Axia iQ Console Shows Its Spirit

Having founded Camdenton, Missouri Contemporary Christian station Spirit FM in 1985 and building it from the ground up over the last 30-odd years, President and General Manager Jim McDermott has an acute interest in ensuring the station keeps current with the latest broadcast technology. At the same time, equipment that’s intuitive and easy to use is also a concern. 

Omnia VOLT Hits the Airwaves in Scranton

By now you've surely heard about VOLT, the new processor from Omnia Audio that shares lineage with the Omnia.11, features Omnia founder Frank Foti's latest clipper, and includes a plethora of features to help your station get amazing sound, all with a slick new one rack unit box. So what do broadcasters have to say about this impressive new processing package? Since becoming one of the first to take VOLT to the airwaves, Entercom Scranton Chief Engineer Ted Alexander, Jr. gave us his personal review.

Topics: broadcast audio processor

TWiRT 420 - Hurricane Recovery with Charlie Wooten

What does an award-winning broadcast engineer do with a hurricane? Whatever it takes. Charlie Wooten is Director of Engineering and IT at iHeartMedia in Panama City, Florida.  He plans ahead to keep iHeart’s AM and FM transmitters and studios on-air. But, a hurricane is difficult to plan for. Charlie joins us with photos and stories from Hurricane Michael’s devastation to broadcast facilities and infrastructure in Florida.

Is Television Loudness Still an Issue? pt.II

In Part 1 of our series, we examined the impact of the CALM Act, addressed some lingering loudness issues, and reinforced the continued relevance of real-time processing. This time, in Part 2, we’ll take a closer look at the challenges content creators and broadcasters face when managing loudness in a file-based workflow. Are there different requirements? Are all loudness control techniques created equal?

Topics: TV Loudness Management, TV Solutions Group

TWiRT 418 - Radio Travelogue with Mark Humphrey

Wherever you travel there’s probably a radio station nearby. Mark Humphrey took some vacation time to travel out west, stopping on the way to visit a radio museum and radio and TV stations. Plus we talk about how FM translators are providing what’s essentially “Primary” service to one rural Pennsylvania valley.

Time Spent Listening - Getting the Most TSL from Smart Speaker Listeners

Terrestrial radio is facing a real challenge: Listeners are besieged with ever-increasing audio entertainment options. The bedside clock radio is fading fast. The kitchen radio has been replaced by a tablet or a TV. In fact, the percentage of households with no radio at all has zoomed from 4 percent to 29 percent in 10 years, according to Ryan Higbie, writing for xapp media. He continues, “The rise in homes with multiple televisions and the popularity of streaming services have materially impact radio listening in the home.”

Topics: smart speakers

Is Television Loudness Still an Issue?

It’s been nearly six years since the CALM Act – the bill passed to address the issue of loud television commercials – was put into effect in the U.S. We thought it a good time to re-examine the loudness issue in a series of blog posts. Here in Part 1 we’ll explore whether or not these legislative mandates have been effective and find out if content producers and broadcasters are still struggling with managing loudness in traditional OTA  and OTT distribution.

Topics: TV Loudness Management, TV Solutions Group

Giving Audio a Jolt with VOLT

As owner of two radio stations in the small but crowded Northwest Pennsylvania radio market, how his stations sound is very important to Joe Vilkie. Turns out Joe is a big fan of the new Omnia VOLT audio processor. We talk with Joe about how he entered the ranks of radio station owners, and what it is he loves about the VOLT.

Ear Candy #3: Clippers—Where the Rubber Meets the Road! 

In the wild (and sometimes wacky) world of audio processing, there are many variables that contribute to the final result. Many discussions, and debates, have ensued over topics such as wideband or multiband: If multiband – how many bands, analog or digital, use phase rotation or not? EQ – what kind? And the list goes on. While all of these contribute to the final result, there’s one function that actually defines the audio signature more so than all of these, and that is the final section, known as the hard limiter, or clipper.

TWiRT 417 - Match Game TWiRT from New York

The Giz Wiz, Dick DeBartolo, joins us for TWiRT, on location in New York City! We check out some audio gadgets, talk about the AES and NAB conventions, and play a few rounds of Match Game.  Andrew Zarian joins us, too!

Topics: audio