In Broadcast - November 2014 - 60


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

WWW.INBROADCAST.COM | ISSUE 37 - NOVEMBER 2014

N E W S

InSOUND

Dante Card For Sennheiser Digital 9000
A

udio specialist Sennheiser has
just released a Dante card for
the EM 9046 receiver, enabling
its top-of-the-range Digital 9000
wireless microphone system to be
integrated into Dante audio-over-IP
networks.
Audinate's Dante is among the
leading networking solutions for
audio in live events, broadcasting

60

The EM 9046 DAN
card slots into the
Sennheiser receiver,
enabling Digital 9000
to send uncompressed
HD audio data over a
Dante network

and installations, used by more than
155 pro audio manufacturers.
Dante works with existing network
infrastructure using IP and Ethernet
standards and offers hundreds of
channels of high-quality audio,
which makes Dante extremely
attractive for Sennheiser, states
Claus Menke, Head of Portfolio
Management Pro for Sennheiser.
He adds: "With the EM
9046 DAN extension card,
broadcast and live audio
engineers now can easily
integrate Sennheiser's
top-of-the-range wireless
microphone system into
a Dante network. They
will benefit from the
system's exceptional
sound, while enjoying
the convenient routing of
the high-deﬁnition audio
data via Audinate's Dante
Controller."
The EM 9046 DAN
extension card is simply
inserted into the expansion
slot of the EM 9046 eightchannel receiver. Internally,
the card features sixteen
audio inputs to send the
digital audio and command
signals over the Dante

network. Connection
is via two Gbit RJ45
sockets that serve to
establish two redundant
network circuits or
daisy-chain the signals.
The card works with
sampling rates of
44.1/48/88.2 and 96 kHz
at a resolution of 24 bits.
Sennheiser has
adapted its Wireless Sennheiser's Digital 9000 wireless system is
S y s t e m s M a n a g e r now Dante-ready
software to include a
monitoring function for the Dante
engineers are now able to scan just
card. The new version 4.2 allows
a 24 MHz portion of the spectrum
users to monitor the EM 9046's
(instead of the entire booster range
Dante audio streams from any point
of 168 MHz) which increases speed
in the network, and to listen to the
in critical frequency situations.
headphone monitor audio stream
The firmware also includes
of connected EM 9046 without any
reﬁnements made by Sennheiser to
additional hardware.
address the conditions experienced
Sennheiser has also released
during the 2014 Eurovision Song
Digital 9000 ﬁrmware version, 3.0.3
Contest. The event took place
that includes a MAN option (Multiin a super-reﬂective venue with
channel Audio Network), enabling
a near all-metal construction but
the receiver to synchronise to the
the capabilities of the Digital 9000
word clock of the Dante network.
system were enhanced still further to
Additional beneﬁts include the
be able to detect and cope with this
monitoring of up to four daisyextremely challenging environment.
chained receivers via any of the
In addition to this advance, version
3.0.3 also ensures improved
receivers' monitoring outputs
and the automatic assignment
network capability with managed
of frequencies after a scan. Also,
enterprise environments.

NUGEN Audio MasterCheck For Optimal Music Levels
By Jon Schorah
Founder, NUGEN Audio

M

ost people are aware that
audio for broadcast, including
TV and, increasingly, radio, is now
measured for loudness - not only to
meet regulatory requirements but
also to deliver a more consistent and
satisfying product. However, more
recently loudness normalisation
has spread to Internet-based
streaming services. Apple's iTunes
Radio, for instance, is regulated by
the Apple SoundCheck algorithm.
Following Apple's lead, Spotify,
Pandora, MS Windows, music TV
stations and, increasingly, DAB
radio are also employing loudness
normalisation techniques to ensure
that the customer listening level
remains consistent and comfortable
from song to song. As these and
other streaming services adopt
loudness normalisation and truepeak limiting techniques, the rules
are changing for music producers
on how to mix and master content.
N U G E N A u d i o 's a l l - n e w

MasterCheck is the first musicindustry-specific audio plug-in
designed to facilitate mix and
mastering for the modern world
of loudness-normalised playout.
An audio plug-in for professional
recording systems like Avid | Pro
Tools, MasterCheck empowers
producers to mix audio according
to the new loudness criteria and
understand not only how algorithms
from the major streaming platforms
will affect the mix, but how the
music will sound on consumer
playout devices for the optimal
listening experience.
Far more than a loudness meter,
MasterCheck is a very versatile tool
supporting and solving levelling
issues in the transformative period
between peak and loudness
normalisation.
With MasterCheck, audio
engineers can apply loudness
matching and dynamic content
analysis, using techniques such as

peak-to-loudness ratio (PLR), to
compare their audio output with
existing productions.
The advanced side-chain
loudness matching can also be used
to audition signal paths without the
inﬂuence of loudness enhancement
to help users understand precisely
how various effects, such as
compression, are changing their
sound. In short, MasterCheck gives
control over the playout environment
back to the engineer, by providing a
precise understanding of how tracks
will sound during streaming.
As growing numbers of audio
distribution platforms are now
applying loudness normalisation,
hypercompressed material, i.e.
music that has been mastered
to be as loud as possible, will be
automatically levelled in line with
the platform's target levels.
In other words, the truncated
loud music will be at a distinct
disadvantage to music that has
been produced with a broader
dynamic range and therefore richer
and more satisfying sounds.
MasterCheck is a compelling tool
for enabling engineers to adapt to
the new world of dynamic range and
loudness normalisation.

NUGEN Audio MasterCheck
Audio Plug-in

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