IBC 2022: Audio Exhibitors To Focus on Remote Production, Standards-Driven Tech Networking, integration, immersive audio are driving advances By Dan Daley, Audio Editor Wednesday, September 7, 2022 - 12:18 pm
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Over a tough 2 years, the broadcast-audio community confronted a global pandemic with innovative solutions, such as artificial crowd noise and closer-than-ever SFX-capture for sports. At last, the folks who accomplished that are gathering once again, at the Amsterdam RAI Sept. 9-12 for the first IBC Show since 2019. Here's an in-depth look at what attendees will get to see - and hear - from SVG audio sponsors at the show.
CALREC Calrec Impulse
Calrec (Hall 8, Stand B57) will highlight the power and flexibility of its ImPulse technology, running multiple independent consoles from a fully redundant pair of ImPulse IP cores, including physical control surfaces and headless consoles using Calrec Assist on a PC. ImPulse has native SMPTE 2110 connectivity and is compatible with the Calrec Assist web interface as well as the Apollo and Artemis consoles to provide a simple upgrade path for existing Calrec customers moving to an IP domain. It provides 3D immersive path widths and panning for next-generation audio with height and 3D pan controls, flexible panning, and downmixing built-in.
Calrec Assist is a browser-based interface that creates a virtual-console environment, allowing operators to mix directly from a computer or laptop. It's compatible with a range of Calrec products to help broadcasters streamline workflows, improve cost-efficiency, and expand the variety of coverage.
Calrec's flexible Type R console will sit on the same IP network, as will the Brio console, connected via an IP Gateway. The company's Gateway boxes enable users on a Hydra2 network to merge onto an IP network to continue to get value from their original investment while tapping into the benefits of IP workflows.
On exhibit for the first time will be the Type R Talent Panel and GPIO Box. Type R mixing console is designed to allow customers to take advantage of distributed production and flexible workflows. Its integrated native-IP core provides virtual working practices and integration with station-automation systems like Ross Overdrive, Sony ELC, and Grass Valley Ignite. The new GPIO unit for Type R is a 1RU box delivering an additional 32 GPOs and 32 GPIs for interfacing with external systems, such as playout, phone systems, codecs, etc. Functionality can be added onto physical buttons on Type R fader panels, soft panels or web UIs and configured via Calrec's user-friendly Connect application.
LAWO Lawo A__UHD Core
Lawo (Hall 8, Stand B90) will show its new software version 10.4 for A__UHD Core and mc consoles. Features include Signal Ownership Groups (allow users to arbitrate resources shared on a network); health-monitoring features centralized in HOME, with status displays of critical system errors, warnings, and notifications; and the new User List, which makes signal routing for mc consoles in A__UHD Core systems more intuitive and flexible. In addition, with integration of Nova73 into HOME, operators now have the freedom to keep using their cores in a hybrid environment built around A__UHD Core and Nova73 systems. This integration allows existing users to migrate to the latest mc console architecture at their own pace. Furthermore, following a successful JT-NM test in August, HOME is now officially NMOS IS-04 and IS-05 compatible, and DirectOut is about to join Merging Technologies as HOME-native supplier.
One major development Lawo has identified is that immersive audio is about to go mainstream, as we predicted, says Lucas Zwicker, senior technical product manager, audio production, Lawo. Put on a backburner during the pandemic, it is now ready to take center stage: broadcaster Sky Germany decided to go immersive for all first-league Bundesliga soccer matches. Lawo will announce support of other immersive formats soon and already provides the possibility to tweak third-party NGA processor parameters right from an mc console's screen, i.e. directly from the sweet spot. A second trend - decentralized, distributed audio and video production - relies on redundant WAN connections over IP. Finally, the trend toward virtualization for geo-agnostic access to processing resources hosted in private-cloud data centers is actively supported by the MCX control software for mc consoles, which can be virtualized alongside other services in the HOME management platform.
PLIANT TECHNOLOGIES Pliant Technologies CCU-08 CrewCom control unit
Pliant Technologies (Hall 10, Stand C53) will be introducing new elements for both CrewCom and CrewCom CB2 systems. The new CCU-08 CrewCom control unit is the latest addition to the CrewCom system and gives users the ability to use up to eight 4-wire ports for larger-scale deployments while retaining all the features of the current companion CCU-22 and CCU-44 products. The CCU-08 control unit contains no radio and is frequency-agnostic, allowing it to control and monitor any device across CrewNet regardless of radio-frequency bands used. With the combination of CrewCom radio transceivers (RTs), a single CCU-08 supports up to 82 Radio Packs (RPs), 18 in Normal mode and 64 in the recently released High Density mode, across all RF bands. The latest update includes several enhancements; including faster configuration-file (CCF) upload speeds and a new Radio Pack paired list that allows the user to view and manage, from a single location, a list of all Radio Packs paired to each control unit.
The new High Density mode for both CrewCom and CrewCom CB2 wireless intercom systems is a selectable mode of operation that greatly increases user densities. For CrewCom, this new software-selectable High
