Austria’s Radio Stephansdom Spreads The Word With AKG Microphones

The Cathedral plays host to large orchestral masses, showcasing the work of Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert and Bruckner. In fact, St. Stephen’s has the distinction of hosting both Mozart’s marriage ceremony and funeral.

With an active listening audience of approximately 100,000 per day, Radio Stephansdom has grown to become a benchmark broadcast station in Vienna. Two years ago, the station converted to a full digital setup while retaining AKG microphones. Today they are using C414XLS for the presenters, and CK47 with GN30 for round table discussions.

For live broadcasts, Martin Macheiner, the station’s technical director calls on a vast range of AKG microphones, including C460B, C480B, C414 ULS, C414TLII, C451B, CK61ULS, CK62ULS, CK62DF and CK63ULS.  “We needed to match the challenge presented to us within the critical acoustics of the cathedral and the microphones provided by AKG are an excellent solution,” stated Macheiner.

In the Cathedral, priests are miked with DSR700 digital wireless mics with DHT700 (C5 capsule) and DPT700 with CK97-C/L capsule. But one feature they are proud of is the special construction for the Haydn Organ, which can be moved around on covered wheels. Two AKG Blue Line SE300B’s with CK92 capsules are installed on outriggers, along with a small mixer and two PT450 compact bodypack transmitters all inside the organ. The signals are then received via a pair of SR4500’s.

“AKG offers absolute transparency – a warm but clean sound – particularly for the strings.  There is no alternative to the C414 with its fantastic musical offering,” Machenier continued.  “AKG’s continued support helps our station provide the highest quality of broadcast with very little worry about replacing our veteran microphones.”

HARMAN designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets – supported by 15 leading brands, including AKG, Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL, Lexicon and Mark Levinson. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 20 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 13,400 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported sales of $4.4 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012.