Multiband Setup - Omnia .9 Installation & User Manual

FM MENU EXPERT MODE

Multiband Setup

The Multiband Setup menu provides control over the number of processing bands employed as well as, gate threshold, freeze
threshold, and gate delay controls. Also found here are the enable buttons for gain reduction override and controls for the gain
reduction ratio.
The Band slider determines the number of bands in the multiband processing section and ranges from 2 to 7.
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The Gate Threshold, and Freeze Threshold controls work in the same manner as their counterparts in other sections of
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the Omnia.9.
The Gate Delay control determines how long the Gate Threshold and Freeze Threshold controls wait before they begin
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working. The range of this control is between 0 and 255ms. Setting the control to "0" means that as soon as audio
falls below the threshold as determined by the settings of the Gate and Freeze controls, it immediately slows or stops,
respectively. Higher settings mean it will take longer for the release of the audio to slow or stop. A Gate condition will be
indicated by a dim, dark red bar at the bottom of the multiband meters. A Freeze condition will be indicated by a brighter
dark red bar.
Note:
Setting the Gate Delay much lower than the default setting of 79ms will cause the gate to take effect during
the brief pauses in dry speech, resulting in a much lower volume level from an announcer mic, for instance,
as compared to music. Used creatively, this is actually a very useful tool for controlling announcer/music
level balance.
It is worth mentioning again here the importance of a concept unique to Omnia.9. Most (if not all) other processors "top out
at 0" – that is, they constantly operate in a state of gain reduction, and once the audio falls below threshold, they can no longer
increase it any further. To make up for the fact that they are capable only of reducing gain, they rely upon a "makeup gain"
control somewhere downstream in the audio chain to get the levels back up. Omnia.9 is not only capable of gain reduction –
that is, driving audio levels above threshold as other processors do – but is also capable of increasing gain below threshold.
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