At NAB Show New York this week, ATC Labs is introducing two additions to its Perceptual SoundMax family.
“Both products bring ATC Labs Aideal Audio 24-band AI-aided processing to broadcasters seeking a distinctive sound for every service,” it said in the announcement.
It said these models expand the choice of SoundMax deployments, from a complete hardware air chain for FM and HD Radio to multiple independently processed stations on a single server.
CEO Deepen Sinha said they use Aideal Audio processing and have the flexibility to serve multiple HD Radio channels or scale for a group of stations in software.
Details
Model Q24-6888HD is the flagship offering. It expands HD Radio processing capacity by supporting FM plus up to five HD Radio services, HD1 through HD5, in a 2U processor. Each HD service can have its own processing profile to tailor the sound to the programming and bit rate of each channel.
This version combines FM composite outputs with built-in RDS, a dedicated 192 kHz digital MPX output, AES67 audio connectivity, and five StreamMax streaming outputs. An integrated diversity delay of up to 12 seconds aligns analog FM with HD1. The processor also supports configurations for AM and up to three DRM services.
Model Q24SOFT brings four broadcast functions together in one software platform. The four are Aideal Audio processing, StreamMax encoding and streaming, software FM MPX generation with RDS, and Nielsen CBET watermarking.
It scales from one stereo channel up to 64 independent stereo instances on a suitably specified server-class workstation, depending on CPU capacity and licensing.
“Each channel can be configured and tuned independently to create its own Signature SoundMax Sound. Multi-rate AAC and MP3 encoding, HLS delivery, CDN connectivity and AES67 input and output support flexible broadcast and streaming workflows.”
SoundMaxManager provides centralized configuration, tuning and monitoring across software servers and SoundMax hardware. A trial is available from the Q24SOFT product page.
More
ATC Labs says Aideal Audio processing combines high-resolution 24-band processing with psychoacoustic design and multiple deep-learning networks that analyze changing audio and gently adapt the processing while preserving the chosen profile.
It says the technology provides clarity, richness and presence with consistent loudness on on-air and streaming services.
The SoundMax family includes products that serve FM, AM, HD Radio, DRM and streaming applications.
ATC Labs also offers a Web Radio package that includes processing, encoding and streaming, together with a media player and playlist manager, cloud scheduling, live reporting, CDN delivery and a customized web player.
The company will be in Booth 660 in New York.
