Daystar Television Network Reaches Viewers Around the World with HARMAN’s Studer Digital Consoles

BEDFORD, Texas – Since 1997, Marcus and Joni Lamb have owned the Daystar Television Network, the fastest-growing Christian television network in the world. Daystar currently operates 70 TV stations across the United States and broadcasts globally. It also operates significant online and mobile broadcast services. Underlying the network’s success is an unwavering commitment to quality, as evidenced by its reliance on HARMAN’s Studer Vista digital audio consoles.

Daystar is a Christian, family-friendly network, featuring specifically religious programming as well as other content, including family-oriented films and music programming. In addition, the Lambs host the network’s flagship program, Marcus & Joni, a variety/chat show that focuses on guest interviews and music, with an in-house band and several guest bands throughout each episode.

David Ribb, Daystar’s Director of Audio, uses a Riedel MediorNet system as the hub and router for its three Studer Vista consoles (two Vista 9 consoles and one Vista 5). One of the Vista 9 consoles is for Daystar’s broadcast mix, while the other Vista 9 is for the studio and band mixes. The Vista 5 is used on a secondary studio/sound stage but is also road-ready, so it can be used on location production.

“Because of our output requirement—auxes and mixes, the combination of interview talent, IFB, house band and singers, guest bands and satellite feeds, the Vista 9 was an ideal solution,” Ribb said. “The all-Studer solution means that if personnel have to change out between the broadcast side and the studio side, they’re already familiar with the console.”

Core wireless requirements in the system total 42 channels, including 28 channels of wireless microphones and belt packs attached to the system, and 14 wireless in-ear belt packs for the band mixes and IFB. There are many more wired mixes allocated to band members. In addition, the studio Vista 9 provides another 10 foldback mixes for each of the sets around the sound-stage, through loudspeakers mounted in the lighting grid.

The Daystar team doesn’t rely much on cue lists or snapshots during the show. They set the consoles up for the day’s work by reallocating I/O as necessary, and operating all sets from a single setup. The consoles also provide multitracking facilities to attached ProTools systems.

“It’s another thing that we’ve integrated into the Studer system,” Ribb said. “We multi-track each program in ProTools on both the broadcast side and the studio side, depending on what the need is. It means we can go back in and fix anything in post or index, or whatever needs to happen.”

“Also, the music the in-house band has played in the shows is often released to albums during the year, and we do some music specials directly from the music that’s captured during the show, using those ProTools sessions to mix them. We try to go in and give them extra attention.”

For more information on the Daystar Television Network, please visit www.daystar.com


HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of infotainment and audio solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson® and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of 15,200 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $5.1 billion for the last twelve months ended March 31, 2014.

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CRAS Sets Broadcast Audio Students on the Right Track with HARMAN Studer Vista Consoles and JBL Professional LSR6300 Studio Monitors

GILBERT, Arizona – Located in the Arizona desert, the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences (CRAS) is an oasis for aspiring audio professionals. Established in 1980, CRAS offers a comprehensive educational program designed to prepare students for the fast-paced, challenging world of audio recording and sound engineering. Recently, CRAS expanded its Master Recording Program to include a Broadcast Audio segment, and outfitted its facilities with world-class HARMAN equipment that includes Studer Vista digital consoles and JBL Professional LSR6300 Series studio monitors.

The Broadcast Audio segment focuses on the opportunities and workflows and technologies that are specific to live television broadcast. Students will work out of the CRAS Broadcast audio production room as well as the CRAS mobile production trailer and work hands-on with the Studer broadcast audio mixing consoles. “Our program has always required students to study onsite for 30 weeks and then go on a mandatory internship, but we expanded that to six more weeks in our program and that includes the new Broadcast Audio phase,” said Robert Brock, Digital Department Director at CRAS. “We want our students to understand the requirements of working in broadcast production—being able to focus while working under a director and handling the pressure that comes with live broadcast.”

Brock noted a need at the educational level to raise awareness of opportunities in the broadcast industry. “The problem is a lot of people haven’t had the exposure to audio for broadcast, so there’s kind of a feeling within the broadcast industry that there isn’t a passion for audio,” Brock said. “We want to make our students aware of the numerous opportunities that exist for audio engineers in broadcast.”

While in the development stages of the Broadcast Audio segment, CRAS found an ideal partner in Studer. “We never want to do anything halfway when it comes to technology, because we want to serve the students but also want to show the industry how committed we are. A lot of manufacturers offer educational discounts and that’s fine, but we really wanted an educational partner and something that was mutually beneficial to the manufacturer and to our students. And this is where Studer really stepped up, they really understood that we wanted a partner that had some vision of their own.”

This vision led to the creation of StuderBroadcastAcademy.com, developed in partnership between Studer and CRAS. The training program is available to professional engineers but also provides the basis of the curriculum at CRAS. Students can operate a Vista 9 console in the audio production room, a Vista 5 in the mobile broadcast unit, or get training online at StuderBroadcastAcademy.com using the Studer Virtual Vista software.

“When you sit behind the Vista 9 or the 5, the user interface with Vistonics™ displays makes it really intuitive once you have it set up and configured,” Brock added. “It’s very easy to take a student who knows very little about consoles and explain just a few things and they can navigate the system, which isn’t true of all consoles out there.”

In addition, CRAS outfitted its studios with two 5.1 surround sound systems consisting of JBL LSR6325 studio monitors with LSR6312S studio monitor subwoofers. “I was at JBL’s headquarters in Northridge, California and [JBL Professional’s Senior Manager, Recording & Broadcast] Peter Chaikin showed us the LSR6325 monitors and we really liked them,” Brock noted. “They were the right form factor and sound really great. What I really like is as a system when coupled with the sub, they sound better than anything else out there. As a singular system, it jibes together really well.”

CRAS worked closely with veteran audio engineer Fred Aldous and other professionals to help CRAS devise the approach of the Broadcast Audio segment. “Fred has been working with our instructors once a week to get them up to speed on everything, and in the meantime we’ve reached out to NASCAR, the NFL and other organizations to get connected with some A1 engineers in the field. We’re really trying to connect closely with the industry,” Brock said.

For more information on CRAS, please visit www.audiorecordingschool.com HARMAN designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of infotainment and audio solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson® and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of 14,800 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.7 billion for the last twelve months ended December 31, 2013.

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