Announcer's Console And IFB Interface Help CRAS Extend Broadcast Audio Training

Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences (CRAS), a leading audio recording, engineering and production school, recently invited select students to test-run its newly installed audio equipment from Studio Technologies, Inc., the manufacturer of tailored high-performance audio, video and fiber-optic products for the professional audio, installation and broadcast markets.
Students will work and learn on the Model 210 Announcer's Consoles and Model 41 Audio to IFB Interface units while completing the school's new curriculum that now contains an Audio for Broadcast component.
"Studio Technologies equipment provides our students with an in-depth learning experience because of all the technology that they pack into each unit," said Robert Brock, Digital Department Director at CRAS. "For instance, once students understand that there is a microphone preamplifier, as well as multiple options for configuring interrupts within the Model 41, they begin to realize how this unit functions in a professional environment. We appreciate that Studio Technologies gear gives students the knowledge that they need to confidently enter the workforce."
Students who started at CRAS after October 2013 will all be exposed to the new, expanded curriculum, with the first audio for broadcast classes set to begin this May. Until then, select students, who enrolled in CRAS prior to the expansion, are being given the opportunity to learn about audio for broadcast through weekly seminars, which have included working directly with Fox Sports Senior Audio Consultant and Mixer Fred Aldous, who has been the primary consultant to CRAS throughout the development of its audio for broadcast classes.
During the weekly seminars, students receive the opportunity to learn how to operate Studio Technologies' Model 210 Announcer's Consoles and Model 41 Audio to IFB Interface units within a broadcast setting. Classes thus far have taught students how to patch in through the Model 41 Audio to IFB Interface unit in an exercise on signal flow and how to wire the talk-back side of the Model 210 Announcer's Console, so that the talent can talk to the producer sitting in the control room.
CRAS installed both the Model 210 Announcer's Consoles and Model 41 Audio to IFB Interface units in its audio and technical classrooms, as well as in the school's new OB truck, which debuted on campus in January 2014. The Model 210 Announcer's Console is designed to serve as the audio control center for announcers, commentators and production talent. The tabletop unit is suitable for a variety of applications, including on-air sports broadcasting, integrating all on-air, talkback, and cue audio signal routing into one compact system. The Model 41 Audio to IFB Interface unit is an advanced single-rack space unit designed to link the analog outputs of digital matrix intercom systems with IFB-compatible beltpacks and announcer's consoles in both 'wet' and 'dry' configurations. It creates four independent IFB outputs and ensures optimal operation by providing two five-segment LED meters and headphone monitoring of all audio output signals.
"As an added bonus, Studio Technologies provides excellent product manuals that allow our students to understand how the equipment works from an introductory phase to a more detailed level of technical analysis," Brock said. "As we are an educational facility, the manuals actually become textbooks for us. Not many manufacturers provide such detailed documentation on the inner workings of their products.
"We take pride in teaching our students how to operate Studio Technologies gear, as it is standard in the industry, especially in the mobile production market."
www.studio-tech.com