It used to be vinyl with 2 or 3 TT’s in the control room (the DJ booth). There was a large library with many thousands of records which were very worn and scratched until the Music Director would replace them, (very rarely). R-R tape was also used, especially to play concerts, interviews, and bands recorded by the station.
In the digital age the stations added pro CD players to the studio and spun between vinyl and CD. It took some time for the DJ to learn how to segue between songs seamlessly using CD players, but eventually vinyl was phased out and those libraries packed with records were abandoned.
Of course, early CD’s had that "digital" sound and many of us noticed. As hardware and software technology improved, FM radio then continued this way for many years.
Then automation and mainframe servers became the norm. The Top 40 and their network stations became automated and programmed from a central location, but Rock stations moved toward using files which were all catalogued on servers, although there were some CDP’s still in use. Now quality playback was consistent, although digital uses various compression rates and Rock/Top 40 stations use a high level of compression on their output before transmission.
You can hear the superior sonics of NPR/Classical stations vs. Rock stations, just as we can when listening to our music at home.
In today’s AOR/Rock stations, vinyl has been added into the mix. I laugh every time I listen to a certain station here in Philly when they announce they are spinning from "Vinyl Studio 1."
My career started in the late 70’s, so perhaps somebody can provide info on what the "old days" were like.
In the digital age the stations added pro CD players to the studio and spun between vinyl and CD. It took some time for the DJ to learn how to segue between songs seamlessly using CD players, but eventually vinyl was phased out and those libraries packed with records were abandoned.
Of course, early CD’s had that "digital" sound and many of us noticed. As hardware and software technology improved, FM radio then continued this way for many years.
Then automation and mainframe servers became the norm. The Top 40 and their network stations became automated and programmed from a central location, but Rock stations moved toward using files which were all catalogued on servers, although there were some CDP’s still in use. Now quality playback was consistent, although digital uses various compression rates and Rock/Top 40 stations use a high level of compression on their output before transmission.
You can hear the superior sonics of NPR/Classical stations vs. Rock stations, just as we can when listening to our music at home.
In today’s AOR/Rock stations, vinyl has been added into the mix. I laugh every time I listen to a certain station here in Philly when they announce they are spinning from "Vinyl Studio 1."
My career started in the late 70’s, so perhaps somebody can provide info on what the "old days" were like.