Welcome to another edition of "Ask The Omnia Guy", a continuing series of expert answers by the Omnia guy, Paul Kriegler, to real-world questions from our electronic mailbag. This time, an Omnia user from the USA asks:

What's the best setup for maintaining watermark integrity when using Voltair with Omnia.11?

Q: "Omnia Guy, we have Omnia.11’s in a big market and hear that we might get better watermark integrity using Voltair Mode and the Omnia.11’s insert points. Where should we start? Tips?" - Tim

Topics: broadcast audio processor

Last time on "Ask The Omnia Guy," we got the break down of AES192 vs. Analog on an MPX node. This month on "Ask the Omnia Guy," we get a bit of clarification on why you shouldn't use an Ariane or a Compellor in front of an Omnia.11 or Omnia.9. Let's just say Omnia is already at the top of the of the audio chain for a reason. Check out what Paul Kriegler has to say about it, after all, he is the "Omnia Guy."

Ask The Omnia Guy: Why does Omnia recommend removing any pre-processing in front of an Omnia.11 or 9?

Q: “We have Omnia.11’s and a couple of Omnia.9’s in our group. I keep hearing it’s not a good idea to have something like a Compellor or an Ariane in front of these newer processors. Why is that?

Topics: broadcast audio processor

Ask The Omnia Guy: "AES192"

Q: Our station just got an exciter that takes “MPX192”, is that the same as OmniaDirect?, or AES192? What’s the benefit of using MPX192? We have an Omnia.9, how is AES192 different than feeding analog MPX?

Glad to hear you got a new exciter upgrade. MPX192, AES192 and OmniaDirect are all the same, referring to running composite MPX over AES/EBU, keeping everything in the digital domain, to answer your first question.

Topics: broadcast audio processor

Ask the Omnia Guy: Cleaning Up Your Audio Library

In continuation from an earlier Ask the Omnia Guy blog (How Do I Know if It's an MP3?), the Omnia Guy offers some additional advice on making sure your audio is the best it can be.

Topics: broadcast audio processor

The Omnia.11 v4.0 Difference

In this episode of Behind the Sound, we hear from several Omnia.11 users on their experience with the 4.0 update and the significant differences they noticed in their stations’ sounds.

With a wide variety of perspectives, we get to hear from CJ Jackson (Director of Engineering for Salem Media Group in Atlanta, Georgia), Scott Fisher (radio and television voiceover artist), Matt Levin (Chief Engineer and Consulting Engineer for multiple radio stations), and Michael Mutschlechner (radio technician for Radio Holiday in northern Italy).

Topics: broadcast audio processor

The Journey to Omnia.11 v4.0

In an exciting joint Behind the Sound interview, the minds behind the most significant software update to the Omnia.11 flagship audio processor discuss the newest features offered in version 4.0. With new and updated presets coupled with the introduction of the brand new Silvio Clipper, which provides a cleaner, brighter and more open sound without a loudness penalty, v4.0 is ALL ABOUT THE SOUND!

So, where exactly did this 4.0 update come from, and what sparked the vision for making the best even better? We were able to snag Omnia Founder Frank Foti away from his train work for a few minutes (Frank’s passion, second only to audio processing), with 4.0 co-developer Cornelius Gould to give us a look behind the sound at the journey to v4.0.

Topics: broadcast audio processor

Ask the Omnia Guy: Adding HD2 to an Omnia.11

Dear Omnia Guy,

Our Omnia.11 sounds amazing on HD, but we are splitting off and adding an HD2. I don’t see an option to add an HD2 for the Omnia.11. Omnia.9 has it. Have you thought about adding that to the Omnia.11?

-Gene in Kansas

Topics: broadcast audio processor

Milele FM Amp Up Their Sound with Omnia.9

Telos Alliance’s Omnia.9 dramatically improves Milele FM's on-air sound with powerful and flexible audio processing. This user story comes courtesy of AVC Group—Africa. (1 Minute Read)

Topics: broadcast audio processor

Achieving the Perfect Custom Sound with Omnia VOLT V2.0

In this episode of Behind the Sound, we get to speak with Tony Bono. Tony has had a hand in just about every aspect of radio over the past 52 years from producer, to DJ, to program director, general manager, owner, and beyond. In 2018, Tony decided to upgrade his audio processing to none other than Omnia VOLT. In this interview, Tony shares everything he loves about our Omnia VOLT, as well as explains the difference it made for his station’s sound with version 2.0.

Topics: broadcast audio processor

Video: Omnia VOLT Audio Processing Brings "Clarity and Punch" to Livewire Ecosystem

In our recent Behind The Sound interview, we got a chance to speak with Tom Van Gorkom. Tom has been in his role as broadcast engineer for Radio Esperanza (Hope Radio) for the last 8 years. He was recently tasked with upgrading all the equipment. After reviewing options and talking to users, he chose Axia for their mixing consoles. He continued to remodel their studios, one at a time. Eventually, for their webplayer and phone app, they went with Z/IPStream R/1 so they could feed it with Livewire and have control over the audio routing to it.

More recently, their audio processors were randomly locking up at the transmitter sites, so they decided to try out Omnia VOLT. Tom was impressed with the interface, flexibility, and clarity. Tom then implemented Omnia MPX Nodes to clear up STL distortion and overshoots, which allowed them to install the VOLT at the studio. Sure enough, it worked well, allowing them to send the processed audio to two FM stations from one VOLT fed by Livewire. Hear all about Tom's projects and decision-making in this interview.

Topics: broadcast audio processor