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 codecs and STLs.
As chief engineer of Audacy’s five FM station San Diego cluster, Bill Eisenhamer is responsible for technical coordination of the San Diego Padres’ radio broadcasts. Audacy’s 97.3 KWFN(FM) is the Padres’ flagship station.
KWFN’s primary signal covers San Diego, with the aid of four booster signals. The Padres’ network also has affiliates in Temecula, Palm Springs and Las Vegas.
“My philosophy is that flexibility and reliability are critical,” he said.
Eisenhamer has experience with IP codecs from several manufacturers, each with advantages and disadvantages. Some time ago, the station cluster opted to use Tieline codecs. Today, it has approximately 24 Tieline codecs, six of which are ViAs that he described as the “workhorses” for the five stations, along with three Merlin Plus units.
The stations also use Tieline Gateways for inter-studio links and sports-related feeds, as well as several first-generation Bridge-IT and Bridge-IT XTRA codecs.
Prior to opening day of the 2025 MLB season, Audacy installed a new Tieline Bridge-IT XTRA II codec in Petco Park’s broadcast booth rack.
Eisenhamer called the setup “semi-permanent,” as it replaced an older codec due for an upgrade. From Petco Park, stereo program audio is sent to a studio-based Gateway 8 using Tieline Music Plus encoding. The same Gateway distributes mono feeds to network affiliates and connects to a ViA codec for away games.
In rare instances, the network used Opus to accommodate poor internet connectivity at remote sites.
Because of the need for redundancy, the Padres’ network uses SmartStream Plus. The Bridge-IT is programmed using both NICs independently. The Gateway at the studio has two independent ISPs, with one of its NICs being internal. NAT translation is used, Eisenhamer said, while the other setup is a DMZ host. “If we lose one, we will not lose our full broadcast,” he explained.
On one channel of the stereo return, the network sends mono program and IFB communications, while the second channel is a produced play-by-play feed routed to the Petco Park control room, which feeds the stadium’s common areas.
Audacy San Diego also uses Tieline’s Cloud Codec Controller for remote codec management, which Eisenhamer said makes it easy to change or troubleshoot an issue.
He also appreciates the accessibility of the setup. He noted menu access with the Bridge-IT XTRA II’s front panel, helpful if a technician does not have computer or remote access.
“We all like web-based access, but sometimes having buttons can save the day,” Eisenhamer said.
Getting back to his overall preference for flexibility, all of the codecs back at the studio, he said, are connected to an SAS system via AES digital audio. Eisenhamer said he has tested a Gateway using a Dante module, which he said has worked well and may be implemented in the future.
“Ease of use, installation and remote access top the list of advantages for the Bridge-IT XTRA II,” he said.
Eisenhamer sees future expansion to include AES67 networking to add more flexibility in the Padres’ booth. Because of the Bridge-IT XTRA II’s dual AoIP ports, he sees the upgrade being simple to complete.
