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Omnia One

W

WNTIRadio

Have an Omnia One that I'm evaluating for a client that wants to upgrade their horrible 2200 and doesn't have $10k to spend like the last one on the 11. This is the first time I've gotten my hands on this particular box. It took a lot of tuning from the preset I used as a starting point (CGBigAC) to get it in the ballpark that I like. Part of the problem is that the last processor I've played with was the 11, so it's kind of like going from an Audi A8 to a Ford Focus. The Ford's a nice car, it's just not the Audi... The 11 is just amazing at how little distortion it creates for a TON of loudness, yet still sounds open. Anyway, back to the One... anyone else have any tips on making the high end a little more consistent cut to cut? Have played with the AGC's and the Limiters, but it's tough to zero in on that point where the limiter contains it and keeps it consistent but doesn't suck the brightness out of the audio.

I'm thinking of buying one of these for my business as a loaner processor since it can do FM, AM, web etc. I could ditch the 8100a loaner I use now to fund this (anyone want to purchase one with card 0 and the stock and RCF2 cards?) purchase and come out ahead because I have a swiss army knife processor that can go anywhere with a reboot.

What I really want is the Omnia 9. I'm jumping all over the place in this topic, but does anyone know if there are plans to have it be able to do AM? I have a client with an AM and an FM translator and it would be awesome to have the same processing feeding both stations from one box.
 
Contact our customer support dept. They can set you up with a new S/W load that will enable the limiters to operate in 5-band mode. This new configuration adds a band to the high frequency range.

BTW: The upgrade is very costly.......FREE! :)

-Frank
 
Thanks Frank! Will do just that on Monday.

Besides the great sound, yet another reason I love the Omnia products. They're always tinkering to make them better.

Can't wait to hear the 9...
 
The Omnia can feed AM and FM at once????
 
Nope, I was just wishing that the Omnia.9 would be able to do that. It would be a great feature and I don't see why they couldn't make that happen...

The One can be reconfigured for AM/FM/Webcast with a reboot to different firmware.
 
Since each type of broadcast is processed differently, each requires a dedicated processing path. Thus, you cannot get multiple ouptuts very easily from a single processing path. Any box that could do everything would either be an extremely compromised tradeoff or has to have most of the guts of multiple processors, thus would be pretty expensive to make or buy.
 
Yeah, but it already spits out multiple paths in the form of an FM and an HD. So, why not have an option to have AM go out on one of the outputs that are selected. Separate clipper with asymmetrical clipping and NRSC filtering wouldn't be too hard to do. Breakaway Broadcast (which is the basis of the Omnia.9) already can do AM. I don't see this as being hard to do or expensive at all, and would certainly have a market with all the AM's on translators these days.
 
Most well designed AM processors have processing and crossovers optimized for the bandwidth limitations of the medium thru radios that are less than forgiving.

FM and FM/HD is a much different story and sharing processing along the way works well.

When I was at CBS in NY, we utilized two processors for our AM's... one for the analog and a separate for the HD along with an Eventide delay to match the paths. The boxes on the HD's were set to be very transparent and to not exaggerate the audio for that medium.

Mike Erickson
 
WNTIRadio said:
I'm thinking of buying one of these for my business as a loaner processor since it can do FM, AM, web etc. I could ditch the 8100a loaner I use now to fund this (anyone want to purchase one with card 0 and the stock and RCF2 cards?) purchase and come out ahead because I have a swiss army knife processor that can go anywhere with a reboot.

What I really want is the Omnia 9. I'm jumping all over the place in this topic, but does anyone know if there are plans to have it be able to do AM? I have a client with an AM and an FM translator and it would be awesome to have the same processing feeding both stations from one box.
Click to expand...

Hey Nick,

If your brain works in any way similar to the way you write, then you probably have ADHD... I would know! (Wanna ride bikes?)

I can't help but ask what you want for that 8100A (not recently refurbed, I assume)

I doubt I'll be able to swing it anyway, since my other fetish just caused me to blow ten grand on a 1963 Chevy Impala! (with an AM radio that doesn't work!)

It's really awesome driving an antique car to the transmitter site, (weather permitting) even if I can't use it for air monitoring!
 
Put the new firmware in tonight which was just added to the Omnia website. Adding that "super high" 5th band on the limiter really opens up the highs and allows me to tailor them to what I want to hear. I can also increase the clipper silk, increasing the distortion cancelling because of the increased high frequency content from that 5th band.

I was on the fence before, but I think I may keep it.

Still want to hear the VP-8 and the new David IV from Inovonics. The advantage goes to Omnia and/or the Vorsis because of the ability to do different transmission modes/streaming, which is valuable as a loaner unit for the business. I can consolidate various analog Optimods etc. into one easy to transport rack unit. Have to try it out on AM next.
 
I really commend Telos/Omnia on their support. It's first class on even the least expensive thing in their line. Other manufactures (not necessarly in their line of equipment) have a tendency to treat those of us that buy a less-expensive version of their higher power equipment or bigger whatever as sort of second-class. I've never seen that out of Omnia. I'll continue to keep buying Omnia Ones for small market broadcasters and non-comms too. It's a great fit for the price :)!
 
Omnia "gets it" that reputation is reputation, regardless of what the customer paid for it. Some lesser priced things from others are really of poorer quality and that bad image of how the lesser product performed is what many remember. That's something that a compnay should really consider before making the "cheap version". "Does this really represent what we do at a lesser price?" In the case of the Omnia One I'd say it's a absolute YES it does!
 
For the price point, I'm really liking the sound. I had to "de-tune" my ears though, after having the 11 for a couple of months in the shop before the station signed on. The One isn't the 11, but it does sound as good as a 5ex that I had at another station, and cost a lost less. And this can do AM, HD or webcast at that price.

Going back to the 9 for a second with the separate AM output, I still don't see why this isn't possible to have separate clippers following the MB limiters. Or a separate limiter/clipper section for the AM. The HD outputs already have look-ahead limiting in place of clipping, why not this too? As far as different topologies for the processing, well, the venerable 9100B and XT had the same limiter/clipper section for the MB (the XT-2 had bands 5 and 6 coupled) and worked well in both applications with a different final clipper and filtering. In the digital world, this is pretty easy to do. Especially since the AM limiter filter and clipper code already exist in Breakaway Broadcast. It would sure be nice for the AM/FM translator comobos now, once box, both signals. Same sonic signature (except for the rolling off at 3khz part).

I'm only sayin'...
 
Got the new software last night and have some thoughts:

This update is quite significant. I have very sensitive hearing in the upper presense region, and it isn't a blessing. It means I hear sibilance pumping where others apparently do not hear it. That's why every preset I produce has less limiter drive for the Omnia than stock presets. I back off that drive to eliminate any hint of pumping S's.

This new version includes the 5th limiter band, making it structurally similar to a 5EX, but with more MB AGC bands than the 5EX had. Splitting the highs into two bands has an intuitive dual effect: 1) Reducing the amount of GR in the old 4th band (because it handles less energy now) and 2) Pushing most sibilance GR into the higher frequency region where it belongs (and is less detectable).

The net effect is that you can drive the limiters harder (although there are other good reasons not to drive them TOO much harder), and get a fuller sound on the air without any risk of pumping. There is a secondary effect: Even if you choose to upgrade but not drive the limiters any harder, highs will sound more natural. I believe this is because band 4 will sound more natural because it rarely has to perform GR just to handle sibilance. That means if you change nothing at all (except enabling band 5), you'll automatically get a sonic upgrade.

Because of all of this, I would have to recommend the upgrade to anyone as it is VERY safe, even if you don't want to tinker with your presets at all.

I would also say this upgrade allows the Omnia ONE to compare favorably against some units it might have previously been outgunned against. Your mileage might vary, but do try the update.
 
I applied the update as well and am very pleased with the sound. Thanks again to Omnia!

Has anyone been able to enable the super-high limiter through the remote web application? I had to enable and adjust it at the site on the box.
 
I rarely touch the unit directly. I applied band 5 through the web interface. I went to the typical band 5 limiter screen, and there was a new radio button (just for band 5), labeled Enabled or Bypass (I believe). I clicked Enabled, and it immediately took effect.
 
I have the unit here, but it's so much easier to do it through the LAN interface. Worked fine for me. After you enable the 5th band, check the settings on it and the mixer outputs. Mine was actually TOO bright and then I turned the mixer out down about .6dB and it sounded great.

I don't know if the DSP is there, but if the WB AGC could have a window it would be great. But of course, at this price I really can't complain too much.

I really do wish I had auditioned the One first, before the 11. That really spoiled me and I'm still trying to wash it out of my ears. It's so clean, and the bass is bottomless, yet still punchy and tight. I need to go listen to a few Volumaxes and come back to this to get my perspective back ;)
 
Got the remote web interface to work. Had to close out and restart the browser after applying the update. Works like a champ!
 
Wow -- it's days like this when I wish I was still in radio and around an Omnia One processor to hear how good it will sound on the new software. Congratulations to Omnia and keep up the good work!
 
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