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Processor Setup

butlerguy03

butlerguy03

I'm a programming guy looking for an optimized setup for an Optimod 2200. It has basic sound setups preinstalled, but I am looking to add a little punch to the sound and was wondering if anyone had free advice on how I should set the EQ and all the other settings for a pop/chr station. We tend to play more pure pop than urban, so the deep bass doesnt have to be there.

I have been playing with it for a year and can't seem to get "the sound." My engineer is part-time and is really only good for computer/hardwiring issues, so I am kind of in charge of this one.

Just to let you know, we are a high school radio station, so it's not like I can really afford to go out and hire a full time engineer to get things right (otherwise, I would!).
 
I'm not familiar with the 2200, but don't be too quick to assume that the sound of the station can be fixed with processing. You need to make sure that your entire broadcast chain from source to transmitter is clean. The signal going into the Optimod should sound great. The signal coming out will not be any better than the signal going in.

Every station is different. There is probably not going to be a magic setting that someone can give you that will give you the sound you want. There is always an element of trial and error.

You don't need a full time engineer to set it up. You need someone to set it and forget it. Call around to see if one of the engineers in the area knows the 2200 and will give you a hand. One of them might be willing to do so. High school stations are not competition. If they are properly run, they can be training grounds for employees for other stations.
 
You also need to make sure it's good coming out of the antenna. reflected power, over driven finals, multipath, all that can effect the way the audio sounds. Crap in/crap out.
 
I appreciate the quick responses. I will look into the entire product. We were in the middle of piece by piece upgrading equipment and then lightning hit us, blew out our on-air machine, eas, and several recievers along with reseting our optimod. We had to spend all of our money replacing those and not working on the other essentials that bengalsfan mentioned.

It sounds great in the studio monitors, so its gotta be between the board, delay, eas, processor, exciter and transmitter. We sound a little muddy. I will look into it, thanks.
 
Lots of good advice here so far. My take is to start with one of the presets. Make small changes 1 at a time, and listen for at least 4 songs. Note the results, then make another small change and see if it's closer to what you want. do A-B comparisons. Listen on a good receiver, but don't think it should be a real high end Stero system. Use a typical car radio since that's what is typical for most of your listeners. Get a couple of opinions. At high school age most of your listeners still have pretty good ears, but remember that women as a general rule are more sensitive to highs so don't drive them away. Don't be in a rush, don't get extreme. The worst mistake I ever made in setting up a processor was listening to the opinion of the Program director who was sitting in his living room with 4 freinds and a couple of six packs. I had to reset it all in the Morning!
Bill Croghan CPBE WBØKSW
Chief Engineer,
KOMP/KXPT/KENO/KBAD/KWWN/KWID
Lotus Broadcasting, Las Vegas, NV
 
I have a station running a 2200. The 2200 is really a 8100 with a stereo generator. It's not a competitive box. It's only a two-banded unit. If you can afford 2500, get an Omnia One. If you can't, consider Breakaway as your primary processor and put the old clunker in as a backup. Use a coax switch to go between them. That way if Breakaway hoses up, someone could quickly put the hardware 8200 back on the air.
 
Knowing where you are in the country, I suggest you attempt to engage Bob Hawkins for an afternoon (or a day, or however long it takes) if you want to get someone to "set it and forget it."
 
OKCRadioGuy said:
I have a station running a 2200. The 2200 is really a 8100 with a stereo generator. It's not a competitive box. It's only a two-banded unit. If you can afford 2500, get an Omnia One. If you can't, consider Breakaway as your primary processor and put the old clunker in as a backup. Use a coax switch to go between them. That way if Breakaway hoses up, someone could quickly put the hardware 8200 back on the air.
Click to expand...

DSPX Mini FM SE. $1500.00 list. Blows the value Onmia and Orban processors away for $1000 less then both of them...

Goran Tomas did the work on it.
 
My suggestion to set up the 2200 is to take it out and put an 8100A/1 back in. They were terrible digital processors. Essentially a "digitized" version of an 8100A/1 with very old/bad sounding A/D converters. Try an Omnia One. Or try a PC with a SOLID STATE hard drive (I put that in caps because they are much more reliable) a good 192khz sound card and plenty of RAM and off you go, a "processor" that will compete with the big boys for a fraction of the price.
 
... What I meant to add to that was "Try a PC with Breakaway Broadcast"...
 
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