I never thought I would ever hear one of these processors especially since its successor is still very popular today. Good luck getting the stereo generator board working, all that has gone bad could be a simple capacitor or IC which can still be found easily. Getting this legend of broadcasting up to 100% functionality seems like a worth while project.
Ha! Love that meter. It shows just exactly how much I feel let down as that Optimod does its evil deeds! No insult intended, LOL, as I've designed and built an FM mod controller, myself, and fully know how important it is to keep within +/- 75khz dev! That Optimod smoothly does what it must do.
@BadEditPro The 8000 by itself does a fine job with laid-back formats like Jazz and Classical, but for anything more aggressive, you really need some pre-processing ahead of it, like a Compellor or a pair of Prisms. While the 8000 was outstanding for the time, Bob Orban learned a lot from its shortcomings, and as a result the subsequent Optimod 8100 is still on the air on many major-market stations and is often preferred over modern digital processors!
@BadEditPro All true... Stick a CRL SPP-800 or CBS 4450 in front of one of those and it sounds amazing. The 8100 has always struck me as being just a bit harsh sounding compared to the 8000. The 8100 uses more aggressive clipping and the dual band compressor can take a lot of the low end punch out of the music. I like to stick a Compellor in front of the 8100. :) JC
@THEtechknight It sound sound like a radio station! :-) The Optimod evens out the audio to a consistent level, whereas if you listen to the original, unprocessed song, you should hear that the volume gets a lot louder during the chorus.
@vwestlife LoL.. sounds a lot like my "blown channel" on my Pioneer QX-646 receiver.. it had a bad fuse in it.. all "distressed" n' shit, just enough to make the output distorted and intermittent.. I swapped it with one from another channel, and all was grand.. now to get a set of fast-blow fuses for it.. :D
It seems to do a pretty good job. I did notice just a little "pumping" in two places, and only when I listened with headphones.
For 1976, the construction looks surprisingly modern...only the "old style" TO-18 transistors really give it away. When you've reached the point where it is fixed, I'd love to hear more about what was wrong and how you fixed it.
@uxwbill Those are not transistors -- those are 8-pin ICs in a round metal can! It's the first time I've ever seen such a thing. They have 1975 and 1976 date codes on them. And the stereo generator is working now -- I think it was just a matter of dirty contacts on the switches and controls.
@vwestlife No idea why then.. Youtube probably filters out any music content if your IP is from Germany then.. :(
bambooz.pytalhost . net/youtube/gema.jpg
(remove spaces)
The only way I can get here (comments section) without using a proxy is by going to the blocked video and replacing "watch" in the URL with "all_comments" ... which obviously only works if you know the URL of the blocked video (youtube filters blocked ones from the search results)
@Knaeckebrotsaege YouTube says the copyrighted content in this video is owned by Sony (SME) and EMI. I'd guess that due to their disagreement with GEMA, Sony is simply blocking *all* of their music in Germany, regardless if it shows up on the video's list of blocked countries or not.
@vwestlife Sounds about right. And it reminds me of the epic fail Sony presented over a year ago. They had a promo channel for their new Bravia LCD TV lineup, and their ad video (the only one one the channel) was blocked because it contained music from Sony BMG LOL
If you wanna take a look at the blocking madness, shoot me a PM or something. I've got a virtual machine (VMWare) set up with VNC and Teamviewer installed so people can connect to it and surf youtube using a German connection..
For a 25-30 year old piece of gear, it still sounds great. You should do a comparison with your other processors with the same recording. The Opitmod was a huge advance in audio processing for radio stations in the 1980's. Most of the stations I worked for used the later 8100 or the 9100 for AM. BTW Are you eventually going to use it with your transmitter?
Sounds very good, I am using a different amp to drive my computer speakers and this video has help confirm that it was a good move (extra power + Loundess control = Wharfedales sound better) When I get home from work I will have to compare this video to the unprocessed song. It should also be noted that while I have my BBE unit hooked to the computer, I decided this video sounded better with it bypassed.
Ann and Nancy sound great as ever. Crisp and clear on the laptop speakers(if you can call them that). I'll have to hook it up to a real system for a good listen. Any plans for an install?
@BurtBartlow That's part of it, yes, but it also contains special processing (limiting and clipping) to prevent the radio station's signal from overmodulating due to the effect of the pre-emphasis curve, and also to generate the MPX signal which allows FM Stereo to be broadcasted. Before the Optimod was invented, this required three separate pieces of equipment (compressor, limiter, and stereo generator), while the Optimod combines it all into one box.
Love that "Overload" button. Looks classic on this unit.
Misstersack 1 month ago
I never thought I would ever hear one of these processors especially since its successor is still very popular today. Good luck getting the stereo generator board working, all that has gone bad could be a simple capacitor or IC which can still be found easily. Getting this legend of broadcasting up to 100% functionality seems like a worth while project.
bratina501 1 month ago
Sound good even on my laptop :o)
RetroGamerVX 1 month ago
I've made a frequency analysis video of this song and your video and the record version. I'll link it to your video here.
xmaddictstechnstuff 1 month ago
Ha! Love that meter. It shows just exactly how much I feel let down as that Optimod does its evil deeds! No insult intended, LOL, as I've designed and built an FM mod controller, myself, and fully know how important it is to keep within +/- 75khz dev! That Optimod smoothly does what it must do.
imfree707 1 month ago
These are so hard to find in good shape these days but they are so warm and fuzzy sounding. Thanks for the smile! :) JC
BadEditPro 1 month ago
@BadEditPro The 8000 by itself does a fine job with laid-back formats like Jazz and Classical, but for anything more aggressive, you really need some pre-processing ahead of it, like a Compellor or a pair of Prisms. While the 8000 was outstanding for the time, Bob Orban learned a lot from its shortcomings, and as a result the subsequent Optimod 8100 is still on the air on many major-market stations and is often preferred over modern digital processors!
vwestlife 1 month ago 3
@BadEditPro All true... Stick a CRL SPP-800 or CBS 4450 in front of one of those and it sounds amazing. The 8100 has always struck me as being just a bit harsh sounding compared to the 8000. The 8100 uses more aggressive clipping and the dual band compressor can take a lot of the low end punch out of the music. I like to stick a Compellor in front of the 8100. :) JC
BadEditPro 1 month ago
my ears suck i guess. It sounds like a song to me, cant hear anything other than a song.
THEtechknight 1 month ago
@THEtechknight It sound sound like a radio station! :-) The Optimod evens out the audio to a consistent level, whereas if you listen to the original, unprocessed song, you should hear that the volume gets a lot louder during the chorus.
vwestlife 1 month ago
@vwestlife Ya, my ears just arnt trained i guess. But, I use a winamp plugin for all my audio processing which works great. Sound Solution 1.31
THEtechknight 1 month ago
@vwestlife That I hear. The song sounds compressed. I assume they have to do that on FM due to the modulation of the frequency.
xmaddict 1 month ago
@vwestlife Nice Sounding. I cant see how ppl cant not tell lol. I use Stereo Tool on Winamp to Add this into my Online Radio. Sounds Much better
flushstuff 1 month ago
Nice.. sounds decent even over YT's derpy compression.. what's the progress on the MPX generator board?
Sansui350A 1 month ago
@Sansui350A As of right now it is working, and I didn't even need to fix anything! I think it was just a case of dirty contacts on the switches.
vwestlife 1 month ago
@vwestlife LoL.. sounds a lot like my "blown channel" on my Pioneer QX-646 receiver.. it had a bad fuse in it.. all "distressed" n' shit, just enough to make the output distorted and intermittent.. I swapped it with one from another channel, and all was grand.. now to get a set of fast-blow fuses for it.. :D
Sansui350A 1 month ago
Yummy processed audio.
batterymaker 1 month ago
It seems to do a pretty good job. I did notice just a little "pumping" in two places, and only when I listened with headphones.
For 1976, the construction looks surprisingly modern...only the "old style" TO-18 transistors really give it away. When you've reached the point where it is fixed, I'd love to hear more about what was wrong and how you fixed it.
uxwbill 1 month ago
@uxwbill Those are not transistors -- those are 8-pin ICs in a round metal can! It's the first time I've ever seen such a thing. They have 1975 and 1976 date codes on them. And the stereo generator is working now -- I think it was just a matter of dirty contacts on the switches and controls.
vwestlife 1 month ago
Please make some more videos showcasing this amazing piece of gear
drcikk 1 month ago
"Unfortunately, this video is not available in Germany because it may contain music for which GEMA has not granted the respective music rights."
Oh for fucks sake -_-
This youtube censoring is getting ridiculous.. and it's only gonna get worse with SOPA/PIPA :(
Knaeckebrotsaege 1 month ago 7
@Knaeckebrotsaege Strange... YouTube is telling me they're only blocking this video in Montenegro and Serbia.
vwestlife 1 month ago
@vwestlife No idea why then.. Youtube probably filters out any music content if your IP is from Germany then.. :(
bambooz.pytalhost . net/youtube/gema.jpg
(remove spaces)
The only way I can get here (comments section) without using a proxy is by going to the blocked video and replacing "watch" in the URL with "all_comments" ... which obviously only works if you know the URL of the blocked video (youtube filters blocked ones from the search results)
Knaeckebrotsaege 1 month ago
@Knaeckebrotsaege YouTube says the copyrighted content in this video is owned by Sony (SME) and EMI. I'd guess that due to their disagreement with GEMA, Sony is simply blocking *all* of their music in Germany, regardless if it shows up on the video's list of blocked countries or not.
vwestlife 1 month ago
@vwestlife Sounds about right. And it reminds me of the epic fail Sony presented over a year ago. They had a promo channel for their new Bravia LCD TV lineup, and their ad video (the only one one the channel) was blocked because it contained music from Sony BMG LOL
If you wanna take a look at the blocking madness, shoot me a PM or something. I've got a virtual machine (VMWare) set up with VNC and Teamviewer installed so people can connect to it and surf youtube using a German connection..
Knaeckebrotsaege 1 month ago
great choice of music. Alone - Heart
NobbysPcHelp 1 month ago
For a 25-30 year old piece of gear, it still sounds great. You should do a comparison with your other processors with the same recording. The Opitmod was a huge advance in audio processing for radio stations in the 1980's. Most of the stations I worked for used the later 8100 or the 9100 for AM. BTW Are you eventually going to use it with your transmitter?
wildbilltexas 1 month ago
Sounds very good, I am using a different amp to drive my computer speakers and this video has help confirm that it was a good move (extra power + Loundess control = Wharfedales sound better) When I get home from work I will have to compare this video to the unprocessed song. It should also be noted that while I have my BBE unit hooked to the computer, I decided this video sounded better with it bypassed.
weasel2htm 1 month ago
Very nice sound quality.
utltrarama 1 month ago
I also noticed the reduction on sibilance in certain parts of the song. They knew what they were doing.
CenTexVideo 1 month ago
What, no look behind the panel? ;-)
At least you got that part working.
CenTexVideo 1 month ago
Ann and Nancy sound great as ever. Crisp and clear on the laptop speakers(if you can call them that). I'll have to hook it up to a real system for a good listen. Any plans for an install?
TheTrueVoiceOfReason 1 month ago
It sounds pretty nice.
sk7ca 1 month ago
Nice.
digitalruler1337 1 month ago
Cool. Not actually sure what this is doing. Is it a compressor?
BurtBartlow 1 month ago
@BurtBartlow That's part of it, yes, but it also contains special processing (limiting and clipping) to prevent the radio station's signal from overmodulating due to the effect of the pre-emphasis curve, and also to generate the MPX signal which allows FM Stereo to be broadcasted. Before the Optimod was invented, this required three separate pieces of equipment (compressor, limiter, and stereo generator), while the Optimod combines it all into one box.
vwestlife 1 month ago
That's a nice piece of kit there, good find, Kevin :-)
shortwavesam 1 month ago