APT and Sonifex provide solution for the AA

Belfast-based codec manufacturer APT recently won a substantial order from Sonifex to supply 70 ICD128 PCBs, which have been used by the company to fulfil a major contract for the Automobile Association (AA).
Sonifex has been at the forefront of the design and manufacture of high quality, professional audio products for more than 30 years and its products are now widely used in broadcasting, pro audio, security and telecommunications applications. The company was recently approached by the AA, which needed a large number of codecs so that it could deliver its Roadwatch traffic news service to the GWR Group of radio stations.
Tim Donaldson, Head of Group Engineering Services for GWR, asked for 128kbps codecs in order to ensure the best possible audio quality, so AA Roadwatch approached Sonifex for advice. Sonifex specified its Nica X codec fitted with APT's apt-X algorithm, carried on the ICD128 PCBs. The choice made sense because GWR already uses apt-X throughout its audio chain and therefore needed no convincing about its superior audio quality and low latency.
The AA was delighted with the recommendation – not just because apt-x sorted out its immediate compatibility and quality issues, but also because the Nica X codec requires only simple book entries and one touch dialling, thus making it incredibly easy to use.
Marcus Brooke, Managing Director of Sonifex, says: “For this application, using apt-X as the encode/decode algorithm made perfect sense where low delay and high audio quality was required. It also gave a high degree of compatibility with the other codecs being used in the GWR network.”
The AA has now installed 69 Nica X codecs at sites around the UK. These include seven at its main Roadwatch office in Stanmore, 10 at transmitter sites, six at airfields in Southend, Coventry and Bristol, two at Exeter, four at both Cardiff and Halesowen, one in Cheadle and one at each of the GWR sites.
The Nica X’s at the transmitter sites are used for studio to transmitter links. For its airborne service, AA Roadwatch reporters talk on the transmitter receiver down to the base station, of which there are five for three sites. Each of the five transmitter points has two Nica X codecs, one for each person in the plane. These are connected to two ISDN lines that feed two positions each at Stanmore, Halesowen and Cardiff. From there, another Nica X is used to provide a link from the plane to the appropriate radio station. This enables reporters in the plane to carry out live traffic reports for any station in the GWR network.
(AMcE)