Orban OPTIMOD-FM 8700, Operating Manual

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3-58
OPERATION ORBAN MODEL 8700i
ting of the 2B R
ELEASE
control and the dynamics and level of the program material
determine the actual release time of the compressor.
The action of the 2B R
ELEASE
control has been optimized for resolution and adjusta-
bility. However, its setting is critical to sound quality—listen carefully as you adjust
it. There is a point beyond which increasing density (with faster settings of the
2B
R
ELEASE
control) will no longer yield more loudness and will simply degrade the
punch and definition of the sound.
When the 2B R
ELEASE
control is set between 8 and 1 dB / second (the slowest set-
tings), the amount of gain reduction is surprisingly non-critical. Gating prevents
noise from being brought up during short pauses and pumping does not occur at
high levels of gain reduction. Therefore, the primary danger of using large amounts
of gain reduction is that the level of quiet passages in input material with wide dy-
namic range may eventually be increased unnaturally. Accordingly, when you oper-
ate the
2B R
ELEASE
control between 8 and 2 dB / second, it may be wise to defeat
the gain-riding AGC and to permit the two-band compressor to perform all of the
gain riding. This will prevent excessive reduction of dynamic range and will produce
the most natural sound achievable from the Two-Band structures.
With faster 2B R
ELEASE
control settings (above 8 dB / second), the sound will change
substantially with the amount of gain reduction in the two-band compressor. This
means that you should activate the gain-riding AGC to ensure that the two-band
compressor is always being driven at the level that produces the desired amount of
gain reduction. Decide based on listening tests how much gain reduction gives you
the density that you prefer while not creating a feeling of over-compression and fa-
Two-Band Controls
Intermediate Name Advanced Name Range
Drive 2B Drive
–10 … 25 dB
Release 2B Release
0.5 … 20 dB/S
Gate Thresh Gate Thresh Off,
–44 … –15 dB
Bass Coupling Bass Couple
0 … 100 %
—
Look-ahead
0 … 5 milliseconds
—
Master Compression Thresh
–15 … 0, Off
—
Bass Compression Thresh
–10.0 … 5.0 dB, Off
—
Master Attack
4 … 50, Off
—
Bass Attack
4 … 50, Off
—
2B Clipping
–4 … +5 dB
—
HF Limiting (located on
Clippers screen)
–4.0…+2.0 dB
—
HF Clip Thresh
–16.0 … 0.0 dB, Off
—
2B Crossover LiNoDly, Linear
—
MB Limit Thr
–3.0 +6.0 dB, Off
—
Speech Thr
–4.0 ... +5.0 dB
—
Max Dist Ctrl
0 … 18 dB
Table 3-9: Two-Band Controls