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Radio France Opts for Eclipse

Studio 106, one of the principal live studios at Radio France, has recently been equipped with an Eclipse digital mixing console from Innovason. This is now their seventh console from the French manufacturer. Nevertheless, it was far from being a foregone conclusion - the Radio France technical team tried out four different consoles from four major manufacturers before settling on the Eclipse as the optimum choice.

"Studio 106 is one of our most important live studios that plays host to all kinds of live musical broadcasts from rock and roll to classical concerts and everything in between," explained studio chief Pascal Coulloux. A regular fixture at Studio 106 is the daily radio program on France Inter, Le Fou du Roi with French radio and TV personality Stéphane Bern, which takes a light-hearted look at current affairs, entertainment and politics. "The sound inside the studio is as important as the sound that is broadcast so we decided to invest in a live console of the highest calibre," continued Coulloux. "Although we already have several Innovason consoles throughout Radio France, and we are very happy with them, it is by no means an exclusive arrangement, so we tried out several consoles from brand leaders before we finally went for Eclipse."

The studio is a totally configurable space with moveable seating that can accommodate an audience of up to 150 people, a motorised ceiling which can be raised or lowered according to requirements, and moveable walls. "This allows us to adjust the acoustics of the room depending on how it is being used," explained Coulloux. "It's a highly flexible, multipurpose space, and we needed a console that would reflect that in terms of set-up and configuration. Eclipse has proved to be the ideal choice."

The console is responsible for handling both monitors and FoH, running anything up to ten monitor channels either on in-ear systems or traditional wedges depending on the requirements of the musicians. "It's not always straightforward running monitors and FoH from the same console, but Eclipse handles it with ease," remarked Coulloux. "The SmartPanel function which allows you to configure and manage whole groups of faders on just one fader and see exactly what is going on at any given moment is just fantastic. The internal effects are also superb, and of course the desk sounds amazing. It has made a huge difference to the audio quality within the studio and therefore to the quality of the audio that is broadcast as well."

Coulloux also cited ease of use as being an important factor in the decision-making process. "It certainly helped that our engineers were already very comfortable and familiar with the Innovason way of doing things," he admitted with a grin. "Naturally Eclipse offers a more modern and up-to-date interface and improved functionality, so operation is even smoother, but there was very little learning curve involved - the engineers were off and running in no time at all, and they love their new toy! Finally, it has to be said that the excellent relationship we have always enjoyed with Innovason counted for something as well. We've always had excellent support from the company, and that is an important consideration for a purchase of this magnitude."

photo: Christophe Abramowitz, Radio France

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Radio France Opts for Eclipse

27th November 2009

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