Omnia Audio Omnia.9/XE - Manual (Page 6)

Making and Saving Changes
Human nature is fickle; the human ear adapts and tires quickly; and Omnia.9/XE is powerful! With those
things in mind, here are some recommended “Do’s” and “Don’ts” when making and saving changes to
presets:
• DO resist the temptation to constantly fiddle with every control right after you put Omnia.9/XE on
the air.
• DON’T make hasty, radical changes.
• DON’T make adjustments to too many parameters at once – that makes it difficult to determine
which of the adjustments is actually responsible for the changes (for better or worse) you’re hearing
on the air.
• DO look to the Band Mix and Parametric EQ sections first to achieve the spectral balance (aka
“signature sound”) that you’re looking for. These are powerful adjustments, and a little EQ can go a
long way. This is generally “safer” than making adjustments to the target, attack, and release rate
controls as it is sometimes difficult to know how the different compression stages interact with one
another on all material.
• DO take breaks when adjusting your processing. Ears tire quickly, and if you stay at it too long,
you’re almost sure to make changes influenced by fatigue.
• DON’T turn your monitor speakers up too loud when making adjustments. High listening levels
cause ears to tire even more quickly and mask both gain riding artifacts and distortion. Most
listeners play the radio in the background, and problems tend to be more audible at comfortable
listening levels.
• DO make small adjustments, particularly to critical controls like Limiter thresholds.
• DO take the time to calibrate a set of high-quality reference monitors (a process described in detail
in this manual) so that any changes you make aren’t skewed by colorations of the speakers or
room.
• DON’T rush the process. Use the “sleep-on-it” method when you’ve reached a point where you are
mostly satisfied with the sound, and then re-evaluate it the next day. If it still sounds good, STOP. If
it doesn’t, make a few adjustments and walk away for another day.
• DO use the “Save As” method of naming and saving your custom presets rather than over-writing
them. This will allow you to return to any point in your adjustments if you get too far “off track” and
keep you from having to remember (or guess) what changes you’ve made along the way.
Many Omnia.9/XE users have asked if they can make their own custom presets “from scratch.” All custom
presets start life as a factory preset, but the most straightforward, neutral-sounding factory preset is
“Reference Settings,” and as such provides the closest thing to a “blank canvas” possible for building your
own preset from the ground up.
General Processing Advice
6