Radio 2WAY Selects AEQ CAPITOL IP Console

Radio 2WAY is an Australian community radio station founded in 1986, serving the Port Macquarie Hastings Council region in the east of the country, with a very varied content and a focus on local information and local music.

Traditionally 2WAY FM has worked with analogue material, but the station's management has decided to modernise its studios with digital technology and has opted for the AEQ CAPITOL IP console as the heart of the system. In the choice of such an important equipment, due to the characteristics of the installation and the operators, they were looking for an equipment that would offer the maximum audio quality with the latest digital technology available, but always guaranteeing a very user-friendly operation.

2WAY FM's original set-up included a series of balance amplifiers connected with a tangle of cables that no one currently knew very well, so the station members felt they had limited knowledge of how to replace the studio equipment. At that point 2Ways FM approached one of their colleagues Mr Ross Wheeler (of Radio Tank FM) who recommended the services of Broadcast Components, AEQ's local partner in the country.

After analysis with 2WAY FM, it was decided that starting from scratch was perhaps the best option for the station. This allowed the station to have a complete digital solution, minimise cabling and also prepare the studio for future. Broadcast Components were able to use some of the stations existing equipment, which helped to keep the build within budget.

Broadcast Components assisted the station, travelling to the site for the installation. All existing analogue equipment was dismantled, new ethernet cable was installed and the digital studios began to come together.

AEQ CAPITOL IP console was an easy choice for studios 1 and 2 due to its configurable 8-channel faders that are more than sufficient for the stations' requirements. This desk also easily integrates existing CD players into the stations with the help of the handy Twinmatch. Adding an AEQ Netbox32 allowed for convenient audio switching both from the studios and from the air. Together with a presence switch, they work very well with the DANTE solution. Finally a 542APC processor was added, packed with features including RDS, 5-band processing and audio quality analyser to take the sound of the stations to the next level. Completing the installation with loudspeakers, HD280 headphones and individual level controls for each presenter and guest.

AEQ CAPITOL IP is an 8-channel fixed configuration Digital Audio mixing console. In CAPITOL IP the implementation of IP connectivity is based on a single module of 16 input and 16 output channels, incorporated in its core. One of the main qualities of AEQ CAPITOL IP is the wide input capacity available: 4 mic/line, 12 analogue, 4 digital stereo AES/EBU (AES3), 2 digital stereo USB, 2 optional telephone lines, and optional digital multi-channel audio links; 16 AoIP channels over two Ethernet connectors or 64 MADI channels input over optical fibre.

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