DHD audio Completes Renovation Project

DHD audio has completed a major renovation project at the Bogotá headquarters of Colombian broadcaster Blu Radio.

Latest-generation DHD RX2 and SX2 consoles have been installed in the main studio by audio systems integration and technical support provider ASPA ANDINA.

"Blu Radio has been operating very successfully with DHD audio production systems right back to the station’s inception in 2012," said William Herrera, senior technical support engineer at ASPA ANDINA Colombia. "It has become firmly established as one of the most important radio channels in Colombia and has the largest DHD system in the country. This includes more than 14 control surfaces operating 52-MX, 52-RX, 52-SX and 52-DX modules installed in 2012, as well as a centralised matrix with more than 500 physical inputs/outputs supporting analog audio, digital audio and MADI data.

"The main studio modernisation gives Blu Radio’s production team a wide range of powerful new resources designed to maximise operational efficiency and flexibility. The new RX2 and SX2 systems replace the main studio’s existing 52-MX console and two 52-SX surfaces. Among the new features are 10-inch IPS TFT screens with five-point multitouch capability allowing precise configuration and fast control. Also included are talkback modules for the program host and producers, all connected to a single XC3 core.

"At the same time, we have implemented a new TX2 control surface for mixing and operation of Blu Radio’s new Visual Radio service on YouTube. This is fully integrated with the network’s current DHD system, including multiple audio channels over IP through the Audinate Dante protocol."

"We are very pleased about how well Blu Radio’s renovation project went," added Lennart Mackies, Marketing Manager at DHD. "The new setup including our RX2, SX2 and TX2 consoles will hopefully be a long-lasting and modular solution for them. We hope that our technology will continue to help broadcasters around the globe connect with their audiences as well as their onsite or network-connected colleagues."

Developed for use in on-air radio and television studios, master control rooms and OB vehicles, the DHD RX2 is based on central and fader modules which can be configured for a wide range of radio and TV production environments. RX2 systems scale easily from small production units with six or 12 faders to large consoles with up to 96 faders. Each module has a dedicated high brightness 10.1 inch touch display. Supported character sets include West European, Arabic, Burmese, Chinese, Cyrillic, Hebrew, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Tamil and Thai.

The RX2 central module provides the main audio I/Os plus a direct microphone input and a stereo headphone output. Loudspeakers can also be driven directly from this module. The 10.1 inch touch display provides access to main control and channel settings, metering and system snapshots. Assignable hardware buttons are provided in the central section, plus adaptive labels in a separate 7 inch vertical touch display. The adaptive labels provide fast and tactile access to functions such as monitoring and talkback. Each RX2 fader module includes six dust-protected 100 mm track-length motorised faders. Every fader channel is augmented by a rotary encoder and two pushbuttons. The rotary encoder can be assigned to control gain settings, auxiliary sends, EQ parameters and dynamics. The pushbuttons are assignable to functions such as on/off, prefade listen, layer or talk.

The SX2 is a modular console based on a four-fader central module. Each module can be chained with others to create a standalone mixing desk. Integral display screens allow operators to see exactly how their console is performing both from connectivity and signal level perspectives. The central module gives access to the most important audio inputs and outputs. A microphone input and headphone output are included and loudspeakers can be connected directly to this unit. Also available is a fader module with six motorised faders which allows the addition of a second layer accommodating up to 16 channels. Central and fader modules each incorporate a 10.1 inch multi-touch display showing relevant configuration and operating parameters. SX2 features can be extended simply by adding optional license codes to the DSP core, allowing extra faders, busses and clean-feeds. Functions such as loudness metering, profanity delay and talkback to other DHD mixers are also supported.

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