A ‘Big Switch’ has been installed at Italian language broadcaster Radiotelevisione Svizzera di lingua Italiana, (RSI). The Big Switch allows flexible interconnection between three sound control rooms and four TV production studios with minimal configuration. All three sound control rooms patched to the Big Switch are equipped with STAGETEC AURUS consoles. STAGETEC equipment also supported RSI’s broadcasts of Estival Jazz, an international jazz festival in Lugano.
All audio signals, signal routing, controllers, logic circuits and intercom systems involved in the Big Switch are included automatically when switching. This enables each of the three sound control rooms units to access the signals from all studios. The Big Switch consists of a NEXUS network with 22 Base Devices installed in the TV production studios and sound control rooms. Fibre optic cables connect them to an optical router that controls the signal routing when switching studios.
During the production of Estival, the outside broadcast vehicle with its integrated AURUS console was directly patched to Studio A of the RSI TV station in Comano, 10km away, via fibre optic cables. The signals from the musicians were routed to the AURUS sound control room in Studio A via this line, mixed there and routed back to the OB. From there the mix was integrated into the TV programme.
The Big Switch has a port that is able to connect an OB to the RSI audio network. This was the connection used by the OB at the Piazza Riforma to supply all stage and communication signals to the control room in Studio A during production of the jazz festival.
