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FM-531HD / May 2013
A P P E N D I C E S
Speaking of high end and texture, Wheatstone provides three different main clipper
styles in most of our processor models. Each clipper style is specifically designed to
create a specific artistic
effect while also limiting signal peaks. The three clipper styles
and their attributes are as follows:
Hard: The Hard clipper style is the most forgiving to maladjustment without creating
the “crunchy/edgy” sound of other processors. Quite of bit of clipper drive (Lim/Clip
Drive) can be dialed in without generating obvious and/or disturbing distortion artifacts.
Firm: The Firm clipper style is designed to generate low order harmonics which
enhance the audibility of audio details and fullness without generating overtly obvious
and/or disturbing distortion artifacts. Yes, the Firm style is more “distorted” than the
Hard style – it’s supposed to be. It also generates more obvious loudness benefits than
the Hard style without sounding rough or overdriven.
Round: The Round clipper style is the most obvious sounding of all three styles.
It is designed to sound grungy when overdriven but without generating objectionable
brightness due to clipping. It is the loudest of all three clipper styles but also the most
sensitive to maladjustment.
Which clipper style is best? Wrong question! Which clipper style is the right one
to use? It completely depends on your format, your competition, and your market. As
in all things processing, the ears are always the best judge of what’s right and wrong.
SIBILANCE
Sibilance is a vocal artifact and because it sounds so unnatural it tends to stick out
like a sore thumb. Excessive sibilance can be the result of too much high-end boost
or too much final clipper drive. Sibilance tends to be most prevalent in the 4,000Hz to
8,000Hz portion of the frequency spectrum. Microphone processors (like the Wheatstone
M1 and M2) are great tools for keeping vocal sibilance under control. Their specialized
de-esser sections are specially tailored for removing or minimizing excessive “esses.”
When excessive sibilance is an issue and there is no microphone processor to control it,
lowering Band 4 to Band 5 crossover setting and/or using a slightly faster attack time
on the Band 5 AGC/Compressor can help.
Sibilance can sometimes be found in an unlikely place; the L-R. “But voice is
mono…” you say, “…so there is no L-R…” Well, yes and no. When the left and right
channels don’t have perfect balance or there is phase shift between the channels, en-
ergy ends up in the L-R. Why? By definition the L-R signal is the
difference between
the left and right channels, regardless of whether it’s level, or phase, or both. When
phase is the culprit the error is generally larger at high frequencies, making the L-R
energy also greater at higher frequencies. As if by magic, sibilance appears in the L-R
and the only way to fix it is to tend to what’s causing it or reduce the level of L-R at
frequencies where sibilance might reside. The AGC’s multiband mixer can help with
this. Slightly reducing the setting of the Band 4 and Band 5 L-R mixer can help tame
sibilance without having too negative an effect on stereo separation.
TREBLE/BRIGHT/OPEN
Treble (like its friends Bass and Midrange) is a generalized term for the high end in
most broadcast and recording systems. Bright and Open are oft-used descriptive terms
of treble styles.
Summary of Contents for FM-531 HD
Page 2: ...Technical Manual Wheatstone Corporation May 2013 FM HD Digital Audio Processor FM 531hd...
Page 122: ...page A 2 FM 531HD May 2013 A P P E N D I C E S Appendix A General Specifications A 3 Contents...
Page 128: ...page A 8 FM 531HD May 2013 A P P E N D I C E S Appendix B FM 531HD GPI Interface A 9 Contents...
