Processing Oldies with Omnia-3FM Turbo

[techie2]

Anyone have any "tips and tricks" for setting up the Omnia-3 FM Turbo to work with an Oldies format (50s thru 70s)?

I am slowly making progress, but it still seems like I can't get a consistent sound (loudness/density/level-wise) across all cuts. I'm not sure if this is a problem in the range of input levels (currently I am using a Compellor set for almost straight leveling to compensate before the Omnia input) or if the Omnia just doesn't care much for the weird things done with stereo in some of these recordings.

Any suggestions?

 

[menotti1]

call Omnia support, they may have a preset you can use.when i had the 3t i started with the crank and worked from there(now running omnia 6EXI awesome). have you tried the country preset? i heard a country station running the classical preset(for real) and i gotta say it sounded good and very open.plus you need to remember oldies is a hard format to set up. some of that late 50's and 60's was meant for AM radio and getting it right on FM can be tuff.My station sounded darn good,same format as you,but i can not remember the settings.Contact Omnia,they can help..if i find my old settings i will post them ..describe the rest of you air chain if you would.

 

[techie2]

Not much to the air chain at all...

Automation output or board output --> Switcher/EAS insert --> Compellor --> Omnia-3FMT --> Composite STL

Previously it was just the Omnia, but I stuck the Compellor in there for gain riding (proc. balance is set to 9:00, so the result is almost 100% leveling action)

I realize that some of the source material is going to be deficient, but I still feel like I should be able to get better level consistency than what I'm getting.

I'll look at the country preset and use the worksheet to compare it to what we are running right now.

 

[FFoti1]

A call to our Customer Support Dept will help as well (216) 241-7225. Ask for Mark Manolio.

-Frank Foti

 

[fm-engineer]

You may have dueling AGC's which can cause problems. Try to defeat the Omnia's WB AGC, or raise the gate threshold way up. Or, I would try to remove the compellor if you can, start over, and make sure the input levels are correct to the Omnia. I'm not familiar with the Omnia 3T, but the WB AGG in Omnia 6’s seem to work fine without external boxes. I use compellors where DSTL's need protection, then defeat the WB AGC but retain the gain structure by using special remote commands. Works great. You should give Mark a call at Omnia. He usually calls you back within an hour or two. They do have great support. Good luck.

Not much to the air chain at all...

Automation output or board output --> Switcher/EAS insert --> Compellor --> Omnia-3FMT --> Composite STL

Previously it was just the Omnia, but I stuck the Compellor in there for gain riding (proc. balance is set to 9:00, so the result is almost 100% leveling action)

I realize that some of the source material is going to be deficient, but I still feel like I should be able to get better level consistency than what I'm getting.

I'll look at the country preset and use the worksheet to compare it to what we are running right now.

 

[menotti1]

i assume you are getting 10-12 db of gain reduction on the omnia wb agc meter..i would set the attack and release in the omnia WB AGC faster to add density and for a little fast gain riding,,just don't set the drive as high,maybe 4-6db.see how that works.i just find it easier to take the crank pre and work down from there,instead of a mid-pre and working up.use the power of the unit and work down from there.use the multibands eq drive control to tatlor the sound (not the mix or limiter sections).Source material varies alot with oldies,and it can be difficult to tame.good luck, contact Omnia,they will bend over backwards to help you.recheck that agc setup,as fm-eng said you don;t want dueling agc's.

 

[menotti1]

Use the Drive control to ensure you are in adequate gain-reduction. Having the control set too low can rob you
of loudness, and defeat the “leveling” function of the Wideband AGC in dealing with varying program levels.
If wideband leveling is being performed upstream of the Omnia, the Wideband AGC control can be set to
“OUT” to bypass the AGC entirely.
Use the Gate Thresh control to set the level at which gating occurs, hence “freezing” the gain during short
pauses. Correct use will eliminate “pumping” effects that can lend an unnatural quality to the processing.

passage from the 03t manual.

 

[littlejohn]

I don't think I'd dump a composite signal directly into an exciter from an STL receiver. Some sorta baseband limiter to get the bounces and spikes the STL system is generating out of the signal.
Also, one of the beauties of oldies from an audio point of view is, therew's not a lot of new music, so your production folks (or you) can put a little time into tweaking the individual recordings and then putting them back into the automation storage system. If you sourcded from a service like TM, occasionally you can find a better recording of a song than the one they had to use to supply you.
Besure the audio path is squealy clean, lean up (or simplyu lose) the really bad cuts, and speak with the gurus at the factory about the processing. They usually have 'seen it before' and will have some input. And when you get a set of settings which do what you want, share them back with the factory guys so the next guy can have a try at them.

 

[techie2]

I don't think I'd dump a composite signal directly into an exciter from an STL receiver. Some sorta baseband limiter to get the bounces and spikes the STL system is generating out of the signal.
Also, one of the beauties of oldies from an audio point of view is, therew's not a lot of new music, so your production folks (or you) can put a little time into tweaking the individual recordings and then putting them back into the automation storage system. If you sourcded from a service like TM, occasionally you can find a better recording of a song than the one they had to use to supply you.
Besure the audio path is squealy clean, lean up (or simplyu lose) the really bad cuts, and speak with the gurus at the factory about the processing. They usually have 'seen it before' and will have some input. And when you get a set of settings which do what you want, share them back with the factory guys so the next guy can have a try at them.

What sort of baseband limiters are out there? The only one I know of is the mod sci CP-803.

 

[littlejohn]

The CP- 803 will do what you want here. Just knock off the spikes and bumps from the STL. CRL made one once as well, if memoryserves.

Although if his path is short, I'd probably suggest T-1 radios. We run Lynx radios on a 27 or so mile path with good results on 2.4GHz and six foot dishes. No license required.

 

[techie2]

The STL path is only a hair over 3 miles, so T1 radios may be an option.

 

[littlejohn]

You can do three miles with a 2 foot dish at each end. I'd probably use 6GHz radios. We had poor luck with Red Lion ones, but the Lynx and AdTran products work quite well. I have two paths using 8 T-1s on 5.8GHz radios (Lynx) and they are rock solid. One T1 is assigned to each station's audio via Intraplex shelf and 44.1KHz linear CODEC cards. The remainder are run through inverse multiplexers at each end and providse ethernet connection at each transmitter plant. We hang all the boxes on the wire, either directly or via serial to ethernet converters. When finished, I should be able to see all the equipment and monitors from my home computer.

 

[techie2]

Sounds like a nice setup. Unfortunately that might break the bank for us... :-\

 

[PTBoardOp94]

i heard a country station running the classical preset(for real) and i gotta say it sounded good and very open.

I doubt it was the station I was working at that you saw, but classical is a pretty good place to start for a classic country station IMO. Orban 2200 + Classical + slight bass adjustment is pretty sweet.

 

[menotti1]

nope, it was an Omnia 3T,had to see the preset(classical) with my own eyes.That country format sure sounded smooth and open.interesting.