3-50
OPERATION ORBAN Model 8400
in an unattractive busier, flatter, or denser sound. It is very important to be aware of the
many negative subjective side effects of excessive density when setting controls that af-
fect the density of the processed sound.
The
MB Drive interacts with the MB Release setting. With slower release time settings,
increasing the
MB Drive control scarcely affects density. Instead, the primary danger is
that the excessive drive will cause noise to be excessively increased when the program
material becomes quiet.
You can minimize this effect by carefully setting the MB Gate Thresh con-
trol to “freeze” the gain when the input gets quiet and/or by activating the
single-ended noise reduction.
When the release time of the multiband compressor is set to its faster settings, the setting
of the
MB Drive control becomes much more critical to sound quality because density
increases as the control is turned up. Listen carefully as you adjust it. With these fast re-
lease times, there is a point beyond which increasing multiband compressor drive will no
longer yield more loudness, and will simply degrade the punch and definition of the
sound.
We recommend no more than 10 dB gain reduction as shown on the meters for band 3.
More than 10 dB, particularly with the
Fast release time, will often create a “wall of
sound” effect that many find fatiguing.
To avoid excessive density with the Fast multiband release time, we recom-
mend using no more than 5 dB gain reduction in band 3, and compensating
for any lost loudness by speeding up the
MB Release instead. This is what
we did in the factory
Less/More presets for the Fast multiband release time.
MB Release control can be switched to any one of seven settings:
The Slow settings produce a very punchy, clean, open sound that is ideal for
Adult Contemporary, Soft Rock, Soft Urban, New Age, and other adult-
oriented formats whose success depends on attracting and holding audiences
for very long periods of time. The
Slow and Slow2 settings produce an unproc-
essed sound with a nice sense of dynamic range. With these settings, the Five-
Band structure provides gentle automatic equalization to keep the frequency
balance consistent from record to record (especially those recorded in different
eras). And for background music formats, these settings ensure that your sound
doesn’t lose its highs and lows. Because it creates a more consistent frequency
balance between different pieces of source material than does the Two-Band
structure,
Slow is almost always preferable to the Two-Band structure for any
popular music format.
The Medium Slow settings (
Med and Med2) are appropriate for more adult-
oriented formats that need a glossy show-business sound, yet whose ratings
depend on maintaining a longer time spent listening than do conventional Con-
temporary Hit Radio (CHR) formats. With the single-ended noise reduction ac-
tivated, it is also appropriate for Talk and News formats. This is the sound tex-
ture for the station that values a clean, easy-to-listen-to sound with a tasteful
amount of punch, presence, and brightness added when appropriate. This is an
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