Nicklas Stromberg's Wide World of Sports

When it comes to broadcast engineering, Nicklas Stromberg is something of a jack of all trades. But that’s certainly not to say he’s a master of none. Whether it’s RF systems, audio systems, audio mixing for radio and TV, computer and network design, or technical support, with 25 years under his belt as a freelance broadcast engineer in Sweden, Nicklas can handle about any audio chain issue.

This may be why he's in high demand, having worked in a variety of settings and countries. While much of his work – primarily with audio for sports telecasts and frequently for Swedish broadcasters such as Mediatec Broadcast Sweden – keeps him in the Nordic lands, he's by no means been confined to Scandinavia.

Frequently, Nicklas’ travels send him to points across Europe and around the world. In many respects, his career resembles the famous line from the classic American sports program Wide World of Sports: "Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport..." The trend continues this year with quite an itinerary planned for the coming months. “This May I’ll be with Swedish TV4 at the World Hockey Championship in Moscow, and in June I’m in Bordeaux working for UEFA with the European Soccer Championship.” In August he’ll be in Stockholm, but managing audio for the Summer Olympics half a world away in Rio for Viasat Sweden.

Speaking of the Olympics, Nicklas previously had the opportunity to work the 2014 winter games in Sochi, Russia.

Handling audio for such major sporting events around the globe not only provides the opportunity to work in some unique places, but also witness some exciting competition. And it's not all sports all the time either. There have been a number of fascinating broadcasts; Nicklas himself can't decide which tops the list. "Maybe mixing Rally TV in the middle of the dessert in Jordan or Mexico… or when I was Sound Supervisor on Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmo responsible for audio control rooms and support to the mixing engineers. Or was it when I had the opportunity to be sound supervisor, grams operator, and co-mixer for Miss World 2011 in London, with over one billion viewers!?”

These events have certainly featured their share of excitement and visual appeal - not to mention great audio, of course - but Nicklas has also been involved in the broadcast of events with significant international impact, such as the TV transmission of the Nobel Prize ceremonies in Stockholm.

Nicklas became interested in audio and broadcasting when he first entered a radio studio in the early ‘80s. And while his work is heavily on the TV side of the industry, he still has opportunity to work on the radio side as well, including the occasional studio build. Since he works with equipment from a variety of manufacturers, we take it as high praise that when it comes to radio gear, Nicklas’ choice is Axia, Omnia, and Telos. He even he had a customized radio flight case built, including an Axia iQ, Omnia ONE FM, Telos Hx2 hybrid, and Telos Z/IP ONE codec, plus other accessories. “I bought the equipment from Soundware in Stockholm. Really nice company to buy from and they were very helpful,” Nicklas remarks as he gives a shout-out to one of our Swedish dealer.

Prior to a recent studio build in Ystad on Sweden’s southern coast, the purchase of a used analog console was in the plans for Radio Active 103.9, where they’d heard digital consoles had too much latency and were too expensive. Nicklas explained how digital consoles work, and upon visiting a previous installation, the Radio Active team determined the Axia iQ was the way to go.

What is it about Axia that he finds so appealing? “The first thing that hit me was the genuine surface with really smooth faders, stable buttons, and really clear displays. I have seen more expensive digital radio consoles with cheap plastic.” He also loves the easy, logical setup. And finally, Livewire. “This must be the most revolutionary invention in radio history when you have everything in just one Ethernet cable!”

Along those lines, Nicklas says Audio over IP is beginning to take hold in Europe. “The last two years I’ve built seven radio control rooms, several of them around digital consoles.” With this continued growth, he expects to see more Axia installs in his home country and beyond in coming years. “Sweden is a small market for radio consoles, but I love telling potential clients about the benefits of Axia. I bring my flight case every time I meet a new client.”

Whether it’s a suitcase or his customized flight case, Nicklas is always packing up and heading off to another job somewhere. When he does, we’re happy to know he’ll be take the good word about Axia and Audio over IP with him.

Telos Alliance has led the audio industry’s innovation in Broadcast Audio, Digital Mixing & Mastering, Audio Processors & Compression, Broadcast Mixing Consoles, Audio Interfaces, AoIP & VoIP for over three decades. The Telos Alliance family of products include Telos® Systems, Omnia® Audio, Axia® Audio, Linear Acoustic®, 25-Seven® Systems, Minnetonka™ Audio and Jünger Audio. Covering all ranges of Audio Applications for Radio & Television from Telos Infinity IP Intercom Systems, Jünger Audio AIXpressor Audio Processor, Omnia 11 Radio Processors, Axia Networked Quasar Broadcast Mixing Consoles and Linear Acoustic AMS Audio Quality Loudness Monitoring and 25-Seven TVC-15 Watermark Analyzer & Monitor. Telos Alliance offers audio solutions for any and every Radio, Television, Live Events, Podcast & Live Streaming Studio With Telos Alliance “Broadcast Without Limits.”