dB Broadcast refurbish BBC Maida Vale Studio One

Independent systems house dB Broadcast has recently completed the refurbishment and re-equipment of audio studio one at BBC Maida Vale on behalf of BBC Technology.
The work involved installing a Studer D950 digital mixing console as well as designing, building and installing a new, custom talkback system.
Studio one is the largest studio at Maida Vale and home of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. It is used extensively for performances and recordings of large-scale classical music. The studio can accommodate more than 150 musicians, a choir of over 100, and an audience of 220. Performances are occasionally live-to-air, but are more usually recorded for later broadcast on radio and television and, increasingly, released on CD.
dB refurbished and re-equipped the control room and apparatus room and installed new fibre optic circuits for the mic amps which were mounted in the studio. New tie-lines and communications circuits were run to various adjacent areas.
In the cubicle room, a 72 input and 56 fader Studer D950 M2 console, a separate producer's desk, and a rack housing DAT and cassette machines, CD player and various control equipment were installed. The apparatus room included three new 42RU racks.
According to Tom Swan, dB's director of sales and marketing, there were two main challenges that faced dB Broadcast. Interfacing to the existing infrastructure within the studio and access to the studio which was in constant use.
Solving the first challenge involved identifying existing cabling, removing unwanted cabling, revising existing drawings, and designing and supplying a number of custom interface units and panels. As the studio area was in constant use for Symphony Orchestra rehearsals, access was restricted and on-site work had to be carried out before 10.00am and at weekends - with the occasional full day when the studio was vacant.
"But," said Swan, "we finished on time and within budget."
BBC Technology is part of the BBC Ventures Group, the umbrella name for the BBC's commercial media services businesses comprising: BBC Resources, BBC Technology, BBC Broadcast and Kingswood Warren Ventures.
BBC Technology began trading on March 31, 2001, drawing on the BBC's pioneering technological experience to offer solutions in media, broadcast and interactive applications to both the BBC and other global players. It can design, build and operate systems for managing and distributing content on multi media platforms.
(AMcE)