New Studio Control Panels from Axia

28 February 2008, Cleveland Ohio, USA

Axia Audio will introduce two new additions to their line of rack- and turret-mounted accessory controllers at NAB 2008: user-programmable SmartSwitch Studio Control Panels.

SmartSwitch panels interface with Axia’s popular PathfinderPC™ router control software to provide on-air hosts, guests and producers with one-touch activation of router salvos, studio switching operations, audio equipment control, custom intercom functions and more.

SmartSwitch Studio Control Panels are 1RU devices available in either 9- or 17-button configurations. They contain backlit, dynamic-LCD displays, and are designed for convenient placement next to host or guest mic positions, or anywhere fast access to switching operations is needed — control rooms, talent studios, production rooms, TOCs, et cetera. SmartSwitch panels connect to Axia networks via Ethernet.

Axia PathfinderPC is used to program SmartSwitch Panels. A sophisticated yet intuitive software suite with an easy-to-use graphical interface, PathfinderPC lets users construct custom routing applications to control nearly any function within the Axia network and map them to SmartSwitch buttons. Possibilities range from simple contact closures, to complex scene changes such as transferring program chains between studios, to salvos that reconfigure multiple routes with one button press.


The Axia IP-Audio system allows broadcasters to build audio networks of any size using standard 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 (or nearly a hundred surround) channels over a single CAT-6 cable, eliminating much of the cost normally associated with wiring labor and infrastructure. Axia products include the popular Element modular broadcast console, a family of “audio nodes” that allow easy mixing and matching of digital, analog and microphone audio, and a comprehensive suite of network administration and routing control software.

Visitors to NAB 2008 can find Axia in the Radio Hall, booth N7620. For more information, please contact Clark Novak at Axia Audio by email at cnovak@AxiaAudio.com, or by phone at +1-216-241-7225.