New Clipper and More in Omnia.11 Broadcast Audio Processor Update!

When it comes to getting listeners to tune in all day long, great sound is what matters most. But with technology moving at breakneck speed, hardware can become outdated quickly, with many manufacturers requiring you to purchase a whole new processor once technology is improved, quickly rendering their own products obsolete. Omnia engineers are always looking for ways to supercharge their processors with improvements and features that benefit all users. Instead of making customers buy a whole new processor, Omnia offers free and low-cost software upgrades, actually making customers’ machines better over time, paying dividends on customers’ investment in Omnia processors.

That's why we're introducing a new update to the Omnia.11 broadcast audio processor. With software v3.5, which will premiere at NAB 2018 at the Telos Alliance radio booth #N6531 April 9–12 in Las Vegas, you can unlock all sorts of great improvements, including the new Pepino clipper designed by Frank Foti, the man himself! This new software upgrade (now shipping and already running at dozens of stations), is part of Omnia’s “Great Sound Matters Most” initiative, which focuses on the quality and performance of broadcast audio as the best way for broadcasters to obtain listeners and retain audiences.

New Omnia.11 Pepino Clipper & G-Force Dynamics Updates

Omnia.11 v3.5 brings significant new updates to the Omnia.11 platform, including the new “Pepino” clipper—the latest FM final clipper design from Frank Foti. With Pepino, Foti redesigned the clipper section to perfectly compliment Omnia.11’s G-Force dynamics engine. Likewise, G-Force processing improvements now take advantage of the newly designed clipper. (G-Force is now shipping on all 11 models and available as a software upgrade to older “orange” Omnia.11 units.)

Frank Foti

Frank Details the Pepino Clipper

The toughest job, or function, for a broadcast audio processor is the final stage, which is known as the clipper or peak limiter, as this is where the precision peak control is accomplished. Controlling the peaks with some form of clip function is quite easy. The challenge is what to do with the portion of the signal that has been clipped off, as this content gets distributed within the audio spectrum as both harmonic and intermodulation distortion. Over the years there have been various means to suppress some of the distortion, but, all of those methods have a limit as to how much sonic annoyance can be reduced.

Through advanced research into the peak limiting mechanism, and how distortion is created, we have designed a new clipper system that suppresses both harmonic and intermodulation distortion as the clipping function is realized. This is applied over the entire audio spectrum, and the result is cleaner audio overall, yet without any compromise to the desired competitive loudness level. This new system is available in the latest Omnia.11 software v3.5. For a given amount of peak limiting in older Omnia.11 software, this new clipper system will sound noticeably cleaner for the same setting, as well as maintaining the same level of perceived loudness.

Great Sounds Matters is something I take seriously and personally. This has been a personal discipline all the way back to my days as a chief engineer. Knowing the station I was employed sounded cleaner and louder than anyone else on the dial is a right of passage in my book. Today, it’s the motto by which we exist, and the new Omnia.11 software, v3.5, is an example of that.

—Frank Foti, Telos Alliance Executive Chairman and Omnia Audio Founder

FM/HD Blend and Other Performance Improvements

V3.5 includes several other dramatic improvements, including better high-frequency handling and more consistent bass response; seamless transitions when switching between presets with extremely different EQ and compression characteristics; improved audio consistency for better blending between FM and HD channels, including a unified FM/HD Bass Clipper; a new “Phat Bass” update for richer, stronger bass presence; improved sound in the low-latency DJ section; a greatly improved HD look-ahead limiter in HD-enabled units; and warmer and cleaner live/dry voice performance. A Transient Detail Enhancer in the dynamics section offers smarter, more powerful RMS control in the AGCs, producing a solid increase in loudness to match the performance of the Pepino clipper.

For full v3.5 functionality, users need to be running the Omnia.11 G-Force platform. To download the v3.5 software update, visit www.telosalliance.com/Omnia11.