Audio @ IBC – revisited
Dan Daley’s wrap-up of a few more key new products and announcements in the audio field from the annual Amsterdam jamboree.
Euro Media France is refurbishing its OB van, Road Runner 1, to be the largest-capacity truck offered by Euro Media France for HDTV programmes including sports events such as football and rugby’s Premier League for Canal+. The refurbished van’s new designation is XL, which is now outfitted with an SSL C100 HDS audio console with 64 faders controlling 512 channels of DSP, as well as an SSL MORSE Router to handle the high microphone count needed for events, as well as Dialogue Automix and 5.1 Upmix options.
“We needed to equip our largest HD OB Van with a high-end, powerful console coupled with a large router, to efficiently manage our audio resources within our space requirements,” says Franck Fradet, technical director for Euro Media France. “The programs we capture are incredibly complex and demanding, so we regularly need to run audio with two operators at the console. The capability of the C100 HDS on this front was an important factor for us and we are pleased that the console has responded positively to our expectations.”
DPA launched its new d:fine headsets. Available in omnidirectional and directional versions, the new d:fine headsets offer a reduced size capsule that also allows smaller windshields to be used. Microphones can easily be switched between omni and directional models. Just by rotating the boom, the microphone can be moved from left to right ear, or into the optimum position. And as the microphone isn’t hard-wired into the headset, the cable can be replaced cheaply and easily. DPA’s d:fine is delivered with different colored cable steer clips, allowing for quick recognition of a specific headset. It also allows cables run from in-ear devices to be fixed in the clip, making cables run neat. A neck cable clip attaches the cable to the cloth to relieve the cable draw.
In a post-IBC announcement, Wohler has signed a partnering agreement with SoundField to distribute the full SoundField product line across the Americas. Wohler Technologies it will serve as a reseller and distributor for UK-based SoundField, which developed and manufactures microphones and upmix solutions for stereophonic and multichannel surround formats. Wohler will offer SoundField’s full product line — including the DSF-2 broadcast microphone system and the UPM-1 stereo-to-5.1 converter — in all North, Central, and South American countries with the exception of Colombia. The DSF-2 broadcast microphone system simultaneously provides both the surround and stereo soundscape at large-scale outside broadcast events such as football stadiums and concert halls. The multichannel audio generated from a “single point” source is completely phase-coherent, so the broadcaster can collapse the surround to stereo or mono for TV and radio feeds without loss of information, frequency imbalance, or any of the other phase problems associated with spaced microphones or multiple-capsule “dummy head” arrangements. SoundField’s UPM-1 19-inch rack hardware processor with an all-digital signal path offers a simple upmix solution for creating natural-sounding 5.1 surround from a stereo signal. The UPM-1 uses a unique algorithm to perform detailed real-time analysis of the stereo source material, identifying, and separating the ambience from the direct sound.