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Gentner/Texar audio compressors

D

DrewNelson

Guest
I've just stumbled upon the audio compressors for the stations in my cluster. One of them is a Gentner Audio Prism, which I'm told is for our AM stations. The other two were also called Audio Prism, but they were brand name Texar. There were no model numbers (I assume they went by model name), but the two Texar compressors, which I was told worked for our FM station, were serial numbers 342 and 343. So... what of Texar? How old are these compressors?
 
> I've just stumbled upon the audio compressors for the
> stations in my cluster. One of them is a Gentner Audio
> Prism, which I'm told is for our AM stations. The other two
> were also called Audio Prism, but they were brand name
> Texar. There were no model numbers (I assume they went by
> model name), but the two Texar compressors, which I was told
> worked for our FM station, were serial numbers 342 and 343.
> So... what of Texar? How old are these compressors?
>
Hey Drew,
I'm your engineer.....why not just ask me!
The Texars are the original Texars from 96.7, WMJK, and were bought in the mid 80's by Reagan Henry. The chain consisted of a Compellor, the Texars, and a 8100 Optimod. This was the "airchain of choice" back in those days. We continued to use this combo when Dallas Tarkenton bought the stations in the late 80's. When ClearChannel bought the Newnan and Lagrange stations, the Texars went away for a while.....98.1 used an Optimod with the XT chassis.When the new studios were built in Newnan, the Texars re-appeared.(Did you really want to know ALL of that??)
98.1 uses the Texars for protecting the T-1 STL.....keeps us from over driving the STL input. Same for 720.....they are there for protection more than processing.(720 has a 9100 Optimod.)
The Texar was designed to be a "cheap mom and pop" processor. It uses LDR technology which is not the greatest way to control audio....but New York City liked it and the rest is history.
I do NOT like the Texar sound.....I wish we had the 8100 and XT chassis(6 band processor integrated with the 8100)but the decision was not mine to make. I think 98.1 would sound MUCH better with the 8100/XT. Or......a Omnia, Optimod,etc.
Ask Skinny for my number and give me a call....I can answer your questions.

Tom
 
The Texar's hunted too much and the stereo image used to shift... was even more noticable when they got older and needed to be redone.

Also, you could breathe on the controls and screw it up. The pretty lights told you virtually nothing, while the little red LED's under told the story. I know people who would misadjust them so the green/yellow lights would track.
 
> The Texar's hunted too much and the stereo image used to
> shift... was even more noticable when they got older and
> needed to be redone.
>
> Also, you could breathe on the controls and screw it up.
> The pretty lights told you virtually nothing, while the
> little red LED's under told the story. I know people who
> would misadjust them so the green/yellow lights would track.

As one production guy said, "Prisms usually makes a cymbal sound like a trash can lid"....I took my Prisms out of the audio chain as soon as possible...an 8100 with an XT chassis was better....(and the Prisms I found in front of a 8200!! Egads!)..for STL protection, I would use a Compellor...never a Prism!
 
Speaking of Compellors, I have an older one (I think this is a first run unit)...would this be enough to control STL feeds?<P ID="signature">______________
Zach Morton
Chief Engineer
Legend Communications
Gillette, Wyoming</P>
 
> Speaking of Compellors, I have an older one (I think this is
> a first run unit)...would this be enough to control STL
> feeds?
>

Yes, but the Compellor 300 can muffle the audio a bit. If you can't afford something else, of if you can make it up on the other end, go for it. But, you may want to look at other options.
 
> Speaking of Compellors, I have an older one (I think this is
> a first run unit)...would this be enough to control STL
> feeds?
>
Yeah Zach....any Compellor should do...all you want is peak level control..and thats all. (We used some of them at the RN in the TOC because some of the affiliates complained too much)
 
> Speaking of Compellors, I have an older one (I think this is
> a first run unit)...would this be enough to control STL
> feeds?

Zach,
Don't step on it too hard and it'll be fine. I used one to
level the audio into discrete STLs and it worked fine. My
one bit of advice is to NOT set the process balance at
12 o'clock as advised in the quick setup guide. Try 10 o'clock
instead. It will be less squished. And leave the stereo
enhance OFF if you are using a good box like the Omnias or
Orbans at the transmitter. No reason to fool with the phase
alignment before the STLs. That is my .2 worth.
 
When I worked at WCGY FM(Lawrence/Boston) circa '89ish and WNNH Concord NH in 95 or so we had Prisms and they did a decent job of making the poorly-recorded carts listenable. They're best used with a light touch...and the poster who mentioned the lights being worthless is correct, IMHO.

> I've just stumbled upon the audio compressors for the
> stations in my cluster. One of them is a Gentner Audio
> Prism, which I'm told is for our AM stations. The other two
> were also called Audio Prism, but they were brand name
> Texar. There were no model numbers (I assume they went by
> model name), but the two Texar compressors, which I was told
> worked for our FM station, were serial numbers 342 and 343.
> So... what of Texar? How old are these compressors?
>
 
> > The Texar's hunted too much and the stereo image used to
> > shift... was even more noticable when they got older and
> > needed to be redone.
> >
> > Also, you could breathe on the controls and screw it up.
> > The pretty lights told you virtually nothing, while the
> > little red LED's under told the story. I know people who
> > would misadjust them so the green/yellow lights would
> track.
>
> As one production guy said, "Prisms usually makes a cymbal
> sound like a trash can lid"....I took my Prisms out of the
> audio chain as soon as possible...an 8100 with an XT chassis
> was better....(and the Prisms I found in front of a 8200!!
> Egads!)..for STL protection, I would use a Compellor...never
> a Prism!
>

Prisms, properly adjusted (forget the lights)in front of a properly adjusted stock 8100 would in the 80s beat the pants off any setting of an 8100/XT chassis. A lot of stations tried and failed with the 8100 XT against me in my market. The trick was to let the prisms do almost all of the compression, and keep the 8100 at less than 5dB of total gain reducation.

There must be a leveller (the Compellor was great) in front of the prisms. As one poster said, if the "buffer full" LED was lit, it was already too late. They were quite easily overdriven. Another trick was to use the mid band for loudness, not the presence band.



<P ID="signature">______________
Never hold a cat and a dustbuster at the same time.</P>
 
> > > The Texar's hunted too much and the stereo image used to
>
> > > shift... was even more noticable when they got older and
>
> > > needed to be redone.
> > >
> > > Also, you could breathe on the controls and screw it up.
>
> > > The pretty lights told you virtually nothing, while the
> > > little red LED's under told the story. I know people
> who
> > > would misadjust them so the green/yellow lights would
> > track.
> >
> > As one production guy said, "Prisms usually makes a cymbal
>
> > sound like a trash can lid"....I took my Prisms out of the
>
> > audio chain as soon as possible...an 8100 with an XT
> chassis
> > was better....(and the Prisms I found in front of a 8200!!
>
> > Egads!)..for STL protection, I would use a
> Compellor...never
> > a Prism!
> >
>
> Prisms, properly adjusted (forget the lights)in front of a
> properly adjusted stock 8100 would in the 80s beat the pants
> off any setting of an 8100/XT chassis. A lot of stations
> tried and failed with the 8100 XT against me in my market.
> The trick was to let the prisms do almost all of the
> compression, and keep the 8100 at less than 5dB of total
> gain reducation.
>
> There must be a leveller (the Compellor was great) in front
> of the prisms. As one poster said, if the "buffer full" LED
> was lit, it was already too late. They were quite easily
> overdriven. Another trick was to use the mid band for
> loudness, not the presence band.
>
Depends on what you mean by "beating the pants off!!"
Yes, you could make it louder. Yes, you could make the high freqs so shrill you would think you were in New York City. Yes, the lights were fun to look at!
Now if you mean quality....."fidelity," if you will, the Compellor/Texar/8100 combo could not/can not match the 8100/XT. The 8100/XT combo is one of the best analogue processors ever made, but it wasn't perfect. The high freqs always had that "phasey" sound and you could not get enough brightness for some formats.....even after Orban brought the presence and high band mix pots out to the front panel.
In Atlanta, there are still a couple of stations using the 8100/XT. I don't know of ANY major market station still using a Texar.
 
> Depends on what you mean by "beating the pants off!!"
> Yes, you could make it louder. Yes, you could make the high
> freqs so shrill you would think you were in New York City.
> Yes, the lights were fun to look at!
> Now if you mean quality....."fidelity," if you will, the
> Compellor/Texar/8100 combo could not/can not match the
> 8100/XT. The 8100/XT combo is one of the best analogue
> processors ever made, but it wasn't perfect. The high freqs
> always had that "phasey" sound and you could not get enough
> brightness for some formats.....even after Orban brought the
> presence and high band mix pots out to the front panel.
> In Atlanta, there are still a couple of stations using the
> 8100/XT. I don't know of ANY major market station still
> using a Texar.
>

I mean louder, tigher basslines, and crisp highs. I never had a high-end problem with the Texars. The competition would have to drive the 8100 into clipping to reach the loudness level. After I put a Symetrix noise gate at the front of it all people thought we were playing CDs on the air. We were still carted at the time.


<P ID="signature">______________
Never hold a cat and a dustbuster at the same time.</P>
 
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