Operating five radio networks from its base at Bandar Seri Begawan, Radio Televisyen Brunei (RTB) has recently installed a Studer OnAir 2500 fixed-frame mixing console in its in Tutong district regional studio.

Configured with 18 faders, the new desk replaces a Studer 916 that had been in use for the past 15 years. According to its new RTB operators, the it brings ‘superior sound quality, reliability and a user friendly interface’.

According to Lee Chin Kah – Senior Manager for Sales & Project – the station had been looking for a reliable, flexible and cost-effective solution. The tender to supply and install the new desk was awarded to AFS Engineering Kuala Lumpur for the integration, and the console was supplied by the Harman’s Malaysia distributor, Mahajak Trio Electronic.

All Studer OnAir consoles are fully customisable in workflow requirements, and although standalone in configuration, the OA2500 can be fully integrated into a Studer ReLink control and audio networking environment, as required.

‘We needed a console that was reliable, well supported from the supplier and the manufacturer, fully featured and sufficiently flexible to meet our workflow needs,’ says a spokesman for the RTB engineering team. ‘Furthermore, no advance programming skills were required.’

‘The OnAir 2500 has all the features available in Studer’s complete range of OnAir consoles and provides a fully scalable platform of solutions to broadcasters,’ he adds.

In all, the Brunei state broadcaster runs – National FM, Pilihan FM, Pelangi FM, Harmoni FM and Nur Islam FM.

More: www.studer.ch

At the heart of the RedNet system is Audinate’s Dante digital audio networking technology, which uses conventional IP-based Ethernet switches to carry up to 256 channels (128 inputs and 128 outputs) of high-resolution digital audio over a single, standard Ethernet network. RedNet provides extremely low latency (<3ms analogue-to-analogue) at any sample rate when using the optional Focusrite RedNet PCIe card.

Focusrite has incorporated Dante into a scalable studio system with a range of audio interfaces and components that provide a diversity of input and output options, with the simplicity and practicalities of Ethernet connectivity. RedNet is non-proprietary, allowing it to work with any ASIO- or Core Audio-compliant DAW, including Pro Tools 9, Logic and Nuendo.

RedNet interfaces can operate alongside any supported PC or Mac with an Ethernet port (including laptops), using Audinate’s Dante Virtual Soundcard (DVS) driver, meaning portable RedNet rigs can be configured. However, Focusriteʼs RedNet PCIe card, which features its own, single Ethernet socket, is dedicated to communicating with the RedNet network.

Each RedNet I/O device includes JetPLL jitter-elimination technology, and delivers dynamic range of 120dB, with 24-bit resolution at sample rates up to 192kHz.

The RedNet range will initially comprise five products:

RedNet 1: Eight-channel A-D/D-A Interface

RedNet 2: 16-channel A-D/D-A Interface

RedNet 3: Digital I/O Interface

RedNet 4: Eight-channel Mic/Line Input Interface

RedNet PCIe Card:

More: www.focusrite.com

New Zealand’s TVNZ has installed a Calrec Artemis Beam digital audio console in its Auckland studios to handle audio for its flagship news programming and content for its commercial networks. The new 48-fader console is part of a digital upgrade for the national broadcaster, replacing a analogue Calrec console.

‘The Artemis Beam replaced a much-loved analog console, but it also replaced time-consuming patchbays,’ says TVNZ Production Services Manager, Paul Hedges. ‘We used to rely on physical patching to achieve things that we can now do with routing in the new console. We were running out of fader modules on the analog console, but now we simply map faders to sources and change the configuration. Some of the work we do now was physically impossible on the old analogue console.’

The console to mix daily live news production, a morning magazine show, several weekly current affairs shows, and a weekly consumer advocacy show – more than 14 different live and recorded shows each week. The Artemis console manages all incoming audio, triggering effects, and production of mix-minus and IFB feeds.

The new system gives TVNZ access to more inputs on the same number of faders. Having different layers for different shows makes it easier to transition from one show to the next, especially because TVNZ often requires very fast, sometimes immediate turnaround between shows. The Artemis Beam’s routing capabilities manage TVNZ’s audio workflows, which accelerates set-up for both remote stand-up shots and in-studio production. Also contributing to the speed of set-up and transition is the ease in changing the layout of the console to suit individual operator preferences.

TVNZ has a range of analogue and digital Calrec consoles throughout its various facilities – a major factor in the choice of the Atrmis Beam. Like many Calrec consoles, the new desk’s layout and logic closely followe that of its analogue precursor, simplifying the switch from old to new. ‘Our operational team members who use the console every day found it to be intuitive and very flexible,’ Hedges says. ‘Versatility, capacity, ease of learning, and similarity to the old analogue desk were very attractive features for us.’

When TVNZ covers major events such as political elections, it can quickly and easily expand its capacity by using the console’s networking and resource-sharing abilities to join various sources, locations, and studios.

‘It’s gratifying to see our newer technology joining the mix at TVNZ,’ says Calrec Asia-Pacific Regional Sales Director, Graham Murray. ‘Reliability, redundancy, and expandability were critical technical criteria for TVNZ’s operation, which is mostly live-to-air for about 17 hours each day, and the Artemis Beam is perfectly suited to its news-oriented environment.’

More: www.calrec.com

‘UAD-2 Satellite is the result of UA listening to our customers, and giving them a processing solution that is both elegant and powerful,’ says UA Senior Product Manager, Lev Perrey. ‘Coupled with our roadmap of exciting new plug-ins, we anticipate this product expanding our 40,000-strong UAD user base significantly in the years to come.’

The UAD-2 Satellite puts the entire UAD Powered Plug-Ins library within reach of Firewire 800 and 400-equipped computers; no PCIe card installation required. In developing these UAD plug-ins, UA’s DSP engineers work with leading hardware manufacturers – including Roland, Neve, Studer, dbx, Solid State Logic, Lexicon, Manley, Empirical Labs, Trident, SPL and EMT – using their schematics, golden units and experienced ears.

Available in Duo or Quad processor format (with either two or four Analog Devices Sharc processors, respectively), UAD-2 Satellite packages provide a processing ‘boost’ for digital audio workstations, and include a selection of classic analogue emulation plug-ins.

The newest members of UA’s award-winning UAD-2 Powered Plug-Ins platform, the UAD-2 Satellite family combines DSP acceleration with the plug-and-play simplicity of Firewire 800/400 for Intel-based iMacs and MacBook Pros.

More: www.uaudio.com

In SSL’s wods, Nucleus ‘re-defines the professional project studio with a combination of advanced DAW control, transparent SuperAnalogue monitoring, high-class analogue mic pres, pro quality USB audio interface and bundled SSL Duende plug-ins’.

Nucleus is a compact desktop unit that provide an efficient worksurface for DAW-based music production, covering audio recording and monitoring, alongside DAW control without a mouse.

More: www.solidstatelogic.com

Ranking high among the world’s most successful theatres, the Zurich Opera House hosts more than 300 opera and ballet performances, concerts and recitals each year. Another kind of performance has just been completed, as the opera house audio system has been upgraded with a Lawo mc²66 mixing console console at its heart.

Rehearsals have been taking place using the new system – so far without any problems.

The biggest sporting event ever to take place in New Zealand, the 2011 Rugby World Cup, which kicks off on 9 September with a match between New Zealand and Tonga at Eden Park in Auckland.

The competition will be televised by Sky Network TV, broadcasting 48 matches in high-definition with 5.1 surround audio. To accommodate the sound requirements, Auckland-based audio facilities company OSB has standardised on Lawo digital mixing consoles for all of its Rugby World Cup OB operations.

AudioGate enables the real-time playback of DSD/SACD files on any computer system, with any audio hardware. Powerful dithering algorithms are provided, along with editing tools such as divide, merge, normalise, fade-in/fade-out and DC cut. Users can convert from 5.6MHz or 2.8MHz 1-bit audio files to any other format, including 16- or 24-bit PCM (up to 192kHz sample rates), Apple Lossless or AAC, FLAC, Broadcast WAV (up to 32-bit floating supported) and MP3 formats.

It can be used to burn audio CDs, and the newer DSD Disc format (2.8MHz sample rate), which can be played back on a growing number of devices, such as Sony Playstations and Vaio computers.

By making this software free, Korg is underlining the fact that the requirement for ‘compressed’ audio formats is reducing in response to greater availbility of transmission bandwidth and data storage.

Korg’s AudioGate software is included with all MR Series recorders. Non-MR recorder owners can activate the software by entering an active Twitter account.

More: www.korguser.net/audiogate

Following a summer of festivals in 2012, Scottish singer/songwriter Amy Macdonald has undertaken a European tour to promote her album Life In A Beautiful Light. At FOH, her engineer Fabrizio Piazzini is mixing the shows on a DiGiCo SD8.

Piazzini uses 53 inputs for the shows, feeding a basic left/right mix. While Macdonald’s guitar and vocals are the obvious focus, he also has to bring out the dynamics of her album recordings.

‘The SD8 is a very clear, crisp, natural sounding console – the preamps are very clean and it doesn’t colour the sound at all,’ he says. ‘It’s also a very sexy surface – it just feels right.

An established DiGiCo user, Piazzini cut his teeth on the original D1 console not long after the company was founded.

‘I want people to see and hear Amy, but without her being overpowering,’ he says. ‘The production on the albums is very clever, there are lots of little melodies coming from different instruments – one second the piano has a really interesting melody, the next second the bass does a cool line, then a Hammond organ comes in, then a guitar… It’s very dynamic. I have a Snapshot per song, but I am riding the faders throughout the show.

‘The multi-input channels and the dynamic EQ that you can dial in as and where you want are great,’ continues. ‘I also like the fact that it’s all on Madi, which makes it very fast and easy to do virtual soundchecks. Literally one button click allows me to tune the room with the show file, rather than with some well recorded music from the 1970s or whatever.’

Amy Macdonald’s shows includes an acoustic interlude, for which Piazzini has found the Set Spill feature – in the SD8’s latest Overdrive 2 software – exceptionally useful: ‘Set Spill is a great feature,’ he confirms. ‘For the acoustic segment, I can dial up all the faders of the channels being used in those four songs, rather than having the whole lot, so I can re-populate the surface as I want it,’ he notes.

The desk’s Waves SoundGrid integration is also put to good use: ‘I do the drum bussing and compressing using the Waves SSL G-Master Buss compressor, the phase plug-in for the kick and snare and multi-band Waves TransX modulation for the toms, which keeps them prominent without being too loud,’ he says. ‘The Abbey Road Redd Consoles plug-in gives the bass a huge sound, which is amazing, and I also use transit modulation on the acoustic guitar. For the vocal I use the C6 multi-band compressor and the Waves Aphex Vintage Aural Exciter.

‘These are all tools which I could not afford to take the hardware versions of on tour, but with the Waves integration I can,’ he continues. ‘Being able to use effects out on tour that everyone knows in the studio is fantastic. It’s just a matter of choosing what tools I need for that day, loading the file and I’m done. And access to all of them is on the console’s surface.

‘Waves with DiGiCo perfectly complements the consoles, because the whole chain is super high quality. DiGiCo consoles sound good and the Waves plugins make a show sound better. The combination is of a really, really high standard and has revolutionised the way I work on tour.’

More: www.digico.org

The four floors of the recently-renovated Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall provide an insight into Beijing’s past and a brave vision of its future. In addition to conventional display cases and photographs, the exhibitions include lightboxes, sculptures and a detailed scale model of the city.

Most notable is the 3D multimedia auditorium on the top floor, which features one of the world’s largest 3D screens. When its audio processor was up for replacement, Chinese pro audio and lighting distributor and A/V designer/installer, Sanecore Group, installed a new Symetrix Jupiter ‘zero learning curve’ digital signal processor.