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Hello,
So I herd on another website that if I got a audio processor for my Talking House AM transmitter I can get better sound quality and more range. Would just like to confirm if this is true or not? If it is then what would you guys recommend I get? I have seen some audio processors on eBay from $10-$50.Thanks 🙂
Total posts : 45366If you have an older unmodified Talking House, it can make a significant difference. The older TH II have poor frequency response particularly on the low end. There is a simple mod to the audio stage which will improve the low end quite a bit.
It’s been said the newer TH 5 and I AM Radio units sound much better. I’ve not tried one so I have no info on that but I would imagine EQ could help there also.
The older Talking House typically won’t modulate much past 90% so EQ and compression will help not only the sound but the perceived range. I used a Tascam 16 band EQ and a DBX-118 compressor and it sounds acceptable.
Total posts : 45366At the bottom of my TH it says I got the TH 5.0.
Total posts : 45366Take the cover off. Of you see parts that have been “roached” on near the audio input it is modified. It can still be a V5 and be unmodified.
Total posts : 45366If you are going to start tweaking the audio I suggest you listen to the result on a variety of radios. If someone EQ’s the audio to be transmitted to sound good on their aftermarket car stereo it may sound bad on a stock car stereo. If they EQ the audio to be transmitted to sound good on a transistor radio with head phones it may not sound good on a portable radio. If there is a neighbor with a wideband tube radio any EQ done for modern radios will probably make the audio from the tube radio sound harsh.
If you want to use pro audio gear, a parametric EQ and a single channel compressor would be a good way to go. What are you going to be transmitting? Music will benefit more from complex processing than talk radio. With talk radio, a single band compressor will be enough. For music compression that attacks low frequencies separately from highs can do wonders to maintain the perceived loudness without the compression being obvious with the bass line. A graphic EQ looks pretty in a rack, but a parametric EQ is a better tool if you need to boost/cut broad swaths of audio frequencies.
There are also software options to do lots of stuff. If you have a spare WXP computer and a sound blaster live soundcard lying around the KX driver package offers many low latency plugins with very flexible routing options. (For example, a stereo input can be run into a mixer to mix it down to mono, from the mixer it can be routed into an EQ, then into a compressor, then to an output.)
Total posts : 45366I saw some biamp msp11’s and msp22e’s going for around $40 or less on Ebay. I’m tempted to buy one as an affordable processor.
Total posts : 45366I built my own PC so my older laptops I use for the radio station. I did buy a USB sound card since the current laptop has some trouble with the audio. I think I did some ware and tare on the AUX ports with that laptop so I am going to try the USB sound card I got off eBay.
Total posts : 45366If your budget is tight at the moment, a single-band compressor is the way to go, at least for starters. I just checked eBay for Buy It Now items, and there’s a lot to choose from in the under-$75 range.
What to get? Pretty much anything you see there will get you started. For my money, I’d be safe and get one of the dbx units. They always sound good. (I did see a Rocktron listed. I’d stay away from them. They can be noisy.)
But as suggested above, if you really want good, clean, loud audio, look for a multi-band compressor. They cost more, but they make a big difference.
Total posts : 45366Ok well since I am a bit of a noob and am intersted in this stuff I just want to make sure I understand the basics of a audo procssor or compressor. So just to put it plain simple from my understanding, I can make the music sound louder and cleaner without overloading the transmitter and making it sound crappy.
So is this mainly what it does?
Total posts : 45366I see Artisanradio has put a processor up for sale on this site and also Ebay for $9.99.
Might be worth checking out.
Total posts : 45366Bear in mind just so you don’t make the same mistake I did, a compressor will not make your audio louder, nor does it do a very good job at preventing overmod.
What you need to find is a Compressor/Expander/Limiter. The one Artisan has would be perfect for this.
Total posts : 45366The Behringer Autocom Pro XL MDX1600-MDX2600-MDX4600 product line have an expander stage.
I have the MDX1600, it works pretty well when I use it.
Bruce.
Total posts : 45366I see allot of Behringer MDX1600 for sale on ebay in my price range. For those of you who have it and use it with the Talking House how much range did it get you and how improved was the audio quality??
Thanks 🙂
Total posts : 45366The MDX1600 compressor/limiter/expander unit is designed as a duel channel unit.
It has two inputs and two outputs, either balanced or unbalanced.
It also has side chains for the addition of unbalanced equipment such as an EQ.
For mono AM broadcasting, only one side of the processor (channel one) would be used.
It is a good processor to have even if you’re doing AM mono broadcasting, if you ever decide to venture into FM stereo broadcasting. This is because you can use channel one for left and channel two for right.
These processors do have an auto attack and release feature, all you have to do is get the ratio and threshold set to the level that works best for your program material, the processor does the rest of the work.
The expander section has a trigger as well as release and gate options, a dynamic enhancer and a peak limiter.
These devices can be used as professional audio processing at +4 dBu or at home processing level -10dBv, -10dBv is common with RCA jack line level inputs which is common on most AM or FM transmitters. Most home user part 15 transmitters have those RCA sockets, or 3/8″ tip and shield type sockets.
If the prices are well within your budget, they can make good investments, so can other audio processors that are good for strickly mono ‘single channel’ processing, as I am sure other members out there can highly recommend to you.
The MDX1600 uses two types of connectors, 1/4″ tip, ring & shield, or balanced XLR connectors. Either can be wired for unbalanced audio by tieing ring and shield together or pin 1 to pin 3 together on the XLR connectors them selves, or tieing pin 1 to chassis ground, using pin 2 as hot (+) and pin 3 as audio (-).
A ratio of 2:1:0 is pretty good, some go with 2:4:0 or infinity. Most scales show this as 2.1 or 4.1 or oo for infinity, which is extreme limiting!
The truth is these devices can be either easy to use or down right complicated! The more features one unit has, the more time it takes to set it up and get it sounding right.
The MDX1600 is a single band processor, meaning it effects the WHOLE audio frequency band at the same time, this makes it easy to learn on, when you start adding multi-band processors to the chain, more time, knowledge and experimentation is needed before you master the device for the best settings.
Bruce.
Total posts : 45366Well my plan is to have a FM transmitter for people near by and a AM for people far away. The issue is I need to keep my volume at 50% to get nice sound from the transmitters. I am hopeing with the MDX1600 I can set it to 100% so the audio will be louder. What I also hope for is that I can have it loud enough that you wont hear the static in the back ground. I also hope that this will clean up the sound makeing it sound nicer. Will the MDX1600 be able to do all of this?
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