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Processing

T

twelch1980

I am a college student that is currently doing a project for school. My project is to build a virtual radio station from computer to transmitter and list every part that is to be included. I furthurmore have a "budget" of 2500 remaining to achieve this.

Here is what I am looking to know.

Are there any good dynamic processors (compressor/limiters) along with any low cost boards (for broadcast only) that would fit within my bidget of 2500?
I have come across a TC Electronic DBMax Broadcast Maxamizer? Orbans (very costly)? and an Arrakis board (ARC-8)?

Any suggestions and guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance to all the radio people out there!

Troy
 
Unless you go with used equipment, you will have a hard time doing that for $2500. You could use a Behringer mixer and compressor/limiter. Their mixers aren't really set up for broadcast but a lot of people use them that way. Many of them have several stereo line level inputs. For a little more, you could use a Mackie, Yamaha or Allen & Heath. These are all basically PA boards, but could be used on the air.

The cheapest radio specific board I've seen in the Arakis ARC-8, which is OK for many applications.

You never mentioned transmitter and antenna. Is this Part 15 (unlicensed) or something like a licensed LPFM station? I think you'll find that FCC certified LPFM transmitters start about $3500 and go up to almost $10,000.
 
BW Broadcast DSP-X Mini... about $1,200 for the processing. Look at Audioarts on BSW for their low cost boards.
 
"budget remaining"? if that is just for processing that BW processor is about it-- a few $$$ more would get you an Omnia One (list around $3K).

Now if that is the total budget, turn in your paper and mark it "impossible."

We just purchased a station, had to build brand new studio from scratch because the lease on their studio (at a competitor's studio--was an LMA) had expired. From sound proofing to STL antenna and tower, the new studio cost $32K (and that did not include the the STL and processor which came with the deal).

Realistically, if we had to buy the STL, a processor, antenna, and transmitter, the cost would have been double. And that would be with a rented site and rented tower (which, in essence, we have, although I bought the studio building outside the corporation as an investment).
 
Thanks for ther responses thus far. But I think what we are asked to do is with the budget that we have been given to find ideas that could work. So here is what I am thinking and could someone guide me further from here.

From computer (which is not included in budget, nor is automation) go into an Arrakis ARC-8 board. From the board it would go into a TC Electronic DBMax for processing/dynamics. From there I am not sure if a limiter such as the Aphex Dominator would be needed but its an option. I dont know enough about the DBMax to know if it will provide enough limiting and compression to avoid destroying a transmitter. What I also dont know is if there would be/should be other equipment in the air chain to provide a nice sound. Used equipment is the key. The point to the paper is to establish how someone could possibly take a dream of owning a radio station, build a modest studio and grow from there. Transmitter and antenna is not necessary to be included as those cost thousands. That will be the topic of the next paper.

I am not sure if I have my chain correctly so that may also need correction. Again, I am not AT ALL familiar with the processing/engineering part of radio. I worked several years in radio and know tons about automation and production, but it ends there.

Proposed chain

Computer ---> Arrakis ARC-8 ---> TC Electronic DBMax ---> (Aphex Dominator(?)/Limiter(?) possibly) ---> Transmitter (not to be included in budget)


Am I missing anything in this airchain?
Also mics and vocal strips are not necessary at this point, I dont think, but I will include them just in case. I can handle that part I am sure.

So budget as follows:
ARC-8 799
TC Electronic DBMax (used) 800

And I still have money to play with. Thanks again for all the help and I appreciate everyone taking the time to read this and help me out.

Troy
 
I do part 15 radio. Which can sometimes be the cheapest radio to do, And yet I still sound just as good if not better than the Big Guys.
I use a radio shack 4 channel stereo mixer $99. has Built in EQ.
Since your not factoring in Transmitter or computer I will skip those.
I actually do not use Compression or Limitation. All I have is an AGC which was built in the Zara Radio Automation (Free).

But I would imagine that you would need a compressor/limiter. So here's where I'll hand you off to the big guys. Either way, I got your Mixer Covered.
other equip
5 Disc CD Changer (2)$100
Turntable (1) $100
Mixing Board (1) $100
Total $300.
 
The DBMax or any of the other processors you mentioned do not include a stereo generator. The Dominator does have preemphasis limiting if it is the broadcast model. Still though, you would be in mono.

You need an Orban, Omnia, Inovonics, Vorisis, BW Broadcast or similar to make it stereo. Put that $800 for the DBMax towards this http://www.bswusa.com/proditem.asp?item=4BMINI-FM or this http://cgi.ebay.com/Orban-Optimod-8100A-Zero-Card-/200519462645?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2eafe42ef5 if you want to go used and old school. The DBMax won't help you in this case, and you'd be throwing money away that would need to go to a stereo generator anyhow.
 
OK. Now I am going to really show my lack of knowledge on this but I though stereo meant left and right channels are independent? This is what the DBMax has. Input for both right and left and processes them seperatly, or so I though.

Again, I apologize for my lack of knowledge on this matter. I am not familiar with what happens with the programming once it leaves the board, at all.

Troy
 
You'll need a box that will take those L and R channels and code them for an FM signal (FM Multiplex, or Composite) and that will be fed to the transmitter. You can't simply feed L and R into an FM transmitter and get stereo on the other end, it's not that simple. Those boxes process the audio and encode a L+R and a L-R plus a 19khz pilot tone (and a few other things that I won't go into in this Reader's Digest version of FM Stereo) so your radio can decode them back to L and R.

The DBMax will do compression and limiting, but it stops there. That's more of a production or TV processor to feed the signal before the satellite uplink. FM is a whole different animal.
 
So just for my own S and G's, what boxes are needed to achieve this? I mean am I really going about this the wrong way and should I just be saying that I want to invest in the Orbans or Omnias? I did, at one point find an Orban 6200 for about 1600. Is this an all in one box?
 
The 6200 is a digital-only processor. Good for webstreams, satellite uplinks, mastering studios. It doesn't have the Stereo generator in it or a final clipper (just look ahead limiting) and without a final clipper or preemphasis management, it won't work for FM. You need to look for a processor that has a "Composite Output" or "MPX Output". That will tell you if what you need is there. BW Broadcast makes the DSPX-Mini, which is about $1,200 street price. That's got your stereo generator in it and a 4 band compressor/limiter in the box. It's not going to blow anyone off the dial, but for the price it will get the job done surprisingly well.
 
WNTIRadio said:
BW Broadcast makes the DSPX-Mini, which is about $1,200 street price. That's got your stereo generator in it and a 4 band compressor/limiter in the box. It's not going to blow anyone off the dial, but for the price it will get the job done surprisingly well.
Click to expand...

I think you will be surprised at how good it sounds, sounding as good as if not better than boxes that cost twice the price. :)
 
I would suggest the poster looks at a transmitter that has a built in stereo generator and audio limiter such as one of the BW Broadcast exciters. If at a later date they want to juice up the sound they can always bypass the internal generator and limiter of the transmitter and feed MPX straight in from an external box like the DSPXmini.

Speak to Doug Tharp over at SCMS for the best pricing. I believe he may also be running some amazing specials on DSPXtra-FMs. That is a 6 band processor with intergrated Ariane audio levelling. You may be able to squeeze one of those out of him for not a lot more than a DSPXmini-FM.

http://scmsinc.com/SCMScontacts.htm
http://www.audio-processor.com/dspxtra-fm
 
May I suggest:

http://www.vorsis.com/fm4.html

It shares a lot with it's bigger brothers and is made and supported here in the US! The refined clippers in the VP-8 PLUS, FM-4 and AirAura are what I truly feel take processing to the next level and I feel you would truly share in that excitement.
 
If you're looking to do processing on a budget, look at Breakaway Broadcast Processor. (ceaudio.com) For about a grand, you can a have a fully FM standard compliant processor in a computer AND even use Airomate to run RDS on the same box. Saving more $.
 
Wow, this has suddenly turned from an educational thread into a sales thread!

To the OP: processor manufacturers produce different variety of processors for different purposes. Processors for FM radio, for AM radio, for digital radio and webstreaming, for television... You need the one for FM radio. Others won't work.

An FM broadcast processor includes all you need in a single box. As WNTIRadio has explained, if you want to use audio processor designed for audio production, mastering, etc. such as DBMax and the like, you need to add a stereo generator. This not only increases the number of boxes and your cost, but at the same time will sound noticeably worse than the processor specifically designed for FM radio, which has all the necessary bits and pieces included in a single box.

Some of the budget processors on the market have already been mentioned by others. Some that haven't been mentioned include Omnia One and Orban 5500. If used equipment is allowed, there are many more to suggest.

I'd like to mention that in your set-up, you can really go straight from the computer to the audio processor, then to the transmitter and finally to the antenna. You really don't need the console if there are no other audio sources apart from the computer. If you plan to have a DJ or someone live on the air, then you would need the console to mix those sources together. But if you have only one source, then you don't need the console.


Regards,
Goran Tomas
 
Thanks to all who responded. Not only did this help but it gave me a whole new perspective on what engineers do. I will probably have other questions later but right now I have enought to complete my paper.

Thanks again
 
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