Omnia VOLT: Hearing Is Believing

Journey to the VOLT

I have always been a fan of Omnia products for their smooth, natural sound, and the fact that the mids sound silky and natural. I have listened to many processors and have purchased many, as well. I began my career with a Collins limiter, graduated to the CBS Audimax/Volumax....CRL, Optimod 8000A/8100A and with XT-2, Prisms....APHEX Dominator/Compellor, APHEX 2020, Hnat Hines, Broadcast Warehouse, Optimod 8200 and beyond.

In the last 15 years, I have always preferred Omnia. And now, I will not purchase anything else. As a broadcaster, we often inherit equipment, and especially processors. My first thought is to replace the processor with an Omnia! The competition hasn't written any new algorithms in many years and it is apparent. They change features only. Every new Omnia product just gets better. Yes, there are new features, but there are operational improvements that result in better processing; new algorithms. That is the point: to sound better than the competition and, more importantly, to just sound good and clean.

"It sounds marvelous. On the competition, the mids sound crunchy and noisy. We sound silky clean and, for long-term listening, this is important."

I was impressed with the Omnia.6 and the Omnia ONE. And when you can afford it, the Omnia.11 is the supreme-reigning processor of all time. I am located below Market 100 and am on a small budget. I shop and I listen before I buy. I prefer Omnia products and buy Omnia only, now.

I purchased the Omnia VOLT in 2018 and have been impressed with it ever since. Out-of-the-box settings are great...more than great. We had it out of the box and functioning in 10 minutes. With Omnia's QuickTweak, a management engineer like myself can make good and intelligent adjustments. My engineer can make more complicated settings if needed. Most of the time, that's not needed. The presets and QuickTweak are enough. It sounds marvelous. On the competition, the mids sound crunchy and noisy. We sound silky clean and, for long-term listening, this is important.

Impressed doesn't say enough. You must hear this processor to believe it. And it is economical! I cannot justify buying another processor for the money. The VOLT wins, period! I will buy more of them quickly. I will replace all my station's processors with a VOLT. I love my Omnia.6, I cannot lie. However, for less dollars, the VOLT outperforms the 6. Hard to believe, but true. I can hit it hard or let it loaf and it sounds beyond excellent. For the price break, no other processor can get even close. I will, one day, own an 11 because I want the declipper. Yet, even my few 256 and 320 MP3s in my formats sound exceptionally  good on the VOLT. I have another processor that destroys MP3s and my response is always "oh my, that sounds bad!" I just don't ever hear the VOLT work. How does Omnia do that? Other processors I hear working the audio. Not the VOLT. It is invisible, even when I hit it hard.

"I paid the price for my Omnia.6 in 2005 and I am glad I did. For a third of the money of what I paid in 2005, I now have a VOLT! And the VOLT beats my 6!"

I am replacing my Omnia.6 with a VOLT. The 6 has earned its keep, and now it's time for my Omnia.6 to retire with dignity. It's 15 years old! I paid the price for my Omnia 6 in 2005 and I am glad I did. For a third of the money of what I paid in 2005, I now have a VOLT! And the VOLT beats my 6! I thought I would never say that, but I concede. Frank and Cornelius really went beyond the conventional processing limits. I am sold on the VOLT and am forced to only purchase this model because of its sound and its economics. It just makes sense to buy the VOLT. You get the most for your money.

Important note:  None of my Omnias have ever failed! I can make a long list of my other processors that failed and needed repair: Optimod 8000, Optimod 8100A, Aphex 2020, Aphex Dominator/Compellor, Texar Prisms, Harris, CRL. They all had failures. None of my Omnias ever had a failure. No environment is perfect, but no Omnia failures. I just took a power bump this month that killed my Crown PA1000. The Omnia.6 survived!  Same station!  Explain that!