Optimod vs. Omnia 6fm

Ok here's a little debate. Which do you think sounds better the Orban OPTIMOD 8400 or the Omnia 6fm and why.

For me, I like the Optimod 8400 because it has a very clean sound and has the legendary OPTIMOD sound that Orban is famous for. I also like the interface and screen size on the 8400. One thing I like about the Omnia is the dual LCD, but they are much smaller than the 8400. Orban has had more experience in making on-air processors than Omnia and I think it shows. The Omnia sounds good, but I think the stereo image is very exagerated and sounds unnatural where as the 8400 has just the right amout of sereo expansion. Granted tuning around the dial you can't really determine which processor the station is using for they all sound the same and have roughly the same loudness. However, I think the Orban sounds louder because at the stations I work at one uses the 8400 (our country station) another uses the Orban Optimod 8100A (70s/80s AC) and another uses the Omnia (urban). The two Orban's sound more pleasing to listen to (to me)  than the Omnia. The Omnia has a tiring feeling to it even on music that I'm familiar with let alone the stuff I don't know.

Now I've given my views have at it.

FOr the most part, it's going to depend on the settings you use.  I don't know for sure, but I would think that you could narrow the image on the Omnia, just as you can widen or narrow using an Optimod.  The tiring sound is due to too much high-end, which is completely common with urban and CHR stations.  However, the Optimod does carry the Orban name.  People have trusted the Optimod for many years and they are very reliable, but also very expensive.  Even the old 8100A's are fairly pricey.

You're probably right. The individual tweaking can make the difference as well. I know the Omnia uses a higher sampling rate than the 8400 and could be attributed to some of the brightness as well. I realistically don't think that a higher sampling rate would make a difference in conventional FM, but in HD Radio (IBOC) or other digital forms it would. Even in the digital domain the Optimods sound better. Yeah the 8100A's go for no less than $3,000 even on ebay. Both the 8400 and 6fm are about the same in price, roughly $11,000 if you go by "suggested retail price".  Still expensive no matter how you look at it.

The 8100 isn't a bad unit.  Depending on the format, you can kill an 8400 with an old 8100.  If you take an 8100, get some Gentner Prizms and a Card 5 and you can get those old 8100's super loud.  I didn't realize the 6fm was that expensive.  I assumed it was considerably less.  There are some good processors around that are much cheaper.

[CHEAPER]

The 8100 isn't a bad unit.  Depending on the format, you can kill an 8400 with an old 8100.  If you take an 8100, get some Gentner Prizms and a Card 5 and you can get those old 8100's super loud.  I didn't realize the 6fm was that expensive.  I assumed it was considerably less.  There are some good processors around that are much cheaper.

I agree the 8100 is still a super unit! And yes in the right hands it could rival the 8400 and it could be said the same for the 8400 that it could rival this legenadary 8100 configuration. Yep, the Omnia is that expensive. According to the "list price" on Broadcast Supply Worldwide the Omnia retails for $11,590.00 while the 8400 retails for $10,900.00 so actually the Optimod 8400 is CHEAPER than the Omnia in terms of price, but not in sound quality.

Why do you ask anyway?  Are you thinking of a purchse, or is this just for opinion.  If you're thinking of a purchase, the 8200 is the way to go.  You can find those almost as cheap as the 8100 and there are a lot of them for sale.  A lot of stations held onto their 8200's until the 8400's lookahead bugs were fixed.  Now the 8200's are everywhere.

A little of both, but mainly an opinion. I really have no real use for one right now, but I would love to own one. Unfortunately I can't afford it. Even the 8100s are out of my reach. They do have an 8300 that has essentially the same engine as the 8400 for about $3,000 less than the 8400. Just really opinions at the moment.

The 8300 was never very popular.  It has severe delay problems.  It delays the air feed by about 40ms, which makes it very hard to monitor the air feed.  There is a fix for it, but as I remember, it requires a great deal of special wiring.  That's why the 8300 never took off.

My understanding is that the 8300 is new. That would make it difficult to monitor with a delay like that, but yes I believe they have fixed it in the latest sofware version.

Our Omnias are so touchy, and while we have them hammered down into a pretty good sound, we're having to go with lower presence since everytime we bring it up even a little, we start to clip.  Sounds like crap.

If somebody knows where i can find some of these second hand processors, please let me know...

Looking for ORBAN 8200,8300,8400 or OMNIA processor..

Kind regards Jeroen.

Oh..I personaly like the ORBAN sound, ORBAN is the best sold processor in the BENELUX (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg)

I specialy like ORBAN Deep and phat bass...also the 8K sparkle is what i like (high enhancer)

If somebody knows where i can find some of these second hand processors, please let me know...

Looking for ORBAN 8200,8300,8400 or OMNIA processor..

Kind regards Jeroen.

Oh..I personaly like the ORBAN sound, ORBAN is the best sold processor in the BENELUX (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg)

I specialy like ORBAN Deep and phat bass...also the 8K sparkle is what i like (high enhancer)

For the 8200 and earlier try ebay. Broadcast Supply Worldwide (BSW) at www.bswusa.com may have an 8400 or even an Omnia in the clearance area. Both the 8300 and 8400 and the new 8500 are current models. The 8400 is available in a Signature series model now so it will be eventually phased out. You can't beat an ORBAN! Hope this helps.