AES Convention To Offer Expanded Broadcast and Streaming Track

The  Broadcast and Streaming Track at next month’s 137th Audio Engineering Society Convention will offer 15 separate sessions covering a broad range of topics, from loudness issues and CALM Act compliance to facility design, codecs, and signal routing.

The convention, which takes place Oct. 9-12 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, has scheduled the following presentations:

• Loudness for Streaming and Radio
• Audio Issues for 4K and 8K Television
• Facility Design
• Audio Issues and HTML5
• Routing Audio in a Broadcast Facility
• Listener Fatigue and Retention
• Hear Now/Sound Effects
• SBE/Troubleshooting and Maintenance of Equipment
• Troubleshooting Software
• Compliance with CALM Act/PLOUD
• The Streaming Experience
• Telephony and IP Codecs: How To Choose What Is Best for You
• Understanding Audio Processing — How To Use the Audio Processor
• MPEG-DASH — What About Audio?

Panels and presentations will go into depth under the guidance of thought leaders in their categories. For instance, the Loudness for Streaming and Radio panel will look at such key questions as “Is the ‘loudness war’ in radio over?” “Has it moved over to Internet streaming?” “How can we control level without disrupting the audience?” These will be examined by a panel consisting of John Kean, NPR Labs; Thomas Lund, TC Electronics; Robert Orban, Orban; Frank Foti, Telos Alliance; Tom Box, DTS; and Scott Norcross, Dolby.

Attendees at the Broadcast and Streaming Track sessions will also be offered a look at facility design through the eyes of two audio legends. Eddie Kramer, engineer/producer for such legendary acts as Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and Kiss; and the Walters-Storyk Design Group’s John Storyk, designer of Hendrix’s Electric Lady Studios as well as hundreds of other iconic recording and broadcast facilities, will discuss how two leading FM music stations, KEPX Seattle and KPFK Los Angeles, are managing substantial changes. KEPX is preparing to move to a new broadcast facility that will feature cutting-edge broadcast/recording studios and a performance venue designed to showcase visiting artists; KPFK, one of the most powerful stations in the U.S. at 110,000 W, will undertake a major acoustical update of its live-performance studio and create a new control room. That both stations will operate professional‐level recording-studio/performance venues underscores radio’s continued importance for music, and the presence of Kramer and Storyk to share their expertise will provide a unique perspective for attendees.

Commenting on the Broadcast and Streaming program at the AES137 Convention, CBS Radio Streaming Engineer David Bialik says, “The AES Tracks, Sessions, and Workshops are about learning technology and technique, while the sales presentations stay on the exhibition floor. I believe this is the reason that the attendance for the Broadcast and Streaming sessions only increases year after year.”

For information on obtaining a free Exhibits-Plus badge (preregistration required) and detailed information on the Broadcast and Streaming Track at the AES137 Convention, as well as further Registration, Hotel, and Technical Program information, visit the AES137 Web page at www.aes.org/events/137/.