AES/NAB: Audio/Broadcast Combo Show Promises a Wealth of Gear, Technology

AES has been experiencing some management changes

The co-located AES/NAB expo (Oct. 24-27) at the Javits Center in New York City reflects the latest trends in pro audio and broadcast. The show, combining the efforts of the Audio Engineering Society and the National Association of Broadcasters, is in its seventh iteration.

On one hand, it’s a reflection of NAB’s — and broadcasting’s — growth: the New York event, much smaller than its annual April expo in Las Vegas, came about after NAB’s acquisition of the CCW+SATCON events in 2015 and offers a six-month booster shot of broadcast tech between annual shows.

On the less crowded AES side, the program of panels, papers, and presentations is dense. Trends are clear: Immersive and Spatial Audio leads the pack with more than three dozen offerings; Education, long one of AES’s strong suits, is also well-represented. (On the other hand, the broadcast rubric has just a single entry, an overview of NPR’s venerable Fresh Air.) Artificial Intelligence is a new entry, and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion has moments on all three program days.

AES, whose last standalone convention in the U.S. was in Los Angeles in 2016, has also experienced some management turmoil. In March 2022, AES Executive Director Colleen Harper resigned, and the organization began a search for her replacement. This year, global engagement and marketing agency MCI USA Association Solutions was tapped to provide the organization with leadership (MCI Associate VP Monica Evans-Lombe was named to the ED post in May), as well as sales, education, events, marketing, IT, accounting, and support services.

Conjoining the AES and NAB events in New York has offered significant and synergistic benefits for pro audio, underscoring the ongoing development of important new audio products and platforms for the broadcast and streaming-media industries while giving the organization a conduit to its core music-production constituency as well as a forum for scientific papers. This year’s event promises attendees nearly as much high-end audio technology as the Las Vegas NAB Show does.

On the Show Floors

Here’s a look at some of the gear that will be on display. AES exhibits are open Oct. 25-27; NAB exhibits are open Oct. 25-26. All booth numbers are AES unless otherwise noted.

The AIMS Alliance will again partner with AES to host the Media-Over-IP Pavilion (Hall 3E). The pavilion will address professional-media-networking topics with particular emphasis on the IPMX standard, specifications in the AIMS Roadmap, and case-study presentations. Its focal point will be the Media-Over-IP Pavilion Theater, which will host a continuous program of 30-minute presentations covering the latest developments in this constantly evolving field.

Audinate is celebrating Dante’s best year yet.

Audinate (Booth 310), progenitor of the Dante protocol, will be celebrating 1 million Dante units shipped during its 2023 fiscal year, which ended in June. It’s the largest number of Dante units ever shipped in a 12-month period.

Calrec ImPulse1

Calrec (Booth 823) ImPulse1 IP audio-processing and -routing engine, a powerful and cost-effective ST 2110 solution, will be on display, along with the new Argo S audio-mixing control platform, which won NAB Product of the Year in 2023. Argo is fully modular, with interchangeable hardware panels, and uses Calrec’s Assist UI at its core. Also at the booth will be Calrec’s Type R modular, expandable IP mixing system available in two forms: Type R for TV, Type R for Radio.

Clear-Com Arcadia

Clear-Com (Booth 931) will offer the U.S. debut of the latest update to its Arcadia Central Station, which provides IP interface connectivity and a capacity increase of up to 285 connections, including up to 64 FreeSpeak beltpacks. Also highlighted will be features of its flagship Eclipse HX Digital Matrix Intercom System, including Dyanam-EC real-time production software, role-based workflows, and the new 2X10 Touch desktop touchscreen panel.

Dale Pro Audio (Booth 830) will feature its usual cornucopia of audio products, including Millennia Media’s new circuit topology under the “imersiv” banner, a stereo D/A converter delivering a more than 160 dB dynamic range using current-generation D/A chips. The multipath circuit’s engineering can produce analog output with a noise floor more than 20 dB below the self-noise of typical DAC chips.

Evertz Vista BRAVO digital mixing system

Evertz (Booth 1119) will be highlighting Studer Audio, which celebrates its 75th-anniversary this year. Since acquiring Studer in 2021, Evertz has integrated the brand’s Vista digital mixing consoles into its Software Defined Video Networking (SDVN) platform. The Vista consoles now support SMPTE ST 2110, making them an important addition to Evertz’s live-production workflows, part of the industry’s transition to IP. Evertz will also introduce Vista BRAVO and “Vista in VUE” as part of the integration with its DreamCatcher BRAVO Studio virtual production-control suite, which allows users to quickly and easily produce high-quality live content at a lower cost by providing virtual access to a full mixing console.

Genelec 9320A Reference Controller

Genelec (Room 3D01) will demo its 9320A Reference Controller as a bridge to its even newer UNIO Audio Monitoring Service Platform, which combines the benefits of Genelec Smart Active Monitors, GLM 5.0 calibration software, and Aural ID 2.0 technology to create seamless integration between in-room loudspeaker and headphone monitoring services. The 9320A can control up to three separate monitoring systems plus headphones, and each system can operate at a listening level calibrated to EBU R128, ATSC A/85, or SMPTE RP200 standards.

Harrison (Booth 824A), a provider of consoles for film and media production for decades, will make its first appearance at an AES/NAB event. Harrison will be located adjacent to the SSL booth, which recently acquired the venerable Nashville-based console maker.

Lawo HOME Apps

Lawo (Booth 617) HOME Apps, announced at NAB 2023, adapt to changing requirements and budget conditions while supporting SMPTE ST2110, SRT, JPEG XS, and NDI for mixed-technology environments. Lawo will also display the .edge Hyper-Density SDI/IP conversion and routing platform, which offers licensable options like proxy generation and JPEG XS compression to address bandwidth constraints, streamline IP pipelines, and optimize workflows. The V10.8 software release for the mc²/A__UHD Core/Power Core platform features flexible bus routing, expanded AUX count (up to 256 buses), QSC Q-Sys proxy integration in HOME, Remote Show Control via OSC, and more, allowing Lawo’s platform to set a new benchmark for live-performance capabilities.

Pliant Technologies MicroCom 900XR wireless headset

Pliant Technologies (NAB Booth 1144) will show its new MicroCom 900XR “All-In-One” wireless headset, the latest addition to the MicroCom line, as well as CrewCom’s new IP-rated radio transceiver.

Riedel Communications (Booth 317) will showcase its live-video-production tools. The All-In-One Production Suite features ViBox for multicamera productions, with Slomo and RefBox, as well as RiMotion replay, RiCapture UHD recorder, the Venue Gateway, and the Web Multiviewer. Riedel’s MediorNet IP solutions for video and audio processing and distribution with MuoN SFP technology offer encoding/decoding, ST 2110 gateways, multiviewers, and newly added HDR conversion between any SDR/HDR formats. On the comms side, Riedel will showcase the Emmy Award-winning Bolero wireless intercom in both the DECT 1.9-GHz and the new 2.4-GHz versions. MediorNet HorizoN is a new addition to the MediorNet family, providing such video-processing capabilities as UHD up/down/crossconversion, SDR-HDR conversion, and color correction, along with access to both SDI-based and SMPTE ST 2110 infrastructures with an array of UHD gateways.

Sennheiser WMAS broadband wireless-transmission technology

Sennheiser (Demo Room 3D03) will show an array of gear from its Neumann and Merging Technologies divisions, including Neumann’s recently released KH 120 II from the KH line of monitors, the NDH 30 open-back headphones, and the company’s MT 48 interface. Of special interest, though, will be appointment-only presentations on WMAS (wireless multichannel audio system) broadband wireless-transmission technology.

Shure (Booth 502) will show a combination of new and updated mics and software. The former include the DuraPlex and UniPlex lavs. Software includes Wireless Workbench 7, which introduces scan library, refreshed user interface with dark mode, improved high-density–mode support, and more ways to customize reporting. Axient Digital AD600 Spectrum Manager offers real-time, wideband spectrum scanning and monitoring from 174 MHz to 2.0 GHz, spectrum analysis, and frequency coordination in a single rack unit. Six antenna connections deliver multiple coverage options, and Dante connectivity provides advanced audio monitoring of any network.

Sony (Booth 314) will be showcasing C80 and C800G microphones and listening to the MDR-MV1 open-back headphones. The pro audio division and its 360 Virtual Mixing Environment (VME) team will be sharing space, enabling visitors to experience personal HRTF profiling.

Telos Infinity VIP IP intercom products

Telos Alliance (Booth 734) will show both traditional and virtualized TV workflows as well as solutions for local and remote intercom, plus virtual audio mixing. Telos Infinity VIP, part of the Telos Infinity family of matrix-free IP-connected intercom products, is the first full-featured cloud-based intercom system and allows comms to extend outside facilities; it can extend existing AES67– or SMPTE 2110-30–compatible third-party intercom installation to smartphones, tablets, and PCs (laptop or desktop) using standard HTML5-capable browsers or with the new Infinity VIP native apps for Android and iOS devices.