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Resource Sharing with
Studer consoles
An important part of today’s Broadcast infrastructure is the ability to access audio signals from any
part of a facility. For example, to access studio microphones from a radio studio to use as programsource in a TV studio. Not only must access be possible, but control and indication of signal useage
and takeover must also be possible.
With new software versions forStuder’s Route 6000, OnAir series andVista consoles, Studer not only offers
attractive sets of new features for eachproduct, but now offers the possibility
to share local inputs and outputs aswell as control signals with othersystems within the same network.
The new STUDER RELINK (ResourceLinking) managed I/O sharing system,
which can link numerous Studer
consoles in various locations of aBroadcast facility to allow audio source
and control data sharing across a widenetwork, is Studer’s answer to thisoften-requested functionality.

Studer RELINK brings thefollowing benefits to any scale ofinterconnected system:• I/O Sharing with Studer RELINK
enables every input or output
within an audio network to beavailable anywhere in the network,requiring a minimum number ofaudio interconnections.
• I/O Sharing with Studer RELINK
allows installing codecs centrally
and managing them between
different studios in an intelligent
way, instead of investing in exclusive
codecs for each single studio.
• I/O Sharing with Studer RELINK
allows comfortable switching
between different rooms, forexample two on-air studios.

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Link different types of console,
simplyOne of the benefits of the STUDER
RELINK system in comparison toothers is that it is based totally on
Studer’s existing SCore platform which
is an integral part of a Studer consolearchitecture, so no additional hardware
or breakout boxes are required tocomplete the network. Communicatingover TCP/IP with each other, any
combination of Studer Vista (5, 6, 7, 8)
or OnAir 2500 and 3000 consoles canconnect via RELINK. Other consolebased networking systems on themarket are often restricted to a single
type of console.
RELINK is seamless, scalable, flexible,and can start with a simple link
between two Studer consoles, rightthrough to multi-console systems
using a two-step topology where
all signals are matrixed through theStuder Route 6000 system.

Link different types of console, simply3

Example systems
and applications
Single-step I/O Sharing is an application of two devices (systems) connected directly. Each of them may
share signals with the other. The first example shows two consoles in this mode, with one console
locally connected to a microphone, and the other console consuming that microphone via a physicalconnection. Both systems are networked via Ethernet.
Two-step I/O Sharing is an advanced signal sharing application. It allows sharing of signals between twodevices ‘through’ a third device. In the second two examples, the consoles are not connected directly
but through the central router device. The console provides microphone feeds to the router. Thesemicrophones are available as NETInputs in the router and can be consumed by other studios in thesame way as local sources.

Example 1: Shared News BoothA very common application in radio
houses is a voice or news boothconnected closely to a studio forspeech contribution to a broadcast ora recording, while a second studio isused for production.
The booth resources (microphone,headphones and indication) arephysically connected to one console,usually to the one used most in
combination with the booth (the onein Studio 1 in our example).
This console provides the monitoringsignal for the headphones, controls
the microphone parameters as well as
the ready/on air indicators.
If the second studio (Studio 2)
requires the booth for production,
I/O Sharing allows forwarding
the control of the microphoneparameters and the indication fromthe console in Studio 1 to the one in4

Studio 2. The audio signal is provided
to Studio 2 via a physical connection(tie line) between both studios. Thisaudio interconnection can be of any
type, for example AES3.
The monitoring signal for theheadphones is still provided by
the console in Studio 1, but themonitoring signal is delivered by theconsole in Studio 2 via a suitable tieline (e.g. AES3) and routed to theheadphones remotely.

While Studio 2 works with thebooth, it controls the microphoneparameters, including analogue gain
and phantom power. Opening themicrophone in Studio 2 activates
the red light in the booth, presumingthat the ‘mic on’ parameters areconfigured accordingly. In this case,existing monitor speakers will be
cut remotely as well. Sharing thecontrol information is established
via a network connection (Ethernet)
between all systems involved., coresand Route 6000 are networked well.

Example 2: Shared News Booth – Central Router
In this larger installation, a number ofstudios in the same facility are used tofeed and produce signals, for example
for two independent programs. OnAir
3000 consoles in the four studios areconnected to a central Route 6000 ina MCR via MADI.
MADI provides a bidirectional audio
connection between both ends.
Consoles, cores and Route 6000 arenetworked via Ethernet. Studio 1
and Studio 2 share one news boothas described in example 1, Studios 3
and 4 do the same with secondary
news booth. The functional principleof sharing audio signals between
Studios 1 and 2 or Studios 3 and 4 isvery similar to example 1, except thatthe direct audio tie lines between thestudios and the router are replaced by
MADI interconnections.
Shared signals are now ‘tunnelled’
through a central device. This setup
adds a couple of advantages to theinstallation.Via MADI, many moresignals can be shared simultaneouslythan via an AES3 connection. Theseadditional channels may be used todistribute the signals from News
Booth 2 to Studios 1 and 2 as well.
This enables Studio 2 to record asignal from Booth 2, while Booth 1 isat the same time used for the news
with Studio 1. The setup also allows avery flexible emergency switch-over,since every studio can connect to any
voice booth.

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Example 3: Radio Broadcast and Production House
This example shows a (radio-)broadcast house where production
studios and control rooms arelocated, in addition to the OnAir
studios in the same building. Theproduction studios (Drama A, Drama
B and Auditorium) are equipped withD21m stageboxes connected to theRoute 6000 in the MCR.
In this way, not only the two Vista 5
consoles in the production control
rooms can use mic signals from thestageboxes, but also the four OnAirconsoles can use these signals and,if necessary, also get control of themic parameters.

STUDER RELINK offers probably themost integrated, comprehensive andoptimised I/O sharing management
available to Broadcasters today. To
utilise STUDER RELINK, consoles
must be running at least the following
software versions – V4.1 for Vista,
V3.1 for OnAir systems and V2.0 for
Route 6000 systems.

6Uncompromising Input
Output Flexibility
Studer’s D21m I/O system forms the heart of all the remote input/output connections and network
audio is not restricted to a single transport type – audio interconnects may be made throughconventional MADI, AES, Ethersound, ADAT, regular copper analogue lines or even HDLink.
Each D21m remote stage box
can be configured to accept up to192 inputs and 192 outputs, withnumerous options for audio interface
types including analogue, AES, SDI,Dolby E and MADI, all available incost-effective modules which waste
no unused channels. These inputs andoutputs can be shared with any or allof the mixing consoles.

I/O formats available include:• 4ch microphone input card
• Analogue insert card (for use with
4ch microphone input card)• 8ch line input card
• 8ch line output card
• 16ch in/16ch out AES/EBU card
• 16ch in/16ch out AES/EBU cardwith input SRCs
• 16ch in/16ch out AES/EBU cardwith input and output SRCs
• MADI I/O card(max. 64 inputs/outputs)

••
•
•
•
•

Dual ADAT input and output card
(16ch in/16ch out)
Dual TDIF input and output card
(16ch in/16ch out)
SDI input card (de-embedder for
8 or 16 input channels)
SDI input/output card(de-embedder/embedder for
8 inputs and outputs)
Dolby® E/Digital decoder cards(8 or 16 input channels)
CobraNet® I/O card (32 input andoutput channels)••

Aviom A-Net® output card
(16 output channels)
Ethersound® I/O card (up to 64input and output channels,
selectable in groups of 8, plus 8
GPIO control signals)

Simple source selection and transfer
Source selection is transparent,
and signal labels are automaticallytransferred to the shared locations,so the operator always knows
what source is connected. Signal
takeover between studios is seamless,so RELINK is well-suited for live
transmission switchover.

Clear and easy setup for ownership
permissions is of course mandatory
and provided.
As an important sub-function,
especially in the radio broadcast
market, a resilient mic take-overmechanism ensures that local

monitoring at point of use is turned
off automatically to prevent feedback,with clear red light and take-oversignalling, for example.
Fader start functions can also be
passed to the controlling console.

7www.studer.chStuder Professional Audio GmbH
Studer reserves the right to improve or otherwise alter
any information supplied in this document or any otherdocumentation supplied hereafter. E&OE 05/10

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Riedthofstrasse 214, CH-8105 Regensdorf-Zurich Switzerland, Phone +41 44 870 75 11, Fax +41 44 870 71 34
Studer USA, 8500 Balboa Boulevard, Northridge, CA 91329, Phone +1-818-920-3212, Fax +1-818-920-3208

BD10.266010®