Omnia Audio A/X Operating Manual

OMNIA A/X

Software Based Audio Processor

Installation and Operation Guide

Version 1.05

October 2003

Omnia

2101 Superior Avenue Cleveland, Ohio 44114 USA

TEL: [phone] FAX: [phone]

Email [e-mail]

www.omniaaudio.com

Omnia Europe

Johannistraße 6 D-85354 Freising Germany

TEL: [phone] _ FAX [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

I

NTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................................................................3

MOTIVATION ............................................................................................................................................................4

INSTALLATION..........................................................................................................................................................6

System Requirements ...........................................................................................................................................7

Installing From CD-ROM ...................................................................................................................................7

Installing A Downloaded Copy............................................................................................................................8

OPERATION ..............................................................................................................................................................8

Input/Output (I/O) Considerations ......................................................................................................................8

Starting Up ........................................................................................................................................................11

Audio Processing Options Window ...................................................................................................................11

Processing Audio...............................................................................................................................................12

Presets: Loading and Saving.............................................................................................................................21

FINE TUNING OMNIA A/X ......................................................................................................................................24

About Loudness and Fatigue .............................................................................................................................24

Clarify Your Processing Objectives...................................................................................................................24

The Adjustment Procedure ................................................................................................................................24

Getting the Sound You Want..............................................................................................................................25

A Word about Loudness.....................................................................................................................................25

Quality versus Loudness....................................................................................................................................25

APPLICATIONS ........................................................................................................................................................28

Streaming (webcasting) .....................................................................................................................................28

File Based Storage ............................................................................................................................................28

Mastering/Post Production................................................................................................................................28

Recording/Production/Broadcast......................................................................................................................28

IF YOU NEED HELP! ...............................................................................................................................................30

Via the World Wide Web ...................................................................................................................................30

Via E-Mail .........................................................................................................................................................30

Via Phone & Mail (USA and non-European Countries) ...................................................................................30

Via Phone & Mail for Europe ...........................................................................................................................30

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Introduction

The audio industry employs dynamics signal processing for many aspects within a broadcast station, recording
studio, mastering facility, and numerous other requirements. From simple compression of a microphone channel, to
special desired effects in the production studio, and on through the creation of dial-dominance in the transmission
path, processing has always been a hardware based implementation. Even with the evolution of digital signal
processing (DSP), processors are still physical boxes that engineers, producers, and program directors tweak as they
desire to achieve that signature sound. But where is it all headed as technology moves into a different form or box?
The personal computer has revolutionized our culture, and it now can provide us with the required machine cycles
of power to accomplish many of the tasks we ask DSP chips to perform.

We introduce to you a new audio processing platform that is available as a pure software utility…Omnia A/X! Our
research and design efforts revealed how dedicated hardware functions are now reduced to software applets, or
plug-in modules. The ability to download a processor into the radio studio facility of tomorrow is made possible
today. Now, a processing system is as easily configurable with the point and click of the mouse. We’ve come a long
way from swapping out boxes in the equipment rack room to simple downloading of executable files! With
workstations becoming the mainstay in the studio facility, the audio processor also has a place in those machine
cycles as current technology allows us to further create a synergy of technical resources.

Our Omnia processors dominate the airwaves the world over. We are on the fast track as the best kept secret in the
recording and mastering field. The products that have helped us achieve this success are based upon innovative
ideas in the area of dynamic audio processing. Thus, it keeps within our mission to raise the innovation bar yet
again and migrate our processing efforts into the true executable software domain. Chances are that soon others will
follow.

Omnia A/X is not only a software processing solution, it’s an affordable device that has numerous applications. It’s
modeled after the highly successful Omnia.3net, our DSP based 3-Band processor. From basic audio production, to
recording, mastering, webcasting, and workstations, Omnia A/X offers what other rack mountable, or PC based
hard-card products do, but it doesn’t require the overhead of these other products. It makes use of the processing
power available with current faster PC resources. Today, off the shelf PC’s contain more than enough power to
perform dynamics processing and serve up audio streams in a single computer, or web-server.

Compare that to the use of dedicated audio hardware that performs these same functions. Those not only cost more
to acquire, but also consume more technical rack space, as well as infrastructure. Just think, we’re approaching the
day where everything will emanate from a single machine! Omnia A/X is a step in that direction.

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Motivation

The worldwide broadcasting industry has over 15,000 radio stations. All of which employ some form of dynamics
audio processor in the transmission path. This does not even count the plethora of production utilities that require
some form of dynamics application. The digital workstation, audio console, and routing switchers have
revolutionized the broadcasting industry. It is now possible to completely operate an entire facility from a single
computer. Every function for on-air purposes is now in one digital form or another. The increasing ability of
software packages for the broadcaster to synergize between one-another continues to grow, and the future is looking
brighter with respect to an eventual single system solution where the entire facility will operate out of some form of
workstation-like system.

Development has now been done in the area of audio processing as well. We have reached that day when the box in
the rack can be replaced with a simple software (S/W) package on a machine. In some smaller applications, this has
begun already! Consider when everything will become S/W created from some single-ended system that has a low­level RF output that is coupled into a transmitter, or remains in the digital realm as it is routed via the Internet. Part
of that system will include a processing function, as is performed today using hardware (H/W) devices.

There are more than 5,000 Internet radio-station-like audio webcasters. Like their over-the-air counterparts, these
can all benefit from dynamics processing. Every radio station uses audio processing and there is no reason to
believe that webcasters wouldn’t want it, too. Television stations also employ processing, just as Internet video
services will, as they grow in sophistication.

The growing power of PCs makes a software version of an audio processor for this application possible. With 700+
MHz Pentium IIIs now mainstream, it is possible to have a reasonable processor together with an encoder on one
PC. As network bandwidth increases, there will likely be more webcasters entering the fray – and more concern
about audio quality as the services become more mainstream.

While many are doing it, webcasting is a developing business and no clear models to achieve profitability have
emerged. Many webcasts are simply simulcast radio stations. In most cases, these stations do not see webcasting as
a particularly important activity. Internet websites like Yahoo, CNET, Amazon, and many others have audio as
content, and some take it seriously. Yet more webcasters are very small, operating the equivalent of vanity press.
Because no path to profitability has yet been found, most webcasters must operate at low cost. Thus, $3,000.00 for
an audio processor is probably too much for the vast majority to pay. A streaming “starter kit” (for 60 listeners)
costs $3,000.00 at Real Networks. Microsoft’s package is a free download. The cost of entry level processing needs
to be in proportion.

Further, the webcasting space is dominated today by people who have a lot of computer experience and are more
comfortable with a software approach than a hardware box. Perhaps they have a sense that change happens so
quickly that they want to have the flexibility that software on a general machine offers.

Another barrier to adoption of the hardware processors is the signal path. With current audio processors, the
computer playing out the audio must send the audio via an analog sound card. Then the computer doing the
subsequent encoding must receive the audio again via a sound card. While this works well enough, many potential
customers perceive it as being awkward.

Effective processing divides audio into multiple frequency bands and dynamically adjusts levels to be optimum. On
the surface, this is a simple function. But to get the sound appropriately optimized without adding undesirable
“artifacts” is a tricky blend of art and science involving many trade-offs. Expert ears coupled with audio design
expertise are required to get the engineering work accomplished – and these are rare combined skills.

Transmitting audio on the Internet requires bitrate compression. Uncompressed stereo audio would require 25x
more capacity than possible over a 56kbps modem. Even broadband connections will require compression so that
audio doesn’t take all of the available capacity, leaving nothing for web surfing or companion video content. The
perceived quality of audio that undergoes this compression is very much improved with the addition of dynamics
processing. The benefit is unambiguously dramatic. Every potential customer who has had a demonstration prefers
the sound of processed audio.

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Omnia A/X is a stand-alone software signal processor. It does not require a dedicated PC card to operate as it
utilizes the host processor inside the computer. Omnia A/X was designed as an applet for a production suite,
mastering, Internet streaming, or stored-file applications. The dynamics processing algorithms are based upon the
highly successful Omnia.3net, which is a hardware based DSP audio processor.

Analog

Au dio

Sound

Card

So ft

Omnia A/X

Omn i a

Encoder PC

St rea ming

Encoder

LAN or WAN

Ser ver PC

Internet

Figure-1

Windows Audio Interface Omnia A/X makes the processed audio available via a WAVEIN driver. This driver
makes the Omnia output appear as a virtual sound card. Other applications can use the processed audio by reading it
directly from Omnia's audio driver.

Audio Processing Omnia A/X performs internal calculations with precision sufficient to guarantee 24-bit dynamic
range. Omnia A/X employs the following processing architecture:

• Wideband AGC

• 3 Band Combined Compressor/Limiter

• HF EQ

• Adjustable Bandwidth Lowpass Filter

• Final Look-Ahead Limiter

User Interface

A graphical user interface provides access to all user settings and presents all feedback information. The following
items are incorporated:

Controls

The main window has the following menu items and controls:

• File

• Open, Save, Save As (for presets)

• About

• Minimize

• Close

• Bypass

• Open Audio Block Window

The audio block window has the following blocks. Each will have the listed controls, accessible by
clicking on the block to open a sub-window:

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• Input

• Input gain

• Selectable Lowpass Filter For Bandwidth Control

• X-Over

• Wide-Band AGC

• Drive control that will determine the amount of audio level driving this section

• A "speed" selector that will select "slow," "medium," or "fast" operation

• 3 Bands Of A Combined AGC/Limiter

• Drive control for each band

• The same speed controls as above for the WB-AGC

• High-Frequency EQ Enhancer:

• Mixer

• Final Limiter

• Output Gain

Displays

The interface shows the following display elements:

• Input and Output Level Meters

• WB AGC Bargraph Meter

• Bargraph Meter For Each Of The 3 Processing Bands

• Bargraph Metering for the Final Look-Ahead Limiter

Presets

Presets work like the hardware processor counterpart. These are a way for users to have multiple
processing styles, be able to store and recall them, etc. Presets include most of the user adjustable settings.

With presets it’s possible to:

• Save and recall presets to/from disk.

• Select from among currently loaded and factory presets.

• Select factory presets optimized for common internet broadcasting configurations.

Hardware Requirements

Encoding and processing are both CPU-intensive operations. Indeed, it is only recently that it has become possible
to do real-time audio operations on PCs. Only a few years ago, DSP plug-in cards were necessary for serious audio
functions. Omnia A/X may be run simultaneously with Real or Microsoft’s streaming encoders on a Pentium III
800+ MHz machine.

Installation

Before installing the software, confirm that the computer fulfills the hardware requirements regarding processing
power. The audio input/output function must be defined as well. If using an audio I/O card to access Omnia A/X,
make sure that a high quality sound card is chosen.

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System Requirements

PC Requirements:

CPU: Pentium III 800MHz or greater
OS: Windows 2000, NT, and XP
Drives: CD-ROM required for installation; 2 MB minimum disk space required
Memory: 16 MB (Minimum) – 32MB or greater (recommended)
Video Card: SVGA card capable of 16-bit color and 800x600 resolution. 1024x768 resolution

(Recommended)
Audio I/O: Professional grade sound card, and/or network interface to transport audio files/signals

Installing From CD-ROM

Insert the CD-ROM into the computer. Locate the Omnia A/X 1.00.exe icon and double-click on it to launch the
installer.

Once the Install Wizard has loaded, the following screens will appear.

Upon completing the License Agreement, continue the install process.

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The next screen will require the License Number and License Key. They must be properly entered or Omnia A/X
will only operate in the BYPASS mode. Locate the License Number and License Key that was received with the
product, and enter it at this time (NOTE: The license information is not case sensitive).

Upon restarting the system, Omnia A/X is ready to roll!

Installing A Downloaded Copy

If the installer was downloaded from www.omniaaudio.com, locate the installer application icon. Double-click on it
to launch the installer. Follow each of the instructions as described in the previous above.

Operation

Omnia A/X is the Omnia3.net processor, except it’s completely implemented in software. The only hardware, per
say, is the computer platform that is running the application. The algorithms in Omnia A/X are exactly the same as
the rack mountable hardware counterpart. The only difference is the number of parameters to adjust is limited. If
you are familiar with Omnia.3net, then Omnia A/X is even easier to understand.

Input/Output (I/O) Considerations

One of the factors that differentiates Omnia A/X from hardware, or hard-card counterparts, is the I/O aspects. Once
installed, Omnia A/X becomes a part of the computer system. Therefore, whatever I/O resources that have been
allocated to the PC, are now the same resources for Omnia A/X. We strongly recommend that if the intended I/O is
by way of a sound card, then make sure that a professional grade card is employed. Most off the shelf PC mega­store sound cards are of moderate audio quality, at best. Omnia A/X is an affordable audio processor that does
deliver audiophile performance. But to achieve this, good I/O to the PC is required.

Omnia A/X processes sound received from an external audio source – e.g. through the input of standard Windows®

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compatible sound card. The processed sound can be played back via a sound card, or it can be made available to
other applications for recording or encoding via a virtual sound driver. This document is a quick guide to get you
started configuring Omnia A/X’s input and output.

Input & Output of Audio via Sound Card(s)

Follow these steps to process audio received from a sound card and play it out through the same or another sound
card. This in effect turns your PC into an audio processor.

1. Start Omnia A/X Server. The application starts silently (except for the first time, see step 3) and is shown as
icon in the task bar:

the

2. If the Server Options dialog pops up when you start the Omnia A/X server then skip this step and continue with

step 3. Otherwise right-click the

icon to display the application menu:

Select “Server Options…” from the menu.

3. The following dialog is displayed:

Select the desired audio card(s) for input and output then click the "OK" button.

4. Open the Windows “Recording Control” mixer by double clicking the volume icon in the task tray, (or, if

necessary through the Programs/Accessories/Entertainment/Volume Control “Start” menu.

If the top of the screen does not read “Recording Control” (see below) click on Options/Properties, select the
button labeled “Recording” then click “OK”.

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