Satellite Telecommunication Networks (STN), which provides play-out and transmission services to broadcasters worldwide from its facilities in Slovenia, has invested in Jünger Audio’s LEVEL MAGIC™ technology to ensure the quality of its audio signals.
STN currently operates 10 satellite uplinks and has a state of the art play-out facility in Ljubljana, which is capable of handling both SD and HD formats. Its international customer base includes more than 80 private television stations, public television corporations and over 50 radio stations.
With such a wide variety of incoming audio signals to contend with, STN needed a way of controlling its audio output so that peak level and dynamic range didn’t vary between programmes.
After researching various options, STN chose Jünger Audio’s b46 four-channel digital dynamics processor. This unit incorporates the company’s sophisticated LEVEL MAGIC adaptive level control algorithm, which is designed to adjust the level from any source at any time, with no pumping, breathing or distortion. Capable of using any kind of I/O (Analogue and Digital) sources, as well as SDI, HD/SDI, Dolby 5.1 and all its related metadata, LEVEL MAGIC is based on a simultaneous combination of an AGC, a Transient Processor for fast changes and a “look ahead” Peak Limiter for continuous unattended control of any programme material, regardless of its original source. It is also available in a variety of configurations to suit different applications.
STN has now installed 12 b46 units, four of which incorporate Jünger Audio’s SDI option. It has also invested in two Jünger Audio b45 four-channel digital audio delay units for its ISDN-equipped sports commentary booths.
Tomaz Lovsin, Managing Director of STN, says: “We were looking for a unit that was not only a compressor/limiter/gate/normalizer, but also incorporated a great AGC. Ideally we wanted a unit that had an SDI/IO interface so that we could eliminate the need to de-embed and re-embed audio from (HD)SDI sources. The Jünger Audio b46, with its optional SDI card, gave us everything we were looking for – and because the system is entirely automated we are able to use it in a ‘set and forget’ manner without ever having to worry about making manual adjustments.”
Lovsin adds that STN’s audio levels are now ‘perfect’, regardless of the incoming signal source.
“We are using eight of the b46 units in ingest where they provide us with complete control over level changes from different feeds, whether they be from VTRs, satellite or fibre. Because we also do some sport programmes, we have six commentary booths, two of which have ISDN codecs (AEQ Eagles) for live-feed events. To ensure the quality of these audio signals we have invested in two b45 digital audio delays that allow us to inaudibly change the delay time of an audio signal under live conditions.”
Once the programme material has been ingested and is in digital form, all of STN’s signal paths from that point onwards use (HD)SDI with embedded audio.
“This is why we have installed four b46 units with the SDI option,” Lovsin adds. “Before we had these units we were relying on de-embedders and re-embedders. This not only increased our costs but also, more importantly, created an additional possible point of failure. Since investing in Jünger Audio’s technology we have been able to retire all of our DBX Quantum II processors in ingest.”
Radio and television audiences receiving their programming from STN may have no idea why their audio signal is now so much better, but they are certainly noticing that there is no longer any need to adjust the volume between different programmes, or even between different programme segments. Jünger Audio’s LEVEL MAGIC technology has eliminated all of these surprise level changes, making their viewing and listening experience much more enjoyable.
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