MAYAH seamlessly sees broadcasters through transition from ISDN to Audio-over-IP at Eurovision Song Contest & Football World Cup

At the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 in Oslo, Norway, a dozen of C11 Audio Codecs were used for a higher quality transmission of the commentators’ voices. Whereas most of the broadcasters stick to the 22 years old tradition of 7 kHz G.722 quality for this application, some others trying to deliver better sound by using various MPEG formats. Among the broadcasters benefiting from the MAYAH codecs availability as part of the commentary set-up were BBC (UK), SR and SVT (Sweden), TROS (Netherlands), SF (Switzerland) and the radio division of the host broadcaster NRK. And yet before the stage shows of the largest media event of the continent NRK used their MAYAH audio codec to establish a SIP-based Audio-over-IP connection to Moscow over the Internet. During the preparations for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 Russia’s biggest public radio broadcaster Radio Mayak provided their listeners with multiple live contributions from Oslo in high audio quality. MAYAH codecs are fully compliant with the EBU N/ACIP standard and could easily communicate over IP with the device of other manufacturer installed in Moscow.

At the Football World Cup 2010 in South Africa there are about 30 of MAYAH C11 codecs in use for traditional ISDN communication between the various locations in the country and the broadcasters’ headquarters. Missing infrastructure at some locations forces broadcasters to be fast and inventive. In many cases Audio-over-IP comes to help them and bridge their communication. Alfacam Deutschland GmbH has been appointed by Germany’s Public Broadcasters ARD/ZDF as technical services supplier including 5 HD OB vans. They use MAYAH C11 for technical and editorial communication. The private Broadcaster RTL Germany keeps MAYAH Sporty Reporter Codec as a perfect standalone commentary position back-up solution. Back in Germany public and private broadcasters use MAYAH codecs as a communication partner for those “on the road” in South Africa or use them for their live contributions from the public viewing locations in Germany including the famous “Fan Mile” in Berlin.

About MAYAH stationary and mobile audio codecs

C11 Audio Codecs family comprises 14 different models – all as tiny as 1/2 19” 1U, consuming only 8W of power. All MAYAH devices support Audio-over-IP strictly based on the EBU ACIP Standard. Traditional and advanced coding algorithms provided for every of the new devices: Linear (PCM), G.711/G.722, MPEG Layer2/Layer 3, MPEG-4 HE-AACv2, AAC/ELD as well as the optional APT-X/Enhanced APT-X. APT-X is the favourite feature for recording studios and voice artists.

Along with the state-of-the-art IP technology which is utilized for the transmissions over Ethernet/LAN, WLAN, 3G & BGAN some C11 models also offer traditional ISDN and POTS connectivity. C1191 provides an advanced Dual IP interface for redundant streaming or secure separation of the audio streaming and device control.

Mobile Reporter Audio Codec SPORTY & Portable Audio Recorder/Codec FLASHMAN II provide the unique support of simultaneous transmission and recording/playback to/from SD cards or USB memory sticks. With a powerful rechargeable battery reporters can transmit from virtually anywhere in the world.

New features of MAYAH latest audio codecs include AJC (automatic jitter compensation) and FEC (forward error correction) to improve the sound quality in the public IP networks such as the Internet; BGAN support, Multiple Unicast and many more. The new Web Remote Control runs in every web-browser on any platform including Windows, Mac OS, Linux, iPhone or Android mobile OS.

About MAYAH Communications GmbH

The company’s main objective is the development and distribution of innovative high quality solutions for real-time audio and audio/video communications in broadcast and corporate networks. Focus is given to standardized audio and video formats, such as MPEG-1, -2 and 4 as well as proprietary but accepted formats such as E/apt-X, 4SB ADPCM and others. MAYAH started its operations at the end of 1997 and is a privately held company with its headquarter in Hallbergmoos near Munich, an R&D department in Flensburg and a worldwide distribution network. MAYAH stands in close relationship with and is licensing technology from FhG-IIS (Fraunhofer Institute), Coding Technologies, IRT, and others. MAYAH is also a founding member of Audio-via-IP Experts Group working on faster implementation of EBU Audio-over-IP Standard by codec manufacturers. MAYAH’s customers are in radio and TV broadcasting as well as telecommunications, studios and ISPs.

For more information on MAYAH Audio Codecs please visit