The need to comply with recently-introduced broadcast audio loudness legislation has inspired French free-to-air digital channels Direct 8 and Direct Star to invest in new loudness control equipment from German dynamics processing specialist Jünger Audio.
Based in Puteaux, a suburb of Paris, Direct 8 specialises in news, cultural programming, entertainment and film, while Direct Star focuses on music programming including documentaries and live music.
In conjunction with its French distributor 44.1, Jünger Audio supplied Direct 8 and Direct Star with four D*AP LM4 four-channel digital audio processors. Each channel now has a pair of processors that are being used to control and regulate broadcast audio loudness. This investment in Jünger Audio’s EBU R128-compliant loudness control technology has ensured that both channels remain within the boundaries of new legislation recently introduced by France’s Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel.
Nicolas Albingre (pictured), Technical and Audio Visual Manager for both channels, said: “There are a number of loudness control solutions on the market that would have enabled us to implement the new EBU R128 loudness recommendation, but we chose Jünger Audio’s technology because we like the company’s Level Magic adaptive control algorithm. Level Magic is very effective at controlling loudness but it also gives us the audio transparency we were looking for. And, of course, it is compliant with R128, so it solves that problem as well.”
Jünger Audio’s Level Magic algorithm allows broadcasters to adjust the audio level from any source at any time, with no pumping, breathing or distortion. Capable of using any kind of I/O (analogue and digital) sources, as well as SDI, HD-SDI, Dolby 5.1 and its related metadata, Level Magic is based on a simultaneous combination of an AGC, a Transient Processor for fast changes and a “look ahead” Peak Limiter for continuous unattended control of any programme material, whatever its original source.
Other French broadcasters that have chosen Jünger Audio’s loudness control technology to help them comply with the new CSA regulations include France Television and Canal Plus.
www.direct8.fr
www.directstar.fr
www.junger-audio.com
