Posts Tagged ‘Vista 9’

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TVM’s First 3G OB Truck Gets HARMAN’s Studer Vista 9 Console

by Definition Branding & Marketing Posted: Thursday, 11/29/2012

CORK, Ireland — Faced with a busy summer of sporting and music event production, Irish OB specialists Television Mobiles Ltd (TVM) decided to boost its fleet with the commissioning of its first 3D-capable OB. The fully-featured, 30-camera HD 3G truck, offering monitor capability of 1080/60p signals, upholds the company’s long relationship with HARMAN’s Studer Vista consoles, with the first Vista 9 in Europe to incorporate backstop PFL at the heart of the audio control.

The 52-fader console is configured with 760 Input Mono Equivalent Signals and 680 Output Mono Equivalent Signals, with 16 channels of audio embedded in an Evertz hybrid router.

“The new unit had to be fully 3G capable and audio embedded,” explained TVM owner Bart Arnold. “As for backstop PFL, this was part of the original spec — if you are used to fader-controlled backstop PFL it is hard to do without, and provides a more elegant fade solution.” Studer implemented this now standard Vista option for TVM.

“We also like the layout of the Vista 9 — particularly its ease of use for someone moving from analogue to digital, and we like the optical fibre options of Studer’s D21m and new Compact stage boxes. The desk itself has some nice innovative features, such as FaderGlow™.” This last feature provides the operator with an instant overview of the console status by illuminating each fader in one of eight freely-assignable colours.

TVM has enjoyed a relationship with Soundcraft Studer dating back to their first truck in 1986, which featured early Soundcraft 200, 400 and 800 consoles. In 2007 they embraced their first Studer Vista console, installing a Vista 5 in OB3 and later a Vista 8 became a central component in the fast track fit of OB7. Soundcraft still retains a presence at TVM, with an Si3 handling the audio mix in OB4 and a new Si Compact 16 specified as a sub-mixer/grams mixer in the new OB8, sending MADI and AES signals to the main desk.

But this time, confirms Arnold, they had a much longer lead time to design their first 3D truck, and after an 18 month gestation, coachbuilders A Smith Great Bentley Ltd. delivered a vehicle that provided TVM with a flexible studio environment. The design was a particular challenge to their Senior Design Engineer, Bob Hanks, but he came up with an innovative solution to meet the requirements. “This included separate Tx / comms areas — and a very large sound production room with the digital mixer placed in a quiet environment where it is not exposed to the clutter of comms and line checks, and leaving the engineer to focus on the sound mix. This concept works well and the truck is adaptable to our work model.”

One innovation, he emphasised, was having all the audio embedded in the video signal, accessed via the hybrid router. “There are no separate audio feeds found on the truck, resulting in a massive reduction in wiring,” Bart Arnold confirmed.

He adds that OB8 has justified the large investment as the Co. Cork-based company continues to work alongside providers such as Visions, SiS-Live, CTV and Telegenic, generally on sports and music production. With the latter they covered the Isle of Wight Music Festival in 3D and have also been mixing in 5.1 for Premiership football, the Open Golf Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes and Heineken Rugby, for clients such as ESPN, Sky and BBC.

The Vista 9 can cope comfortably with all requirements. From surround input channels with an intuitive input balance section to stereo input channels with a 5.1 up-mixing panner to automatic down-mixer processes for outputs, everything is integrated — including dual speaker group 7.1 control room monitoring connectivity.

“We are fortunate in being supported by a great after-sales team from Studer, and that is very important to us and a key factor in our decision making,” concluded Arnold.

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets — supported by 15 leading brands, including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® and Mark Levinson®. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 13,900 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported net sales of $4.4 billion for year ended June 30, 2012.

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Crowne Centre Auditorium At Pensacola Christian College Upgrades With HARMAN’s Studer Consoles and BSS Audio Processors

by Definition Branding & Marketing Posted: Wednesday, 7/11/2012

PENSACOLA, Florida – Florida’s Pensacola Christian College recently received a major audio upgrade to its 6,200-seat Crowne Centre auditorium with two HARMAN Studer Vista 9(tm) digital audio consoles, nine BSS Audio Soundweb London BLU-160 signal processors and five BLU-BIB break-in boxes. Architecturally striking with its tall, jewel-like faceted glass front sections and ultramodern curved interior featuring a 110-foot rotating stage and dual wedding chapels, the Crowne Centre is used for services, concerts, weddings and special events.

The Crowne Centre was built in 2001 but the sound system recently began showing its age. The auditorium is used almost daily, and while it proved very reliable overall, after 11 years of constant use the mixing console and other components began to exhibit failures and glitches. Commercial audio contractor All Pro Sound was chosen to bring the audio system back to the high-quality standards required by the college.

“We didn’t just want this to be a glorified repair job-we wanted the system to be more powerful and user-friendly, to be future-proof and to provide many years of reliable service,” said John Fuqua, Vice President, All Pro Sound.  “We have worked with Pensacola Christian College for over 25 years and have a great understanding of their expectations for quality and function.  As the original system designer and installer, All Pro Sound was able to provide a comprehensive plan that met both function and timeline.”

“The Studer Vista 9 is a significant upgrade from the previous console,” Fuqua stated. “We chose it for its large input and output capability, its flexible configurability and its superior sonic quality.”

The Crowne Centre uses two Vista 9 consoles for front of house and in the broadcast suite. Both have 42-fader mixing surfaces and are running a total of 212 inputs with 32 main outs, 48 matrix sends and 32 aux sends. The broadcast console is programmed for dynamic automation, which is required for remixing the musical portions of the church services and concert events.

“The Studer Vista 9 fits this installation perfectly,” Fuqua continued. “We needed consoles that could handle both live sound and broadcast mixing needs, and the Vista 9 is versatile enough to be optimized for both applications. It makes life much easier to have the same brand and model of console, especially since both are networked together.”

The inter-compatibility of the two consoles and the BSS Audio Soundweb London components was an especially crucial-and practical-aspect considering the time frame Fuqua was under. “We had a 3-week window to remove the old gear, change all the system programming, pull all-new fiber optic cable between locations and take delivery of, install and program a large Studer mixing system. We started the process with Studer engineers in early March for the install date to begin on May 25, so we could be completed by June 15. This was, at best, very tight for the Studer system to be built, tested and shipped to the site. We took delivery of the first Vista 9 on June 1 and the second on June 4.”

“The fact that the Studer and BSS Audio components are literally made for each other was a tremendous advantage in ensuring we did not go over deadline,” Fuqua added. “The system uses HiQnet(tm) London Architect programming interface and its drag-and-drop functionality really sped up the configuration process. Our lead systems designer Dennis Ryan created a custom GUI that allows for complete function control and monitoring for all types of events held in the Crowne Centre. The wide variety of signal processing options provided by the Soundweb London BLU-160 enabled us to precisely optimize the sound and performance of the system.”

“The Crowne Centre staff is extremely pleased with the sound quality and more intuitive user interface of the Vista 9 and the capabilities of the entire system,” Fuqua concluded. “The sound quality of the new BSS Audio Soundweb London components coupled with the Vista 9 consoles was evident from the first sound checks.”

For more information on All Pro Sound please visit www.allprosound.com.

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets – supported by 15 leading brands, including AKG(r), Harman Kardon(r), Infinity(r), JBL(r), Lexicon(r) and Mark Levinson(r). The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 13,000 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported net sales of $4.3 billion for the twelve months ended March 31, 2012.

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HARMAN’s Soundcraft and Studer Consoles Support RAI’s Landmark Recording of Rossini’s La Cenerentola

by Definition Branding & Marketing Posted: Thursday, 7/5/2012

TORINO, Italy – HARMAN’s Soundcraft and Studer’s Italian distributor, Leading Technologies Srl, along with sister company Sound Light & Technologies (SL&T) recently participated in an exciting recording project with RAI Radio, using a combination of Soundcraft and Studer digital mixing platforms in order to optimize the sound.

The vast production of Rossini’s famous La Cenerentola (Cinderella), which involved around 250 members of cast and technical crew, was mixed on a combination of three Studer Vista 9 and Vista 5 consoles, with three further Soundcraft V1 desks providing backup. These were used in four different scene locations: while the actors, singers and choir were variously located in Parco della Mandria in Venaria, Palazzina di Caccia and Palazzo Reale in Torino, the orchestra was recorded remotely at the Auditorium RAI in Torino.

All locations were linked by fibre or radio bridge to give the actors the sense of performing in real time with the orchestra-and a Studer stagebox was positioned in each venue.

On duty were two Vista 9 consoles (configured with 52 faders), a further Vista 9 with 42 faders and a 42-fader Vista 5 located in the OB truck, which were used for mixing the Orchestra and actors’ microphones, as well as for 5.1 post-production, while the three Soundcraft Vi1 consoles were used for pre-mix of secondary inputs and backup.

A multitrack recorder received the audio via a MADI port on the Vista 9. The orchestra required 68 microphone channels on the desks with a further 12 channels for the choir (who were based in the same location as the actors).

RAI Radio provided technical staff while SL&T provided personnel support and other ancillary equipment from the HARMAN Professional portfolio, such as JBL EON loudspeakers and AKG microphones and headphones. AKG C414 XLII and various K141 and K702 microphones were used for mixing and monitoring by the musicians and engineers.

The La Cenerentola recording marked the latest success in a long relationship between Italy’s national broadcaster and SL&T/Leading Technologies.

The event itself was transmitted live around the world over a 2-day period in early June and the DVD, produced by Rada Film, will be available soon for marketing and promotion.

RAI Radio has the technical production rights for La Cenerentola, with Antonio Ciano taking overall audio responsibility, Fiervisaggio Giorgetti, technical project and installation supervisor, Marco Diodato and Domenico Narducci as Vista 9 engineers and Dario Chiapino as Vista 5 engineer.

Rada Film has the production rights for Cinderella under the authorisation of Andrea Andermann with the direction of Carlo Verdone. Providing the technical interface between Rada Film and RAI was Alessandro Bernardi.

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets – supported by 15 leading brands, including AKG(r), Harman Kardon(r), Infinity(r), JBL(r), Lexicon(r) and Mark Levinson(r). The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 13,000 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported net sales of $4.3 billion for the twelve months ended March 31, 2012.

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HARMAN’s Studer shows RTW Loudness Metering on Vista 9 at NAB

by Definition Branding & Marketing Posted: Thursday, 4/12/2012

REGENSDORF, Switzerland – Following the agreement with RTW of Koeln announced in February, HARMAN’s Studer will be showing the RTW TM7 meter implementation in its Vista 9 console at NAB 2012 on booth C2619. The TM7 meter was chosen as it perfectly complements Vistonics(tm), the simple and elegant touchscreen user interface that Vista customers know and love.

The TM7 meter custom presets provide Loudness Metering to EBU R 128 and ITU BS1770, as well as traditional bar graph and moving needle metering to many international standards. This Loudness Meter may be retrofitted to all Vista 9 consoles.

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets – supported by 15 leading brands, including AKG, Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL, Lexicon and Mark Levinson. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 13,000 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported net sales of $4.2 billion for twelve months ending December 31, 2011.

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Rome’s Famous Auditorium Parco Della Musica Gets HARMAN Studer Vista 9 Digital Console

by Definition Branding & Marketing Posted: Tuesday, 3/6/2012

Massimiliano Cervini (left) and Roberto Catucci (right). Photo Credit: Alberto Maria Trabucco

ROME, Italy — A HARMAN Studer Vista 9 digital console has been added to the technical inventory of the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome by Italian distributors Leading Technologies Srl. This will enable the different performance spaces within the complex to handle all elements of mixing for recording, music production, live events and broadcast television.

Designed by renowned Italian architect Renzo Piano and inaugurated back in December 2002, the facility boasts three differently configured and differently purposed concert halls, set around a 3,000-seat open-air amphitheatre, alongside the Olympic Village.

Optimised acoustically, and catering for all musical tastes, resident engineer and technical manager, Massimiliano Cervini, commissioned the versatile desk to cater for the diverse range of productions and requirements.

The new initiative was strongly supported by the company’s CEO Dr. Carlo Fuortes of Fondazione Musica per Roma (Music Foundation for Rome), which manages the Auditorium, and the Production Manager, Roberto Catucci. Already with one of the highest levels of international technical standards of architectural acoustics, the arrival of the Vista 9 provides a further boost.

Originally it was the concerts of the Royal Academy of Santa Cecilia that needed archiving, and such was their relationship with RAI Radio and Television that there was a requirement for two fully functional studios to record the concerts, taking feeds from the different halls.

With the need to undertake a lot more post-production work, and handle live and broadcast mixing simultaneously (with universal audio/video routing), the facility decided to upgrade its console in the two control rooms.

“The requirement for a mixer that would provide ease of use led us to the Vista 9,” Cervini said. “The exclusive Vistonics™ platform is not only user-friendly but is so advanced that it allows everyone to work with the same immediacy, with faster and faster access, combining all the advantages of analogue and digital. We listened to the very high sound quality, and realised we could use this as both a live mixing desk as well as a broadcast console.”

Two of the performance spaces, Santa Cecilia Hall and Sinopoli Hall, can now communicate via their own independent control rooms and the entire auditorium has broadcast-standard wiring, including the smallest Petrassi, Hall (which is now compatible with the two larger rooms). This has enabled Auditorium Parco della Musica to undertake live television operations, with direct connection through the tie-lines to external OB trucks, fully equipped with fibre optic broadcast and returns. In particular, this comes into its own during the Rome Film Festival.

“We have a huge availability of channels and mic converters,” Cervini added. “We have the choice of over 120 microphone inputs—more than any client will request; even the larger symphony orchestras have never exceeded 46 microphones!”

The new set up has already won the approval of EMI’s Abbey Road Studios in the UK, who used the facility recently and then decided to return.

Among the features highlighted by Cervini are the console’s innovations and TFT metering, along with the ease of view and communication with older systems. Also there is its wide range of DSP cards and MADI slots (with ease of swap), offering ample redundancy (including channels dedicated to the D21m Stagebox I/O’s).

“In fact, there are so many attributes, the list is endless: the dynamic automation and integration with Avid Pro Tools, the unique colourful FaderGlow [which provides the operator with an instant overview of the console status by illuminating each fader in one of eight freely-assignable colours], the innovative Vistonics touchscreen interface, dedicated to the beautiful TFT metering,” Cervini noted. “But overall, with the Vista 9 console where you touch you can see the display—you have everything under control with a visual reference right in front of your eyes, wherever you are!

Summing up, the Auditorium’s technical manager stated, “We are delighted with our choice of investment and the support given by Leading Technologies. All engineers agree, whether older analogue purists or new generation digital engineers, that with a Studer Vista 9 we have made the best decision.

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets — supported by 15 leading brands, including AKG, Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL, Lexicon and Mark Levinson. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 13,000 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported net sales of $4.2 billion for twelve months ending December 31, 2011.

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Posted in Consumer Electronics Technology, Harman International, Harman Professional, Professional Audio Technology, Professional Video/Broadcast Technology, Recording & Broadcast, Studer | Comments Off
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