Steve Church, Skip Pizzi collaborate on new IP-Audio book

Audio Over IP: Building Pro AoIP Systems with Livewire available for pre-order now

09 September 2009, Cleveland Ohio, USA

Two of the best-known names in broadcast engineering have teamed up for a book on one of broadcasting’s hottest topics: building audio networks using Audio over IP. Steve Church, founder and CEO of Telos Systems, and Skip Pizzi, well-known consultant and Contributing Editor for Radio Worldnewspaper, have collaborated on Audio Over IP: Building Pro AoIP Systems with Livewire.

A comprehensive look at AoIP, the 280-page book not only introduces readers to the technology and advantages of IP-based distribution systems, but also acts as a reference for Livewire™, the world's most widely deployed IP-Audio distribution system.

“Skip and I had a lot of fun writing the book and I hope that energy made it into the text,” says Church.

“The book has two purposes: The first is to introduce IP and general network engineering to audio people. Our idea is to make the principles clearly accessible to those who might have a limited or fuzzy understanding of how Ethernet switches, routers, PC network stacks, etc. function to make an IP network. Even for those who know network engineering, our coverage of topics that are unique to AoIP applications should be useful.

“The second is to explain specifically how Livewire AoIP works and how to build a facility using it. We start with the very basics like how to wire an RJ plug for Ethernet, move on to the general concepts you need know to create a system design, and finish with concrete examples. We include a thorough discussion of how to integrate VoIP Telco services, PBXs, and phones, since those are continuing to grow as options for broadcast studios. And we discuss the latest IP codec technology and standards, since that, too, will be an inevitable part of most installations.”

Pizzi adds, “AoIP is among the most important new audio developments in our lifetime, and Steve and I are lucky enough to be in a position to write the first book about it. We hope it will help inform the industry and spread the word about this powerful new technology. Our goal is to show broadcasters and other audio and IT professionals how to best integrate IP-based signal distribution into their facilities, and leverage its advantages there.”

Audio Over IP: Building Pro AoIP Systems with Livewire is published by Focal Press, an imprint of Elsevier, and will be released on October 16, 2009. It is available for pre-order now directly from Focal Press at www.focalpress.com/Book.aspx?id=12594, as well as from national resellers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

For more information, please contact Clark Novak at Axia Audio at cnovak@AxiaAudio.com, or +1-216-241-3551.

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audio-over-ip-book-cover

A press-quality copy of the cover art for Audio Over IP: Building Pro AoIP Systems with Livewire may be downloaded from the Axia Picture Gallery at www.AxiaAudio.com/pix/.

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 mixing console for on-air, commercial production, audio workstations and personal studios, Axia products include digital audio routers, DSP mixers and processors, and software for configuring, managing and interfacing networked audio systems.

Steve Church is the President and CEO of Telos Systems. Before founding the company, he was a Technical Director and talk host for radio stations such as WMMS/Cleveland, and WFBQ/Indianapolis. As co-inventor of Livewire, he is a pioneer in IP Audio technology. Steve designed the first DSP-based product for radio broadcast applications, the Telos 10 digital hybrid. He was the first to design a product using MP3 and played a key role in popularizing the codec for PC and Internet music applications.

Skip Pizzi is a Media Technology Consultant and Contributing Editor at Radio World. He spent 20+ years as a technical manager at Microsoft and at National Public Radio, founding NPR’s technical training department, and contributing to numerous digital-media hardware and software efforts at Microsoft. Among his earlier books is Digital Radio Basics, the world’s first commercial text on DAB. He has held leadership positions in several digital-media technical standards bodies, and is the recipient of the AES Board of Governors award.