TSL's SoundField Slamdunk

Audio engineer Jonathan Freed is relying on the SoundField DSF-B Digital Broadcast System from TSL Products to capture this year’s pro football and basketball games across the U.S.

Mr Freed frequently employs the SoundField DSF-B Digital Broadcast System to capture surround sound in both outdoor stadiums filled with 60,000 to 80,000 sports fans and enclosed arenas featuring 20,000 enthusiasts.
He is able to position the DSF-2 Microphone in one location within a stadium or arena, running two AES lines from the microphone down to the OB truck. Since the mic is capturing audio from a single point, as opposed to a multi-mic setup, audio quality is consistent within the different locations from broadcast-to-broadcast.
"The SoundField DSF-B Digital Broadcast System allows me to hone in on the crowd sounds of the field or court and control the ambience to ensure that the audio of the cheering fans doesn’t overpower the audio of the sports commentators and the live action," Mr Freed says.
"Furthermore, it is very convenient for me to be able to change the directional parameters from my workspace in the OB truck when working in the field, to guarantee that the audio space matches my vision of what the arena or stadium should sound like in that perspective. The SoundField DSF-B Digital Broadcast System delivers that capability perfectly."
The SoundField DSF-B Digital Broadcast System, consisting of a DSF-2 surround microphone, DSF-2 controller and DSF-3 processor, can generate multi-channel audio from a single point source. The microphone itself is made up of four precision-aligned condenser elements to capture a 360-degree sonic panorama
The resulting, proprietary B-Format audio stream allows Freed to dial in the directional orientation of the signal, using the DSF-2 controller to maximise the surround ambient field that supports all other audio content, without physically moving the microphone. The DSF-3 Digital Surround Processor allows Freed to take B-Format signals and decode them into any current surround format.
In conjunction with the SoundField DSF-B Digital Broadcast System, he also uses regular mics to provide him with additional feeds for commentary and effects.
"SoundField is the anchor for 5.1 surround ambience that I rely on now for top-level sports programming," Mr Freed says. "I owned my own recording studio more than 25 years ago and, even then, dreamed of using SoundField. Now, I am finally able to use the company’s microphone systems in my line of work and could not be more pleased with the products for their reliability, flexibility, ease of use and great sound quality."

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(IT/CD)