Maidstone Studios, the UK’s largest independent TV facility, recently completed an HD-upgrade to its Studio 2, which included the installation of a Harman Studer Vista 5 digital audio console.
An essential part of the upgrade to HD was the audio system. With a tight timescale of just under three weeks to refurbish the studios, which including a large amount of HD cabling and gallery monitoring, a seamless transition in operations was paramount.
“With a Studer Vista 8 already installed for some years in Studio 1, it made sense to provide commonality of operation across studios so the Vista 5 was a logical choice,” said Rowland Kinch, CEO of Maidstone Studios. ”We’ve been very happy with Studer and the support they give us.
“We love the Vista’s instant snapshot functions and it’s a great live production platform for us. The consoles also share common hardware and cards, so support is made much easier for us.”
Kinch also praises the new VistaMix automatic microphone mixing software update for the Vista console, which has made a huge difference for the sound teams on unscripted panel and game shows such as Victory TV’s “Draw It” and ITV’s ”Take Me Out.”
“The Sound Supervisors love having this inbuilt facility at their fingertips, and think it’s fantastic!”
Kinch concluded, “Having the Vista consoles has really enhanced our opportunities and abilities to win program productions from major broadcast organisations who are familiar with the Studer platforms.”
