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To XT2 or not to XT2.... that is the question

T

TomZ

What is your opinion of divorcing the XT2 from the 8100 in a modern rock station.

I'm asking because the 8100 needs a few caps and such and "while we're at it".... what's the better thing to do?
 
fm-engineer, Thanks for the link. I was under the impression that most of the XT2's history showed it as the heavy metal buzz box for the 8100.

What's the XT2's value as an orphan?
 
Sell them together and use the proceeds to buy an Omnia One. With the new software which adds the 5th band in the limiter, it's a pretty kick-ass box for the money and will give you far more flexibility than the 8100/XT2 combo ever could.

I love the 8100 and the XT2, but sometimes you gotta realize that it's time to put a 25 year old box out to pasture. The biggest thing with any new modern processor, Omnia, Orban or Vorsis, is that you can IP into it and make adjustments from anywhere. I love being able to tweak from the car, the living room, the studio, a clock radio... it really helps to get the best overall sound by being able to make adjustments for a variety of listening situations.

If you're going to keep it, get it re-capped and have Bill Sacks make the bass mod on the XT2. Solves the L-R low end issue by ganging the bass EQ so if you make a change on the fly you don't have to null it out with pink noise.
 
The Xt2 really over compresses the 8100.

Makes it sound un natural.

One said that there were two Optimods in line.

PM me and I will eliminate this poor tool from your life and even pay the postage.
 
ChiefEngineer said:
The Xt2 really over compresses the 8100.

Makes it sound un natural.
Click to expand...
That's funny...you didn't describe WKPW's 8100A/XT2 that way.
 
We've decided to ask for a demo Omnia One and we are wondering which suppliers to ask for one.....

Who would you buy from?
 
I appreciate your reply OKC. We ordered an Omni One from BSW today. I'll get my fat fingers on it Wednesday afternoon.

I've been told to find a buyer for both of the Optimod pieces.
 
Amen to that Tom. Seriously, ebay them. People are paying WAYYYYY more than what they're worth there. (not a rag on the Orban stuff, it's just crazy what people are paying now for it. One of my stations still has a 8100xt2 combo for talk/NPR/Blues/Jazz non-comm. We love it!) Good choice on the Omnia One. I think you'll be pleased. The One is the radio gods gift to small market radio. Unless a listener has cat's ears they'll probably not appriciate the difference between your Omnia One and it's big brother Omnia 6. I can hear the difference, but the public in general certainly won't. Considering how mal-adjusted so many of the more expensive processors are set these days in most markets (all for loudness and nothing for quality) you may find your little One may sound better than they do. :)
 
Before you put it on the air download and install the Gould extra presets for the Omnia. Big 80's is good and sounds 8100 like with bigger mod product. Download all the presets to your computer and then into the Omnia. This way you are set.

Then run a cat 5 cable to the toy , head to your easy chair at home, and play with the presets. preferably while the jock is talking. If anyone has live jocks.;)
 
OK, Help me out a little. They do three hours of live AM from 7-10 CDT. It's called BS in the Morning. Wednesday (tomorrow morning to me) will be the last day running through their Optimod 8000 that was resurrected from the bottom of the rack as their 8100A was pulled for shipping. I don't have the equipment needed to do any more than attempt to tweak the 8000.

Go to www.kkbs.com (Internet Explorer needed for sonix stream :'( ) and you will hear the naked truth from the console and might WILL need some blood clotting ear plugs, too. It's horrible, but we've been able to realize and appreciate how much work their 8100 was doing for them.

Anyway, FedEX should bring the new toy in at about noon-ish and we will prolly shift it over soon thereafter.... leaving Thursday as the (first) day to jockey with the jocks.

FYI, the streaming audio is air'd audio.


That's a lot of noise just to say that I really appreciate everyone's opinions.

THANKS!
 
Make sure you download the latest firmware from the Omnia site. I don't know if they're all shipping with it yet if it was stock on hand at BSW. That firmware adds the band 5 to the limiter among other things. That 5th band makes a HUGE difference in the HF balance.

And I'll second that the analog Optimods, especially with the XT2 are way overpriced on eBay. Take the money and run while you can!
 
To add to what I said already... do they monitor directly off air? The delay in the O1 might take a little getting used to for the talent. You may want to hang on to that 8100 to process the air monitor feed.
 
Thanks WNTIRadio for your input. At this time they monitor their Program bus. I am rebuilding the studio and their monitor card will soon be able to monitor a mod. monitor.
 
WNTIRadio said:
And I'll second that the analog Optimods, especially with the XT2 are way overpriced on eBay. Take the money and run while you can!
Click to expand...

I agree that they are way overpriced, but I have seen the same 'overpriced' units for sale on Ebay for months - so it seems that people aren't overly interested in paying inflated prices for old technology.
The 8100s that are listed for a moderate start price seem to sell.
 
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