I just saw this on another board, and I am in shock. The radio and TV engineering business has lost another legend. Jim Somich was a wonderful radio and TV engineer. He was a personal friend of mine and had visited Morgantown on several occasions. I helped Jim with his last radio project (the Kamikaze). For a couple of years I tried to talk Jim into using his vari-clip circuit in the audio domain. Jim developed the DBE-1000 (later fleximod) at Z-100 in NYC. I had copied the design and tested it with compressed and limited audio. It sounded great and he finally built the loudest processor known to mankind. The only problem was it would guarantee a loudness war in any market where it was deployed. Jim was very proud of the Kamikaze. I worked with and tested his alpha and beta units all the way until production. This business sure has lost a true legend. If anyone ever wants to hear this amazing loudness box and you happen to be traveling through Morgantown, drop me note. We'll fire it up and toast a cold one to Jim Somich! Goodbye old friend!
Group,
It's with a very heavy heart to share that Jim Somich has passed on to the
big audio processor in the sky...he was 65. Jim was a very successful
broadcast engineer, as well as product developer. His career spanned
radio, television, photography, movies, and just about any form of media
imaginable.
Jim worked at KFI, KMET, WMMS, WHK, WHTZ, WJW, just to name a few of the
radio radio stations. He built quite a number of UHF TV stations for
Malrite Communications, where, at one time, he was Director of Radio
Engineering. He was also involved in a few ventures: Somich Engineering,
MicroCon Systems, and I'm sure a host of others. Jim, kept a private life,
and ventured into some interesting and alternative aspects of it.
He was also the person, who took a chance on a goofy, long-haired, 22 year
old kid. Stuck him under his wing, and taught him the ropes of radio
engineering. If not for Jim Somich sticking his neck out for this
passionate over-achiever, then Frank Foti would never have seized the
opportunity to follow an exciting path in this industry.
More importantly he was, and will always remain, my friend. While there
are many wonderful memories of him, we sadly will not be able to create
new ones.
Be at peace, life and our industry lost a good friend.
-Frank Foti
Sad news, Jim Somich has passed....
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