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 consoles and mixers.
Internet station Vibez.Live in South Africa is using a Calrec Type R for Radio platform.
Type R is Calrec’s flagship IP-based mixing system for radio. One Type R core can run up to three independent audio mixers, each with its own dedicated mixing, routing and monitoring engines.
Calrec recently added a compact Talent Panel. The slimline unit allows guests to switch between multiple sources via its integrated hi-res TFT and adjust headphone volume with a dedicated rotary control. Four switches allow for the panel to be customized to the user with common functions like talkback and cough switches, ensuring that only essential controls are close to hand.
Also recently introduced, Calrec’s new GPIO unit for Type R is a 1U box that delivers an additional 32 x GPOs and 32 GPIs for interfacing with external systems such as playout, phone systems, codecs etc.
Vibez.Live describes itself as “a local broadcaster but with a footprint that extends across the globe, with strong audiences in the UK and USA.”
It uses a six-fader Type R with dual layer functionality for extra faders with a button touch and a large soft panel with feature sets pre-loaded.
John Badenhorst, co-founder and a host, said Vibez.Live consulted with system distributor Wild & Marr about Calrec’s system.
“While the Type R core has enough I/O for our current needs,” he said, “we also purchased a Type R analog I/O box that provides an additional 16 mic/line inputs and six general-purpose input/output interfaces.” He said listeners commented on the improvement in sound quality.
