[Tech1] Strange Sound Quality on HIGNFY

Sun Apr 10 08:58:30 CDT 2022

I’ve had a couple of Humax Freeview boxes - Fox HDR T2.
It has an LED display on the front showing which station you’re currently tuned to.
And - probably quite useful for you - with the aid of (unofficial) custom firmware - it’s possible to renumber the channels so you could put all the radio ones you want at the top of the EPG.
And, of course, you can delete the channels you’re not interested in.

You can pick them up from time to time on eBay.

If this sounds interesting, get in touch and I’ll dig out the details.

Best

Peter Neill

peter at neill.tv

> On 9 Apr 2022, at 22:20, Peter Fox via Tech1 <tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk> wrote:
> 
> Thanks Simon, Phil and Dave, almost completely what I didn’t want, but I had to go and look up all the things you mentioned because they are interesting per se! I think flight radar use Pi plus firestick (or similar)  and I have dabbled at internet radio using VLC, but they are both messy.  Dave’s system is nearest to what I have in mind. I recall you told me three or four years ago you were using Freeview for radio. 
> My main set up uses a Sony tv to supply freesat radio, as well as tv sound and vision, and freesat, as you know, mostly has better bitrates than Freeview or DAB. then to a DAC, thence to a rebuilt Quad 303 and on to a couple of early but virtually bombproof Spendor SA1s (thanks Nick Ware) positioned under the telly. For some reason I get a lot of complaints about having to switch on/off three separate bits of kit and having to walk across the room to adjust the volume on the Quad 33 as well as selecting some rather obscure tv channel numbers!!
> Not only that but iplayer and All4 needs the dedicated laptop booted up too. The not-so modern Sony tv’s on-board internet stuff is very treacly.  I am “lucky” that the laptop is a quite recent HP and after Ben managed to shut a pencil inside it and crack the screen it was “retired” to me. The screen is offputting rather than dead but it is mirrored on the TV  But that’s not my problem, it’s my hi-fi set up on the Isle of Wight that needs a simple selectable tuner. Various family families stay there from time to time, so simpler is better. I have just trialled a set up using a really basic stb, I think it was one of those freebies that Freeview used to hand out, nevertheless it sounds quite crisp and full. The tv is  nondescript and not linked to the sound system but it does have a scart… and an hdmi for the youngsters’ PS4s too. 
> It’s good to have a quick and easy set up for background Classic FM or whatever but  it has to be up to standard for serious listening. That’s what the fm tuner was for, but it is distracting when it’s struggling.
>  I could print out a list of channel numbers but that’s not very user friendly and the box randomly shuts itself down every hour or two as well. I was rather hoping that Dave or someone had already found the ideal stb/tuner! Are those Sony freeview tuners history now?
> 
> Peter Fox
> 
> On 9 Apr 2022, at 13:15, Dave Plowman <dave at davesound.co.uk> wrote:
> 
> 
> I do exactly that for the house 'ring' sound system. Before I had a mixture of DAB and FM to get the four services it has. But now all FreeView radio. And couldn't find any tuner which had a visual display. Best I could fine were Sony tuners, and make the wanted channels favourites. You can then toggle between them using the buttons on the tuner. But initial setup done with a TV. You could also use the remote and mark up the 1-10 buttons with the actual radio service.
> 
> And just had a thought. They require a TV with a SCART for setup. Not many have that these days.
> On 09/04/2022 12:11, Peter Fox wrote:
>> Slightly off topic. Does anyone know of a “set top box” or similar that you can fly blind for freeview sound radio use? Obs you could tune it initially using a telly.I have a couple of fm tuners that are not sounding so good these days probably due to their age and alignment rather than poor signal strength. I think what I am asking for is a display that shows the channel numbers. 
>> 
>> Peter Fox
>> 
>> On 9 Apr 2022, at 10:21, Dave Plowman via Tech1 <tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk> <mailto:tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk> wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> I watched it on catch up too at about 22.30. Can't say anything stuck out as being unusual.
>> 
>> 
>> On 09/04/2022 08:58, Mike Giles via Tech1 wrote:
>>> I had forgotten your comment, John, when I watched HIGNFY on catch-up on my phone, fairly quietly it has to be said, and the only complaint I had was that Paul’s guest was less audible than the rest of them - at a level where the rest were comfortably audible, he was often unintelligible, but if I rewound ten seconds and listened again at slightly higher level, he was OK, but the rest, and the audience of course, we’re too loud at close quarters 
>>> 
>>> I must lend an ear to it again on the proper telly. 
>>> 
>>> Mike G
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> On 8 Apr 2022, at 23:08, Bernard Newnham via Tech1 <tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk> <mailto:tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>  Yes, very strange.
>>>> 
>>>> B
>>>> 
>>>>  
>>>> 
>>>> On 08/04/2022 22:03, John Howell via Tech1 wrote:
>>>>> Did anyone notice a strange quality to the sound on tonight's show?
>>>>> 
>>>>> It sounded as f it had been recorded via a mic in a drainpipe. A strong resonance
>>>>> 
>>>>> around 500Hz, I wonder what would cause this?
>>>>> 
>>>>> (Firefox T2 via Panasonic Freeview TV RX  & D to A converter, Hitachi FET power Amps)
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> Best Wishes,
>>>>> 
>>>>> John H.
>>>>> 
>>>>> (Hibou)
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>> 
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