Omnia Audio Omnia.ONE - Manual (Page 43)

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Increasing Density/Loudness
Try to resist the temptation to crank up the aggressive processing sections. They will definitely add loudness but
usually at the cost of quality and intelligibility. Many times, just building a bit more RMS energy in the AGC
sections will do the trick.
The following are some suggestions on where to begin to make changes. For best results you should try them in the
order we have listed below.
Increasing loudness can be accomplished in five ways:
1. Alter the following parameters in the AGC:
 Increase the Drive to the AGC sections.
 Increase the Release settings to make the bands operate faster.
2. Modify the Multiband Limiter sections:
 Increase the Drive to the Limiter section.
 Increase the Release settings to make the bands operate faster.
3. Note that slowing the Attack time by using a lower setting can help make things sound more natural
when faster Release times are used. But be careful not to allow too many fast transients through to the
final limiter section.
4. Set the Hold threshold in each band to a lower value.
5. A combination of all of the above (yes, it sounds crazy but it’s true)!
Always resist the temptation to make too many changes at once because it then becomes difficult to determine why,
or why not, an adjustment made the change you hear. It is better to make small adjustments to a small number of
controls at a time, and then listen to the result with a wide variety of program material. Once you have satisfactory
results in one area (like overall density) you can then move the focus to the next area that you feel needs more
tweaking.
Don’t be afraid to experiment with different styles of processing! Our presets are good starting points and are not
restricted to any particular format because of their name!
Some users prefer their processing to be perceptibly loud but very dynamic. While this may not result in the loudest
sound, it gives the illusion of competitive loudness while still retaining a lot of detail and clarity. To achieve this
sound you should target most adjustments to the Limiter sections, and avoid heavy use of the Final Limiter and fast
settings in the AGC sections. Using very fast attack and release times in the multi-band limiters - without pushing
them beyond 5dB or so of gain reduction - keeps IM distortion to a minimum and generates higher RMS levels. This
translates into higher perceived loudness.
On the other hand, using larger amounts of drive to the multi-band limiters, along with faster release times will
generate far more consistency and density. Increases in final limiting depth (more drive) will further add to this. The
end effect is that the audio is now consistently loud - at all times.
The drawback to this kind of sound is that when taken to extremes, the excessive density can cause listener fatigue
and add additional coding artifacts. While Omnia.ONE Multicast is designed to minimize listener fatigue, when
adjusted to do so it is capable of generating large amounts of density that could eventually lead to listener fatigue.
Adding More Detail—When Loudness Isn’t the Last Word
Now that we’ve “squished the grape,” lets look at what it takes to undo a signal that is being too heavily processed.
Basically, we’ll just be reversing the procedures listed above and in this order:
1. Reduce the Drive to the Final Limiter.