It’s new equipment season — get ready!
This annual feature is all about new gear that has come onto the market in recent months, especially during spring convention season.
Check out this installment of products.
Lawo Power Core Mixing Engine
The Power Core was initially introduced as a DSP mixing engine and modular I/O system for Lawo’s Ruby radio consoles, but, the company says, many broadcasters were using the system as a gateway between legacy audio formats and standards-based IP media networks.
This was possible because “The ST2110-30 standard ensures seamless interoperability of audio and video equipment in combined radio/TV broadcast plants,” it said in a release.
New features recently added to Power Core include: Dante card with dual-redundant ports and sample rate conversion; dual-redundant front-panel SFP ports for AoIP; choice of optical or copper network connections; ST2022-7 seamless protection switching; and twin active links to guard against audio loss.
Expandable, Power Core lets clients add more capacity with eight rear-panel card slots, which allow “a la carte” addition of analog, AES3, MADI and Dante interfaces, and the Studio I/O card that provides mic inputs and headphone and monitor outputs, the company says.
Info: www.lawo.com
Summit Technology SideCAR Logger
SideCAR, developed by Summit Technology Group, is a software-based logger.
The company says that it, “designed SideCAR with a station’s engineering and management teams in mind to provide a means of regulatory compliance logging.” Besides compliance duties, Summit President Paul Stewart says, “Reporters and producers were using the product to create best-of-show airchecks, podcasts, or simply upload a select piece of audio to their website.”
SideCAR uses ENCO’s enCaption speech-to-text engine and its performance should be near real-time, according to the company.
The company adds that it should integrate with AoIP equipment of many, if not most, manufacturers. It is also compatible with automation systems. SideCAR is scalable from a single station to networks.
Info: www.summittechgroup.com
Solid State Logic SiX Mixer
The Solid State Logic SiX is described as “a condensed professional console for use in the studio, post-production, on stage and for podcasting,” SiX packs some big desk features into a package small enough to fit into a backpack. It could find a home with radio production studios looking for high-quality audio production.
SiX offers two recording channels with SSL’s SuperAnalogue mic preamps, a one-knob version of the classic SSL Channel Compressor, a new two-band Channel EQ, inserts and 100 mm faders.
There is a two-knob version of the SSL’s G-Series Bus Compressor on the main mix bus and the company’s Listen Mic Compressor on the talkback. In mixdown mode, the unit can also serve as a 12-channel summing system.
Niall Feldman, SSL director of new products, noted, “The big challenge then was how to deliver those values and features in a compact product. Working with a great team and focusing on audio quality, workflow and flexibility, the resultant SiX mixer is one our proudest achievements.”
“SiX is everything an SSL console should be, but at a price point that makes the SSL audio pedigree more accessible,” opined James Gordon, CEO of Audiotonix, the company that owns SSL. “When Fusion launched last year, we hinted it was the start of a new line of studio offerings and SiX is step two of that commitment.”
Info: www.solidstatelogic.com
Point Source CO2 Confidence Microphones
Tested on live stage, the CO2 Confidence Collection microphones from Point Source Audio are dual-element wireless microphone with a number of features for broadcast use.
Besides redundant dual elements, they are IP 57 waterproof-rated with a nearly “unbreakable” that can be rotated almost 360 degrees — all featured in a slimline design. The omnidirectional waterproof elements are 3 mm and matched feature precisely matched elements to a near identical ±0.5 dB difference, according to the company. They can be nested to appear as a single element.
They are available in headset, lavalier and ear-mount and in black, beige and brown. Connections to wireless hardware are made with the company’s locking X-Connectors.
Info: www.point-sourceaudio.com
Arrakis Systems DARC Surface 12
The DARC Surface 12, from Arrakis Systems, is a 12-fader control surface.
It is designed to work with Arrakis’ DARC Virtual Console controller software and an AoIP network. It is Dante- and AES67-compatible.
Included is an LED meter bridge. Small OLEDs are used for channel displays and LED switches for switches. Faders are conductive plastic.
There are two output busses. Arrakis’ Simple IP AoIP I/O hardware package is available for the DARC Surface 12 though it will work with most any AoIP hardware.
Info: http://arrakis-systems.com
Digigram Iqoya Talk Codec
The Digigram Iqoya Talk is a portable IP audio codec for remote live operation, featuring a smartphone-like user interface allowing remote reporters to perform key actions in just two clicks. Operators can manage live reporting or commentaries with studio-quality interviews for up to four journalists and guests. The company adds that the user interface is designed for journalists not engineers.
Digigram says that the Iqoya Talk comes as a part of a comprehensive package, including studio and OB van applications, a range of four rackmountable IP audio codecs, or the company’s flagship multichannel audio IP codec for a large number of streams.
It also features a smartphone application and accessories for mobility; a web codec solution to connect a guest from anywhere, anytime; a suite of web applications to allow technicians to control and manage the entire fleet of codecs; and a secured infrastructure that enables interconnectivity between all the IP codecs.
Info: www.digigram.com
V-Soft Probe 5 RF Signal Propagation Measurement Program
This latest version of Probe will now process at 64 bits. That should increase its calculating power to take advantage of computer RAM greater than 2 GB.
The company says that users can configure every aspect of Probe 5’s maps including down to the street level to provide high detail. It also says that features such as, highway colors, line-thickness, road markers, city names, lake and ocean colors, font names and sizes are fully selectable. It features USGS topographic maps.
The program now includes “industry standard” NSMA OHLOSS propagation algorithm. Incumbent propagation methods include: Other propagation methods are standard FCC, Longley-Rice, Okumura/Hata/Davidson and COST-231/Hata, point-to-point path profile analysis, line of sight/shadow, the FCC’s PTP and PTP2 methods and ILLR Satellite Home Viewers Act.
Info: www.v-soft.com
