Is Television Loudness Still an Issue?

It’s been nearly six years since the CALM Act – the bill passed to address the issue of loud television commercials – was put into effect in the U.S. We thought it a good time to re-examine the loudness issue in a series of blog posts. Here in Part 1 we’ll explore whether or not these legislative mandates have been effective and find out if content producers and broadcasters are still struggling with managing loudness in traditional OTA  and OTT distribution.

Topics: TV Loudness Management, TV Solutions Group

Giving Audio a Jolt with VOLT

As owner of two radio stations in the small but crowded Northwest Pennsylvania radio market, how his stations sound is very important to Joe Vilkie. Turns out Joe is a big fan of the new Omnia VOLT audio processor. We talk with Joe about how he entered the ranks of radio station owners, and what it is he loves about the VOLT.

Ear Candy #3: Clippers—Where the Rubber Meets the Road! 

In the wild (and sometimes wacky) world of audio processing, there are many variables that contribute to the final result. Many discussions, and debates, have ensued over topics such as wideband or multiband: If multiband – how many bands, analog or digital, use phase rotation or not? EQ – what kind? And the list goes on. While all of these contribute to the final result, there’s one function that actually defines the audio signature more so than all of these, and that is the final section, known as the hard limiter, or clipper.

TWiRT 417 - Match Game TWiRT from New York

The Giz Wiz, Dick DeBartolo, joins us for TWiRT, on location in New York City! We check out some audio gadgets, talk about the AES and NAB conventions, and play a few rounds of Match Game.  Andrew Zarian joins us, too!

Topics: audio

TWiRT 416 - Great Sound Matters Most

What are today’s trends in FM audio processing? Is it cleaner? Less smashed? More thoughtful? Paul Kriegler, former Program Director and now Omnia’s factory rep for the US, joins us for an update on FM and streaming audio processing. Plus we delve into AES192, and how it can make a positive difference for FM signals.

Topics: Broadcast Engineering, audio

World College Radio Day 2018 Celebrating Student Broadcasting 

College Radio Day, known internationally as World College Radio day, took place on Friday, October 5th this year, when hundreds of college radio stations came together once again to celebrate the unique medium of college radio. Founded in 2010 by Dr. Rob Quicke, College Radio Day harnesses the combined audience of countless thousands of college radio listeners throughout the world to draw attention to the important contributions of college radio.

TWiRT 415 - Wrap It Up and Get Started

Chris Tobin reviews some of the best broadcast engineering info from the Central Canada Broadcast Engineers conference (CCBE). Plus, winners from the SBE 2018 Annual Membership Meeting, and RF spectrum repacking - lots of transmitter site work to make way for about 50 MHz of new mobile carrier spectrum.

Topics: Broadcast Engineering, audio

TWiRT 414 - AES67 from CCBE with Anthony Kuzub

Anthony Kuzub is a solid proponent of AES67 for Audio over IP.  As IP Audio Product Manager at Ward-Beck Systems, he’s helping bring networked audio products to market, and showing engineers how to use them to make better audio in broadcast facilities. Anthony joins Chris Tobin at the Central Canada Broadcast Engineers Conference this week.

Topics: Broadcast Engineering, audio

IBC 2018: That's a Wrap!

IBC 2018 is a wrap. As our feet start to regain feeling, we want to take this opportunity to thank all those who visited us at IBC 2018. It was truly an extraordinary show, which would not have been possible without our customers, prospects, partners, and friends. For those who did not attend IBC, check out select snaps from our IBC Facebook photo album.

Topics: infinity IP intercom, Telos VX Enterprise, IBC 2018, linear acoustic ARC, Hyperstudio

[Ear Candy #2] Program Director + Chief Engineer = #1 Station

Before starting Omnia, I was very lucky to have worked at a couple of extremely successful radio stations, WMMS-FM, Cleveland, and WHTZ-FM (Z-100), NYC, where we prided ourselves on being the best. Anything other than #1 in the ratings was not an option. The motivation for Omnia growing from ‘worst-to-first’ was highly influenced by Z-100’s historic (and never since duplicated) journey from ‘worst-to-first’ in only one ratings period, in 1983. For Omnia (now a part of The Telos Alliance) it took a little longer to dislodge the long-time leader.