Radio World Buyer’s Guide articles are intended to help readers understand why their colleagues chose particular products to solve various technical situations. This month’s articles focus on transmitters.
Sunshine 106.8 consistently ranks as Dublin’s #1 easy listening music stations for listeners 35 and older. The commercial station serving Dublin proper is a local fixture, drawing from a multi-decade music library and airing talk segments plus the occasional sports update, traffic report, weather forecast and a smattering of national and international news.
All of that, and more, is now managed through a split-frame LXE console connected via AoIP to a studio WheatNet IP audio network.
Sean Ashmore, CEO of Sunshine 106.8, said, “We really liked the look of the Wheatstone LXE and how it would integrate seamlessly into our preferred workflow.”
The LXE console provides scriptable soft controls, one-touch event recall and status-at-a-glance. It is configurable as a split-frame recessed into the furniture, providing users with everything they need at hand.
As an AoIP console, LXE modules are grouped into bays, which can be located in the same studio or a nearby studio and connected to the Ethernet switch using standard CAT cables. Sunshine 106.8 chose a split-frame configuration with controls left and right of an open workspace in the center for a more ergonomically appealing workspace.
LXE also can be configured as a single frame tabletop or recessed unit with or without meter bridge.
Any of 25-plus functions can be assigned to just about any knob, button or fader on the LXE using a drag/drop/script GUI. Adding to its flexibility are scripted OLED displays on each module that dynamically change at the press of a button or turn of a knob to give pertinent information for the task at hand — or multiple tasks at hand.
“The ability to easily use the studio for pre-recorded segments whilst it was live on-air was a real attraction,” said Ashmore.
“We also liked [that it was] AoIP and the elimination of sound cards from our playout system,” he added, noting that key functions of the station’s automation are integrated into the LXE console for routing and switching on or off sources, for example.
