By Dave Immer 6/27/07
Dave Immer
I received 2 of the new Suprima codecs in early June and eagerly set them up. I always like trying out new stuff in hopes of finding a better/faster/more organized approach to the various and sometimes-complicated connections I need to manage daily. After plugging in the cables and powering up I spent a short time checking out the front-panel LCD screen menus and options. Due to the 2x20 character screen, one must often go 4 or 5 levels down into the menu tree to set the desired parameter and even more to create speed-dial entries. But common functions like initiating/dropping ISDN or IP connections are easily done with minimum button-pushes and the sequence of menus and responses to selections seem to be intuitive and thoughtfully laid out.
Then I launched my Windows Internet Explorer browser and logged into the local IP address I set on the Suprima. (Alas, it only works within the ActiveX environment on Windows PCs. I hope that support for other browsers and Macs would be a future upgrade.) What the front–panel LCD screen lacks, the browser remote control interface definitely makes up for and more. The text and graphic objects are large, color coded and can be seen from across the room. Configuration and data entry are conveniently managed with a series of sub-windows and drop-down menus. The configuration window is particularly nice with an index on the left always visible and a large space to the right with plenty of info pertaining to your index choice. Needless to say, entering data from a computer keyboard is vastly easier than using the limited button set on the front panel (which cannot enter letters.)
All active button objects on the main screen highlight in red when you cursor-over, a useful feature if you are a distance from your monitor. There are large “VUmeters” for L&R input and output, a system health window with voltage, temp., fan RPM, and relay i/o status. When you select IP as the connection mode a Streaming meter pops on that shows you packet activity. This gives you a moment-to-moment report on whether the packets are arriving either before or after predicted. If there is too much jitter, resulting in an unreliable transmission, the far-end unit can increase the “time between packets” to smooth it out. You can accomplish a similar result by adjusting the receive buffer locally.
A nifty feature in the configuration window is the Streaming Test section. Here you can run a graphic analysis of the download and upload rate between the local and remote units to give you a bit-rate report and observe the severity of jitter, or bursty-ness, of the connection. You can then use this information to help select your optimum settings.
While all the interface and control features are very nice, what happens when you actually use this thing? Audio quality is great, especially when you can operate at the higher bit-rates via IP. Local area and private networks will be able to use the PCM mode for linear uncompressed audio. The range of available codec algorithms is impressive: G.711 (the Suprima auto answers and senses an incoming POTS call via the ISDN), G.722, MPEG layer 2 (soon to include Musicam enhanced) & layer 3, MPEG AAC LC, Low Delay and HE, Standard and Enhanced APT-X. In ISDN mode the Suprima accepts 1 BRI line, same as PrimaLTs , Zephyrs, APT DRT128s, and is compatible with them. Using the APT-X mode with ISDN, you are able to connect to any of the existing APT units out there, albeit at 128kbs (15kHz mono). In addition to IP and ISDN, X.21/V.35 network interface are standard features.
We all expect the internet to eclipse ISDN as the preferred connection method in the future and although the telcos in the US are slowly phasing it out, ISDN still remains the most reliable (due to it’s circuit-switched, synchronous nature) and compatible (in light of all the installed ISDN systems out there) approach for broadcast audio. But Suprima, looking toward that future, supports the EBU draft standard of SIP/SAP for compatibility with other IP codecs following the EBU standard.
The Suprima is a versatile codec system with numerous features making it suitable for many different types of applications including production work, STL primary & backup, multicast, unicast and multi-unicast (permitting multicasting over the public internet). Overall, I like this system a lot and I think Musicam has another hit on their hands.
For more Information Contact:
Cindy DeVito
Marketing Coordinator
MUSICAM USA
732-739-5600
732-739-1818 fax
info@musicamusa.com e-mail