OPTIMOD-FM OPERATION
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tory Programming Preset with your custom equalization. Of course, you can also modify
the Factory Preset (with
Less/More, Intermediate Modify, or Advanced Modify) before
you create your User Preset.
In general, you should be conservative when equalizing modern, well-recorded program
material.
Except for
Bass Shelf Gain, most of the factory presets use less than 3 dB of equaliza-
tion.
Bass Shelf Controls
, the Five-Band structure’s low bass equalization controls, are de-
signed to add punch and slam to rock and urban music. They provide a parametric shelv-
ing equalizer with control over gain, hinge frequency, and slope (in dB/octave).
Bass Shelf Hinge Frequency
sets the frequency where shelving starts to take
effect.
Bass Gain
sets the amount of bass boost (dB) at the top of the shelf.
Bass Slope
sets the slope (dB/octave) of the transition between the top and
bottom of the shelf.
Because the Five-Band structure often increases the brightness of program
material, some bass boost is usually desirable to keep the sound spectrally
well balanced. Adjustment of bass equalization must be determined by indi-
vidual taste and by the requirements of your format. Be sure to listen on a
wide variety of radios—it is possible to create severe distortion on poor
quality speakers by over-equalizing the bass. Be careful!
The moderate-slope (12 dB/octave) shelving boost achieves a bass boost that
is more audible on smaller radios, but which can sound boomier on high-
quality receivers. The steep-slope (18 dB/octave) shelving boost creates a
solid, punchy bass from the better consumer radios with decent bass re-
sponse. The 6 dB/octave shelving boost 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 bass, the 6 dB/octave slope can create more apparent bass
level at the cost of bass “punch.”
There are no easy choices here; you must choose the characteristic you want
by identifying your target audience and the receivers they are most likely to
be using. Regardless of which curve you use, we recommend a +2 to +5 dB
boost for most formats. Larger amounts of boost will increase the gain re-
duction in the lowest band of the multiband compressor, which may have the
effect of reducing some frequencies. So be aware the large fixed bass boosts
may have a different effect than you expect because of the way that they in-
teract with the multiband compressor.
Low Frequency Parametric Equalizer is a specially designed parametric equalizer
whose boost and cut curves closely emulate those of a classic Orban analog parametric
equalizer with conventional bell-shaped curves (within ±0.15 dB worst-case). This pro-
vides warm, smooth, “analog-sounding” equalization.
Low Frequency
determines the center frequency of the equalization, in Hertz.
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