Robert Orban received the B.S.E.E. degree from Princeton University in 1967 and the M.S.E.E. degree from Stanford University in 1968.

In 1970, he founded Orban Associates, originally as a manufacturer of studio equipment. In 1975, Orban Associates introduced the original Optimod-FM 8000, which was the first in a long line of innovative broadcast audio processors from the company. In addition to Optimod 8100, 8100XT, 9000, and 9100, Orban also designed most of the studio products from the company, including a stereo enhancer and various spring reverbs, de-essers, and parametric equalizers.

In 1989, Orban Associates, Inc. was acquired by AKG Acoustics, which, in turn, acquired the assets of dbx Professional Products in 1991. After this acquisition, Orban was heavily involved in the design of the dbx "Project 1" processors, including compressors, a mic processor, and a parametric equalizer. Several patents resulted from this work. Orban remains actively working for the successor company, Orban/CRL, as Vice President (Chief Engineer).

Orban was actively involved in the NRSC committee efforts that led to the NRSC-1 and NRSC-2 standards for AM, and has continued his membership in the NRSC to the present day. He has published refereed papers and engineering reports in the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, J. SMPTE, and Trans. Society of Automotive Engineers. He has also been published extensively in Radio World, BM/E, and other trade press publications. He is the coauthor of the chapter on "Transmission Audio Processing" in the NAB Engineering Handbook, 10th edition. He currently holds over 25 U.S. patents.

In 1973, he was elected a Fellow of the Audio Engineering Society. In 1993, he shared with Dolby Laboratories a Scientific and Engineering Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 1995, he received the NAB Radio Engineering Achievement Award. In 2002 he received the yearly Radio Magazine "Innovator" award, which is awarded by a vote of the magazine’s readers.