Orban OPTIMOD-FM 8700, Operating Manual

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL OPERATION
3-19
Compressor attack times and thresholds are available, along with settings affecting
the automatic clipping distortion control. These controls can be exceedingly danger-
ous in inexperienced hands, leading you to create presets that sound great on some
program material, yet fall apart embarrassingly on other material. We therefore
recommend that you create custom presets at the Advanced Modify level only if you
are experienced with on-air sound design and are willing to take the time to dou-
ble-check your work on many different types of program material.
Important Note: Once you have edited a preset’s dynamics parameters in Advanced
Modify,
L
ESS
-M
ORE
control is no longer available in Basic Modify and will be grayed
out if you access its screen. As noted above, we strongly recommend using the Basic
Modify
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.
A subtle side effect of this is the 8700i’s behavior when you switch preemphasis. All
factory presets actually have two variations, one for 50µs and one for 75µs. The
8700i uses the appropriate variation automatically. However, once you have created
a user preset, it will no longer automatically switch its parameters when you change
preemphasis. As a rule of thumb, for similar high frequency texture, a 75µs presets
should have its
B4 C
OMPRESSION
T
HRESHOLD
control set 3 dB higher than an equiva-
lent 50µs preset.
Gain Reduction Metering
Unlike the metering on some processors, when any OPTIMOD-FM gain reduction
meter indicates full-scale (at its bottom), it means that its associated compressor has
run out of gain reduction range, that the circuitry is being overloaded, and that var-
ious nastinesses are likely to commence.
Because the various compressors have 25 dB of gain reduction range, the meter
should never come close to 25 dB gain reduction if OPTIMOD-FM has been set up for
a sane amount of gain reduction under ordinary program conditions.
To accommodate the FM preemphasis curve, Band 5 of the Five-Band Structure is ca-
pable of 30 dB of gain reduction.
Further, be aware of the different peak factors on voice and music—if voice and mu-
sic are peaked identically on a VU meter, voice may cause up to 10 dB more peak
gain reduction than does music! (A PPM will indicate relative peak levels much more
accurately.)
To Create or Save a User Preset
Once you have edited a preset (using Basic, Intermediate, or Advanced Modify), you
can save it as a user preset. The 8700i can store an indefinite number of user presets,
limited only by available memory.
The 8700i preserves any edited, unsaved preset until you recall another preset. This
is true even if the 8700i is powered down or reboots. However, to ensure that you
do not accidentally lose your work, it is wise to save as a User Preset any edited pre-
set you want to keep. To save a preset: