Nippon Broadcasting’s New Sports Audio Truck Is Ready To Roll

By Dan Daley
When
the Yankees play the BoSox and you get Hideki Matsui and Daisuke Matsuzaka
in the same stadium, you get a lot of sound, and the only fans as rabid
about baseball as Americans are the Japanese. Thanks to the NHK network’s
brand new remote broadcasting truck that rolled out earlier this year,
they’re getting their fill of American “beisboru” in HD and with
5.1 sound.

The
truck carries a hefty amount of audio gear, centered around a 96-I/O
Euphonix System 5 digital console with 64 TDIP I/O and a MADI-Pro Tools
converter. Recording gear includes two 360 Systems’ DigiCart/E Ethernet
audio recorders, a Tascam X-48 48-track hybrid hard disk DAW. The intercom
is an RTS DSP-matrixed Cronus. A TC Electronic TC6000M and Finalizer
96K handle outboard processing. Stereo monitoring is via a pair of Genelec
8040A speakers; surround monitoring goes through five Genelec 8020A
speakers and a 7050 sub. Surround is processed using Dolby DP571 and
DP571 Dolby E codecs and the Dolby LM100 broadcast loudness meter with
Dialogue Intelligence feature.

Kazutaka
Noda, audio engineer with what NHK has dubbed the K3 Ruby truck, says
they have yet use the 5.1 system, but he has mounted the L-C-R array
by hanging them off the racks above and to the sides of the console,
with the rear speakers on stands that are stowed till needed; the stereo
pair are on floated mounts above the meter bridge. “That way, all
the speakers can breathe,” he says.

Noda,
who designed the truck’s audio and IC system, says a versatile digital
console gives the truck flexibility to work both sports broadcasts and
other location entertainment events. “We have the capability to do
a 5.1 live broadcast or a multitruck concert mix or both at the same
time,” he explains. “ The Euphonix [96-channel] fiber tran system
gives us big advantage for high-quality audio transmission with a long
cable run.” A flexible swing wall in the audio compartment, designed
by Noda, provides additional space to bring aboard extra gear such as
ProTools rigs or a second mixer if more channels are needed. “It could
even be used as a client listening or voice-over space,” he suggests.

The
truck’s first mission is the cover MLB for NHK this summer, including
the All Star Game at Yankee Stadium this July.