When it came time for a German designer and manufacturer of broadcast mixing consoles and production equipment to produce a product demo for the North American marketplace, it didn’t turn to a translator or a member of the U.S. Armed Forces stationed in Weisbaden.
Instead, it called up “The Confluence,” and help came from a station serving the city where the Ohio, Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers converge.
“The Confluence” is the name of a weekly talk program airing every Friday at Noon on WESA-FM 90.5 in Pittsburgh, the market’s main NPR affiliate for spoken-word programming. It debuted on Sept. 2, 2016, with reporters, editors and bloggers joining veteran journalist Kevin Gavin to go behind the headlines and take an in-depth look at the stories important to the Pittsburgh region.
As the program utilizes a round-table format with multiple guests, “The Confluence” was invited to demonstrate the newest iteration of Lawo’s Crystal Radio Mixing Console.
This advanced broadcast mixer has what it considers to be a unique capability, “AutoMix”, which allows all microphones to be mixed by automatically by the console.
Microphones are turned down automatically when not in use, greatly reducing room noise, room echo, and a side effect known as phasing or “comb filtering,” to create an improved listening experience.
A recording made while “The Confluence” was live on-the-air on Friday, April 7, was used by Lawo to demonstrate AutoMix during product demonstrations at the recent Public Radio Engineering Conference and 2017 NAB Show, both held in Las Vegas. The demo will get a reprise in September at the IBC Convention in Amsterdam, Holland.
Visitors to the 2017 NAB Show who stopped by Lawo’s birth also had the opportunity to see the company’s newly launched fully IP-based mc²96 Grand Production Console.
Considered the new Lawo flagship audio mixing console, it has been specifically designed to provide optimal performance in IP video production environments through native support for all relevant standards – SMPTE 2110, AES67, RAVENNA and DANTE.
The Lawo mc²96 console, available in frame sizes with 24 to 200 faders, features 21.5“ full HD touch-screens as well as multiple mini color-TFTs in channel strips and touch-sensitive color-coded encoders.
