Astro Radio Takes Flight with Lawo Virtual Radio Consoles

Astro Radio delivers news and traffic to more than 12 million listeners in Malaysia every week. Their journalists produce 90 news broadcasts in four languages every day, making Astro a non-stop operation that demands flexibility and reliability from their studio mixing consoles. With a mandate to update and expand their facilities - and plan for the future - Astro Radio chose Lawo Virtual Radio Consoles for their new studios.

We're seeing more and more broadcasters interested in Virtual Consoles, says Michael Dosch, Director of Virtual Radio Projects for Lawo. They've watched the IT world gain cost benefits from virtualization, and they realize they can also save money too and gain flexibility by upgrading from physical consoles and peripherals to a virtual studio infrastructure. In fact, some broadcasters are telling us they can save thousands by building a Virtual Radio environment.

Astro Radio's Lawo system is comprised of DSP-based Compact Engines, which mix audio and provide I/O, and touchscreen Virtual Consoles powered by Lawo Vistool software. A Lawo Nova 29 router bridges the new system with Astro's legacy routing gear.

Bala Murali Subramaney, Astro Radio's Vice President of Engineering and Technology, explains that deploying touchscreen-controlled virtual consoles, instead of traditional mixing desks, allowed his team of engineers to construct custom mixing interfaces which ease and enhance workflow.

Using touchscreen controls, operators can route and combine inputs from external sources, mix audio, record and edit interviews, then send their productions to air - all without touching a single physical fader.

Besides reaping the benefits of intuitive touchscreen interfaces, Bala points out the economy of their Lawo system: each Compact Engine powers two studios. Not only that: the Virtual Console software runs on the same touchscreen PCs used for audio delivery, significantly lowering equipment costs.

The Virtual Console is designed to replace and reduce the cost of purchasing and maintaining a physical broadcast console and associated parts, Bala said recently in an article published in Radio World International. Not only are we able to run 10 studios on five Compact Engines, we've also saved on the purchase of a separate PC for virtual consoles in each news studio.

Lawo has a full line of virtual radio solutions designed to provide more capability for less cost, including the Crystal Clear mixing console, Vistool UI-building software, and the new line of R LAY Virtual Radio Mixer products. For details, visit www.lawo.com .

About Lawo

Lawo designs and manufactures pioneering network, control, audio and video technology for broadcast and post production, as well as live performance and theatrical applications. Products include control and monitoring systems, digital audio mixing consoles, routers, video processing tools as well as solutions for IP-based A/V infrastructures and routing systems. All products are developed in Germany and manufactured according to highest quality standards at the company's headquarters in the Rhine valley town of Rastatt, Germany. For additional information, please visit the company online at www.lawo.com.

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