First Yamaha CL5 Broadcast Installation Is Top Of El Hormiguero
The first broadcast installation of Yamaha’s new CL series consoles has taken place in Spain, at the heart of one of the country’s most popular television programmes. Attracting a primetime audience of millions, El Hormiguero (The Anthill) is a chat show that features celebrity guests in a mix of entertainment, science, politics, comedy and sport. Two CL5s and an M7CL-48 have delivered a highly flexible solution to its complex audio requirements.
The installation is a part of a major refurbishment of the Madrid studios owned by production company 7 y Acción. El Hormiguero is the company’s flagship production, attracting both nationally and internationally famous guests. Broadcast on the Antena 3 TV channel, the 40 minute programme is transmitted daily from Monday - Thursday.
The design, installation and operation of the system was entrusted to Videoreport, part of the Vertice 360 group. It was required to deliver exceptional audio quality and routing possibilities which are flexible enough to cope with the increasingly complex needs of shows like El Hormiguero. Yamaha digital consoles and a comprehensive Dante audio network and were the ideal choice to realise those aims.
The first phase of the new system comprised two CL5 consoles, cascaded to provide a single control surface with 72 faders. Three Rio3224-D rackmount i/o units - two in the main studio and one in the control room - provide the system with 160 channels of simultaneous audio. A range of Yamaha mini YGDAI interface cards are also installed, meaning that a variety of audio sources and formats can be accommodated. The studios existing Yamaha M7CL-48 console has been retained to take care of studio monitoring requirements. On El Hormiguero this includes simultaneous translation of the programme’s host Pablo Motos for non-Spanish speaking guests, and translation into Spanish of their answers for him and the studio/television audiences. The console is also feeding a range of monitoring points on the Dante network around the main studio and other areas of the complex where different parts of the show take place.
An Apple MacBook Pro is connected to the Dante network and can record up to 64 audio tracks from any point in the system.
"The sound control design took into account many factors,” says Rafael Chorro, Videoreport’s chief technician on the project. “7 y Acción’s increasing technical requirements meant that we needed bigger control surfaces and a system that could easily accommodate both analogue and digital input / output channels.
“Reliability was the most important factor. The M7CL-48 already installed in the studios was exceptionally reliable and so we wanted to continue working with Yamaha. The new system had to be very fast to reconfigure and it was essential that the network is fully redundant. We achieved this by installing primary and secondary Dante networks throughout the building. Once it was set up, the system has already proved robust, very reliable and simple to manage with Dante Controller software.”
He adds, "Since the new system was installed in August, El Hormiguero has proved that Yamaha CL series consoles can fulfil the most demanding broadcast applications. I believe the new consoles and Rio i/o units are giving the broadcast industry much to talk about."
“El Hormiguero’s writers and Pablo Motos - who both presents and directs it - bring us new challenges every day,” says Jaime Torres, the audio engineer in charge of the show’s production. “The Yamaha CL5s provide the quality and flexibility to meet those challenges and deliver one of Spain’s most popular television programmes.”
Installation of a second phase of equipment is currently underway, which sees a Yamaha CL1 and another Rio3224-D installed, which will be fully integrated into the Dante network.
“The unprecedented routing possibilities, expandability and best sound quality possible have made the CL series consoled very popular with the team at 7 y Acción,” says Jacinto López of Yamaha Music Europe GmbH Ibérica. “The system is being used live every night on El Hormiguero and other shows and it has no problems with the many demands on it.”
