24 March 2003, Cleveland Ohio, USA

Telos Systems’ Zephyr Xstream ISDN Transceiver, long the industry standard for getting high-quality audio to and from remote locations, has gained a new use: the perfect station-transmitter link.

Nashville, Tennessee-based WAY-FM Media Group is a Christian music network heard on radio in seven Southeastern states, and nationally via SkyAngel satellite service. WAY-FM has chosen Zephyr Xstream transceivers to provide the full-time STL link for their Nashville flagship station.

According to Chief Engineer Jim Turvaville, STL integrity had been an increasing problem for WAY-FM, whose microwave path had deteriorated due to housing construction and suburban growth. To alleviate the problem, Turvaville hit upon an alternative to the line-of-sight link: a pair of Zephyr Xstream transceivers running MPEG AAC coding.

“The General Manager and Program Director are ecstatic!” reports Turvaville. “This is the best our station has ever sounded.”

“Our STL system was very marginal,” continues Turvaville, “but we had come to accept its performance as ‘normal.’ When the signal finally became unreliable, we looked to Telos for a wired solution. I was wary of using a compressed link, but the Zephyr Xstream’s AAC algorithm is incredible. The on-air audio is the best we've ever had on WAY-FM.”

MPEG AAC (which stands for Advanced Audio Coding) is the newest, most efficient coding method yet devised.Its benefits to users are numerous, and include the ability to output compressed stereo audio indistinguishable from source at 128kbps — true CD-quality over ISDN.

Telos Zephyr is the world’s most popular family of digital network transceivers. Along with CD-quality MPEG AAC, Zephyr Xstream includes industry-standard MPEG Layer 3 and Layer 2 coding, and AACLD coding for high quality, low delay bi-directional remotes; features include MP3 streaming and decoding via IP connections, and Ethernet remote control. Additionally, Zephyr Xstream can receive POTS calls from the Zephyr Xport POTS + ISDN codec, using aacPlus coding for FM-quality audio.

To see and hear a demonstration of Zephyr Xstream and Zephyr Xport, visit Telos Systems / Omnia at Stand 2714 at the AES Convention in Amsterdam, 22 – 25 March, and inBooth N2618 at the NAB Convention in Las Vegas, April 5 - 10.

Telos Systems, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio with offices in Europe and Canada, is a leading manufacturer of ISDN, coded audio and telephone interface products for talk-shows, teleconferencing, audio production, remote broadcasts, and intercom applications.