Physical Graffiti by Led Zeppelin was the most popular album in America. Radio & Records had scored an exclusive interview with David Bowie. Freddie Fender and Minnie Ripperton topped the singles charts. And, the OPTIMOD FM audio processor was brought to market by Orban.
Today, the product remains a popular choice for radio industry engineering and audio technology pros, and Orban Labs is celebrating its longevity.
This year marks 50 years since the OPTIMOD was launched. Orban Labs President David Day remarks, “Over the years, many things have changed in the market including a wider range of places to listen to audio, but one thing has remained consistent — between bandwidth issues, transmission methods and other considerations, audio needs extra
treatment in order to make it pleasing for listeners. The overall sound of AM, FM, TV, and now internet broadcasting has been vastly improved over the decades thanks to Bob Orban and the OPTIMOD.”
Mr. Orban recalls the release of the first OPTIMOD FM processor in 1975. “While I used my electrical engineering university training to ‘do the math’ in processor development, of equal importance was my experience as a musician, composer, and producer,” he said. “I knew how the music industry wanted their creations to be heard over the air, and my designs reflected that.”
As electronics technology progressed over the years, so did Orban’s designs. He incorporated DSP technologies, and ultimately created software-based processors to complement the hardware designs that have been used by a wide variety of customers.
“Processor development is a continuous process that allows improvements – and is never really finished,” Mr. Orban said. “Perhaps the most important thing that any processor developer can learn is to not project their preference on the listening audience, but instead to supply a variety of presets that best serve different demographics and formats. And, of course, experienced programmers have the ability to fine-tune those presets to achieve a sound unique to them, which also can more closely match the desires of the creators of the material.”
