The Broadmax LW-CU 01 Commentary unit that can connect 2 microphones and headphones to a LiveWire network.
It is designed to be a robust, easy to use interface for journalists and commentators in house or on a remote location as well.
The LW-CU 01 is designed to make an easy to use journalist workstation, an “offtube” commentary position, or an all in one remote commentary device (eg. in a sport stadium) in case of an appropriate IP connection.
The unit connects 2 professional grade microphones to a LiveWire network with input gain and pre-set DSP based dynamic processing. The 2 microphone signals are fed to separate LiveWire channels, so on the studio site they can be handled separately (eg. for different language commentary) There is a possibility to mix the signal of a line input to the microphone signal, if we want to add some local feed or some pre-recorded material. The microphone mute button (mic on) is not just a simple On/Off switch, but it controls the DSP, that is setting the microphone on or off with a factory set fade in and fade out time to eliminate glitches.
The 2 headphones connectors on the front panel are receiving the signal from separate LiveWire channels, so the studio can feed different signals to each headphones, plus the user can add the necessary amount of local signal to his phones with the Tx-Rx balance pot. If required the 2 phones channel can be interconnected with a jumper setting in case the 2 users are working on the same program-feed. The unit is equipped with an extremely loud headphone output to be able to use even in the midst of a roaring crowd in a stadium. Therefore we suggest to use only robust professional headphones or headsets to reduce the risk of overload by the powerful headphone amp.
The Tx and Rx bargraph meters are showing the levels of the signal fed to, and received from the LiveWire channels.
There is a special MCR online LED on the frontpanel to give a simple visual feedback that the connection with the studio is working properly. It is not only showing if the network is connected but it’s an audio level detect for an otherwise unused LiveWire channel. The use case is that the studio or MCR should route a 0dB measurement signal to a certain LiveWire channel that is recognized by the commentary unit and lit the LED if the signal is received properly. With this method we can give peace of mind to the journalists than not only IP connection is made, but LiveWire audio is passing through the network with no problem.
