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quote :Could have had a lot better quality than M-Audio too.
What’s wrong with a modded M-Audio card? The mod sheet would lead one to believe it was the next best thing to a straight wire… or a Marian Trace ????? ❓
yah… like I said, it’s frequently a matter of personal taste and one’s "ears". I’ve worked with a lot of FM processors, though admittedly not at the level that someone like Jesse has. Long term, I don’t find the BW boxes easy to listen to, compared to others I have to work with. However, they’re probably fine in other markets. So far as I know, no station in this market uses one… certainly none of the major economic competitors.
To each his own, and I mean no offense to you.
BTW… I purchased my BW equipment through Progressive Concepts, and had no difficulty receiving any of it. Eric has been as easy to deal with as Broadcast Supply, where I get much of my equipment (they’re only about 25 miles from my place). I once had to send a processor back to BW, and the turnaround was fast. While I may not care that much for their processors, I am a huge fan of their transmitters.
quote :I think BW finally gave up.Too bad. I have 4 DSPXtras and had one DSPX… bought them all when they were about twice the price they’re asking now.
I liked the Ariane front end on the DSPXtra. Past that, there was much I didn’t care for. I didn’t like the non-adjustable, undefeatable "return to zero" feature, and the clipping added too much grunge for me. There never were any updates for the AM version, assuming they actually sold one, so I’m not sure it was established whether an FM version could be flashed over for AM.
The DSPX didn’t seem to have enough channels to handle FM… at least considering where they put their crossover points, which you can’t adjust beyond the preset points they offer. The 4th channel limiter was way too audible, in my view.
Too bad, really. I realize processing is a voodoo art… subject to the vagarities of our individual, finely tuned ears. Personally, I thought the DSPXtra would be a better box than it wound up being… but living in the Seatlle area gives one a lot of processing philosophies to compare, and I didn’t think the BW stuff bested any other station on the dial.
I’m still blown away by what the Breakaway products to for the price. I’m under no illusions that a full-blown hardware box won’t be the cheapest thing in the world. However, if I don’t have to sell my house, my airplane and my wife to get one, I probably will.
BTW… Jesse, if you and Leif are still taking requests, please consider keeping some functionality for AM in there, would you?
Thanks!
quote :Upon checking, our jingles are sitting at around 0 dB and so are some of our tracks (say Oasis) but we also have some tracks sitting closer to -10 dB (some Coldplay, Evanescence, etc.).My music tracks top out at about -6 with my jingles hitting -3 or so. I try to stay away from 0. Riding a song down at -10 can be difficult for any processor… especially if you randomize your selections.
Normalizing an entire library is a tough call. A few peaks above threshold can force a lot of songs down below where you’d rather have them. If you have to use a normalizer, then I guess that’s the way it is. I’m fortunate to have been able to build my library over enough time that each cut has been given its own "look" before it lands on the hard drive.
The Breakaway products really do a very good job of leveling disparate cuts. To look at the outputs, it’s amazing how consistently the level’s held at "0", while still sounding like there are some dynamics in there.
However, as Jesse says, density is an entirely different issue. You can use a multiband processor to squash and clip your audio as much as you want. Pulling that compression back out is another matter, especially when running a large library. I have everything from big band music of the 40’s & 50’s, up to current CD cuts that have enough peak limiting to glue the needle at ‘0’. Nothing can make that much range sound equal, though Breakaway does as good a job as anything I’ve heard.
The axiom applies, regardless… "Garbage in… Garbage out".
Just an addition to what Jesse’s already contributed here:
In the broadcast environments I’ve been in, the common procedure would be to start your jingles at, or slightly above the level of the preceding cut. The succeeding song should be above the level of the jingle’s end, assuming you want that song to dominate. The idea is to make each cut force your processing into increased compression, which puts the incoming cut on top and forces the outgoing cut down at the ratio of the increased compression.
This is a nifty trick, which works well in a live studio environment. It can also be done with automation, though you have to plan your system carefully to pull it off well.
On the other hand, if you notice that BBP has to increase levels between the end of your jingle and the start of your next song, you’ll get the effect you mention. The jingle has pushed the processor into higher compression than is necessary for the song, so there’s a small period where the processor has to catch up. It’s the reverse of what you want to see the processor doing.
One of the other forums I’m on has a lot of trouble with ‘bots. Somehow, they’re able to establish new accounts, then post junk like this
I was fortunate to grow up in the shadow of a couple of Seattle greats. KJR always sounded good, though I was too young to know much about why. Lee Hurley was golden at that place.
Later, Harrison Kline and Greg Ogonowski would work their way through KING AM. The disco days were tough on processors, but those guys made that station sing. They also installed Seattle’s first solid state 50kW at KING… a Nautel Ampfet 50, which is still there.
Down in Portland, Ogonowski demoed his 2540 5-band AM processor. KXL put it up against an optimod and, if memory serves, a CRL combo. They kept the 2540.
Good memories, listening to people make AM as good as it got.
Hi, J.R.
I’m getting ready to do the same thing on a 10kW Station in Washington State. Haven’t finished it yet though. Waiting for a new exciter to arrive & just finished modding the card today. Should be fun to see what this can do with that wonderful, wideband medium we call AM! 🙂
I’m wondering why you chose the 25 microsecond setting, considering NRSC is a modified 75 curve???
You might also check out the CHR preset. It sounds like it has a little less lower mid-range…. might help you out a bit.
I’m thinking that if you were to set that up a notch or two, you might get the presence you’re looking for.
Otherwise, maybe some wisdom you’d like to share?
Thanks!
Jack
I would say that depends entirely on the content you have and how you want to present it.
You can use winamp or even an Ipod for simple sequential lists.
For more complex playout, you might want to consider the kind of software that broadcasters use. There are several variants out there, some free, most not. I use the Simian system from http://www.bsiusa.com
Well, this would be an interesting bug, if it does turn out to be in the software. I just installed two ASIO versions last night. Downloaded Ver 0.90.93 from the link on this site, loaded it in, authorized it & it’s working right out of the box. On both of these installs I can open the tilt parameters, so long as HPF isn’t off, so I thought that might be what was stopping you.
I thought it might be a sensitivity to what card was plugged in (I’m using the Audiophile 192). Don’t have anything else here to test that idea, at least not with the ASIO version, though I also have the standard BBP here, and it does the same thing, both with the 192 card and through the computer’s onboard audio. Seems that would tend to point to something other than the ASIO version, maybe?
That probably doesn’t help you much, but from here it doesn’t look like a bug in the software.
