OPTIMOD SURROUND PROCESSOR OPERATION
3-35
ROCK: ROCK-DENSE, ROCK-MEDIUM, and ROCK-OPEN are appropriate for gen-
eral rock and contemporary programming. They provide a bright high end and
punchy low end (although not as exaggerated as the URBAN presets). A midrange
boost provides enough presence energy to ensure that vocals stand out. A modest
amount of high frequency coupling (determined by the Band Clipping 3>4 setting)
allows reasonable amounts of automatic HF equalization to correct dull program
material, while still preventing exaggerated frequency balances and excessive HF
density. Dense, medium, and open refer to the compression density, which is deter-
mined by the release time settings in the AGC and multiband compressor sections.
ROCK-LIGHT has an open sound with little audible compression and less brightness
than the first three presets. It is a compromise between ROCK-OPEN and ROCK-
SOFT.
ROCK-SOFT
has a mellow, easy-to-listen-to high frequency quality that is designed
for female-skewing 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 density. Again, it is a good choice for female-skewing
formats, but where you need more compression and density than you get with
ROCK-SOFT.
For Contemporary Hit Radio (CHR) we recommend the ROCK-DENSE or ROCK-
MEDIUM versions. In competitive situations, you may need to use LOUD-HOT (you
can use L
ESS-MORE to get it even louder) or even LOUD-HOT+BASS or IMPACT.
However, the “rock” presets are somewhat cleaner and are therefore more likely to
encourage longer times spent listening than are the “loud” presets.
For Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) we recommend the ROCK-MEDIUM or ROCK-OPEN
versions, although you might prefer the more conservative ROCK-LIGHT or ROCK-
SMOOTH versions.
SMOOTH JAZZ: This preset is designed for commercial broadcasters playing smooth
jazz (Kenny G., etc.). It is designed to prevent stridency with saxes and other horns.
This preset is based on a custom Optimod-FM 8400 preset that has been used suc-
cessfully by a major-market smooth jazz station with very good ratings. However, if
the loudness/density tradeoff is not to your taste, use L
ESS-MORE to turn it down,
producing lower loudness with less density.
WMA MUSIC: This preset is based on GREGG
SLOW but has been edited to mini-
mize artifacts in the Windows Media Audio V9 codec when operated at bitrates be-
low 64 kbps. See Processing for Low Bit Rate Codecs on page 3-5.
WMA NEWS-T
ALK: This preset is based on NEWS-TALK but has been edited to
minimize artifacts in the Windows Media Audio V9 codec when operated at bitrates
below 64 kbps.