Omnia and Nautel Propose Industry Standard for MPX over AES
Cleveland, Ohio and Hacketts Cove, Nova Scotia – After winning multiple awards at the recent NAB convention, manufacturers Nautel and Omnia are proposing that the digital composite interface developed by the two companies be adopted as an industry standard.
The long sought after goal of a fully digital transmission chain which doesn't sacrifice loudness has now been realized due to the collaboration between Omnia and Nautel.
Introduced as Omnia Direct, the technology permits a single AES-EBU cable between the Omnia 11 and the Nautel NV Series transmitter to carry the baseband signal in digital form. This 100% digital path eliminates the noise and distortion of A/D converters and reduces potential overshoots, while ensuring full FCC mask compliance. This direct digital transfer eliminates the need to use an analog composite signal, which prior to this collaboration was the only reliable way to ensure maximum modulation for station loudness.
Nautel and Omnia are now proposing that this technology be made available via an adopted industry standard to other processing and transmitter manufacturers. "By opening up the implementation details of this collaboration, it will give the industry an opportunity to develop interoperable solutions," said Peter Conlon, Nautel President and CEO. "Customers will have the choice of their transmitter and processor, and be able to use digital multiplex, and the industry can avoid the possibility of incompatible standards."
"Both of our companies are very excited about the ability to offer the digital equivalent of the analog BNC-to-BNC composite (MPX) connection, where we can take the output of the audio processor's stereo generator and couple it directly to the modulator of the exciter," said Frank Foti, Telos Alliance CEO and Omnia Audio founder. "Interest in this technology was overwhelming at NAB. Although both Omnia and Nautel expended a great deal of time, energy and resources in developing the interface, we feel it is important enough to the Radio industry to make it an open standard for all manufacturers. We would be happy to share the technical details with any interested party. Please contact Cornelius Gould at The Telos Alliance at 216-241-7225 or at cornelius.gould@telosalliance.com
At NAB, both Omnia and Nautel announced that the MPX over AES capability would be offered at no charge to their customers. Initially, the functionality is available on Nautel NV Series transmitters from 3.5kW to 44kW and the Omnia.11 processor. New transmitters are shipping with the feature as standard, and older NV series transmitters may be upgraded with the NV software release 4.0 which is now in controlled introduction.
About Omnia
Omnia products represent the state-of-the-art in audio processing for virtually any application. The top of the line Omnia.11 and the versatile Omnia.9 feature Single Sideband Suppressed Carrier capability for the potential reduction of multipath. Also available is the lower-priced Omnia ONE, which will process FM, AM, Internet, Studio applications or act as a Signal Generator on demand by simply changing software. Omnia 8x features eight, discrete Omnia processors in a single, networked appliance for multiple coded audio applications. On the software side, there is the Omnia A/XE for standalone encoding and processing of live internet streams as well as the Omnia F/XE for file-based encoding and processing. Omnia Audio offers 24/7 technical support.
About Nautel
Nautel has emerged as one of the world's largest manufacturers of AM and FM radio broadcast transmitters. With more than 12,000 transmitters deployed in over 177 countries since 1970, Nautel continues to lead the way in providing valuable new solutions for digital radio broadcasting and other applications.