ORBAN ANNOUNCES NEW OPTIMOD 8585 DIGITAL SURROUND AUDIO PROCESSOR
NOW AVAILABLE FOR IMMEDIATE SHIPMENT
Tempe, AZ February 3rd, 2009 — Orban, a worldwide leader in audio processing for AM, FM, TV, and Internet broadcasting, announces that the Optimod 8585 Digital Surround Audio Processor is now available for immediate shipment. The 8585 solves the problems that HD 5.1 and 7.1 stereo broadcasters have had with local commercial and insertion loudness compared to the network content. Starting with the technology of Orban's popular Optimod 6300 two-channel processor for digital transmission media, the 8585 takes this technology to the next level by incorporating multichannel processing that reflects the latest psychoacoustic research into loudness perception.
"For many years our television customers have been asking for a solution to the processing demands of surround sound 5.1 and 7.1, along with the need for local insertion for news, weather and sports. This next generation Optimod will provide the function and control necessary for up to eight channels simultaneously, giving the television station or internet streaming station full control of their processing requirements," commented C. Jayson Brentlinger Orban / CRL President, CEO, Chairman.
VP and Chief Engineer Bob Orban stated, "The 8585 is the result of an intensive two-year R&D effort that extends Optimod technology in fresh ways to complement modern surround mixes. 8585 users can choose classic Optimod-TV dynamic range compression or can use presets that exploit our new technology to perform subtler processing. We put a lot of work into ensuring that dialog is intelligible -- the 8585's new technology can correct poorly balanced or equalized mixes while de-essing as necessary. Our beta testers have told us that the 8585 smoothly handles problem material that has choked other processors and that it stops loudness problems cold."
Greg Ogonowski, Vice President of New Product Development, said, "The HDTV picture is the best thing to happen to television in years. But in terms of loudness inconsistency, which is the #1 audience irritant, we have regressed back to where television audio was before CBS Laboratories introduced their first automatic loudness controller in the mid 1960s. The 8585 prevents the #1 audience complaint easily, simply, and reliably with all material, live or recorded, without the inconvenience and added handling costs of file-processing solutions."
The 8585 features Optimod-quality two-band and five-band audio processing for surround sound broadcasting, netcasting, and mastering. Thanks to versatile compression ratio controls and a mastering-quality look-ahead peak limiter, the 8585 is ideal for mastering audio in broadcast productions as well as productions intended for media such as DVD and Blu-ray.
The 8585 is built on Orban's flagship hardware platform. This features a GUI displayed on a quarter-VGA active matrix color LCD, making it easy to do all setup and adjustment from the 8585's front panel.
A new third-generation CBS Loudness Controller™ helps retain audiences by controlling both subjective loudness and annoyance. The controller works in both two-band and five-band modes. Earlier generations of the CBS algorithm have proven their effectiveness by processing millions of hours of on-air programming since the mid 1980s. The loudness controller smoothly limits subjectively perceived loudness to a broadcaster-set threshold, preventing audience irritation. The controller measures subjective loudness (as perceived by an average listener) and then closes a feedback loop to limit loudness to a preset level. It effectively controls loud commercials, which are the primary irritant in sound-for-picture applications. Third generation improvements reduce annoyance better than simple loudness control alone, doing so without audible gain pumping. Attack time is adjustable, allowing users to determine how much short-term loudness control the 8585 will produce. When used with fast attack settings, the loudness controller completely prevents audible loudness overshoots, yielding a smooth and comfortably listenable presentation. Slower settings allow transient material like gunshots, explosions, and the like to pass through, which can increase the impact of action/adventure programming.
The 8585 can be two processors in one, offering surround processing for either 7.1 channels or 5.1 channels plus an independent 2.0 channel processor (equivalent to Optimod 6300 processing) that can operate stand-alone with its own CBS Loudness Controller. Additionally, the 2.0 processor's output can be mixed into the left and right front channels of the surround processing so that the surround processing's Loudness Controller and look-ahead limiters control the loudness and peak level of the mix. Built-in CBS Loudness Meters indicate the subjective loudness of the surround and 2.0 channel processing. RS-485 serial connections can accept and emit Dolby Digital® metadata.
The multichannel and 2.0 processors can operate with separate audio processing parameters like release times. For example, the 2.0 processing could be set up for relatively heavy processing to make a newsroom feed more consistent, while the main processing was set up more conservatively to correct network material and commercials unobtrusively. Moreover, the 8585's 2.0 processing offers a dual-mono mode that allows two separate mono programs to be processed, facilitating multiple-language operation.
The 8585 includes Orban's PreCode™ technology. This manipulates several aspects of the audio to minimize artifacts caused by low bitrate codecs, ensuring consistent loudness and texture from one source to the next. It is particularly useful when processing for netcasts or mastering for any low bit rate channel. 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 or mastered by other processing than Optimod.
To minimize latency and to achieve highest reliability, the 8585 uses dual hardware architecture. 24-bit DSP chips do all audio processing while a separate microcontroller supports the GUI and control functions. Even if this controller malfunctions, the 8585 will continue to process audio normally.
Minimum latency of the fully processed signal is 21 milliseconds, which can be padded to exactly one frame delay for any video standard. The low latency headphone feed (containing all processing except for peak limiting) has a latency of approximately 6 milliseconds.
The 8585 offers five AES3id digital inputs and six AES3id outputs, The digital inputs and digital outputs have sample-rate converters and can operate at 32 kHz, 44.1 kHz, 48, 88.2, and 96 kHz sample rates. The 8585's AES3id inputs and outputs are highly configurable via remote-controllable internal routing switchers. Additionally, the outputs of the multichannel and 2.0 processing chains can be independently configured to emit the output of the AGC or the output of the multiband compressor/limiter, all configurable to use or bypass look-ahead limiting. So an 8585 can be configured to drive an STL with a peak limited output from the AGC while also providing a fully processed digital television/netcast feed and a low delay, multiband compressed talent headphone feed. Via the routing switcher, a given output signal can be applied to more than one hardware output. This allows using the 8585 as an AES splitter.
The 8585 supports Dolby Digital® metadata conveyed through RS-485 serial connections according to SMPTE Rdd06-2008. In version 1.0 software, the 8585 can re-author Dialnorm to ensure that the correct value is being transmitted to consumers and that the downstream Dolby Digital encoder is generating correct line-mode and RF-mode DRC metadata.
Currently in development is an optional HD-SDI board that will de-embed audio, send it to the 8585's audio processing DSP, and then embed the processed audio into the HD-SDI output stream. The processed audio will also be available at the board's AES3id outputs. In addition, the board will optionally support Dolby E®, either embedded in the HD-SDI audio or conveyed through an AES3id connection. This will allow Dolby-E encoded audio to be processed by the 8585. The board will fully support Dolby E and Dolby Digital metadata, whether embedded in a Dolby E stream, conveyed serially according to SMPTE Rdd06-2008, or embedded in the HD-SDI's ancillary data. The board will automatically delay the video by one frame, maintaining audio, video, and metadata sync.
The 8585 can be remote controlled via eight GPI ports, via its RS-232 serial port (using a modem or a direct cable connection to a computer), and via Ethernet. Included PC Remote software for Windows® allows the user to access all 8585 features and allows the user to archive and restore presets, automation lists, and system setups (containing I/O levels, digital word lengths, GPI functional assignments, etc.). Additionally, an API provides remote administration over TCP/IP via the RS-232 serial or Ethernet ports. The 8585 hosts a TCP/IP terminal server to allow external control of the 8585 from either a Telnet/SSH client or a custom third party application. All API commands are simple text strings.
A Pass-Through preset allows the 8585's audio processing to be smoothly bypassed for programming known to have correct loudness control -- for example, a prime-time network feed. The 8585's Loudness Controller can be applied to this preset as a safety measure to correct possible production errors.
A stereo analog monitor output appears on XLR connectors on the rear panel. It can be configured to emit any 8585 output signal, including a downmix of the multichannel audio. Additionally, a stereo headphone jack is available on the front panel. It can be configured to emit any 8585 output signal and is independent of the stereo analog monitor output.
The New Optimod 8585 Digital Surround Audio Processor will be on display at the National Association of Broadcasters Convention in Las Vegas April 20th-23th, 2009.
Orban Forward-Looking Statement
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, Orban 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: dru...@orban.com. Information is also available at www.orban.com and www.orban-europe.com.