Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Live From Tokyo Olympics: Karl Malone on the Move to Immersive Audio and Keeping Remote Commentators Connected

02/08/2021

Live From Tokyo Olympics: Karl Malone on the Move to Immersive Audio and Keeping Remote Commentators Connected By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director

Sunday, August 1, 2021 - 6:38 pm

Print This Story

Karl Malone, NBC Sports and NBC Olympics, director, sound design, says the 2020 Olympics is truly the audio Olympics. He jokes that he says that every Olympics, but it's hard to argue with that this time around: next-generation immersive audio, with 5.1.4 (think regular surround sound with four additional channels overhead to give height to the audio), is the norm at every venue. And remote commentary is more important than ever. Simply put, the efforts are impressive. He spoke with SVG in the NBC Olympics listening room at the Tokyo IBC.

I wanted to start with your sense of the sonic landscape of these Games. Does anything stand out to you?

Going into this, the focus was a lack of crowd and how things would sound, as well as coming in with the newer technologies of immersive audio, along with OBS providing 5.1.4 audio and a paintbrush to do all our venues in immersive audio. But the lack of crowd has tended not to be an issue because we've had quite a lot of crowds, especially in swimming and gymnastics, where the other teams come in, and that has been great. That's not to say that there are no empty-sounding venues, like badminton or weightlifting, but, certainly for the primary venues, it. has become sort of a non-issue.

Michael DiCrescenzo in the Olympics audio-control room at the IBC. Notice the trusses installed to fly the four speakers.

Michael DiCrescenzo, NBC senior A1 and audio design engineer, has been mixing the NBC Primetime show in Dolby Atmos and creating the immersive mixes to ensure consistency from sport to sport. Peter Puglisi has been mixing NBC golf coverage in Dolby Atmos but out of a truck in Stamford, CT. The technical complexity of this Games has been dizzying.

Sonically, it has been kind of the best of both worlds, where you have crowd and you can pick out the detail of the sport. This was always going to be the Games that was an audio Games, and you're going to hear these Games like you've never heard before. We can hear footfalls in athletics, and that's not in a silent stadium: there is the PA, and there are people cheering. Everything takes a day or two to tweak, but you're hearing things that you've never heard before, and that has been fantastic.

Athletics, golf, gymnastics, basketball, volleyball mixed from Sky in London and swimming and beach volleyball have all sounded fantastic. The specialty cameras have helped a lot. There's a cable cam that goes over the swimming, and that really helps to pick up the sound, the wet sound of swimming.

Micheal DiCrescenzo (background) and NBC Olympics A1 Fred Hedemark at the IBC

I loved the skateboarding where you could hear the board riding down the rail.

Yeah, skateboard is good, but we're sort of challenged a little bit by a couple of sports like BMX. The ramps are soft, and the rubber wheels are soft, so you're trying to reach for those sorts of sounds. In 3 3 basketball, the court is different from regular basketball courts, where you hear squeaks and ball bounces, so you need to try to pull those [sounds] out as well. With those new sports, you want to promote that sport to people audibly as well as visually.

It has been challenging, but that's the fun part: how can we get more out of this sport and bring it home to tell the story?

Any tips for someone who has not worked in immersive audio about what to expect and how to do it?

We've always talked about having a base layer of ambience for the heights. I think that has always been very successful with us, and that's what OBS has provided us with: a nice base layer to build on.

We've gone 16 channels wide with our edits and audio coming from the truck, and we came into this knowing that's our plan. Sixteen channels of audio gave us the first eight channels for our standard 5.1, plus we do dummy headsets and clean announcer tracks to help edits. The last eight channels are fully immersive: we take the four height channels, and we have a stereo mix for the last two pairs, which we've been able to place into certain areas of the stadiums to add to that base.

For example, we would use those pairs to isolate a certain section of fans in the crowd and put that into the heights with the base. That hasn't been borne out at these Olympics, but, technically and engineering-wise, we're getting that through the edits, and that has been very successful. Making that 16-channel workflow work and getting editors to edit across 16 channels is something we've never done before. And that has been very helpful to us.

That may be how everybody else will do it, but, for us, it is having the base layer and then building on that base layer by being able to add certain things to bring your ear up.

When someone is editing with 16 channels, are they hearing the height signals?

No, they are not hearing them in an immersive overhead configuration but rather as isolated tracks, which they can solo and QC. Ultimately, they're passing them through from the trucks or the venues. The editors are doing their normal 5.1, and everything's mixed live in the audio-control room for the final mix.

Final question on the immersive land. What does it mean to see spatial audio getting its due, even seeing commercials on TV from Apple about it?

I think anything that can add to the experiences is going to be worthwhile. I know I say this all the time, but immersive audio does make the picture look better. If you add spatial audio and the immersive audio to our production, it makes the production overall a much better and more enjoyable production. And it's not that the pictures don't look grea
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2021/08/01/live-from-the-olympics-karl-mal...
See more stories from svg

North America Stories

03/06/2026

SES Launches Multi-Orbit Satellite Inflight Connectivity on Viva Airlines

SES and Viva, Mexico's ultra low-cost airline, have launched multi-orbit satellite inflight connectivity on Viva's Airbus aircraft. A total of 60 A320s ...

03/06/2026

CFP, ESPN, and TNT Sports Announce 2026-27 College Football Playoff Broadcast Schedule

The College Football Playoff, ESPN, and TNT Sports have announced kick times and...

03/06/2026

RED Digital Cinema to Host Panels and Demos at Cine Gear Expo 2026

RED Digital Cinema will exhibit at Cine Gear Expo 2026 (Booth 33, June 5-6, Universal Studios Lot), hosting three panels and hands-on product demonstrations. P...

03/06/2026

Roku Launches Soccer Zone for FIFA World Cup 2026

Roku has announced the Soccer Zone, a dedicated hub for FIFA World Cup 2026 content available across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argent...

03/06/2026

Liverpool FC and Wasabi Technologies Renew Multi-Year Partnership

Liverpool FC and Wasabi Technologies have announced a multi-year extension of their partnership, with Wasabi continuing as the club's official cloud storage...

03/06/2026

Sky News Australia Deploys Grass Valley AMPP for Cloud-Based Newsroom Production

Grass Valley has announced that Australian News Channel (ANC), operator of Sky News Australia, has deployed Grass Valley AMPP as part of the relocation of its n...

03/06/2026

Gudrun Scharler Appointed CEO of Riedel Networks

The Riedel Group has announced the appointment of Gudrun Scharler as CEO of Riedel Networks. She succeeds Michael Martens, who has led Riedel Networks since 201...

03/06/2026

Clear-Com Deploys Arcadia Central Station and FreeSpeak II at Itaka Arena in Poland

Clear-Com has announced the deployment of its intercom solutions at Itaka Arena ...

03/06/2026

Scott Coker Announces Six Executive Hires for New MMA Promotion

Scott Coker has announced six senior executive appointments for his new global MMA promotion, which launched earlier this year with $60 million in financing. Ad...

03/06/2026

Telemundo Announces Digital and Social Media Plans for FIFA World Cup 2026

Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the FIFA World Cup 2026, has announced its digital and social media programming for the tournament, running Ju...

03/06/2026

Bundesliga Launches AI Assistant 'Captain' in Official App, Developed With AWS

The Bundesliga has announced the launch of Captain, an AI assistant built into t...

03/06/2026

Anthony James Partners Serving as Technology Consultant for UNC Kenan Stadium Modernization

Anthony James Partners (AJP) is serving as technology consultant for a moderniza...

03/06/2026

Audio-Technica Presents 2025-26 Samurai and Presidents Awards

Audio-Technica has announced the recipients of its annual sales rep firm awards for the 2025-26 fiscal year. The awards were presented by Jim Schanz, Executive ...

03/06/2026

iodyne to Demo Multi-Cam Ingest and Color Workflows With RED and Adobe at Cine Gear Expo 2026

iodyne will exhibit at Cine Gear Expo 2026 alongside RED Digital Cinema and Adob...

03/06/2026

Women's College World Series 2026: ESPN Brings Out Cinematic Cameras, POVORA CapCams for All-Texas Championship

The broadcaster will deploy 39 cameras for game coverage, six cameras for studio...

03/06/2026

How Comcast Xfinity Made RealTime 4K, Multiview a Reality for World Cup Fans with Vito Forlenza

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is providing a great opportunity for not only Fox Sports...

03/06/2026

Sonys New PTZ Cameras Deliver 4K 60p; New STARVIS Sensor Meets Low-Light Demands

Sony Electronics is introducing the SRG-AS10, a 4K 60p compatible PTZ Auto Framing camera that uses Sony's proprietary AI to automatically recognize and tra...

03/06/2026

NBA Finals 2026: ESPN's 1080p HDR Experience Drives San Antonio Spurs vs. New York Knicks Title Series

Game Creek Video's Flagship A, B, C, and D unit will wind up its first year ...

03/06/2026

New Sponsor Spotlight: Caretta Researchs Evangelos Vrysellas Says Booming Sports-Rights Market May Be Hitting the Brakes

According to Caretta Research, the sports-rights market may be hitting the brake...

03/06/2026

Film Festival Watch: Catch These 11 Must-See Sundance Institute-Supported Films at Tribeca 2026

Retrieval still courtesy of Tribeca. By Jessica Herndon This year, the Tribeca...

03/06/2026

Comcast Xfinity to Deliver 4K Coverage of FIFA World Cup 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Sony to Show New PTZ Cameras at InfoComm 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Oklahoma City Thunder Tops Nielsen Ranking of Most Viewed NBA Teams

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

SmallHD Introduces OLED 16 4K Production Monitor

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

ANDREW WILSON DELIVERS AUTHENTIC SOUND FOR FILM USING NU...

For more than three decades, Re-recording Mixer Andrew Wilson, AMPS, CAS, has helped bring the natural world to the screen with exceptional audio enjoyed by mil...

03/06/2026

From Stadiums to Campuses to Corporate Studios- Telestrea...

Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will showcase its latest innovations for modern AV production environments at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N...

03/06/2026

DPA ADVANCES INTEGRATED AUDIO SOLUTIONS FOR PRO AV ENVIR...

DPA Microphones will present a comprehensive portfolio of integrated audio solutions designed to meet the evolving needs of today's professional AV environm...

03/06/2026

Lightware Expands Gemini GVN With Full-Featured USB-C

Lightware announces the GVN-HC-TX220AP, a new transmitter in the Gemini GVN 1G AV-over-IP family that introduces full-featured USB-C for professional 1Gb AV-ove...

03/06/2026

Minno Teams with Evergent to Enhance Faith-Based Streamin...

Evergent, the customer management and monetization leader for streaming and digital subscription businesses, and Minno, the global leader in faith-based content...

03/06/2026

Alfalite brings its LED technology to RTVE iconic Teatro...

Alfalite, Europe's only LED display manufacturer, has completed a new broadcast installation with the deployment of two UHD Finepix 1.5 MATIX AlfaCOB LED di...

03/06/2026

Broadcast Solutions delivers new Ultra HD outside broadca...

Broadcast Solutions, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, is completing a contract to build eight...

03/06/2026

NAB Launches Merkhet Solutions to Advance Deployment of BPS

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

FCC Kicks Off First Spectrum Auction in Four Years

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Utopai Studios Launches Pai 2.0, Cinematic Storytelling AI System

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Roku Introduces NHL Zone

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Study: Record Revenue Expected for FIFA World Cup 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Frequency Launches In-Scene Advertising

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Creamsource Introduces Vortex2 and Vortex2 Soft

Creamsource, known for its tried-and-true Vortex Series of cinematic lighting, has announced the Vortex2 (V2) and Vortex2 Soft (V2S), two compact additions to t...

03/06/2026

Faster, More Flexible AI Matting Fuels Boris FX Silhouette

Faster, More Flexible AI Matting Fuels Boris FX Silhouette Jessie Electa Petrov June 2, 2026 0 Comments The 2026 release helps artists tackle complex ...

03/06/2026

La Tl's National League Hockey Expansion Powered by Blackmagic Design

La T l 's National League Hockey Expansion Powered by Blackmagic Design Brie Clayton June 2, 2026 0 Comments Blackmagic Videohub 120 120 12G provi...

03/06/2026

ZY Optics to Offer Exclusive First Look at Zone T1 Cine Kit at Cine Gear Expo 2026

ZY Optics to Offer Exclusive First Look at Zone T1 Cine Kit at Cine Gear Expo 20...

03/06/2026

Berklee Alumni St. Vincent and Ruby Plume to Perform Together on St. Vincents 2026 Live with Orchestra Tour

Berklee Alumni St. Vincent and Ruby Plume to Perform Together on St. Vincents 20...

03/06/2026

Built Different: Inside Colossal Biosciences & the Big Bet ...

Built Different: Inside Colossal Biosciences & the Big Bet to Make Extinction Reversible Published on Jun 3, 2026 Categories: Featured News LinkedIn Corpor...

03/06/2026

NVIDIA Enables the Next Era Of Physical AI Research With Agent Skills For Autonomous Vehicles, Robotics And Vision AI

At CVPR, NVIDIA is unveiling new physical AI agent skills that help researchers ...

03/06/2026

NVIDIA Research Unlocks Advanced Grasping, Smarter Autonomous Driving and Agent Training at Scale

What makes a robot gripper useful isn't that it can pick up one object - it&...

02/06/2026

Case Study: Tennis Channel Transitions From Satellite to IP Distribution With LTN

Tennis Channel has completed a transition from satellite-based distribution to a...

02/06/2026

Daktronics Announces 2026 High School Video Summit for June 23-24

Daktronics has announced the 2026 High School Video Summit, a two-day educational event for high school educators and student production teams, taking place Jun...

02/06/2026

Fandango to Screen Telemundos FIFA World Cup 2026 Coverage at 160 Theaters Nationwide

Fandango will bring Telemundo's live Spanish-language coverage of the FIFA W...

02/06/2026

AWSN Announces Broadcast Schedule for Inaugural Professional Softball League Season

All Women's Sports Network (AWSN) has announced the live television schedule...

02/06/2026

Spalk Announces Partnerships with Ligue 1, Euroleague, and LNB

Spalk, a cloud-based multilingual commentary and production platform, has announced three new partnerships: Ligue 1 (English and Portuguese highlights), Eurolea...