MADRID — Atresmedia Radio is the second-largest commercial radio network in Spain and operates three national radio stations: Europa FM, Melodía FM and Onda Cero, the second-most-listened-to station in the country. When it comes to audio processing, here at the network, we have selected the Audemat Digiplexer units for several purchases in the last six years and have been pleased with their performance.
We installed some Digiplexers in Europa FM when we were looking to improve the sound performance of the station. As technical maintenance manager, I am in charge of a team of technicians who are responsible for introducing new technologies and frequencies, as well as managing the preventive and corrective maintenance for our broadcast equipment. As such, I want to make sure that any new system not only meets our specifications with regards to price and technical aspects but also will ensure that it comes from a reliable company with a reputation for reliability and responsiveness.
When sourcing a new audio processor for Europa FM, we evaluated systems from well-established processor makers and felt that the Audemat Digiplexer offered the best all-around solution in terms of technical characteristics and the investment required. Critically for us, it delivered the sensation of much greater volume with the same level of modulation. Also, as the system featured RDS encoding capabilities, it meant that we did not need to purchase a separate unit to incorporate RDS messaging into our broadcast signal and only had to train our engineers on one device.
We have a mono channel link from the studio to the transmitter site so we prefer to install the audio processor at the studio. This way, we also have complete control over the unit. As the RDS encoding is integrated into the unit, the installation process was streamlined and simple for us to achieve.
We worked with WorldCast Systems in the early stages to establish the best sound processing schemes for our stations. These are now predefined presets which are easily copied to additional units purchased. In 2013, we purchased 20 additional Digiplexers to establish our newest station, Melodía FM, and we have recently taken delivery of 10 others for new frequencies within Onda Cero and Europa FM. In total, we have close to 50 Audemat audio processors operational in our network.
All in all, the Digiplexer is a powerful unit with great sound quality that provides our broadcasts with a sense of “volume.”
Felipe Mateo Lopez is Technical Maintenance Manager at Atresmedia Radio.
For information, contact Christophe Poulain at Audemat/WorldCast Systems in France at +33-557-928-928 or visit www.audemat.com.
