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Breakaway Advice

Unless the 8100 has been recapped and updated with newer improved chips,Breakaway will give you much cleaner and competitive audio that you will like for CHR.With that said,i have a station using a refurbed 8100 with Ariane on Classic Hits that sounds great.But for CHR,I think the Breakaway will do a better job for you.If you decide to get rid of the XT,i may be interested.Try wnti suggestion.You may even want to get the Marian Trace Alpha card and go all Breakaway.They have a new software version that should be out this summer.
 
I run an station with breakaway since about a year ago and it works perfect and legal. With an Realtek onboard card I can generate composite mpx (stereo + rds) without overshoots. The card was callibrated follow the guides in the breakaway forums, its amazing how this software solution can sound better than the best stations running US$10.000+ processors. Yes, you can build an excellente breakaway "box" with less than US$1000 and be legal and competitive ;D
 
WNTIRadio said:
So, the question is, can you rely on a synthesized composite output if the reference isn't compensated for drift? Has anyone measured this?
Click to expand...

All of the modern digital processors are digital synthesized composite outputs being run through D/A converters. Whether it's being done is pure DSP or on an Intel chip is just a matter of approach, the result should be the same if the software was written correctly.
Click to expand...

Potentially, there's a big difference between a purpose-built digital stereo generator with dedicated hardware filters and a temperature compensated reference crystal when compared to a software algorithm run on a soundcard. In any sort of normal consumer or professional situation precise frequency referencing is not required. Unfortunately, the FCC has very tight standards for several aspects of stereo generation and I've seen some cheaper digital systems that do not comply. For instance, I recently saw a foreign made stereo generator that used a modified sinewave for the pilot. This worked fine on the air with no observable problems, but such a system is still illegal in the US. Perhaps a soundcard output can be legal. I would just want to know the answer before risking my station's revenue on it.
 
I heard from some where that omnia and orban also uses a modified Marian Trace Alpha.
 
j117 said:
I heard from some where that omnia and orban also uses a modified Marian Trace Alpha.
Click to expand...

You've heard wrong. AFAIK, both Orban and Omnia have dedicated I/O boards of their own design.


Regards,
Goran Tomas
 
BobOnTheJob said:
If you want to hear Breakaway Live on a stream (Audio Console>Breakaway Live--nothing else in line), http://mojo1029.com/mojoplayer.htm
Click to expand...

First I've ever heard BBP on a stream, sounds as good as I would expect!

"'Cisco Kid" ! :D I haven't heard that in ages. Only wish there were 320k streams now. A bit of the swirlies,
but the BBP is doing the music proud.
 
You've heard wrong. AFAIK, both Orban and Omnia have dedicated I/O boards of their own design.


Regards,
Goran Tomas

Goran,

I too have been told that the Orban or Omnia boxes (or both) have custom boards built by Marian. And as I understand it, the Omnia 9 prototype has a Marian Trace Pro (not Alpha) card, to be replaced by a custom Marian board. That is all incorrect?
 
ChiefOperator said:
I too have been told that the Orban or Omnia boxes (or both) have custom boards built by Marian. And as I understand it, the Omnia 9 prototype has a Marian Trace Pro (not Alpha) card, to be replaced by a custom Marian board. That is all incorrect?
Click to expand...

Yes, Omnia 9 is supposed to have a custom Marian card. Once it's in the production. But this is the only FM processor thus far to be using the Marian card (or any PCI or PCIe audio card).

All other Omnias, past and current - Omnia 11, Omnia 6, Omnia 5, Omnia 3 and Omnia One, have dedicated I/O boards either as part of the motherboard or as separate boards. The Omnia 11 I saw on Freak day, had a combined analog and digital I/O board with DSPs that run the stereo generator. I believe a similar board is in Omnia One, although not as a separate board but part of the motherboard. Omnias 6, 5 and 3 have digital I/O and SRCs on the motherboard and a separate ADDA board that attaches to the motherboard.

Last time I looked into Orban 8400 and 8500 (and 8600 would be the same), there was a big board with all the input and output circuitry - digital I/O, analog I/O and AD and DA converters, composite outputs, etc.

BW Broadcast also has a motherboard with all the I/O and DSPs that run the stereo generator.

I don't even know why would people think there's suddenly a Marian card in the Omnias and Orbans...


Regards,
Goran Tomas
 
Goran-

IIRC, I don't think folks have been saying that these boxes contain Marian PCI cards. Instead, the belief is that the custom boards you've seen are designed or built by Marian.
 
ChiefOperator said:
IIRC, I don't think folks have been saying that these boxes contain Marian PCI cards. Instead, the belief is that the custom boards you've seen are designed or built by Marian.
Click to expand...

Why would they think that?

Maybe I'm missing something here, but it escapes me why would someone think that a German manufacturer is building I/O boards for Omnia and Orban, and not that these serious manufacturers with their substantial R&D and manufacturing departments and expertise have not designed these boards themselves?


Regards,
Goran Tomas
 
IIRC, the belief started from a post that he had talked to Marian representatives at a trade show and they (the reps) stated that they had designed for Orban or Omnia. From there, the same has been mentioned many times.
 
The Optimod 8500 I took for a test drive a few months ago was made in Germany. Doesn't prove or disprove the Marian theory, but does put the assembly a lot closer to the supposed designer. Columbo would take that as a lead and "ask a few questions..."
 
I'll put this one to rest real easy. ALL I/O boards used in Omnia processors are designed in-house. The Omnia.9 unit Leif has is using a Marian card, only because we're in the process of getting the I/O board for it done.

-Frank Foti
 
There are two product lines here that are getting confused. We use standard Marian digital I/O cards for our stand-alone Penteo 2.0->5.1 upconverter product, which is based on an Intel Atom PC motherboard. While we use an ISO 9001-certified contract manufacturer in Germany to manufacture some of the Optimods, it's not Marian.

Bob Orban
 
I think I may try Breakaway and use the 8200 as a stereo encoder. I just want to see what it sounds like. I'll go up late one night (midnight or so) and give it a shot.
 
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