places have college/university, independent etc channels.
Seems to me reading the comments and listening to Paul, that few make the effort to find what's out there or bother to give them a listen, largely assuming they are all commercial garbage run by big conglomerates. Pity that....keep on enjoying your jazz station. Cheers!
I can’t listen to satellite radio. Hurts my ears!
@@ecyfoto I don't know what satellite radio is?
nostro1001 Sirius is satellite radio.
I used to listen to FM a lot in the 70’s and 80’s, those were the days when FM was my constant companion. I had a Magnum Dynalab tuner that was very expensive, but worth every penny when listening to a good station. Now it’s just bad programming and bad sound, TV has gone that way too- not worth my time. BTW, one of my favorite local stations used to bring people into the studio to play live; you may want to consider that with your new station.
Check out 1061 The Corner in Charlottesville. Radio the way it used to be with the addition of the Corner Lounge where visiting artists come for recording/interviewing. Also promote local artists.
KCSM San Mateo in California is amazing one of my favorite jazz stations also available through streaming they also stream in either 132 or 92 bit
Singapore has a Nice classical FM station named Symphony 92.4, they stream too.. have a listen. Full 24/7 classical.
FM sounds better than streaming 😂
Agree! Over-the-air FM or TV beats streaming and internet digital. The clarity and resolution with simple rabbit ears for OTA is unmistakable in comparison and it's free. No need to complicate things. The only potential problem is not having an unabstructed signal path from the source.
I'm using an old Sony Walkman as a tuner and indeed it sounds good. Sometimes I miss listening to FM. There's always an excitement when the DJ plays your favorite song lol
Yes it does in the UK on BBC stations.
I cannot wait to hear your Internet Radio. please keep us informed.
The best part of FM currently is the LPFM set. These little guys, 5 watts or less, do it for the sheer love of the medium and music. I discovered one a few years ago, WZML, who also do simulcasting online. Their sets are usually a decent mix of the more popular rock genre, but often alternative recordings. Ie, not the album cuts. That and many lesser known recordings or rarely heard tracks that take you way back in time. (At least they do for me)
Yeah, the IHeart and ClearChannel shlock has really degraded real broadcasting. Reminds me of the WKRP episode where the competing station tried to lure Venus away only to find it was an automated station and he was to be the token ethnic personality. Oh the non-humanity of it all.
Now take me back to the AM days of Texaco Theater and I'd be really happy. Those were true golden years.
"Is FM radio a dying media?" No....it's been dead for years. 👽🖖"Na-nu" (At least on our planet)
Haha! Great answer.
exactly.
Nope listen everyxay after being sick of paying for XM. Found I get along just fine with fm and am radio.
I am thankful for living in the Twin Cities where we have some fantastic radio stations here.
If you pick up a higher end vintage tuner you can get much better sound than anything made currently
We are spoiled for choice in London when it comes to sound quality of FM radio. I still have a lot of FM radios and Tuners.
Years ago, I read an article in The Audio Critic which suggests using car radios for your home tuner. Why? They're of better quality and better engineering for much less money.
I tried it, and with great success. Home audio tuners are generally of low quality these days. But an Alpine is significantly better.
But with that said, Paul is right on. Radio has lost its soul... And HD radio is too compressed to make it worthwhile...
I have a Dual digital tuned radio I bought on sale from Wallyworld for $10. It works great in my garage. I did have to add 12v power.
To the consumer the cost of FM was originally only for the device. Now, we pay way more for a device than a radio costs, we pay exorbitant ISP fees to despicable companies so the devices are actually useful, and pay again for streaming service(es) most of whose programming aren't all that much better than Clearchannel's (Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, etc.), and don't treat artists well. (KCRW Santa Monica is cool though, with a good variety of DJs who know their stuff AND treat artists well.)
Alternate route: Build a software-defined radio receiver. That way you can pick up anything with the appropriate software update.
That would be cool! Especially the Rock station! I know the FM stations in our area suck now. The one I listen to has changed their format from "Classic Rock" to just "Rock" . A lot of '80's junk I can't stand now. They also had "Psychedelic Psunday" which I LOVED. Now gone.
I'd certainly listen to what you guys would come up with.
Hi Paul I really like your idea for your radio station good luck with it. I don’t know if you can get it outside the UK but the BBC sounds app has content from BBC Radio 3 where they have amazing live concerts, interviews and performances by the classical world’s greatest artists there’s even some jazz, world music and experimental pieces. I would really recommend it to any of your followers 👍
IT's a shame everything is becoming internet based.Still the UK has "Radio1,2,3,4,5 and more dedicated each to current pop,classic rock,classical music,speech,drama,sport etc on good quality FM and DAB, not so good quality and signal coverage .Plus many local radio stations of a high standard manly FM .Most phones have an FM radio built in and house and car radios still I look forward to Paul's service though good luck !
I'm seeing a bit of tunnel vision here. There is demand in the US, it is not different than Singapore (who also has internet and streaming, lol), which is why there is a large assortment of receiver-amps in the US market.
Many of us do casual listening, background music. It is not some "big event" where we want to involve a client "computer" to interface the internet and manually set streaming up. We want to just tune to a station playing the type of music we want to hear, with minimal fuss or extra expense doing so.
While this might make me seem like a non-audiophile with simple needs, it is a bit of the opposite for the former. I have built amps and headamps, and worked as an engineer at a radio station, though I usually tune to a different station. It's not station loyalty.
The majority of FM radio in Boston is pretty bad but WUMB (U Mass Boston FM radio) is a bright spot. They have a good mix of light rock, Folk, and blues; they also have artist interviews with live tracks several days a week I used to listen to WGBH every day until the benighted people running things turned it into talk radio.
The Classical fair they used to play is now on WCRB which has it's transmitting antenna in a sewer - zero signal strength. Even with my Kenwood KT-7500 FM tuner getting WCRB without a lot of noise is very spotty. It would help a lot if I didn't have to shoot through downtown Boston (and all it's mega stations brodacasting crap 24-7) to get their signal but not much I can do about that.
I really miss the lively FM scene we had here 10-20 years back but as things are now I can see why almost nobody makes good FM tuners anymore..
I would never buy an audio system without AM/FM radio, and I live in California!
A side note on AM Radio. The government ( FCC ) continues to promote, and support, AM Radio. Virtually every car has an AM radio in it. Because of the broadcast band and frequency of AM radio it’s dispersal pattern is wide and far.
In the LA Basin there are two 5-Ton trucks one for the San Fernando Valley the other for LA and South. In time of disaster those two trucks can cover most of the entirety of the LA basin with emergency news and information. And most, if not all, cars can pick that up.
That system has been in place for decades and most large metro areas have such a system.
Are you referring to CONELRAD? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CONELRAD
@@morrisonAV I'm not up to speed on the status of that right now. A few years ago I saw a news report on one of the LA TV Stations about the "Two 5-ton trucks". They were enormous things like 6-wheel drive and a 50ft mast. Broadcasting on several frequencies one of which was on the AM Band. They were staged one near downtown LA the other in the Valley. Imagine if the "Big One" hit LA and took out all AC power for a couple weeks. Most/many private cars would stil be able to use their AM radio to get emergency info.
wow, the internet radio you're planning sounds exciting! I'm guessing the format for streaming will be FLAC?
I listen to my separate fm tuner daily and nights too! Love a few good stations 💯
Best radio station for sound quality and classical music (all genres) in Chicago is 98.7 FM. Stream on wfmt.com anywhere in the world. Your viewers should check it out. Also, on Saturday nights they have a folk music program called the midnight special. One of the very best, if not the best stations in the world. FM radio in Chicago is not dead. You are right, corporate America has basically ruined FM radio with bland sameness. For live music (Chicago Symphony, Piano recitals,etc.etc.) and FM radio, I am glad to live in the big City of Chicago.
A fellow wwdtm aficionado here!!
NPR? Do you counterbalance your news sources so that you can be truly open minded with respect to politics?
I used to listen a lot to AM FM SW radio with external diy antennas during my college days, but FM nowadays sounds awful due to blaring ads, RJ chatter, poor production standard. And as Paul mentioned rightly, same stuff is available from streaming services catering to.more personalised tastes with better audio quality. I was hopeful about satellite radios but they died an untimely death. Not to mention UA-cam killed MTV which had killed the radio stars.
Its true. I have to shop late 1970s early 1980s in order to get a decent tuner. I like the local high school radio station the best.
Big cities have a lot of hd stations. If i had to pick one it would be broadcast hd....no internet bandwidth or power issues...or software issues
Paul , if you can , take a listen to JAZZ.FM. It is a public radio station which is a registered charity, operating out of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
I use the Yamaha CX-5200 pre-pro which has a tuner.
Depressingly similar story in Britain, commercial radio owned by big companies and digital audio lousy audio quality. The Government even wanted to turn off FM and sell the bandwidth, but backed down.
This is funny ... almost all stations in Spore are also streaming on the internet. Streaming at high quality. So why would he want a tuner and the hassle of attaching the antenna?
But again, many streamers today don’t have internet radio. 😢
FM radio is being allowed to die on the vine so that the spectrum can be sold off to mobile phone providers.
That might make a tiny bit of sense if mobile phone carriers used, or had any intention of using, the same frequencies. Technically it is impossible, FM can't carry that data load.
I love FM and tuners both new and vintage. FM still has that magic of snatching music out of thin air. Should be against the law!
KUAA 99.9 FM salt lake city Utah
KRCL 90.9 FM salt lake city Utah
Both GREAT radio stations. The evening programs are the best I've found anywhere.
Paul, I agree with virtually every position you take, but I can't support you on this one. I still love FM, and wouldn't consider a tuner that didn't include coverage of the band. I find that a station "broadcast" over the net loses significant quality. In my bedroom I have my computer wired into a receiver - nothing high end, it's a mid range Sony from 20 years ago - and I find that when I compare the over the air signal to the internet stream, OTA always wins. There's an audible difference. Is it possible that the lack of decent local FM stations has colored your viewpoint as to the popularity of FM? Give it some thought. If you build it, they just might come.
And now, on a COMPLETELY different topic...
I really wish that there was a radio receiver that offered the same functionality that a PVR offers for television. That is, I'd like to hit a button and record a show digitally. I'd also like to be able to pause a show, or replay the last 30 seconds in case the announcer said something important, and I missed part of it. Granted, this would be much more useful in a car radio than a home receiver, but it doesn't exist anywhere. And I want it...
Given that you're not real excited about building FM tuners, I can't see your putting a lot of effort into making that happen. But please, feel free to pass the idea on to anyone who is looking for a way to add a bold new feature set to their product.
I always enjoy your videos, and wish you the best. Keep rockin! >Charlie
Like I have stated many times I listen to FM and AM daily. I stream at times, used to have XM but having FM and AM just is likecan old friendcwhether in the Jeep or at home.
Not only is the music on commercial FM poor, but the audio quality is awful. I have had, for years a Kenwood KT-815, which is pretty much as good as it gets, but contemporary stations sound very disappointing. But, if I needed to steer someone to a good FM tuner one of the Kenwoods from the 1980s, restored with new capacitors would be my recommendation. The KT-815 will give you 80 dB S/N at 0.04% THD in stereo mode at full quieting.
In the UK FM is still just as big as its always been, until the government sells off the frequencys to the highest bidder!
Uk BBC Radio 4 on long wave AM and VHF FM Also DAB and streaming The content is excellent on all.
Continues to listen and enjoy my Tuner Box S2 by Pro-Ject.
In the US today, both FM and AM (MW) radio flat-out suck. Too many stations play the same things.
No longer can you tune across the AM band at night and find fifty to a hundred different local programs.
Instead, you get thirty stations running Art Bell repeats and/or his follow-ons, and the rest running
various conservative personalities who all say pretty much what the rest say. BOR-RING!
FM has a few odd ducks, mostly college stations, that occasionally turn out something interesting,
but not enough for me to bother with.
Having a good tuner is nice for nostalgic reasons, and I have one that looks really attractive when it's on,
but when the best you can say is "I USED to listen to FM", it's not worthwhile to have one in your system any more.
How many here remember the PS Audio ST1 tuner? That thing was pretty good.
You should offer at least one model. Can't be expensive to put one together. Throw AM on it too. I picture very thin and cool looking. People want to listen to baseball game. Never met one but must be some out there?