France’s Opéra de Dijon selected an NTP Technology DAD AX32 multichannel microphone preamplifier and A/D-D/A converter to record Richard Wagner’s “The Ring of the Nibelungs.”
Sound engineer Frank Guinfoleau said they required 16 additional preamplifiers and converters for the project.
He explained that control software was installed on his PC, automatically detecting the existing DAD AX24 and the AX32. According to Guinfoleau, they controlled the units from one window with channels one to eight from the AX24 and nine to 24 from the AX32.
The production utilized Schoeps MK2H, MK21 and Neumann KM 184 microphones connected to the DAD AX32, as well as Schoeps MK4 and MK4V microphones connected to the DAD AX24.
The AX32 features 32 channels in two units, flexible configuration and IP Ethernet-based audio networking using Audinate’s Dante IP audio network technology, says NTP. Up to 32 mic preamplifiers can be accommodated as full-bandwidth channels along one Cat-5 cable using IP.
The preamplifier incorporates analog gain control in 0.5 dB steps, as well as digital with 0.1 dB precision. Dynamic range is 126 dB. Its equivalent noise floor is -132 dB.
The DAD AX32 is equipped with AES/EBU and MADI inputs and outputs plus a Dante interface. Its control is supplemented by a larger control screen, which interacts with four adjacent pushbuttons to adjust converter parameters from the front panel. Full control can be accomplished using DADman software or Ethernet.
Compatible with all standard sampling rates up to 384 kHz, the DAD AX32 allows production of Digital eXtreme Definition and Direct Stream Digital audio data formats, as well as formats commonly used for audio editing and distribution.
