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User Report: Arrakis ARC-15 Finds Kindred Spirits

West Virginia broadcaster retools several stations with ARC-15 console

An ARC-15 at WDGG(FM) HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — With a corporate broadcast studio move being planned for Kindred Communications Co. of Huntington, W.Va., owner and General Manager Mike Kirtner, Operations Director Reeves Kirtner and I (the director of engineering) had some big decisions to make in the selection of equipment to upgrade for the present and the future. Yet we had to keep within a reasonable budget.

The project that started early this year involved studios for our FMs, WDGG, WCMI, WXBW and WMGA, along with translators operating on 94.1 MHz and 98.5 MHz plus one booster facility WXBW-FM1 — and AM properties WCMI, 1340 kHz, and popular talk station WRVC, 930 kHz.

I have more than 43 years of experience in broadcast engineering, including many studio design and build-out projects. I worked with Mike Kirtner almost daily on ideas, designs and equipment lists. Our concerns were ease-of-operation for the jocks, equipment quality, reliability and staying within budget.

We homed in on Arrakis Systems, a company I have worked with on many projects over the decades.

The Arrakis ARC-15 console offered everything we were looking for in a console to replace our older, outdated equipment. When you’re feeding a long-established 100 kW FM or a Class A FM, you want quality audio, which I believe ARC-15 offers at a good price.

The ease of installation — pretty much simply unboxing and using the Cat-5 cables provided — was a snap.

The Arrakis ARC-15 consoles we ordered came with mic preamps set, as ordered. With a complement of four mic channels, this was perfect for the three-person morning show on one of our stations. The built-in dedicated phone channel, with associated rear-deck XLR connections, interfaces well with any system.

The built-in USB computer audio sound card and dedicated pot are so useful. Our jocks love it.

Our Arrakis ARC-15s came factory-calibrated. One thing: You may want to trim the audio on any XLR input or output. Each one can be easily adjusted with a greenie from the rear of the console, which is also a consideration and convenience. No longer do you have to lift the hood to make your adjustments.

I might add, you are seeing a lot of Cat-5 cabling and RJ-45 connections these days on many consoles for interfacing with equipment and the Arrakis ARC-15 is right in line with this trend. Changing input devices to any channel is as easy as plugging in your cable.

We found the RF resistance of the ARC-15 to be exceptional.

Overall, for ease of installation and operation, with high-end audio quality and versatility, at a price that’s more than affordable, the Arrakis ARC-15 is a no-brainer.

For information, contact Ben Palmer at Arrakis Systems in Colorado at (970) 461-0730 or visit www.arrakis-systems.com.

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