Streaming and podcast solutions provider StreamGuys have announced Reflector EVO, a cloud service for enterprise-level audio contribution and distribution that will be demonstrated at and available for purchase from the NAB Show 2024 opening.
Developed in partnership with Barix, StreamGuys will lead all sales efforts and provide service hosting and 24/7 technical support for radio broadcasters, program syndicators and audio content creators that require a scalable, one-to-many cloud networking architecture for content delivery.
Reflector EVO is the service’s second generation, developed 14 years ago to help broadcasters move high-quality audio over the internet. The original version removed network configuration challenges and made it simple to immediately send audio between studios and transmitters sites upon connecting a Barix encoder and decoder.
Reflector EVO aims to be more affordable than satellite for syndicated delivery offering a highly available cloud service that can transport bulk audio streams to many locations at once, including uncompressed PCM signals with high bandwidth requirements. Strengthened redundancy for mission-critical broadcast delivery has been added, with primary and backup streams operating in parallel to optimize signal integrity. The redundant streams borrow packets from each other as drops occur, ensuring streams are reassembled upon reaching end points.
Barix has also updated its encoding and decoding hardware for additional network resiliency, along with enabling fast switching between encoders and adding support for lossless audio compression. Barix’s new LX400 broadcast codec, also at NAB, offers OPUS audio support for customers that want the highest possible audio quality and bandwidth conservation, with support for constant and variable bitrates (6kb/s to 510kb/s).
The LX400 devices also include standard Barix AoIP codec features such as selectable input gain, relay support and contact closures, the latter of which allows broadcast networks to provide affiliates with precisely timed triggers for local ad breaks over EVO. There are also improved alerting applications ensuring that important notifications are prioritised for affected stations only, rather than being disseminated to all engineers in the network.
Eduardo Martinez, the Vice President of Technology for StreamGuys said:
“Reflector EVO isn’t merely an improvement on the original – it’s a reimagining of the infrastructure for the reliable transport of large media workloads, and modernized for today’s enterprise broadcast networks. With options for uncompressed transport, lossless compression and legacy compression, broadcasters have an array of options for high-quality deliver of speech and music and are assured a high level of service and consistent uptime for all cloud networking applications.”
If you are at the NAB Show, April 14 -17 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, StreamGuys will demonstrate Reflector EVO at the ENCO booth (W1743). There they will also offer several service plan options across technical formats (compressed or uncompressed), hardware (purchase or lease) and support.