It just hit me. The broadcasted net radios, which must all be recorded in the same studio, do not have all the clipping issues, yet these radio CDs do. What does that mean? It means that they are applying the stupid dynamic range compression "meant for" pop music CDs to the radio CDs. The algorithm doesn't properly deal with speech (lots of silence, occasional peaks) and clips the heck out of them. I quoted "meant for" because it's not really meant for any sane music. Technically (in a twisted sense of the word), it's meant for marketing, so that when the song is played in public venue (shopping malls, etc.), it stands out. Nobody would ever replay internet radios in public venue, nor would they advertise this kind of niche product on TV. Even if they did, they wouldn't play back the radio content. There is ABSOLUTELY no point in applying dynamic range compression to the point of clipping to these speech tracks!
I grabbed the staff names from the back of the booklet and searched on-line to see if I could pin down who is responsible for this *#@$up. There's not enough information, and for all I know, it could have been an idiot clicking on the wrong box on the final mastering software. That idiot wouldn't even be listed as a staff. Regardless, if any one of the listed staff is responsible, it'd have to be Arimura Ken'ichi from F.I.X. Records. Apparently, he's involved in Suara CD releases, too.
Anyway, I was buying other CDs I actually wanted at AquaPlus Festa 2009 and added this one on a whim. It's not bad or anything, but I'm sticking to the other To Heart radio. The only other comment I have is that I was surprised by the special guest for this CD, Yoshida Konami. It's the same Yoshida Konami from Mamono Hunter Yohko and Rayearth!
