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Post by sidewalkcinema on Mar 18, 2021 18:49:32 GMT
Hi all,
I've just received my Decade MS-100s (ANT, not UHF) and have a question about the audio signal I'm putting into it. Are there recommended settings I should look at for compression/limiting for the input into the transmitter?
I'm using a digital mixer, QSC Touchmix-8 (parametric EQ, Hi/Low pass filtering, compressor/limiter), so I can make some adjustments, but not sure what processing the MS-100 provides and what might be the best signal feed.
I'm mindful about not overdriving the signal.
This is for pop-up drive-in movies in a parking lot so the audio would be coming off a Blu-ray player which has a wide-dynamic range. When I am using speakers, I am doing some light compression/limiting to keep the volume a bit more consistent.
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Post by sidewalkcinema on Mar 19, 2021 22:51:45 GMT
Well I didn't seem to get much help here. So, I'll share what I've learned after communicating with the folks at Decade on the MS-100s
See ya.
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Post by Admin on Mar 19, 2021 22:57:56 GMT
Sometimes it takes a couple days before a post is noticed. Thanks for sharing the info you received. It is good reference. How often do you do the "pop-up" cinema 📽️?
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Post by sidewalkcinema on Mar 19, 2021 23:25:18 GMT
Ah a response  Pop-ups happen about once a month, and depend on many factors. I'll be doing a couple of series soon which will be weekly. The first drive-in I did requiring radio transmission for the audio was this past fall. It came up suddenly which required a quick ramp on how to do the transmission. The MS-100 was sold out everywhere so I used a "CZE-7C" transmitter that I got off Amazon cheap. However, I soon realized that it was likely not in compliance which sent me to look and finally find the MS-100. |
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Post by mark on Mar 20, 2021 16:23:37 GMT
I used a Decade MS-100 and last spring 2020 switched to AM with a Procaster and still have the MS-100.
When I was using it the only way to get near, not equal to, the volume of the other stations was lots of compression.....like 10:1.
and then keep the bass down from your audio source.
That LED on the front still kept flashing and I eventually opened it up and tweaked the adjustment so it wouldn't flash.
I had to set the threshhold to start the compression at fast attack also and all this caused a little "pumping effect" or sound drop out on songs that had a lot of bass.
The commercial stations have $1000s of this processing stuff to get as loud as they can on the air without overmodulating. It's a war to sound the loudest on the dial. We don't have all this stuff and a $300 compressor limiter can't do it like them. It's all artificial to get as loud as you can and that's why it's so hard for us to match.
With the Procaster adjusting the input volume and the modulation depth with 5:1 compression I can get there, using the Procaster's own processor.
Compressors with 3 band compression should work better without the sound drop outs.
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Post by Boomer on Mar 21, 2021 5:58:26 GMT
Great that you're doing drive-in radio! I've liked the concept of it since my family went to drive-ins when I was little, and they'd broadcast over the radio, AM at the time.
I've heard of Decades for a few decades, and they are claimed to be broadcast quality, metal case tough. I like quality equipment so it appeals to me, but then I want to try every transmitter out there.
I'm not an FM expert, I work with AM more, but have broadcast movie sound over FM and have some ideas.
The compression and limiting is good, my biggest problem was running movie sound at what seemed like reasonable levels for FM stations, then a loud effect would go too loud and clip in the transmitter. I used ALC with a limiter; the ALC would slowly adjust volume levels and even out changing scenes, for example quieter dialog indoors to street scenes that were louder, and the volume would slowly change over 5-10 seconds, so you couldn't hear it much. The limiter would tame a sudden loud sound that would have distorted without it, gun shot for example.
Good point that Mark made about professional radio station processing gear, and how it creates an artificial sound that people expect to hear from radio stations, but which is no good for movies, where viewers want to hear dynamic sound. Expect your movie soundtrack to sound quiet at normal levels, half or less volume of other radio stations. I'd run a good bit of the movie and test listen to it, and also listen on a few more radios, some can take louder sounds than others without distorting.
Your other transmitter could be used for drive-in, with an 'attenuator'. Some churches with parking lot service found that their transmitter had too much signal and fitted the attenuator to the antenna jack, then connected the antenna to the other side of the attenuator, so it would transmit a reduced signal. You've solved your problem, but maybe others will drop by and want to know that.
Good luck and keep us informed, drive-in is great!
Boomer
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Post by Admin on Mar 22, 2021 17:04:41 GMT
Given all this pandemic situation, my son setup a parking lot "broadcast" sound system for a college graduation ceremony.
They had a big (read huge) video screen to allow easy viewing of the participants and the radio broadcast to bring the audio portion into the vehicles.
Since it was mostly vocal very little processing was needed, just a little ALC compression.
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