Orban Ships First OPTIMOD-AM 9400 Audio Processors to Customers
Tempe, AZ., April 13, 2006, – Orban, has shipped the first OPTIMOD-AM 9400 audio processors to customers. The 9400 contains two processing chains—one for AM analog broadcasting and one for netcasting/digital radio broadcasting. The only processing common to the two channels is the AGC and stereo enhancer. Beyond this front-end processing, each processing chain has its own equalizer, five-band compressor/limiter, and peak limiter, each optimized for its intended transmission channel. The analog chain peak limiter uses Orban's exclusive multiband distortion-canceled clipper and overshoot compensator, while the digital chain uses an advanced, low-IM look-ahead limiter to make the most of low bitrate codecs like the HDC codec used in the iBiquity® HD AM system. Both processing chains are stereo, making the 9400 appropriate for C-QUAM® AM stereo installations.
In the digital processing channel, Orban's PreCode™ technology manipulates several aspects of the audio to minimize artifacts caused by low bitrate codecs (like the HDC codec used in HD-AM), ensuring consistent loudness and texture from one source to the next. PreCode includes special audio band detection algorithms that are energy and spectrum aware. This can improve codec performance on some codecs by reducing audio processing induced codec artifacts, even with program material that has been preprocessed by other processing than Optimod.
Bob Orban, Vice President and Chief Engineer, commented, “The 9400 has been a complex product to develop, but we are very satisfied with the final result. We realized early in the 9400's design process that AM stations need more than just AGC and peak limiting on their digital channels. Particularly because of the preponderance of talk on AM, these stations also need Orban-quality five-band compression and limiting to ensure spectral consistency and smooth source-to-source continuity on the digital channel. However, the analog and digital five-band compressor/limiters require very different thresholds, crossover frequencies, and time constants. Appropriate equalization settings and peak limiting technologies are very different as well. That's why the 9400 is essentially two processors in one.”
Thanks to its unified design, the 9400 costs substantially less than a two-box configuration and is easier to control. The 9400's MSRP is $7,990.00.
Orban Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Management’s anticipation of future events is based upon assumptions regarding levels of competition, research and development results, raw material markets, the markets in which the company operates, and stability of the regulatory environment. Any of these assumptions could prove inaccurate; and therefore, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking information will prove to be accurate.
About Orban
Orban is a manufacturer of high-quality digital and analog audio processing, transmission encoding, and noise reduction equipment. Orban is in the market for radio, TV and Internet audio processing. As technology evolves, CRL continues to innovate with state-of-the-art audio processing products for DAB, DTV and streaming media. The Company purchased Orban® in May of 2000. Orban was founded in 1970 by Bob Orban, who is the world’s foremost expert in transmission audio processing for broadcast. Orban leads the industry in the design and manufacture of audio processors for radio, television and Internet broadcasting. Recognized for its standard-setting Optimod® digital audio processors and the Opticodec® codecs, the Orban name has become synonymous with reliable, high performance products. Today, its versatile audio processing equipment and codecs are the products of choice in fast-paced production environments worldwide.
For more information contact David Rusch at phone +1 480 403-8300, fax +1 480 403-8301 or e-mail: drusch@orban.com. Information is also available at www.orban.com and www.orban-europe.com.