Micstasy report

WBGO

WBGO (wbgo.org and 88.3 FM in the New York City metro area) is a publicly-supported broadcaster dedicated to presenting the finest jazz, blues, R&B and news. WBGO presents many live broadcasts from both the New York City metro area as well as live coverage of jazz festivals throughout the country. Through a partnership with NPR Music (www.nprmusic.org), WBGO presents live monthly broadcasts from the most storied of all jazz clubs, the Village Vanguard.

For several years WBGO has operated a remote recording/broadcast rig that uses MADI to push signal from stage to mix position. Until now, this has required an audio engineer to operate the mic preamplifiers on stage. In an effort to simplify the signal chain, WBGO's David Tallacksen* evaluated several remote controlled microphone pre-amplifiers that fit the requirements: great sound, built-in A/D, compact footprint, and extensive standards-based remote control. The Micstasy met all these requirements. In addition, WBGO already operates other RME equipment and knows RME stands behind the product and produces rock-solid hardware and software.

WBGO now uses 3 Micstasys for 24 channels of amplification. These output via ADAT to a backup recorder, and connect via MADI to the mix/broadcast rig. A Yamaha 01V96v2 controls the Micstasy via MIDI over MADI as well as producing the broadcast mix.

WBGO is very happy with the great sound and ease of use of the Micstasy another great product from RME.

* David Tallacksen is the Vice President of Operations and Engineering for WBGO. He oversees all technical operations, including remote broadcasts and recordings.

Website: www.wbgo.org

WBGO