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Inovonics Omega FM

S

Steve_S

Hello,

Just picked up a used Inovonics Omega FM processor in pretty good shape from a station that I do engineering work for. Has anyone here used one of these before and if so what is your experience with it? Pros? Cons? Would/could this processor be used in a major market? (note - I'm not looking for it to be a fire-breathing processor. I just want to know a bit more about its capabilities since I haven't used one before).

Thanks,

Steve
 
Sounds great on classical(ha), just kidding.Make sure it has the latest firmware and don't push it.Heard one on a country format that sounded ok.Not the most popular offering on the market.Hope you stole it(so to speak).i would talk to the inovonics folks .Hopefully there is some new firmware.
 
I use four of them on Christian Contemporary stations & with substantial tweaking, I'm pleased with the box. From what I understand, when they fail, they are expensive to have repaired. Based on the wisdom of the group that owns these & their decision to not repair them any longer, I'd look at this as a less than long term unit. If you'd like a copy of the preset I custom made for the Omega, drop me an an email at bob at c3bb dot com.
 
I found it ironic that the latest Progressive Concepts catalog boasts about how the Omega FM will "never become obsolete", and then the very next line says "Closeout Sale, while supplies last!"
 
It sounds like I'm not going to be able to create the 'California' sound' with this processor. What is the California sound anyway? I've had two different clients in the past year ask for it and I have no idea what it is and they haven't been able to explain it in terms I can understand and turn into knob twisting.
 
IIRC,that was a compressed dense sounding format.Balls to the wall deal.But if you had a good "buzz" going you would love it.KHJ did it back in the 60's,sounded better on AM than it would on FM today.IMHO
 
I think I've played with one of these, wasn't overly impressed from what I can remember...is this the one with the software identical to MBL4?
 
bigrig said:
I think I've played with one of these, wasn't overly impressed from what I can remember...is this the one with the software identical to MBL4?
Click to expand...

I'm not familiar with that software. But I have gotten this thing up and running now and I think it sounds pretty smooth overall. It isn't very loud compared to the other processors I can compare it with. Plus there is some kind of odd HF effect that I really don't care for - it sounds like very fast limiting. Does anyone know what the internal architecture really is (internal signal flow)? It doesn't seem to act like the manual's signal flow suggests it should.
 
I have a friend (who is a long time and highly regarded by his peers broadcast engineer) who SWEARS by these units! Just about every one of his FMs use them and they ALL are the best sounding stations in their markets. I believe that it's his setup that makes them sound so good...
 
After a bit of research, looks like I was right earlier...it does use the same "internal architecture" as MBL4 and the same GUI when using the control/setup with a PC on the Omega. So basically....if you've used MBL4 and got it to sound good, then you'll have no problem with this....

By the way MBL4 is now freeware.....so it's worth a play.....it's the last one right at the bottom of page....

http://www.burnill.co.uk/downloads.html

Also check out a small PDF brochure of the Omega showing a screenshot of their identical software.....

http://www.ibs.org.uk/public/lineuparchive/2002/Apr-May/Inovonics_Omega-FM.pdf

By the way, I'm not trying to pee on your cornflakes by saying you can get the equivalent of you're processor for free on software. I've never compared them side by side and I'm sure the Omega will sound better, be more reliable and has the important fact of no latency! :)
 
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