LAKEWOOD, NJ – Neutrik’s IP65 rated opticalCON® has taken to the road with LiveWire Remote Recorders. Neutrik’s opticalCON is being used in LiveWire’s mobile broadcast truck, to record live concerts in cities throughout the U.S. opticalCON, a ruggedized and dirt protected fiber optic connector system that offers water jet and dust protection features needed for mobile and outdoor connections, was the perfect choice for LiveWire for the company’s mobile connectivity needs.
LiveWire’s mobile broadcast truck is a 32’ long air-ride trailer, with a machine room, control room, and voiceover room. Equipped with 5.1 surround sound monitoring, the truck can provide up to 96 tracks of Protools|HD® for recording concerts anywhere in North America.
Using two 500’ cables and one 1000’ cable, purchased through SF Marketing, Neutrik’s Canadian distributor, LiveWire uses the cables to run 96 microphone lines to the mobile truck from the stage. Each cable has a redundant backup line, so there are two connectors at each end, a major feature for LiveWire because of the need for added reliability when recording live.
“We are very pleased with the sturdiness of the Neutrik connectors, as reliability is of prime importance in the live broadcast field,” says LiveWire owner, Doug McClement. “The Neutrik system was about a third of the price of some other competing systems we were considering, and so far it has performed flawlessly.”
Another advantage to fiber optic cable is the ability to run long cable lengths without sacrificing sound. “Because the microphone pre amps are on stage, we’re running cables 500 feet, 850 or 1,000 feet if we’re doing a stadium gig,” continues McClement. “We used to experience signal degradation on our old analog snake runs longer than 300 feet. Since we’ve installed Neutrik fiber optic snakes running from the SSL Stageboxes back to the truck, there’s no signal loss.
With its ability to seal the connector against dust and protect it against water jet, Neutrik’s opticalCON is the ultimate in waterproof connections for the broadcast market. The opticalCON increases the reliability and maximizes the uptime for fiber optic connection systems by enabling up to four copper wires to run power or data signals through. A special SMPTE-version1 has been optimized for broadcast applications, which provides an additional ground-shell contact.
“The first time we used Neutrik’s opticalCON on the truck was back in February of this year, in -15 degree weather,” continues McClement. “Several naysayers told us that it wouldn’t be a good idea to use a fiber optic system in these extreme conditions, but we had no problems whatsoever, with the Neutrik connections.”
opticalCON comes pre-assembled with a choice of three mobile field cables, which can be ordered at almost any length, uses conventional LC connectors and has a Push-Pull locking mechanism. Colored labeling plates are also included to help identify the fiber mode.
Neutrik manufactures a wide array of XLR connectors and receptacles, jacks and plugs, speaker connectors and accessories for the professional audio industry. Neutrik USA is located at 195 Lehigh Avenue, Lakewood, NJ 08701.
# # #
