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WHEAT:NEWS March 2024 Volume 15, Number 3
THE WOSU PUBLIC MEDIA GIG
If the following isn’t a testament to our ability to play just about any venue, we don’t know what is.
Picture a large media center for a TV station, two radio stations, multiple streaming channels, and a statewide public media service. All in a five-story building, complete with two live performance stages for everything from a small orchestra and live bands to political debates.
Then add the players: Ross production automation for TV, ENCO DAD playback automation for radio, and consoles ranging from our larger TV production mixing console to smaller radio surfaces and virtual interfaces…all tied together with WheatNet-IP networking.
The studio gigs don’t get more fitting for us, a company with quite a few musicians, than WOSU Public Media’s new 52,000-square-foot media center located on the campus of The Ohio State University, Columbus.
Going the WheatNet-IP route meant the pubcaster could standardize on one common AoIP platform for all studios, media workflows, and presenters − from television and radio talent to college students and the occasional corporate or orchestra performance space rental. “That’s what got us into Wheatstone,” said Michael Meadows, Director of Technology for WOSU Public Media.
“We needed a higher end production board for TV and the live performance studios that had all the EQ functions and the ability to do multitrack through it. But we also needed everyday radio console surfaces for the on-air studios. Only Wheatstone gave us both, and once we IP’d that audio we could manage and route it anywhere,” he explained.
Livestreaming is accessible everywhere in the media complex, flowing from radio to TV to streaming channels and even across the campus and the 15th & High University District. “That’s where the true connection comes in, because while the entirely of our new $32 million facility is connected – most of it through WheatNet-IP audio networking – it’s also connecting into the community,” said Meadows.
WOSU Public Media serves the local arts and education community as well as greater Columbus through its WOSU PBS television station and its NPR WOSU 89.7 news and Classical 101 FM stations, along with a number of podcasts, streaming channels, and digital media outlets.
Centralizing all of that into one media center, instead of scattered across the campus as before, made it possible to share programming and control between multiple media and purposes. WheatNet-IP feeds WOSU’s statewide network of radio transmitters and links into the WOSU Classrooms multimedia lab, which is supported by the WOSU television and radio studios.
The WOSU project was the perfect gig for Wheatstone because it includes all the players: consoles ideal for TV and radio; fixed, turret, or virtual interfaces; true native IP audio into both radio and TV automation systems; and just about every product from every AoIP category known to broadcasting.
It involved almost a dozen Wheatstone consoles, 24 talent stations, 30-plus I/O Blades (including MADI Blades for I/O between networks), and routable mic processors for three on-air studios, five production/multipurpose studios, a large news suite, two TV studios (with associated control rooms and master control), plus two performance spaces. Eleven audio studios are devoted to 89.7 FM and Classical 101 on the second floor alone, all installed by Diversified Systems.
One of the two performance spaces is the open 2,200-square-foot Ross Community Studio event space that can seat up to 120 people. It can be routed to our larger TV mixing consoles with true native IP audio into the Ross production automation system for producing live events and other multi-mix productions. Robotic cameras hanging in the space (as well as in the radio talk studio) are automated to microphones through the WheatNet-IP audio network, the audio of which is embedded into video through the Ross production automation system.
The same large-frame console also sits in the two WOSU TV control studios for live mixing local shows such as Broad & High, Columbus Neighborhoods, and Columbus On The Record, the mics of which feed into a stage box that includes our I/O Blades so audio can be routed to anywhere there’s a Wheatstone console.
Another smaller performance space sits on the second floor adjacent to the Classical 101 on-air studio for live performances, which are mixed on a WheatNet-IP console surface made for radio with the ideal balance of audio tools onboard and in the network.
The result is that anyone can record, play, or produce a program from any talk or performance studio or remote location, and just about anyone −from A1s producing a concert to first-year students learning the ropes − can mix it in any studio in the building.
The gigs don’t get much better than this.
FROM OUR FACTORY TO YOUR FACILITY
200+ interconnected AoIP elements engineered, manufactured, and supported under one roof.
INSIDE THE WHEATSTONE LAB
Here, in the Wheat Lab, is where it’s all staged, preconfigured, and tested before arriving at your facility as a plug-in-ready WheatNet-IP audio network system. We set up all console surfaces, I/O Blades, talent stations, mic processing, and control panels for multiple studios, all networked together. We include Ethernet switches, AoIP drivers and apps, specialized scripting, and all IP addressing and logic control.
We run the entire multi-studio system through its paces, including GPI/O triggers and machine starts and stops, before sending it to you as a complete, ready-to-go network. Wheatstone factory staging can save time and onsite engineering expenses, and because it’s all done under the same roof as our manufacturing, engineering, and support, we can easily test, adjust, and reconfigure your studio system as needed before it even leaves our factory. Entire multi-studio WheatNet-IP audio networked systems arrive at their destinations plug-in ready, and even the final setup can be done online by factory technicians. As always, because it’s WheatNet-IP, once it’s all powered up and plugged in, additions and changes can be done with just a few clicks.
The Wheatstone Lab is located in our factory, just a few steps away from where we engineer, manufacture, and support the 200+ AoIP elements that make up the WheatNet-IP audio network.
SOFT OR FIXED CONSOLE? EXPERTS WEIGH IN.
Our studio experts Chris Penny of Agile Broadcast and Marcus Bekker of Southern Broadcast weighed in on virtual versus hardware consoles in a recent Wheatstone sponsored panel discussion during #RadioWeek.
“Especially dealing with these bigger studios, these guys and gals are working with tactile [console controls] a lot … They can’t get that with touchscreen, but touchscreen has cost advantages, maintenance advantages, it’s compact. You can integrate it nicely into the furniture. There are applications for both.” -Marcus Bekker
“If you ever get the opportunity to watch a racing broadcast, they are basically doing an OB every three and a half minutes and these guys are playing [the console] like a piano. They’re watching stats on screens and it’s an artform and they need faders and tactile control. The other end of the spectrum is voicetracking in a studio, and you can get away with not having a console and just a screen there.” -Chris Penny
Get more tips from our studio experts Chris Penny of Agile Broadcast and Marcus Bekker of Southern Broadcast, along with Mike Dorris of Inrush Broadcasting Services, by clicking on a replay of Studio Project Planning, which was moderated by Jay Tyler and held during #RadioWeek last month. You can also download our Studio Project Planning ebook for additional project planning tips and tools.
SBE CHAPTER 93 TOURS THE FACTORY
WALL WARTS VS WHEAT
By Steve Walker, Technical Support Engineer
The humble wall wart. The lowly lump. The ordinary power brick. Whatever you call it, the common AC adapter is found everywhere. They come in all shapes and sizes. They come with a variety of voltage and current ratings. They're usually very simple in design. A transformer, rectifier, and filter cap are about all you really need to get 12 VDC out of a 120 VAC wall outlet. And that's just about all that's in most of them.
The problem with mass-produced AC adapters is that they are often noisy and vulnerable to power spikes. For those of us in the broadcast industry, a failure of any power supply can range from mildly annoying to catastrophic. Studios are regularly exposed to surges and voltage spikes that can take a toll on equipment. Off-the-shelf power supplies won't suffice when a voltage spike comes down the line, yet these commercial supplies are frequently used in many broadcast consoles, leading to a shortened lifespan and reduced reliability over time.
If your station is taken off the air for even five minutes due to the failure of an off-the-shelf universal, multipurpose, all-purpose, or general-purpose AC adapter, what's the real cost in terms of ratings and revenue?
Can you afford to depend on a $20 power source to keep your expensive broadcast audio gear running 24/7?
This is the reason Wheatstone decided years ago to design and build our own power supplies for our consoles, I/O Blades, and most other critical broadcast equipment. Many of our consoles and talent stations bearing the Wheatstone and Audioarts name are available with a power supply made in our factory.
By designing our own circuit boards, sourcing the best quality components, and ensuring each power supply has more than enough capacity for the device it's meant to power, we end up with a power supply that provides cleaner power and runs cooler than anything we could get from commercial, off-the-shelf supplies.
Manufacturing our own power supplies also means we can create standard power supplies such as the PS-1300 and the HPS-516 that can be used for several different consoles and talent stations, keeping costs down for everyone. These have proper ventilation for the components and can be rack-mounted near the console or talent stations. High-quality connecting cables ensure solid connections at both ends for maximum reliability.
No matter how reliable a power supply may be, it's always recommended to use a quality UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply), when possible, to help isolate your broadcast equipment from the local power grid and keep it running during short outages. But whether you have a facility-wide UPS or are just plugging directly into your local power system, know that your on-air staying power is only as good as the little box that provides the juice.
STEP INTO OUR STUDIO THIS NAB
Thinking about new studios or updating existing ones? Get a feel for how it might come together at our NAB booth representing all the interconnected elements in a WheatNet-IP audio network.
- Eliminate racks and rooms of hardware (ask us about Blade 4)
- Mix, trigger, and control audio anywhere, any device (ask us about intelligent AoIP)
- Combine facilities in one AoIP (ask us about Blades)
- Go from analog to digital in a snap (ask us about our Audioarts studio line)
- Plan for the future (ask us about Layers FM, Mix and Stream)
- Incorporate standards AES67, NMOS, and SMPTE 2110 (ask us about Blade 4)
What’s new since last year’s NAB show:
- Streaming, mixing, and FM processing on AWS (ask us about Layers and AWS Global Accelerator)
- Transporting full FM MPX+HD over IP; no lossy audio codec needed in most cases (ask us about RIST and SystemLink)
- New consoles designed for today’s studios (ask us about new Lyric)
It’s all at booth W1731 in the West Hall. Stop in and have our sales engineers sketch out an initial studio plan, talk to our technical support team about our plug-in-ready staging option, and even get the deep dive on AoIP from our engineers who developed the WheatNet-IP system. Also, be sure to look for Wheatstone products at our technology partners’ booths throughout the LVCC. Our WheatNet-IP audio network integrates with automation systems, STLs, audio codecs, and 60 other technology brand partners.
WHEAT GOES TO BGS
This LXE console surface looks right at home at Broadcasters General Store, now part of the Wheatstone family. BGS serves as a dealer for the entire range of Wheatstone and Audioarts consoles, audio processors, WheatNet-IP audio, and VoxPro products.
Our Jay Tyler brought along the LXE above as well as I/O Blades, talent stations, and apps during a visit to BGS in Ocala, Florida. BGS is known as a well-established broadcast equipment distributor deeply rooted in AoIP networking. With this partnership, Wheatstone customers now have an additional trusted partner, and BGS gains access to over 200 interconnected WheatNet-IP elements, along with a comprehensive array of mic and on-air audio processors, as well as Audioarts consoles and accessories.
For those attending the NAB show next month, the seamless integration of Wheatstone products into the BGS lineup can be witnessed firsthand. Stop by our booth in the West Hall (W1731) or visit the BGS booth in the Central Hall (C2808).
The Wheatstone online store is now open! You can purchase demo units, spare cards, subassemblies, modules and other discontinued or out-of-production components for Wheatstone, Audioarts, and VoxPro products online, or call Wheatstone customer support at 252-638-7000 or contact the Wheatstone technical support team online as usual.
The store is another convenience at wheatstone.com, where you can access product manuals, white papers and tutorials as well as technical and discussion forums such as our AoIP Scripters Forum.
Compare All of Wheatstone's Remote Solutions
We've got remote solutions for virtually every networkable console we've built in the last 20 years or so. For basic volume, on/off, bus assign, logic, it's as easy as running an app either locally with a good VPN, or back at the studio, using a remote-access app such as Teambuilder to run.
Remote Solutions Video Demonstrations
Jay Tyler recently completed a series of videos demonstrating the various solutions Wheatstone offers for remote broadcasting.
Check out the chart below, and/or click here to learn more on our Remote Solutions web page.
Studio Project Planning Guide
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW FOR MAKING YOUR STUDIO PROJECT A SUCCESS
Have you seen the latest smart studio trends? Discover expert tips, surprising uses for AoIP Blades, 6 common studio gotchas, and how to be aware of little expenses. A must-read before you begin your studio project.
Making Sense of the Virtual Studio
SMART STRATEGIES AND VIRTUAL TOOLS FOR ADAPTING TO CHANGE
Curious about how the modern studio has evolved in an IP world? Virtualization of the studio is WAY more than tossing a control surface on a touch screen. With today's tools, you can virtualize control over almost ANYTHING you want to do with your audio network. This free e-book illustrates what real-world engineers and radio studios are doing. Pretty amazing stuff.
Advancing AOIP for Broadcast
TAKING ADVANTAGE OF EMERGING STANDARDS SUCH AS AES67 VIA AUDIO OVER IP TO GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR BROADCAST FACILITY
Putting together a new studio? Updating an existing studio? This collection of articles, white papers, and brand new material can help you get the most out of your venture. Best of all, it's FREE to download!
IP Audio for TV Production and Beyond
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MANAGING MORE CHANNELS, MORE MIXES, AND MORE REMOTE VENUES
For this FREE e-book download, we've put together this e-book with fresh info and some of the articles that we've authored for our website, white papers, and news that dives into some of the cool stuff you can do with a modern AoIP network like Wheatstone's WheatNet-IP.
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