Industry Insights: AI and cloud tools reshaping broadcast audio landscape

With audio a critical component of production workflows, we dive into the latest trends and innovations in the broadcast audio industry in this Industry Insights roundtable.

The panel explores the impact of artificial intelligence on audio processing, the role of IP-based audio transport, cloud-based production tools, and future predictions for advanced audio technologies. Their insights offer a glimpse into the changing nature of broadcast audio and the technologies shaping its future.

Industry Insights: The future of audio mixing and broadcast audio systems

Key takeaways from the Industry Insights roundtable

• AI is expected to play a significant role in audio optimization and offer additional functionalities such as transcription.
• Cloud-based audio production tools offer increased flexibility and scalability compared to traditional hardware-based solutions.
• IP-based audio transport, including protocols like Ravenna, continues to be important for broadcast production setups.
• Wireless microphone technology is evolving to accommodate more channels in less spectrum using developments like WMAS.
• The adoption of IP has enabled more flexible remote, distributed, and hybrid working models in broadcast audio production.

How are broadcasters using AI and machine learning to optimize audio mixing and processing?

Tobias von Allwörden, manager, broadcast and film, Sennheiser: In future, AI will help to polish the audio, and today’s requirement of having to capture audio as perfectly as possible will be “softened”. AI will not only optimize the audio but also offer additional functions such as transcription.

Thoughts on Dante and AVoIP?

Chris Scheck, head of marketing content, Lawo: Lawo prefers to stick to open-standards IP. Our audio products are firmly rooted in the Ravenna protocol, which allows our customers to achieve what they have in mind, regardless of the size and distribution of their production setups. We do offer convenient gateways into, and out of, Dante islands, though, to enable our customers to keep using their existing Dante gear in a seamless way.

How do cloud-based audio production tools compare to traditional hardware-based solutions in terms of flexibility and scalability?

Henry Goodman, director of product management, Calrec: Virtualized headless mixers have been around for a while in the cloud, but newer developments like Calrec’s ImPulseV Cloud mixing engine are giving broadcasters the opportunity to flex their DSP resources to match the requirements of a production. This is very different to traditional processing models which require broadcasters to buy enough DSP hardware resources to cater for their biggest event of the year, leaving DSP capacity unused for much of the year. Spinning up a DSP mix engine to complement existing DSP resources means total scalability is possible, and is a huge ideological shift for both broadcasters and manufacturers.

Chris Scheck: Cloud-based production tools are far more flexible and require a significantly lower up-front investment. Whether broadcasters and production companies choose to rely on them, is a different matter. This is why Lawo offers the possibility to build so-called private clouds of wholly-owned standard servers.

Dee McVicker, marketing director, Wheatstone: The cloud has the potential to change how and where we produce content; it opens up access in similar ways that AoIP did years ago in that we can move content around easier and faster than before. With this comes a whole host of possibilities, such as servers located at the home studio that might be useful to spin up instances of mixing or streaming or processing by event or show. We think of cloud and server software like our Layers Software Suite as another extension of the studio and AoIP network.

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What are the future trends and predictions for the use of advanced audio technologies in broadcasting?

Chris Phillips, technical applications engineering, Sennheiser: From a wireless microphone and IFB standpoint, the equipment and infrastructure required to cover large events or a multi-studio facility where users need to seamlessly move between studios without audio interruption will become simpler and more streamlined with WMAS developments. These systems can accommodate multiple IFB and microphone audio links on the same WMAS RF carrier for more channels in less spectrum. For example, both the microphone and IFB can share the same bodypack. This newfound capability holds the promise of delivering a more seamless and efficient wireless experience, setting the stage for a new chapter in the evolution of wireless technology.

Henry Goodman: Flexibility is everything, and our customers are already pushing the boundaries of what is possible. The adoption of IP has been a real enabler; the combination of asynchronous processing of the audio and video with reliable and dedicated connectivity has provided broadcasters with the ability to really push the limits of remote, distributed and hybrid working. As connectivity gets cheaper and more reliable this is only going to increase, and modular IP mixing systems like Argo and Type R plays into these workflows by providing combinations of hardware and software that are just as flexible.

Larry Schindel, senior product manager, Telos Alliance: AI will become better at real-time workflows and generative use cases; some AI-based tools can already mix a live sporting event or deconstruct mixes in the file-based domain back to stems. Virtual announcers, language translation, and captioning will be some of the first use cases for generative AI in audio. And finally, AI-based QC will be able to offer a much more in-depth analysis than what is typically delivered today.

Anything else audio we should be thinking about or considering?

Chris Scheck: The true value of innovation lies in the flexibility it brings. Users of Lawo mc² consoles, for instance, can now host their DSP processing either inside the trusted and ever-evolving A UHD Core, or using the Home mc² DSP app—whichever makes more sense for the production at hand. Removing boundaries and enabling even more effective workflows for operators, whether automated or not, will remain the name of the game.