THE FULL STORY

Sports Video Group members, guests, and sponsors met on October 22 at the New York Hilton with sports audio technology as the central theme. This event focused on new solutions recently discussed at AES, including, current workflows, White Space issues, proper Surround Sound mixing, lip-sync issues, loudness control, mic'ing techniques, placement, and more.

Bexel Broadcast Services was a proud event sponsor.

Bexel's professional audio arm, known as Bexel ASG, services some of the most complicated entertainment and sporting events in the television industry and, through product association like Calrec distribution / US representation and a keen interest in cutting edge 5.1 Surround technique, Bexel was uniquely qualified to sponsor this event and host several key demonstrations.

One of the main panel topics was "Consoles for Sports". The discussion was centered around the evolution of consoles and how the current models are meeting the needs of the sports sub-mix and 5.1 Surround. Euphonix, Studer, and Calrec sales executives discussed their latest products with Fred Aldous from Fox Sports, Dennis Baxter who recently was involved with the Beijing Olympics as sound designer, and Tom Sahara from Turner Sports.

The day began with a discussion on mic'ing and mixing techniques with an all-star cast from ESPN, Turner Sports, and CBC Sports. Fred Aldous, Tom Sahara, and Kevin Cleary discussed how they each approach the art of Surround Sound mixing. Bexel provided a real-time 5.1 Surround Sound playback system in which Fred, Tom, and Kevin individually demonstrated, via live playback, how they each position microphones, and build their 5.1 model for specific types of events.

Bob Siedel, Tom Sahara, and Jim Starzynski contributed to the panel on loudness control with professionals from Linear Acoustic and Dolby joining this discussion on how to maintain proper loudness levels, both within the production facility, and the viewer's home.

The White Space update was discussed openly with some urgency as the FCC is poised to allow unlicensed consumer devices to be used in this spectrum. Everyone expressed concern over the issues that Broadcasters could be facing in 2009. The discussion revolved around product design, and how the sports industry can ensure that they have a voice in Washington D.C.

Bexel's team at the event consisted of Helen Carr, Paul Healy, Jim Richardson, Andrew McHaddad, Chris Graham, Steve Leotta, and Jonathan Freed. Andrew and the Bexel ASG team did a great job assembling and operating the 5.1 demo system for the session.