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For many NBC-affiliated television stations and perhaps its owned stations, along with those aligned with the Spanish-language Telemundo network, combating those ever-present “macroeconomic headwinds” may involve attracting viewers and advertisers alike to the thousands of hours of coverage devoted to the upcoming Olympic Games Paris 2024.

Yet, NBCUniversal is ready to launch a new platform on a popular streaming aggregation service to help users “easily access and explore” the action from Paris by routing them to its own Peacock OTT app.

The NBC Olympic Zone on Roku allows viewers to quickly find — and stream — the NBC prime-time show and individual sports, highlights, and replays.

While some may argue that this is designed to appeal to cord-cutters and cord-nevers who naturally go to a Roku or fire stick as their initial point of access for TV viewing, it also demonstrates how the over-the-air broadcast TV channel airing the Paris games is a diminished destination in today’s streaming-happy environment.

But, wait … is the “NBC Olympic Zone on Roku” really an attempt to drive viewers away from over-the-air television channels or a ploy to grow Peacock’s paid subscriber rolls?

“Fans using Roku can quickly get to Olympics events on Peacock with a subscription, and watch more than 5,000 hours of live events and all NBC programming, browse through curated content rows of live and upcoming programming, discover events by sport type, click through event recaps, and so much more,” a spokesperson shared.

As such, viewing this OTT content will require one to open their pocketbooks.

With NBCUniversal’s Upfront event in just two weeks, some marketers may be pleased with the availability of Olympics coverage on the popular streaming platform. That said, when “tentpole” content is no longer the unique domain of broadcast TV, how this may impact the affiliate-to-network relationship may have ripple effects.

As NBCU sees it, Peacock is simply an additional platform available to those who crave Olympics coverage, noting that the NBC broadcast network and Peacock will each serve as the company’s primary platforms for Olympic Games Paris 2024, scheduled for July 26 through August 11.

With the IAB’s NewFronts entering Day Two and the Upfronts just two weeks away, Roku is making waves with a flurry of announcements that could position it more favorably with marketers and advertisers. With a NBCU Olympics pact and an iSpot.TV deal in place, Roku also says it has plans in place for a new data-driven TV streaming partnership with The Trade Desk.

 

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TLALNEPANTLA DE BAZ, MEXICO — Video software provider Synamedia today has been signed by TelevisaUnivision to serve as its partner of choice for a complete overhaul of its Televisa network broadcast distribution platform in Mexico.

Televisa will accomplish this through the use of Synamedia’s Media Edge Gateway (MEG) and PowerVu across its 180 stations. The goal is to increase video distribution, processing and delivery agility.

During the evaluation phase, Televisa used dozens of MEGs as a part of its strategy to broadcast the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. Synamedia managed backup channels and frame rate conversion. The success of this project contributed to Televisa’s decision to select Synamedia as its new software partner.

Earlier this month, one of Televisa’s largest stations went live with Synamedia MEG and PowerVu across the city of Guadalaraja. The project will continue to roll out through Summer 2024 and in stages for the next two years, to cover all stations in Mexico.

— With reporting by Adam Jacobson in Miami

In an era where the art of cinema and professional equipment continue to evolve, Samsung Electronics has opened the doors to a Los Angeles-based theatrical post-production studio that serves as an addition to Amazon’s portfolio of production and entertainment businesses, further enhancing the area’s reputation as a hub for creativity and innovation.

Culver Post was created in partnership with 424 Post and Harbor, and saw Samsung provide a 34-foot, 8K Samsung IWA LED and DCI-certified 4K Samsung Onyx LED displays to create a true cinema-style environment for theatrical color grading and immersive sound mixing.

“The groundbreaking studio environment not only signifies a leap into the future of cinematic production and consumption but also underscores the trust that experts place in Samsung’s technology,” the company says.

The Culver Post offers five stages for theatrical color grading and sound mixing, with the first stage outfitted with Samsung’s cutting-edge 34-foot, 8K IWA LED cinema display and the second stage with the DCI-certified 4K Onyx LED display. Each stage is complemented by Meyer Sound Ultra Reflex cinema sound systems featuring Dolby Atmos sound.

Both stages can accommodate approximately 50 guests.

More and more elements of the radio air chain are moving to software. There are important recent developments you should know about.

In this new free Radio World ebook learn about:

• Nautel’s efforts to make implementations of digital radio easier and more affordable.
• A new concept called “EAS at the Edge,” explained by Digital Alert Systems.
• Nielsen’s Audio Software Encoder, which decouples PPM encoding from hardware and makes it available for integration in broadcast products.
• How Telos Alliance has taken virtualization into account in its product planning.
• A multi-year effort at Xperi to move pieces of the HD Radio system into a cloud-based architecture.
• And the ecosystem approach taken by RCS to content creation and delivery challenges.

Read it here.

[Check Out More of Radio World’s Ebooks]

The post The Software-Based Air Chain appeared first on Radio World.

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The rise of artificial intelligence continues to be top-of-mind for many radio fans. Whether it is a desire to understand the legal ramifications of AI, frequent news of technological advancements meant to streamline operations or mixed feelings about the use of AI DJs, it’s clear the industry is taking note of what AI has to offer stations … or what resources need to be safeguarded for fear of being replaced.

In the 2024 Techsurvey from Jacobs Media, findings indicate that we might be overestimating the benefits of AI, and how it will impact radio and its listeners — at least for now.

In Part 2 of this series, we learned that most “core listeners” (aka survey respondents already part of a station’s email database) say radio personalities continue to play a big role in their listening habits. Today, we’ll learn more about “The 800 lb. Gorilla: Artificial Intelligence,” as Fred Jacobs of Jacobs Media phrased it in his presentation last week.

This data set was compiled by 500 participating radio stations, yielding more than 31,000 surveys. Responses were collected between Jan. 9–Feb. 11 and used Nielsen’s 2023 market population data.

First, let’s talk usage.

Per its findings, Jacobs Media reports that 1 in 10 respondents said they use AI on a weekly basis, whether it be for work, school or personal uses. It’s no surprise that Gen Zs and Millennials lead the pack in this regard, with roughly 15% of respondents in that age group reporting using artificial intelligence each week.

However, although younger core listeners tend to use AI more than their older counterparts, findings also indicate a growing unease across all demographics about how fast the technology is advancing. On average, a whopping 71% of respondents said the rate at which AI is progressing is “very” or “somewhat” alarming.

Credit: Jacobs Media

Further, 51% of 2024 Techsurvey respondents said they are “very concerned” about AI’s potential to influence the upcoming elections. An additional 32% said they are “somewhat concerned.”

Another concern for core radio listeners is whether or not AI technology will be used in place of of their favorite DJs and hosts. Seventy-nine percent of respondents said they would have “major concerns” if a station they listened to used AI voice technology to replace live talent. However, only 39% expressed issue with AI being used to read commercials; and only 30% would take issue with AI being used to read station IDs.

Credit: Jacobs Media

Overall, most radio fans, no matter the format, expressed major concerns over AI voice technology taking the place of on-air talent.

“The data on AI is a warning from the audience,” Fred Jacobs said in a blog post breaking down the Techsurvey. “I expect their feelings may soften over time, but right now, it’s not an easy sell.”

[Related: “Techsurvey 2024: Show Hosts Are Radio’s Champions“]

The post Techsurvey 2024: AI Is Here to Stay. Not Everyone Is Happy About It appeared first on Radio World.

Broadcast audio company Telos Alliance has reached a domestic distribution agreement for Axia-branded AoIP broadcast mixing consoles.

They’re now available across the U.S. via an arrangement with Broadcast Supply Worldwide. 

According to Telos, BSW customers now have access to the flagship Axia Quasar family of consoles, the iQ lineup, and the latest software-based Altus virtual mixing console.

All are built around the Livewire AoIP ecosystem.

Telos Alliance SVP of Worldwide Sales Cam Eicher commented, “We have a long-running relationship with BSW as representatives of our Telos, Omnia, and 25-Seven product families, and as of last year, Linear Acoustic and Telos Infinity as well. We are thrilled to now welcome them as our latest Axia partner.”

Perhaps it was his sense of adventure, or the fact he comes from an R&D background. Whatever it was, Dave Kolesar knew that once he converted AM station WWFD in Frederick, Md., to full digital transmission, there was no going back to analog for the radio station.

WWFD recently concluded its five-year experimental phase of testing the all-digital MA3 mode of HD Radio, but it remains a full-time all-digital station. The FCC now allows AM stations to use all-digital if they wish.

Kolesar and Xperi Corp. conducted extensive testing on the station’s operations through those five years. During that time a few other stations have turned on MA3, but uptake has not been widespread.

Yet Kolesar says he is even more optimistic about the technology today.

“There are lots of questions about the future of all-digital AM, and the same can be said for analog AM, whether it will survive,” he told Radio World.

“The sound is FM-quality. You can transport metadata. It looks good in the dash with album art and the station logo, something you can’t do on analog AM. There is lots to like.”

Kolesar is senior broadcast engineer at Hubbard Radio and this year’s recipient of the NAB Radio Engineering Achievement Award. 

His primary role for the past 17 years has been as the transmitter engineer for the WTOP flagship news station, its sibling Federal News Radio WFED(AM), and WWFD. He also programs The Gamut, a Triple A music format heard on WWFD. This year’s recipient of the NAB award on the television side is Winston Caldwell. 

Innovator and advocate

The NAB describes Kolesar as a broadcast engineering pioneer. 

“In addition to his efforts to make all-digital AM radio a reality, Kolesar has been an advocate for all-digital AM within the industry, sharing and documenting his work in numerous technical papers and at conferences, and continuing research on ways to improve all-digital AM performance,” NAB stated in its announcement. 

Kolesar has helped lead the discussion and discovery of all-digital AM radio. He flipped WWFD (820 kHz) to all-digital in 2019, the first AM station of its kind in the United States to do so. 

He says he has been “floored” by the results.

“We saw an effective increase in our usable coverage area, thanks to the forward error correction you get with digital broadcasting. Reception is more robust around structures like bridges and under power lines. There is no going back to analog,” Kolesar said. 

“What we have is a mode of broadcasting that looks, sounds and feels just as good as any other broadcast service in a motor vehicle.”

Turning on MA3 means that listeners with analog AM receivers cannot hear a station. Only those with HD Radio receivers can pick it up.

But Kolesar says Xperi’s DTS AutoStage and RadioDNS have helped level the playing field for AM stations that use the MA3 mode. In fact WWFD recently sold its FM translator to another company, making WWFD a standalone all-digital AM station. 

“We had found that most of our listeners had already migrated to 820 AM because of its much larger footprint. Part of our strategy from the beginning was to use the FM to promote the better coverage of the AM — and stereo sound, actually. The FM was mono because it was on a noisy channel.”

Kolesar accepts the award at the 2024 NAB Show from the association’s Curtis LeGeyt and Sam Matheny. (Courtesy NAB Show)

NAB says his insights have benefited other broadcasters considering their AM options.

“I tell broadcasters: If their long-term goal is to keep their AM broadcast transmission alive, I think it is necessary to go digital eventually. Because analog AM radio broadcasting is sliding into oblivion. It’s an awful user experience, and digital solves a lot of those problems. 

“It’s going to be necessary for broadcasters to improve the service so it is once again desirable for listeners. AM needs good content and better technology to meet listener expectations,” he said.

Another benefit is better reception within electric vehicles. Kolesar says AM MA3 likely will require less expensive filtering in all-electric cars.

He has given numerous presentations at NAB Show Broadcast Engineering & IT Conferences, including one this year about AM carrier power reduction in the MA3 mode with Xperi’s Paul Peyla. 

Kolesar in the late 1990s. An R&D guy in radio

Kolesar earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the Catholic University of America. Earlier in his career he worked as an electronics engineer in the Information Technology Division of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.

He says the jump from lab to field and into broadcasting required some nerve. Yet it also seemed natural, given that he had been building Radio Shack AM broadcast kits since he was six. And as a teenager he built what he jokingly calls a “Part 15 and a half” station in his bedroom to broadcast to his neighborhood in Cheverly, Md.

“I had a mentor when I worked in the research lab by the name of Edward Barr. He has passed on now. He never worked in broadcasting but followed the industry closely. He encouraged me to explore my passion for broadcasting and encouraged me to leave the lab for an industry I loved.”

The late Edward Barr, right, who worked at the Naval Research Laboratory for 50 years, was an important mentor. He’s shown with Kolesar at the transmitter site of WFED(AM). Barr died in 2021.

Kolesar expressed appreciation for Joel Oxley, general manager of WTOP, and Dave Garner, VP of engineering for Hubbard Broadcasting, for having the faith in him to offer a job. 

“I think they kind of knew what they were getting into when they hired an R&D guy from the Naval Lab. They’ve allowed me to go down these different paths.”

He credits Xperi for helping put the all-digital AM radio station on the air and working with WWFD during the experimental authorization phase.

“They helped us figure it all out. We kind of fumbled our way through it — how to maximize the bandwidth and performance of the antenna system and work through it to make the station sound good. 

“When you are Serial Number 1 of anything, there is a lot of stuff to figure out.”

Dave Kolesar, left, is shown with Hubbard colleagues George Molnar and Brian Oliger at a past NAB Show. (Photo by Jim Peck)

And perhaps his experimentation isn’t done just yet. “We are looking at applying for another experimental authority later this year. We want to finish work on ways to reduce the level of the reference carrier in the MA3 signal, as a power saving measure and possibly even to see if it is feasible to redistribute some of that power to other digital carriers within the signal to improve robustness.

“We hope to do some field trials to see if there are possible tweaks to the MA3 standard itself in order to improve performance.”

Kolesar, 46, is an avid reader who loves technical and engineering books, along with science fiction, historical fiction and mysteries. He is also a past recipient of the Radio World Excellence in Engineering Award and Engineer of the Year Award from Chapter 37 of the Society of Broadcast Engineers

[For More News on the NAB Show See Our NAB Show News Page]

The post Kolesar Still Sees the Promise of All-Digital for AM appeared first on Radio World.

NEW YORK — Hyundai Motor America and SiriusXM have signed a new, multi-year extension and expansion of their longstanding agreement. As part of their new pact, the Hyundai and Genesis brands will introduce SiriusXM with 360L to their vehicle lineups beginning in 2025.

Customers purchasing or leasing a SiriusXM-equipped vehicle for either brand in the United States will receive a three-month trial subscription. This includes use of the SiriusXM app and on connected devices in the home.

SiriusXM with 360L combines satellite and streaming content delivery into a single, cohesive in-vehicle entertainment experience.

SiriusXM with 360L adds more than 100 additional music channels to the in-dash receiver.

“We are excited to extend and expand our relationship with the Hyundai and Genesis brands and introduce SiriusXM’s superior audio entertainment experience to their drivers beginning next year,” said Sirius XM SVP/GM of Automotive Partnerships Gail Berger. “Hyundai and Genesis are growing brands offering award-winning vehicle lineups, and we look forward to delivering an expanded SiriusXM content library, better discovery and enhanced personalization.”

SiriusXM is available across Hyundai’s full model lineup and comes standard in the Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6, Kona, Nexo, Palisade, Santa Fe and Sonata. SiriusXM is also a standard feature in every Genesis vehicle.

— With reporting by RBR+TVBR in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.

Since Friday, tongues have been wagging about the future of Bob Bakish and Paramount Global. In fact, the fate of the company’s CEO has perhaps become a bigger story than  whether Paramount Global’s Q1 2024 earnings will meet or exceed analysts’ expectations.

MoffettNathanson Senior Analysts Michael Nathanson and Robert Fishman take note of this, especially as the IAB NewFronts begin Monday (4/29) and an earlier-than-usual start to earnings season starts next week ahead of Upfront Week.

What’s the big takeaway from Nathanson and Fishman? “The biggest unexpected challenge for media companies last year was the underperformance of linear TV advertising. Unfortunately, we do not see this getting much better in 2024.”

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Radio World Buyer’s Guide articles are intended to help readers understand why their colleagues chose particular products to solve various technical situations. This month’s articles focus on audio processing.

FM broadcasters often consider translators to be the orphan living under the staircase. Not Leighton Broadcasting, which has 13 FM translators in addition to its 32 main FM and AM stations throughout the state of Minnesota and parts of North Dakota. 

“All of our translators are treated as if they are full 100 kW FMs, which is to say we want that big-market sound on our translators too,” said Tony Abfalter, DOE/IT for Leighton Broadcasting, headquartered in St. Cloud, Minn.

Leighton is now running Wheatstone’s new Audioarts LiON FM/HD audio processor on two of those translators, with more to come. 

Two LiON processors occupy one rack space.

Introduced last year, LiON has the features of a big-box audio processor like stereo enhance and multipath mitigation, but in a small, half-rack footprint. 

“When it comes to our translators, we want results first and we’re not willing to sacrifice quality. What the LiON does is allow us to get that big-market sound at an extremely reasonable cost and keeps that budgetary spending in line,” said Abfalter.

The LiON user interface.

He likes that LiON has AES67 and RDS built in, reducing the number of units he needs to rack up or add to the budget. He appreciates that LiON can be controlled remotely or accessed from any Leighton studio as a WheatNet IP audio networked audio processor. Leighton is standardized on WheatNet IP console surfaces, routing and control in seven markets in the Midwest.

Abfalter likes the sound that comes out of Wheatstone processors and has installed various models on Leighton air chains, including the X5 HD/FM, X1 FM/HD and the MP-532 multipurpose audio processors.

Leighton is standardized on WheatNet IP surfaces, routing and control in seven markets in the Midwest.

In fact, Leighton’s FM translator for its Z-Rock 103.3 station in St. Cloud is running an X5 FM/HD audio processor, Wheatstone’s premier audio processor. “I think we’re probably the first to put a top-of-the-line audio processor on a translator,” Abfalter said.

“A lot of our markets have very strong P1 stations, and we have to think about the product we’re putting out. The large number of P1 listeners that are tuned in and locked into our stations, and the different formats we carry … we can get the big-market sound from all of those formats with this processing.”

He said the LiON is a sensible buy to begin with, but it becomes extremely so for translator applications or anyone who wants to bring their audio up a notch without spending a lot.

[See Our Who’s Buying What Page]

The post The LiON Brings Big-Market Sound to FM Translators appeared first on Radio World.

Here’s a sampling of recent reader letters to the editor of Radio World. Comment on this or any article. Email radioworld@futurenet.com.

They Helped WUVT in Its Time of Need

Although I’m very happy to hear about WUVT’s recent install of a new Nautel transmitter, I feel that much was left out of Steve Floyd’s piece “Virginia Tech’s WUVT Celebrates 75 Years,” in the Feb. 14 issue. It was not just “several broadcast manufacturers” who helped the station after the tragedy in 2007.

I remember that sad day of April 16 like it was yesterday. I was eating lunch in my truck alongside I-81 in Roanoke, Va. and began to see many state troopers racing south towards Virginia Tech and knew something was bad. Turning on the news channel confirmed the worst: Many lives had been lost. 

I had to sit there for the next 30 minutes trying to control my emotions and continue my workday.

I was in the 12th of almost 30 years with Clear Channel and iHeartMedia as chief engineer of all of our stations in the Roanoke-Lynchburg area. I was contacted by Steve Davis, the company’s senior vice president of real estate, facilities and capital management, to see what we could do to help. 

Steve and I, along with Gary Kline of Cumulus Media, met with administrators on the Virginia Tech campus to discuss a game plan to replace the station’s failing BE FM 3.5 and make the move to Price Mountain. Gary kindly donated the tower space.

I had just pulled a Harris Z5 out of service from 104.9 Roanoke. We donated that to WUVT and found them a prefab concrete building from the state department of transportation. Jeff Shepard of Lynchburg Crane Service moved the building from Bedford, Va., and placed it atop Price Mountain — no easy task for a 35,000-pound load. He donated that work. I found a used generator from Willie Bennett at a Clear Channel station in Charleston, S.C.

Also of note were RF studies done by Ben Dawson of Hatfield & Dawson to get the station its ERP increase and Orban’s donation of a new audio processor. Longtime iHeart/Clear Channel engineer Paul Jellison found an ERI Rototiller antenna that had been pulled from service, and the company donated that. Carl Davis and others at ERI then rebuilt and retuned that antenna to 90.7. There were probably others behind the scenes who also helped. 

I was very proud to be a part of that project, which proves how important it is for everyone to work together towards a common goal in times of need.

— Jeff Parker, RF Contract Engineer

[Read more about the above project in a Radio World story published in 2009. Find it here.] 

 

Celebrate the MacGyvers

As usual, Mark Persons expresses his love for our craft by sharing useful information. 

His recent article “What to Know About Three-Terminal Voltage Regulators” highlighted an inexpensive “cure” for unwanted regulator oscillations. It reminded me of three experiences from my earlier days:

We had a nice audio console in our production control that started to show odd distortion on peaks. I checked its main program module with a ‘scope, and saw that one three-terminal regulator would break into oscillation when I raised the audio level near full-scale. Replacing a simple electrolytic fixed that.

The second example was in another device that its manufacturer had returned to me as “unrepairable.” I unexpectedly was able to fix it by replacing a little disc capacitor in the regulator circuit.

A third involved one of the modules in our STL transmitter. The “normal” method was to buy a complete replacement module, which would be costly. I investigated and found that it contained a small switching power supply, which we were able to buy from a third-party source, saving at least some money. 

But still curious, I took the baddie module apart and found ONE easily replaceable electrolytic cap. After that, I was able to repair future “baddie” modules very cheaply and quickly (except for one whose switcher failed for other reasons… good thing we’d bought TWO of them).

While we’ve transitioned to newer, more-compact and -efficient technologies, the ability to fix “stuff” on our own and save money in the process is sadly slipping away. Let us celebrate our “MacGyvers” who can keep things going … and folks like Mark who generously share their knowledge.

— Michael Shovan, WB2KHE, CBTE, fd&t technical services

 

Why Not Both?

I couldn’t help but write a response to Kim Andrew Elliott’s commentary “Why We Need Shortwave 2.0” and Ruxandra Obreja’s followup letter. 

I’m a longtime user of DRM broadcasting and of Shortwave Radiogram.

My question is “Why can’t we have both?” DRM has proven itself as a format for multimedia broadcasting since its inception, some 20 years ago. Shortwave Radiogram has also proven itself, being carried on shortwave since Dr. Elliott’s flagship broadcast on VOA, during the final years of his career there.

What we need now: Additional shortwave broadcasts in both formats would prove to be an excellent test for these “2.0” technologies. The Woofferton site can be used to broadcast both DRM and Shortwave Radiogram to North America. The VOA Greenville site can be used to broadcast both modes to Europe. Testing could be done with little or no modifications to transmitters in both instances. 

— Christopher D. Rumbaugh

 

Any Digital Conversion Should Be Mandated

I love how large group stations with a lot of money suggest that all AM station should move to MA3 digital mode.

I would like to convert our AM to digital but we don’t have the money to chase standards that the FCC changes every year or two, and we certainly can’t justify the cost when receivers aren’t universally available.

If the commission wants stations to change over, Congress, in its continuing attempt to keep AM in cars, should also require the standard for AM. This chicken-and-egg, market-driven way of letting things change on their own doesn’t work.

It needs to be required by the FCC or Congress, or both. We small-market stations don’t have the capital to experiment with digital AM.

— Jim Talbott, Katahdin Communications, Millinocket, Maine

[Check Out More Letters at Radio World’s Reader’s Forum Section]

The post Letters: WUVT, MacGyvers, Shortwave and More appeared first on Radio World.

Radio World Buyer’s Guide articles are intended to help readers understand why their colleagues chose particular products to solve various technical situations. This month’s articles focus on audio processing.

Dom Theodore is president of consulting firm RadioAnimal, program director of Glenn Beck’s radio program and VP of programming for The Blaze Radio Network. He and his wife also own three radio stations, among them WCKC(FM) in Cadillac, Mich., “107.1 The Drive,” which plays classic rock. 

“The station didn’t have a processor when we acquired it in 2016, so we picked a unit that was comparable to the other processors in our market,” Theodore said.

“Now, eight years later, many of our competitors have stepped up their game. Our direct competitor moved their chess piece in 2022 and, while we tried to keep up, we found we were doing, at best, 55 in a 70. We needed to upgrade.”

Dom Theodore

After demoing a box from its earlier vendor, Theodore pivoted. “We were familiar with Orban as we have a 5500 on our classic hits station. We needed firepower, so we decided to demo the top-of-the-line box.” The Orban 5950 was their choice. 

Theodore said he was surprised to open the shipping box and pull out a piece of hardware that only occupies one rack unit. “This just shows how much DSP power can be used in such a small space,” he said.

He racked it up and used the front panel to put the box on the network. 

“The front panel was so intuitive that I don’t think we even had to reference any documentation to adjust it. A quick start guide is included for those who need it, but if you just step through the menus, it gets you there.” He fired it up and went with the default preset. The 5950 has dual power supplies, and Theodore feeds it from two different UPS power conditioners. 

Unlike previous Optimods, the 5950 comes with an internal web interface, which means Theodore can log in from his Mac in the car and tweak, something he couldn’t do with the previous processor unless he used Parallels remote access. 

“The web interface is very well laid out, and one or two clicks gets you to exactly where you need to be. Everything is easy to understand, and the contrast of the black background and the lighter colors of the controls makes it easy on the eyes to see and make adjustments.”

The internal web interface allows Theodore to log in from his Mac in the car and tweak.

Theodore describes the audio of his competitor as “almost too sanitary, for lack of a better term.” He’s delighted with his new sound. 

“The Orban brought life to the music, almost like touching the loudness button on the stereo. It was effortless yet impactful. Vocals just come to the front and the soundstage is dramatic. Bob Orban’s MX processing turned a page for everybody in the processing world.”

The station plays music ranging from Zeppelin to Green Day; Theodore said the 5950 handles the differences in decades with ease and never sounds fatiguing.

His audio path is a BMX III — recently rebuilt by Scotty Rice — a Sage EAS box, the 5950 and a composite STL to the transmitter site. No composite processing is deployed at the transmitter.

“Our next step is to begin using dynamic RDS. Up until now, we had an external RDS generator that wasn’t dynamic. The 5950 has a built-in dynamic RDS generator as well as a ratings encoder, options to ingest streaming audio as a backup source and, of course separate HD processing for HD radio stations with delay to match the FM and HD paths,” he said.

“With the 5950, we are now up to speed and, to quote the Eagles, are spending life in the fast lane.”

[See Our Who’s Buying What Page]

The post Optimod 5950 Drives Home the Sound of WCKC appeared first on Radio World.