At the IBC2009 show in Amsterdam, Zaxcom will launch Zax-Net, a 2.4-GHz RF network for the distribution of remote control signals, time code, IFB audio, and metadata for production sound. Zax-Net wirelessly links Zaxcom’s Deva/Fusion digital recording wireless encrypted IFB receivers, and compatible digital slates into a single system for audio recording and metadata distribution.
The Zax-Net signal is generated by Zaxcom’s Deva or Fusion audio recorders/mixers and broadcast via a Zaxcom IFB100 wireless transmitter on a 2.4-GHz signal. IFB audio, time code, metadata, and wireless remote control commands are then received by Zaxcom’s ERX series IFB receivers and TRX series digital wireless transceivers. The network can wirelessly distribute scene and take metadata for automatic display on any compatible digital slate connected to an ERX2 receiver. When the clapper is activated, the slate will automatically display the correct time code and metadata as entered through a Deva or Fusion unit and distributed via the Zax-Net networking working automatically in the background.
Another Zax-Net feature is its unique, patent-pending ability to synchronize any number of Zaxcom wireless transmitters for time code-referenced playback, enabling a take to be rerecorded by a Deva or Fusion unit. This will give the production sound mixer the ability to remix a take in the event that the original recording needs to be changed for any reason. As a bonus, RF interference can be eliminated in the retransmission and remix of the audio tracks.
“Zax-Net now gives audio engineers greater control and flexibility than they’ve ever had before in managing IFB audio, time code, metadata, and remote control signals,” said Glenn Sanders, Zaxcom’s president. “To give television and film productions the broadest wireless capabilities available for transmitting and receiving production audio, we designed this network to be truly interoperable among our entire suite of sound recorders, transmitters, and receivers.”
Zax-Net will be available for all current Zaxcom hardware via a free software update. For a demonstration of Zax-Net, visit Zaxcom at IBC2009, stand 8.D79. To learn more about Zaxcom’s full line of audio systems, visit www.zaxcom.com.