Blog Central

Sean Martin is Managing Director at Talk Productions, a UK company behind WTOR HD (Torbay’s Big T), an online station that's been operating for several years with thousands of listeners tuning in each week.

It's a small company with a largely volunteer staff, but with big plans for the future; they're currently in the process of applying for Community FM and DAB licenses for the city of Torbay (hence the name 'Torbay's Big T') in Southwest England. Torbay currently has no station, so Talk Productions would fill that void, and as a community station, would offer their studios to community groups that would not normally have access to broadcast facilities. Sean says Talk Productions would also like to one day establish a school of radio in Southwest England.

Topics: Telos Alliance 24/7 Support, community radio

The Moscow headquarters of Russian media conglomerate Russian Media Group include five radio stations and two television stations. Starting a decade ago, the radio stations began rebuilding their facilities using an Axia Livewire AoIP infrastructure. Axia AoIP consoles, Telos phone systems and digital hybrids, and Axia xNodes were used both as the system core and also to extend the Livewire infrastructure to AES digital audio, and analog audio. Livewire’s ability to handle general purpose interface (GPI) information together with the physical GPIs provided on Axia xNodes and Axia consoles extended the core infrastructure to include GPI on equipment that did not support Livewire+ AES67 AoIP natively. The AoIP infrastructure was soon used throughout all of the radio studios including ISDN interfaces for outside broadcast.

Topics: Audio over IP, AoIP for Television, AoIP networking

As one of the early believers in FM in the 1950s, Saul Levine is a pioneer in FM broadcasting. And as the owner of Mount Wilson Broadcasting in greater Los Angeles still today, he’s been a major player in the industry for decades.

As an early proponent of FM, when many were skeptical of the new technology, it may seem a little like deja vu all over again for Saul these days – and yet, a bit of a role reversal at the same time – as he fights for a broadcast format many have grown skeptical of – AM.

Topics: Audio Processing, AM Processing, Omnia.7AM

Topics: Audio Processing, Telos Alliance

Let’s examine a couple topics and explore “how we do them”. Chris Tobin discusses mics, pre-amps, and techniques for recording live music at WBGO-FM.  Then we see how PC platforms have moved into the equipment space that was only purpose-built equipment. And just how far is that concept going?

Topics: Broadcast Engineering, Streaming Audio, audio, audio quality

Recently, I had the pleasure to have lunch with a good friend, Gary Katz. If that name sounds familiar - it should - Gary produced just about all of the albums for a little ol’ musical group you may know… Steely Dan! We were comparing notes about audio in the broadcast field, as well as life in the world of recording and music producing. He expressed how it has always been critical and vital for recording engineers, producers, and even the musicians to ‘hear’ the latest and greatest in technology. This is a practice that is still very common today.

Topics: Omnia Audio, Audio Processing, Broadcast Audio Fanatics

Topics: Axia Audio, broadcast audio consoles, Axia Fusion, virtual radio, ip-tablet, flush mount console

The city of Tilburg in the Netherlands hosts the biggest fair in the country every year. One of the big draws is pop-up radio station Kermis FM 105.9 that broadcasts for the duration of the fair. Each year several celebrities appear as on-air guests during the fair, attracting listeners and live look-ins from fairgoers alike. Last year, the station wanted its broadcast audio to sound even better for the annual fair broadcast, but without losing audio quality. The solution? The Omnia.9sg Broadcast Stereo Generator.

Topics: Omnia Audio, Audio Processing, omnia.9sg

The first microphones were invented as far back as the 1870’s, but that’s before there were any tube amplifiers! We’ve come a long way, though most mic inventions occurred 70 to 90 years ago. John Holt is an expert on vintage microphones and gives us a fascinating look and lesson.

Topics: Broadcast Engineering, Streaming Audio, audio, audio quality

From the dawn of broadcasting in the early1920s through the mid-1930s, the name Atwater Kent was synonymous with top-quality radios. Their commitment to excellence, in both cabinet construction and electronic assembly, is one of the reasons so many of their sets are still around and in working condition. There are several A-Ks in the attic, but none have been featured in FitA. Until now. This month, the 1932 Model 84 will be showcased, along with a history of the man and his company.

Topics: Vintage Radio Technology, Vintage Electronics, Radio History