Worldwide Axia : World Wide Network Services

Located on the campus of Tennessee State University in Nashville, WWNS might sound like another radio station, but it's really World Wide Network Services. Director Dave Wilson, whose range of experience sees him sometimes recruited for setup of IP networked broadcast studios, is a huge fan of Axia gear. Here he tells the story of how he was introduced to Audio over IP and Axia Audio.

“I learned from Kirk Harnack that WOR in New York was doing a studio with Axia gear. I periodically called chief engineer Tom Ray and asked 'How's it going?' Tom was always enthusiastic about Axia and AoIP. Two things surprised me after the studio build was completed: It was an amazingly quick install, and more importantly, Tom was still enthusiastic about Axia after it was all over.”

All too often, engineers discover the things a company doesn't want you to know about their equipment during the install, but not this time. Dave adds, “The fact that Tom was still excited about Axia after it was complete speaks volumes for the quality of the gear and the ease of installation.”

So when lightning struck Way FM Nashville while Dave was working as the backup engineer there, the recovery was tedious. Work involved repairing a tenuous ground system and older analog gear. When he was asked to advise on replacement equipment, he recommended Axia. “With AoIP, you have backups for the backups, and it's easy to switch over to another studio if necessary.” He adds that if a switch fails, it's a simple matter to either replace it or move gear over to other ports.

The new Way FM's Axia studios exceeded everyone's expectations, and when Wilson got the chance to build new facilities at Tennessee State University, there was only one choice. The WWNS installation includes Element 18 and 16-channel consoles in the on-air studio and production rooms respectively, two Power Station Integrated Console Engines, a Telos Nx12 Talkshow System, Zephyr Xstream ISDN Codec, and Z/IP ONE broadcast codec. Holding it all together is a Cisco Catalyst 2960 network switch. The build was completed in 2014.

Sure, these Element consoles look classy, but there's also a lot going on beneath that pretty control surface. Features include four Program buses, four Aux sends, two Aux returns, along with 16 five-channel “Virtual Mixers” that allow you to mix multiple audio inputs using virtual faders. But wait, there's more. Every voice channel has studio-grade Omnia audio processing, including mic compression, de-essing, and gating, as well as three-band parametric EQ, which can be set and saved with each show profile. With Element, there's no need to purchase an outboard mic/headphone processing side-chain; it's all built in.

Dave adds that he's only had to reboot the system twice. “The Linux system that Livewire runs on is rock solid. Since the install was completed, the only real problem is that I forget how to change the configuration, since that needs to be done so infrequently.”

Axia has saved the day on at least one other occasion for Dave. While he was working as the engineer for the Nashville Predators Radio Network, an ISDN equipment failure shortly before game time left him in a bind. There seemed to be no way to feed the game audio to all of the affiliates. He reached out to another engineer in the market with an Axia system, who was able to quickly route the feed back to his station, where it could be fanned out to all stations in the network.

Starting with a secondhand testimonial that led to firsthand experience, Dave is confident Axia consoles and networked audio gear are up to whatever IP studio challenge he faces.

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.”