Telos ProSTREAM User manual

TELOS ProSTREAM
Network Audio Processor and Stream Encoder
USER’S MANUAL
Version 1.0
September, 2011

Telos ProSTREAM Manual
© 2011 TLS Corporation. Published by Telos Systems/TLS Corporation. All rights reserved.
Trademarks
Telos Systems, the Telos logo and ProSTREAM are trademarks of TLS Corporation. All other
trademarks are the property of their respective holders.
Notice
All versions, claims of compatibility, trademarks, etc. of hardware and software products not made by Telos
mentioned in this manual or accompanying material are informational only. Telos Systems makes no endorsement
of any particular product for any purpose, nor claims any responsibility for operation or accuracy. We reserve the
right to make improvements or changes in the products described in this manual which may affect the product
specifications, or to revise the manual without notice.
Warranty
This product is covered by a two year limited warranty, the full text of which is included in this manual.
Updates
The operation of the ProSTREAM is determined largely by software. We routinely release new versions to add
features and fix bugs. Check the Telos web site for the latest. We encourage you to sign-up for the email notification
service offered on the site.
Feedback
We welcome feedback on any aspect of the Telos ProSTREAM, or this manual. In the past, many good ideas from
users have made their way into software revisions or new products. Please contact us with your comments.
Service
You must contact Telos before returning any equipment for factory service. We will need the serial number, located
on the back of the unit. Telos Systems will issue a Return Authorization number which must be written on the
exterior of your shipping container. Please do not include cables or accessories unless specifically requested by the
technical support engineer at Telos. Be sure to adequately insure your shipment for its replacement value. Packages
without proper authorization may be refused. US customers please contact Telos technical support at +1-216-622-
0247. All other customers should contact your local representative to make arrangements for service.
We support you...
By Phone / Fax:
You may reach our 24/7 Support Team anytime around the clock by calling [phone].
For billing questions or other non-emergency technical questions, call [phone] between 9:30 AM to 6:00
PM USA Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.
Our fax is [phone].
By E-Mail:
Technical support is available at [e-mail].
All other inquiries at [e-mail].
Via World Wide Web:
The Telos Web site has a variety of information which may be useful for product selection and support.
The URL is www.Telos-Systems.com
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Telos Systems USA
Telos Systems
1241 Superior Avenue E
Cleveland, OH 44114 USA
[phone] (phone)
[phone] (fax)
[phone] (24/7 Technical Support)
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
Notices and Cautions
CAUTION:
THE INSTALLATION AND SERVICE INSTRUCTIONS IN THIS MANUAL ARE FOR USE BY QUALIFIED
PERSONNEL ONLY. TO AVOID ELECTRIC SHOCK, DO NOT PERFORM ANY SERVICING OTHER THAN
THAT CONTAINED IN THE OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS UNLESS YOU ARE QUALIFIED TO DO SO. REFER
ALL SERVICING TO QUALIFIED PERSONNEL.
WARNING:
TO REDUCE THE RISK OF ELECTRICAL SHOCK, DO NOT EXPOSE THIS PRODUCT TO RAIN OR MOIS-
TURE.
USA CLASS A COMPUTING DEVICE INFORMATION TO USER. WARNING:
This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio-frequency energy. If it is not installed and used as directed by
this manual, it may cause interference to radio communication. This equipment complies with the limits for a Class
A computing device, as specified by FCC Rules, Part 15, Subpart J, which are designed to provide reasonable protec-
tion against such interference when this type of equipment is operated in a commercial environment. Operation
of this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause interference. If it does, the user will be required to eliminate
the interference at the user’s expense. NOTE: Objectionable interference to TV or radio reception can occur if
other devices are connected to this device without the use of shielded interconnect cables. FCC rules require the use
of shielded cables.
CANADA WARNING:
“This digital apparatus does not exceed the Class A limits for radio noise emissions set out in the Radio Interference
Regulations of the Canadian Department of Communications.”“Le present appareil numerique n’emet pas de
bruits radioelectriques depassant les limites applicables aux appareils numeriques (de Class A) prescrites dans le
reglement sur le brouillage radioelectrique edicte par le ministere des Communications du Canada.”
This symbol, wherever it appears, alerts you to the presence
of uninsulated, dangerous voltage inside the enclosure –
voltage which may be sufficient to constitute a risk of shock.
This symbol, wherever it appears, alerts you to important
operating and maintenance instructions. Read the manual.

We support you... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II
A letter from our CEO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VII
1 Introducing ProSTREAM 1
FYI: MPEG License & Music Copyright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Quick Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Streaming Server software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
ProSTREAM Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Listening to the encoded ProSTREAM web stream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2 Controls and Connections 5
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Editing Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3 ProSTREAM Controls 7
Audio Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Network Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
IN/OUT status bar graphs: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Automatic Gain Control [AGC]: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Limit: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Omnia Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Getting the Sound You Want . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Adding More Detail: When Loudness Isn’t the Last Word . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Equalization Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Thunder Bass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Reducing Codec Artifacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Codec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Table of Contents
TELOS PROSTREAM MANUAL | V

Compression Codec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Bitrate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Streams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4 Streaming Servers 23
Streaming Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Stream Server Service Providers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
A1 Warranty and Application Cautions 25
A2 ProSTREAM Audio Specications 27
A3 Safety Notication 29

A Letter from our CEO...
“What if?” A singularly great question, because it opens the
door to so many other questions and ideas. Those who ask
it are sometimes called dreamers, as if that were somehow
bad, but history has often proven dreamers to be the avatars
of new and exciting things.
“What if?” was the query asked by Steve Church that led
to the start of Telos Systems. In 1984, Steve – then a young
broadcast engineer and part-time talk show host – won-
dered whether emerging Digital Signal Processing (DSP)
technology might be useful to clean up the terrible caller
audio then the norm at radio stations. The result of asking it
was the Telos 10, the world’s first digital telephone hybrid,
a product that changed the face of radio forever.
Looking back at Telos history, “What if?” is found at the
root of many more technologies broadcasters have since
made ubiquitous. “MP3 bit rates are perfectly matched
to the bandwidth of ISDN; what if we combined them?”
“What if we built a box that let radio stations stream audio
on the Internet?” “What if we could use Ethernet to treat
audio as data and move it around the radio station in real
time?” (By the way, if you recognized the answers to those
questions as the Zephyr ISDN codec, AudioActive MPEG
encoder and Livewire IP-Audio standard, give yourself a
cookie.)
Today, as technology roars ahead, we’re constantly seeking
new ways to apply it to the problems of everyday broadcast-
ing. Voice over IP (VoIP) is particularly compelling for
its ability to packetize high-quality phone calls and direct
them anywhere in the broadcast plant using ubiquitous,
standard Ethernet as a backbone. A new digital tech called
AEC (Advanced Echo Cancellation) is helping to literally
eliminate the age-old problem of feedback in open-speaker
environments. And the prize of using the public Internet for
remote connections as reliable as those of switched circuits
is within broadcasters’ grasp, thanks to ever more sophisti-
cated coding algorithms.
Pioneering ideas aren’t limited just to technology, though.
We believe that investing in people pays off big, so we’ve
assembled the largest R&D team in the industry, a talented
staff of engineers, scientists and broadcast professionals.
We’re also the first and only broadcast equipment maker
with a 24/7 support team ready to offer assistance any
time of the day or night. As they say, radio never sleeps – so
neither do we.
As Telos navigates its third decade in broadcasting’s
choppy waters, the culture of innovation and creativity that
propelled Steve in the early days still guides us today. We’re
still in love with radio, still turned on by new technology,
still driven to ask “What if?” If you’re reading this, you
are too — for which we thank you, from the bottom of our
hearts.
Michael “Catfish” Dosch
CEO
A LETTER FROM OUR CEO | VII

| 1
1 Introducing ProSTREAM
The Telos Systems ProSTREAM is a hardware-based audio processor and web stream encoder device in a
compact 1U rack-mount chassis. The ProSTREAM will process and encode audio sourced from either rear-
mounted analog audio inputs, via Livewire IP-audio technology, or via optional AES/EBU digital inputs.
ProSTREAM uses Omnia Audio’s proven audio processing algorithms to balance the input audio to fit your
program’s sound. ProSTREAM encodes the processed audio and muxes the companion real-time program
meta data into a compressed web stream. ProSTREAM then connects to a streaming relay server instance or
streaming service provider to deliver a rock solid packet stream for Internet clients.
FYI: MPEG License & Music Copyright
Musical compositions and sound recordings are creative works that are protected by the copyright laws
of the United States (title 17, U.S. Code) and other countries. Under U.S. law, the owner of a copyright
has the exclusive right(and may authorize others)to reproduce the work, use parts of the work in a new
creation, distribute the work in whole or in part, and to publicly display or perform the work (including on
web pages and through webcasting). With few exceptions, it is illegal to reproduce, distribute or broadcast
a sound recording without the permission of the copyright owner. It is your responsibility to comply with
the copyright laws of the United States and other countries in which you broadcast and to pay all applicable
royalties to the copyright owners when you become a webcaster.
There have been recent amendments to the copyright law regarding webcasting of sound recordings. These
new provisions allow webcasting under the terms of a statutory license, as a way to help webcasters get
permission without having to go to each sound recording’s owner. The statutory license, however, has
strict requirements that you must follow. Some of these requirements include the payment of license fees,
limitations on the number of songs from the same album or artist that may be played in a three hour period
(called the sound recording performance complement); a prohibition on publishing advance playlists; and
a requirement to identify the song, artist and album on the website. There are other requirements as well.
The Recording Industry Association of America provides quite a bit of information on copyright law as it
applies to webcasting, and both ASCAP and BMI have created license agreements that they are willing to
grant to webcasters that they believe conform to the provisions of the new copyright rules for webcasting.
For additional information on the statutory license and other aspects of webcasting,
please visit the following sites:
♦The U.S. Copyright Office
http://www.copyright.gov
♦The Recording Industry Association of America
http://www.riaa.com/issues/music/webcasting
♦ASCAP
http://www.ascap.com/weblicense/webintro.html
♦BMI
http://www.bmi.com/iama/webcaster/index.asp Streaming Server software

2 | Section 1
Quick Start
In order to quick start a ProSTREAM web stream, a streaming relay server instance can be used to test
ProSTREAM functionality. This example uses SHOUTcast DNAS 1.9.8 (Current Stable Version) freely
available for major computational platforms from http://www.SHOUTcast.com/broadcast-tools.
Streaming Server software
Once SHOUTcast DNAS is installed, make note of the server machine’s IP address and run SHOUTcast
DNAS with the following minimal sc_serv.conf file:
; SHOUTcast 1.9.8 conguration le
; not production ready
MaxUser=32
Password=Telos
PortBase=8800
SrcIP=ANY
DestIP=ANY
Streaming server operation can be verified by opening a web browser and navigating to the SHOUTcast
server root URL. This URL is the IP of the computer running SHOUTcast DNAS followed by a colon [:] and
the port number configured in the sc_serv.conf file. I.E. http://192.168.0.9:8800 When functioning, the
SHOUTcast DNAS Status webpage will appear displaying Server Status: Server is currently down.

TELOS SYSTEMS PROSTREAM | 3
ProSTREAM Settings
From the front panel of the ProSTREAM, set the following menu options.
1. Audio
Connect an audio source to the XLR inputs and select Audio Input: XLR.
Verify input audio with headphones by pressing the headphone knob to select
“Listening to input audio.”
2. Network
Choose LAN Mode: Auto (DHCP) to select Configure the LAN port of the ProSTREAM to feed your
SHOUTcast server.The stream can be delivered via the LAN port in a single network configuration.
3. Omnia Processing
Select a preset best suited to the audio source material. If unsure, use Normalize. Processor enhance-
ments can be heard live during selection either via the rear XLR outputs or via headphones by
pressing the headphone volume knob and selecting “Listen to output audio.”
4. Codec
Select Codec: MP3, MP3 Channels: Stereo and MP3 Bitrate: 128 9kilobits/sec) from the Codec
menu as a good test stream.
5. Stream1
Set the Stream1 menu options as follows:
♦SHOUTcast Server Address: {SHOUTcast DNAS root URL} [I.E. 192.168.0.9:8800]
♦SHOUTcast Password: Telos
This is the password to access the streaming server set in the sc_serv.conf file.
♦Stream Name: ProSTREAM test
The Stream Name can be anything and should be something. This is the source title for playlists, etc.
♦Stream Genre: test
(SHOUTcast DNAS does require the genre field be set to a value.)
Now you can listen to your encoded web stream!
The output, or encoded audio can be heard by connecting to ProSTREAM with a client audio application.
Use a program like VLC or WinAMP to open the network stream connection to port 8000 at ProSTREAM’s
IP address[I.E. 192.168.0.10:8000] or open the internal web configuration page. The main configuration
page will include playlist links to connect to ProSTREAM’s internal mini-server.
ProSTREAM will automatically attempt to connect to any configured stream servers. When ProSTREAM is
connected, updating the status webpage for SHOUTcast DNAS should yield Server Status: Server is currently
up and public.

4 | Section 1
The stream can now be heard with a streaming player by connecting to the SHOUTcast base URL or by
clicking on the Listen link.

| 5
2 Controls and Connections
Overview
The Telos ProSTREAM is very simple to set up and use, having a minimal amount of controls and easy,
intuitive interface. Here, we’ll take a look at the front and rear panels of your ProSTREAM.
Here’s what you’ll find inside your packing box:
♦Telos Systems ProSTREAM unit
♦Telos Systems ProSTREAM manual
♦warranty reregistration form
♦warranty information sheet
♦IEC 320 power cords (Euro 220v & US 110v)
♦network cable - Cat5e, 7ft. RJ45 to RJ45
♦DB25 Female Solder Cup
♦DB25 Plastic Hood
♦#10 rack screws
User Interface
1. Power LED:
The blue power LED is located to the upper left of the display. When the unit is first powered, the
power LED will flash until the unit is fully booted, when the power LED will light solid.
2. Display Screen:
The OLED display screen will display when the unit is operational. Use the display, control knob, and
return button to navigate the ProSTREAM’s options and settings. When in operation, the display
screen displays audio and process meters.
3. Control Knob:
The main control knob next to the display also acts as a selector by pressing the knob. Once a desired
option is displayed, pressing the control knob will select the option. The control knob is also be used
for character selection in text entry fields.
5
2
34
6
1

6 | Section 2
4. Return Button:
The return button is adjacent to the control knob and will step back from a selected option. Repeated
presses of the return button will switch the display between the menu and metering display.
5. Headphone Jack:
1/4” Stereo TRS Jack switching between input and post-process output audio monitoring.
6. Headphone Volume Knob:
The headphone volume knob controls the output level of the audio being sent to the headphone jack.
Pressing the headphone volume knob will toggle the headphone output between the input audio and
the post-process output audio.
Connections
1. AC Mains connection:
110 - 220v auto-switching power connection. Use supplied power cord appropriate for your area.
2. LAN Network
The LAN network jack is a 10/100 RJ45 jack and can be used on a Livewire network for source audio
and post-process audio monitoring. The LAN network can also be used to access ProSTREAM’s
internal web configuration pages. The LAN network may also be used for connection to the stream-
ing server instance.
3. WAN Network
The WAN network jack is a 10/100 RJ45 jack which can be used to access the streaming server instance
if the streaming server is running on a network other than a local or Livewire network. Typically, this
would be an Internet accessible network connection if connecting to a streaming relay service.
4. Analog Audio Inputs:
(female 3-pin XLR, left & right)
5. Analog Audio Outputs:
(male 3-pin XLR, left & right)
6. USB
Future use
7. Parallel Interface
Future use
Editing Text
When a text field is displayed, press the main knob to enter edit mode. If the field was previously blank, you
will now be in text entry mode (a solid cursor is displayed) otherwise you will be in erase mode (a rectangle
cursor). In text entry mode mode, turning the knob cycles though all available characters while pressing the
knob selects the current character and moves the cursor to the next character position. While in text entry
mode, pressing the Return button once switches the cursor to erase mode. In erase mode, turning the knob
erases (or restores) characters. While in erase mode, pressing the main knob switches back to text entry
mode while pressing the return button exits the field editing altogether.
4 5 6 237
1

| 7
3 ProSTREAM Controls
ProSTREAM can be configured via its internal web interface accessible via both the LAN and WAN net-
works, as well as via the front panel controls. The web interface can be reached by pointing a web browser to
the IP address of either LAN or WAN network. The default credentials to access the web interface are:
♦username: admin
♦password: Telos
All configurations and settings available for ProSTREAM are available via the front panel and the web
interface unless specifically called out in this document. Some setting values may or may not be locked or
unavailable if they are dependant upon other configured options. We’ll show Web interface screenshots as
well as front-panel displays where appropriate.
Audio Menu
♦Audio I/O interface:
You may choose XLR or Livewire network inputs from this drop-down box.
♦Audio Input Level:[0.0 dB-22.5 dB]:
The Audio Input Level is adjustable from a 0dB level of gain to 22.5 dB level of gain. 10.0dB is a good
starting point for analog audio input.

8 | Section 3
Audio Output Level: [-95.2 dB - 0.0 dB]:
The Audio Output Level affects the signal level for the ProSTREAM’s rear outputs and Livewire returns. [The
internal audio bridge from the processor to the encoder is unaffected by the Audio Output Level setting.] The
default setting of 0.0 dB will direct the full level of the processed audio to the ProSTREAM outputs.
Livewire Input Channel:
If you’ve chosen the Livewire interface, you’ll be given fields to assign input and output channels. Livewire
IP audio is assigned via channel numbers. This must be set to the channel of an active Livewire IP audio
source channel generated by another device connected to the ProSTREAM’s LAN network port.
Livewire Output Channel:
A channel number should be assigned to the ProSTREAM’s Livewire source. This audio is the same post-
process audio as the rear XLR outputs. The Livewire channel should be unique to the available channels on
the Livewire audio network connected to the ProSTREAM LAN network jack.

PROSTREAM CONTROLS | 9
Network Menu
The ProSTREAM is equipped with two RJ45 gigabit network ports marked LAN [Local Area Network] and
WAN [Wide Area Network]. The networking settings of the ProSTREAM are of IPv4 conventions and must
be assigned an IP address before the ProSTREAM will communicate with any other devices.
If Livewire IP audio is to be used as a source instead of the rear-mounted XLR inputs, the LAN port must be
connected and assigned an IP address on the Livewire audio network. Encoded audio can be delivered via
either the LAN or WAN port
The settings available in the ProSTREAM configuration options contain independent settings for the
separate WAN and LAN networks. Each port can be configured with the following settings:
♦Mode:
The Mode of the network port can be set either to Auto (DHCP), Manual, or Disabled. In Auto mode, the
network port must receive it’s IP address via broadcast from a DHCP server elsewhere on the network.
When in Auto mode, assigned settings from the DHCP server will be visible in the following settings,
but will be unable to be changed. The assigned IP address will be needed in order to connect to the
internal web configuration interface. In Manual mode, all configurations must be entered manually. If a
network port is unused, the port should be set to Disabled.

10 | Section 3
♦IP Address:
The IP Address is made up of four octets assigned to either the LAN or WAN network ports on the
ProSTREAM. When the port’s mode is set to manual, this setting can be manually assigned. When
the port’s mode is set to auto, this setting will show the ProSTREAM’s assigned IP address for that
port if the port is connected to a network and has successfully negotiated with a DHCP server for an
address. If the port is set to auto and has not received an IP address from a DHCP server, then the IP
address will show 0.0.0.0.
♦Netmask:
The netmask is a needed component of IPv4 networking. The netmask defines the scope of the local
network that port can speak to without requiring use of the gateway. When the port’s mode is set to
auto, this setting will be locked and displaying the assigned netmask if a DHCP lease has been negoti-
ated, or 0.0.0.0 if not. If the port’s mode is set to manual, the appropriate netmask for the IP address
assigned to this port should be entered.
♦Gateway:
The gateway is a needed component of IPv4 networking. The gateway defines the address of the
router device used to communicate with other subnets if available. When the port’s mode is set to
auto, this setting will be locked and displaying the assigned gateway if a DHCP lease has been negoti-
ated, or 0.0.0.0 if not. If the port’s mode is set to manual, the appropriate gateway for the IP address
assigned to this port should be entered if available. If no network gateway is available, this setting can
be left unassigned or set to 0.0.0.0.
Status
The status display of the ProSTREAM is the default device display interface and provides a visual representa-
tion of the aural states of the ProSTREAM. The status display as shown in the display photo above shows
real-time bar graphs representing the metered audio level for each the left and right inputs and post-process
outputs. Clicking on any block in the signal flow diagram lets you adjust the options for that particular
block.
IN/OUT status bar graphs:
The IN bargraphs meter the audio input levels from either the rear-panel or Livewire audio sources con-
nected to the ProSTREAM. This audio can be aurally monitored via the front panel headphone jack if the
headphone audio is set to “Listening to input audio.”
The OUT bargraphs meter the post-process audio levels being sent to the internal stream encoder as well
as either the ProSTREAM’s external outputs or the Livewire output channel on the LAN connector. Note
that the output level of the ProSTREAM’s physical output can be varied with the Audio Output setting. The
post-process audio can be aurally monitored via the front panel headphone jack of the headphone audio is
set to “Listening to output audio.”
The bar graphs are capable of indicating more than just level information. The texture and density of the
audio signal can be observed, based upon the dynamic action of the bar graphs, and peak-responding pills.
Of interest are the pills at the end of the input and output meters which indicate peak level. The bar section
represents the RMS average of the signal. Wide dynamic range will display a separation between the pills
and the bar, whereas signal with little peak information will cause the pills to ride on the crest of the bar
graph. The bar graphs can indicate up to 25 dB of gain reduction.

PROSTREAM CONTROLS | 11
Note:
The input and output levels are displayed relative to 0dB full scale (0dBfs). The 0 indicator on
the input/output bar graphs means that every available bit of signal level is being used at
that time! There is nothing more in the level department, except to create distortion… nasty
sounding distortion!
Automatic Gain Control [AGC]:
There are two sections to the Automatic Gain Control [AGC] bar graphs display: wide-band automatic gain
control (WB-AGC) and multiband automatic gain controls. The multiband AGC bands are low frequency, mid
frequency, and high frequency. The bar shows the average value of the gain reduction, while the floating pill
indicates the peak value of gain reduction.
The Omnia processor algorithms automatically adapt the style of compression/limiting control being
employed on a moment-by-moment basis. This can be deduced if the metering is studied over time. During
normal operation, the bar graphs will have a dynamic “bounce.” Every now and then, the processor will
react quickly and show a larger amount of gain reduction. This action will recover very slowly, and return to
rest with the main bar graph. This action is more apparent on dynamically textured audio.
Another feature unique to Omnia processing is processor hold. During brief pauses in audio, the bar graphs
will “freeze” indicating the processor in the hold mode of the algorithm. This can occur when there is dry
vocal audio in the signal.
ProSTREAM’s processor is capable of performing many different processing functions at different times.
The processing display bar graphs indicate different kinds of operation with different audio sources. This is
primarily based on dynamic range differences in source audio.
Bar graphs will indicate differently for pre-processed audio or audio lacking dynamic range the than with
audio possessing a high degree of dynamic range. Audio signals which lack dynamic range, whether natu-
rally or by prior processing, will possess a lower peak to average ratio. Conversely, audio with wide dynamic
range possesses a higher peak to average ratio. ProSTREAM adapts to each case.
Low dynamic range audio (audio with high RMS and low peak levels) will show more activity in the WB-
AGC bar graph and less activity in the multiband bar graphs. The WB-AGC responds to high RMS energy
while the multiband section reacts to lower peak energy. Multiband bar graphs may not indicate any action at
all with some low dynamic range audio which is normal for Omnia processing. This may occur with heavily
processed commercials or music, or with music passages of sustained level.
Wide dynamic range audio (audio with low RMS and high peak levels) causes the opposite to occur. The
multiband bar graphs become active, while the WB-AGC section appears to not respond as much. The mul-
tiband AGC’s can work aggressively with wide dynamic range audio while the WB-AGC section indicates
little activity.
The WB-AGC section is designed to operate much slower than the multiband gain controls, primarily
because of the nature of each function. The WB-AGC operates on the audio’s RMS energy. During gain
calculations, the incoming audio’s “average” level is established, and gain adjustments, if needed, are made
based on those calculations. The WB-AGC bar graph will appear to move slower as it makes changes over
relatively long time periods.
The intent of the multiband gain control is to normalize the spectral balance and provide control of the peak
levels. Peak energy must be detected and adjusted in a quick and accurate manner but not interfere with the
sonic integrity of the audio signal. For this reason, the multiband gain controls operate faster, with special
background instructions to govern their behavior, and strictly on an as-needed basis.

12 | Section 3
Limit:
The limit bar graphs monitor the level to which the processor is engaging gain reduction in the post-process
audio for each the left and right channels.
The meters only analyze the signals and aid in adjusting the specific parameters needed to achieve desired
aural results. The processing displays are capable of providing a wide range of information, but is not
recommended to set up processing based on using ears to judge the sound, not specified meter indications.
Omnia Processing
The dynamics processing algorithms in use in the ProSTREAM are based upon Omnia Audio’s highly
successful Omnia.3net, which is a hardware-based DSP audio processor. ProSTREAM performs internal
calculations on the source audio with precision sufficient to guarantee 24-bit dynamic range.
ProSTREAM’s processor effects can be monitored via the front panel when set to Status.
ProSTREAM employs the following Omnia processing architecture:
♦Wideband AGC
♦3 Band Combined Compressor/Limiter
♦HF EQ
♦Adjustable Bandwidth Lowpass Filter
♦Final Look-Ahead Limiter
♦Processing Preset Editor