News & Press Releases

IBC 2008: RTL France purchases seven AURATUS desks for its Paris radio operations

“Split-console” custom made to suit client requirements enables installation in ergonomic u-shaped furniture

Amsterdam, the Netherlands, September 2008: France’s largest and longest established private radio broadcaster RTL has ordered seven AURATUS digital mixing consoles from pro-audio manufacturer STAGETEC based in Berlin, Germany. The deal between RTL, STAGETEC and the French STAGETEC distributor 44.1 was announced on September 12 at this year’s IBC in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Installation of the new desks will be carried out over a 24 month period commencing in September. The sale is part of an overall revamp of the studios in the RTL Paris broadcasting centre, replacing older digital consoles with STAGETEC’s broadcast specialist AURATUS. AURATUS integrates perfectly into the existing audio-network at RTL, since this has been completely replaced by a fully redundant STAGETEC NEXUS system over the past two years.

“ Despite the high level of integration between AURATUS and NEXUS, the decision to go for the AURATUS was by no means a sure thing. The AURATUS was selected by all the RTL-operators after extensive evaluation of rival brands thanks to the desk’s outstanding user-friendliness and unique dedication to broadcast tasks”, said Stephan Salzbrenner, Managing Director Marketing and Sales, at the IBC.

The technical advantages of the AURATUS for RTL are complemented by fulfilling a unique RTL requirement. Since all the studios will be equipped with u-shaped furniture, RTL wanted its new mixing desks to adapt to this form. This could not be easier for the modular AURATUS: RTL will take delivery of a custom built “split-console” consisting of the central section in the middle with fader modules arranged either side of the central section. All modules will be connected in a technically elegant manner with a bus-system employing just a single cable.
 

IBC 2008: Telewizja Polska SA Goes HD

BFE OB truck with STAGETEC-based audio control room to be presented outside on the IBC show ground

Amsterdam, in September 2008: AURUS consoles and NEXUS audio networks by the SALZBRENNER STAGETEC MEDIAGROUP not only offer excellent audio quality and a high degree of flexibility but are also compact and lightweight energy savers and thus perfect for use inside OB vans. It has therefore become a tradition that the MEDIAGROUP presents a newly set-up OB van equipped with STAGETEC audio systems at the IBC Convention. This year, a very special vehicle can be seen. It is the brand-new Telewizja Polska HD HDTV-enabled large OB truck of Polish public TV broadcaster TVP.

When fully extended, the gigantic trailer with its two large extensions on both sides, plus a slightly smaller one at the rear, covers a total area of approximately 70 square metres. In addition to a video control workstation and a video machine room with a total of four slow-motion workplaces plus a separate VTR room, there is still enough space for a 7.1 audio control room.
The core of the audio system is a lavishly configured AURUS console. Thanks to its compact design, it was possible to install a 48-fader console. The NEXUS network used with the AURUS offers around 900 inputs and 700 outputs. The majority of the 152 digital microphone inputs are made available by the two mobile NEXUS Base Devices that can be placed right on the spot thanks to the use of optical fibre.

An especially elegant audio-follows-video functionality can be achieved thanks to the new BFE KSC Commander – a global AV-component controller. This allows for either remote-control or manual operation of the NEXUS.

The Telewizja Polska HD is displayed outside on the IBC’s show ground. It can be accessed via the exit next to the BFE stall (hall 9, booth D20). In addition, the AURUS, the NEXUS, and all other MEDIAGROUP product ranges will be presented at the SALZBRENNER STAGETEC MEDIAGROUP stall (hall 8, booth C80).
 

IBC 2008: NEW RELEASE: Dolby E^® Decoder Board

New XDED board for NEXUS offers flexible processing of Dolby E^®-encoded signals

Amsterdam, in September 2008: Just in time for the IBC Convention in Amsterdam, the SALZBRENNER STAGETEC MEDIAGROUP releases a new add-on for their NEXUS audio system: The XDED (neXus Dolby E Decoder) is a slide-in STAGETEC board that splits a Dolby E^®-encoded stream into eight separate channels. These are available subsequently for individual processing on the entire NEXUS network and the AURUS consoles connected to it.

Dolby E^®-encoded signals are typically received from AES/EBU lines. However, the NEXUS offers still further options with the absolute minimum of technical expenditure. For example since the NEXUS is certified for transparent forwarding of Dolby E^® signals, an AES/EBU line carrying a Dolby E^®-encoded signal can be connected to a remote Base Station and then transmitted over the NEXUS network to the OB truck. There it is decoded using the new XDED board. Another interesting application is the use of Dolby E^® in conjunction with SDI: Dolby E^® signals are often embedded into an SDI stream; the NEXUS de-embeds the signal using an (optionally HD-enabled) NEXUS SDI board and subsequently decodes the Dolby E^® data stream.

“We’ve seen great interest in our decoder board even prior to its presentation,” says STAGETEC’s managing director Dr Klaus-Peter Scholz. “It is a key component, in particular, on large HD-enabled OB vans and in TV production studios and TV main switching rooms – actually, everywhere where surround broadcasting is standard today.”

The SALZBRENNER STAGETEC MEDIAGROUP will present the new board together with all the other components of the NEXUS and AURUS ranges at their stall in Amsterdam.

Dolby and the double D are registered trademarks of Dolby Laboratories.
 

Improved functionality and flexibility:
STAGETEC introduces new component boards for NEXUS STAR

Berlin, August 2008: STAGETEC, Berlin based developer and manufacturer of high-end digital audio technology and member of the SALZBRENNER STAGETEC MEDIAGROUP, offers two new component boards to complement their NEXUS STAR large scale audio routing system:

The RMF 02 is an innovative MADI board that expands on the functionality of its predecessor. The standard version features BNC connectors and receptacles for SFP optical modules, allowing for either copper or optical connections to be used as required. This allows conversion between optical and copper based I/O’s to be performed on a single board. Numerous optical SFP modules are available including multimode, single-mode, and CWDM (Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplex). The input circuits automatically detect the channel count and formats within the incoming signal. The outputs can be set to the channel count required (56 or 64 at 48 KHz, 28 or 32 at 96 KHz) and the 96-KHz output format can be switched between legacy and double-frequency formats.
In addition to the enhanced conversion functionality users benefit from signal processing incorporated with RMF 02 which allows for individual gain adjustment on each channel simply by using the NEXUS Also, when the RMF 02 is used in a NEXUS STAR router with redundant RCX controller/router boards and backplanes, the board supports redundant operation.
The RMF 02 module is available already since July and will be on show at the IBC, Amsterdam the Netherlands.

The RSYNC is a sync board for the NEXUS STAR router which addresses users running NEXUS STAR with RCX cpu/multiplexer boards incorporated. RSYNC enables the overall audio network to be synchronised to a wide variety of sources. In contrast to its predecessor RSYNC integrates the most common sync tasks (syncing balanced and unbalanced AES reference sources, and PAL and NTSC video) in a single board and, in addition, offers synchronisation of HDTV signals (tri-level). As with its predecessor, wordclock sync is also integrated in the controller board. Since the RSYNC incorporates both AES and wordclock outputs and distributes the clock to the overall network, it can be utilised for wordclock conversion and distribution simultaneously.

The RSYNC module will be introduced at the IBC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Distribution will start shortly after the show.