Canberra-based community broadcaster 1CMS has installed a Lawo crystal system in its revamped studios.

Having previously supplied a single 12-fader Lawo crystal console in 2013, Professional Ausio & Television (PAT) has now supplied further two 12-fader crystal consoles and a crystal base unit frame. The three consoles will be used in the two main on-air studios and one production studio. All three studios are connected to the main Lawo crystal base unit frame via MADI fiber for audio networkability, while the IP control network allows for logic control such as talkback and profanity delay.

PAT’s Broadcast Technician Nick Brown was programming the system, “We wanted to provide the full Lawo flexibility while keeping the system easy to use. Lawo’s zirkon configuration software was used to program all on-air delegation, talkback and profanity delay functionalities in-house here at PAT.” 1CMS system integrator Josh Parkinson commissioned the system at PAT’s HQ in Sydney “PAT worked to a very detailed brief and I am very happy with the result and customer service we received from the PAT engineering team. The new Lawo system will certainly provide 1CMS with new cutting edge broadcasting technology.”

While each of the studios can switch themselves live to air, a Lawo crystal base unit frame can also be used to manage on-air delegation and codecs. The base unit includes redundant PSU’s and is controlled via a custom configured VisTools control screen, providing level metering for each studio, as well as metering for on-air paths, satellite feeds and music servers.

1CMS studio 1 and 2 are the first radio studios in Australia to be fitted with the new Lawo crystal consoles since its official launch late last year. As any other Lawo product, crystal consoles are fully RAVENNA / AES67 compatible and therefore prepared for working in non-proprietary IP networks.