互联网与文化current.org
音频工程师解读 NPR 的标志性声音
An audio engineer explains NPR’s signature sound
2016 — 2021，它一次次回到首页
黑点是上首页（≥ 50 分）的那次投稿，空心点是没冲上去的投稿，点越大分数越高。
导读
资深音频工程师详解 NPR 标志性声音背后的技术细节：统一使用 Neumann U87 麦克风、低音滚降处理、针对车内收听场景的混音考量等。这篇访谈展示了看似自然的广播声音背后大量细致的工程决策。
为什么经久不衰：它揭示了日常习以为常的'NPR 腔'其实是几十年音频工程经验的结晶，对任何关心声音设计的人来说都是常读常新的参考。
HN 评论精选
录音室环境噪音无法彻底消除，也不值得为此付出代价
工程师建议：进录音室打开麦克风开到最大，别说话，听听房间里所有风扇的声音。这是几十年的难题——你永远无法做到完全静音，也不必做到，因为要静音就得搬走大量设备，成本很高。
cJ0th查看英文原文
> Another thing for engineers or anybody at a station to do is to go into the studio, turn the microphone on, crank it to 11. Don’t talk — so you don’t blow your ears out — and listen to the sounds of all the fans that you have in the room. This is one challenge that we’ve had for decades here. You’re never going to get it to zero. You’re never going to get it completely silent. Nor do you really want to, because in order to get it silent you’ve got to move a lot of equipment out, and there’s a lot of cost with that. Makes me wonder why they don't record the sound of the fans and then invert that audio track and mix it with the mic channel before broadcasting the master channel so that the relatively periodic noise of the fan cancels itself out.
NPR 声音耐听的秘密在于克制的高频低频处理，与商业电台的轰炸式音效形成对比
低音滚降是关键因素。听听其他热门电台，DJ 的声音像从奥林匹斯山顶发出来的，带着震撼的低音和混响，刻意让你清醒、引起注意，听久了实在累人。NPR 对这个小细节的用心让人能连续听几个小时。
bane查看英文原文
The bass roll-off is an important factor. If you listen to your other top-40 radio stations, the DJs sound like they are pronouncing the hits from the top of Mount Olympus, with thundery basses and reverb designed to shake you awake and make you pay attention. It's frankly exhausting to listen to, and NPR's attention to this small thing makes it possible to listen to people talking for hours on end.
NPR 混音以车内收听为优化目标，但偶尔的警笛音效会误导司机
因为大多数听众是在上下班开车途中收听 Morning Edition 和 All Things Considered。可他们偶尔还是会有背景带警笛的报道，害得我总要看后视镜靠边停车。
ourmandave查看英文原文
... because most of our consumers were listening to Morning Edition and All Things Considered in the automobile to and from work. Yet they still occasionally have a story with a siren in the background, so I start checking my mirrors and pulling over.
U87 麦克风虽贵，但按使用寿命摊销其实划算
哇，他们用的麦克风一支要 3600 美元。考虑到二十年的寿命和每天使用，倒也没那么离谱。
danielvf查看英文原文
Yow! The microphone they are using is $3,600 a piece. I guess that's not as bad as it sounds, given a twenty year life and daily use. http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/U87SetZ
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