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Operating Manual 

OPTIMOD-PC 

1101 

Digital Audio Processor PCI Sound Card 

Manual for Software Version 3.4 

Summary of Contents for Optimod-PC 1101

Page 1: ...Operating Manual OPTIMOD PC 1101 Digital Audio Processor PCI Sound Card Manual for Software Version 3 4...

Page 2: ...THIS APPLIANCE TO RAIN OR MOISTURE h This symbol wherever it appears alerts you to the presence of uninsulated dangerous voltage inside the enclosure voltage that may be sufficient to constitute a ri...

Page 3: ...arring the unit 2 Seal the carton with tape If you are returning the unit permanently for credit be sure to enclose The Manual s The Registration Warranty Card Your dealer may charge you for any missi...

Page 4: ......

Page 5: ...Operating Manual OPTIMOD PC 1101 Digital Audio Processor PCI Sound Card Manual for Software Version 3 4...

Page 6: ...he spark or shock you may have felt when touching a doorknob or some other conductive surface A much smaller static discharge is likely to destroy one or more of the CMOS semiconductors employed in OP...

Page 7: ...AES3 Left Right Input Output 1 20 Analog Left Right Input Output 1 20 The Orban I O Mixer 1 21 OVERVIEW OF AN OPTIMOD PC INSTALLATION 1 22 Figure 1 5 Typical I O mixer 1 24 Simple Operation in One Hos...

Page 8: ...Administration 2 8 9 Edit the local OPTIMOD PC server s network accessibility port numbers and Service Security Password optional 2 11 11 Add remote cards to your list of available cards optional 2 11...

Page 9: ...he sound seems wrong 2 48 When I Launch the OPTIMOD PC control application the meters do not move and I cannot control my card 2 49 I can t connect to a given OPTIMOD PC card from my network 2 49 Shor...

Page 10: ...Loudness and Distortion 3 5 Speech Music Detector 3 6 Processing for Audio Codecs 3 6 OPTIMOD PC in Radio Oriented Applications From Bach to Rock 3 7 Sound for Picture Applications Controlling Dynamic...

Page 11: ...ase Controls 3 58 Table 3 11 MB Band Mix Controls 3 59 IF THE HOST COMPUTER RESTARTS OR CRASHES 3 64 USING OPTIMOD PC FOR PRODUCTION AND MASTERING 3 64 CREATING CUSTOM FACTORY PRESETS 3 69 Table 3 12...

Page 12: ...e Audio Inputs to Insert Replacement Commercials 6 6 MICROSOFT WINDOWS MIXER CONTROL API 6 7 Table 6 3 Windows Driver Enumeration 6 8 Table 6 4 Windows Mixer Output Destination Names 6 8 Table 6 5 Win...

Page 13: ...REGULATORY 7 6 ENVIRONMENTAL 7 6 SECTION 8 RESOURCES 8 1 INFORMATION 8 1 BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS 8 1 SOFTWARE AND RESOURCES 8 4 SECTION 9 INDEX 9 1...

Page 14: ......

Page 15: ...m and noise OPTIMOD PC s digital AES3 inputs and outputs are compatible with industrial and broadcast equipment and can also be configured to work with consumer electronics OPTIMOD PC also includes mi...

Page 16: ...of 50 s and 75 s This allows it to protect preemphasized analog satellite uplinks and similar channels where protection limiting or light processing is required and makes it ideal for use as a studio...

Page 17: ...control commercial content and insertion Unlike most sound cards OPTIMOD PC allows you to mix an analog source two digital sources and two WAVE sources For example you could run a playout system on y...

Page 18: ...rs have known for decades that this polished produced sound attracts and holds listeners You can expect a considerable increase in loudness from OPTIMOD PC processing compared to unprocessed audio exc...

Page 19: ...er worse than the disease Controlling Program Levels in a Playout System before OPTIMOD PC To optimize the consistency of a broadcast or netcast preprocessing each program element via OPTIMOD PC befor...

Page 20: ...am Meter PPM indicates a level between RMS and the actual peak The PPM has an attack time of 10ms slow enough to cause the meter to ignore narrow peaks and under indicate the true peak level by 5 dB o...

Page 21: ...directly in dBu maximum program and line up level is often 6 dBu Instantaneous peaks will reach 11 dBu or more Level and Subjective Loudness Metering in the 1101 The meters in the 1101 show peak inpu...

Page 22: ...ose presets Because loudness perception combines the contributions of all acoustic sources there is only one Loudness Level meter indication regardless of the number of audio channels The CBS meter is...

Page 23: ...rohibitively expensive Each filter feeds a full wave rectifier and each rectifier feeds a nonlinear lowpass filter that has a 10 ms attack time and a 200 ms release time somewhat like the sidechain fi...

Page 24: ...useful for users with multiple streams because you can load one computer which may be connected to a PCI expansion chassis with as many OPTIMOD PC cards as you have free PCI slots each card handling o...

Page 25: ...arriers mastering audio production and many others Supplied WAVE drivers allow OPTIMOD PC s processed output to pass through the PCI bus to the CPU driving standard PC applications like Orban s Optico...

Page 26: ...ack device s analog signal path by predicting and controlling the analog peak level following the playback device s recon struction filter to an accuracy of better than 0 5 dB For typical program mate...

Page 27: ...n parallel to the existing Orban Mixer allows standard Microsoft Windows audio applications to control Optimod PC s inputs and outputs MS Windows Metering API so Windows applications using this API wi...

Page 28: ...already been tested and field proven in major market radio netcasting digital radio and direct satellite broadcasting applications both radio and television worldwide There are also special purpose pr...

Page 29: ...The 8500 provides two different stereo enhancement algorithms The first is based on Orban s patented analog 222 Stereo Enhancer which increases the en ergy in the stereo difference signal L R wheneve...

Page 30: ...type of processing Each Factory Processing Preset on the Open Preset list is really a library of 20 separate presets selected by using the LESS MORE control to adjust OPTIMOD PC for less or more proc...

Page 31: ...User presets can also be created by editing existing user presets and saving the results under a new name The suffix of User Presets is ORB11USER The Factory preset remains unchanged OPTIMOD PC 1101 v...

Page 32: ...omatically generate a temporary User Preset whose name consists of Modified appended to the front of the existing preset name If you do not save your modifications this tem porary preset will remain o...

Page 33: ...Pre Limit Out Process Post Limit Out Direct Wave Out 1 Direct Wave Out 2 Direct Mixer Out 1 Direct Mixer Out 2 Process AGC Out Process Pre Limit Out Process Post Limit Out Direct Wave Out 1 Direct Wa...

Page 34: ...converter that allows operation at 32 44 1 48 88 1 or 96 kHz sample frequency The inputs have sample rate convert ers that allow the input to accept any sample rate between 20 kHz and 96 kHz If you ha...

Page 35: ...sor mixer The two Direct Mixers receive six inputs The stereo analog input on the DB 25 connector Digital 1 Input AES3 on the DB 25 connector Digital 2 Input AES3 on the DB 25 connector WAVE In 1 and...

Page 36: ...ESSOR WITH LIMITING source The minimum delay through the PROCESSOR WITH LIMITING depends on the setting of the AGC CROSSOVER control For the LINEAR setting the delay is 28 ms and for the other setting...

Page 37: ...will only control OPTIMOD PC cards that are installed in the same PC that is running the Orban application Network operation allows you to control one or more OPTIMOD PC cards over a network regardles...

Page 38: ...e Tools drop down menu box The setup instructions in Section 2 of this manual provide detailed instructions on how to do this In a Simple or Network environment the number of OPTIMOD PC cards that one...

Page 39: ...worked the cards must be protected from unauthorized access when networking is activated Two levels of security achieve this Each card has a User password that allows an authorized user to connect to...

Page 40: ...and at the top left hand corner in the application when you are connected to that card Only the card s serial number is unique The serial number is always available on Card and Security Administration...

Page 41: ...words and IP addresses To connect to a card you must first add the host computer server to your control application via CONNECT ADD PROFILE CARDS step 11 on page 2 11 Here you pro vide the host comput...

Page 42: ...best to locate OPTIMOD PC cards in the same machine that runs the en coding software like Orban OPTICODEC PC Microsoft Windows Media Encoder or Real Networks HELIX Producer This is because the output...

Page 43: ...o use an encoder such as OPTICODEC PC that can automatically reconnect to the server in the unlikely event that the connection is dropped Genlocking OPTIMOD PC Cards to a Reference Sample Frequency Ma...

Page 44: ...tions may randomly interrupt the audio feed STLs are used in two fundamentally different ways Either they can pass unprocessed audio for application to OPTIMOD PC s input or they can pass OPTIMOD PC s...

Page 45: ...onversion can cause overshoot due to spectral truncation of the 48 kHz peak controlled samples Starting with V2 2 software peak control in OPTIMOD PC occurs at a 192 kHz sam ple frequency which limits...

Page 46: ...if an Orban Studio AGC another OPTIMOD PC or an Orban Transmission Limiter protects the link from overload If OPTIMOD PC is located at the transmitter and receives unprocessed audio from a microwave...

Page 47: ...the studio and you must tolerate any damage that occurs later If an uncompressed digital link is available this is an ideal situation because such a link will pass OPTIMOD PC s output with little or n...

Page 48: ...ink feeding OPTIMOD PC s input terminals be phase linear However the link should have low noise the flattest possible frequency response from 20 20 000Hz and low non linear distortion If the audio lin...

Page 49: ...es applied to the transmitter DTV and HD Radio also require synchronization OPTIMOD PC allows you to use either of the AES3 inputs to accept house sync which permits OPTIMOD PC s output to be synchron...

Page 50: ...esirable to set the modulation level slightly lower First is the fact that the peak limiter operates at 192 kHz sample rate and not at an infinite rate This ensures that overshoot after phase linear s...

Page 51: ...puts are used the delay through OPTIMOD PC can be as much as 25 ms or more if the installer purposely adds frame makeup delay This delay although not usually audible as a distinct echo can cause bone...

Page 52: ...dio station is on the air simple loss of data and loss of audio alarms should be added to the system Such alarms could be config ured to cut off audio to the DJ presenter s phones when an audio or car...

Page 53: ...g it is generally believed that loudness relative to other stations attracts an audience that perceives the station as being more powerful than its competition We expect that the same subliminal psych...

Page 54: ...D PC is well matched to MP3 and can effectively pre process audio intended for MP3 playback Choose an MP3 en coder wisely as not all MP3 encoders are created equal and provide different levels of qual...

Page 55: ...your Orban products prepaid to our service department Be sure to include a copy of your sales slip as proof of purchase date We will not repair transit damage under the no charge terms of this warran...

Page 56: ...to new Orban products purchased from an authorized Orban Dealer To accept the extended five year warranty please sign and date below and fax this copy along with a copy of your original invoice show i...

Page 57: ...ftware first we recommend installing the new software over the old soft ware If the new software requires a driver update you will have to reboot your computer after the installation process finishes...

Page 58: ...ystem Card Serial Card Name Card Serial Card Name Card Serial Card Name Security Security Security REMOTE IP Address Profile Name Server System Server Software Card Serial Card Name Card Serial Card N...

Page 59: ...de certification along with Microsoft s cross certification for cross signing to ensure legitimate software origin limiting the risk of an end user system being compromised by malicious driver softwar...

Page 60: ...etected wizard until it no longer appears D Insert your OPTIMOD PC CD R in your computer s CD DVD reader or if you have downloaded the OPTIMOD PC software from ftp orban com locate the file E Navigate...

Page 61: ...dows 8 and higher To achieve most reliable startup the OPTIMOD PC driver and Service must be loaded and properly initialized when the host computer boots up Windows 8 in troduced Fast Startup which us...

Page 62: ...its hardware inputs and outputs The cable assembly is terminated with XLR connectors for balanced op eration plus a female BNC for the sync input word clock or 10 MHz sine wave squarewave Pin 2 of th...

Page 63: ...card to be accessible to a net work connected to your computer Once you have assigned passwords these passwords can be changed ei ther locally or on the network by anyone with the Administrator pass w...

Page 64: ...e aware that this will allow anyone with access to your computer to change the User and Administrator passwords for this card If this privilege was used maliciously it could lock you out of the card r...

Page 65: ...also has OPTIMOD PC 1100 cards installed you must assign the 1101 and 1100 cards different port numbers to prevent conflicts E Set ALLOW NETWORK TO ACCESS LOCAL CARDS as appropriate By default this bo...

Page 66: ...ck the Terminal Control USE NETWORK ACCEPT LIST The Network Accept List adds another layer of security beyond password security It is not strictly necessary to use this feature if you have assigned pa...

Page 67: ...ord dialog box and the Card and Se curity Administration window will appear immediately C The Card and Security Administration window opens Edit the fields as re quired See Figure 2 4 on page 2 8 D Cl...

Page 68: ...the remote computer The Profile Name can be any name you wish to use for example Re mote The profile name is known only to your local computer The net work identifies a given computer by its IP addres...

Page 69: ...lication will display the state of the card to which you just connected and you can recall presets adjust in put output levels edit and save presets etc 13 Change passwords and card names over a netwo...

Page 70: ...running the OPTIMOD PC control application contains no OPTIMOD PC cards you may wish to defeat the OPTIMOD PC service on that computer although this is not required This scenario applies to computers...

Page 71: ...e stream must automatically restart after a system crash The server application has no user controls and you do not have to interact with it or otherwise worry about it other than to be aware that it...

Page 72: ...tfix This includes most audio re cord encode applications such as audio editors Sony SoundForge Audac ity and most streaming audio encoders that rely on the Windows sample rate converter Adobe Auditio...

Page 73: ...able from the TOOLS menu on the Orban Con trol application or from your computer s control panel in Multimedia you can choose a nominal input level of either 10dBV IHF consumer level or 4dBu pro fessi...

Page 74: ...output from the remaining pin No special precautions are required even though one side of the output is grounded Use two conductor foil shielded cable Belden 8451 1503A 1901A or equiva lent At OPTIMO...

Page 75: ...ses the analog input to unmute This allows you to connect backup program sources to ordinarily unused inputs and have the backup inputs activate automatically if the primary program feed is lost Groun...

Page 76: ...al explains these sound editing controls in detail This section of the manual tells you how to set up the input and output controls of an OPTIMOD PC card with emphasis on connections that use OPTIMOD...

Page 77: ...setup file is a transient file That is the Orban Control application updates it whenever you change the setup manually The Orban Control application also automatically updates the file when the appli...

Page 78: ...l parameter that determines the highest bandwidth available The installing engineer should set it to be appropriate for the sample rate of the digital system that OPTIMOD PC is driving For example if...

Page 79: ...o perform an AGC or gain riding function and it cannot substitute for the AGC function in OPTIMOD PC Temporarily set AGC to ENABLED so that the Analog and Digital Input ref erence level alignment step...

Page 80: ...he Processor mixer and Direct Mixer If a valid AES3 signal is present at the designated sync input it will be used for synchronization If lock is unavailable OPTIMOD PC automati cally switches to INTE...

Page 81: ...eemphasized FM aural carrier in analog television transmis sion Use FLAT preemphasis for Eureka 147 DRM HD Radio digital tele vision netcasts and any other channel that uses a lossy codec When in doub...

Page 82: ...age 3 24 6 In Dolby Digital applications only set output and Dialnorm parame ters These parameters are only relevant to applications where OPTIMOD PC is driving a Dolby Digital transmission channel Th...

Page 83: ...al outputs as the Dialnorm reference output In this step you have made digital output 1 the Dialnorm reference output When a given output is the Dialnorm reference output adjusting its as sociated lev...

Page 84: ...u can change the output level control freely without causing your loudness to be incorrect with respect to other Dolby Digital transmissions To set the output loudness adjust the DIALNORM value or adj...

Page 85: ...AL 1 OUTPUT is the output you are using and you set it to 2 dB in DIRECT MIXER 1 set the fader carrying the source of the loudness controlled audio to 2 dB To achieve gains higher than 0 dB in the Dir...

Page 86: ...el to produce approxiamtely 10 dB of AGC master gain reduction in the 1101 This is the AGC meter labelled M d Make the 1101 s audio processing controls visible by clicking the button labeled ad This b...

Page 87: ...reduces the peak modulation without significantly affecting the average modulation Hence using this technique keeps the 1101 s LOUDNESS LEVEL meter correctly calibrated and provides correct on air lo...

Page 88: ...cause the 2 band compressor cannot produce high frequency limiting so preemphasis control must be performed by the loudness controller and look ahead limiter We have tuned the 5 Band factory TVA prese...

Page 89: ...fault sound card OPTIMOD PC s driver defeats the MS Mixer s Wave Volume control forcing it to full gain This attempts to ensure that the OPTIMOD PC I O Mixer s gain is calibrated correctly The reason...

Page 90: ...DIGITAL 1 OUTPUT DIGITAL 2 OUTPUT WAVE 1 OUTPUT TO PC AND WAVE 2 OUTPUT TO PC to appear in the MS Mixer Output page Choosing Options Properties Recording in the MS Mixer application opens the MS Mixer...

Page 91: ...he WAVE output for recording encoding applications The input stage has 20dB of headroom prior to the Input Level Control Hence a 4dBu tone at the analog input indicates 20dB on the analog input level...

Page 92: ...level If you use a digital reference level higher than 20dBfs or an analog reference level higher than 4dB you will lose headroom if you wish to retain unity gain Because the analog input s absolute...

Page 93: ...studio level controller that performs an AGC function such as another OPTIMOD PC or an Orban 6300 adjust it for normal operation b In the I O Mixer click the CONFIGURATION tab c Click the PROCESSOR MI...

Page 94: ...ctorily This step can only be accurately performed with test tones A Click the PROCESSOR MIXER tab B Make your console or other program source output a correctly balanced test tone such that its left...

Page 95: ...ogramming If both backup for digital 1 and mute are selected the backup func tion will override the mute function Output and Routing Switcher Setup The output routing switcher found in the OUTPUT LEVE...

Page 96: ...comfortable to a DJ or presenter who is monitoring his or her voice live through headphones Each of the outputs has an attenuator and a stereo peak reading meter which indicates the post attenuator l...

Page 97: ...you to compensate for transmission chan nels that introduce peak overshoots For example if you lower an output control from 0 dBfs to 2 dBfs the 1101 automatically reduces the gain following its peak...

Page 98: ...ncourages mixing to achieve a wide dynamic range where some material may considerably exceed the target loudness when measured on a short term three second integration time ungated BS 1770 2 meter Mor...

Page 99: ...the CBS Loudness Controller Set the LOUDNESS THRESHOLD control to 0 dB which matches the CBS Loudness Controller s threshold to the 8685 s active DIALNORM value Starting in software version 3 1 this...

Page 100: ...o 2dB Note that you are limited by input headroom if you set the DIGITAL 1 fader to 2dB OPTIMOD PC s digital output level cannot exceed 2dBfs because this level corre sponds to 0dBfs at OPTIMOD PC s d...

Page 101: ...specify its target Windows Sound De vice instead always feeding the Windows Default Sound Device Therefore to use WMP as a playout application you must set OPTIMOD PC as the Default Sound De vice in W...

Page 102: ...e shows Adobe Audition 2 0 Audio Hardware Setup If you have more than one OPTIMOD PC card installed these will be known to Win dows as Orban Optimod 1101 1 SERIAL and Orban Optimod 1101 2 SERIAL etc T...

Page 103: ...1 In Windows navigate to CONTROL PANEL ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS SERVICES WINDOWS AUDIO PROPERTIES A Set the STARTUP TYPE to AUTOMATIC B Click START C Click OK or 2 Enable and configure the Windows audio...

Page 104: ...up They are restored at startup if the OPTIMOD PC service is being started automatically If the OPTIMOD PC service is not being started automatically these parameters will be re stored when the OPTIMO...

Page 105: ...en restarting OptimodPcService in the Windows Task Manager A On the computer navigate to START SETTINGS CONTROL PANEL ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS SERVICES B Locate Orban Optimod 1101 in the list of services...

Page 106: ...ilure It is wise to search the Win dows System log for instances of hard drive read or write problems CONTROL PANEL ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS EVENT VIEWER SYSTEM LOG I am running Windows Server and I canno...

Page 107: ...ssue Further analog connections can cause analog domain overshoot if the connec tion is not phase linear and has a low frequency cutoff of greater than 0 15Hz at 3dB Loudness is unexpectedly low at ou...

Page 108: ...nce and underscor ing to unnaturally high levels Refer to Section 3 of this manual for a further dis cussion If you are using OPTIMOD PC s analog input the overall noise performance of the system is u...

Page 109: ...control peak levels To correct this problem turn down the FINAL LIMIT DRIVE control page 3 48 until the pumping is no longer audible see Processing for Audio Codecs on page 3 6 It may also be helpful...

Page 110: ...HOLD control to a higher value i e closer to 0 dB This will produce less gain reduction in the presence region Try using the 1101 s HF Enhancer To do so Locate to the EQUALIZER screen and set the HF E...

Page 111: ...on normal dialog Adjust its MB LIMIT DRIVE control if it does not When the loud ness controller is operating normally the 1101 s LOUDNESS LEVEL meter should be peaking around 0 dB on dialog If it is...

Page 112: ...ss Controller is active but based on its gain reduction meter you do not believe it is working hard enough set its threshold lower using the LOUDNESS CONTROLLER THRESH control Note that the Loudness C...

Page 113: ...if you choose to use the factory service facility Returned units will be returned C O D if the unit is not under warranty Orban will pay return shipping if the unit is still under warranty In all cas...

Page 114: ...e a software firewall application like Windows Firewall included with Windows XP SP2 and higher 1 Enable Windows Firewall A Navigate to CONTROL PANEL WINDOWS FIREWALL B Enable the On recommended butto...

Page 115: ...s not otherwise assigned according to IANA http www iana org assignments port numbers Port 11100 is the default for the OPTIMOD PC Control Application Port 11101 is the default for the OPTIMOD PC Term...

Page 116: ...his is usually done via router port for warding The OPTIMOD PC port s are forwarded to the OPTIMOD PC computer by configuring the NAT firewall accordingly The OPTIMOD PC computer is then ad dressed wi...

Page 117: ...status and to send Alarm notifications to your network via the Ethernet connection of your Optimod s host computer It is beyond the scope of this manual to provide a general explanation of how SNMP w...

Page 118: ...nager Primary Manager Port sets the port of the Primary SNMP Manager When SNMP is enabled you can disable the primary or secondary man ager by setting its port to 0 Secondary Manger Address sets the a...

Page 119: ...1Silence waveInput2Silence processMixerOutputSilence directMixer1OutputSilence directMixer2OutputSilence waveOutput1Silence waveOutput2Silence Traps Alert aesInput1Error aesInput2Error syncInputError...

Page 120: ...e community string along with all SNMP re quests If the community string is correct the device responds with the requested information If the community string is incorrect the device simply discards t...

Page 121: ...OPTIMOD PC OPERATION 3 1 Section 3 Operation Figure 3 1 The OPTIMOD PC Control Application...

Page 122: ...B of gain reduc tion without clipping Output Meters show the output levels of the processed signal before it is ap plied to the output routing switcher in the I O Mixer Limiter meters show the amount...

Page 123: ...the sliders within the hatched selection box CONTROL CLICK DRAG will add the sliders within the hatched selection box to the current group CLICKing on a part of the window outside of any slider will...

Page 124: ...dness If peaks are re duced the average level can be increased within the permitted modulation limits The effectiveness with which this can be accomplished without introducing objec tionable side effe...

Page 125: ...essors than of any others Neverthe less all intelligent processor designers must acknowledge and work within the laws of physics as they apply to this trade off In AM and FM processing we have long sa...

Page 126: ...nology fully do not set up OPTIMOD PC for very bright sound with large amounts of high frequency energy because this is likely to exacerbate codec artifacts Some appropriate presets include JAZZ SMOOT...

Page 127: ...e you have set up the processing to minimize codec artifacts caused by a given piece of program material OPTIMOD PC s will automatically min imize codec artifacts with any program material All codecs...

Page 128: ...elligible to 99 of viewers un der common domestic viewing conditions Feature film dynamic range is inappropri ate for home viewing except in dedicated home theaters and the dynamic range of a signific...

Page 129: ...STL which can be flat or preemphasized at 50 or 75 s The AGC is turned off in the transmitter side Optimod If the STL has at least 16 bits of dynamic range it is often practical to drive it with the A...

Page 130: ...com pletely uncoupled operation The coupling control determines the maximum amount of gain imbalance permitted between the left and right channels in a given band and therefore the amount of stereo im...

Page 131: ...l Signal Processing Diagram Stereo Enhancement OPTIMOD PC provides two different stereo enhancement algorithms The first is based on Orban s patented analog 222 Stereo Enhancer which increases the ene...

Page 132: ...n imbalance is not exaggerated It also allows you to set a width limit to prevent over enhancement of material with sig nificant stereo content and will always limit the ratio of L R L R to unity or l...

Page 133: ...shoot from occurring after sample rate conversion or D A conversion Look Ahead Limiting and Low Bitrate Codecs It is important to minimize audible peak limiter induced distortion when one is driving a...

Page 134: ...at the 1101 s output solely by adjusting the 1101 s active DIALNORM value it is unnecessary to adjust any other controls with in a preset so all TV presets automatically adapt to the 1101 s current DI...

Page 135: ...onitoring the subjective loudness of the 1101 s output The subjective loudness is a single value that repre sents the listener s impression of the loudness in the listening room It takes into ac count...

Page 136: ...ermines how much fast control the Loudness Controller produces As the control is turned down toward 0 it allows longer and longer loudness peaks to pass through Because of the system topology the 1101...

Page 137: ...or BS 1770 Safety Limiter Following the CBS Loudness Controller is a BS 1770 Safety Limiter first implemented in v3 1 software that will prevent a BS 1770 2 loudness meter with 10 second inte gration...

Page 138: ...set to be phase linear We believe that this is the ideal processing for classical music and jazz programming because it does not dynamically re equalize high frequencies the subtle HF limiter only ac...

Page 139: ...t does in the video presets In the radio presets the air sound will become louder as you go from less to more but as with any processor processing artifacts will increase In the video presets except f...

Page 140: ...y level only if you are experienced with audio processing sound design and if you are willing to take the time to double check your work on many different types of program material In production and m...

Page 141: ...your adjustments In too many facilities the best monitor is significantly inferior to the sound systems found in many listeners homes About the Processing Structures If you want to create your own Us...

Page 142: ...g controls as appropriate for Two Band or Five Band multiband compression The meters also change displaying the Two Band or Five Band gain reduction as appropriate The Two Band and Five Band multiband...

Page 143: ...ir These represent the best efforts of some very experienced transmission process ing sound designers We are sometimes asked about unpublished programming secrets for Optimods In fact there are no sec...

Page 144: ...iding protection limiting for the STL that links the output of OPTIMOD PC to the input of the Optimod at the transmitter See Studio AGC on page 3 9 Choose the preset that matches OPTIMOD PC s preempha...

Page 145: ...n con trols of a studio style protection limiter to 0 dB To produce look ahead limiter gain reduction turn up the LESS MORE control Each step of the LESS MORE control increases the drive level to the...

Page 146: ...gain reduction The ratio for a given compressor starts out at 1 1 and ends up at 1 when the input level is 20 dB above threshold Mastering engineers will certainly want to adjust the compression thres...

Page 147: ...UNTRY LIGHT ROCK LIGHT 7 0 CRISP CRISP 9 5 DANCE ENERGY DANCE ENERGY 9 0 EDGE EDGE 10 0 FOLK TRADITIONAL ROCK SOFT 8 5 GOLD GOLD 9 5 GREGG GREGG 9 5 GREGG OPEN GREGG OPEN 9 5 IMPACT IMPACT 9 5 INSTRUM...

Page 148: ...hich could pump up very low frequency rumble in live recording venues The Five Band preset defeats the AGC using only the five band compressor for gain reduction It also defeats phase rotation to ensu...

Page 149: ...LK TRADITIONAL is an alias for the ROCK SOFT preset It assumes that the recordings are of relatively recent vintage and require relatively subtle processing If the recordings you play are inconsistent...

Page 150: ...zer slope to achieve punchy bass that still has enough mid bass boost to help smaller radios LOUD FAT has dramatic punch on percussive material and a very fat sounding low end It avoids overt bass dis...

Page 151: ...formats It is also a candidate for Quiet Storm and Love Songs light rock or light urban formats ROCK SMOOTH has the same mellow easy to listen to high frequency quality as ROCK SOFT but with more dens...

Page 152: ...o a level consistent with the active DIALNORM value see Loudness Control on page 3 14 The DIALNORM value is the same as the target loudness as measured by an ITU R BS 1770 2 loud ness meter in units o...

Page 153: ...B DRAMA 5 0 TV 5B DRAMA COUPLD 5 0 TV 5B NEWS 5 0 TV 5B OPTICAL FILM 5 0 TV 5B SPORTS 5 0 TVA 2B GEN PURP LC 5 0 TVA 2B GEN PURPOSE 5 0 TVA 5B GEN PUR W NR 5 0 TVA 5B GEN PURPOSE 5 0 TVA 5B GEN PURP L...

Page 154: ...O control to regulate loudness while still preserving some of the dynamic range of the original mix This preset sounds very smooth and natural with modern surround sound mixes for scripted dramas The...

Page 155: ...ed with optical film sound tracks particularly 16mm The gate threshold is quite high to avoid pumping up hiss thumps and other opti cal artifacts The threshold of the single ended dynamic noise reduct...

Page 156: ...is like a conventional tone control and creates the most mid bass boost yielding a warmer sound Because it affects the mid bass frequency range where the ear is more sensitive than it is to very low b...

Page 157: ...does not change as you adjust the amount of boost or cut The curves in OPTIMOD PC s equalizer were created by a so called min imax minimize the maximum error or equal ripple IIR digital ap proximation...

Page 158: ...gain reduction the density of the presence region en ergy will be increased more than will the level of energy in that region Because the 3 7 kHz band compressor is partially coupled to the gain re du...

Page 159: ...two bottom bands are equal and the response in this frequency range is flat The result is natural sounding bass on male voice This is particularly desirable for most video programming If you like a l...

Page 160: ...ter to 15 kHz for 32 kHz sample rate For other sample rates set the filter so that it is as close as possible to 45 of the sample rate without exceeding 45 This setting is unique to the preset in whic...

Page 161: ...ath distortion The stereo enhancer has the following controls Amount sets the maximum spatial enhancement Enhancer In Out bypasses the stereo enhancer OUT is equivalent to setting the AMOUNT to 0 L R...

Page 162: ...reduction in the AGC section when the struc ture is gated It gates whenever the input level to the structure is below the thresh old of gating The total amount of gain reduction in the Five Band stru...

Page 163: ...time of the multiband compressor is sped up Moderate AGC heavy compression particularly with a FAST multiband release time results in a wall of sound effect which may cause listener fatigue Adjust the...

Page 164: ...e Bass compressor sidechain is lower However the audio path bass gain reduction can be larger than the master gain reduction without limit In the previous example the bass gain reduction could be 25 d...

Page 165: ...he AGC slowly moves to wards the idle gain The idle gain is primarily determined by the AGC DRIVE setting a setting of 10 dB will ordinarily produce an idle gain of 10 dB i e 10 dB of gain reduction H...

Page 166: ...g This control works the same regardless of whether the AGC operates in left right or sum difference MATRIX modes in both cases controlling the maximum gain difference between the channels Depending o...

Page 167: ...een the bass and higher frequency program material Some OPTIMOD PC users feel that the bass clipper unnecessarily reduces bass punch at its factory settings To accommodate these users the threshold of...

Page 168: ...signs Lower settings reduce loudness of course but result in a cleaner sound When you use OPTIMOD PC in a preemphasized mode step 5 on page 2 25 this inserts a frequency dependent high frequency boost...

Page 169: ...wever if the spectral balance between the bass and high frequency energy of the program material is in correct the Two Band structure when its BASS COUPLING control is operated toward 0 can gently cor...

Page 170: ...e adjusted from 0 5 dB second slow to 20 dB second fast Set tings toward 20 dB second result in a more consistently loud output while settings toward 0 5 dB second allow a wider variation of dynamic r...

Page 171: ...ou can use this characteristic to preserve some feeling of dynamic range Once 10 dB of gain reduc tion is exceeded full loudness is achieved no further increase in short term density occurs as more ga...

Page 172: ...s getting stuck with a large amount of gain reduction on a long low level musical passage immediately following a loud passage It is common to set the 2B GATE control to approximately 35 dB Lower set...

Page 173: ...2B Bass Threshold determines the compression threshold of the bass band below 200 Hz in the Two Band Compressor It can be used to set the target spectral bal ance of the Two Band Compressor As the Two...

Page 174: ...t level for various settings of the KNEE and RATIO controls 2B Knee see 2B MASTER COMP RATIO above 2B Breakpoint The release rate measured in dB second in the 1101 s compressors is constant when the g...

Page 175: ...ec tionably increasing audio density when using low compression ratios and a signifi cant amount of gain reduction for example 10 dB The 2B BREAKPOINT control is best adjusted by ear If you find that...

Page 176: ...nd structure does not have a separate Loudness Controller because its Five Band compressor automatically re equalizes the spectral balance of various pieces of program material in a way that tends to...

Page 177: ...band Drive control adjusts the signal level going into the five band compres sor and therefore determines the average amount of gain reduction in the five band compressor Range is 25dB Adjust the MULT...

Page 178: ...B gain reduction as shown on the meters for Band 3 More than 10dB particularly with the fast release time will often create a wall of sound effect that many find fatiguing To avoid excessive density w...

Page 179: ...r to gate effectively freezing gain to prevent noise breathing There are two independent gating circuits in OPTIMOD PC The first affects the AGC and the second affects the five band compressor Each ha...

Page 180: ...gram material Modern commercial recordings will almost never need it We expect that its main use will be in talk oriented programming including sports Please note that it is impossible to design such...

Page 181: ...ols the extent to which the gain of band 5 6 2 kHz and above is determined by and follows the gain of band 4 The sum of the high frequency limiter control signal and the output of the B4 B5 CPL contro...

Page 182: ...duced in the look ahead limiter because slower attack times increase overshoots that the look ahead limit must eliminate The results are strongly program dependent and must be verified with listening...

Page 183: ...wever audio processing experts may want to experiment with lesser amounts of coupling to achieve a wider fatter stereo image at the cost of some image insta bility B5 MAXDELTGR is set OFF most factory...

Page 184: ...he driver will load normal audio proc essing DSP code into OPTIMOD PC After another fraction of a second mute to accommodate the load OPTIMOD PC will now operate normally using the same preset that wa...

Page 185: ...Dolby Digital medium like DVD defeat OPTIMOD PC s Dialnorm processing by setting the DIALNORM OUTPUT control to OFF in the CONFIGURATION page of OPTIMOD PC s I O Mixer b If you are mastering for a Dol...

Page 186: ...ic i e with program dependent time constants and the RELEASE control simply scales this pro cess This combined with multiband operation makes the compression remarkably resistant to the usual compress...

Page 187: ...d limiter which will have to eliminate attack transients exceeding the look ahead limiter s threshold L Adjust equalization as necessary As discussed above there is a versatile program equalizer avail...

Page 188: ...OK AHEAD LIMITER preset and toggle between it and your processing preset If there is a gross loudness disparity you may wish to edit the gain within the LOOK AHEAD LIMITER preset and save this as a us...

Page 189: ...esets Create a folder named My Preset within the directory Program Files Orban OPTIMOD PC2 presets You should see all of the subdirectories for Orban s factory presets in this director 3 Choose the de...

Page 190: ...Edit the third line of the file as follows Factory Preset Name MY PRESET D Edit the fifth line of the file as follows Preset File Name MY PRESET LMxxx orbf11 where MY PRESET LMxxx orbf11 is the same...

Page 191: ...dit the second line of the file as follows Preset Name MY PRESET size 126 Do not change the number after size E Edit the fifth line of the file as follows Preset File Name MY PRESET orbf11 Your new fa...

Page 192: ...3 72 OPERATION ORBAN MODEL 1101...

Page 193: ...ement per BS 1770 uniformly integrates all program mate rial quiet passages tend to lower the measured value To prevent this the ITU add ed gating to the BS 1770 standard which was revised as BS 1770...

Page 194: ...s using the BS 1770 2 algorithm and EBU TECH 3342 Loudness Range algorithm The new measurements were performed using Version 2 of the Orban Loudness Meter3 This revision compares the CBS and BS 1770 2...

Page 195: ...s e r v a t io n s in a G iv e n L o u d n e s s B in 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Histogram of CBS Maximum Peak in 10 second Periods Time sec 0 400 800 1200 1600 d B 30 25 20 15 10 CBS Long Term Integration Ti...

Page 196: ...ls dB 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 N u m b e r o fO b s e r v a tio n s in a G iv e n L o u d n e s s B in 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Histogram of CBS Maximum Peak in 10 second Periods Time seconds 0 400 800 12...

Page 197: ...hed in 2008 was also included in the measurements and is shown in the bottommost charts This algorithm attempts to mimic a skilled operator s mental integration of the peak swings of a meter with VU l...

Page 198: ...inute measure ment essentially meaningless In general the loudest parts of the unprocessed audio are commercials and promos both network and local These are anywhere from 5 to 10 dB or LK louder than...

Page 199: ...tive for use on audio programmes that are typical of broadcast content the algorithm is not in general suitable for use to estimate the subjective loudness of pure tones We have noted that the meter t...

Page 200: ...ith a wide variety of speech ma terial and has observed that this material is almost always controlled within a 1 dB window as measured on the LM100 In the author s opinion this demonstrates the benef...

Page 201: ...ion 2 16 does not sufficiently predict how that content should be included An Australian study may shed light on the failure of BS 1770 when program material contains considerable energy at very low f...

Page 202: ...measurement that incorpo rates cascaded models of the instantaneous and short term loudness time con stants of human hearing 19 which the BS 1770 algorithm does not Controlling loudness to a standard...

Page 203: ...material hav ing a low peak to RMS ratio so it allows mixers and producers to freely use artistic compression 21 and other well established production techniques with the knowl edge that such material...

Page 204: ......

Page 205: ...menu To get the firmware and DSP versions running on a given card right click that card in the Connection List Application Installation File Setup1101xxx exe Installer Installs the Control Applicatio...

Page 206: ...MOD PC hardware I O continues to pass and process audio as normal If OPTIMOD PC is located in an external PCI chassis the host computer can lose power or be turned off and OPTIMOD PC will continue to...

Page 207: ...pen a card in the Control Application and this card is running out of date firmware the Control Application will issue an error message stating that you must upgrade the firmware to a version that is...

Page 208: ...n the driver starts up it checks a flag on each OPTIMOD PC card to determine if it needs to reload DSP code into the card It does not reload DSP code or parameters when Windows reboots nor mally as it...

Page 209: ...tead The service is also responsible for verifying that the DSP code version running on the card is the same as the DSP code with which the service was compiled If it is not the service will load the...

Page 210: ......

Page 211: ...optimod2 sys all OPTIMOD PC related Reg istry entries and if desired all Connection Profiles Settings and User Presets When the dialog box appears asking Do you want to retain the existing Optimod PC...

Page 212: ...5 2 UNINSTALLATION ORBAN MODEL 1101...

Page 213: ...ect RS232 serial connection from other computers using the IP address of the host computer This control is located in the OPTIMOD PC remote application in the TOOLS SERVICE SETUP dialog box and is acc...

Page 214: ...d to develop net working code or otherwise contend with complex limited function Microsoft Win dows specific programming APIs like the Windows Audio Mixer Developing a third party application or inclu...

Page 215: ...alog 1 Process Mixer Input Mute A1PIB Mute Unmute Analog 1 Process Mixer Backup D1PIM Mute Unmute Digital 1 Process Mixer Input Mute D2PIM Mute Unmute Digital 2 Process Mixer Input Mute D2PIB Mute Unm...

Page 216: ...al 1 Output Dither D2OWL 14bit 16bit 18bit 20bit 24bit Digital 2 Output Word Length bits D2ODT In Out Digital 2 Output Dither DODL Minimum 30fps 29 970fps 25fps 24fps 33ms to 60ms in 1ms steps Digital...

Page 217: ...CP IP connection To do this create a new profile following the instructions in step 11 A on page 2 12and using IP address 127 0 0 1 localhost Then connect the Control Application to the local card as...

Page 218: ...L 20 0dB disconnect Muting the Wave Input These two functions will mute and unmute the Wave Processed Mixer Input The file mute_wave cmd contains plink telnet P 11101 127 0 0 1 mute_wave txt The file...

Page 219: ...gital stu dios The txt script file would be edited to switch the digital input Because OPTIMOD PC has four inputs one can imagine advanced scenarios where the auto mation switches up to four audio sou...

Page 220: ...nd devices and audio capture can be found at Microsoft MSDN Windows Multime dia Multimedia Reference Multimedia Functions and Microsoft MSDN Win32 and COM Development Graphics and Multimedia Audio and...

Page 221: ...g muting or level setting is required use the Input Destination controls Other sound cards especially consumer and some prosumer cards do not offer au dio mixer or signal processing functions Therefor...

Page 222: ...ired Serial port and parameters Users will connect their computer or terminal with a null modem cable Refer to the GPIO device documentation to determine which type of serial cable is re quired to con...

Page 223: ...choose OK The CONNECT TO dialog box appears D Set the Connect Using field to COMx where x is the COM port you are us ing on your PC Choose OK The PORT SETTINGS dialog box appears E Set the port proper...

Page 224: ...through Ethernet TCP IP Using a terminal program like HyperTerminal or Telnet you can control an 1101 card through a network Ethernet TCP IP connection to the computer that hosts the 1101 you wish to...

Page 225: ...sign an available TCP IP Port Default is 11101 C Uncheck Use localhost only for Terminal Access D Optional Check Use Network Accept List and add allowed IP addresses to list Connect your computer or t...

Page 226: ...me IP subnet unless special routing has been configured You do not need to remove power from either your computer or the 1101 when you execute the instructions in step A B Start HyperTerminal You can...

Page 227: ...ixer Control API starting on page 6 1 Alternatively you can use Windows Command Line Telnet A Open a Command Box B Type telnet hostname hostport e g telnet 127 0 0 1 11101 Connection to the 1101 will...

Page 228: ...6 16 CONTROL API ORBAN MODEL 1101 OPTIMOD PC Command and Status Reference is in OPTIMOD PC Sys tem Mixer Control API starting on page 6 1...

Page 229: ...30 fps 33 33ms 29 97 fps NTSC color video 33 37ms 25 fps most PAL video 40ms and 24 fps film 41 67ms Minimum delay is also available this de lay will vary according to the processing structure in use...

Page 230: ...host computer system by use of standard operating system sound device driver calls For example this could include single or multiple player ap plications such as an audio playout system with multiple...

Page 231: ...ws Mixer API Analog Audio Input Number of Inputs 1 Configuration Stereo Impedance 10k ohm impedance electronically balanced floating and symmetrical Nominal Input Level 10dBu 4dBu VU 2dBu 21dBu PPM So...

Page 232: ...D PC Control Application Impedance Transformer balanced and floating 110 ohm impedance AES EBU Sample Rate 20 96kHz Input Level Variable within the range of 20 to 0dBFS Peak in 0 5dB steps Software ad...

Page 233: ...cam compatible POWER PCI Connector 5V at 800mA 12V at 200mA maximum 12V at 100mA maximum 7 5 watts total maximum PCIe Connector 3 3V at 1 5A 12 at 200mA 15 derived from DC DC converter COMPUTER Minimu...

Page 234: ...n the 1101 is set up according to the instruction supplied in this man ual API Microsoft Windows Mixer Control API supported for Input and Output switching and lev els This provides compatibility with...

Page 235: ...95 RH non condensing Size L x H x W PCI Standard Short Length 6 6 168mm x 4 2 107mm x 0 75 19mm Shipping Weight 4lbs 1 8kg with cable assembly Shipping Weight 2 0lbs 1 0kg 1101 OPTIMOD PC Card Shippin...

Page 236: ......

Page 237: ...blications and Internet resources will appear from time to time so not all of the resources shown below may be up to date Books and Publications Ken C Pohlmann Principles of Digital Audio McGraw Hill...

Page 238: ...Focal Press Elsevier Inc 2010 ISBN 10 0240812441 ISBN 13 978 0240812441 Jon Luini Allen Whitman Streaming Audio The FezGuys Guide New Riders Publishing First Edition 2002 ISBN 10 0735712808 ISBN 13 97...

Page 239: ...Gregory C Demetriades Streaming Media Building and Implementing a Complete Streaming System Wiley Publishing Inc 2003 ISBN 10 0471209503 ISBN 13 978 0471209508 Michael Topic Streaming Media Demystifi...

Page 240: ...ayer http www adobe com products flashplayer Adobe Flash Professional http www adobe com products flash Adobe Flash Builder http labs adobe com technologies flashbuilder4 Apple QuickTime Main QuickTim...

Page 241: ...load php Documents http www icecast org docs php Streaming Audio Directory http dir xiph org index php Open Source Media Framework OSMF Adobe Open Source Flash Player http openvideoplayer sourceforge...

Page 242: ...oft com kb 306759 Device Manager Does Not Display Devices that are Not Connected http support microsoft com kb 315539 Microsoft Silverlight Microsoft Silverlight Main http silverlight net Microsoft Ex...

Page 243: ...work Audio System SHOUTcast Streaming Server http www shoutcast com download SHOUTcast Support Documentation http www shoutcast com support docs Winamp Client Player http www winamp com Streaming Audi...

Page 244: ...http www tuner2 com Software Utilities NetPerSec http www pcmag com article2 0 4149 1735 00 asp NetMeter http www metal machine de readerror DU Meter http www dumeter com Bandwidth Meter http www band...

Page 245: ...7 aspx Pinguin Audio Metering http www masterpinguin de Virtual Audio Cable http www ntonyx com PAGEot Embedded QuickTime Code Generator http www qtbridge com pageot pageot html XMLtoRefMovie http www...

Page 246: ...ring Solutions http www techsystem net Webalizer http www mrunix net webalizer Webalizer Streaming Version http webalizer bzhtec com Wowza Media Systems Main Page http www wowzamedia com Wowza Media S...

Page 247: ...ls http www indexcom com iphone Netcat A command line utility which reads and writes data across network connections using TCP or UDP protocol Use for sending PAD metadata ASCII or XML using outbound...

Page 248: ...ODEL 1101 http www fabulatech com serial port splitter html Fabulatech Serial Port Redirector http www fabulatech com serial port redirector html HW Virtual Serial Port http www hw group com products...

Page 249: ...presets 3 24 ratio control 3 45 studio 3 9 using 1101 as 3 25 AGC 3 12 AGC Matrix 3 46 AGC Mode 2 23 AGC Router 2 40 AGC Router Output 2 23 agent 4 2 allpass crossover 3 45 analog I O setup 2 32 anal...

Page 250: ...ng term loudness 3 77 CBS loudness meter 3 73 Classical music 3 28 clicks 2 50 clipper control list 3 46 clipper bass 3 13 clipping 2 44 clipping 3 4 ClockLock 1 29 codec aacPlus 3 7 HE AAC 3 7 oversh...

Page 251: ...tting 2 26 Dialnorm 2 41 Dialnorm 3 42 2 dialog intelligibility 2 54 digital I O sync 2 24 digital I O 1 20 digital I O 2 18 digital links 1 30 digital media preprocessing for 1 1 digital output not l...

Page 252: ...and release control 3 58 output mix controls 3 61 five band 3 56 G gain pumping 2 53 gate threshold control 3 59 gate 3 43 Gate indicators 3 2 Genlocking 1 29 35 global processing parameters configuri...

Page 253: ...3 13 25 look ahead limiting 3 5 lossy data reduction 1 34 loudness 5 in Dolby Digital 2 2 8 37 28 41 incorrect 2 55 setting 1 41 setting for Dolby Digital 2 28 41 Loudness increase expected 1 39 loud...

Page 254: ...N netcasting processing for 1 1 netcasting applications encoder 1 39 netcasting applications 1 38 Network Can t Connect 2 49 Networking 1 27 News format 3 30 NICAM 1 31 noise 2 52 non streaming appli...

Page 255: ...g user 1 17 country 3 29 creating factory 3 69 creating user 1 18 crisp 3 29 dance 3 29 default folder 1 17 deleting user 1 18 edge 3 29 factory 1 16 factory 7 2 factory programming 3 23 five band 3 2...

Page 256: ...te conversion overshoot in 1 12 Security 1 25 serial API 7 6 serial port configuring 2 10 Serial Port 2 6 9 12 Server editing properties 2 11 service 4 2 4 setup file 2 21 shelving equalizer bass slop...

Page 257: ...Telnet 6 1 15 Telnet 7 6 temperature operating 7 6 terminal server 6 1 Threshold Bass Delta 3 46 Master Delta 3 46 Multiband Compression 3 59 throughput delay 7 1 toolbar 3 4 tools menu 3 4 Transient...

Page 258: ...7 Window Release 3 45 Window Size 3 44 Windows Server 2003 2 46 Windows firewall 2 58 Windows Media Codec 3 7 Windows mixer input destination names 6 9 output destination names 6 8 WIndows mixer peak...

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