GTHP is to use SSL’s C100 HDS Digital Broadcast Consoles in three new HD OB vehicles for live horse racing coverage in France.

GTHP (Groupement Technique des Hippodromes Parisiens) provides technical resources and staff for live-to-air and re-transmission media coverage of horse racing events for the Equidia TV channel locally, as well as for international distribution. All three HD OB vehicles feature a single C100 frame fitted with two independent ‘consoles,’ each with completely separate master sections and associated fader bays (one 24+8 and one 16+8).

The configuration means that two operators can be co-located, with independent operating environments but with an SSL Morse Router enabling them to share audio assets. This unique configuration helps the operators handle extremely demanding production challenges and schedules.

‘One year ago, we decided to replace our existing two SD OB vans with three HD OB vans,’ says Sound Engineer Manager, Luc Benamer. ‘We have been using SSL consoles since 1998 and we were very happy when SSL won the RFP. The sound quality of the C100 is unmatched and SSL’s service is excellent. If we have a question, SSL’s people get back to us immediately. Each OB Van will cover around 320 races per year, so the travel, set up and production schedule is extremely rigorous. The SSL systems are working and enable us to quickly and accurately set up and produce every event.’

Each vehicle system has a powerful and comprehensive I/O and Routing configuration consisting of a Morse Router (with 48 analogue microphone and 88 analogue line I/O, 120 AES I/O and 12 MUX/DMUX), eight Morse Stageboxews, two Alpha-Link Live-R and two SSL Remote GPIO units. The system seamlessly integrates into each vehicle’s LSB/VSM control system through the router.

‘We decided to go with two consoles built into one frame to make the engineering tasks straightforward,’ Benamer says. ‘Instead of taking up valuable time having each engineer split one console, both engineers can now configure their local and international programmes at the same time. Each van travels to its next destination overnight, arriving at the new venue about three hours before air. The C100 lets us get set up very efficiently, so we have more time to tweak the sound to get the best results.’

The C100 consoles are fitted with SSL’s powerful Dialogue Automix and 5.1 Upmix options to handle a wide variety of production needs. The Dialogue Automix system tames the frenetic world of fast-paced panel discussions by providing automatic mic level control while maintaining consistent ambient levels. The 5.1 Upmix option takes any stereo source and creates a convincing 5.1 version.

‘When we are at a race track , we need to be able to address multiple production situations,’ Benamer explains. ‘For a post-race discussion program, for example, the amount of guests on a panel might vary depending on which team won the race. The Dialogue Automix function makes this production situation easy. At the same time, it is often more efficient to produce segments of racing events in stereo and that is where the 5.1 Upmix option really shines.’

More: www.solidstatelogic.com

Concert recordings from the recent Liszt Festival and live broadcasts from the matinee in Bad Tatzmannsdorf and from the Easter Liturgy in Neudörfl in Austria, saw the first use of ORF’s new HÜ-8D OB van.

The eighth digital OB van in the Austrian National Broadcaster’s arsenal, the HÜ-8D truck boasts advanced design and digital operation, allowing it to meet wide ranging programme requirements and music recordings – recordings of classical concerts at open-air events and in concert halls for CD productions or for broadcasts of classical music.

At the centre of the the truck is a Lawo mc²66 digital broadcast console with 40 faders (16:8:16) and 144 DSP channels. Both the router with a capacity of 8,000 x 8,000 crosspoints and the Lawo stageboxes with 28 mic/line inputs have full redundancy using Madi. The system design also allows the Riedel intercom to be displayed through the stageboxes using BNC In and Out, and two 64-track recorders are connected directly to the Lawo HD-Core via Madi.

System Engineer & Project Manager Reinhard Tomek explains that ORF decided to implement a consistent operating concept for all TV and radio OB vans. This allows sound engineers and Tonmeisters to transfer between different OB vans and start productions without taking time out to familiarise themselves with equipment. Additionally, with Lawo consoles installed in almost all OB vans and production control rooms, productions can be transferred between control rooms. ‘The workflows are kept consistent, and we are able to adapt to any changes quickly thanks to the configurability of the consoles,’ Tomek says.

With a view to constantly increasing efficiency, this OB van allows productions to be handled with a minimum crew. All signals required by a production (mic/line-In, audio returns, intercom, and signalling) can be combined into a single fibre-optic connection, avoiding complex cabling and reducing set-up times. Repeat broadcast formats can be superimposed onto existing console programming, again saving valuable preparation time. ‘For a broadcaster like ORF, availability and reliability of the equipment are of utmost importance,’ Tomek says. ‘As our partner, Lawo provides products that excel in terms of quality and that are backed by a very competent and quick customer service to help us with any problems we might encounter.’

More: www.lawo.de

The investiture of French President Francois Hollande on 15 May saw the official handover of power from Nicholas Sarkozy at the presidential palace of the Elysée. Following the formally swearing-in of the new head of state. M Hollande made his way to the Hôtel de Ville city hall, the seat of the Mairie of Paris for his first official state visit.

At the heart of all the audio management and distribution for the event was the Innovason Eclipse digital mixing console, purchased by the Mairie of Paris for just such an occasion.

M Hollande was received by the mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, in front of the Hôtel de Ville where they were greeted by thousands of well-wishers. From there, the new President and the Mayor went inside to the Salle des Fetes, where M. Hollande was introduced to all of the elected officials, ambassadors, corporate representatives and parliamentarians of Paris. M Delanoë then made a speech of welcome, to which the new President replied.

The Eclipse handled sound for the speeches in the Salle des Fetes, which was broadcast outside the building for the spectators, with clean feeds distributed to 52 different media organisations for broadcast to radio and television around the world.

‘The desk performed absolutely perfectly and the sound was impeccable,’ says Technical Director for the Hôtel de Ville, Dominique Dunesme. ‘I was convinced that I’d made a good choice with the console, and the events we have handled to date have proved it. This, however, was by far the most important, but as usual, the Eclipse proved its calibre – easy to configure, easy to operate, easy to network and flawless results every time. What more could you want?’

More: www.innovason.com

Recovering from a fire in 2009, CCTV’s new Beijing’s headquarters will be ready in time to handle the Chinese coverage of the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Located in the CBD of Beijing’s Chaoyang District, the complex was designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas – who is noted for his work with Prada and is responsible for the design of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. With its 44-storey tower, 470,000-sq-m facility has 33 studios, and will accommodate 10,000 staff who will work in six ‘functional zones’. CCTV expects to double its daily production to 200 hours of programming.

The opening of its new headquarters accompanies China’s moves to extend its broadcast infrastructure to support internet distribution and mobile devices. Concurrently, Chinese companies are working with Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) on its aim to move to digital broadcast by 2015.

State broadcaster PTV sought financial help from Chinese companies after the Planning and Development Division declined to approve the initial digitisation project, estimated at Rs2.5m.

The first Midas Pro6 mixing desk has been placed with to the country’s leading rental company, Ardestani Brothers.

The digtal live console was supplied together with a Klark Teknik DN9696 high-definition audio recorder, by Midas’ Iranian distributor, Ertebat Sedaye Bartar Co.

Company co-founder Hasan Ardestani is one of Iran’s top FOH engineers, and the company provides sound systems for a wide variety of events, including concert tours by leading Iranian singers such as Mohammad Esfahani , Reza Sadeghi and Mohsen Yeganeh. The fist use of the Pro 6 was in one of Tehran’s biggest and most challenging venues, Milad Hall, which is used for concerts, conventions and seminars. It has since been used with the Azerbaijan Symphony Orchestra and traditional Iranian singer Hesmedin Seraj concert in Milad Hall.
‘The Pro6 sounds superb and no matter how hard you push the system, there will always be more head room,’ says Ardestani. ‘There is no compromise with this system, and you can really notice the superb quality and the difference it makes.’

The news follows that of two Midas Pro6 live audio systems being installed in one of the Middle East’s premier casinos. Ardestani Brothers is now planning to add a number Midas Pro2 digital consoles to its inventory.

See also:
Middle East casino adds to Midas Pro6 count

More: http://ertebat-co.ir
More: www.midasconsoles.com

Professional Audio Technology recently configured, commissioned and delivered a Lawo on-air broadcasting system to Australian broadcaster 2GLF-FM – a community broadcasting station in Sydney’s suburb of Liverpool.

Part of the recent move from its old studios to purpose-built facilities, the station assessed various broadcast technologies, with the technical committee deciding on Lawo’s crystal technology.

‘As with most small broadcasters, there is often some compromise between the technical requirements and the budgetary restrictions,’ says PAT Technology Specialist, Alan Liddelow. ‘However, we believe that 2GLF-FM have found the perfect balance with their new system. We configured, commissioned and delivered two crystal 12-fader consoles with crystal studio frames and used a standalone crystal frame in the MCR as main router.’

2GLF’s new studio facility houses two purpose-built on-air studios and an MCR, in addition to a reception area and offices, with a further production studio planned to be built for later this year.

2GLF’s Tim Miller was closely involved with the install of the new technology: ‘We found that it was a big change to go from a fully analogue facility to a digital one,’ he says. ‘Overall we are very happy with the Lawo equipment and the service we have received from Professional Audio Technology.’

PAT reports a growing realsiation among smaller and community broadcasters that Lawo’s entry-level consoles are within their budgets and provide technological flexibility and sophisticated operating possibilities in addition to German build quality.

‘I am always delighted when I see small broadcasters excel at what they are doing, says Professional Audio Technology MD, Patrick Salloch. ‘The new studios at 2GLF-FM are very impressive for a community station and I am delighted that Lawo and PAT have taken part in this success story. We are looking forward to working together with 2GLF-FM for many years to come and I congratulate them on their outstanding new facility.’

More: www.proaudiotechnology.com.au
More: www.lawo.de

One of the Middle East’s premier casinos, Jounieh’s Casino du Liban, has taken a further two Midas Pro6 live audio systems. The installation was undertaken by Dubai-based NMK Electronics, and brings the venue’s Pro6 count to three.

The casino tok its first Pro6 in 2009 for its 1,800-capacity theatre space. ‘I chose the Pro6 then because I couldn’t find the right warmth of sound in any other digital desk,’ says Chief Sound Engineer, Tony Khoury. ‘The Midas preamps in the Pro6 provide really effective power and quality. I also found the Pro6 so easy to use; you can get to any zone really fast – it feels like I am working on one of the Midas analogue consoles, like a Heritage 3000.’

When the time came to upgrade the sound system in the casino’s 600-capacity La Salle Des Ambassadeurs dining and entertainment space, Khoury felt that there was only one choice…

La Salle Des Ambassadeurs now boasts two Pro6 systems – one FOH and one on monitors. A DL431 mic splitter has been added to the monitor system while both monitor and FOH consoles have DSP engines, DL252 digital snakes and a DL451 modular I/O box with both analogue and digital cards. ‘Having had the Pro6 in the theatre for three years, I insisted on Midas again,’ says Khoury. ‘I am very satisfied with the Pro6 and I am happy to be the only sound engineer in Lebanon to have three in one place.’

Khoury – who has been with the casino since 1996 – has now mixed hundreds of shows on his first Pro6, from live bands to musicals and dance performances to stand up comedy, a variety which has showcased the system’s flexibility. ‘I’ve used almost all the effects and dynamics, I like the channel inputs and the EQ is very precise and sensitive,’ he says. ‘The choice of four compressors on each input channel provides nice gain reduction and the gate is also very helpful where there are many instruments miked up. I also like the Klark Teknik graphic EQ and delay effects.’

‘I had a great time working together with Tony on the recent upgrade of the Salle des Ambassadors at the casino,’ adds NMK Business Development Manager, Chicco Hiranandani. ‘It is always enjoyable working with individuals who share the same kind of intensity or passion for what they do. I am sure that patrons of the casino will experience a spectacular show or event with the new equipment at the venue.’

Midas brand development manager Richard Ferriday adds: ‘We are delighted that Casino Du Liban are continuing their investment in Midas, and our new competitive pricing now makes that even easier. Another important consideration is that the Pro6 is a modular, upgradable system, which means that the casino has the option to upgrade to full 88 input Pro9 capacity if their requirements increase in the future.’

See also:
Midas Pro2 raises Middle East profile
Midas gets BIG in Oman

More: www.nmkelectronics.com
More: www.midasconsoles.com

With a career spanning eight decades, Petula Clark has played her part in pop music, film and theatre since her debut on BBC radio during World War II. Dubbed the most commercially successful artist to ever come out of Britain, she has collected many accolades, including being inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Her recent Australian tour comprised 17 shows with a five-piece band, and legendary Australian sound engineer Ernie Rose at FOH. Rose chose a DiGiCo SD11 for the tour, as he explains: It’s amazing that this level of technology can fit into a portable package. I was carrying the SD11 around like luggage during the tour. Besides the fact it sounds great – which quite a few people were taken by – it’s so compact, light, powerful and flexible.’

Rose was asked to manage monitors and front of house duties for the tour, and found the SD11 a good choice here too: ‘The great advantage of doing FOH and monitors with the SD11 was the fact that during set-up, I could physically move the console from side of stage for monitors then to FOH for sound check. This meant most of the work was done before the show. It’s really a bit of a modern miracle in that respect.

‘After the first set-up, each new venue we went to just needed minor tweaks. The sound was also far more consistent than using the house gear at each venue which can vary quite a bit both in terms of usability and sound quality. Setup time after the first show was literally two minutes.’

A DiGiCo D-Rack also proved to be a worthy partner to the SD11 with Ernie finding its Ethernet connectivity was just as helpful as his ability to place the rack at the back of the stage: ‘I just put the D-Rack on the centre of the stage and patched everything into that. It worked so well and it was really simple,’ he says.

And when one of the towns lost power, the SD11 pleased both engineer and band with its recovery: ‘At a show we did in Albany, Western Australia, the whole town had a power outage mid-show,’ Rose recalls. ‘It took 11s for the SD11 to start passing audio after the power resumed. Petula, the band and even the audience were very impressed – as was I.’

More: www.grouptechnologies.com.au
More: www.digico.org

Part of a major update to its studio facilities in Pudong, the Shanghai Media Group has taken a Soundcraft Vi1 digital audio mixing console.

SMG is one of Soundcraft’s longest-served customers. Before upgrading to the Vi1, the studio used a Soundcraft B400 analogue mixer. When the selection process for a new console began, the project team compared the Vi1 with several competitive models.

SMG highlighted several key factors regarding the Vi1 – the DSP processing technology resulting from of Soundcraft and Studer’s history of console development; 40-bit floating point processing; the Vistonics interface that will allow the studio’s different engineers easy familiarity of operatiion. As well as managing the desk’s different functions, the Vistonics interface associates controls with different colours on the touchscreens and FaderGlow.

The Shanghai Oriental TV-owned broadcast facility uses the 400-sq-m studio for production of small-scale variety shows.

More: www.soundcraft.com

Biamp Systems is now shipping Tesira – the company’s first DSP-based networked media system to use AVB as the primary digital media transport.

The AVB IEEE open standard allows media streams to be carried over Ethernet networks, using existing cable infrastructure, alongside traditional data. Tesira also improves programming efficiency by allowing for system configuration in a partitioned approach, making it possible to design, configure, update and maintain distinct portions of a system without affecting those that are currently in use, and without having to reconfigure the entire system.

‘Feedback from the marketplace has been extremely positive. There’s a lot of excitement and there are several projects where Tesira’s innovation provides the perfect solution,’ says Graeme Harrison, Executive VP of Marketing, Biamp Systems. ‘Tesira is made up of intelligent network devices that both share and boost system performance, and we’re excited to get it in the hands of our integrators.’

In conjunction with the shipping of Tesira, Biamp is also introducing its Tesira Soundscape Sweepstakes. The Soundscape Sweepstakes is an interactive experience that invites people to learn more about the benefits of Tesira and AVB ‘in a fun and engaging virtual city’. Upon entering this virtual city, users access six rooms or ‘doorways’ leading to a specific feature or benefit of Tesira – scalability, powerful, modular, AVB, software and future-proof.

Links to product material, white paper, webinar, product catalogue and the AVnu Alliance site are provided within the interactive experience. The first 100 people who visit all six rooms will automatically receive a free t-shirt and all visitors to the interactive experience are entered for a chance to win a grand prize or one of ten secondary prizes.

Along with the shipment of Tesira, Biamp is introducing software registration in order to provide continuous service and support, and aid communications with integrators and end-users.

Beginning 21 May 2012, Tesira software users will have 30 days to register software. Registering will enable Biamp to keep customers current on software enhancements, provide updates more quickly and ‘improve the overall customer experience’. Registering will also enable Biamp to provide tips and tricks for optimizing Tesira, and will offer the opportunity for users to more easily provide feedback.

‘Having customers register their Tesira software opens up new possibilities for delivering even higher levels of customer support,’ says Biamp Systems President, Steve Metzger. ‘We’re invested in producing and delivering the highest quality products and services to our markets. Tesira software registration will provide Biamp customers with greater access to more services and enhanced communications between the customer and factory in the future. It’s an exciting development.’

Software registration is completed via a few simple steps and the process of downloading software will not change.

Biamp software is available for download on the Biamp website where additional information on the registration process can be in the list of FAQs.

See also:
Biamp Systems Tesira
AVB – IEEE Ethernet specification updates (White paper)
AVnu – Audio Video Networking (White paper)
AVnu – Audio Video Bridging for Professional Use (White paper)