The installation at its studios in Nydalen, which gives them a vast MADI routing I/O (of around 700 x 500 channels), was carried out by Danmon Norway as part of an upgrade to continue servicing broadcasters such as Norwegian TV channel NRK, TV2 and TV Norge, as well as companies requiring content for TV, video, Web, IP-TV or other media.
Since Danmon and Biovisjon each boast more than 25 years' experience - with a relationship between the two companies existing for much of that time - they were eager to explore all possibilities. And the investment proved to be a ringing endorsement of the MADI standard.
Although the original upgrade was to have been built around multiple DD2FR-FX and DD4MR-FX MADI devices, the timely release of Optocore's M-series intervened. "It was a perfect opportunity for them to look at a more powerful option," said Danmon key account manager, Jens Vik. "It was an easy decision to make ... not only would it be more cost-effective but it gave the system much more in the way of I/O."
With four MADI ports, Optocore M8's offers 4 x dual BNC or 4 x duplex fibre, 2 SANE ports (which support MADI over Cat5) and 2 Optocore hi-speed fibre uplinks while the M12 has 8 x MADI ports (providing 8 x dual BNC or 8 x duplex fibre). These can function as stand-alone routers or be integrated with any other Optocore interface.
The new routing matrix has helped expedite Biovisjon's expansion of their live studio capabilities from a single small studio to a second larger one, including a second control room. "Both studios needed control capabilities from either room," Jens Vik explains. "To give them as much flexibility as possible between their new Studer Vista 1 desk and the old Yamaha DM1000, it made perfect sense to install Optocore - not only to make cabling as easy as possible, but also because the Optocore X6R mic pre-amps can be controlled by both mixers."
(Jim Evans)
