The Basic level simultaneously adjusts multiple background parameters with a minimized set of menus and controls. Even though there are fewer controls, don't discount the power and usability of this level as the adjustments being made have been carefully thought out and should get you 90% of the way to the sound you want without digging deeper into individual controls.
The controls in the Input Conditioning menu (1A) work on unprocessed input audio and are meant to address challenges or shortcomings in the source material or studio environment. Controls include:
Noise Reduction Amount (1B) - Sets the maximum amount of downward expansion to help reduce background noise on noisy source material.
Noise Reduction Threshold (1D) - Sets the point at which incoming audio is considered to be noise, thereby triggering the downward expanders.
Phase Scrambler (1C) - Enabling the phase scrambler (as indicated by a yellow button) applies a slight phase offset to audio with high peaks and high harmonic content (such as synthesizers or trumpets) to prevent having to drastically reduce the level in the final limiter or clipper, thereby preserving overall brightness while preventing distortion.
Phase Rotator (1E) - Enabling the phase rotator can help reduce audible distortion on voice programming by making the waveform more symmetrical.
Note: Changing any control from its default value will change the text color from white to yellow (as seen in the Phase Rotation control below), providing a quick visual cue that a change has been made but not yet saved to a new preset.
The Enhance Menu menu (1A) has controls to adjust the spectral balance (1B), bass enhancement controls (1C), and settings for the stereo enhancer (1D).
The spectral balance sliders adjust multiple parameters in the background with a single control to balance the relationship between low, mid, and high frequencies and create a general "sonic signature" for the processed audio.
The Deep Bass control (2A) affects the lowest frequencies. In presets that use between 4 and 7 bands, it adjusts the lowest band of the parametric equalizer, the Target of Band 1 in the multiband AGC, and Band 1 of the Band Mix Output. In presets with 2 or 3 bands, only the parametric EQ is adjusted.
The Warmth control (2B) affects the mid-bass and low-mid range. In presets with 4-7 bands, it adjusts the parametric EQ, the Target of Band 2 in the multiband AGC, and Band 2 of the Band Mix Output. In presets with 2-3 bands, it adjusts only the parametric EQ.
The Presence control (2C) adjusts high-mid frequencies. In presets with 4-7 bands, it adjusts the parametric EQ, the Target setting of Band 5 in the multiband AGC, and Band 5 of the Band Mix Output. In presets with 2-3 bands, only the parametric EQ is adjusted.
The Brilliance control (2D)adjusts high frequencies. In presets with 4-7 bands, it adjusts the parametric EQ, the Target setting of the highest band, and the highest band of the Band Mix Output. In presets with 2-3 bands, it adjusts only the parametric EQ.
Solar Plexus is a sophisticated sub-harmonic bass enhancement algorithm that adds low-frequency content to naturally bass-shy material. Because of its adaptive nature, it has no effect on material that already has a sufficient amount of bass. Be sure to use speakers or headphones with excellent low-frequency response as it is easy to "overdo it" with these controls, especially if your reference monitors are incapable of producing very low frequencies.
The Solar Plexus control (3A) enables and disables enhancement.
The Punch (3B), Depth (3C), and Muscle (3D) controls provide bass enhancement, each with a unique texture. These controls are best tuned carefully by ear to achieve the desired effect. Note that a setting of "0" does not indicate no enhancement is taking place, but simply serves as a starting reference point.
Bass-EFX helps retain the punch of low-frequency transients such as those generated by a kick drum by spreading the bass energy out in time and thereby allowing more energy to be passed through to the clippers. Bass-EFX does not add any bass harmonics or energy of its own.
The Bass-EFX control (4A) enables and disables the enhancement.
The Level control (4B) sets the amount of Bass-EFX processing.
The stereo enhancer in Omnia Enterprise 9s is a multiband design that dynamically adjusts the ratio of L+R to L-R in the various bands. It can increase this ratio to provide extra enhancement and separation or decrease it to prevent already "wide" material from sounding artificial.
It should be used with some degree of restraint to avoid turning the stereo image "inside out" by allowing L-R to overpower L+R, which ruins mono compatibility and can increase multipath distortion.
The Stereo Enhancer control (5A) enables and disables stereo enhancement.
The Stereo Amount control (5B) sets the target amount of separation.
The controls in the Gain Riding menu (1A) simultaneously adjust multiple individual parameters related to the various Input and Wideband AGCs.
The Range control (1B) determines the amount of available gain in the Input AGC. It is typically adjusted to have both enough "room" to increase low-level input audio and reduce high-level input audio by 10-15dB on average as indicated on the Input AGC meter.
The Power control (1C) adjusts the compression ratio of both the Input AGC and Wideband AGC 1 sections. Higher settings increase the ratio and provide more consistency, while lower settings yield a more open sound at the expense of precise control.
The Speed control (1D) simultaneously adjusts both the attack and release rates of the Input AGC and Wideband AGC 1 sections. While the actual attack and release speeds are program-dependent, higher settings translate to faster speeds.
Note: Traditional processors drive their AGCs and compressors into gain reduction once the audio crosses a specific threshold. When the audio falls below that threshold, they effectively run out of room and can no longer increase the gain, an approach that requires a makeup gain control later in the signal path. The AGCs in Omnia Enterprise 9s operate both above and below a threshold (referred to as the "Target") over a much wider range, eliminating the need to add makeup gain downstream. You can observe this by looking at the scale to the left of the Input AGC meter when adjusting the Range and Power controls.
The controls in the Multiband menu (1A) simultaneously adjust multiple individual parameters related to the multiband AGCs, compressors, and limiters.
The Range control (1B) determines the amount of available gain in the Multiband AGCs. It is typically adjusted to have enough "room" to increase low-level input audio and reduce high-level input audio. Note that setting this control too low may cause individual bands to run out of gain before others, resulting in inconsistencies in the overall spectral balance.
The Power control (1D) adjusts the ratio of the Multiband AGCs. Higher settings increase the ratio and provide more consistency, while lower settings yield a more open sound at the expense of precise control.
Enabling the Multiband Compressors (1C) adds a layer of multiband compression on top of the corresponding Multiband AGCs. These compressors are typically set to operate faster than the AGCs, but much slower than the limiters, and are useful for adding a bit of density and "squish" to the dynamics.
The Multiband Compression Drive control (1E) sets the overall amount of multiband compression. A little compression goes a long way, and too much compression can result in a flat, fatiguing sound.
The Multiband Compression Threshold control (1G) sets the point at which compression occurs for a given Drive setting relative to the multiband AGCs. Higher settings allow the compressors to contribute more to the overall processing.
The controls in the Final Menu differ slightly between the FM output path and the HD output paths, but both adjust the final limiting and clipping stages as applicable.
Select the FM output path (1A), then click on the Final menu (1B).
The Bass Compressor Threshold control (1C) is active only on presets that use Wideband AGC 2 set to "Bass Only" mode. Lower settings provide more bass compression activity.
The threshold of the bass clipper is set with the Bass Clipper Threshold control (1D). Raising the threshold (moving the slider to the left) increases the amount of low-frequency clipping performed by the bass clipper as compared to the final clipper Lowering the threshold (moving the slider to the right) relies more on the final clipper to manage low-frequency peaks, which can increase distortion on bass-heavy material.
The Final Clip Drive control (1E) adjusts the drive to the clipper, which is the final means of peak control in the FM path.
The Pre-emphasis dropdown (1F) determines whether the FM output has either a 50us or 75us pre-emphasis curve applied.
Select one of the enabled HD/Streaming output paths (2B), then click on the Final menu (2A).
The Bass Compressor Threshold control (2C) is active only on presets that use Wideband AGC 2 set to "Bass Only" mode. Lower settings provide more bass compression activity.
The threshold of the bass clipper is set with the Bass Clipper Threshold control (2D). Raising the threshold (moving the slider to the left) increases the amount of low-frequency clipping performed by the bass clipper as compared to the final clipper Lowering the threshold (moving the slider to the right) relies more on the final clipper to manage low-frequency peaks, which can increase distortion on bass-heavy material.
The Treble control (2E) reduces high-frequency content in order to provide a smoother transition from analog FM to HD (particularly important for HD Radio) and prevent the HD signal from being perceived as overly-bright compared to the analog signal.
The Final Limiter Drive control (2F) adjusts the drive to the look-ahead limiter, the final means of peak control in the HD path.