WHEAT:NEWS TV
SEPTEMBER 2016 - Vol 3, No.9
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WheatNet-IP in The Zone at IBC
Our WheatNet-IP audio network will be demonstrating its AES67 interoperability at the IBC IP Interoperability Zone, a showcase of products by more than 30 manufacturers that are working in collaboration to present practical interoperability over IP.
The IBC IP Interoperability Zone is presented for the first time this year with the cooperation of AIMS and IABM. Stop in at stand 8.D10 to explore interoperability and IP. Also, be sure to stop in at Wheatstone’s stand 8.A51, where we’ll be able to continue the discussion on IP audio.
Audio Meets Video
IP technology is making audio and video a lot friendlier in the production studio. Just how friendly? We called our good friend and rep of two years, Gerrit Bulten of Burst Video, The Netherlands, to talk about IP audio and video, IBC and more.
WS: How is audio over IP in the production studio coming along these days? What are broadcasters in The Netherlands and Belgium telling you?
GB: It’s a first step for many of these guys. They went from all these audio wires and analog audio to digital and now IP. We are in somewhat of a learning curve.
WS: Are they going IP for the sake of going IP or are they recognizing an immediate benefit to IP audio?
GB: No and yes. There are all those problems with IFB and changing mics and the usual audio difficulties that audio IP networking solves. Broadcasters are more motivated to go with audio IP more so than video IP because they get those benefits. Video is also ten thousand times more data and more complicated, so it’s just going to take longer.
WS: I take it converting to IP will be a central topic at IBC, then?
GB: Definitely. My impression is that people are looking at where the industry is going in terms of standards. Many engineers have seen video evolve from composite to analog component to digital to widescreen to HD, step-by-step, and now it’s IP. They’re putting the pieces together.
WS: What do you look for when evaluating new trends like this?
GB: I mainly look at how can video production be more efficient, be more productive. I’m technology agnostic. My gut feeling is that SDI will be here for a while, and that there’s some confusion as to IP standards, but IP will happen eventually.
WS: Well, we now have AES67 for audio over IP interoperability of systems and devices. We’ve included AES67 compatibility in our WheatNet-IP system. Does that help?
GB: It does. Yet more important is that Wheatnet is the one and only audio-over-IP solution that protects the engineer from timing issues while it also handles the very high level of studio automation.
Gerrit Bulten has an IT computer background and almost 30 years’ experience in the broadcast industry. He is with Burst Video, which represents the Wheatstone audio IP network line in Belgium and The Netherlands. You can click on www.burst.nl or email Gerrit at [email protected] or ask for him at IBC, Wheatstone stand 8.A51.
Audio IP and Crisis Management
Let’s suppose you arrive at the usual time to find that your train is delayed. You then scramble to catch the B train, but by the time you get there, it is whistling down the track without you.
That leaves the C train, which departs in five minutes but arrives nowhere near your destination. You could take a connecting train that will get you close, but that’s going to add more time onto your travels.
What you’ve just experienced is a crisis in routing. When one route changes, whether due to track, train, studio or switch, there’s a delay or detour in traffic, be it packets or passengers. And that can never be good for broadcasters, who are easily the most punctual people on the planet, having spent years timing programming, newscasts and ads down to the second.
We bring this up to make a point, of course.
Live broadcast production is nothing if not a crisis in routing, and that’s where IP audio networking can make a difference.
Take something as routine as routing the correct IFB to talent. Mix-minus setup used to soak up a lot of time before IP audio networking came along. Now, in the case of our WheatNet-IP audio network, when a field reporter’s microphone goes live, the system will automatically send a mix-minus to the reporter’s earpiece. Intelligent I/O BLADEs that make up the network provide the pathway and the routable controls. Access to all sources is immediate, along with all the presets and any associated logic that go along with each feed for turning mics and elements on/off or changing settings.
In fact, the IP audio network itself can provide the backbone for an IFB system that runs from one studio to another or to any remote location that’s networked in. No big IFB router or creative patchwork needed. All channel assigns, mixing and routing is recalled from the IP control surface, which means it is now much easier to change things up in the studio as well. IP audio networking makes it possible to manage multiple successive newscasts from any one studio, right down to each talent in succession getting the correct throw from the studio.
But what about that failed link, switch or any number of other crises in routing? IP audio networking handles that, too. In an emergency, the I/O BLADEs that make up the points of access in the WheatNet-IP audio network have a number of tools for facilitating recovery from a lost source. You can even set up a script to automate that process, so that if source X goes silent while studio Y is on the air, the system will fire a backup salvo to route an alternate audio source to the studio.
What you’ve just experienced is a solution to a crisis in routing.
IP Audio Networking for Television
Your IP Question Answered
Q: Does MADI still have a place in the IP audio networked studio?
A: Yes. A lot of the first generation digital mixers and some routers were built based on TDM, and MADI gives the users of these systems a convenient, reliable way of crossing over into IP audio networking. Broadcasters who have our Wheatstone TDM router system and want to seamlessly add on our IP audio network have one relatively inexpensive option using a MADI I/O BLADE, which is an IP access unit for our WheatNet-IP audio network that handles 64 bidirectional audio channels via a single connection. They hook into BNC connectors in the MADI BLADE for the coaxial format. An SFP transceiver slot is for fiber optic connectivity, which is generally used for longer runs (say, up to 2000 feet).
Wheatstone
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CBC (Edmonton, AB) purchased two TS-22 and six TS-4 talent stations and an additional I/O BLADE for an existing WheatNet-IP audio network.
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Laura Ingraham (Washington, DC) added a WheatNet-IP PC Driver with 4 channels to an existing WheatNet-IP audio network.
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Bustos Media (Portland, OR) purchased two IP-12 digital audio consoles with WheatNet-IP audio networking and an M4IP-USB four-channel mic processor.
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Durham Radio (Oshawa, ON) purchased IP-12 digital audio consoles with WheatNet-IP audio networking and an M4IP-USB four-channel mic processor.
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iHeartMedia (Tucson, AZ) purchased a WheatNet-IP PC Driver for an existing WheatNet-IP audio network.
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Leighton Broadcasting (Saint Cloud, MN) purchased two I/O BLADEs and LIO-48 high-density logic BLADE for an existing WheatNet-IP audio network.
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Wayne State University’s WDET-FM (Detroit, MI) purchased two LX-24 control surfaces, ten TS-4 talent stations, several WheatNet-IP audio network I/O BLADEs with NAVIGATOR software and an M4IP-USB four-channel mic processor through ENCO Systems.
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Family Stations (Oakland, CA) purchased additional I/O BLADEs, one with Clip Player, for an existing WheatNet-IP audio network.
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Skyview Networks (Scottsdale, AZ) purchased an IP-12 digital audio console and I/O BLADE through BSW.
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CBC (Edmonton, AB) purchased a TS-4 talent station and I/O BLADEs through Ron Paley Broadcast.
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Corus Entertainment (Edmonton, AB) purchased the ScreenBuilder Builder app through Ron Paley Broadcast.
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Leighton Broadcasting (Saint Cloud, MN) purchased an IP-12 digital audio console and I/O BLADEs, including several with ClipPlayer.
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Hubbard Radio (Phoenix, AZ) added an I/O BLADE to an existing WheatNet-IP audio network.
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iHeartMedia (Tucson, AZ) purchased a WheatNet-IP PC Driver for an existing WheatNet-IP audio network.
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Larche Communications (Orillia, ON) purchased an L-12 control surface along with I/O BLADEs and NAVIGATOR software.
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Leighton Broadcasting (Grand Forks, ND) purchased an I/O BLADE for an existing WheatNet-IP audio network.
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Leighton Broadcasting (Winona, MN) purchased an I/O BLADE for an existing WheatNet-IP audio network.
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MZ Media (Toronto, ON) purchased an I/O BLADE for an existing WheatNet-IP audio network through Ron Paley Broadcast.
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Cogeco (Montreal, QC) purchased a GP-16P-IP and turret for an existing WheatNet-IP audio network.
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Arizona Public Radio (Tucson, AZ) purchased a WheatNet-IP PC Driver with 4 channels for an existing WheatNet-IP audio network.
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Soundfusion (Pty) Ltd (Johannesburg, South Africa) purchased an IP-12 digital audio console.
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Sarthak FM (Delhi, India) purchased two IP-12 digital audio consoles and a WheatNet-IP audio network through Horizon Electronics.
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Shenyang Radio (Liaoning, China) purchased seven E-1 control surfaces and the WheatNet-IP audio network through Audio Design Company.
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Seidu Agongo (Accra, Ghana) purchased two I/O BLADEs for an existing E-6 control surface and WheatNet-IP audio network.
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WGGB-TV (Springfield, MA) purchased three SR-8 studio remote units for an existing Wheatstone audio network.
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Good Karma Brands (Beaver Dam, WI) purchased two IP-12 and one IP-16 digital audio consoles and WheatNet-IP audio networking.
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University of Illinois’ WILL-AM/FM (Urbana, IL) purchased an LX-24 control surface and WheatNet-IP audio network.
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Eternal World Television Network (EWTN) (Birmingham, AL) purchased two Dimension Three with touchScreenBuilder interface television audio consoles.
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WCHL-FM (Chapel Hill, NC) purchased an IP-12 digital audio console and network system.
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Wells Fargo Video Network (Charlotte, NC) upgraded a D9 console.
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Hearst’s WVTM-TV (Birmingham, AL) upgraded a D9 console.
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Grupo Imagen (Mexico City, Mexico) purchased three Series Four television audio consoles and WheatNet-IP audio network through Sistemas Digitales.
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Grupo Imagen (Mexico City, Mexico) purchased four IP-16, two IP-12 and thirteen L-8 control surfaces and WheatNet-IP audio network through Sistemas Digitales
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Televisa (Mexico City, Mexico) purchased two I/O BLADEs through Sistemas Digitales.
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KIJI/KNUT-FM (Barrigada, Guam) purchased two TS-4 talent stations and six GP-3 panels for a WheatNet-IP audio network.
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KMPH-TV (Fresno, CA) purchased E-6 and E-1 control surfaces and a WheatNet-IP audio network.
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iHeartMedia (Louisville, KY ) purchased three Sideboard control surfaces, three IP-16 digital audio consoles and several I/O BLADEs
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Townsquare Media (Lake Charles, LA) added fifteen I/O BLADEs to a WheatNet-IP audio network.
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Lazer Broadcasting (Bakersfield, CA) purchased two IP-12 digital audio consoles.
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WJOL-AM (Joliet, IL) purchased an IP-12 digital audio console.
Audioarts Engineering
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Yazoo City Hall (Yazoo City, MS) purchased an Air-4 audio console.
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Saga (Champaign, IL) purchased a D-76 console.
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Dixie State University (St. George, UT) purchased an Air-5 console.
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KKOJ-AM/FM (Jackson, MN) purchased an Air-1 audio console.
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WTCW-AM/WKXQ-FM (Hudson, NY) purchased an Air-4 audio console.
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Alabama State University (Tuscaloosa, AL) purchased an R-55e console.
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WEOL-AM (Elyria, OH) purchased a D-76 console.
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WKDO-FM (Liberty, KY) purchased an Air-4 console.
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Western Michigan University’s WIDR-FM (Kalamazoo, MI) purchased an R-55e console.
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Recording Media & Equipment (Miami, FL) purchased two R-55e audio consoles.
Wheatstone Audio Processing
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Steve Vanni Associates (Auburn, NH) purchased two FM-55 audio processors.
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Rogers Broadcasting (Vancouver, BC) purchased two M1 mic processors through Ron Paley Broadcast.
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Townsquare Media (Lake Charles, LA) purchased an AM-55 audio processor.
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Cumulus (Lafayette, LA) purchased two FM-55 audio processors.
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Markel Radio Group (St. Charles, MO) purchased an FM-55 audio processor.
VoxPro
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iHeartMedia (Birmingham, AL) purchased a VoxPro 6 digital recorder/editor.
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iHeartMedia (Providence, RI) purchased three VoxPro 6 digital recorder/editors.
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iHeartMedia (Tampa, FL) purchased a VoxPro 6 digital recorder/editor
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iHeartMedia (San Antonio, TX) purchased a VoxPro 6 digital recorder/editor.
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KLLY-FM (Bakersfield, CA) purchased a VoxPro 6 digital recorder/editor.
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KPVR-FM (Saint Louis, MO) purchased a VoxPro 6 digital recorder/editor.
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Rawlco (Regina, SK) purchased seven VoxPro 6 digital recorder/editor upgrades.
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WHHY-FM (Montgomery, AL) purchased a VoxPro 6 digital recorder/editor.
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Rogers Broadcasting (Kitchener, ON) purchased three VoxPro 6 upgrades.
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Leighton Broadcasting (Saint Cloud, MN) purchased a VoxPro 6 upgrade.
- Oakwood/GS Broadcast Technical Services (Mississauga, ON) purchased a VoxPro 6 digital audio recorder/editor bundle through Ron Paley Broadcast.