Built in 1967, the Congress Hall in Saarbrücken/Germany is home to variety of events spanning conferences, trade fairs and conventions as well as shows and concerts of all kinds – some of which are broadcast on radio and television by public broadcaster Saarländischer Rundfunk (SR).
Following the Hall’s renovation and reopening in late 2023, the SR control room was updated with a modern audio infrastructure – including the installation of a Lawo mc²36 MkII production mixing console and two Lawo AoIP stageboxes – replacing an analogue system with a console that meets the broadcaster’s quality standards in terms of performance, flexibility and efficiency.
The heart of the audio is an mc²36 MkII production console with integrated processing. With its A__UHD core technology, it offers 256 processing channels available at both 48kHz and 96kHz sample rates, allowing even large orchestral productions to be mixed. The all-in-one mixing console natively supports ST2110, AES67, Ravenna and Ember+. With an I/O capacity of up to 864 channels and its local I/O, the mc²36 MkII offers extensive connectivity, with two additional Lawo A__stage64 AoIP stageboxes adding ST2110-30/31 and AES67/Ravenna support to ensure the integration of audio signals.
‘With the new audio technology in our control room in the Congress Hall, we have taken a first step into the IP world, which gives us considerable freedom in production,’ says Ralf Schnellbach, Head of Radio Production Technology at SR and project manager for this installation. ‘It makes many things easier, faster and clearer, such as switching between 48 and 96kHz or signal management with the new user lists.’
Based on many years of good experience with Lawo systems, as well as the company’s project and customer support, SR opted for a set-up from the Rastatt-based manufacturer for the Congress Hall installation.
‘In addition to performance, sound characteristics and compactness, the system’s comprehensive flexibility also played a major role when deciding on the equipment,’ Schnellbach concludes. ‘The capacity allows a whole range of configurations for a wide variety of productions, and the extended matrix and control options as well as the integration of external panels, in this installation, make an external talkback infrastructure obsolete.
‘With this installation, a smart and economically very lean sound control room was created, whose components can be moved for mobile use without great effort, like for festivals during the summer break.’
More: www.lawo.com
