British electronics company Glensound has launched a unique interface for eSports audio. GTM draws on Glensound’s heritage in supporting sports commentary, removing the need for three separate products to generate all the required mixes for gamers, coaches, referees, and commentators.
eSports is one of the fastest-growing areas of live production and has a unique set of audio requirements compared to traditional sports, usually with two separate categories of audio operating on either side of a “firewall.” On one side is the player, who needs to hear their teammates and coaches and on the other, the live audience and the shoutcasters. In a first-person game environment, players also need stereo sound for greater responsiveness, while sound engineers pump in white (or pink) noise in off-game periods. Therefore, isolating the different audio categories is a crucial challenge during gaming events and often involves the need for multiple systems. Enter GTM.
“We’ve seen the challenges in managing audio for eSports first-hand and listened to feedback from our industry contacts,” commented Marc Wilson, managing director at Glensound. “We saw a demand for a dedicated product for eSports that simplifies what a complex set of requirements is, and GTM was born. Nothing else on the market offers this unique combination of functions in a single interface.”
A single device for multiple functions
GTM provides a single device that combines the multiple functions required to support interfacing and communication during an eSports tournament. A simple-to-use panel with three level mixes allows players to control their own audio mix quickly and easily. At the same time, headsets and headphones plug directly into the panel to deliver game audio, team comms and the player’s own voice. The device is fully remote-controllable and configurable by tournament engineers. The system allows the game source audio from multiple sources (SPDIF, USB, network, analog etc.) depending on the tournament format, and supports multi-channel mixing pre-configurable inputs from Glensound’s Dante platform or de-embedded audio from an SDI connection.
GTM also delivers a pre-defined multi-channel ‘team mix’ bringing together all the players and coaches required in a group, with a dedicated mix generated for each team in a tournament. Separate modes mean referees/judges, shoutcasters in the arena and coaches can use GTM to communicate as needed.
With GTM, tournament engineers have the option to combine traditional headphone settings and white/pink noise on a single headset, removing the need for additional headphones on top for off-game periods. It is also possible to have game audio coming into the headset with white noise delivered via the headphone jack on the panel with mic gain adjusted remotely by tournament engineers.
Glensound has also made a stripped-down version of GTM available with no direct control panel available for players aimed at meeting the needs of different tournament formats.
2022 NAB Show attendees can see the GTM at Glensound’s stand — Booth C6709