Audio manufacturer Solid State Logic has provided French broadcaster CANAL+ Group with an end-to-end audio infrastructure for its new studio complex. The new facility will produce content for CANAL+ free DTTV channels: 24/7 news operation Itélé, general entertainment channel D8, and D17, primarily focused on music with additional documentaries, concerts, special series and movies.
Two main audio control rooms will feature SSL C100 HDS consoles. C10 HD consoles will provide backup and a uniform interface and audio quality when used as a submixer. Three other studio control rooms will feature the C10 HD as the main console with a second C10 HD as backup in two studios, for a total of seven C10 HD consoles throughout the facility.
The routing infrastructure is based on the SSL MORSE Router and MORSE Stagebox to handle microphone and line I/O via MADI with multiple Alpha-Link LIVE-R MADI-AES/Analogue format converters to connect the consoles. The audio control rooms were configured such that each console only receives its input information via an associated MORSE Router or Stagebox. All external rack-mount equipment is fed to the MORSE Stagebox associated with a particular room. In this way a flexible system was developed that could take a mic input from any studio and route it into any console.
“We already had a successful standing relationship with SSL when we first took a look at building the new facilities,” said Jean-Marc Delage, project manager/engineer for CANAL+ Group. “Beyond the equipment itself, one of the major costs for building a facility is wiring. We needed to put together five audio control rooms in such a way that all audio assets could address any console. SSL’s solution was efficient and cost-effective, as the entire hookup was through redundant fibre, so we enjoyed minimal wiring to yield maximum flexibility.”
