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Optimod 8200 vs 8300
- Thread starter stace
- Start date
The 8300 is leaps and bounds ahead of the 8200. Remember, the 8200 is built on tech that is almost 15 years old now. The 8300 is only 3-4 year old tech and is a step below the flagship 8400/8500 processors.
The 8200 suffers from all sorts of ugly distortion and is just a very gritty sounding processor. I have said before on these forums that the 8200 was ahead of its time... in a bad way. The 8200 should have been an all in one full 6 band analog box that was analog from end to end. That would have been the perfect replacement for the 8100. Digital processing did not mature until the Omnia 6... which was years after the 8200 and years after Omnia's first digital offerings.
The 8200 suffers from all sorts of ugly distortion and is just a very gritty sounding processor. I have said before on these forums that the 8200 was ahead of its time... in a bad way. The 8200 should have been an all in one full 6 band analog box that was analog from end to end. That would have been the perfect replacement for the 8100. Digital processing did not mature until the Omnia 6... which was years after the 8200 and years after Omnia's first digital offerings.
DITTO on the above...Plus there are better boxes out in the same price range as the 8300 .the omnia 5 ex, inovonics omega and dsp-xtra with ariane.IMHO
Orban 8300 is much better than 8200!! In it's current version it uses processing algorithm that's very similar to the one in 8500. 8200 was the first digital Orban processor and a design now 15 years old. It really can't compete with 8300 in any aspect, except how much rack space it uses 
Regards,
Goran Tomas
Regards,
Goran Tomas
I'm sorry guys.....there are a couple of 8200's on the air here in Atlanta and they sound GREAT!
One station is Christian CHR.....one of the best sounding stations in the market. The Omnia stations are the "gritty" sounding stations.(The other Christian CHR uses a 6.....it's not nearly as clean as the 8200 station.)
I run a 8400 at my college operation....the station has every music type from classical programs to head-slamming garage bands. There is an Optimod flavor for every music category.....I use 12 different presets. The Gregg settings are unsurpassed by anything Omnia sells .....loudness or quality.
Not to say the Omnia is not a great box....it is! I would love to hear a DXP with the Arrianne.....I don't think one is running in ATL.....you guys who have heard it, and used it, say it's great too.
But all this dissing the 8200 is uncalled for.......I promise you you can not tell the difference in a blindfold test between a 6 with the composite clipping turned up to 1.5(like most people seem to run it) and a 8200!!
One station is Christian CHR.....one of the best sounding stations in the market. The Omnia stations are the "gritty" sounding stations.(The other Christian CHR uses a 6.....it's not nearly as clean as the 8200 station.)
I run a 8400 at my college operation....the station has every music type from classical programs to head-slamming garage bands. There is an Optimod flavor for every music category.....I use 12 different presets. The Gregg settings are unsurpassed by anything Omnia sells .....loudness or quality.
Not to say the Omnia is not a great box....it is! I would love to hear a DXP with the Arrianne.....I don't think one is running in ATL.....you guys who have heard it, and used it, say it's great too.
But all this dissing the 8200 is uncalled for.......I promise you you can not tell the difference in a blindfold test between a 6 with the composite clipping turned up to 1.5(like most people seem to run it) and a 8200!!
next trip to Atlanta, i'd like to dial in those stations.mind sharing the freqs with me?? no real reason to run any comp clip on the 06, as there are better ways to get more loudness out of it.(crossovers & mixers)..Broadcast General Store may have a demo on the DSP-Xtra with Ariane...it's a killer box...make sure it has v2 software in it...
Alot of people like to crank it when they hear good processing. Try listening to the 8200 and turning DOWN the headphones to normal levels. All that junk that is masked by the ear splitting volumes (which, for some reason, is where alot of people tweak) comes right out... the shredding of female vocals, the ripping of piano, the fuzzy horns... I've never heard any of that as ugly as with an 8200.
If an Omnia 6 sounds worse than an 8200, the Omnia 6 is seriously misadjusted. Even Orban's FM processor comparison says that the 8200 is 3dB quieter for a given preset and artifact level over an 8500 and 2.5dB quieter than the 8400 and 8300. Usually I take these processor manufacturers claims with a grain of salt, but here he is comparing his own to his own.
If an Omnia 6 sounds worse than an 8200, the Omnia 6 is seriously misadjusted. Even Orban's FM processor comparison says that the 8200 is 3dB quieter for a given preset and artifact level over an 8500 and 2.5dB quieter than the 8400 and 8300. Usually I take these processor manufacturers claims with a grain of salt, but here he is comparing his own to his own.
I'm not saying that 8200 can't sound good... But 8300 can sound much better. It's cleaner, has more loudness, better AGC, more high-end... Let's put it this way - 8300 can sound as good as 8200, but the opposite is not true
Finally, I personally prefer the analog 8100/XT2 over 8200. It just sounds better to me...
As far as Omnia-6 and 8400/8500 go, both boxes have their strengths and some weaknesses. How they sound on-air is a matter of adjustment, what goes in them and what's placed afterwards... I wouldn't generalize.
Regards,
Goran Tomas
Finally, I personally prefer the analog 8100/XT2 over 8200. It just sounds better to me...
As far as Omnia-6 and 8400/8500 go, both boxes have their strengths and some weaknesses. How they sound on-air is a matter of adjustment, what goes in them and what's placed afterwards... I wouldn't generalize.
Regards,
Goran Tomas
Let's consider for a moment in the midst of all this "Mine's loudern' yours" brouhaha, some comments someone (I believe Bob Orban) made many moons ago, I believe at Vegas, which were reasoned and reasonable. This in the midst of the Loud Wars.
His message was essentially this (And if I have it mistaken in some particulars, I hope he'll read this and correct me):
If your station is reasonably loud, but kept to clean audio without artifacts, this is all you need do. Let someone else be the loudest guy on the dial to the detriment of his audio quality. Presumeably, your operation has a format which will capture sampling listeners and make partisans of them, and it is promoted locally such that the market's listeners do in fact sample it. The loudest guy will jump out of the radio and capture the stranger driving through town (who isn't subject to your promotions). There are two things this stranger doesn't do... he doesn't buy from the local merchants, and he doesn't fill out a survey for the local market. Since he neither buys from your clients or appears in your book, why would you want to attract him, to the detriment of your regular listeners whom you drive away with overdone sound?
Give it a try, and watch the younger female demo grow.
His message was essentially this (And if I have it mistaken in some particulars, I hope he'll read this and correct me):
If your station is reasonably loud, but kept to clean audio without artifacts, this is all you need do. Let someone else be the loudest guy on the dial to the detriment of his audio quality. Presumeably, your operation has a format which will capture sampling listeners and make partisans of them, and it is promoted locally such that the market's listeners do in fact sample it. The loudest guy will jump out of the radio and capture the stranger driving through town (who isn't subject to your promotions). There are two things this stranger doesn't do... he doesn't buy from the local merchants, and he doesn't fill out a survey for the local market. Since he neither buys from your clients or appears in your book, why would you want to attract him, to the detriment of your regular listeners whom you drive away with overdone sound?
Give it a try, and watch the younger female demo grow.
The 8200 is NOT doing the destruction......your doing something wrong if it sounds that bad.
Most boxes sound pretty decent if tastefully moderate processing is used. Squarewaving the audio sounds bad......Bob's squarewaves are just as nonmusical as Frank's!!
As a sidenote....I'm playing a Omnia3 Turbo on a newly upgraded country station and following it with a Jim Somich composite processor....it sounds pretty decent. Jim does composite processing better than anyone....except maybe Steve Knatt's composite box....I can't remember what it was called but it was cool!
Most boxes sound pretty decent if tastefully moderate processing is used. Squarewaving the audio sounds bad......Bob's squarewaves are just as nonmusical as Frank's!!
As a sidenote....I'm playing a Omnia3 Turbo on a newly upgraded country station and following it with a Jim Somich composite processor....it sounds pretty decent. Jim does composite processing better than anyone....except maybe Steve Knatt's composite box....I can't remember what it was called but it was cool!
Jim somich??watch out you're showing your age.ha..that one goes way back to his old processing days..heck i remember running daps in front of the 8000..i believe the 8200 you're talking about probably was set up using good common sense and not over aggressive presets.i.personally, like a box that sounds smooth,open and bright , and that works on my o6ex and the dsp-xtra with ariane..i run zero comp clip, even -5 on the Omnia..but, i have set up ALOT of processors thru the years and you have pd's and owners that want the loud,balls against the wall dense sound.as you know you have to give up something for all that loudness and that is usually brightness or clarity...
[except maybe Steve Knatt's composite box....I can't remember what it was called but it was cool!
[/quote]
Steve Hnat's composite box is a Comp-Roc. I think the Model Number was CP-2013. I love mine. The Hnat-Hindes line was bought by Broadcast Technology some years back. They have a CP-4013 that looks like it evolved from the CP-2013. Don't know how to make it a hyperlink, but the web address is :
broadcasttech.com
[/quote]
Steve Hnat's composite box is a Comp-Roc. I think the Model Number was CP-2013. I love mine. The Hnat-Hindes line was bought by Broadcast Technology some years back. They have a CP-4013 that looks like it evolved from the CP-2013. Don't know how to make it a hyperlink, but the web address is :
broadcasttech.com
taylorengineer said:
I have a Comp-Roc... very good composite clipper although I never really tried that Auto Pilot Re-insertion (APRIL system) he used in conjunction with his Ultramod (have one of those too).
The Ultramod has a great bass clipper and you REALLY can get some smooth bass out of that box. I just wish he didn't leave all audio >125Hz with pre-emphasis to a single band limiter.
As for the 8200, it is not a loudness box... not anymore. It just doesn't stand up to the octane you can get out of newer boxes. My threshold of pain on clipping is low, so others may stand more. I haven't adjusted one in a few years, but everytime, I left wanting something cleaner.
Hmmm. I'd have to say I'm surprised to hear so many negitive comments about the 8200. Still some of the best sound I've heard has come from an 8200. It's not cranked but it does'nt sound lost in a market of O6 and 8400's. And its the cleanest of the lot. It's sound is so attractive infact I find myself listening to that station even though I'm not a fan of it's programming.
I was a big fan of the 8200 also...used lightly, it can sound very good. I never have been much of a fan of heavy processing though.
The best sounding stations in this market are still using 8200's...I just put in an 8400 the other day, nice box. I haven't really dug to deeply into it, but it's sounding nice so far.
-Chris Hall
www.reelaudio.net
www.rfspec.com
The best sounding stations in this market are still using 8200's...I just put in an 8400 the other day, nice box. I haven't really dug to deeply into it, but it's sounding nice so far.
-Chris Hall
www.reelaudio.net
www.rfspec.com
M
MikeHolderfield
Guest
I have heard the 8200 referred to as the "blue turd" by a few good
processing engineers. Like Goran, I prefer the sound of the 8100A/XT
over the 8200.
With that said, I have a few stations I setup with 8200's that sound
pretty good. And are louder than the 8100A/XT's running in the
market. I just don't like the 8200 on some formats. But do on others.
Of course my 8400 station sounds better than anything in the market.
In my opinion.
processing engineers. Like Goran, I prefer the sound of the 8100A/XT
over the 8200.
With that said, I have a few stations I setup with 8200's that sound
pretty good. And are louder than the 8100A/XT's running in the
market. I just don't like the 8200 on some formats. But do on others.
Of course my 8400 station sounds better than anything in the market.
In my opinion.
The 8100 with XT is still one of the best setups for Urban. Follow a 8100XT with some tastefully used composite clipping and you will be the king of all things that thump!
The 8100 is just a great, all round audio processor!!
And remember your first 8000? Watching the needle on the mod monitor go ALL THE WAY to 100% ??? There are still 8000s out there today still bangin' away.
The 8100 is just a great, all round audio processor!!
And remember your first 8000? Watching the needle on the mod monitor go ALL THE WAY to 100% ??? There are still 8000s out there today still bangin' away.
I think the 8200 sounds O.K. on country, A/C, and Oldies formats.
Will always prefer an 8100 with heavily modified XT in front w/clipping over an 8200.
That said, give me an Omnia 6 and I'll have any competition either running illegal or pushing their box into distortion to try and compete with the freakishly open and loud sound the 6 can make.
Will always prefer an 8100 with heavily modified XT in front w/clipping over an 8200.
That said, give me an Omnia 6 and I'll have any competition either running illegal or pushing their box into distortion to try and compete with the freakishly open and loud sound the 6 can make.
G Thomas:
'I didn't get the feeling we are talking about loundess and being loudest on the dial'
Oh, 'scuseme. Some of the discussion and much of the rhetoric seemed to lean in that dorection.
And, I >still< haven't heard a station sound as good overall as Taylorengineer's old employers back BCC (Before Clear Channel). They used to have a Neumann announce mike in the air studio, which gave rise to the greatest aedvice for working a Neumann (or any other large capsule condenser mike):
[EDIT]
That place always sounded AWEsome.
[EDIT=inappropriate comment]
'I didn't get the feeling we are talking about loundess and being loudest on the dial'
Oh, 'scuseme. Some of the discussion and much of the rhetoric seemed to lean in that dorection.
And, I >still< haven't heard a station sound as good overall as Taylorengineer's old employers back BCC (Before Clear Channel). They used to have a Neumann announce mike in the air studio, which gave rise to the greatest aedvice for working a Neumann (or any other large capsule condenser mike):
[EDIT]
That place always sounded AWEsome.
[EDIT=inappropriate comment]
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