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Quote of Note
- Mark Twain
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Our Annual Pre-NAB eNews Issue
Mark us on your "must see" list
 This year, Booth C3113 in the Central Hall is a must-stop on your list of places to visit. As you may have heard, the Telos Alliance is home to one of the largest (if not the largest) R&D teams in the industry, and they've been hard at work thinking up cool new things to show you on your trip to Vegas.
LVCC is a big place, and you might need a map to find us. No problem - here we are! And if you have an iPhone or iPad - well, there's an app for that. (It's free, too.) We hope to see you there!
Even if you can't make it to the show in person, we'd like to let you know about the new gear that's coming your way soon. So grab your favorite snack and read on.
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Get the NOW! catalog
Our new 2012 catalog is almost here!
Click here to get a copy mailed to you. |
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Telos Rings In The New
Broadcast VoIP expands, PC-Free Internet streaming, amazing new POTS hybrids
 Telco technology has evolved tremendously over the past couple of years. In particular, the VoIP revolution that's taken over the business telephony world has been winning converts in broadcasting too. VoIP's innate flexibility, scalability and low cost.
Last year, Telos introduced the Vx Broadcast VoIP Talkshow System. Broadcasters applauded - finally, a system that broght VoIP into the broadcast world! VX does a host of things that ordinary systems can't. It can use POTS or digital phone lines, or connect to VoIP providers to use economical SIP Trunking services. It supports large clusters of up to 20 studios, but it's economical for two or three-studio installations too. Up to 16 active 5th-generation Telos hybrids can be active at the same time. And each of those hybrids can conference up to four calls at a time. It supports the G.722 wideband codec, for "HD voice"-quality phone calls from mobile callers using SIP clients. You can reconfigure lines and studios at a moment's notice. VX will even interconnect with common VoIP-based PBX systems, finally allowing transfers from the studio to the business office, and vice-versa.
 We've been busy since last NAB, expanding and enhancing control options for VX users. In addition to our beautiful twin-screen VSet12 12-line phone controllers, we've engineered new VSet6 six-line and VSet1 single-line phonesets, shown at right. Like the VSet12, these handsome desktop units have a big, bright screen with intuitive Status Symbols icons that help talent see instantly what's going on with lines and callers, but sized for studios that don't need a full 12-line controller. Perfect for "gatekeeper" stations or smaller studios, production rooms, etc.
 Another new product you'll want to check out is ProSTREAM, the new Internet streaming hardware that eliminates the need for PCs to generate Web-streaming content. With ProSTREAM, audio processing, encoding and streaming are included in a single 1RU device. To make your streaming audio sound its best, ProSTREAM first employs audio processing from our buddies at Omnia. Processing includes wideband AGC, 3-band combined compressor/limiter, high-frequency equalization, an adjustable-bandwidth low-pass filter, and a final Look-Ahead limiter. Genuine MPEG encoding algorithms from FhG, the inventors of MP3, ensure artifact-free sound quality at whatever bit rate you choose. You can encode directly to MP3 or MPEG-AAC, and feed any Shoutcast-compatible media server, or a Wowza server for streaming to Flash clients. ProSTREAM comes standard with studio-grade analog I/O, and also works with Livewire IP-Audio systems, taking audio directly from your network.
 Finally, make certain to see the Hx1 and Hx2, the most advanced digital POTS hybrids ever created (from the company that invented them!). Inside the single-hybrid Hx1 and dual-hybrid Hx2, you'll find Auto-Answer, caller disconnect detection, sophisticated new audio-leveling and anti-feedback routines for enhanced open-speaker applications, call screening and line-hold features, and front-panel send and receive audio metering. Audio processing tools include a new symmetrical wide-range AGC and noise gate by Omnia, adjustable caller override, and our famous Digital Dynamic EQ, coupled with an adjustable smart leveler, to keep audio spectrally consistent from call to call. Around back, you'll find a switchable mic/line input, balanced analog receive-out output, RJ ports for Telco line and phoneset, input level adjustment, and a DB9 remote control connector with GPIO closures for hybrid control and status indicator lamps. They're without a doubt, tbe best POTS hybrids we've ever made. |
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Amazing audio from Omnia
Clearly superior sound from the leaders in audio processing for radio
New for Omnia this year will be the Omnia.11 FM, an FM-only version of the familiar Omnia FMHD, the audio processor which is strictly for mission critical processing, where maximum firepower is required in an extremely competitive environment. This new FM-only model is upgradeable to FM/HD at a later date, if you like. As with the FMHD version, Omnia.11 FM features Switchable Single Sideband Suppressed Carrier (SSBSC) technology for potential reduction of multipath. A front panel touch screen GUI, on a 10.5" diagonal screen, provides ease of use and enhanced metering and diagnostics. Remote access is via any web browser, as well as a local onboard WI-FI connection - Laptops to iPads will have access! Livewire, AES/EBU digital and analog I/O are standard.
 Brand-new this year is Omnia F/XE, a file-based audio processor and encoder application specifically engineered for podcasting or file-based streaming. Omnia F/XE is software only, for Windows PCs; no special cards required. It is able to read PCM WAV files, MPEG Layer-2 and MPEG Layer-3 source files. It combines genuine Omnia audio processing with Fraunhofer MP3 and AAC codecs for the highest possible fidelity and delivery of any file-based source material. It will read metadata from your files,then embed the information as ID3 tags in the output files. The core processing and encoding uses a high-performance, low memory footprint, native application. Just "drop" files on the FileProcessor app for on-demand processing and encoding, or automate your work using the FolderBot app to watch folders for new files and automatically process them as they arrive. Cool stuff that can really save time and effort in any broadcast production workflow.
 Also featured at NAB: both versions of the new Omnia.9 audio processor: The Omnia.9 FM+HD, which simultaneously processes FM analog and HD-1, and the Omnia.9 FM+3HD which adds the processing of HD-2, and HD-3, all independently controlled. Both Omnia.9 models will also simultaneously encode and process the Internet streams of FM analog and the HD service(s) -- again, each independently controlled. Here's something very cool: "Undo" technology which removes distortion from source material, an onboard Psychoacoustic Composite Embedder that allows 100% audio peaks in stereo (potentially up to 140%), within 100% total modulation, and a built-in RDS encoder, dynamically up-datable. There's also HTTP push support for automation, such as dynamic RDS and streaming song titles, preset recall. Studio Output with very low latency for talent monitoring. Switchable Single Sideband Suppressed Carrier (SSBSC) technology for potential reduction of multipath is standard feature, of course.
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New Consoles & More from Axia
Oh man - have we got goodies for you
 What's new from Axia? Where do we start? First up is our new RAQ rackmount IP news mixer - just 4RU is all you need for a real workhorse console that's ready to take on any task you throw at it. RAQ is a six-fader console with two stereo Program buses and cue bus, OLED meter and fader displays, our Axia-standard aircraft-quality switches with LED lighting, automatic mix-minus on every fader for effortless phones and remotes, and Show Profile console "snapshots" that let talent reconfigure the console with just a button-press. A single, fanless Axia QOR.16 console engine with built-in network switch and Analog, AES, Mic, GPIO & Livewire ports provides mixing power and audio I/O. We figured clients would use RAQ for news booths, production bullpens and other limited-space areas in the studio, but clients have told us that they'd use it for remote kits, shipboard broadcasting, and mobile units too. RAQ is a perfect standalone board, but it networks too. (Of course it networks - it's from Axia. Ha!)
Next comes the new DESQ compact console, the desktop cousin to RAQ. It's also got six faders and two stereo program buses, a preview bus, OLED meters and channel displays, et cetera. Also like RAQ, DESQ has a four-position monitor selector with two External positions with sources you can reassign on-the-fly, and a machined-aluminum worksurface that stands up to the most heinous abuse. It's also got a time-of-day clock that's NTP-slavable, an event timer with auto- or manual restart, and special jock-enhancing circuitry that makes any talent sound like Charlie Tuna. OK, that's a lie - but you have to admit, that's an awful lot of broadcast power in just 18" of desk space. Great for postcasts or Internet radio, small production applications, home studios, remote locations or outside broadcasts - heck, put one on the PD's desk!
 Here's something even cooler: you can power one RAQ and one DESQ console with just a single QOR.16 integrated console engine. Or two RAQs. Or two DESQs. Either way about it, the cost savings benefits of being able to use two consoles with just one mixing engine are worth considering. Especially an engine like the QOR.16, that has built-in analog, digital and Mic-level I/O, GPIO logic ports, a zero-configuration, built-for-broadcast Ethernet switch, and even Gigabit trunks with SFP plugins so you can connect to larger Axia networks using copper or fiber. (This is so cool, we think we're going to give our console designers a bonus. Or maybe pizza. They're good with either.)
 Last but not least, we've got new xNodes. What's an xNode? It's a new, third-generation IP-Audio interface, designed to make it easier than ever to share and route audio from legacy audio peripherals throughout your plant's network.
The first thing you'll notice about xNodes is their size. Each one takes up just 1/2 of a 1RU rack space. You can mount them singly or side-by-side in a rack, or on any flat surface - walls, ceilings, under countertops. They come in 5 flavors customized for different applications: Analog, AES/EBU, Mic-level audio, GPIO for machine-control logic, and a special Mixed-Signal xNode that combines all of the above into a single compact box.
The second thing you notice is how amazingly easy setup is. All you have to do is assign an ID on the xNode's front panel, and it does the rest, assigning its own IP address and stream channel numbers. Plug in audio sources and you're sending audio! It's that simple.
There's lots more to talk about too, like a managed power plan with the ability to run on AC or Power-Over-Ethernet (and auto-switchover, of course), dual redundant Ethernet ports, fan-free convection cooling that uses cool studio air instead of hot rack air to keep temps even, and the option to use standard RJ-45 audio connectors or high-density DB-25 breakout cables for I/O. Clients who've gotten a sneak peek think xNodes are going to be very popular, but come and decide for yourself - we'll be waiting for you in Vegas.
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White Papers at NAB
Foti on Single Sideband, Talbot on Broadcast VoIP
As always, our thinkers have been busy thinking, and two of them will be presenting white papers at this year's Broadcast Engineering Conference.
 Omnia Founder Frank Foti's session is entitled "FM-Stereo Transmission using Single Sideband Suppressed Carrier (SSBSC) Modulation". Frank will express, in detail, a method utilizing single sideband suppressed carrier (SSBSC) modulation of the stereophonic subcarrier within the FM multiplex baseband signal. Field tests by a number of stations have revealed, in many cases, a reduction in multipath induced distortion. SSBSC also provides additional protection to the spectrum used for RDS, SCA signals, and HD-Radio content, thereby improving data robustness in the receiver. The presentation will provide technical and aural findings of this ongoing work, which has generated great interest as of late in the broadcast community. Catch it Sunday April 15 at 10:30 AM in room number S228.
Telos product manager Joe Talbot is ecstatic about VoIP, and what it's doing for broadcasters. "The business world has been gung-ho on VoIP telephone systems since President Clinton was in office," he'll tell you. "Using VoIP has saved them big money on hardware, wiring and calling costs. In fact, it's been so effective and popular that it's hard to find a traditional PBX vendor! There's no reason broadcasters shouldn't make hay from this technology, too. I'm calling my NAB white paper, "VoIP In The Real World: How I Quit Worrying And Learned To Live Without POTS." Joe will show five real-world examples of broadcasters using VoIP today, and highlights the lessons they've learned. You can hear Joe's presenting this paper on Monday, April 16, at 10:30 AM in Room S227.
 Finally, Telos' Kirk Harnack will be presenting "Wire in the Radio Broadcast Plant: Less Wire Means You're Doing it Right." Wires - cables - represent one more collective item to plan, document, manage, and maintain in a broadcast facility. Considered in terms of equipment volume, capital expense, installation labor, or maintenance, a broadcaster's wire plant is a significant investment and ongoing expense. And the larger the wire plant, the more these costs increase. Ethernet/IP-based infrastructure is changing this equation, and Kirk's paper examines modern facility wiring infrastructure with markedly less cable, lower cable volume, and far less initial and ongoing management and expense. Check it out at 2:30 PM Sunday, April 15, in Room S228.
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Discrepancy Sheet
Have a blast in Vegas
 Those of us who've made the annual trek to Sin City every April for many years have likely done all the tourist-y stuff. We've already shaken off the Gulch's glitter, experienced the World's Most Constant Traffic Jam (a/k/a The Strip) and seen enough white tigers to fill a small zoo. This year, Ye Editor will be trying something different: the National Atomic Testing Museum. After all, Vegas was mere miles away from the Nevada Test Site, and during the days of above-ground tests, mushroom clouds could be easily seen over the skyline of the downtown casinos. Besides ephemera and memorabilia, the highlight of the Museum is the motion simulator designed to give you a feel for what it was like to be on-site when a test device was exploded. Interested? check out http://www.nationalatomictestingmuseum.org/ .
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See you in Las Vegas!
Clark Novak
with Denny Sanders & Angi Roberson
for Axia, Telos & Omnia
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About Us
eNews is published around the first of each month. Looking for a link or a story from a back issue? Click here.
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