How IP audio networking can help make one of the toughest jobs in broadcast sports an easy 36 under par.
Golf is one of the toughest assignments in broadcast sports. Depending upon how much coverage you want to provide for an 18-hole course, you’re going to want to cover all the tees and all the holes – that’s 36 audio locations spread over as many as 200 or more acres! And each location is going to need several mics to cover the wide dynamic range of the sport, from the swoosh of the club to the crowd roaring. That’s a lot of coverage!
Then there’s possible fairway coverage or folks out with remotes, and before long you are up over 100 or more audio feeds from the course. Add the announcers, IFB, and different crowd mics, and we are talking some serious audio.
IP audio networking has greatly reduced the strain associated with such an event. For example, our WheatNet-IP audio networking makes grabbing audio and controlling audio at each point a lot easier. All you need is a BLADE-3 as your audio interface at each hole and other access points along with an Ethernet switch, which can connect to your truck or onsite studio console through fiber optic cable.
We’ve been told it’s like dropping in a full studio at each hole!
Each BLADE-3 has built-in and programmable mix-minuses for full IFB support, and gives you control over everything you could possibly want to do with your audio, including integrating it into your overall IP network (now, or when you adopt one).
Because BLADEs have virtual mixers built-in, mixing and controlling audio at each hole is possible – in realtime from wherever you like, whether it’s from your remote truck or your studio.
No complication. No big boxes. No Bogeys (but some Mulligans if you need them).
Here’s what you’ll need, in addition to mics and headsets:
- BLADE-3 Audio Interface. With the Mic BLADE, you’ve got audio I/O, eight mic preamps, two 8x2 virtual mixers, audio and control routing matrix, source and destination control, gigabit connectivity, 12 GPI/O ports, 128 software logic ports, full programmability, auto mono summing, full AES67 compatibility, signal splitting, ACI, and so much more - all controllable from the console at the truck or studio. It’s kinda like dropping in a full studio at each hole.
- Managed Gigabit Ethernet Switch. You may already have one at some of the holes for cameras if you are up to speed on IP networking. If not, they are relatively inexpensive and easy to come by.
- Fiber Optic Cable. You’ll need some heavy duty cable - like OCC B04 tactical breakout - stuff that is really rugged AND lightweight. Setup and teardown is fast and easy.