ULTRA-HIGH RESOLUTION PROCESSING VP-8 PLUS DIGITAL AUDIO PROCESSOR. Your On-Air Sound is About to Get Awesome.

Transcription

1 ULTRA-HIGH RESOLUTION PROCESSING VP-8 PLUS DIGITAL AUDIO PROCESSOR Your On-Air Sound is About to Get Awesome.

2 2 3 VP-8 PLUS DIGITAL AUDIO PROCESSOR

3 I can t believe the power this little single rack-space processor has! We ve only begun to tap into the programmability of it your presets are THAT good! 4 3

4 VP-8 PLUS DIGITAL AUDIO PROCESSOR The VP-8 Plus is a no-compromise high-performance multimode Digital Audio Processor from Wheatstone that utilizes our exclusive Vorsis technology to deliver clean, detailed sound at a great price. In fact, you could easily spend two to three times more and still not match the performance of the VP-8 Plus. For FM stations, you can expect a sound that easily holds its own against your high-power major market competitors. Owners comment that with the VP-8 Plus they now hear the rest of the music! AM stations often experience a dramatic increase in coverage area along with greatly improved intelligibility and sound quality. The VP-8 Plus is also ideal for streaming audio, studio processing, as a versatile backup processor or as an STL protection limiter. Stored in the VP-8 Plus memory are six distinct processor configurations, each tailored to a specific medium: FM analog, FM-HD, AM analog, AM-HD, Streaming >48kHz, Streaming <48kHz. Installation and setup takes only minutes. The VP-8 Plus is ready to go, full of great sounding presets carefully tailored for different formats and mediums. No need to spend endless hours tweaking, the VP-8 Plus will make your station sound great, right out of the box. ULTRA-HIGH RESOLUTION PROCESSING Wheatstone believes that you should have the power to shape your OWN sound one with a completely unique sonic signature that s your sound, not the one created by a processor manufacturer. To achieve this goal Wheatstone has developed Vorsis Ultra-High Resolution Processing technology to provide completely clean, high quality draw you in sound that even the best ears in the business love to hear. This proven Vorsis technology is embedded in every Wheatstone processor to create the cleanest sound, as loud as you want it. To get there, it required taking a completely fresh approach to processing. Vorsis Dynamics Control (AGC and compression) employs multiband AGC to ensure consistent spectral balance. Its Multiband Compressor works with the AGC to provide unprecedented dynamics control. The Vorsis Bass Management System (VBMS) extracts and reveals nuances in the program to deliver pristine, deep, distortion-free bass over the air. No other processor delivers bass this bold and clean. Vorsis Superior Stereo Enhancement is integral to the processing and creates a smear-free perception of a wider sound field in the cleanest possible way. Just stunning. Our limiting and clipping are, bar none, the finest you ll ever use. Up to 31-bands ensure surgical precision and the ability to have the cleanest, loudest signal on the dial. Vorsis presets are also some of the finest in the world. You may never need to tweak them, but if you do, our Graphical User Interface, whether via the front panel or accessed by a PC, gives you an intuitive toolset that ll make you feel right at home. We think Wheatstone s Vorsis Ultra-High Resolution Processing is the best you ll ever use. But don t take our word for it. Try it out. We CAN guarantee you ll be happy you did! 4

5 The Wheatstone VP-8 PLUS is as easy to use as selecting a preset. Yet, using the included Audio Processing Guru software, you can easily customize your presets to get exactly the sound you are after. Switchable for FM analog, FM-HD, AM analog, AM-HD, Streaming >48kHz, Streaming <48kHz Dozens of factory processing presets separately designed for each medium, carefully tailored to get you sounding great quickly VBMS Vorsis Bass Management System for clean, deep, low bass without the typical distortions Front-panel metering of input levels, output levels, and processing activity FM stereo generator/encoder Stereo enhancement Diversity delay for HD Test/setup oscillator Headphone monitoring of each processing stage Front-panel control for selection of presets; can be locked out for security Built by Wheatstone in the United States 5

6 VP-8 PLUS DIGITAL AUDIO PROCESSOR For The Individual Processing Guru Most stations find they can get a great sound just by using one of the many pre-loaded factory presets. But for those wanting a more hands-on approach, Wheatstone offers free GUI PRO software an incredibly extensive palette of controls, backed by a comprehensive instruction manual to guide you step-by-step. Unlike most other processors, with Vorsis GUI PRO no control is hidden; they are all there for you to tweak. VP-8 PLUS Software GUI Basic setup is via VP-8 Plus AUDIO PROCESSING GURU Software. Install it on a Windows PC, and connect to the VP-8 Plus directly, over a network, or over the Internet. Audio Processing Guru Software gives you six easy to understand controls to customize any preset. Each control changes multiple parameters behind the scenes to ensure intelligent adjustments to your sound. It s like having your own audio guru with you when you tweak! VBMS Vorsis Bass Management System VBMS extracts and reveals low frequency nuances in program content that are simply not heard with any other audio processor. Working in concert with the 8-band limiter it puts deep pristine bass on the air without the distortions of common bass clipper technologies. 8-Band Peak Control Stage Peak control in the VP-8 Plus is performed in eight bands because, quite simply, fewer bands lack the power to be both loud and clean. Eight bands of limiting allow the VP-8 Plus to selectively control peaks without disturbing neighboring content. The resulting on-air sound is louder and smoother, with greater detail. The headphone monitoring system in the VP-8 Plus allows you to listen to multiple points in the processing chain so you can understand the effect each stage contributes to your final air sound. The two four-band parametric equalizers give you unprecedented control over spectral balance. HD/DAB and Streaming Bit-rate compression, such as HDC (AM-HD) and MPEG-4 Audio, can make a mess of carefully tailored sound. The VP-8 Plus includes four processing configurations specially designed to manage the audio prior to encoding to ensure the best listener experience. Each configuration takes into account the characteristics of a particular codec to prevent feeding it information it can t handle. 6

7 I am giving the Vorsis development team a BIG thumbs up as this product stands out as a very SUPERIOR audio processor design. This processor is amazing! I have the HD output feeding our web stream encoder, and two national program hosts at remote locations in the US have told us your audio stream sounds incredible! I can say that the Vorsis processor does NOT sound like the O ther guys! It sounds far better and has a very unique signature. I really, really like how this processor sounds! Every other station in the market sounds like crunched up FM radio while our station is loud now and yet it still has life with CD quality dynamics and punch. I ve listened to the station since the first few days after the format flip (which was a month ago yesterday), and the one thing I notice most is that the new Vorsis processor s audio quality is always terrific, regardless of the source material. If the Vorsis that I heard while you were testing processors last night is your final air chain (it was) it might just be the cleanest and best sounding FM I ve heard since... well, forever. Great work! Thanks for a great sounding box that makes us sound bigger than the so called big stations! Your Sweet Spot Technology AGC has the most invisible gain correction that I have EVER heard in ANY on-air processor. Listeners have been calling to compliment us on the improvement in our on-air sound. We ve used your product close to a year now and it s just out of this world. When we put the Vorsis box online our audience noticed the difference instantly and started calling asking questions like What's going on? What did you all do? Your sound is clear, crisp, and bright and the audio sound level is great now!!! Real Comments From Real Users About Wheatstone s Vorsis Ultra-High Resolution Processing The music sounds great, and this box can be tweaked to anyone's preference. There is a lot to discover in this machine...but our single biggest achievement has been achieving the clearest, cleanest voice I have ever heard come from an FM processor. I am extremely impressed with the unit s capabilities and how well it performs with our NPR talk/ Classical format. What an amazing difference in sound quality!!! This is a brand new FM station and comparing it to the other new station in town using the Other brand of processor our client is louder, cleaner, and even legal. Wheatstone definitely has a winner here with Vorsis. This is a great sound and we are so, so pleased with our new Vorsis on-air processor. You just threw down the gauntlet to the processing industry with this new unit! Nobody can match a sound this loud, this clean, and this unique! Now everybody gets to chase after us for a while. Thanks Vorsis!! Our signal used to virtually disappear in downtown New York when we went on night pattern because of the extremely high level of man-made noise. Now when we re on night pattern our coverage in downtown is actually better than when we are on day pattern, the other brand of audio processor and a 10X higher powered transmitter! We re buying a second one to put on our daytime transmitter! You have to be kidding! I have NEVER heard FM audio sound this good, this detailed, this smooth, this clean, and this loud (how did you do it???). Very nice work! Love the box!!! Overall the sound of the station is vastly improved. It s loud, wide and clear. I guess the only word for Vorsis is WOW. It s got some great bottom end, and it s more transparent than any processor I ve heard. The AGC/Compressor/SST combination is simply amazing. We play classical CDs. Older classical CDs were mastered at a much lower level than current ones. Announcers don t compensate and never will. Your processor is able deal with what amounts to probably 40-45dB (or more) average level variations and hold them perfectly in the sweet spot with virtually no squashing, pumping, sucking, or other usually audible artifacts of such wide range level control. In short it does its job perfectly every time. This box sounds much better than any other processor I have ever tried. Ever! I love classic rock and it s the program format on the station that I own. No other processor that I ve tried (and I think I ve tried them all!) sounds as good on this format. We re nice and loud and still cleaner than the other stations in the market. We were surprised to hear the intentional dynamics of songs actually get on the air other processors just flatten them out or turn them into a sea of mush. For the first time ever we re also hearing subtle nuances in songs that we used to think we knew every single note of. What an amazing air sound! No What an amazing processor!! Your equalizers are actually useful and, unlike other processors, do not grunge-up the sound merely by enabling them. The SST algorithm is the least audible of ANY processor I have ever had experience with. I m not sure how you did it or exactly how it works but its automatic leveling is excellent no pre-processing whatsoever is necessary with SST. The high end of this processor is very open sounding there is no fake sparkle with the HF EQ either. Perfectly clean and natural sound. And did I mention LOUD? Finally! A processor that deals effectively and transparently with overly-sibilant announcers and audio levels that usually go all over the place! (I especially love the tweakable multiband thresholds!) Why haven t the other audio processor companies been able to make an AM box that sounds this good? I can t think of a positive superlative that is big enough to describe how pleased I am with our AM sound now. Our coverage seems to have increased by quite a bit too!! Our multipath is Gone! GONE! As an engineer I have difficulty believing a processor can make this much difference in apparent coverage area but the listening is the proof. We ve had several listeners call and comment that their reception has greatly improved and even I ve noticed vast improvements when driving through what were previously horribly multipath prone areas. I m not sure why, but it sure does work!! This box has great metering and excellent analytical tools you get good visual indication of everything that is happening inside. The unit s stability has been flawless, not even a tiny glitch. We have it set up to timesync and it works great. The scheduler-based (and SILENT!!) preset switching is perfect! Unit sounds very accurate sonically and is very easy to set-up. We are now VERY unique in our audio. Compared to other stations in the market, we are as loud yet maintain legal modulation (at least 4 stations in our market run with 130%+ modulation). We re not squashed sounding at all and if you compare us with the other stations (all formats) we re clearly a dynamic and clean stand-out signal on the dial now. 7

8 WHEATSTONE VP-8 PLUS Specifications PRESETS Non-volatile memory Factory AUDIO INPUT Analog Digital Gain adjustment Headroom Nominal operating level Input fail-safe AUDIO OUTPUT Analog Digital Storage for 80 presets More than 25 pre-installed and write-protected New factory presets can be downloaded from the Vorsis web site and installed via the VP-8 Software XLR connectors (left, right) Electronic differential, >10KΩ (bridging) Optimum source impedance <1KΩ XLR connector Balanced 110Ω AES-3 ±24dB in 0.5dB increments 20dB -20dBFS Upon loss of AES data, immediately switches to analog input Upon absence of digital audio level below -48dBFS for 30 seconds, switches to analog input Upon absence of analog audio level below -48dBFS for 30 seconds, switches to digital input XLR connectors (left, right) Adjustable -80dB to 0dB in 0.05dB steps Switchable phase 0º or 180º XLR connector Balanced 110Ω AES-3 Adjustable -36dBFS to 0dBFS in 0.05dB steps FM COMPOSITE OUTPUT Balanced Two XLR connectors (TX1, TX2) Unbalanced Two outputs on BNC connectors Output level 1-4VRMS, 11.3Vp-p max Adjustable in 0.05dB steps SCA inputs Two analog inputs >10kΩ (bridging), +24dBu maximum input level INPUT PROCESSING Voice symmetry High-pass filter Phase rotation switchable in/out Adjustable Hz, 24dB/octave Butterworth; operates in stereo or M/S mode AGC/COMPRESSOR Four-band parametric Routable pre- or post-agc equalizer Each band fully adjustable, 20Hz-20kHz, octave bandwidth, ±14dB Four-band AGC/compressor Operates in sum/difference mode Fully adjustable VBMS VORSIS BASS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM Operation Fully integrated into the peak control stage Control Off, soft, hard Adjustable drive, frequency, and output FINAL PEAK CONTROL Eight-band peak limiter Four-band parametric equalizer Look-ahead limiter Main clipper (FM analog, AM analog) Fully adjustable Each band fully adjustable, 20Hz-20kHz, octave bandwidth, +3dB to -12dB Fully adjustable Off, hard, firm, round FM ANALOG Pre-emphasis Off, 50µS, 75µS Stereo encoder Reference grade stereo encoder Composite processing Clipper or look-ahead limiter, switchable Test oscillator Adjustable 50Hz-80kHz, plus 31.25kHz Bessel Stereo width limiter Adjustable OFF to 100% Pilot injection 0-20% in 0.1% steps AM ANALOG Pre-emphasis Bandwidth Positive modulation Output mode Test oscillator LF tilt equalizer Off, NRSC Switchable 20kHz, 10kHz NRSC, 7.5kHz, 6.5kHz, 6kHz CCIR, 5.5kHz, 5kHz, 4.5kHz Adjustable % in 1% steps Mono, stereo, stereo M/S Sinewave, clipped sinewave (for tilt test), adjustable 25Hz-12kHz Parametric bandpass, adjustable AM-HD, FM-HD, AAC>48k, AAC<48k Codec Brain Optimized for each algorithm LOGIC I/O GPI (input) GPO (output) CONTROL Ethernet PHYSICAL Dimensions Weight Shipping weight Power Eight ports, opto-isolated, on one female DB9 connector; use for switching presets Four ports, opto-isolated, on one female DB9 connector; use for tally RJ45 connector; 100BASE-T, auto sensing (straight or crossover cable) 19"/48.3cm wide, 1-3/4"/4.5cm high, 14"/35.6cm deep; add 3"/8cm for connectors 13lbs/5.9kg 16lbs/7.3kg VAC, 50-60Hz, 26VA Specifications and features subject to change without notice. BLOCK DIAGRAM AES input Analog input Failover Logic M/S Matrix High-Pass Filter Four-Band AGC/ Compressor Four-Band Parametric EQ Eight-Band Limiter VBMS Four-Band Parametric EQ Look- Ahead Limiter Final Peak Control AES Output FM Composite Analog Output switchable preor post-agc Wheatstone Corporation 600 Industrial Drive New Bern, NC USA phone fax wheatstone-processing.com Your On-Air Sound is About to Get Awesome Wheatstone Corporation