What’s all the B.S.?
Here’s the B.S……. ( it’s short for Broadcast Station and it costs a very small fraction of what the industry is used to. )
The complete Unity Broadcast Station brings Unity Intercom technology into environments where real-time audio is required and is a huge cost savings compared to traditional broadcast production. In short…This means an entire TV station can now run on Unity.
Broadcast Station is a product for your talent, giving them real-time local audio with full integration to Unity Intercom for talkback/IFB purposes. It can be used both in the field and in-studio for both radio and TV applications. Broadcast Station (BS for short - might as well embrace the abbreviation! ), provides individual talkback/local/cough buttons for each talent connection (up to 8 talent can be connected at one time), and also supports industry standard broadcast headsets as well as wireless mics and in-ear-monitors for IFB.
Connections are available for individual broadcast sends, local real-time program feed (minus all local talent), and on-air status relay closures for gating talent mics and audio routes. Unity also uses a powerful auto mic mix program that will drastically lower the noise floor! This is done by using an automatic gain sharing algorithm that lowers the input of unused mics making the overall audio mix quality far superior.
Plus it ties everyone together!
It solves the in-the-field problem of providing mix-minus, since BS allows the talent to hear themselves real-time regardless of the link-latency back to the remote station.
The hardware portion of BS comes in a portable 6U rack with wheels, but can be ‘kitted’ for custom installation purposes. Most customers install the hardware components in their rack rooms outside of the case. It uses a combination of commercial components with a few custom pieces (primarily for the talkback button interfaces).
The custom software piece runs only on a Mac computer, once again leveraging the power of OSX Core Audio functionality. For mobile applications, this would normally be a laptop such as a MacBook Pro. For in-studio use, it can be virtually any Mac computer produced in the last 9 years.
DETAILS
Unity Broadcast Station is a combination software and hardware solution that works seamlessly in conjunction with Unity Intercom to provide a complete end-to-end modern broadcast solution and in many cases is the missing piece that will combine Unity and real-time IFB audio for in studio use.
Unity Broadcast Station hardware consists of four professional audio components and a special proprietary audio switch that are rack mounted in a 6U portable case. This hardware connects to a single Mac computer via either a USB-A or USB-C connection. As many as 8 users (talent), can be connected to a single Broadcast Station and up to 8 local program feeds or mix-minus audio sources can be delivered real-time to any or all 8 users.
Unity Broadcast Station implements all local/remote talent-to-talent mixing in software, which eliminates the need for an on-site audio console in many broadcast situations. Local talent audio can optionally be interrupted (IFB) by authorized Unity users, either fully or proportionately. Talkback switches provide back-channel communications from the talent back to the director/producer locations. Since the audio switching is done in software, the switching is completely silent.
Unity Broadcast Station hardware supports industry standard broadcast headsets as well as wireless UHF/VHF headset/ear-set/monitor integration. Headset connections are XLR / ¼ inch mono, but the ¼ inch headset output connection can be bypassed to provide direct balanced audio connections for a multitude of applications.
Unity Broadcast Station is already in use in select TV stations across America and is poised to be a huge comms industry innovation. Unity Broadcast Station eliminates the need in many cases for an expensive Frame Unit all together and costs a fraction of what traditional technology would cost.
Broadcast Station Options and Pricing
Full Broadcast Station - $11,995
Full Broadcast Station supports 8 talent users and comes with 4 talk-back/local/mute buttons (one is wireless for roaming applications). It comes with all hardware and software except for the driving Mac Mini computer which is user provided and cannot be the same machine as the Unity Server. It retails for $11995 and comes in self-install kit form. You also have the option of ordering it pre-built in a 6U shock case for an additional $800.
Broadcast Sport - $11,795
The second version is the Broadcast Sport model, which supports up to 6 talent connections and comes with 3 wired talk-back/local/mute buttons and can supply a continuous, non-interruptible program feed split-ear style. It retails for $11795 and has the same pre-built option at the same cost.
Broadcast Lite - $9,495
The third iteration is the Broadcast Lite model, which is a half-user version of the full Broadcast Station. It comes with 3 wired and one wireless talk-back switch and supports 4 talent users for $9495.