Recently I was given the task of feeding an HD3 channel with a stream, the audio of which was all over the place.
I determined that we would need a compressor and limiter in a device that could receive the stream, process it and then feed the importer. I wanted it to be managed over IP because the client is not located at the broadcast station. And whatever solution we chose needed to be affordable.
I picked the Inovonics Novia 262 Dual-Mode Stereo Audio Processor, a half-rack digital processor. It’s not a brand-new product; the Novia line was introduced in 2017 as a line of utility audio processors. But the 262 had all the features I needed; it was within the budget, under $2,000, and built by a reputable manufacturer with a record of good support.
The idea of using a simple stream receiver was easily overturned when I saw how reliable the 262’s uptime was and that it brought along a decent processor. Considering that rack space is at a premium, its half-space design is also a winner.
The 262 allows for three different inputs: stream, analog XLR, and AES digital XLR. This met the requirement of being fed by the stream. Also it has connections for GP I/O.
The audio processing is very simple to work with. A good AGC, a parametric equalizer with three bands of compression. If I desired, the processing could be set to daypart for specific programs.
I could not ask for an easier setup.
The presets are starting points to allow you to set the processing for your content. The Novia also has alarms to email you if the program is lost.
I can listen, too, because it feeds a stream encoder for monitoring purposes, which is helpful when doing setup.
Network setup is easy. It does have a MIB file for SNMP if desired. And to make it even more friendly, the 262 brings along its own 20 Hz–20 kHz tone generator. Thank you, Inovonics.
This little box does so much, and Inovonics is still creating updates. One more selling point: When you call Inovonics with a question, you get a person, with little if any hold time.
I’m using this device to receive a stream and input it into an importer, a perfect fit. The box could also be used as a straight stream receiver or standalone audio processor/limiter. Inovonics says it’s great in front of an STL or codecs. As you can tell, it met my expectations. I have not found fault with it yet.
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