broadcast mastering

[kensuguro]

I'm currently working on a project that works with audio from many sources of varying quality, but needs to be played back one after another.. uh, sort of like a radio. So I was wondering if radios had some sort of automated mastering effects chain used for this.. I imagine it'll require some sort of manual intervention, but keeping that as a minimum, are there any plugins that automatically "domesticate" a wild sound source? I'm speaking of a native plugin since it needs to run on a generic company machine.

[faxinadu]

the digital broadcast mixer at our radio station has a simple dynamics knob, works kinda ok if you look at it from a radio standpoint, but its in no way even close to a musician tool. its good for mics, and leveling the incoming telephone line a bit, but its kinda dodgy i dislike it, i find even the simplest vst/dx plugs better.

[kensuguro]

I'm guess it'll be some sort of automated eq and automated comp combo. Comp I guess doesn't need to be automated as much as the eq.. I found some anaylyze target->make source match the target's profile sort of thing (http://www.meldaproduction.com/mautoequalizer/) I've never heard of MeldaProductions, but their approach seems straight forward.

It sort of sucks because what I want is essentially a plugin that homogenizes sound... and nobody wants that!

[Janni]

I think something like this is very common:

http://www.omniaaudio.com/o6ex/default.htm



it's about 10000 $ ...

not really a solution for you (I guess, who knows??? ), but good to know if you're wondering how some stations
get that loud, crispy but clear sound...
I would give Waves L3 Multiband a try. You can easily adjust the "tone" by tweaking crossoverfreqs
and levels of the bands...

Cheers,
Jan

[Rinse]

These days allmost every radiostation uses the Orban Optimod 8500 to create that undiversified sound. Originally, the Optimod uses a EQ-autolevel-multiband-limiting chain. just as the CW Optimaster actually.

So, optimaster can be a good candidate for your issue, make sure you use that autolevel correctly and you have that "radio" or "TV commercial" sound.

[valis]

The icecast/shoutcast community can probably tell you what would work best for software solutions. There are both standalone and plugin solutions that they use based on previous reads through the broadcasting sectons of their forums. If it wasn't so long ago I'd attempt to provide a link...

Also might help to know more about the types of material you're trying to 'homogenize' and what your output format(s) are? Much of the processing that happens to FM & AM band material is done not just to homegenize the sound but to keep things within the spec for their optimal transmission & reception.

[Tau]

Hi Ken! There's also Har-Bal, which is a standalone Eqing suite that allows you to not only apply "reference" audio files unto new material, but also homogenize the loudness levels. You'll have to work track-by-track, though...


T

[kensuguro]

wow. har-bal looks very promising. For now, I'm not sure how diverse the audio sources is going to be, so we might not need to start homogenizing yet.

[pollux]

DAS Dynapara M/S is a very useful tool for these kinda things. Coupled with an optimaster it should give you more or less what you're looking for.
I've also seen in the DAS site that they have solutions for broadcasting.. you might also want to check with them if they already did something like this

Cheers!

[kensuguro]

I'm speaking of a native plugin since it needs to run on a generic company machine.

Company machine doesn't have scope so I'm looking for a native solution.

[Rinse]

I'm speaking of a native plugin since it needs to run on a generic company machine.

Company machine doesn't have scope so I'm looking for a native solution.

ah, missed that

[kensuguro]

I also found a rather underrated piece of software, again standalone, called AAMS which works really well. It's a hidden gem!