Orban Optimod-AM 9400, Operating Manual

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OPTIMOD-AM DIGITAL OPERATION
3-15

AGC

Analog AM EQ or Digital Radio EQ

L
ESS
-M
ORE
(x2)
Basic Modify allows you to control four important elements of 9400 processing: the
stereo enhancer, the equalizer, the AGC, and the dynamics section (multiband com-
pression, limiting, and clipping). The stereo enhancer and AGC are common to both
the analog AM and digital radio processing channels, while each of the channels has
an independent equalizer section and multiband dynamics processing.
At this level, there is only one control for each of the multiband dynamics processing
sections:
L
ESS
-M
ORE
,
which changes several different subjective setup control set-
tings simultaneously according to a table that we have created in the 9400’s perma-
nent ROM (Read-Only Memory). In this table are sets of subjective setup control set-
tings that provide, in our opinion, the most favorable trade-off between loudness,
density, and audible distortion for a given amount of dynamics processing in the
analog AM and digital processing channels.
We believe that most 9400 users will never need to go beyond the Basic level of con-
trol. Orban’s audio processing experts have optimized the combinations of subjec-
tive setup control settings produced by this control by drawing on years of experi-
ence designing audio processing and hundred of hours of listening tests.
As you increase the setting of given
L
ESS
-M
ORE
control, the air sound in that chan-
nel will become louder, but (as with any processor) processing artifacts will increase.
Please note that the highest
L
ESS
-M
ORE
setting is purposely designed to cause un-
pleasant distortion and processing artifacts! This helps assure you that you have cho-
sen the optimum setting of the
L
ESS
-M
ORE
control, because turning the control up
to this point will cause the sound quality to become obviously unacceptable.
You need not (in fact, cannot) create a sound entirely from scratch. All User Presets
are created by modifying Factory Presets or by further modifying Factory Presets
that have been previously modified with a
L
ESS
-M
ORE
adjustment. It is wise to set
the L
ESS
-M
ORE
control to achieve a sound as close as possible to your desired sound
before you make further modifications at the Advanced Modify level. This is because
the
L
ESS
-M
ORE
control gets you close to an optimum trade-off between loudness
and artifacts, so any changes you make are likely to be smaller and to require reset-
ting fewer controls.
In the 9400, L
ESS
-M
ORE
affects only the multiband processing (compression, limiting,
and clipping). You can change EQ, stereo enhancement, and AGC without losing the
ability to use
L
ESS
-M
ORE
. When you create a user preset, the 9400 will automatically
save your EQ, stereo enhancement, and AGC settings along with your
L
ESS
-M
ORE
setting. When you recall the user preset, you will still be able to edit your L
ESS
-M
ORE
setting if you wish.
There are two sets of L
ESS
-M
ORE
tables for each factory preset

one optimized for
Wideband (7.5 kHz and above) operation, the other for Narrowband (7.0 kHz and
below) operation. Orban’s factory programmers created these tables by ear while