Orban OPTIMOD-FM 8600, Operating Manual

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OPERATION ORBAN MODEL 8600
High Width
determines the bandwidth of the equalization, in octaves.
The range is 0.8-4.0 octaves. If you are unfamiliar with using a parametric
equalizer, one octave is a good starting point.
Excessive high frequency boost can exaggerate tape hiss and distortion in
program material that is less than perfectly clean. We suggest no more
than 4 dB boost as a practical maximum, unless source material is primari-
ly from compact discs of recently recorded material. In several of our pre-
sets, we use this equalizer to boost the upper presence band (4.4 kHz)
slightly, leaving broadband HF boost to the
B
RILLIANCE
and/or
HF E
NHANCE
controls.
Brilliance controls the drive to Band 5 in the Five-band structure only. (This control
is nonfunctional in the 2-Band structure.) The high frequency limiter and Band 5
clipper dynamically control these boosts, protecting the final clipper from excessive
HF drive. We recommend a maximum of 4 dB of
B
RILLIANCE
boost and most people
will prefer substantially less.
DJ Bass (5-Band only) control determines the amount of bass boost produced on
some male voices. In its default
O
FF
position, it causes the gain reduction of the
lowest frequency band to move quickly to the same gain reduction as its nearest
neighbor when gated. This fights any tendency of the lowest frequency band to de-
velop significantly more gain than its neighbor when processing voice because voice
activates the gate frequently. Each time it does so, it resets the gain of the lowest
frequency band so that the gains of the two bottom bands are equal and the re-
sponse in this frequency range is flat. The result is natural-sounding bass on male
voice.
If you prefer a larger-than-life, “chesty” sound on male voice, set this control away
from
O
FF
. When so set, gating causes the gain reduction of the lowest frequency
band to move to the same gain reduction (minus a gain offset equal to the numeri-
cal setting of the control) as its nearest neighbor when gated. You can therefore set
the maximum gain difference between the two low frequency bands, producing
considerable dynamic bass boost on voice.
The difference will never exceed the difference that would have other-
wise occurred if the lowest frequency band were independently gated. If
you are familiar with older Orban processors like the 8200, this is the
maximum amount of boost that would have occurred if you had set their
DJ B
ASS
B
OOST
controls to
O
N
.
The amount of bass boost will be highly dependent on the fundamental frequency
of a given voice. If the fundamental frequency is far above 100 Hz, there will be lit-
tle voice energy in the bottom band and little or no audio bass boost can occur even
if the gain of the bottom band is higher than the gain of its neighbor. As the fun-
damental frequency moves lower, more of this energy leaks into the bottom band
and you hear more bass boost. If the fundamental frequency is very low (a rarity),
there will be enough energy in the bottom band to force significant gain reduction
and you will hear less bass boost than if the fundamental frequency were a bit high-
er.
This control is only available in the Five-Band structure.