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Remote, Live Broadcast, or Tech Fun?
I should start by saying it has been way too long since a post. Truth be told, it has not been the most exciting, eventful few months for me in the biz. A lot of little things, but nothing to write home about! OK, that was pretty bad. There is one area that received some attention and that was remote broadcast delivery and call ins. The main equipment are iPads with built-in wireless 4G and docks along with the Tieline Report-IT app. We deployed three new road cases, each with its own challenge.
As posted in July, the first case built utilized the Alesis I/O Dock. Designed, or should I say intended, to be used as a personal I/O (input/output) device for the home recording artist using an iPad. After setup and testing we discovered that the inputs, mic and mic/guitar, were channel independent, i.e. one fed the left channel, the other the right channel. This is all fine and well if recording on the iPad, but the Report-IT app only recognized the left channel. Not a big surprise as it was designed to accept a single input, a microphone, which is a mono source. In development I bet no one said, “No “blank” is going to need anything else.” To correct this issue, I modified the Alesis, oh no warranty busted, such that the second channel fed the first channel right before the A/D converter that feeds the iPad. Problem solved and it did not affect the headphone or monitoring feeds.
With the success of number one, the search continued for other alternatives within reason, or lack of budget. Lo and behold the discovery of the Behringer iStudio iPad dock. This puppy is less expensive that the Alesis, so what do we have to lose, or gain? Testing it out I discovered the same problem as the Alesis, only one channel fed the Report-IT app. Indeed, the Behringer is designed the same way as the Alesis; home recording of two sources to feed independent tracks in a recording app. Normally vocal and guitar. Warranty busting again to discover that they use the same A/D chip as Alesis! I know what to do, and one jumper later, we had another case ready for action.
We were intrigued by the Mackie DL806, so with a little shoveling into the budget, we purchased one. The Mackie is designed to be a live sound mixer and takes after their VLZ series mixers. It also requires a bit more configuring for your setup. If you are familiar with using a Mackie for broadcasts, you will find it is not much different. Everything gets configured on the iPad, and once configured the hardware will remember the settings. The added bonus, but adds complexity, is each channel has a gate and compressor setting. I am still working out the details of how these settings are saved for different shows and environments, so a more in-depth write-up will follow. Overall it has worked well for us.
The culmination of all this is the installation of two Teline Merlin Plus codecs. With these we are now capable of handling up to 12 IP broadcasts. We already had one day which all our stations were out at various times with overlaps. We are now looking into hardening the IP streams.
All of this was not all without some humps in the road. I have had a Merlin Plus get into a state where it rejected any connections, yet I was able to connect with the Toolbox and reboot it remotely. My last use of the Mackie had a hiccup where noise poured out of the headphones and monitor on site. This looked to be the dock connection with the iPad or the iPad itself. This is currently under investigation. In another situation the iPad is setup to use either the wireless or the WiFi connection at the venue. Apparently something changed something there making the iPad want to connect to the WiFi, but not passing the stream. The talent was instructed to turn off the WiFi on the iPad. Well, it looks like training on how to use tablets may be necessary.
Overall we have been quite happy with our arsenal of remote gear. From traditional codecs to running apps only we have the bases covered. More training and fine tuning is necessary, but in the long run the PDs are happy as are the air talent. Now if I can get my hands on a DL1608 or DL32R…..
Our New Remote Broadcast Case
Having worked many live broadcasts for radio I have seen many setups. Our setups have ranged from the complex to the most simple. A wide range for sure. We have broadcasts which require four or more mics down to simple “call-in” type hits using the Tieline Report-IT application. Now we put together something for the simple end such that any air talent can set it up.
What does this remote broadcast case contain? Here’s the list:
Apple iPad running Tieline Report-IT Enterprise equipped with Verizon 4G LTE wireless
Alesis I/O Dock
Fostex amplified speaker
Presonus headphone amplifier
2 Shure SM58 mics
2 headphones
associated cables and 25′ extension cord.
Report-IT application running on iPad install in Alesis I/O Dock
The speaker and headphone amp are items we had in house that were either spare or used in other applications that are no longer necessary. Mr. Bill was along to assist in the setup and make sure everything ran smoothly. The headphone amp is used just in case of a two person setup, and noted later as an interface to mono the audio feed. We have found in many cases if the environment is not too noisy a guest does not use, or need, headphones. It adds additional gain for the deaf air talent, too. If the air talent does not need the amp, just plug into the headphone output of the I/O Dock.
We did find in another broadcast test that the iPad will smoothly transition between 4G LTE wireless and WiFi connections. This was discovered when checking out a new site. A little added bonus.
After doing an initial broadcast and testing, we discovered that the Alesis I/O Dock is designed around two independent channels. Input 1 is the left channel and Input 2 is the right channel. These channels are independent throughout the system with no mixing or mono-button capability. The Tieline Report-IT application, being a mono or one channel application, only “saw” Channel 1, so a mic plugged into Channel 2 did not feed audio to it. I voided the warranty. Since the device only cost us $177, I decided to open it up and modified the I/O Dock. This first modification, and I have others planned, was to make sure two mics fed the application. No schematic was available, but I was able to research the chip-sets used and found the AD-DA (Analog to Digital/Digital to Analog) converter chip. Armed with the pin-outs I used my oscilloscope to trace the signal at that point with the goal of making sure the summing occurred after the pre-amplifiers for the inputs. I located a convenient locations, soldered in a jumper, and all was good. An instant mono, or summed, source for the iPad. This modification does not affect the headphone or main out feed of the I/O Dock, just the feed to the iPad, so each channel is in separate ears of the headphones if plugged directly into the headphone outputs. The Presonus headphone amp has a mono button on it, so the device acts as a nice interface for the picky talent. Return audio from the Report-IT application is not affected and feeds both output channels. I do plan on modifying the modification to included a switch so at a push of a button a mono signal is produced and feeds all outputs. Where and how to implement this switch is the tricky part as there is not a lot of space to add it to the I/O Dock, but I will find a way.
Another added benefit of this setup is to allow recording on the iPad using either a third party application like WavePad or even the Tieline application for feeds later. Using WavePad the talent can record and do basic editing, and once complete, email the audio clip back to the studio. If using Report-IT the talent can record a report and either feed it down the connection or, if FTP is setup, upload to the studio. We are currently researching ways to incorporate the FTP feature in Report-IT such that we can upload clips with specific file/cart numbers and have them automatically import them into a RCS NexGen log.
Why not just use a mic adapter and Report-IT on a phone or iPad directly? We do that, too. In this setup the ease of incorporating two microphones was ideal. In addition the comfort level of the air talent increases as they have that physical something in front of them. Some of our staff has embraced this new technology, but others seem to be less forgiving. As we easy them into it, we make it simple and functional for them. Soon they will be able to run out with a setup on their own and not think twice of it. Getting things done. That ‘s what it is all about.
Alesis makes a product called the I/O Mix which is a 4 channel mixer. We are looking into that, but this is taking things backwards. There may be a use for such a setup in the near future. For a more complex setup, Mackie makes the the DL608 and the DL1608, 8 and 16 channel, mixers for iPad. These are sweet as they incorporate the features of the Mackie VLZ series of mixers. I know of a station that uses this setup for their NFL broadcasts.
As the technology and connectivity continues to improve, applications like Tieline’s Report-IT simplifies the ability to provide for quick, live broadcasts, and news gathering. We are always looking to simplify and utilize emerging tech to our advantage. The package seen here does not cost that much and the flexibility makes it more desirable. The elimination of bulky and confusing mixers appeals to air talent and promotions alike. Improved audio quality for “call-ins” over a standard cell phone call makes us stand out over the competition.
Tech Notes from the Field 