Metropolitan Opera Continues Audio Broadcasts With APT's WorldCast Eclipse

New York's prestigious Metropolitan Opera will continue its new season of successful radio broadcasts on December 8, with the help of APT's WorldCast Eclipse, a multi-interface multi-algorithm codec which delivers bidirectional stereo audio over IP, Leased Line and ISDN links.
Matt Galek Broadcast Engineer for Metropolitan Opera said: "The Met was looking at a way to simplify and consolidate our radio transmission responsibilities. With the recent fall in prices of synchronous lines and also the consolidation of ISDN, IP, V.35 and T1 we were looking for all of these interfaces within one unit which could be operated remotely via a web-based GUI.
"The WorldCast Eclipse seemed like the most appealing solution for our needs as there were no other options on the market that had nearly as much flexibility both in terms of interfaces and coding options. In addition I had worked at Sirius Satellite Radio as a broadcast engineer for the past five years where I had a great deal of successful experience with the WorldNet Oslo and WorldNet Ohio units."
"Most importantly, at the Met we strive for the utmost fidelity possible. Many perceptual coding schemes are just not of high enough quality for us. With the WorldCast Eclipse we can now run an audio path to our uplink that is perceptually better than CD quality at 24-bit. The WorldCast Eclipse will be used as the codec for our primary T1, interfaced through an Adtran TSU with an integrated and fully automated ISDN feed to all our North American stations which will be distributed via NPR. We will be running the codec at 576kbps in the Enhanced apt-X mode for the primary feed."
The Met is renowned worldwide for its live radio broadcasts, which first began in December 1931. The Met's radio broadcasts are the longest-running classical music series in American broadcast history and are now heard in 42 countries around the world via the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network.
(DS)