Arena Television is augmenting its coverage of UEFA Champions League football for ITV1 with a hire package of Roland S-4000 series Digital Snakes.
The package, supplied by MI Broadcast to Arena, uses the Digital Snakes with a Telecast fibre optic video system and Tyco Ethernet interface.
The S-4000-3208 and the S-4000S-0832 are used to send digital audio signals from the commentary box positions simultaneously to the studio and to the truck in the car park, for both communications and the live broadcast programme.
Unlike an analogue system where low-level microphone signals are boosted using a mic preamp only after the long journey down the analogue snake, the S-4000 series are equipped with high quality and remote controllable XR-1 pre-amps that boost the input gain right at the microphone, where the highest quality signal is found. This ensures that the audio will be of the best quality, avoiding any degradation and cross talk. MI Broadcast also typically supplies TAC4 field deployable fibre optic cable, 2x 800m runs, main and redundant to go between the OB van and the studio within the stadium.
“The requirements change from client to client with different configurations of XLR ins and outs but the S-4000 series offers us the ease and flexibility to adapt,” said Robert Mackman, Director at MI Broadcast.
MI Broadcast houses the equipment (including the Digital Snakes) in flight cases together with a Roland S-4000R remote control. This allows, for example, the mic levels to be adjusted at a remote location such as from the truck.
By Adrian Pennington
