China’s CCTV has added Pyramix 10 systems to its Audio Department for work on large events and variety shows where live multitrack mixing is an important part of the production process. Hosted by CCTV, these events require highly skilled and adaptable operators, as well as recording equipment that is highly stable and reliable.
CCTV’s choice for long duration, high-track-count multitrack recordings has been confirmed as Merging’s Pyramix 10 with Horus networked audio interfaces. Using Pyramix V10 systems for the first time, CCTV’s Chinese folk song competition required 128 tracks to be captured for more than 12 hours, uninterrupted.
This proved the reliability and stability of Pyramix to CCTV, where technicians joked, ‘after you press the recording button, feel free to sleep until the end of the programme – just remember to wake up to stop it’.
Having gained confidence in the Merging equipment, CCTV again chose Pyramix for the opening ceremony of the G20 summit. That night also required 128 live tracks and Pyramix again operated flawlessly.
CCTV Audio Department recording engineer Yuan Xuecheng comments: ‘Pyramix has a clever DSP architecture. Its hardware, software and file format compatibility is very comprehensive. It has the ability to deliver stable ultra-long recording and playback of over 100 tracks and is able to handle all large and critical events. In addition, Pyramix provides us with an excellent compact audio interface, great clock for synchronisation and has a user friendly monitor control. For that reason, Pyramix was able to successfully perform at the G20 summit, the programme was recorded and edited for live television broadcasting.’
CCTV is commissioning a new OB truck that is based on a total IP solution for video and audio. The audio part will feature a console from Lawo and another Pyramix MassCore 128 as their main recording system.
‘We have many prestigious Pyramix users in China but it is a great honour to have CCTV trusting in our products,’ says Merging Asia President, Weishen Xu. ‘They are covering so many important events during the year and we are very pleased to hear these comments from the technicians and to see this new order confirming their faith in the reliability of Pyramix.’
