New BBC Radio 2 Studios Continue Speaker Tradition

London, UK (July 15, 2024)—In the UK, BBC Radio 2 has moved to a new suite of studios designed by specialist broadcast systems integrator IPE that each feature DHD.audio mixing consoles and PMC loudspeakers.

The four new studios form part of Broadcasting House’s Popular Music Hub, which provides facilities for the UK’s most listened to radio stations: Radio 2, Radio 1 and 6 Music. This expansion brings the total number of studios in the hub to 10.

Ben Relf, senior project engineer at IPE, says, “IPE has a long history of working with the BBC on several technology projects, installing Yalding House Radio 1 studios in 2005 and later installing the original Popular Music Hub studios when Broadcasting House was being built in 2012. At the time, these were fitted with Studer mixing consoles and multiple pairs of PMC TB1S loudspeakers.”

The new facilities are largely based around an AoIP infrastructure with DHD.audio consoles provided in each studio. These were specified with local audio I/O to cater for peripheral items such as microphones and speakers. PMC6 active two-way monitors matched with a PMC8 sub were used as the main studio loudspeakers.

The studios are also equipped with radio visualization facilities, live music performance areas, dj positions with Pioneer DJ decks and Technics turntables, and an IHSE KVM system to allow operators in pairs of studios to access the necessary PCs and playout servers. Much of the new equipment was supplied by pro audio technology provider HHB, which worked closely with IPE to deliver hardware to meet the project timescales, despite challenging supply conditions in the wider technology market.

PMC’s history with the BBC dates back 30 years, although the manufacturer’s founder and chairman, Peter Thomas, has an even longer history with the corporation, having joined the broadcaster as an engineer in 1977. He eventually became engineering manager, a role that involved developing new products and providing technical and engineering support for BBC Radio’s Music Studios.

In the early 1990s, Thomas and PMC’s co-founder Adrian Loader (then working at FWO Bauch), were asked to design a full-range loudspeaker capable of handling very high SPLs for live music performances taking place at the BBC’s Maida Vale studios. The result was the BB (Big Box) series of transmission line prototypes.

Thomas says that he is proud and delighted that PMC monitoring is being used in the new Radio 2 studios: “Our professional studio products are world-renowned for their clarity, resolution and neutrality, especially at the low end of the frequency spectrum. Our designs really do pass the test of time—the original BB5s that we built are still in use at Maida Vale.”