ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – Barix AG, a pioneer in IP-based audio, intercom, monitoring and control, announces the availability of Radiobox Pro, a PC-free audio streaming solution developed by French broadcast radio systems integrator Broadcast Associes. Radiobox Pro, introduced at IBC2008, is a PC-free, two-channel encoding/decoding solution based on a Barix Audio over IP electronic architecture. The cost-effective, IP-based platform is ideal for broadcasters seeking reliable STL and IP transport solutions to establish new links or replace expensive alternatives.
Radiobox was introduced to the radio broadcast market in 2005, with hundreds of models sold mostly to small-market and independent radio stations that required high performance on a strict budget. Radiobox Pro incorporates Barix Instreamer encoding and Exstreamer decoding technology under the hood along with new features to meet the analog and digital-audio transport requirements of radio stations of all sizes. The 1RU rack-mountable box adds XLR and AES/EBU connections, full-duplex capability and support of uncompressed audio data throughout the transport chain.
“Radiobox Pro is a specialized audio transport platform for radio broadcasters, incorporating smart, reliable IP technology from Barix into a single box that is uniquely configured to cope with the challenges of transporting analog and digital audio,” said Johannes G. Rietschel, CEO and Founder of Barix AG. “Its support of uncompressed digital audio is especially vital in today’s radio broadcast climate, enabling stations to transport digital audio over cost-effective IP links without any degradation in quality.”
In addition to STL, Radiobox Pro can be used for solid-state audio playout in the broadcast studio or at the transmission tower. Radiobox Pro adds a built-in CompactFlash card slot to store standby programming in the event the live connection is temporarily lost. The presence of the card slot marks a significant design change from the previous version, which included a USB slot for program redundancy. The Barix Instreamer/Exstreamer Audio over IP technology enables automatic reconnection to the live stream once the connection is back online.
“Our aim with Radiobox Pro is to deliver a product that covers the entire audio broadcast transport market,” said Fabrice Gauthier, CEO, Broadcast Associes. “Broadcasters in France have been asking for a more feature-rich version of Radiobox for several years, with the hopes of using the system in place of dedicated lines. In addition to the cost and reliability benefits that Barix technology brings to Radiobox Pro, Barix IP electronics are immune to interference-
Radiobox Pro is simple to use, and offers multiple local and remote control options including access to the Radiobox interface from 3G mobile phones. Radiobox Pro supports LPCM decoding through Barix Exstreamer technology up to 48kHz; and MP3 decoding up to 320 kbps. Radiobox Pro also supports the G.711 codec for high-quality voice over IP applications.
About Barix AG (www.barix.com)
Barix AG, headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, specializes in the research, development and manufacture of IP-based audio and data distribution, communication, monitoring, control, and automation hardware solutions for commercial, industrial, security and military applications. Barix’s smart, reliable, compact, stand-alone components stream and communicate over standard network infrastructure and Internet, for local or worldwide networked solutions, eliminating the need for extra wiring and PCs. Barix provides customers with a wide range of additional services, including private labeling, licensing and OEM engineering.
