The Studio


The very word 'studio' in a radio context always seems to conjure up images of grandeur. The beauty of using the Internet to stream shows is the ability to broadcast from your own home so my own studio simply occupies a section of the front room and used to  live on a coffee table as you can see in the view above - simple but very effective! Since then a higher table has been put to use making life a little easier (I can actually sit and do a show!!)

The output of each show is routed to a nearby computer by using the headphone jack on the stereo unit which in turn has three players attached to it via a basic mixing desk (one player isn't shown above). A pair of Sony headphones can be seen hanging on a flexible microphone stand, the microphone (Vivanco EM 329) is a cheap and cheerful battery powered stereo affair purchased from a local electrical bits and pieces shop. The output leads to the nearby computer run in and out of an Sony MZ-R410 portable mini disc player/recorder where the output is encoded thence to a router and off along the telephone line.

For the more technically minded the full list of equipment is as follows.

4 way splitter box (front left on the picture above) into which one can connect up to four items of equipment. A rotary switch is used to select the item in use.

Behind the splitter box we have a Sony XO-550W radio/cassette/turntable system which is of reasonable vintage, on top of that that is the ever increasing mini disc library.

Moving to the middle section the mixing desk is an Eagle GDX 780. Underneath this is a  Sony CDP-XE270 CD player which replaced another Sony model which began acting up (well it was some 15 years or more old!!) and at the bottom is a very useful machine a Grundig MDC 65 CD and mini disc player combined.

Another addition has been a Sharpe MD-R2 mini-disc deck which can be seen in the picture below.

In the view below the Eagle mixer has been replaced by a Cintronic CDM 10:4 which means no need for the 4 way splitter box any more and the long serving cheap & cheerful microphone has been replaced with a Shure C606, again visible in the picture below.

Until recently not a single track was played off a computer - perhaps hard work but very rewarding (when it works out properly that is!!) - there is now computer playout facility included to work alongside the existing players. Interestingly some interference was experienced with the playout laptop when operating it off the mains. A simple Ground Loop Earth Isolator (intended for cars) has solved this very nicely.

The other computer visible has a full backup of the playout system and is used to access the Internet during shows for instant research purposes as well as handling emails sent in during the shows.

 

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