The Solid State Logic C100 HDS Digital Broadcast Console is to be used by the film and TV departments, as well as other polytechnic schools that use studio facilities.
The C100 HDS ‘Most of the TV programmes we produce involve talk shows and panel discussions,’ explains Toni Tolin, Studio Manager for the Television studio in Media Centre Lume. ‘Courses vary from basic to ultra advanced, so students of all skill levels will be using the console. We also do some special courses for professionals, for example a music course for classical music or rock music. The C100 was the best choice for us to achieve our mission and still maintain top-level performance and sound quality.’
Supported by SSL’s Alpha-Link Live, Alpha-Link 8-RMP and Delta-Link units, the desk was chosen for its ease-of-use and ergonomic layout. The C100 provides the high-end recording experience necessary for professional applications, while allowing a beginner the chance to learn from a straightforward and informative interface.
‘The C100 console is very visual,’ Tolin confirms. ‘You can see all the channel and routing information all the time in the TFT display – you don’t have to use different menus to get routing information like on many other consoles. The 5.1 mixing is fast and the 5.1 UpMix feature is great for processing stereo into 5.1 surround. We can even split out the 5.1 stems for processing if necessary. The Dialogue Automix feature completely changes the way we engineer panel discussion programming. The console is easy to learn and operate which are big factors as we are an educational studio and many people use the console.’
The C100 is used in the Television studio, but is connected through the Alpha-Link Live converters and Alpha-Link 8-RMP remote microphone preamp boxes to the theatre studio, the film studio and the auditorium for maximum coverage. ‘The entire Alpha-Link Live interface gave us tremendous power at a significantly lower price and this was another deciding factor in getting the console,’ says Tolin. ‘Our theatre studio and auditorium, for instance, are connected to the console through an SSL Madi Opti-Coax converter. This enables us to use a single BNC cable for receiving multichannel audio from each of the other studios. On every level the C100 is perfect for us.’
The Aalto University School of Art and Design is based in Helsinki, offers doctorate, master and bachelor degrees to its over 1,900 student body, with open-university teaching and professional training courses.
