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www.prosoundnewseurope.com May 2012 l 37


broadcastfeature THE FORMAT OF CHOICE


Location recorders cannot work in isolation and these days wireless microphones are to be found on set as much as cabled boom mics. Hire companies are seeing demand for all three format types, analogue, digital and hybrid. A hybrid system that is making inroads in the European film and TV production market is Lectrosonics. Jim Bakker, who handles sales for the brand in EMEA, says that by using a compander technique and having an analogue component in the transmission chain guarantees quality. Sound recordist John Rodda is a user of Audio Limited systems but recognises that


been sold to the BBC for use around news and the regions but he admits it has been a “slow burner” because it is a new market for the distributor. Radio has been through as many technological trends as location work with recorders. From portable 1/4-inch machines, notably the Uher, reporters have used analogue compact cassette and then MiniDisc, which in turn have been replaced by solid state and CompactFlash recorders of various types, shapes and sizes. In TV electronic newsgathering (ENG) and radio documentary


Lectrosonics is now “doing well” in the market. He comments that bandwidth continues to be a problem for digital wireless systems, which work by removing a proportion of audio data. “Analogue radio mics sound more natural,” he observes.


UK hire company Visual Impact South supplies TV productions and offers Sennheiser and Wisycom wireless mics. The company’s audio hire manager, Ian Coles, explains he selected this combination because the Wisycom, a hybrid, is able to integrate with Sennheiser transmitters.


recording, editing and live contribution. These include CoveritLive, iJournalist Pro and Tieline’s Report-IT Live. The latter comes in versions for iPhone and Android, and as well as a codec for live contributions the app offers recording capability and the ability to FTP 20kHz quality files back to the studio. The system that is finding particular


favour in radio is LUCI LIVE from Dutch software developer Technica Del Arte. Designed to turn computers, smartphones (iPhone, Android) or tablets (iPad, iPod, Android) into a mini radio broadcast studio, LUCI LIVE stores


“[The combined audio-video system] is nonsense. Why spend money inventing something that didn’t need inventing?” Glenn Sanders, Zaxcom


production there is still demand for the modern digital equivalent of the Uher. Australian composer and recordist Daniel Blinkhorn works on a range of projects, including documentaries and docu-dramas for radio. His main kit centres round a Sound Devices 702T recorder, with a 302 mixer, and microphones including DPA 2006As, Earthworks QTC40s, Røde NT4 and Sennheiser MKH 8060 and MKH30. “It’s a very basic set-up,” he concedes, “and I’m a firm believer in a somewhat Spartan approach to systems given portability and durability is very important for the type of work I do.”


TRADITIONAL MARKETS There is still demand for machines that look like traditional recorders, such as the Marantz PMD620, AEQ PAW-120 and the Zoom range, or microphones, including the HHB FlashMic and the Yellowtec iXm SD card recorder. The Flashmic, designed in association with Sennheiser, was the pioneering all-in-one microphone-recorder unit and has been used at Radio France, NDR in Germany, Norway’s NRK, TV2 in Denmark and by the BBC. It has now been discontinued and HHB reports there is no stock left. Increasingly journalists today are using smartphones running specialised apps for


audio clips and allows a reporter to link pre-recorded material for live play-out to air using an in-built mobile IP codec. BBC Radio 5 Live journalist Nick Garnett used LUCI LIVE to great effect during last summer’s riots in the UK. While reporting on disturbances in Salford, he was able to carry on broadcasting after his radio car was burned out. “I probably use it for about 90% of what I do these days,” he adds. LUCI LIVE has recording capability


but there are other apps being used for this by broadcasters, including VeriCorder’s Voddio. Garnett says this gives three tracks of audio with no latency at broadcast quality, although his old friend and colleague, Jerry Ibbotson, points out there is a difference between something being broadcast quality and something being broadcastable. www.aaton.com www.aeta-audio.com www.aspen-media.com www.cinedeck.com www.luci.eu www.mediamill.co.uk www.nagraaudio.com www.richmondfilmservices.co.uk www.sennheiser.co.uk www.sonosax.ch www.sounddevices.com www.zaxcom.com


THREE FOR THE ROAD


PLUGINS FOR LIVE AND STUDIO SOUND


C6 Multiband


Compressor Dynamic equalization, fl exible sidechaining, and auto-ducking for one-stop vocal and instrument shaping.


InPhase Zero latency phase correction with real- time waveform displays, adjustable phase shift fi lters and more.


WLM Loudness


Meter ITU, EBU and ATSC compliant loudness measurement and metering for broadcast and beyond.


Compatible with waveslive.com


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