Sennheiser Spectera supera su premier tour de force at PGA Tour Studios

PGA Tour Studios has implemented the Spectera wireless audio ecosystem of Sennheiser to manage seven studios and manage up to 11 programs that are broadcast simultaneously; all, in an environment full of RF signals.

The production company, specialized in all types of content related to the world of golf, needed a wireless solution that could keep up with the demands of a multi-studio production environment. Spectera emerged as an option due to its technical capabilities, as well as the way it simplified the installation and allowed the engineering team to focus on production rather than infrastructure.

Spectera Sennheiser is defined as “the first wireless ecosystem world's two-way broadbandUnlike traditional wireless audio setups, it does not rely on a complex mix of separate systems to in-ear microphones and monitors o interruptible foldback monitors (IFB), each on their own frequencies and requiring careful planning of channels and guard bands. Spectera takes a fundamentally different approach, bringing together microphones, IFB and control data in a single broadband RF channel, managed from a compact 1RU base station. This approach simplifies the management of wireless audio in live production.

Adaptando Spectera a PGA Tour

With a demanding production schedule, PGA Tour Studios needed a truly resilient audio solution, which led them to implement Spectera. In the words of Ricardo Landaeta, director of audio broadcast for the PGA Tour: "Our original vision was to implement a building-wide RF system that would provide seamless coverage in all studios, regardless of location. We have seven studios, each with three or four talents, and our goal is to do six shows a week with a maximum of four talents per show, operating four days a week for 12 hours. Stamina, quality and versatility are important. With Spectera, talents can easily move from one studio to another simply picking up a package, and the integration of the guests is fluid.”

Spectera allows microphone and IFB channels to work together on the same bandwidth. 6 u 8 MHz, managed centralized. They can be managed up to 64 audio channels (32 in, 32 out) from a single rack unit, a task that previously required a tangle of receivers, transmitters and careful manual frequency calculations. The two-way bodypacks SEK function as a mic or line transmitter and IFB receiver at the same time, reducing equipment and wiring for everyone on stage. Operators can also supervise y remote control the packs, thanks to Spectera's continuous bidirectional link. Spectera microphone packs charge at base stations to allow quick replacement in the field or studio.

PGA Tour studio setup includes two Spectera base stations, which admit a total of 24 IFB microphones and monitors, distributed throughout the facility with seven dedicated antennas to ensure optimal coverage. It is planned to expand this configuration to six base stations and additional packages in autumn 2025, which will provide building-wide coverage and hardware redundancy.

As Joel Latimer, PGA Tour A1 audio engineer, explains, the start-up process was “extraordinarily fast and simple”: “It only takes us 10 minutes to turn it on, configure it and show you what it can do. The ease of use caught us all pleasantly by surprise. “This rapid deployment allowed the system to be up and running quickly – in just over two weeks of extensive testing in early January, the production company was fully confident in deploying Spectera to a fully operational state and actively supporting on-air broadcasts across four studios.

Improving PGA Tour Workflows

On the PGA Tour, Spectera has demonstrated a high level of RF resistance and stability, even in highly demanding environments. During a period of great activity such as The Players Championship, the production company's facilities are surrounded by numerous mobile units that generate a large amount of external RF signals.

Despite these difficult conditions and numerous internal shoots taking place at the same time, the Spectera system did not experience a single drop, bump or interference issue. Particularly impressive to the team was a case in which a receiver in the larger, geographically more remote studio continued to receive signals while being transported to the lobby at the opposite end of the building, demonstrating the range and reliability of the system.

Likewise, the simplicity of the system has streamlined the workflow of PGA Tour Studios. Technicians can move between different studios, grab any available package, and start working immediately without the need for backend reconfigurations or manual adjustments. Employing WebUI spectrum For each base station, it is possible to continuously monitor the status of microphones, IEMs/IFBs and antennas, as well as critical battery and RF levels. The audio equipment has the ability to log in to any base station from anywhere on your network as needed.

Engineers also have the option to change out dead batteries during live broadcasts, significantly reducing production delays. The process of resuming live broadcasting after a battery change now lasts only 7 seconds. Additionally, Spectera easily integrated with audio environments Dante (Audinate) y Calrec 2110 existing at PGA Tour Studios, ensuring that even with signal conversion in progress, there was no noticeable delay or audio compromise.

The versatility of Spectera makes it an integral part of a wide range of PGA Tour Studios productions. The system is consistently used in numerous live tournament coverages, including four broadcasts for PGA Tour Live and ESPN+, PGA Tour Champions y Korn Ferry Tour on Golf Channel. It is also the core system for popular study programs such as The Drop a Golf Channel, On the Range on Golf Channel and YouTube, and the Creator Classic Series YouTube, which often sees seven to eight packages in use simultaneously with talent spread across three different studios within the building.

PGA Tour, pioneers of Spectera

As participants in the program Spectera Pioneer, the PGA Tour studios engineering team initially addressed the implementation with a combination of optimism and caution, anticipating the need for backup solutions. As explained Landaeta, were not necessary: ​​"In terms of expectations, we didn't really know what to expect. We were one of the first in the entire country to use Spectera, which was an honor, but it was still a prototype. We didn't expect it to be as robust as it is, and we've been lucky enough to have this fantastic experience. We had backup in case of failure, but we've never needed to deploy it. We were cautiously optimistic. Now we're just optimistic about its continued success."

Valerie Seward, broadcast engineer at PGA Tour Studios, is also full of praise for Sennheiser's solution: "It is gratifying to see that the system has been launched and works just as Ricardo and his team had anticipated. We are managing up to 10 programs simultaneously, and the engineering has allowed talent to work in multiple studios without affecting the audio quality. (...) We strongly encourage other professionals in the sector to try it and see for themselves."