Description
Wheatstones new FM-55 FM audio processor with stereo generator is simple and affordable, yet powerfully modern – right down to its AES digital multiplex into the exciter. You’ll be amazed what its intelligent five-band AGC, or iAGC, can do. For FM stations requiring sound consistency across a variety of source material, this is it!!
The FM-55 fully supports the WheatNet-IP Intelligent Network, and is equipped with two analogue composite outputs, two SCA inputs, balanced analogue Left/Right outputs and an AES digital output which may be switched to deliver either discrete Left/Right or baseband192 digital multiplex signal. Input audio with automatic source failover may be delivered via analogue, AES and WheatNet-IP.
The composite output signal is available as traditional analogue via twin rear panel BNC connectors and simultaneously as Wheatstone’s baseband192 digital multiplex technology.
Intelligent iAGC
An FM-55 exclusive, Wheatstones newly developed adaptive multiband iAGC which allows unobtrusive transitions between hyper-compressed recordings and those with more dynamic range. iAGC effectively manages the behavior of the multiband AGC as program content density changes, something a typical broadband AGC simply cannot do. By coupling the iAGC and limiter, we are able to produce a consistent, spectrally-balanced sound regardless of density variations in incoming source material.
Smart Stereo Enhancement
Operating in the sum and difference domain within the multiband AGC and under the management of specialized automatic level and spectral management algorithms, the FM-55’s Smart Stereo Enhancement provides a wide but extremely stable ‘on-air’ stereo image. “Wide”, “alive”, “exciting to listen to”, and “very natural sounding” are terms customers have used to describe how our stereo enhancement method sounds. Users have reported hearing artistically important nuances in music that were simply inaudible when the same material was processed by competing products.
Vorsis Bass Management System
The FM-55’s new Bass Management System circumvents bass-related distortion plaguing many other broadcast audio processors. The result is increased depth, feel, and clarity of bass impact without affecting mid and high frequency program, in fact bass detail and the clarity of higher frequency audio are actually enhanced by the new algorithm.
Exclusive Multipath Control
Exclusive to the Wheatstone line of audio processors is the Stereo Multipath Limiter. A single user control assigned to this algorithm sets it to mitigate market and terrain-specific multipath behavior, reducing the annoyances of multipath-triggered receiver-induced stereo blend.
Wheatstone baseband192
Wheatstone® baseband192 digitizes the entire multiplex spectrum including RDS and SCAs up to 67kHz, providing a higher performance interface than using the classic analog composite method between processing and transmitter.
A single AES/EBU cable between the processor and a current solid-state FM transmitter carries the digital baseband signal, bypassing the need for multiplexing in the exciter and eliminating the resulting signal overshoot with its associated loudness tradeoff.
WheatNet-IP Compatible
WheatNet-IP I/O compatibility makes it possible to control the FM-55 and stream its audio to and from anywhere in the IP audio network, making it 100% compatible with WheatNet-IP surfaces and controllers!
