Axia - Broadcast Consoles & Audio Networking

You've been cruising our site, so you've heard us telling you that Axia components are "building blocks" you can use to build networked broadcast audio systems.

In fact, a complete studio is amazingly easy to build. All you need are a handful of Axia AES and Analog Nodes, a bag of RJ-45 connectors, a spool of CAT-6 and a crimp tool, and you're ready to go. So let's go build a studio (or twelve).

Step 1: The Ins and Outs

The first step in any studio build is identifying the pieces. We visited a typical air studio/control room used for intensive, live-format radio shows, and took an inventory:

• 2 Microphones
• 2 Headphones
• 2 pairs of speakers (studio & control room monitors)
• 1 CD player
• 1 DAT player
• 1 audio delivery / audio editing PC
• 1 Internet PC
• 1 Telos Nx12 12-caller talkshow system
• 1 Telos Z/IP ONE IP remote codec
• 1 satellite downlink
• 23 incoming audio sources (from devices in production rooms, news booths, other air studios)
• 1 cue speaker
• 1 program feed to the Omnia.11 FMHD Audio Processor and then to the transmission plant
• And last but not least, the audio console.

The bottom line

By now, you're probably asking "How much is it?" Complete system pricing is available upon request, but we know you're dying to know now, so here's the short answer: an Axia system costs about half what you'd pay one of those other digital broadcast equipment vendors to build your studios. Think that might make some people happy?

Step 2: Putting It All Together

That's a lot of stuff! But it takes surprisingly little Axia gear to network it all together.

• The Ethernet Switch is at the heart of the Axia network. You'll need one per studio. Good news! Axia Element, iQ, Radius, DESQ and RAQ consoles all work with Axia integrated console engines that have a zero-configuration, built-for-broadcast Ethernet switch built in. Whether you use one of these integrated engines or a standard Ethernet switch, your other Axia gear (and equipment from Axia partners) plugs into the switch using CAT-5 cable.
• The 2 Mics and their 2 associated headphone feeds are all connected to an Axia Microphone xNode or audio node, leaving plenty more inputs and outputs for future expansion.
• The 4 monitor speakers and the CD player will be connected to an Axia Analog audio node or xNode, leaving more outputs and inputs for expansion.
• The Z/IP ONE codec, the Nx12 phone system, and the satellite receiver will all send digital audio directly to an Axia AES/EBU xNode or audio node. This node will also send audio back to these devices and supply an AES program feed to the Omnia.11, leaving some inputs and outputs open for expansion.
• The 23 incoming sources from around the plant will be directly accessible on the faders of the Axia console, or by using the Axia Router Selector Node. The selector also takes input from the DAT player, to be fed to the network. (You can use Pathfinder routing tools to set up automatic or manual routing cross-points for your entire facility.)
• The audio delivery and editing PCs feed digital audio directly to the Livewire network using the Axia Windows Driver supplied by the station's playout system vendor. The Internet PC will connect directly to the switch through the corporate firewall.
• An Axia Element on-air console commands the Axia StudioEngine, a powerful Linux-based mixing device with 12 gigaflops of processing power. Machine logic for all of the room's audio sources is fed into the Axia GPIO Node, which routes control along with audio to wherever it's needed.
  • Or, to make things even easier, pair your Element with PowerStation, an integrated console engine with built-in Gigabit network switch, DSP mixing engine and console CPU, plus redundtant-power capabilities and enough expandable analog, digital and Mic-level I/O to easily power any studio.

Transform your terminal room.

Chances are your terminal room doesn't look like the picture on the left (at least we hope not!), but if you've ever dreamed about just tearing it all out and starting over, Axia can help you do it. Get rid of those wire pairs, barrier strips and connection blocks, and replace them with clean, simple CAT-6 cabling.

And it looks like this.

Our company is full of engineers, and if you're anything like us, you probably like schematics and block diagrams. So for fun, we worked up a system diagram of the studio described above.

This diagram shows how a system built with discrete components (using a Studio Engine, audio nodes and a standalone Ethernet switch) looks. (Click for a closer look.)

And here's a similar setup built using the PowerStation integrated console engine. Notice that this simple design actually adds capabilities like routing control and broadcast-quality Intercoms, even while further reducing system complexity. (Click to see it bigger.)

Find out more.

Eager to roll up your sleeves and get to work? We don't blame you — building with Axia might just be the most enjoyable studio build you've ever done. Find your nearest distributor, or contact Axia directly to find out more - we'll guide you through the whole process (and we love answering questions!).