Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

SVG Summit 2018: Microphones Get Lots of Attention

20/12/2018

SVG Summit 2018: Microphones Get Lots of Attention New transducer designs and concepts became a theme of the event By Dan Daley, Audio Editor

Thursday, December 20, 2018 - 8:00 am

Print This Story

Story Highlights

Last week's two-day SVG Summit covered a lot of ground, from IP production and workflow to cloud virtualization and the latest on spectrum activity. But, if there was one area that showed a major burst of activity, it was microphones. The show featured several announcements concerning new products and new owners, as well as a look at an ambitious microphone-array system that could have significant impact on how sound is captured from the field of play in the immersive era.

Soft Power

Two wireless receiver products focused on pliant form factors made their debut at the Summit.

Designed specifically for use by NHL officials, Quantum5X's new RefMicHD is a model QT5100 transmitter with the on/off switch physically integrated into the transmitter's form factor. Previously, the NHL had been using the QT256 transmitter along with a separate on/off element. The RefMicHD combines all of those functions into a single unit. It underwent trials during regular-season games last season.

Compatible with receivers from both Shure and Lectrosonics, RefMicHD kits are now assigned to each of the league's 31 arenas, with the system's electronics installed in a dedicated rack at each.

The PlayerMic is in use by the NBA and MLB, said Q5X CEO Paul Johnson, but this is the first time we've had our receivers used on both the player and the officials' sides.

Also at the show, Zaxcom, which also specializes in advanced wireless transmitters for the broadcast-sports industry, introduced the ZMT3-Flex wireless transmitter, which uses a form factor and materials that bend and conform to and with the athletes wearing them.

Constructed of a soft yet durable silicon rubber, the ZMT3-Flex provides an elevated level of safety for the professional athlete. The design also features rounded corners, is extremely thin at only 0.4 in. (1.02 cm), and weighs only 3 oz. (85 g).

The ZMT3-Flex can transmit a fully encrypted digital audio signal while simultaneously recording the audio internally and is capable of transmitting audio from a single mono microphone or dual microphones in stereo through two microdot inputs. The lossless internal recording simultaneously provides a catalog of all audio, whether transmitted or not, to a microSD card with timecode. The ZMT3-Flex is also equipped with Zaxcom High Density (ZHD) modulation, which increases the number of available channels at a location, an especially important feature as RF spectrum continues to contract.

Zaxcom has always been part of the sports and entertainment industry and wanted to develop something that boosted functionally while maximizing player safety, said Zaxcom President Glenn Sanders.

Consolidation Continues

Also announced at the show, DPA Microphones has been acquired by RCF Group, which acquired loudspeaker manufacturer EAW earlier this year. RCF has manufactured microphones and loudspeakers since 1949 at its facilities in Italy, becoming one of the first European OEM suppliers for international brands. RCF's PA systems are in leading sports venues, including Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, home to the NHL Predators.

With a history extending back six decades, DPA Microphones has specialized in miniature and flexible microphone and mounts for theatrical and other markets. In 2017, the Danish manufacturer used the AES Show in New York to introduce its CORE microphone-amplifier technology, with which it intended to achieve deeper penetration into broadcast-sports audio.

We've had good market share in sports broadcast, especially in Europe, where our shotgun and lavalier microphones are used by sports broadcasters like Sky Sports in the UK and TV2 in Denmark, Christopher Spahr, VP, sales and marketing, U.S., told SVG at the time, adding that both ESPN and Fox Sports also use its lavalier and headset mic elements.

Coming Full Circle

During the DTV Audio Group meeting, Sennheiser revealed a development effort around beamforming microphone arrays that have 31 of its MKH 8070 long shotgun microphones installed in a circular array that would theoretically provide seamless coverage of a large area, such as a soccer pitch. Sennheiser's Brian Glasscock explained that the initiative is aimed at the incipient immersive-audio market, specifically to capture audio as objects from the field. The circular design avoids off-axis spots in field coverage and will increase low-frequency response and directivity, he said.

At 1.5 meters in diameter, the prototype is somewhat ungainly, but Glasscock said it can be reduced by at least a third in the very near future.

Microphones made some major - and major-league - strides forward at the Summit, demonstrating that a lot of people are indeed listening.
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2018/12/20/svg-summit-2018-microphones-get...
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 ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

09/06/2026

Kiswe Expands Partnership With ONE Championship To LaunchGlobal Subscription Platform

Kiswe announces an expanded long-term partnership with ONE Championship (ONE), t...

09/06/2026

SiriusXM to Carry All 104 FIFA World Cup 2026 Matches via FOX Sports Commentary

SiriusXM will broadcast FOX Sports' English-language commentary for all 104 FIFA World Cup 2026 matches from June 11 through July 19, available to subscribe...

09/06/2026

EVS Broadcast Equipment Rebrands as EVS

EVS has announced it is changing its corporate name from EVS Broadcast Equipment to EVS, reflecting the company's expanded portfolio beyond broadcast equipm...

09/06/2026

FOX and NFL Announce Multi-Year Agreement for NFL Coverage in Mexico Starting in 2026

Fox Corporation and the NFL have announced a multi-year agreement to bring NFL c...

09/06/2026

FOX Sports and ReachTV to Carry All 104 FIFA World Cup 2026 Matches Across U.S. Airports

FOX Sports and ReachTV, an airport media network, have announced an agreement to...

09/06/2026

Cosm Atlanta Opens with Private Preview, Public Opening Set for June 10

Cosm Atlanta, a 70,000-square-foot, three-level immersive entertainment venue located within Centennial Yards adjacent to State Farm Arena and Mercedes-Benz Sta...

09/06/2026

NESN Wins Five New England Emmy Awards

NESN captured five awards at the 2026 Boston/New England Emmy Awards, including four program honors and one individual award. These awards reflect the passion...

09/06/2026

Ateme Referenced by Apple at WWDC26 for Apple Immersive Video Workflow Support

Ateme has announced that its support for Apple Immersive Video workflows was referenced by Apple during its 2026 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC26). Atem...

09/06/2026

Axel Springer Deploys Bitmovin Player Web X for WELT Audio News Experience

Bitmovin has announced that Axel Springer SE has deployed Player Web X, Bitmovin's web video player, to power audio readouts of news articles and an audio-o...

09/06/2026

Grass Valley and Lawo Announce Technology Collaboration on AMPP and HOME Integration

Grass Valley and Lawo have announced a technology collaboration to validate orch...

09/06/2026

LiveU Deploys Remote VAR for Oceania Football Confederation, First in Pacific Islands

LiveU has announced a deployment with the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) t...

09/06/2026

Globecast Launches Content Exchange Platform Powered by Oracle Cloud Infrastructure

Globecast has announced the launch of its Content Exchange platform, powered by ...

09/06/2026

OT7 Championship Weekend to Air on NBC and Peacock for First Time

NBC Sports will present live coverage of Overtime's OT7 football league Championship Weekend from Sullivan Field at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angel...

09/06/2026

UFC Freedom 250: Inside the One-in-a-Lifetime Production Behind the White House Fight Card

We're in three different locations, three different production teams. Coveri...

09/06/2026

Murray States Brandon Banks on Firing Up Racers Basketball Fans Through Creative Video

The intro video for Men's Basketball won Outstanding In-Venue Video in the C...

09/06/2026

SVG Sit-Down, Part 2: FIFA's Oscar Sanchez, HBS's Paul King Dive Deep Into IBC Operations, Commentary, and Ref Cam

Today is match day minus two for FIFA and HBS. On Thursday, there will be two ma...

09/06/2026

Designing the Modern Scorebug: How Broadcast Graphics Teams Are Rethinking the Most Important Element On Screen

Since their debut, the clock-and-score graphic has drawn the affinity and ire of...

09/06/2026

Watch LE SSERAFIM's PURE FLOWERS LIVE Performance Videos and Fan Q&A, Only on Spotify

Last month, Spotify hosted PURE FLOWERS LIVE, a special event celebrating the re...

09/06/2026

Watch RADAR UK Artist Skye Newman Perform Live in London for Her SE9' Album Launch

Last month, RADAR U.K. artist Skye Newman took the stage in East London for a sp...

09/06/2026

Announcement from Wayne Jones Audio

Company to cease operating on 30 June 2026 Australian loudspeaker and amplifier manufacturer Wayne Jones Audio have announced that after much consideration,...

09/06/2026

bigBASS from fedDSP

Increases low-end weight and character The latest plug-in release from Sheffield-based fedDSP aims to offer an all-in-one solution for users in search of mo...

09/06/2026

Fender Studio Pro 8.1 arrives

Introduces AI Studio Assistant, Moises Studio integration & more Fender Studio have just announced the launch a significant update that brings an array of n...

09/06/2026

Call for Sediba Scriptwriting Training Programme Bloemfontein, Free State

The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is a statutory body mandated to spearhead the equitable growth and development of the South African film and video...

09/06/2026

BBC Casts Edward Bluemel As Poirot In Hercule,' As BritBox Boards Agatha Christie Remake In U.S.

The BBC has found its Hercule Poirot. After Deadline revealed last month that t...

09/06/2026

Nielsen launches Four-Screen Ad Deduplication measurement on YouTube campaigns in Italy

Media buyers and sellers can now compare YouTube reach from computer, mobile, an...

09/06/2026

Andrew Beaudet Joins Brompton as Head of Sales, Americas

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/06/2026

Mediaset Italia Deploys Mediagenix Platform To Modernize Scheduling

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/06/2026

Mediaset Italia Modernizes Content Supply Chain and Chann...

A project aimed at modernizing scheduling operations across Mediaset's channel portfolio Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitab...

09/06/2026

ACT Entertainment Debuts tvONE 4RU CALICO PRO at InfoComm...

tvONE, an ACT Entertainment brand, debuts its most powerful video processor ever built: the 4RU CALICO PRO (C7-PRO-4200), at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N6813). Engine...

09/06/2026

Composer and Conductor Eric Whitacre to Receive Honorary Doctorate at Berklee Valencia's 2026 Commencement

Composer and Conductor Eric Whitacre to Receive Honorary Doctorate at Berklee Va...

09/06/2026

Comcast Advertising Adds Purchasing Data from Affinity Solutions

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/06/2026

Midwich to Distribute Miri Technologies in North America

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/06/2026

Nielsen: North American Soccer Fans Jump to More Than 136 Million

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/06/2026

Grass Valley and Lawo Collaborate to Advance Open Dynamic...

Technology collaboration to validate AMPP and Lawo HOME orchestration integration, showcasing Dynamic Media Facility principles in practice. Grass Valley and ...

09/06/2026

Bitmovin Player Web X Powers Axel Springer New Audio News...

Bitmovin, a leading provider of video streaming solutions, today announced that Axel Springer SE, international media and technology company, has deployed Playe...

09/06/2026

LiveU Delivers First Remote VAR Deployment Across the Pac...

LiveU, the global leader in live IP-video solutions, today announced a landmark deployment with the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) that has brought Video ...

09/06/2026

Sam Craig Joins Grass Valley as VP, Global Pre-Sales

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/06/2026

Arkansas TV Will Continue to Air PBS Programming

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/06/2026

Glensound to Show DARK22M Network Audio Interface at InfoComm 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/06/2026

EVS Rebrands, Trims Its Name

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/06/2026

FCC Announces Tentative Agenda for June 25 Open Meeting

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/06/2026

Two Alumni Win Tony Awards

Two Alumni Win Tony Awards Mike Morris and Cedric Leiba Jr. won awards for Best Orchestrations and Best Play, respectively. June 8, 2026 By Tori Donahue ...

09/06/2026

X-Rite Pantone Launches Offset360 to Modernize Color Control Across Existing Presses

X-Rite Pantone Launches Offset360 to Modernize Color Control Across Existing Pre...

09/06/2026

VEON Appoints Serkan Ozturk as Chief of Staff & Strategy Officer

09 Jun 2026 VEON Appoints Serkan Ozturk as Chief of Staff & Strategy Officer Dubai and New York, June 9, 2026 - VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON), a global digital oper...

09/06/2026

Katie Price: Nothing to Hide, a candid and unfiltered account of three decades in the spotlight, coming to Sky and NOW on 8 July

Tuesday 9 June 2026 Katie Price: Nothing to Hide, a candid and unfiltered accou...

09/06/2026

Netflix Unveils First Images And Poster For Wrath, A New Brazilian Series Premiering July 29

Back to All News Netflix Unveils First Images And Poster For Wrath, A New Brazi...

09/06/2026

ENNI Will Be Using AEP.EnerS4 Billing Solution

Enni Continues to Rely on Arvato Systems - And Will Be Using AEP.EnerS4 Billing Solution Arvato Systems to implement transformation project for SAP S/4HANA Ut...