RADIO DISCUSSION

[THOR]

didn't want to totally derail the Mercer thread...

so...radio...i'm mainly a talk radio guy...started listening to russ when i came up to north texas is 95...just something about him has kept me around his show. i'll listen to the edge randomly, when i want music that isn't a cd.

sports talk wise, there really isn't much for me. espn is a beating and only has 2, i think live shows during the day. whenever nate newton is on, it's unlistenable for me...can't handle his delivery and i barely understand him.

the fan...ugh, it's also a beating to me. the whole fan fans and constant pimping of their text line is an overkill. they are live all day, which is nice, but the quality isn't here for me.

the ticket does sports some and i do like that, but their other stuff doesn't work for me. plus, i'm generally in the car at the same times during the day and i hate that everything is scheduled out for a specific time/day...there is no flexibility in their schedule. every day at 450 i hear a specific segment or in the mornings at 720 it's a specific segment. that doesn't work for me, especially if it's not sports related (in theory it is a sports station). i do like how they do a top 10 at night...gives me different segments of the day at a random time.

as for russ, i have no idea what will be planned for the air. i like that...spontaneity is good to me and makes me not want to miss any part of the show.

so what's your radio listening preferences and/or thoughts on dfw radio?

[MeanGreenTexan]

For those of you who live in DFW and were students @ UNT between the years of, say...1990 - 2010, and enjoyed the good-ole-days of hip-hop music, you may want to tune into 94.5.

Otherwise, it's the Ticket for me.

[THOR]

BOOM...it is a good one to relive some good jams from that era

[oldguystudent]

91.7 is a fun random escapade into terrestrial radio for me. You never know what you're gonna get on there. It could be anything. Anything at all.

Talk radio is just plain dead. It's either "pundits" shouting about the demise of America on the AM dial or giggling and fart jokes on the ticket. I repeat that Russ Martin has never actually spoken on the air. Not one time. I'd go on drives from Frisco to Mansfield, in traffic, tuned in to 105.3 and hear nothing but stoner giggling and bottle caps. I have no idea what the appeal is. None. At all.

Jack FM is super benign, almost like listening to nothing at all, but with the white noise covered up.

The edge plays whiny shit. I would probably like it if I were still 19 years old, but my problems have nothing to do with an ex girlfriend giving me my records back in a whiny voice, so not interested.

Mostly, if I'm gonna be in the car for more than thirty minutes, I'm plugging the phone in and playing Spotify. There is no radio that I "follow" in my old age.

I also lament that I drove 1,500 miles in December and found that radio stations have become completely uniform. Jack FM is Jack FM everywhere. The Edge is The Edge everywhere. Much harder to hear regional radio anymore, and having grown up in the San Francisco market, then moving down to San Diego and Los Angeles (where, dude, the talent really does rise to the top), I appreciated the differences. Those just no longer exist.

[THOR]

the sterility of radio is why i got out...always had to play the same songs...couldn't add songs...no identity anymore...damn shame

edit: and old guy...russ is on kegl and has been for years...maybe that's why ya never heard him...

Edited January 7, 2015 by THOR

[UNTFan23]

The only time I listen to terrestrial radio is for NT Sports. Otherwise it's channel 56 The Highway on Sirius XM or my iPod.

[FirefightnRick]

Music on satellite sounds like it's coming through a tunnel or something. I enjoy catching games on it but for music the quality of sound isnt there.

Rick

[greenminer]

Music on satellite sounds like it's coming through a tunnel or something. I enjoy catching games on it but for music the quality of sound isnt there.

Rick

That's the first time I've ever heard that complaint. I have audiophile friends that have no problem with it, so it makes me wonder if it is something on your side?

Anyways, being that I'm almost strictly a music-listening guy, it made more sense for me to drop the satellite payments and subscribe to a Google Music premium account. Pull it up on my phone, Bluetooth it to the car system and BOOM! The music I want when I want it.

If satellite is your thing, and it's a great thing especially for talk radio, comedy, etc...call your service provider and act like you want to drop it. Be stubborn at first. When I left SiriusXM, they pulled the "My supervisor is willing to cut a deal" bit on me TWICE. I ended up turning down a monthly offer that was about 25% of (to clarify, 75% off) what I was paying after the promotional pricing ended.

It was amazing how cheap they were willing to go to keep a customer. I would consider re-subscribing in the future.

[TheWestie]

Radio hasn't meant much to me since this went away...

[FirefightnRick]

Man, I miss KLOL! Best rock station ever. Now all Houston has is the Buzz... anyway...

I listen to mostly 91.7, but occasionally I'll listen to the Ticket, 88.1, or 102.1 (although I can't listen to them nowadays. Garbage.) Used to love 97.1 until Russ took over the afternoon drive and that Nikki Sixx at night.

.

.

Stevens and Pruitt was the absolute best weren't they? Down in Houston AND in Dallas.

Rick

Edited January 8, 2015 by FirefightnRick

[kingwoodgreen]

Obviously for me the zew was what the station for the late 70's. Before that klif was the junior high days music station.

[kingwoodgreen]

Obviously for me the zew was what the station for the late 70's. Before that klif was the junior high days music station.

[ColoradoEagle]

Music on satellite sounds like it's coming through a tunnel or something. I enjoy catching games on it but for music the quality of sound isnt there.

No idea who greenminer's audiophile friends are, but that's been a complaint against satellite radio for at least a decade. When XM first started out, they had pretty decent sound quality, but as they added stations to keep up with Sirius, it got worse and worse. Sirius has always been bad. Current SiriusXM against high quality streaming from Google, Spotify, or Slacker/Milk isn't even a contest.

For local radio I'll listen to Rickey Smiley some mornings and occasionally I'll listen to The Ticket or NPR. For the most part, all my talk radio is through podcasts. Once in a while I'll listen to the national ESPN feed on Slacker, and most music is via Google Music or Milk Music.

I've actually been shocked at how many people still rely on local radio. I switched to XM back on September 12, 2001 and was told I was the second person to call in to activate. It was so bad that the girl on the other end had to have three people help her figure out how to do it. Even prior to that date I had bought an MP3 car stereo. Guess there are still plenty of satisfied AM/FM listeners.

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

Music on satellite sounds like it's coming through a tunnel or something. I enjoy catching games on it but for music the quality of sound isnt there.

Rick

.

Maybe it is a problem with your radio or your Sirius receiver..... My two sound as good or better than any radio station. ... and is very good. I like the stations and being able to select the "subject or music type" and being in West Texas and traveling long distances (to Dallas even) at times it is very helpful to not "lose" stations as is the case with AM/FM ones. While traveling in the Big Bend area ... they were the only ones I could get in some places.

[FirefightnRick]

No idea who greenminer's audiophile friends are, but that's been a complaint against satellite radio for at least a decade. When XM first started out, they had pretty decent sound quality, but as they added stations to keep up with Sirius, it got worse and worse. Sirius has always been bad. Current SiriusXM against high quality streaming from Google, Spotify, or Slacker/Milk isn't even a contest.

That's what I figured.

Rick

[TIgreen01]

I've heard crappy sound quality on satellite radio, but then I've also heard good quality (never as good as CD quality). I've had 2 new trucks (one a GM and one a Ford) over the years that each came with free satellite radio for 3-6 months and both had pretty good quality. The one's I've heard that were crappy were always after-market add-ons. On streaming apps, a lot depends on what bit-rate you choose to stream at...so a comparison there is difficult to make. If you're streaming at a higher rate, of course you're going to have a higher quality sound. Here's a good article to help: http://electronicdesign.com/communications/what-s-difference-between-satellite-radio-and-hd-radio

[UNTFan23]

I've heard crappy sound quality on satellite radio, but then I've also heard good quality (never as good as CD quality). I've had 2 new trucks (one a GM and one a Ford) over the years that each came with free satellite radio for 3-6 months and both had pretty good quality. The one's I've heard that were crappy were always after-market add-ons. On streaming apps, a lot depends on what bit-rate you choose to stream at...so a comparison there is difficult to make. If you're streaming at a higher rate, of course you're going to have a higher quality sound. Here's a good article to help: http://electronicdesign.com/communications/what-s-difference-between-satellite-radio-and-hd-radio

If you're using a FM modulator to pipe in the audio feed from an after market radio the quality is going to come down a lot. You sometimes end up with actual FM stations competing for the same frequency that can result in sound quality to be lost. To avoid that you should have a device installed that pipes the FM signal directly into the antennae allowing a much better (although not best) listening experience. Some of the quality is lost due to converting a digital signal into an analogue signal.

I feel like the sound quality with my truck (sat-radio came pre-installed in my Rockford Fosgate sound system) is very, very good. The only time the quality might drop (essentially audio pixelation) is if I don't maintain a clear line of sight with the sky above me, which happens when I go under certain bridges/overpasses. It certainly doesn't sound tinny or hollow like what you can get with a low bit-rate audio stream over a device like a cell phone. I really can't tell the difference between a sat-radio song versus a song off of my iPod playing through my sound system, but then again I'm not really trying to discern the difference between CD quality and radio/sat-radio quality.

[Coffee and TV]

I've got my SiriusXM plugging into the aux jack in my car, and I don't really have any sound quality issues.

[Got5onIt]

I listen to the ticket in the mornings only (Musers). Every now and then I'll listen to Norm or Bad Radio. I have never been able to listen to the Hardline, ever. Even with their lineup change from a few years ago, it's still a show I just flat out dislike.

Like MeanGreenTexan stated, 94.5 is a great station. Love me some old school rap/hip hop/ & r&b.

Edited January 13, 2015 by Got5onIt

[Cerebus]

My music choices aren't ever on radio/sat so I usually listen to MP3.

For talk I really like BBC World Service.

That said the greatest radio show ever made was Car Talk.

[THOR]

I can't even change my oil, so I'm out on car talk.

I'm not in the car enough to justify satellite or need it. Plenty of decent stuff on regular radio. Talk radio is pretty much all I listen...shit I'm old...

[UNT90]

I can't even change my oil, so I'm out on car talk.

I'm not in the car enough to justify satellite or need it. Plenty of decent stuff on regular radio. Talk radio is pretty much all I listen...shit I'm old...

No time for radio in the car. Too busy texting...

[oldguystudent]

No time for radio in the car. Too busy texting...

Can you text and grind my gears at the same time?

[Green Mean]

I do love satellite radio when I'm not listening to The Ticket but the prices for subscription has become ridiculous. $180/yr is super steep for mainly just radio in your car. What I always end up doing is I always cancel or threaten to cancel and when I don't budge they'll just offer me the same package I have for for like $25 or $30 for 6 months.