Overall audio level on HD2/3 channels

Although it's probably not what you're hearing, the audio level of our classical station here seems low once the digital fades in. That's because the dynamic range of digital is much greater than analog FM and this station uses all of it.


Other stations have lower levels on their digital channels for the same basic reason. They've decided not to play the "loudness war" on their digital stations and let them have audio levels like you would hear on a CD. There is an option to make the digital audio sound exactly like the overcompressed FM stations and a few stations have decided that's best for them which eliminates one of the advantages of digital audio.



Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisW6ATV /forum/post/20812258


Hello-


Here in the San Francisco area, there is one station I know of that has an HD3 channel, KITS 105.3. That channel is called "Last.fm". When it was added to the station, the first thing I noticed was that its audio level is lower than the other channels. Now, the KITS HD2 channel ("Classic Live 105") also has reduced audio level, though not as low as the HD3 channel. Do any of you know of a technical reason why the audio levels would be lower? I find it annoying, since no other station (digital or analog) has this problem that I have noticed for sure yet.

Click to expand...

I have the same issue.


KPBS San Diego has an HD3 channel that I like,(SomaFM/Groove Salad). It's volume is much lower than it's HD1 & HD2 channels and a lot lower than all the SD & LA stations, both HD & analog. When I change to another station I always get blasted, unless I remember to first turn down the volume.

blame the LOUD stations then, not the normal range ones