Among the sports interest and political unease, the broadcast and recording of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final Draw prompted Brazilian OB company Mix2Go to invest in multiple Focusrite RedNet units as part of its digital audiovisual network.
In keeping with amny live sound, remote recording and broadcast set-ups, Mix2Go sound engineers Daniel Reis and Beto Neves from have adopted Audinate’s Dante platform for networking audio. Their OB truck features a Dante-enabled Allen & Heath mixing console and stage racks, which route audio from the stage to any device connected to the Dante network. This enables the team to route signals to a multitude of different recording, mixing and live-broadcast systems simultaneously, and the option to upgrade and expand the network by connecting more Dante devices to their gigabit switches.
‘I started using Dante back when the Dolby Lake loudspeaker management system came out, and was amazed by how it gave you access to a whole new world,’ Reis says. ‘I’ve also used a lot of the Focusrite ISA products, so when I heard about RedNet, it was great news: finally a company committed to sound quality had invested in the best protocol available.’
The Mix2Go set-up currently uses a RedNet 2 16-channel A-D/D-A interface, RedNet 3 32-channel digital I/O, RedNet 6 Madi Bridge and three RedNet PCIe cards. For the FIFA World Cup Final Draw, the RedNet 2 delivers final live mixes to the video OB truck. The RedNet 3 serves as an additional monitoring reference via its AES/EBU outputs. ‘I need to give the option of delivering the program through Madi, AES/EBU or analogue,’ says Reis.
Incorporating the RedNet gear into a complex set-up was fast and simple, thanks to the nature of the Dante network and the reliability of the RedNet interfaces: ‘Installing RedNet was very fast – plug-and-play – and almost idiot proof,’ Reis recalls.
One of the main benefits of RedNet and the Dante network is its ability to send large amounts of audio over long distances with minimum cabling. The set-up for the Final Draw event consisted of a large Dante network that linked two OB trucks parked in different locations outside the venue to the main stage. Two stage boxes (one primary and one backup) were located in the main arena, connected to gigabit network switches using Cat6 cables. Signals from this stage rig were sent via multi-mode fibre-optic cables to another pair of switches inside the music OB truck, about 150ft (50m) away.
Inside the truck, the fibre signal was converted back to Ethernet and routed to two Mac Mini computers, which handled Pro Tools multitrack recording vis Audinate’s Dante Virtual Soundcard (DVS) driver. The signals from stage were also routed simultaneously to the live mix console, from where the final broadcast stems were then routed to RedNet 2, located inside the video OB truck, about 100ft (30m) away. Here, the stems were converted to analogue then mixed with the rest of the event’s audio and added to the final video feed, which was then sent to a distribution truck to be broadcast to television stations all around the world.
‘The converters sound transparent and tight. RedNet has truly given us reliability and quality, and pride to have such amazing equipment from a brand that we truly respect,’ Reis says.
