Axia bows SoftSurface virtual console software

Cool new remote control / virtual mixer debuts at NAB

28 March 2011, Cleveland Ohio, USA

Visitors to NAB 2011 in Las Vegas can see Axia’s new “virtual console” program, SoftSurface, in action at the Axia display in booth C3113 in the Central Hall.

SoftSurface runs on Windows computers and controls Axia Element mixing consoles. “Element is a huge hit, with installations in over 2,000 studios,” relates Axia Marketing Manager Clark Novak. “SoftSurface was developed in response to clients’ requests for remote control of their mixers. SoftSurface gives them that power, and goes one better: team it with an Axia DSP mixing engine and you have a completely ‘soft’ console — no physical mixer required.”

SoftSurface runs on PCs with Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7 operating systems, and controls any StudioEngine-based Element console. The intuitive graphical interface uses familiar mixing controls, so there’s virtually no learning curve. The software has two modes:

• Remote Control Mode gives powerful real-time remote control of any Element mixing console connected to the Livewire network; perfect for remote diagnostics or off-site operation of a mixing console from remotes, transmitter sites — even from home, via an Internet gateway.
• Virtual Console Mode pairs SoftSurface with an Axia StudioEngine to create a “soft” console, an ideal audio mixing solution for limited-space locations where a physical control surface isn’t practical.

Axia allows broadcasters to quickly and easily build audio networks using switched Ethernet to connect a few rooms, or an entire facility. Axia networks have a total system capacity of more than 10,000 audio streams, and can carry hundreds of digital stereo channels (plus machine logic and PAD) over a single CAT-6 cable, eliminating much of the cost normally associated with wiring labor and infrastructure.

Radio pros can see SoftSurface in action, along with the rest of the Axia line, in Las Vegas at NAB 2011 in the Telos/Omnia/Axia display. Find us in the Central Hall, Booth #C3113. For more information, contact Clark Novak at Axia Audio, via email at cnovak@AxiaAudio.com or by phone at +1-216-241-7225.

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Axia, a Telos company, builds Ethernet-based professional IP-Audio products for broadcast, sound-reinforcement and commercial audio applications. Along with the popular Element 2.0 modular console for on-air, commercial production, audio workstations and personal studios, Axia products include the PowerStation integrated console engine, intercom systems, digital audio routers, DSP mixers and processors, and software for configuring, managing and interfacing networked audio systems.