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Can anyone identify this processor (photo)?

Y

yeoldeschool

xmtrland said:
That is a Behringer type compressor limiter, probably used for AGC/compression/noise gate or even peak limiting before the Optimod.
Click to expand...
And here all this time I thought Optimod's have a pretty good wide band AGC built in. Sticking some prosumer compressor/limiter ahead of it makes zero sense. 'Hey I've got an idea! Lets stick a crappy wide band compressor ahead of a wide band compressor!' That way our final on air product can sound like it's going through a $200 compressor you can buy from Amazon.'
 
Behringer Composer Pro XL - less than $150 new. Probably there to boost the unbalanced computer audio to a level that will drive the Optimod 8000.
 
bigdonho said:
Might also be there to even out the levels coming out of the computer before they kit the Optimod.
Click to expand...
Why put a lousy AGC ahead of a good system?

As Kelly A said, "And here all this time I thought Optimod's have a pretty good wide band AGC built in. Sticking some prosumer compressor/limiter ahead of it makes zero sense. 'Hey I've got an idea! Lets stick a crappy wide band compressor ahead of a wide band compressor!' That way our final on air product can sound like it's going through a $200 compressor you can buy from Amazon.'"
 
Thank you, @xmtrland. That nicely explains why it visually rang a bell without me being able to put my finger on its actual identity. It's nothing anyone would ever expect to see in a radio airchain.
 
bigdonho said:
Might also be there to even out the levels coming out of the computer before they kit the Optimod.
Click to expand...

Having its time constants slowed way down to make sure it never built up any density, but only helped the 8000 in the event of extremely uneven source material volumes, is the only sane explanation I can imagine myself, yes. I have heard the Optimod 8000 in action before and for a wideband box, it is very adept at avoiding creating gross intermodulation distortion. I'm not sure that recording studio boxes are always designed to be able to aggressively build up density (with fast time constants) on anything but single instrument tracks. Otherwise you tend to have lows chewing up and intermodulating mids and highs, etc.
 
Kelly A said:
And here all this time I thought Optimod's have a pretty good wide band AGC built in. Sticking some prosumer compressor/limiter ahead of it makes zero sense. 'Hey I've got an idea! Lets stick a crappy wide band compressor ahead of a wide band compressor!' That way our final on air product can sound like it's going through a $200 compressor you can buy from Amazon.'
Click to expand...
Maybe you forgot on the Orban 8000 release control there is a range labeled “limit only”. When the 8000 was available and pre-8100, many stations searching for more consistency and/or density put various boxes ahead of the 8000 and adjusted the release control to limit only. BTW, some of those $200 compressors from Amazon can sound ok, it depends on the design and who is adjusting it.
 
Dr. Bob said:
Maybe you forgot on the Orban 8000 release control there is a range labeled “limit only”. When the 8000 was available and pre-8100, many stations searching for more consistency and/or density put various boxes ahead of the 8000 and adjusted the release control to limit only. BTW, some of those $200 compressors from Amazon can sound ok, it depends on the design and who is adjusting it.
Click to expand...
Not sure why anyone would want to set an old 8000 to limit only, but I suppose anything is possible. They were intended to be one-box solutions and did a pretty good job at it.
 
Kelly A said:
And here all this time I thought Optimod's have a pretty good wide band AGC built in. Sticking some prosumer compressor/limiter ahead of it makes zero sense. 'Hey I've got an idea! Lets stick a crappy wide band compressor ahead of a wide band compressor!' That way our final on air product can sound like it's going through a $200 compressor you can buy from Amazon.'
Click to expand...
If they are insisting on extra compression wouldn't an old URIE LA 3 do better? IMHO it was a really good "cheap" box. As late as the 1990's I saw a guy that had a recording studio run an ad in a classified for one.
 
secondchoice said:
If they are insisting on extra compression wouldn't an old URIE LA 3 do better? IMHO it was a really good "cheap" box. As late as the 1990's I saw a guy that had a recording studio run an ad in a classified for one.
Click to expand...
Sure a UREI compressor would be better, but have you seen how much those things are worth now? A UREI stereo 1178 is selling for $3,600 and up.
Looking at the photo, this 'station' is ultra-low budget.
 
Dr. Bob said:
Maybe you forgot on the Orban 8000 release control there is a range labeled “limit only”. When the 8000 was available and pre-8100, many stations searching for more consistency and/or density put various boxes ahead of the 8000 and adjusted the release control to limit only.
Click to expand...
And some of us doing Beautiful Music syndication preferred that use of the 8000 unit along with a Compellor. Some even had two Compellors, one on all commercials and the other on music to keep the ads about 3db below the music so they did not sound "loud".
 
secondchoice said:
If they are insisting on extra compression wouldn't an old URIE LA 3 do better? IMHO it was a really good "cheap" box. As late as the 1990's I saw a guy that had a recording studio run an ad in a classified for one.
Click to expand...
Before the Optimod, many of us built duos or trios of LA-3A's with crossover networks "tuned" to our format ahead of whatever peak limiter we used then.
 
Kelly A said:
Not sure why anyone would want to set an old 8000 to limit only, but I suppose anything is possible. They were intended to be one-box solutions and did a pretty good job at it.
Click to expand...
It was set that way to use the 8000 as a limiter and stereo generator and put the primary leveler and compressor ahead of it. When using it as a one box solution, a sudden loud commercial or bass could fool the Orban 8000’s wideband compressor and cause it to “duck”. If you were doing competitive processing in the late 70’s and early 80’s (until the release of the 8100) it was common to have CRL, DAP, or PR&E ahead of the 8000. If an 8000 is all you can afford, a carefully selected box ahead of it could help you reach your goals, both in cost and sound) but I would recommend trying to find an 8100 in good shape.
 
DavidEduardo said:
And some of us doing Beautiful Music syndication preferred that use of the 8000 unit along with a Compellor. Some even had two Compellors, one on all commercials and the other on music to keep the ads about 3db below the music so they did not sound "loud".
Click to expand...
The first 8000 I encountered was at an NPR affiliate in 1977. For that format and time it worked well except that loud audio after soft audio could “duck” the wideband compressor. The Compellor was a good solution to this as it was more sophisticated than the 8000’s compressor. Speaking of Compellors, I have used two Compellors back-to-back, one set to level and one set to limit, as an AGC for AM talk.
 
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