A highlight of the project was the use of Sennheiser's flagship Digital 9000, an all-digital wireless system that can transmit completely uncompressed audio, artifact-free and with superb dynamics. The system has been meticulously designed for the highest channel counts and operation in dense frequency environments. Infrared (IR) synchronization between receivers and transmitters greatly aids setting up of the system.
Commenting on his company's decision to leverage the latest audio solutions, Mr. Allie Kader Gaffoor, network specialist sound & audio acoustics - network operations standards at Al Jazeera Media Network said, "Quality audio is integral to viewer satisfaction and this is particularly true for a network such as Al Jazeera given the nature of our content. We have therefore equipped our studios with the latest technologies available in the market for the broadcast industry. We selected systems that we knew would give us the optimum level of performance while leaving little room for error. This project perfectly showcases our commitment to delivering the very best experience for our subscribers."
While HD video is now commonplace in the industry, Al Jazeera's decision to utilize Sennheiser's Digital 9000 system reflects the broadcaster's recognition of the significance of HD audio to the television viewing experience. Although wireless offers both convenience and flexibility, the success of these systems is highly dependent on expert design and implementation. The joint efforts of Sennheiser and Sony Professional MEA, the systems integrator for the project, in the RF planning across Al Jazeera's extensive Doha headquarters, that includes over 15 studios, was therefore critical.
"This is by no means an easy feat as all the wireless microphone and in-ear monitoring systems required radio frequency coordination to ensure that there is no interference between them, even if presenters walk from studio to studio whilst wearing their transmitters," said Ryan Burr, technical sales manager for Sennheiser Middle East.
Sennheiser's Customer Development and Application Engineering team from Germany assisted the local team by designing bespoke multi antenna systems which helped enable seamless wireless coverage in all areas of the studios,
"The D9000 wireless microphone system is like no other in that it uses technology that is unique to Sennheiser and is the only microphone system capable of transmitting uncompressed audio. This means that it delivers the highest resolution audio quality with a cable-like purity," said Burr.
(Jim Evans)
