Overview

No-Compromise all-in-one processing for analog AM and digital radio channels.

Until now, if you wanted an AM audio processor that provided no-compromise, independent, multiband processing for analog AM and digital radio (like iBiquity’s HD-AM^TM, system), you had to buy two boxes. Orban’s Optimod-AM 9400 changes all that by offering two independently adjustable processing chains: one for the analog channel and one for the digital channel. The only processing common to the two channels is the AGC and stereo enhancer. Beyond this front-end processing, you get two of everything: equalizer, five-band compressor/limiter, and peak limiter, each optimized for its intended transmission channel. For example, the analog-chain peak limiter uses Orban’s exclusive multiband distortion-canceled clipper and overshoot compensator, while the digital chain uses an advanced, low-IM look-ahead limiter to make the most of low bitrate codecs. Moreover, both processing chains are stereo, making the 9400 ideal for CQUAM^® installations. This is truly one AM processor that does it all.

We realized early on in the 9400’s design process that AM stations need more than just AGC and peak limiting on their digital channels. Particularly because of the preponderance of talk on AM, these stations also need Orban-quality five-band compression and limiting to ensure spectral consistency and smooth source-to-source continuity on the digital channel. However, the analog and digital five-band compressor/limiters require very different thresholds and time constants. Appropriate equalization settings and peak limiting technologies are very different as well. That’s why the 9400 is essentially two processors in one.

Thanks to its unified design, the 9400 costs substantially less than a two-box configuration. It is also easier to control—you only have to program the time-of-day automation once and you only need one set of remote control connections. Yet the 9400 has everything necessary to provide optimum processing for both channels.

For over 20 years, Optimod-AM has dominated the sound of major-market AM radio. The 9400 distills all of Orban’s experience into the best Optimod-AM ever—it’s as big an improvement over the 9100 and 9200 as our Optimod-FM 8400 was over the 8200. Regardless of whether you have a major-market station or just want your station to sound like one, Optimod-AM 9400 is right for you.

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