The audio production team behind Voice of China (中国好声音) – screened by Zhejiang Satellite TV, and currently one of the most successful music shows on Chinese television – has is using Jünger Audio loudness control and audio processing its 5.1 surround-sound broadcasts.

Having recently completed its fourth series, the show follows the format of NBC’s The Voice, with four judges/coaches giving blind auditions to teams of singers that  they subsequently work with during the series. Chief audio engineer for the show’s 5.1 surround-sound production is Lou Wei from CTPC Studio, a division of CCTV. Working on behalf of Dolby China and the production company responsible for Voice of China, he has been looking after 5.1 surround sound and broadcasting since the first series.

In China, the format most widely used for surround sound production is Dolby E. However, Dolby Lab’s withdrawal of hardware monitoring for this format left a gap in the market that Jünger Audio – with the backing of Dolby – has filled. Its D*AP8 Codec Edition units now incorporate a Dolby decoder as standard, along with a choice of optional encoders, so that broadcast engineers in post-production, DVD and DTV facilities can check the quality of Dolby E, Dolby Digital or Dolby Digital-encoded audio prior to transmission.

‘After a long period of evaluation and testing, we discovered that the features and specifications of Jünger Audio’s D*AP8 processors, in particular the D*AP8 MAP Monitoring Processors, matched Dolby E productions very well,’ says Zhang Yan, Technical Director of Dolby International Services (Beijing) Co. ‘They support HDSDI embedding and de-embedding, as well as Dolby codecs, which is important because most of video equipment that works with Dolby E also supports HD-SDI, rather than the AES interface.’

The Jünger units provided various interface options, flexible routing and comprehensive features: ‘Also, thanks to the ability to customise settings, one Jünger Audio processor can work for many different requirements.’

For Voice of China, Zhang Yan and Lou Wei specified a selection of Jünger Audio equipment, including two D*AP8 TAP Edition audio processors, which were installed in the transmission chain and used for Dolby E encoding. Also chosen were two D*AP8 MAP Edition audio devices incorporating a comprehensive Dolby toolkit including metadata emulation, along with full loudness metering and logging capabilities. These multichannel monitoring units were installed in the programme chain and used for Dolby decoding and metadata emulation. A third D*AP8 MAP was used for Dolby metadata emulation during the music pre-mix sessions, and a two-channel D*AP4 VAP Voice Audio Processor was used for all vocal balancing and processing, including commentaries and singers’ speeches.

Although the show’s finalé is broadcast live from the Beijing Olympic Centre (The Bird’s Nest), all earlier episodes are pre-recorded and post produced by Zhejiang TV’s production staff in conjunction with Lou Wei and his team. A Jünger Audio Level Magic Plug-In was used at this stage to guarantee overall audio quality and ensure consistent loudness values across the entire 5.1 audio chain.

Wu Xiao Dong, Director of the Audio Department at the Zhejiang TV Group Production Centre, adds that there is currently great demand for 5.1 surround sound from the ZJTV Group, and that Jünger Audio equipment is proving valuable in helping to meet this demand: ‘Jünger Audio is one of the few manufactures that supports all Dolby codec hardware solutions, along with specific voice processing and auto up/down mix features,’ he says. ‘The real benefit these units bring to our productions is the ability to tackle Dolby E encoding, Dolby metadata emulation, loudness and vocal voice processing.

‘This year’s season finalé was broadcast live in 5.1, and we used a selection of Jünger Audio units to ensure a great experience for audiences at home. The units all worked well, and we were very happy with their performance.’

‘Jünger Audio has been excellent at providing us with technical trainings, technical support and even product loan,’ says Wu Xiao Dong. ‘We are about to increase our stock of the company’s products because we’ve recently ordered a number of Jünger Audio units, including Dolby codec products for up/downmixing, for our newly built International TV and Film Production Centre. In the future I can see there being more demand for Jünger Audio products as 5.1 surround sound programme production increases.’

More: www.jungeraudio.com