Glensound Announces MPTS 2023 Showcase

This year's MPTS will allow Glensound to unveil several new products and enhancements to the established portfolio already on offer. New introductions are offering AES67 capabilities in recognition of the trend towards IP in most market sectors.

The success of new lines introduced in 2022 has encouraged the company to invest in staff and manufacturing technology to improve production efficiency to meet the increased demand across its extensive product portfolio. A change in company operating hours is also helping to keep pace with orders for all the leading products, particularly AES67-based networked audio items.

The announcement at IBC that Glensound had joined the RAVENNA community opened the possibility to integrate with other similarly featured broadcast equipment, and to work with higher sample rates, as well as offer the choice of Dante or RAVENNA network integration. The process of adding this capability to many products is ongoing but the VITTORIA Network Audio Bridge has been an immediate success. This allows connection between two networks of different types, Dante or RAVENNA, in any direction with a Firewall in between. Higher RAVENNA sample rates can be input, and the two networks can be at different rates and operate asynchronously.

Glensound has established an enviable reputation as a major supplier of commentary systems. These come in several different versions to cater for the precise demands of the user and the broadcaster. Its most recent introduction is the Express IP Mini X Commentary unit which is now shipping. This has the important addition of local analogue audio outputs and this impressively featured compact unit caters for two commentators in a rugged desktop package. Also Dante/AES67 compatible, this unit has configurable talkback circuits, two microphone inputs with phantom power and compressor/limiter on each and four external monitor inputs. It is powered over Ethernet to minimise clutter in the operator area and has a very comprehensive headphone monitoring section handling multiple sources.

Customer feedback suggested that analogue audio outputs would also benefit the flagship INFERNO Commentary Unit. This continues to enjoy significant sales, with an additional safety feature (in case of network failure) of a direct microphone output. This is an aspect definitely welcomed by the many broadcast users that have standardised on this popular IP connected unit.

The growing popularity of eSports has opened up an interesting niche for Glensound. Building on its experience in the commentary unit market, the GTM eSports Gamers Interface was a significant introduction in 2022 and has been an immediate hit with major gaming companies. Customer requests have also been beneficial in fine tuning the product. In addition to the SDI audio de-embedding capability already present, SDI embedding is also in the unit so that game audio and local analogue sources can be inserted for forward distribution. GTM provides a single device that combines multiple functions required to support interfacing and communication during an eSports tournament. GTM is fully remote controllable and configurable by tournament engineers and offers the players flexibility in monitoring and controlling their mix. The system allows the game source audio to be picked up from multiple sources (SPDIF, USB, network, analogue etc.) depending on the tournament format, and supports multi-channel mixing pre-configurable inputs from Glensound's Dante platform or de-embedded audio from an SDI connection.

Attention to detail leads to product enhancement and although it does not affect the performance of the beltpack units, a cosmetic upgrade featuring end bumpers ensures that the products stand up to the rigours of daily use. The following products have had this makeover: AoIP22, AoIP4O, AoIP4I, AoIP2M, AoIP22u, AoIP22 AES, AoIP44AES.

Reflecting on the continued success and importance of the Glensound AoIP products, Managing Director, Marc Wilson remarked: "We felt it important to fully embrace the new possibilities that IP offers our customers. Offering Dante or RAVENNA flavours throughout the product range offers the broadcaster an extraordinarily comprehensive range of products that allows integration to any AES67 network. Expanding this capability is a major focus for the company in 2023 and moving forward."

www.glensound.co.uk