Why to update VIP/digital's internal presets? What might be the situation and workflow like? And finally: How to succeed with VIP/digital's standard RS-232 serial interface? Have a closer look at the report of Thomas Erl / Antenne Bayern describing the need for updating VIP/digital's internal presets and Antenne Bayern's solution.

With a view to remaining at the leading edge in the foreseeable future, Antenne Bayern elected to renew their sound processing. Voice processor comparison tests began in mid-2003 with equipment from prominent manufacturers, including Jünger, IDT and Yellowtec. After exhaustive testing there was a clear result: The VIP/digital from Yellowtec offered impressive sound quality and demonstrated from the best price/performance ratio.

At the time of testing the lack of network connectivity, together with an insufficient quantity of internal presets for Antenne Bayern’s operational requirements, were considered critical. The integrated card reader was not considered acceptable because, as often happens, our presenters do not have their SmartCards readily to hand ("…I’ve left my card at home beside the bed…") or lost it ("…someone must have pinched it…").

The essential criteria for our particular requirements were met in the new Version 4.0 VIP/digital: The number of presets addressable via the VIP/digital COM port had been increased to 128, and the number of presets in the VIP/digital local preset store had increased by a factor of two from 50 to 100.

So that that every one of our presenters, which averages around 70, would be able to call up their setting(s) on any voice processor at the touch of a button, the decision was made that all the VIP/digital units should be networked via the existing IP network, and that the administration of the preset lists should be centralised. Taking into account the high turnover of personnel and the large number of studios, the reality of using local storage for presets, and transferring them, was rejected as impractical right from the beginning of the project.

The conversion of the VIP/digital serial port to TCP/IP protocol via N-Port Server is both straightforward and cost effective to implement. Using the "Netcom 111" RS232 – 10/100M Ethernet converter from manufacturer Vision Systems, with an optimised and proven driver, provided an outstanding solution.

The sounds of the individual presenters are now "designed" centrally in a monitoring room. Settings for new presenters, or updates of old settings as required, are downloaded from the server once or twice a month to all the VIP/digital Voice Processors.

Thomas Erl, Dipl. Audio Engineer at Antenne Bayern, November 2004