OptiBob — the sound of FM radio

Hear it

Two records, four versions each: the original, a real Orban, and the two OptiBob models. They play in sync — the buttons only change which one reaches you, so you stay on the same bar. All of them are brought to the same average level, so you are comparing character, not loudness.

Another Part of Me

Michael Jackson, 1988 · matched pair: same file in, the machine's output recorded and aligned to the sample.

0:00

The number under each name is the crest factor: peak against average. A record sits between 4 and 16, a broadcast chain brings it near 3. Lower means denser.

September

Earth, Wind & Fire, 1978 · the Orban side is a recording of the machine, not a sample-aligned pair: listen to it, don't measure from it.

0:00

Both OptiBob presets are rendered by the reference engine. 8100 chases the 1980 analogue: bands tied together, compact. 8200 chases the first digital one: bands freer, more open. Opposite philosophies, not two generations of the same box.

Independent research project, a tribute to Bob Orban. It contains no Orban code. The excerpts are used for technical comparison.

1 your tracks

Drag your files here or click to choose them
wav, aiff, mp3, m4a, flac — any audio file

⟶

2 processed

turn them into: then:

Finished tracks show up here,
with before-and-after listening.

Everything happens inside this page: your files are never uploaded anywhere and never leave your computer.
By using OptiBob you declare that you hold the rights to the tracks you process.

Where this sound comes from

None of it is ours. It was designed by Bob Orban, and it took him a working lifetime. Long before any of this, his name was already on studio gear — parametric equalisers, reverbs, de-essers. The radio came after.

1975Optimod 8000 — the first integrated processor built for the new FM format.
1980Optimod-FM 8100A — the multiband machine that became the most widely used FM processor ever made.
1984The 8100A/XT six-band accessory chassis, and the 8100A/XT2 that followed it. This is the sound most of us grew up hearing.
1991Optimod-FM 8200 — the first DSP processor that actually worked, and the one that moved the whole industry to digital.
1997Optimod-AM 9200.

Whole generations of radio were shaped inside those boxes, and a good number of us learned the trade there.