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The TC Electronic Finalizer Express

The Aphex 2020MkIII FM Broadcast Processor.

It’s a simple concept and several people this week, from different parts of the world, asked me this question… What is the best way to get that “radio” sound?

The debate reminds me of the never ending clash of political parties and viewpoints. Some people strive for the “pure” sound, with the goal of sonic transparency. Others long for the punch and whollop (is that a word?) of decades old Top 40 CHR and BOSS radio - just as it was meant to be - compressed like crazy.

I’d like to think Studio1A is somewhere in the middle, with an admitted slant towards (only slightly) pushing the compressor.

It takes good engineering skills to push the limit and get punch while not being so compressed that our ears (actually our brain) becomes fatigued.

Commercial RF broadcast chains are filled with compression, leveling, AGC/ALC and a myriad of patented sonic alterations. Although the world of digital signal “routing” has simplified, and at least theoretically, cleaned up the signal chain it is more important than ever to have tight control of your audio - whichever path you select.

For the world of New Media, there are several emerging choices to achieve aural control of your signal at a fraction of old-world prices.

The simplest form of getting the sound you desire is with a vocal strip. Of course, I’m talking mainly real-time appliances vs. software. A vocal strip is designed to give you control over amplitude, passband, filtering and even some custom (voice tailored) equalization on most strips.

However; after feeding your mic into your vocal strip, where does the sound go? Feed it right back into your mixer or console. Most vocal strips will transform and boost your mics signal up to line level, so feed the vocal strip right into your mixers line-in. Most consumer type mixers offer a line in that is basically an attenuated mic pre-amp on the first channel or 2. This will add noise to your signal, vs. a non pre-amp (true line level) channel. The question remains whether you (or your listeners) will perceive this noise if you use an attenuated mic in on your mixer?

Everything else being equal, there’s no question that .0001 Total Harmonic Distortion is cleaner than .001 THD - but can you really hear the difference? More importantly is how the figures were measured, but that’s for a completely different show.

The output of your vocal strip enters a channel on your mixer. For our purposes, you would then take the sum output (usually main outs) of your mixer to a Final Processor. This processor has the final say on conditioning your audio, such as split-band processing, ALC/AGC and soft or hard limiting. This last piece of hardware outputs your audio to its means of transmission whether it be a computer, transmitter or stream.

This simple audio topology will help get you closer to achieving a big consistent sound.

Best,
MarkJensen

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