Article Overview

Lawo Deployed in Six Upgraded CTV Control Rooms

Grant Roberts, Senior Audio Operator CTV Specialty, and Bob Miles, Manager of Olympics Audio Engineering

Lawo recently completed a series of significant facility upgrades to six control rooms at CTV’s Agincourt and Queen Street campuses that includes four mc²56 digital production consoles and two zirkonXL consoles. The audio mixing systems were initially procured for the 2010 Winter Games by Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium, a unique relationship between leading media conglomerates CTV Inc. and Rogers Media Inc., which, collectively, broadcast the 2010 Winter Games across Canada earlier this year. With the Lawo equipment now residing in their new homes, the upgraded facilities provide superior production tools for all CTV’s broadcast endeavors.

A Lawo mc²56 console configured with sixty-four faders, five DSP cards, redundant processors, fifteen MADI ports, thirty-two AES3id I/O, and three DALLIS frames was installed at CTV’s Agincourt Campus, Control 8. This facility is the main production control room for the NHL Network HD broadcasts (both the Canadian and USA versions). This includes the live, daily studio program NHL On The Fly.

Another Lawo mc²56 console was deployed at Agincourt Control 9. This desk is outfitted with forty-eight faders, four DSP cards, a single processor, fifteen MADI ports, thirty-two AES3id I/O, and three DALLIS frames. Production for TSN2 (The Sports Network), the most comprehensive provider of sports coverage from a Canadian perspective, is managed at this location.

Cutting edge functionality and configuration flexibility are key attributes

Lawo systems were also installed in four control room upgrades at CTV’s Queen Street campus. At Queen Street Control 4, a Lawo mc²56 console equipped with sixty-four faders, five DSP cards, redundant processors, seven MADI ports, thirty-two AES3id I/O, and three DALLIS frames was deployed. Additionally this facility also received three 8-port MADI cards for an existing Lawo Nova73 HD router to facilitate integration with control rooms ACR4 and ACR5 at the Queen Street campus. Another Lawo mc²56 was placed in Queen Street Control 5. This mc²56 is outfitted with forty-eight faders, four DSP cards, a single processor, seven MADI ports, thirty-two AES3id I/O, and three DALLIS frames.

In addition to the mc²56 mixing systems, the Queen Street campus was the recipient of two Lawo zirkonXL consoles. Both Queen Street Control 2 and Queen Street FM2 (home to CHUM Radio) received Lawo zirkonXL desks—each equipped with twenty-four faders, four MADI ports, 12 AES3id I/O, and twenty-four analog I/O.

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Robert Miles, CTV’s Manager for Olympics Audio Engineering, was responsible for designing and implementing the broadcast audio and communication systems for Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium’s Olympic coverage. After the Games, his responsibilities focused on the design and implementation of the post-Games equipment into CTV’s broadcast facilities. He reflected on the challenge of re-deploying the equipment and the benefits the Lawo systems provide that helped make the transition easier on everyone involved.

“With Agincourt Control 8,” Miles explained, “we had the unique situation of a very late start date for the renovation and a fixed on-air date, specifically, the start of the 2010-2011 NHL season. Compounding this issue was the fact that the NHL Network was making the transition from SD (Standard Definition) to HD (High Definition) and that the studio was going to stay in the original building until a new set was to be completed later in the hockey season. The simplicity of adding and integrating additional Lawo DALLIS frames was a huge bonus for our build endeavor.”

“We purchased an additional two DALLIS frames to augment the capabilities of a post-Vancouver console looking for a new home,” Miles continued. “One DALLIS frame was installed in the studio and was interconnected with an mc²56 core located in the Annex Equipment Room (AER) with redundant, duplex multimode fiber that covered a distance of 1500 feet. We installed the second new DALLIS frame with the Telex ADAM intercom frame located in the AER. Microphones connected to the DALLIS in the studio were easily routed to the HD Core in AER, enabling the complete control of the microphone preamplifiers from the console surface in ACR8 and intercom signals were routed from one DALLIS to the other.”

Miles reflected on the intricacies of making everything come together, “I think the most rewarding aspect of this build was the reaction of the audio operators to their new home. Their previous facilities were all analog and the signals covered considerable distances throughout the plant. Right from the first rehearsals, they were amazed with the sound of the microphones between the buildings. Now, they hear everything in the studio, including set chairs and camera pedestals. Lawo’s support throughout all of this was terrific. We had eleven weeks from ‘go ahead’ to ‘rehearsals’ and we made it!”

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About Lawo AG

Lawo, headquartered in Rastatt/Germany, specialises in developing, designing and manufacturing mixing consoles and matrix systems for radio and TV broadcasters, as well as for use in live events. Standards of high quality and innovative technology are supported by more than 40 years of experience in the field of professional audio technology.Lawo’s product range covers digital audio mixing consoles for use in radio, broadcast, production and live applications, including the required software. In addition to the provision of matrix systems and audio networks, Lawo also carries out project engineering tasks and acts as a main contractor for radio OB trucks; these services include user training and maintenance. This high level of expertise results in a comprehensive support service for Lawo customers.

Lawo

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