Lawo has announced a version 2.8 upgrade for the company’s zirkon on-air radio console. Featuring a number of significant enhancements to the system control and configuration software as well as the company’s VisTool touch-screen surface visualization software, the v2.8 enhancements are aimed at satisfying on-air talent and engineering staff alike.
Notable among v2.8’s upgraded capabilities is the new DSP card mode. With the new Sig80 DSP mode, the system supports an additional 40 DSP channels (mono/stereo) with EQ, dynamics and limiting via second masterboard. For environments where additional processing is desired, this new card mode significantly enhances the desk’s functionality by providing dynamically allocated DSP resources, thus supporting more complex mix configurations.
Lawo’s new v2.8 firmware also includes a significant change in the transmission method used for VisTool metering data. Performance and communication has been improved by changing to UDP (User Datagram Protocol) as compared to earlier versions that use TCP (Transmission Control Protocol). UDP avoids the system overhead of checking every data packet, yielding faster metering response and providing greater compatibility in networked environments.
With the change to UDP data transmission, the v2.8 software also provides a new Logic Element UDP Matrix. In a networked environment, the UDP Matrix can be used, for example, to simultaneously route RDS (Radio Data System) information and/or audio with equipment from a variety of manufacturers using UECP (Universal Encoder Communication Protocol).
Lawo’s new VisTool touch-screen surface visualization software provides surround parameter keys in screen parameters. As a result of this change, surround panning can now be accessed by VisTool buttons. With the VisTools software upgrade, users can now display 24 channels simultaneously, and the colors of EQ parameters and markers can now be set, making it easier to identify various aspects of the mix.
The zirkon console with v2.8 software will be shown in the Lawo NAB exhibit, booth N8720. Current Lawo zirkon users who wish to upgrade to v2.8 software should contact Lawo.
For more information, visit www.lawo.ca/products/mixing-consoles/zirkon/overview.html.
