Live Sound

Supported By
ProSoundWeb
One of the new Lawo mc²56 production consoles incorporated by MBC GROUP in its Dubai facilities.

Leading Middle East-North Africa Media Company Upgrades With Lawo

MBC GROUP implements new audio infrastructure with AES67/RAVENNA-compliant IP equipment for its two control rooms and studios in Dubai Studio City.

MBC GROUP, a leading media company in the Middle East and North Africa region, recently upgraded its audio infrastructure with AES67/RAVENNA-compliant Lawo IP equipment for its two control rooms and studios located in Dubai Studio City.

One important consideration for the decision to base the new installation on an IP-native Lawo approach was flexibility: either control room needed to be able to serve either studio floor in a variety of I/O combinations. Based on a rights-management scheme, the approach has, so far, exceeded MBC’s initial expectations. It involves two 48-fader Lawo mc²56 production consoles and shared I/O for the IP networked system, set up as a mix of A__stage64 and modular DALLIS Stagebox devices. Embedding and de-embedding of audio in/from video feeds is handled with Lawo’s V__pro8 8-channel video/audio toolbox.

While most audio streams are exchanged via AES67/RAVENNA (IP), other signals are received via MADI. For reasons of continuity regarding previously installed audio gear, a Nova73 HD router provides a 4-port DANTE card, thus allowing the audio engineers at Studio City to leverage a variety of formats in any authorized combination. The user rights management system built into the Lawo consoles installed at MBC’s Studio City setup allows to protect audio sources “booked” by one mc²56 in order to avoid unexpected setting changes from the console in the other audio control room.

The new system is capable of handling open-standards AoIP streams, MADI signals and even DANTE sources — in any combination and at a high channel count. Its native IP support offers a second advantage in allowing Lawo to provide remote hands-on training from Europe via WAN-based remote fader and screen control that complemented a live video link for swift and effective knowledge transfer when the worldwide pandemic did not allow any travels.

The same native remote capability can be used by MBC operators to control on-location stageboxes during high-profile events: MBC’s engineers are now able to run their audio productions from their familiar Studio City control rooms. Another advantage of the IP-based approach is the possibility to working with the same operators for back-to-back productions because they no longer need to travel onsite. Similarly, flypacks help eliminate the need to send OB trucks or lorries to on-location events.

Lawo

Live Sound Top Stories