Radio Guide Magazine July 2007
Field Guide
The JK Audio RemoteMix 4
by Francis Nash
The JK Audio RemoteMix 4 is a full-featured box that fills many broadcast needs, all in one unit. It is a small (9.5 x 8 x 3), lightweight and sleek piece of equipment that our station has found to be a perfect fit for every application, especially sports. WGOH-WUGO is a small-town broadcast facility that typically does an average of a remote a week and over 70 ballgames during high school season. I have been doing remotes and games for 40 years and have been through several remote units. In the early days, we started with a tube-type Gates board, but soon built our own battery-operated, solid state unit to take to games. We have used several other units from different manufacturers through the years. CONNECTING UP Of course, the JK unit has a straight analog phone connection. The sound from a ballgame with a POTS line was noticeably better than our previous units. However, among our biggest problems in the past have been the times when our cell broadcasts were bothered by interference and/or instability in the wire connections from the cell phone to the remote unit jack. The RemoteMix 4 solves some these common problems with its cell phone and handset interface features. For example, the RemoteMix 4 has a connecting cord included with a 1/4-inch plug that works very well in going from cell phone to the remote unit. We have noticed very little interference if you keep the cell phone about a foot or so away. With that out of the way, we conducted several in-store remotes using an LG cell phone with cord and the sound was very good. Since there are an increasing number of phones featuring “Bluetooth,” the RemoteMix 4 also has that option. We have used that connection with a Nokia phone with good results. The connection is easy with a switch in front of the unit to activate “Bluetooth;” you then go to the cell phone and allow it to find the unit. This feature certainly makes the RemoteMix 4 flexible. The unit will connect to any Bluetoothenabled cell phone or other device that allows a stereo wireless headset connection. The mode offers full 20 Hz to 20 kHz audio bandwidth. A soft limiter is included, and a bass boost switch helps with overall balanced fidelity. There is also a “Universal Handset Interface” for those times when you find yourself needing to use a PBX system phone. You just plug the handset cord into the special jack in the back of the unit – and you are on the air. There is an A B C switch beside the universal handset interface to match the different kinds of handset microphones you might encounter. PLENTY OF INPUTS This is our first JK Audio unit. Some of their previous sports remote boxes were compact but did not have all the inputs we liked. The RemoteMix 4 has four channels with balanced XLR jacks and lownoise amplifiers. Microphone inputs 3 and 4 are also switchable to line inputs with XLR connections and 40 dB pad. We use three channels for headset microphones and the fourth for a wireless mike after we have used that input for a taped interview in the pregame program. There is a stereo 3.5 mm line level input that can be used in addition to channel 4 or instead of it. You can connect either a stereo or mono signal to the mini-jack. If you use a stereo signal, both channels will be summed together. Then the audio from the mini-jack and the XLR would be added together and treated as one mono signal on channel 4. By the way, all of the four microphone inputs have phantom power available with separate switches to turn it on as needed for any input. We usually never need phantom power for mikes, but it is nice to know it is there. One of the features we truly love is the separate volume controls for the headphones, as our stat man always likes a little more push in his ear. Each headphone has separate switch for return and mix to hear the station cues or pick up only the mixer audio. The manufacturer seems to have thought of everything in this unit. It could also, of course, make a good frontend mixer for your POTS, ISDN or IP codec. ADDITIONAL FEATURES You should not have any problems with volume out of the unit – each channel control has an LED to indicate clipping and a Master control with LED VU meter that ranges from -30 dB to +3 dB. It works nicely, but can be a bit tough to see on a daylight remote. There is a Cue Control knob on the front of the unit which controls the level of the Cue input on the back. This input serves a dual-purpose. It is where you connect your cell phone to the unit and therefore can control the return volume to hear the station on the other end. It can also input other audio devices such as your portable radio and that will be fed to your headphones when they are set on “return.” (With a switch you can select which option you want for each headphone.) The RemoteMix4 has a keypad on/off switch to prevent unwanted tones from your dial pad going out during the broadcast. The phone pad is activated with the hang up/dial talk switch, but beware: the phone does not ring in. The incoming call is indicated by a flashing light, so if you are expecting the control room to buzz you, keep your eyes open. There is also a redial button for your convenience right beside the keypad. The previous remote units we have used have all been powered by internal rechargable battery packs. We have been used to plugging in the unit after each game or remote. This new JK unit takes a different approach and is powered by two 9-Volt alkaline batteries located in separate compartments on the side. The manufacturer estimates about 10 hours or more on the two batteries for continuous use without the Bluetooth turned on or the phantom power; less if you are using those two features. The instruction book states that the light in front will dim when the juice is getting low. This did require a little change in strategy. We have many venues where battery power is the best option. Instead of making sure that the unit was charged, we now need to keep track of the battery life. A nice aspect is that the batteries are in parallel and you can change one at a time during the broadcast and not lose a beat. The first weekend in use, we had a two-hour remote broadcast in the morning, a 45-minute on-thescene sports program, and then another two-hour remote in the afternoon with no battery change. Certainly, if AC is handy at your remote site, you will want to take the cord and plug in. The AC adaptor connects in the rear and overrides the battery power when connected; if someone trips over your cord during the game, the batteries automatically kick in. AUDIO OUT There are two ways to feed audio out of the unit. The Master XLR output is the sum of all four XLR inputs and the 3.5 mm input. There is also audio out using a stereo mini-plug. In this method, the master output will be on the left channel and the receive mix on the right channel. We have found the quality of sound out of the mixer to recording devices is excellent. Obviously the unit is a great way to feed any on-site audio back to the studio or record two-way conversations. There are a couple of warnings in the User Guide. If you lose the interface cable for cell-phone operation, it is custom-made and you will have to order one from JK Audio. And, do not try any other power supply with the unit, as permanent damage could result. The set-up for the RemoteMix 4 is quick and easy in the field. The folks at JK Audio have provided sports crews with a unit that is truly versatile for any situation in covering local sports and also for great remotes from most anywhere. Francis Nash, General Manager of WGOH WUGO, Grayson KY, is the author of Towers of Kentucky (Host Communications, 1995). His email is fmn@wgohwugo.com |
