Brussels, Belgium, December 2018: Berlin-based manufacturer STAGETEC has upgraded two OB vans of Brussels-based Flemish broadcaster VRT with the powerful RMDQ audio DSP units. The HD01 and HD02 OB vans were each equipped with six DSP boards from the NEXUS STAR board. With them, the OB vans are equipped for all production requirements. Depending on the configuration, for example, 44 mix busses and more than 500 audio channels are available. The AURUS consoles, which have been installed in the OB vans for eight years, can now use new features such as the automixer, M/S decoder, internal tone generator, VCA hierarchy, etc.
"The customer can change the old DSP cards very quickly for the new RMDQ. For STAGETEC, on the other hand, the effort required to make such a technological update compatible was great. You can compare this to replacing the engine of a car after a decade with the latest technologies and specifications. And without compromising functionality and performance," emphasizes Jean-Paul Moerman, STAGETEC's distributor for Belgium and the Netherlands.
The two OB vans were built by Videohouse and have been on the road for VRT Flemish Radio and Television for eight and six years respectively. Both OB vans handle extensive, lavish TV productions and are primarily used for sports broadcasts and major music shows. Extraordinary AURUS consoles are installed in both sound control rooms. In order to save space and at the same time be able to drive the large productions with many audio signals, the AURUS was realized in each case as a large console in a small housing. A total of 64 faders can be accommodated in a 48-fader frame by adding two cassettes to the conventional 48 faders in the second console level directly below the monitors/screens. The greater number of direct accesses to channels achieved in this way is used primarily for recording pre-produced sounds.
The performance of the new audio DSP units in the two OB vans has apparently convinced VRT. The Flemish broadcaster now also plans to upgrade the M1 OB truck for broadcast productions as well as two production studios with NEXUS RMDQ boards.
