5 April 2005, Cleveland, OH USA
Axia Audio announces Axia iPlay, a software-based IP-Audio monitoring program that lets Windows PC users select and listen to any audio source available to their Axia network with the click of a button.
Axia IP-Audio networks convert analog and digital audio sources into uncompressed, real-time PCM audio and distribute it throughout the broadcast plant via switched Ethernet. iPlay allows users of desktop and laptop computers that are connected to an Axia network to easily choose and play any available stream, without the need for external audio inputs or adapter boxes.
“One of the advantages of using standards-compliant IP-Audio networks in the broadcast plant is the ability to listen to the network without any special hardware,” says Axia President Michael “Catfish” Dosch. “Clients can already use Windows Media or Winamp to listen to streams of course, but iPlay simplifies the selection process with a fast interface and preset options similar to those found in our hardware Router Selector node.”
Axia IP-Audio networks support a large number of audio channels – up to 32,000 stereo streams per system. iPlay helps users easily navigate large systems, using advanced filtering and sorting capabilities to help users quickly find the stream they want to hear. iPlay also continually scans the network, dynamically updating its list when new sources are discovered; eight user-programmable preset buttons allow quick access to frequently-accessed channels. Additionally, an on-screen level display provides metering of the audio being auditioned.
Axia marketing director Clark Novak predicts that iPlay will be very popular all around the radio facility. A former broadcaster, Novak notes that “OMs and PDs can use iPlay to monitor off-air or program channels; GMs and sales staff can audition commercials from their offices at will. And engineers will have instant access to any feed in the facility, no matter where they’re working. Everybody’s going to want a copy of this!”
Using the Axia IP-Audio system, broadcasters can build audio networks of any size using standard Switched Ethernet to connect a few rooms — or an entire facility. Because an Axia audio network can carry hundreds of digital stereo audio channels over standard CAT-6 cables, much of the cost normally associated with wiring labor and infrastructure is eliminated.
The Axia system includes a family of “audio nodes” to interface to microphone, analog line and AES/EBU devices, IP-Audio drivers to eliminate PC soundcards, DSP mixing/processing engines, PathFinderPC matrix control PC software, and the SmartSurface Studio Control Surface, and the new Element Modular Control Surface debuting at NAB.
Visit Axia at the 2005 NAB Convention in Las Vegas; visitors are invited to booth N3616 for a complete demonstration of IP-Audio networking. For more information, contact Clark Novak at Axia, +1-216-241-7225.
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Axia, a Telos company, builds network-based professional audio products for broadcast, production, sound-reinforcement and commercial audio applications. Products include digital audio routers, DSP mixers and processors and software for configuring, managing, and interfacing networked audio systems.