Broadcast style multiband processing such as this, is nothing new for broadcast. And mastering quality audio requires more than a $29 program with presets. No one should be utilizing this on every track of a multitrack recording. That would generally make the recording almost unlistenable. This is more applicable to stereo bus processing, to an entire mix. But professionals rarely just plug-in a multiband compressor with multiple lookahead limiters. If you don't want any dynamics in your product at all, then use this. Quite frankly, I don't find any real reasons to use lookahead limiters at all! This isn't broadcasting we're doing here, it's Recording.org and you don't record through something like this. And, look ahead is only necessary to effectively stop any peaks at all. So with this, you shouldn't need anything more than a 10 Watt amplifier for your speaker monitor systems since everything will be at one level all the time. That doesn't make much sense does it? No, it doesn't. Maybe you're mastering for vinyl? Then this might be more important to have lookahead. I turn off lookahead and all of my software dynamics processing. You want some peaks. You need some peaks.

I might also add that this particular software is inadequate in its documentation and also caused a serious blue screen interruption with an immediate forced restart. I wasn't happy about that and I haven't had anything like that happen on this machine in the past couple of years! This might be cool software but I really don't think it's ready for prime time. So I don't recommend it.

WTF?
Mx. Remy Ann David

The purpose isn't to use it for mastering. It's just a demonstration tool to prove clients that "overuberloud" mastering doesn't sound louder once processed for broadcast. So there is no need to destroy the sound to compete in the loudness war.

Well you did indicate that this was an " FM radio simulation" and yes, that's honest. But that software sure doesn't like this machine and is the only software I've had that problem with. So I don't think it has been well sussed out? Don't get me wrong. I like well mastered music. It's fine if it's loud if it's appropriate to the genre. But mastering isn't just about loudness. It's about how aggressive or placid you can also make the audio sound like but that requires the knowledge to properly tweak your dynamics processing. All these folks that are using fast attack lookahead limiters with extremely fast release times just kind of blows/kills any semblance to reel audio. Spectral processing is useful and desirable in many situations but not all. For many things, you don't want multiband dynamics processing. You want wideband processing. This keeps the integrity of the mix intact. Multiband processing is sort of like TV dinners. It almost looks like food but instead, it's a TV dinner.

I love the way phosphor tastes on the back of my CRT
Mx. Remy Ann David

I just hope that the very last Omnia-11 does a better job. I think all mastering engineers have to know what will happen to their subtile improvements on the air.

Thankfully, hopefully, that competitive loudness war that has always existed in FM radio may be seeing its end of days? With the proliferation of digital technologies through satellite radio & even MP3 file type FM broadcasting on subcarrier frequencies such as the " HD radio" system progresses, we'll have less aggressive processing? One can only hope that the Omnia will only disappear. No matter what language you speak. Great minds think alike. I think some kind of competitive processing will always be utilized? It's only a matter of how awful it gets. I've been a broadcaster as long as I've been a recording engineer. Two audio careers with an extreme dichotomy of differences. So when people think I'm talking crazy, generally I am based upon a background in both broadcasting & the recording arts & sciences. And those are really two opposite careers within the same field.

I'm feelin' MagNoTized!
Mx. Remy Ann David

As long as people have libraries of music or listen to music from another source whether it be radio, internet, sat... there will be a need of some kind of leveling box or software. There will always be a want for someone to stand out from the rest, so level will always be a concern.

It's a real watering down, homogenization process they're trying to squeeze audio into. It's like all various recorded material should be engineered identically so the loudness levels will always be equal? Ahhh...Like we should all be playing the same instrument and only the way they want to hear us play it. Believe in their religious beliefs. Only like the music they like. It's idiotic. It's ridiculous. It's unrealistic! And some things in life still requires some modicum of human intervention. And even then, each " Performing Engineer" will have a different technique from other engineers. This will always create differences in hearing perception and that cannot be automated away. All this crapola obviously comes from people that know nothing about the hearing mechanism or audio. And this of course includes Professional Audio people with PhD's who thinks they know something more than someone who really hears well and knows what they're listening to. Hell, we don't even need musicians anymore. All music is available in MIDI. Samples have been made and we don't need to record anything anymore. I figure it would be better if everybody had farming or Wal-Mart jobs? We are all creating too big of a green footprint with the carbon dioxide we create by performing on instruments or turning on recording equipment that obviously isn't necessary anymore. We should all be assimilated. Resistance is futile or in ohms.

An enema can be measured by induction
Mx. Remy Ann David

well I don't think it's all that. maybe it's just one song is louder than another song.