Big Interview TC Electronic

Closing in on the milestone of nearly 40 years in the Industry you have come along way and are now truly Global, how important have the emerging economies have been to your expansion?
[KA] South America and Asia are significant are significant drivers of our business growth. Not only are the economies stronger than other regions, the regions are often on the leading edge of technology trends as they are doing more new installation for solely retrofit/upgrade.
With a large in the proportion of your staff in R&D, would be fair to say TC Electronic is a market leader rather than and market follower?
[KA] Absolutely, we are a market leader. A product such as DB8 existed before any regulations in loudness existed. In fact many of the standards are derived from research TC Eletronic did a decade ago that was made available to various standard organizations.
Your goal as a group was to to design, produce and distribute the best engineered and most recognized and respected brands of high-performance audio products in the world. Are you close to reaching your goal?
[KA] We are definitely a company that is never satisfied with where we are at. The metrics at our disposal all indicated we are well respected and recognized but we see may areas to push the envelope of audio. We are constantly asking the question “are more audiences and audio professionals saying “that sounded good” when they experience audio?” if the answer is yes we are doing our job.
RFV is looking closely at issues in the Audio sector in this edition. You are seen as an authority in Loudness and with Broadcasters expected to begin implementing new loudness regulations next year after the Digital Production Partnership (DPP) publishes a new set of guidelines. What do you see as the major issues?
[KA] The major issue is to keep on focusing on the end goals. The primary goal is serving the needs of the audience who are unanimous in wanting a better audio product. Their main area of concern can be summed up as loudness. But we need to be always thinking of how they really experience audio. For example EBU moving to setting loudness based on the stereo signal vs. the surround signal is significant as it reflects the real-world of how audiences listen. The second issue is how can broadcasters not just ensure their content conforms to the standards, but also how to make sure they can deliver a product that is dynamic and intelligible with relative ease.
With several European countries like France, Belgium, Germany and Austria already starting to adopt the recommendations, is Europe leading the way?
[KA] In some ways Europe is leading the way. At the same time as the issue of loudness has been looked at in all the major regions of the world more knowledge is added to the issue. You can view this as frustrating because each jurisdiction has its own “tweak” to its standards. However, often those changes highlight areas where the standards need to improve. We take the position that as an industry leader our products should maintain current standards in all regions as well as anticipate and drive standards in all regions.
To recent events in particular IBC you displayed quite an impressive range of hardware and software for loudness metering and measurement, namely the LM2 and LM6 Radar Loudness Meter plugins and the TM7 and TM9 TouchMonitor stand-alone, touchscreen loudness meters. Also on display was the DB-4 and DB-8 processors for real-time loudness control and format conversion of analogue and digital feeds and the new Dynaudio DBM-50 studio monitors, which featured a unique front baffle tilt for perfect desktop placement, what was the reaction?
[KA] We get two reactions at broadcast centric shows. One reaction is respect. Our pedigree started in post production. When broadcasters hear about our history they hear that countless Oscar winning movies and Emmy award winning TV show are produced through TC Electronic equipment. Broadcasters respect. The second reaction is more directly associatied with broadcast. It’s the concept of the loop between transmission, taking in content and monitoring content. They see that our product lines offer them solutions in crtical parts of that loop. The fact we also distribute and work closely in product development with Dynaudio Professional we are well on our way to provide solutions for measuring, producing and monitoring for loudness.
You co-exhibited with the UK’s ‘Premium Certified HD Dealer’ HHB at IBC 2012. How did the partnership work?
[KA] HHB has been an important partner for us for years. It’s a mutual benefit that they exhibit at IBC as well.
When the Loudness standard is fully implemented what are the other major issues facing the Audio sector?
[KA] Of course everyone wants to measure, correct and log – because no one wants to get fined. In reality, audiences want dynamics and they also want intelligibility. Those are the core of great audio. What influenced loudness so much was the concept of algorithms based on human perception. When you apply that concept you find there are many opportunities to deliver what audiences want, but in a fashion broadcasters can implement and afford.
In difficult economic times you continue to grow and expand, what is the secret of your success and what advice would you give to smaller companies wishing to make their mark in the industry?[
KA] TC Electronic is part of TC-Group – a number of brands with the same goal – to delivery great sounding experiences to audiences and audio professionals. Altogether we are a major pro audio company. However, it’s our ability to work in small teams with focused customer goals that gives us an edge. That’s really the best advice to any company starting out – stay small when you grow big.
Finally what were the standout moments for 2012 and what does 2013 hold in store for TC Electronic?
[KA] 2012 was a record year for TC-Group and for broadcast products for TC Electronic as well. On the broadcast side the continued adoption of SDI in transmission as old dolby protocols are removed from within the broadcast loop continued to play a big role for the industry.
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