Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Mixing Clever: Salsa Sound Embraces the Power of AI in MIXaiR 2.0

22/09/2021

Mixing clever: Salsa Sound embraces the power of AI in MIXaiR 2.0 By Michael Burns

Monday, September 20, 2021 - 10:41

Print This Story

Salsa Sound co-founder and CEO, Rob Oldfield

Regular readers of SVG Europe will be well aware of how innovative technology companies working in sports broadcasting can be, but MIXaiR from Salsa Sound looks likely to set a new bar for live audio and the craft of sound mixing.

When the pandemic caused football games to be played in silent stadiums Salsa Sound came to the rescue of broadcasters with its vCrowd real time virtual crowd atmosphere system, which rightly won plaudits. However, MIXaiR is based on technology that the company has been working on for several years, through academia, R&D, beta versions and a soft launch of the system a year ago.

Our company was founded in 2017, but prior to that we were part of the University of Salford, where we were working on a lot of innovative audio techniques, says co-founder and CEO, Rob Oldfield. In particular we were looking at how to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to recognise sound events and then create the best possible mix, not based on tracking but just based on what is actually [captured by] those microphones.

Fast forward to the future, next month in fact, and the new version of MIXaiR, an AI-driven system that automatically creates and enhances audio mixes for live broadcast, is set to be released.

MIXaiR 2.0 is jam packed with new features and a much more intuitive, easy to use interface, says Oldfield. The idea for v2.0 is you put all your microphones feeds in and then MIXaiR creates different submixes. So you might have a crowd, a commentary, or a pitch mix or aux in, and MIXaiR will automatically balance the levels between them, apply some processing, then create the best possible mix out of it without any human interaction, other than setting it up in the first place.

Hard tackle

According to Oldfield, the hardest mix, by a country mile, is the pitch mix. Historically, it's such a dynamic process by engineers and difficult to replicate, he explains. To make sure you've always got the nearest microphone active in the mix at any one point, requires constant attention and raising and lowering of faders. It's a really clever balancing act.

Rather like the players whose kicks it tracks, MIXaiR's AI has gone through an extensive training regime. Using machine learning technology, Salsa Sound has been training MIXaiR with many hours of content, microphone recordings and mixes across leagues.

People don't realise how hard it is to mix really well. That's why we've gone through pains to get an AI solution that takes the strain from some of the really difficult grunt work of mixing

We know what makes a great mix, says Oldfield. The AI is constantly analysing all of the sounds it is hearing. We tell it what to make of these sound events and it learns what's a kick, what's a whistle, what's a ball bounce, so that when it sees or hears sound in the wild, it can make an intelligent decision based on it.

Oldfield says MIXaiR delivers an even pitch mix, without any slightly awkward transitions and unbalanced crowd noise.

Our approach is to have the AI listen to those live microphone feeds, and when it hears a sound that's interesting like a kick, whistle, ball bounce or hitting the crossbar, you name it it will automatically add that microphone feed into the mix. It tracks the game around, always choosing the microphone that's closest to the action, and [performs] a seamless transition between them.

People don't realise how hard it is to mix really well, he adds. That's why we've gone through pains to get an AI solution that takes the strain from some of the really difficult grunt work of mixing. It can enable these guys to explore creative avenues and to create more innovative content. When you're not completely locked into your screen trying to create the best mix, you can actually lean in to MIXaiR a little bit more, let that create the stems and then you can have a bit of cognitive space to craft a mix, rather than chasing a mix.

Salsa Sound's MIXaiR GUI

The commentary and crowd noise are dynamically processed to provide mix components. These sub mixes are basically ingredients that you can throw into the output mixes, explains Oldfield. Then it's just a drag and drop process. You can create whatever output mixes you want, as many as you want, in different formats. You can have international sound, a French mix, a German mix, a Spanish mix, or whatever, and within that you can have different flavours: the stereo mix, the 5.1 mix, the mono mix. The only limitation is the number of channels that you've got available on your output board. You can also apply VST plug-ins to add your own compression or EQ or effects to the submixes, so it becomes a creative tool, allowing you to craft your mixes.

Importantly, [all mixes] are loudness normalised, he adds. If you're streaming on YouTube, or your own video on demand platform, or when it is for broadcast, they all have different loudness requirements. So within MIXaiR, you just decide which requirement you want, click on it and it will ensure that the mix adheres to those standards, so you don't end up with a fine from the regulator for making too much noise, or making not enough noise.

MIXaiR users also have an option to enhance the pitch mix with pre-recorded sounds. When somebody whacks the ball in the middle of the park, the [sound supervisor] can't even hear it because it's a long way away from the microphones, says Oldfield. However the AI can pick up a kick in the middle of the pitch. The algorithm can detect a kick, go to a bank of pre-recorded kicks and pick out the most appropriate one, and then
LINK: https://www.svgeurope.org/blog/headlines/mixing-clever-salsa-sound-emb...
See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

13/08/2026

Dalet Demonstrates the Future of AI-Orchestrated Live Spo...

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced its participation in the IBC2026 Accelerator Media Innovation Pro...

13/08/2026

dzjinius to showcase new dzjinius on-set application at I...

dzjinius, the all-in-one production management platform for the media and entertainment industry, will showcase its new application, dzjinius on-set , at IBC20...

13/08/2026

BCE Demonstrates Sovereign Cloud Media Workflows powered...

Broadcasting Center Europe (BCE), a leading European provider of media services, system integration and product development, will demonstrate an end-to-end sove...

13/08/2026

Clear-Com to Showcase Communications Solutions for Broadc...

Clear-Com is returning to IBC 2026, taking place September 11-14 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. At Stand 10.D29, Clear-Com will spotlight the award-winning FreeSpe...

13/08/2026

Leader to highlight advanced Test and Measurement solutio...

Test & measurement innovator, Leader Electronics of Europe, will showcase its comprehensive portfolio of Leader, PHABRIX and LeaderPhabrix test and measurement ...

13/08/2026

KRK Brings Advanced Wireless Control to Professional Monitoring With New V Series Five Studio MonitorsKRK Brings Advanced Wireless

KRK Brings Advanced Wireless Control to Professional Monitoring With New V Serie...

13/08/2026

Anthony Noack Captures Artist's Journey in Estonia with Blackmagic Design

Anthony Noack Captures Artist's Journey in Estonia with Blackmagic Design Brie Clayton August 12, 2026 0 Comments Solo filmmaker documents concept...

13/08/2026

ARRI Image Science makes its mobile debut in the HONOR Robot Phone

ARRI Image Science makes its mobile debut in the HONOR Robot Phone Brie Clayton August 12, 2026 0 Comments Hero image displays the HONOR Robot Phone, ...

13/08/2026

ASG Adds Eran Binyamin Zeitoun as Senior Technical Program Manager

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/08/2026

Vinten To Feature Manual, Robotic Camera Support Offerings At IBC 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/08/2026

SMPTE Unveils IBC 2026 Plans

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/08/2026

IP Showcase on the Water Announces Schedule for IBC 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/08/2026

Spectrum, Optimum Ink New Deals for News Carriage and Ads

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/08/2026

IAB Tech Lab Updates Privacy Standards

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/08/2026

Suitest Highlights New AI-Powered Device Testing and Qual...

Suitest's Test Automation Platform Simplifies Video Quality Assurance, Monitoring, and Device Certification Across the OTT Ecosystem At IBC2026, Suitest, a...

13/08/2026

Cinegy showcases powerful, agile, cost-effective media so...

Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, will have its key software solutions ready to demonstrate at SET Expo 2026 (18 20...

13/08/2026

Scripps Research establishes endowed chair honoring Peter K. Vogt, influential pioneer in cancer research

Scripps Research has established the Peter K. Vogt Endowed Chair, a new faculty ...

13/08/2026

New research offers fresh insights for how to make better vaccines

LA JOLLA, CA-A vaccine's molecular structure plays a key role in determining how the immune system responds and prepares to protect the body from future exp...

13/08/2026

Class Is in Session: GeForce NOW Levels Up Linux, Chromebooks and More

GeForce NOW is giving cloud gaming an extra-credit upgrade just in time for back-to-school season. The native Linux app for GeForce NOW is officially out of be...

12/08/2026

Op-Ed: The Versioning Playbook - How Rights Holders are Getting More From Live Events

Traditional live sports production has focused on creating the best possible pro...

12/08/2026

IBC 2026: FOR-A to Demonstrate Production and Processing Solutions

FOR-A will showcase a range of broadcast and production products at IBC2026 (Stand 2.B53, Amsterdam RAI, September 11-14), including software-based switching, A...

12/08/2026

IBC 2026: AMWA and EBU to Demo NMOS BCP-008 Multi-Vendor IP Status Reporting

The Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) and EBU will host live demonstrations of NMOS BCP-008 Minimum Status Reporting at IBC2026 (September 11-14) on th...

12/08/2026

IBC 2026: Dalet Launches Solution Suites for Media Production and Archive Management

Dalet has announced Dalet Solution Suites, a portfolio of cloud-native solutions...

12/08/2026

Net Insight Enables Centralized Remote Production of Blinkfestivalen 2026 for NRK

Net Insight has announced that DMC Production Norway has selected its Open Live ...

12/08/2026

Zixi Appoints Alyson Stewart as Senior Director of Sales

Zixi has appointed Alyson Stewart as Senior Director of Sales. Stewart will be responsible for direct sales and partnerships, with a focus on broadcasters, medi...

12/08/2026

LiveU Powers Host Broadcast Operations at 2026 Glasgow Games

LiveU's LU900Q intelligent production unit was deployed as part of the host broadcast operation for the Games in Glasgow (July 23-August 2, 2026). Host broa...

12/08/2026

Disney+ and ESPN Acquire Multi-Year Formula E Rights Beginning 2026/27 Season

Disney , ESPN, and Formula E have announced a multi-year deal bringing all Formula E races to Disney and ESPN in the U.S. and to Disney in most international...

12/08/2026

PSSI Launches X-LIVE Managed Service for Live Event Transmission

PSSI has launched X-LIVE, a managed service offering dedicated engineering resources and Appear encoding infrastructure for live event signal processing and tra...

12/08/2026

MoonPay X Games League Draws 18.3 Million Viewers in Inaugural Summer Season

The inaugural MoonPay X Games League Summer Season reached 18.3 million unique live viewers across three stops on ABC and ESPN, a 78.5% increase compared to the...

12/08/2026

IBC 2026: BBright Adds RIST Support to IP-Gateway

BBright will showcase an expanded IP-Gateway at IBC2026, adding support for all RIST profiles to its existing support for MPEG Transport Stream over IP with SMP...

12/08/2026

IBC 2026: BBright Adds EBU OGraf Graphics Support to UHD and ST 2110 Playout Platform

BBright will demonstrate EBU OGraf animated graphics support in its software-bas...

12/08/2026

Interra Systems to Showcase QC and Monitoring Solutions at SET Expo 2026

Interra Systems will demonstrate its ORION, BATON, BATON Captions, and VEGA solutions at SET Expo 2026 (August 17-20, Distrito Anhembi, S o Paulo) at partner Li...

12/08/2026

DPA Microphones Appoints Raul Contreras as West Coast Regional Sales Manager

DPA Microphones has appointed Raul Contreras as West Coast Regional Sales Manager. In the role, Contreras will oversee sales and customer relationships througho...

12/08/2026

Save the Date: SVG LIVE! Returns to LA Nov. 10 to Spotlight Sports & Entertainment Production

Live spectacles ranging from the Super Bowl and FIFA World Cup to the Oscars and...

12/08/2026

Love, Separation, and the Cost of Comfort in How to Divorce During the War

Writer-Director Andrius Bla evi ius and crew attend the premiere of How to Divorce During the War at The Ray Theatre on January 26, 2026, in Park City, UT. (P...

12/08/2026

SSL 360 gets a major update

Enhanced DAW & plug-in control for the UC1, UF8 and UF1 The software that powers SSL's range of control surfaces has just received a major update that d...

12/08/2026

Triton Audio launch the Tilt EQ

In-line preamp features one-knob EQ In addition to their range of in-line preamps, Triton Audio recently managed to squeeze a compressor into an enclosure t...

12/08/2026

AudioRoute from Arvital Audio

Captures system audio with or without a DAW Depending on your setup, capturing system audio in a DAW can be a tedious process, so much so that Arvital Audio...

12/08/2026

2026 NATIONAL NAIDOC AWARDS TO BROADCAST ON NITV LIVE AND DIRECT FROM MPARNTWE

2026 NATIONAL NAIDOC AWARDS TO BROADCAST ON NITV LIVE AND DIRECT FROM MPARNTWE 12 August, 2026 Media releases First Nations excellence will be celebrated l...

12/08/2026

More than six million sports fans stay with SBS for Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift

More than six million sports fans stay with SBS for Tour de France and Tour de F...

12/08/2026

Nielsen Introduces Groundbreaking Streaming Ad Measurement in Brazil

Nielsen is cementing Digital Ad Intel as the new go-to currency for digital ad intelligence in Brazil-now with streaming monitoring in the mix. S o Paulo, Augu...

12/08/2026

LPTV Advocates Petition FCC for Voluntary 5G Broadcasts

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/08/2026

Tubi Media Group Inks Content Discovery Deal with Gracenote

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/08/2026

Matrox Video Showcases IP-Based and Software-Defined Tech...

As Matrox Video celebrates 50 years of trusted innovation, the company will showcase its portfolio of interoperable IP technologies and software-defined innovat...

12/08/2026

SMPTE Showcases AI and Open Media Workflows and Industry...

SMPTE, the home of media professionals, technologists and engineers, today announced a program of expert-led sessions, professional workshops and networking eve...

12/08/2026

Berklee Announces Full Details for Inaugural Block Party, a Music Festival Next to Fenway Park

Berklee Announces Full Details for Inaugural Block Party, a Music Festival Next ...

12/08/2026

ACLU Requests ABC Station Probe Documents from FCC

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...