Radio New Zealand Upgrades Live Recording Capabilities

New Zealand (December 9, 2024)—RNZ (Radio New Zealand) has chosen Lawo mc²36 MKII audio consoles for its recording locations at Auckland’s Town Hall and Wellington’s Michael Fowler Centre.

The chosen Lawo setup includes a pair of 32-fader mc²36 MKII consoles, one for each location, equipped with Lawo A__stage64, A__mic8, and Lawo Power Core devices, which serve as I/O extensions. The Lawo Power Cores also serve as MADI and DANTE converters, providing RNZ with a networked audio infrastructure that supports the latest in AoIP technology.

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Following a tender process that included A/B testing and evaluation of various console manufacturers, RNZ awarded the contract to the Auckland office of Australian-based Professional Audio & Television (PAT). To enable these systems to scale with RNZ’s future requirements, PAT will also configure and install a set of Arista 710P compact, fanless, cognitive PoE switches into both locations. These Arista switches will be responsible for the transport of SMPTE 2110-30, low-latency audio on the red and blue ST2022-7 redundant media networks.

Jamie Annan, operations manager at RNZ, said, “We are looking forward to installing these new Lawo consoles at our live recording venues, enabling our audio engineers to continue to deliver the high-quality RNZ listeners expect. This upgrade will allow us significantly to increase the number and types of audio sources, providing our audiences with a rich audio experience.”