In Broadcast - July 2013 - 38

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

WWW.INBROADCAST.COM | ISSUE 21 - JULY 2013

N E W S

InSOUND
Audio Mixing Consoles Cont.

Broadcaster’s Choices
1. Viacom/MTV
Goes For Avid

Loudness metering is
standard on Vista 9 and
Vista 5M3 consoles

38

on a simple portable surface from
other locations.
The ﬁrm’s latest software update
for the Vista includes VistaMix
Automatic Microphone Mixing.
According to Andy Trott, VP &
GM, Mixing, Microphones and
Headphones at Studer (Harman
Professional), this helps produce
a much cleaner mix where multiple
open microphones are in use in, say,
TV quiz shows and panel games.
“In this scenario, cues may be
missed, studio ambient noise
increases, and feedback is more
likely,” says Trott. “Users can create
VistaMix groups where the gains of
these open mics are automatically
managed much faster than a human
operator could react to unexpected
microphone use, producing a clearer,
more intelligible mix with more
natural studio ambience.”
Logitek’s latest is an updated
version of ﬂagship console Mosaic
and a new networking/DSP card
for its legacy audio engine. “This
enables our existing customers
to upgrade their DSP routers to
audio over IP instead of fibre,”
says Edmondson. Later this year
the company will bring out a
new audio engine with more than
double the capacity of its current

Andy Trott, VP & GM, Mixing,
Microphones and Headphones,
Studer

JetStream Mini.
Avid’s Pro Tools version (v11)
contains an optimised Avid Video
Engine to support playback and edit
of HD ﬂavours such as Avid DnxHD
and QuickTime.
According to Graham, advanced
metering offers improved metering
options in scale, ballistics, sends
and channel gain reduction for
broadcasters, allowing them to
better ensure the quality of their
deliverables, which are under ever
more scrutiny with recent level
legislation in Europe and America.
“The 64-bit application and new
Avid Audio Engine of v11 offers
multiple times the processing power
of v10 and the ability to handle huge
sessions with ease and with more
memory headroom to go even
bigger,” he adds. “You can speed
up mix and stem deliveries with
faster-than-real-time ofﬂine bounce
and you can automate tracks while
recording which is ideal for live
sound broadcast workflows.”
With the future of TV entertainment
moving toward ever larger screens
displaying resolutions above
HD, the need for audio to keep
pace with the visuals is arguably
becoming more urgent.
Object oriented, wavefield
synthesis and channel based
systems above that of 5.1 are being
investigated at DVB and EBU level
and by broadcasters like the BBC.
Staddon believes the demand for
external 5.1 home audio systems
will only increase, but so too will TV
screen technology which is intent on
getting thinner and thinner “making
it almost technically impossible
to ﬁt decent sounding speakers
internally,” he says. “Indeed, you
don’t even have the depth now
for anything deeper than an audio
optical out connector.
OLED screens are already a large
jump in picture quality over the LED
screens, assuming you have the
higher deﬁnition source material,
so the audio should follow suit.
After all, picture without audio is a
problem, but audio without picture
is called radio.”

Viacom International Media
Networks, parent group of MTV
Networks Europe has been in
production at a new HD studio
in Camden Lock, with an audio
control room featuring an Avid
(Euphonix) System 5B and a 5MC
in the Pro Tools edit suite.
The new facilities replace two
large studios, which featured
Calrec T Series digitally controlled
desks. The aim was to be able to
route signals more easily between
different suites and be able to
set-up equipment quickly for
live broadcasts.
While the two desks work as
stand-alone operations they
can also be connected through
EUCON and Mac interfaces to
provide additional capacity. There
is further integration through ﬁle
sharing based on the Avid ISIS
storage network.

2. SSL Deliver
News At ITN
ITN relies on SSL’s C10 HD
console to deliver content to
Channel 5. Situated in a customdesigned studio located at the
broadcaster’s facility on Lower
Thames Street, the C10 is used to
produce full half hour news shows
and regular two minute bulletins.
“We were looking for a compactsized solution that was expandable,”
explains Steve Luck, Senior Team
Leader, Broadcast Support, ITN.
“The console is operated for the
most part by a professional audio
operator for the major programmes.
For the two or three minute
updates, the Technical Director
uses a break out, eight-channel
fader panel connected to the C10
in an adjacent room. The operator
will create the talent presets for EQ
and dynamics, while the TD rides
the levels. For a panel discussion
show, the audio engineer will take
control. We use several methods of
automation at ITN so that we can
work with reduced stafﬁng levels
and the C10 works well with our
station automation systems.”

3. Digico Recipe For
Saturday Kitchen
For BBC1’s long running show
Saturday Kitchen producers
Cactus TV, tasked kit supplier
Prolink Television Facilities to
facilitate a move to new premises
and to HD. That included Cactus
TV’s ﬁrst console, a DiGiCo SD10B.
“We looked at all the options and
sought the opinion of our regular
sound team,” says Prolink Director
Michael Dugard. “Collectively we
thought the SD10B provided a

lot of bang for the buck and the
functionality it offered was exactly
what we needed. It has a very easy
to use interface, which is important
because we have three or four
supervisors who mix the sound
on Saturday Kitchen.”

4. RAI Buys Studer Vista
9 Consoles
Italian state broadcaster, RAI,
has invested in the Studer Vista
9 mixing consoles from Italian
distributors Leading Technologies
- including a production console for
the control room at the famous
La Scala Theatre in Milan (Teatro
alla Scala).
The new console has been
installed in the RAI control room at
the theatre, replacing a Vista 8, and
will be used for live broadcasting for
radio and TV, as well as recording
operas and classical concerts, with
the emphasis on 5.1 production.
According to LT’s Studer Product
Manager, Mauro Bucchia, the
RAI sound engineers were keen
to maintain working with the
Vistonics interface.
“The TFT based metering in the
Vista 9 has provided additional
facilities but a further advantage for
them was the SCore Live engine,
which doubles the DSP capacity,
and which the existing Vista 8
doesn’t have.”
A further Vista 9 has been
installed in the RAI auditorium
in Turin, supplied along with a
Vista Compact Remote Bay to
work in parallel.

5. TTC Russia
Goes Apollo
Russia’s Television Technical
Center Ostankino (TTC), has
purchased four Apollo consoles
and four Artemis Light consoles
as part of a two-year project
to upgrade all 11 studios in its
Moscow facility. The Calrec gear
will enable TTC broadcasters
to produce programmes in 5.1;
control audio remotely from
third-party routers; share I/O and
signals among studios via simple
ﬁbre links; and quickly reconﬁgure
consoles between programmes,
leading to more efficient use
of the studios.
The TTC facility houses 20 other
broadcasters transmitting more
than 100 hours of programming
per day. Within each studio, the
Apollo desk in the control room
is connected via Calrec’s Hydra2
audio routing system to an Artemis
Light desk on the studio floor.
There are also three ﬂight-cased
stage boxes per studio. I/O and
signals will be shared between
consoles via the Hydra2 network.
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/dir/?first=Phillip&last=Izzard&search=Go https://twitter.com/inbroadcast http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpzEatLsHdE&feature=youtube_gdata_player https://facebook.com/InBroadcast http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/inbroadcast/id468652679?mt=8 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.branded.inbroadcast&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsImNvbS5icmFuZGVkLmluYnJvYWRjYXN0Il0. http://WWW.INBROADCAST.COM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbvbXGeJve0
In Broadcast - July 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of In Broadcast - July 2013
