Audio meters keep sports-related audio in check for Videohouse in Brussels
Sept. 13, 2013
When the Brussels-based television production services facility Videohouse needed to install new loudness meters in the fleet of OB vans it employs for live sports coverage, it chose RTW’s TM9 and TM3 TouchMonitors to help it comply with current EBU-R128 loudness standards. Its video team has installed the TM9 meters in the company’s larger HD/SD-capable OB vans, and the more compact TM3s in its smaller OB vans and SNG trucks.
A division of the Euro Media Group, Videohouse is regularly contracted to broadcast live weekend coverage of the Belgium National Football Team (Rode Duivels/Red Devils), the annual Cyclo-Cross worldwide cycling event and other major sporting endeavors. In addition to ensuring the audio is smooth for these projects, the audio team at Videohouse must make two different mixes of each broadcast to cover two of Belgium’s three official languages (Dutch and French). Because of this, it must pay extra close attention to loudness variables. For that task, Videohouse Chief Sound Engineer Koen Bredael and his team use the four AES inputs included on the TM9 and three AES inputs included on the TM3 meters to measure the different mixes.
“We use the TM9s and TM3s to measure the loudness of our programming,” says Bredael. “We ordered the TM9 with the 3G SDI-embedded option, since most of the audio that we are working on is embedded. In fact, we chose most of the available software options that RTW offers to give us the versatility we need for our various programming setups. It’s nice to have those options. They allow you to make your own layout and change it, depending on the program.”
Bredael and his team have been working with RTW and its audio meters for a long time. They also have RTW audio meters in their post-production facility, along with their video, audio and play-out rooms. “We’ve always trusted RTW products and turned to them as soon as we needed a new loudness metering option,” says Bredael. “We researched other companies, but really liked the ease of using the touchscreen of the TouchMonitor line. We also felt it would be a smart investment. Since there are so many software options available, we knew we would be able to add onto the meters as needed, well into the future.”
Learn more about TM9.
Learn more about TM3.