Radiorizzonti talks up DHD for AoIP refurb

Italian talk-radio broadcaster Radiorizzonti has chosen DHD’s DX2 audio mixing consoles as the control hub of its completely rebuilt production and live transmission studio.

As a not-for-profit station staffed by non-technical volunteers, the station needed a system that was genuinely operator friendly and suitable for a wide range of uses, from on-air mixing to offline content creation.

“Following customer discussion with our two internal DHD specialists, we configured a DX2-based system to allow efficient on-air operation,” says Roberto Zeccara, senior project manager for system integrator BVmedia.

“The need for user training was reduced to a minimum and the installed system makes full use of automation. It is controlled by a DHD core matrix with three additional cores linked to all five DX2 mixer panels at the production site. This comprises an on-air studio for a 90 percent live talk show plus two production studios which are assigned to podcast creation and multiformat recording.”

To simplify cables and audio routing, the station took the opportunity to switch to an audio-over-IP network. With three optical fiber links and a network of LAN cables, the system uses Dante for audio routing and distribution. DHD’s XC3 cores can carry up to 1,024 channels on just one data cable, with analog cables only needed for local monitoring and headphone signals distribution.

Radiorizzonti’s live studio uses a 52-1214A four-fader central module and a 52-1220A six-fader expansion unit, One of the production studios uses an identical fader set up, and the other uses a four-fader panel. Each DX2 module is equipped with a user-configurable 7.8 inch multi-touch screen for viewing fader and central control parameters.

Covering the Lombardy area of north-west Italy, Radiorizzonti is part of the nationwide Radio inBlu network and broadcasts on 88.0 MHz FM as well as providing streaming, podcast and special talkshows on the web. Founded in 1987, it has continuously expanded and was awarded the ‘La Ciocchina’ in 2004 which recognizes deserving people or associations in the community.