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Optimod-AM 9400 pic & info

W

westlife

Guest
BSW has some details on the forthcoming <a target="_blank" href=http://www.bswusa.com/proditem.asp?item=9400>Optimod-AM 9400</a>, due out in January 2006, plus this nifty photo:

orba_9400.jpg


I'm not sure I like the tan faceplate (obviously it's designed to mimic the brown faceplace of the legendary 9100 series), but hopefully Orban will capitalize on the iPod fashion trend by offering a series of "skins" for the 9400, in a wide assortment of colors and patterns. :)

<P ID="signature">______________
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"This is the New York Emergency Broadcast System satellite channel. They took the crosstown bus."</P>
 
I'm willing to accept a unit (for free) to replace our old school 9100A. I volunteer to make us a guinea pig. I'll even take pics of it.<P ID="signature">______________
</P>
 
> I'm willing to accept a unit (for free) to replace our old
> school 9100A. I volunteer to make us a guinea pig. I'll
> even take pics of it.
>

I wouldn't be so quick to dis the 9100A. That is still considered the "gold standard" by lots of engineers! I don't know about right now, but in the not-too-distant past, a new 9100 cost more than the 9200!<P ID="signature">______________
</P>
 
> I wouldn't be so quick to dis the 9100A. That is still
> considered the "gold standard" by lots of engineers! I
> don't know about right now, but in the not-too-distant past,
> a new 9100 cost more than the 9200!

It still does, according to Orban/CRL's 2005 price list... about $4000 more, IIRC.

<P ID="signature">______________
noiboc.jpg

"This is the New York Emergency Broadcast System satellite channel. They took the crosstown bus."</P>
 
> I wouldn't be so quick to dis the 9100A. That is still
> considered the "gold standard" by lots of engineers! I
> don't know about right now, but in the not-too-distant past,
> a new 9100 cost more than the 9200!

It needs to be recapped and have a little lovin'.

I just want a new toy for xmas :)<P ID="signature">______________
</P>
 
the 9100 is their only stereo box right now, plus the fact there is no smt, it costs more to build. Recapping and aligning the 9100 would be a good thing. But one cannot wait for a 9400, i have a couple of 9200's available...
 
Hey SamBuca, if you are looking to get rid of that 9100, I'll happily trade you one of my old CRLs.

Since we are on the topic of processors, I could use a little advice. I'm going to close soon on two AMs, both 1kW fulltimers. One with an AC format, and the other a News/Talker. I'm going to have to shell out the bucks for new processors for both (probably transmitters too, but that's a whole other story). Being the tight-wad I am, I'm thinking of buying Omnia AM3s. Is it worth the extra bucks to get Optimods?

I mean, I know how amazing Orbans sound on the air. But I have no personal experience with Omnias. Can anybody provide any insight?



PS...I noticed the new 9400 in the BSW that came today. Looks like the list price is $7,990.
 
> Hey SamBuca, if you are looking to get rid of that 9100,
> I'll happily trade you one of my old CRLs.
>
> Since we are on the topic of processors, I could use a
> little advice. I'm going to close soon on two AMs, both 1kW
> fulltimers. One with an AC format, and the other a
> News/Talker. I'm going to have to shell out the bucks for
> new processors for both (probably transmitters too, but
> that's a whole other story). Being the tight-wad I am, I'm
> thinking of buying Omnia AM3s. Is it worth the extra bucks
> to get Optimods?
>
> I mean, I know how amazing Orbans sound on the air. But I
> have no personal experience with Omnias. Can anybody provide
> any insight?

My advice: keep those CRLs on the air for another few months, and then go for the AM version of the DSPXmini when it's released. You'll get at least the same performance as the Omnia-3AM at half the price.

Or even better, wait for Sam to get his own DSPX, then take his old Optimod 9100 off his hands. Despite all the fancy-schmancy digital processors that have been released over the past decade, I think the 9100 series will continue to be the ultimate AM audio processor for a long time to come -- just like how the analog 8100+XT2 was the preferred FM processor for years after Orban replaced it with the digital 8200.
<P ID="signature">______________
noiboc.jpg

"This is the New York Emergency Broadcast System satellite channel. They took the crosstown bus."</P>
 
Need an Engineer? I,m looking to go south for the winter.
Personally. I Never liked the Orban 9200. But I just installed the
latest verson of the 9200 in a New station build.
I also have a 9100/b in the rack.( my favorite)
I am rather shocked. the 9200 with the Newest software sounds really good.
I have it at the point where I can switch between the 9100 and the 9200 and you can barely notice the difference. I could never do that on the older 9200's
I just hate the Menu's give me knobs for individual controls its easier.
I am guessing its easier to configure using a laptop. Hey Bob Orban. do you have a MAC verson Of the software for the Processors?
Neal


> Hey SamBuca, if you are looking to get rid of that 9100,
> I'll happily trade you one of my old CRLs.
>
> Since we are on the topic of processors, I could use a
> little advice. I'm going to close soon on two AMs, both 1kW
> fulltimers. One with an AC format, and the other a
> News/Talker. I'm going to have to shell out the bucks for
> new processors for both (probably transmitters too, but
> that's a whole other story). Being the tight-wad I am, I'm
> thinking of buying Omnia AM3s. Is it worth the extra bucks
> to get Optimods?
>
> I mean, I know how amazing Orbans sound on the air. But I
> have no personal experience with Omnias. Can anybody provide
> any insight?
>
>
>
> PS...I noticed the new 9400 in the BSW that came today.
> Looks like the list price is $7,990.
>
 
> the 9100 is their only stereo box right now...

The Amigo AM is still available and still Stereo and C-Quam ready. Yeah the Optimod 9100 is a great box. I still prefer the CRL stuff for Music on AM. Nothing beats the Legend Series. For Talk, you can't go wrong with a 9100. For music I still prefer CRL, which don't forget is now owned by Orban.

The Amigo AM retails for about $5,500 less than the 9100, and $1,500 less than the 9200. The legend series can still be bought new too. Someone just sold a whole Set on eBay last week for about $750. Orban/CRL still supports and services this old stuff too!

I have heard that the 9400 is giong to be a stereo capable processor. I don't know if that means the analog will emply matrix processing like the 9100 and the CRL Amigo AM or not. Perhaps the stereo will only be for the IBOC output?

The sales reps at NAB Philly said nothing about stereo. All they told us was that the new 9400 was going to be the 9200 and the 6200 combined into one box. They were more interested in pushing the new FM processor. They musn't have been too well informed because the press release about the 9400 would lead me to believe that it will be stereo and have vast improvements. We shall see.
 
Re: Since the Cat is out of the Bag

>
> My advice: keep those CRLs on the air for another few
> months, and then go for the AM version of the DSPXmini when
> it's released. You'll get at least the same performance as
> the Omnia-3AM at half the price.

I thought this was stil under wraps, but since someone else spilled the beans...

The DSP-X is phenomenally impressive for its price range! The DSP-Xtra pushes the envelope even further. It is true that The BW team is working on an AM version of the DSP-X. The Beta should be ready fairly soon. Apparently they studied various popular AM Analog processors to see how they behave in order to mimic them digitally. If the DSP-X AM version is half as good as the FM version it will be a top notch unit.

164_hr.jpg


As far as the stations using old CRL processing, There is nothing at all wrong with that! If it is really old, you can send them to Orban/CRL to get re-Capped and a "Tune Up." That will be much more cost efficient than a whole new processor.

crllegend.jpg


The CRL stuf is very stable and reliable. If there is a brief power disruption, they come right back up. They are easy to set. They sound really good. They even made a Ramsey AM Kit sound good! Didn't think that was possible either. Best part about CRL Analog Processors, No Delay! No Delay = Happy Air Staff :)

Best Regards, Russty
 
> I have heard that the 9400 is going to be a stereo capable
> processor. I don't know if that means the analog will emply
> matrix processing like the 9100 and the CRL Amigo AM or not.
> Perhaps the stereo will only be for the IBOC output?

The 9400 does have an analog stereo output. However, like the Omnia series of AM processors, its compression and limiting is not matrixed. Therefore, with C-Quam, single-channel audio will be restricted to 50% modulation. This is not really a big deal with talk or contemporary music formats. However, with formats like Oldies and Classic Country where there is a lot of wide-separation stereo and single-channel audio to deal with, that's when you'll hear the difference on the air, versus a fully matrixed processor like the 9100 or any of the CRL series.

Thankfully, the 9400 is a DSP-based processor, so its DSP code can be improved and enhanced as time goes by -- including full C-Quam matrix processing if/when Orban feels there is enough demand for it.

For more information on the Optimod-AM 9400, see <a target="_blank" href=http://www.orban.com/orban/products/radio/am/9400_overview.html>the new page for it on Orban's web site</a>.

h_9400_am.gif

coming9400.jpg

<P ID="signature">______________
noiboc.jpg

"This is the New York Emergency Broadcast System satellite channel. They took the crosstown bus."</P>
 
Re: Since the Cat is out of the Bag

> As far as the stations using old CRL processing, There is
> nothing at all wrong with that! If it is really old, you
> can send them to Orban/CRL to get re-Capped and a "Tune Up."
> That will be much more cost efficient than a whole new
> processor.

Or if you have CRL's very detailed and well-written manuals on hand, recap the units yourself and then follow CRL's step-by-step alignment procedure. With some basic test equipment on hand, like an audio tone generator and an oscilloscope, it's really not that difficult.

> The CRL stuf is very stable and reliable. If there is a
> brief power disruption, they come right back up.

That's a definite advantage of analog equipment. With digital audio processors, the delay between power-up and when it starts outputting audio can vary from several seconds to several minutes!

> They are easy to set. They sound really good. They even made
> a Ramsey AM Kit sound good! Didn't think that was possible
> either. Best part about CRL Analog Processors, No Delay!
> No Delay = Happy Air Staff :)

Very true. According to Orban's specs, the 9400 has a processing delay of "approximately 17 ms". That's quite high -- enough to cause an annoying echo in the DJ's headphones. Hopefully future versions of its DSP code will be able to improve that.
<P ID="signature">______________
noiboc.jpg

"This is the New York Emergency Broadcast System satellite channel. They took the crosstown bus."</P>
 
HALF the price?!?!

Okay it's settled...the CRLs can stay for a while, even though I cringe when I hear them. It's amazing how poor a signal can sound with little or no processing. The Omnia-3AMs are only about three grand each, and I was content with that. How long will I have to wait? Any good guesses?
 
Re:CRL & Cringing?

> Okay it's settled...the CRLs can stay for a while, even
> though I cringe when I hear them. It's amazing how poor a
> signal can sound with little or no processing.

CRL stuff should be able to give you good sound. Just what pieces are installed? do you have all three pieces (AGC/Comp/Lim) Are they possibly being overdriven? What kind of TX rigs are they feeding? What kind of signal pattern are you putting out? How is the bandwidth of the antenna system? Once again, if they are grungy Orban/CRL can service them for you.

One station we do work for has a totally messed up antenna system. (Non-Directional Mind You) No matter what we put on the air there it sounds like hell. The best sounding box actually is the Optimod 9100. We tried everything under the sun. Unfortunately It don't pay to fix the antenna system because the station is an LMA. When we first got in there the station had an old tired beat up optimod 9000. Talk about Cringing...
 
Re:CRL & Cringing?

I'm sorry, perhaps I have the wrong impression. Processing is by no means the sole cause of my signal problems. They feed old CCA tube transmitters. At one of the stations, the ground system is in bad shape too. However, just by looking at the CRLs in the racks, I can tell they aren't in good shape.

I'm planning to replace both transmitters, and drop in new processors as well. I hope santa brings me a winning KY Lotto ticket to pay for all the toys I'm gonna have to buy!
 
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