Leo Laporte's TWiT Studios move, grow with Axia

6 September 2011, Cleveland Ohio, USA

Leo Laporte host of Premiere Radio Networks’ nationally syndicated radio talk show “The Tech Guy”, is now live from new studios (dubbed “The Brick TWiT House”), expanding his AoIP network with a new Axia Radius IP console.

Telos Alliance Executive Director of Sales & Marketing, Kirk Harnack, who also hosts TWiT.tv’s “This Week in Radio Tech” show, was on hand to help christen the new Radius console.

“TWiT.tv started broadcasting from a little old house they called the “TWiT Cottage”, where Leo installed an 18-fader Axia Element console back in 2009,” explains Harnack. “Leo became such a fan that when they moved to a much larger building, he didn’t just take his Element with him — he took the opportunity to expand his Axia network with a new Radius console for his personal studio. It’s no surprise; after all, he’s The Tech Guy!”

Harnack demurs when asked if he installed the new console himself. “I just assisted with some final configuration. TWiT's engineer, John Slanina, did 99% of the installation. He just read the Radius manual and had it up and running well before I got there.”

TWiT’s new Radius console is located in Leo Laporte's office and personal studio. Since Axia’s Integrated Console Engines have broadcast-quality Ethernet switches built in, the Radius connects with TWiT’s Element and PowerStation, and all the audio resources on their Livewire network, via a single CAT6 cable. This connection allows Leo to do shows from his office, while using other audio resources from the main TWiT production areas.

The new Radius is used to produce “The Tech Guy” (carried on 165 stations on the Premiere Radio Network), plus Leo’s “Security Now” and “Windows Weekly” netcasts.

Introduced at the 2011 NAB Convention in Las Vegas, The Axia Radius console is a stereo, four-bus, 8-fader mixer with a QOR.16 console engine. Local audio I/O features 2 Mic inputs, 8 analog ins and 4 analog outs with 24-bit, 256x oversampling A/D converters, 1 AES/EBU input and output, 4 GPIO logic ports, 6 Livewire ports, and 2 Gigabit Ethernet ports for connection to other studios.

Axia radio consoles are a hit, with installations in over 2,000 studios worldwide. Axia allows broadcasters to quickly and easily build audio networks using switched Ethernet to connect a few rooms, or an entire facility. Axia networks have a total system capacity of more than 10,000 audio streams, and can carry hundreds of digital stereo channels (plus machine logic and PAD) over a single CAT-6 cable, eliminating much of the cost normally associated with wiring labor and infrastructure.

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Axia, a Telos company, builds Ethernet-based professional IP-Audio products for broadcast, sound-reinforcement and commercial audio applications. Along with the popular Element 2.0 modular console for on-air, commercial production, audio workstations and personal studios, Axia products include the PowerStation integrated console engine, intercom systems, digital audio routers, DSP mixers and processors, and software for configuring, managing and interfacing networked audio systems.