Axia - Broadcast Consoles & Audio Networking

We know you. You're the guy who stays up late, prowling the net for new ideas, reading the newsgroups and listserves. The guy who worked all weekend building that new studio, making sure it was ready Monday morning. You're creative, energetic, and excited about what you're doing. You're the independent thinker. You're the hope for radio's future. The world hasn't quite figured this out yet... but they will.

You know us. We work just as hard as you do. Our dedicated team of obsessive console designers (fueled nonstop by caffeine, pizza and Chee-Tos) is never satisfied with success. Trying incessantly to top their last breakthrough. Working constantly to devise new and more inventive ways to save a dollar. Always asking "what's next?"

Presenting iQ. It's the answer to "what's next?" It's Axia's newest IP console, and it's the easiest way yet to get an IP-Audio studio up and running. If you can chew gum and walk, then you can set this up, pronto.

iQ is much more than just a pretty face - it's a control surface with mixing engine, audio I/O, machine-control logic and Ethernet switch, all rolled into an easy-to-deploy package. Connect the iQ control surface to the iQ Core with a single cable, add audio inputs using Cat-5 cable, perform some fast Web-based configuration and, presto! your new iQ console is ready to broadcast.

Self-motivated, but plays well with others. Can a genius be a social butterfly too? iQ can. It's perfectly happy working as a self-contained, standalone console in an individual studio. Each iQ studio is self-contained; you don't need to have a network connection (unless you want to). But when you want to, that's easy too: iQ Simple Networking lets you daisy-chain up to 4 iQ Cores without the need for an external Ethernet switch. You grow, it grows with you.

More smart stuff: iQ remembers. Four Show Profile memory positions let you set, save and recall snapshots of console settings for later use. High-resolution Organic LED meters are built in, and OLED displays on every fader show source assignments, pan & balance settings, fader options and more -- no additional monitors or mice to clutter up your studio. (Now, that's very smart.)

The brawn behind the brains.

What's that cool-looking black box? It's the iQ Core integrated console engine. More than an engine, really; it's a mighty powerhouse with onboard I/O, GPIO and an Ethernet switch. With 3-band EQ for voice inputs that is automatically applied when the source loads. In fact, there's more than enough mixing muscle to support consoles from 8 to 24 faders large. I/O?

Yep, and plenty of it:

• 4 mic inputs with selectable Phantom power
• 16 Analog inputs
• 2 AES/EBU inputs
• 8 Analog outputs
• 2 AES/EBU outputs
• 8 GPIO machine-control logic ports,
  each with 5 opto-isolated inputs and 5 outputs
• Integrated Ethernet switch
• 6 Livewire 100Base-T ports (4 with PoE)
• 2 Gigabit ports (RJ-45 & SFP)
• 4 CANBus ports for console frames and accessory panels

That's plenty of juice to run the show, don't you think? But if you need more, no worries. iQ knows where it comes from. It recognizes and works with any piece of Axia gear, so you can instantly add IO just by plugging in Axia Audio Nodes. Or plug into existing IP-Audio networks just by connecting it to the network switch. When Axia equipment hooks up together in a studio, it's like a big group hug.

Overengineered for your protection. Like all Axia consoles, iQ is built solid, like a Mack truck, to withstand even the beatings only a weekend overnight jock can give. LED lighting, long-life conductive-plastic faders, and hard-anodized surfaces with laser-etched markings that can't ever rub off.

Want to find out more? Download the Users Manual here

iQ Expansion Frames add more faders and capabilities.

If you liked liked Legos as a kid, you'll love iQ. It's easy to build a console tailored to your exact needs; just start with the 8-fader iQ Main Frame and add what you need. Installation is easy: Frames plug into iQ Core with a single CANBus connector; two clicks and you're done.

Solid to the Core (and Backup)

Solid to the Core (and Backup) Your on-air studio is no place to play fast and loose. So we built iQ battleship-solid, with an EM-tight chassis, an ultra-reliable DSP platform (not a common PC motherboard) and a hardened power supply designed for unfailing service. iQ Core and the iQ Backup power supply are fan-free, too, for utterly silent in-studio operation. Click on the two thumbnails above for a closer look at each one.

Shine On.

iQ uses organic LED (OLED) displays for meters and fader labels. What's the big deal? OLEDs are bright, high-resolution displays that are sharp as a tack and highly legible. They'll never wash out, even in direct lighting. iQ's OLED fader displays show you the source that's assigned to each channel strip, but they're smarter than that: they can also work with the Soft Keys just below to trigger GPIO events, step automation events, even start the coffeepot. (OK, that last one's still on our wish list, but we're working on it.)

Hello? Your Console Is Calling

Ever seen a console with a built-in phone system? The phone gurus at Telos built one just for us, called iQ6 (that's short for "six lines" and "very smart"). It plugs right into one of the Ethernet ports on the iQ Core; you control it with the Telos Call Controller built into the iQ Telco Expansion Frame. Just another innovation from our sleep-deprived console designers (Somebody give those R&D guys a raise.

Meter Reader

You guessed it - OLED displays are the secret to iQ's amazingly bright, sharp program meters. With these, you can see exactly what any of iQ's four stereo Program buses are doing — even from across the studio. You get your choice of metering scales, too: VU if you operate North American style, PPM if you run Euro-style. With meters like these, even Lovely Rita would be jealous.