emulating radio broadcast compression

[Kent F]

Hey there-

Wondering if any of you can suggest compressor/limiter settings to emulate what the radio stations will do to our audio when it squashes it for broadcast. The station formats we're targeting are hot country.

We're trying to determine levels for background music and voice-over by getting a general feel for what they might do on their end.

Any advice?

Thanks

Kent

[Craig Allen]

The Optimod usually have a parametric EQ, multiband limiter, and a AGC. The way they're set varies from station to station, though. Squash the crap out of it with a multiband and that'll be close to what they do.

[Bob L]

If you master with the Levelizer as I demonstarte in the online video, you will find that radio playback is very smooth because there are no transients sticking out to trigger their limiting equipment hardly at all... in this manner, you do not have to squash your mix soundwise... you can still create a great sounding dynamic mix without it getting messed with drastically by various radio gear.

Bob L

[TotalSonic]

A critical article to read on this subject entitled "What Happens to My Recording When it's Played on the Radio?" written by none other than Robert Orban (inventor of the Optimod among many other audio tools) and Frank Foti (from Omnia Audio - another brand of commonly used broadcast processors) is at http://www.omniaaudio.com/tech/mastering.htm

Be aware that you are trying to hit a moving target - every radio station uses slightly different processing chain and often has similar hardware set very differently (and these settings can often change over the course of the day or program).

My suggestion instead if you are mixing for radio broadcast is simply to mix things so they sound good in your studio or reference system (which if you have a good monitoring chain will also allow for good translation across a very wide range of playback devices/environments) - and also do not excessively limit or use large amounts of clipping (flat topping of wave forms) - because as noted in the above article clipped audio does not react well with the most commonly used settings of broadcast process chains.

When in doubt getting a track mastered in a dedicated professional mastering studio with an experienced engineer (and making them aware that the track is destined primarily for radio broadcast) will also go a long way to getting the best results.

Best regards,
Steve Berson

[Dave Labrecque]

(and these settings can often change over the course of the day or program).

Steve,

In radio for ten years, and never heard of such thing. Where did you? Is this something that's come along with digital processing (after I left the field)?

[Craig Allen]

Steve,

In radio for ten years, and never heard of such thing. Where did you? Is this something that's come along with digital processing (after I left the field)?
It's possible with most of the newer processors today. Most I've seen don't use that feature, however.

[TotalSonic]

It's possible with most of the newer processors today. Most I've seen don't use that feature, however.

I agree that the vast majority don't ever use it - I used the word "often" in my previous post inappropriately. With some of today's processors you can actually adjust them remotely via things like Ethernet connections though - so program directors could tweak off site if they wished.

Best regards,
Steve Berson

[Ian Alexander]

Hey there-

Wondering if any of you can suggest compressor/limiter settings to emulate what the radio stations will do to our audio when it squashes it for broadcast. The station formats we're targeting are hot country.

We're trying to determine levels for background music and voice-over by getting a general feel for what they might do on their end.

Any advice?

Thanks

Kent
Hey Kent,

A question for you. If they are going to squash the audio for you, why do you need to squash it before you send it to them? Or are you trying to create a demo that sounds like what they're used to hearing?

[UpTilDawn]

...My suggestion instead if you are mixing for radio broadcast is simply to mix things so they sound good in your studio or reference system (which if you have a good monitoring chain will also allow for good translation across a very wide range of playback devices/environments) - and also do not excessively limit or use large amounts of clipping (flat topping of wave forms) - because as noted in the above article clipped audio does not react well with the most commonly used settings of broadcast process chains...


I've also found that keeping the high and low end fairly tame helps keep their processing from excessively triggering too... in my limited experience that is.

DanT

[Dave Labrecque]

I agree that the vast majority don't ever use it - I used the word "often" in my previous post inappropriately. With some of today's processors you can actually adjust them remotely via things like Ethernet connections though - so program directors could tweak off site if they wished.

Best regards,
Steve Berson

If a PD ever started tweaking the Optimod at any station I worked at, there'd be hell to pay! ;) My experience was always "set it and forget it" -- and only by the Chief Engineer or perhaps a programming consultant (much to the chagrin of the CE). :p

Of course, that was back in the last century. :o

[Craig Allen]

I agree that the vast majority don't ever use it - I used the word "often" in my previous post inappropriately. With some of today's processors you can actually adjust them remotely via things like Ethernet connections though - so program directors could tweak off site if they wished.

Best regards,
Steve Berson
I've set up a few Orban 8600's off site this way - that is a neat trick. I was in my studio listening to the station setting them up.

[Kent F]

Hi Bob-

Where is this particular video you are referencing? I'm curious to see what you're talking about.

Thanks

Kent

[Bob L]

The Levelizer demo video on my site at www.SAWStudio.com (http://www.SAWStudio.com)

Bob L

[Kent F]

Hey Kent,

A question for you. If they are going to squash the audio for you, why do you need to squash it before you send it to them? Or are you trying to create a demo that sounds like what they're used to hearing?

Hey Ian-

We want to know what the mix sounds like on radio... to see if the voice gets lost in the background music.

[Dave Labrecque]

Hey Ian-

We want to know what the mix sounds like on radio... to see if the voice gets lost in the background music.

Interestingly, my radio spots used to come out on the radio sounding like the music bed wasn't loud enough. Since this is the opposite of what you might expect from a lot of pre-transmitter compression, I'd say be sure to keep in mind that the radio station processing is only part of the translation process. Your in-studio monitoring environment may be even a bigger part of the story. I'm pretty sure mine was.

[CurtZHP]

If a PD ever started tweaking the Optimod at any station I worked at, there'd be hell to pay! ;) My experience was always "set it and forget it" -- and only by the Chief Engineer or perhaps a programming consultant (much to the chagrin of the CE). :p

Of course, that was back in the last century. :o


+1

The only people with access to the air chain processor are me and the chief engineer. In fact, our processor is located at the transmitter site (5 miles from the studios). It's connected right to the transmitter itself. So if the PD wants changes, he has to discuss it with us and convince us it's necessary.

[Dave Labrecque]

... and don't get me started on TV audio.:D:D

One thing that kills me is that the local TV stations' network feed sounds killer, then my local spot will come on, and it sounds like crap. I'm pretty sure it didn't sound like crap in my studio.

It really shows how inferior the local broadcast chain is. I guess. :(