• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

orban optimod firmware development and frequent updates?

F

fugazi

Guest
Gents,

Why is Orban not updating their firmware more often, like all the other soundprocessor brands do?
I know somehow that this is historical ( ie. V2 V3 etc ), but why not intermediate firmwares?
I see a lot of movement with other brands, but not with Orban. I would like to see a more often update of firmware. Or is it just the flagship getting more attention?
My 8300 had an update ( fix of LCD hardware, between boards ), but nothing more changed.

ps. i am absolutely orban ( optimod ) minded and i love the boxes they make.

BR

Fugaz
 
hehehe,

I mean improvement updates and especially new features.
Other brands offer new features in their latest firmwares they are not just bugfixes.

br

fugaz
 
I think that you should be happy when upgrades are released at all. Sure I'dd like to see as many updates as they can come up with but the fact is that they have just so many people available. This goes for any manufacturer. When you buy a processor you basically buy it as it is at that point. We expect upgrades/improvements to come but this isn't a fact you can and should count on unless the manufacturer says there’s more down the line to come. Let me ask you this would you be willing to pay for upgrades? In the past you had to pay for upgrades but these always had some hardware upgrade to do with it (eprom's or additional power like the dspx-mini to mini-SE). But would you pay for only software upgrades?
 
It somewhat depends on which Orban processor you have. As you might expect, we concentrate our improvements in our higher-end processors. For example, the 8500 got a 2.0 upgrade several years back that implemented a major architecture change. The 8300 got a 2.0 upgrade that basically brought it up to the same functionality as an 8400. The 1100 got a major mid-life upgrade. Within the last few months the 6300 got a serious upgrade, as did the 1101. Meanwhile, a significant part of our engineering resources have recently been applied to refining the software for the 8585 surround processor for television.

We also are very careful in testing new software before we release it--we have two employees whose only job description is testing software for quality before it is released.

Finally, we like to think that one reason we don't release new software every month is that we get a lot of the features and sound right the first time around. We believe in not fixing what isn't broken :). Certainly, our typical customer does not want to have to go through the inconvenience of frequent software upgrades -- many of our customers rely on contract engineers and are satisfied that the processing they have is getting them the audience that they want. Ultimately, that is the most important thing.

Bob Orban
 
Bob,

Clear answer. I am very satisfied with my 8300.


br

fugaz
 
It is worth noting that the broadcast manufacturing community are nearly unique in that the majority don't charge for upgrades including feature upgrades.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom