MAYAH Communications - Press and Media

MAYAH supplied 55 MERK II Desktop Codec/Mixers for commentators at the biggest Eurovision Song Contest ever

Munich, June 6, 2008: Serbian host broadcaster RTS chose MERK II Codec/Mixer as the autonomous commentator unit to use for all of the commentary positions during the live broadcasting of the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 from Belgrade. The 53d Eurovision Song Contest comprised two semi-finals on 20 and 22 of May, as well as the finals broadcasted on May 24. Three shows were broadcasted live in HD with 5.1 sound and all the commentators, working on-site have used MERK II Codec/Mixer to transmit their voices to the control room of each national broadcaster.

This is a third Eurovision Song Contest in a row where MAYAH Codecs were deployed. Flexibility of the IP-based codec management and the well-known FlashCast technology by MAYAH for automatic recognition and synchronisation to virtually any codec type in the world, make these devices particularly useful during such events.

Again the record number of participating countries has been reached at the Eurovision Song Contest. 2008 there were 43 countries participating, including two debutants - San Marino and Azerbaijan.

Commentators team of the winning country - Russia - used comparatively complicated setup with several codecs and three independent connections to their control room: one for a commentators' duo and another two for producers. Russian commentary as most of the others relied upon one of the most traditional coding algorithms of the industry – statistical G.722. Some TV channels, like German ARD/NDR and quite a few radio broadcasters decided to use MPEG-based algorithms to achieve a higher audio quality.

It is now being discussed, if Eurovision Song Contest 2009 should take place in Moscow or St. Petersburg which is a hometown for both previous and current Russian presidents, Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev.

About MERK II Portable Audio Codec / Mixer

Based on the developments for the CENTAURI Audio Gateway Codecs family the desktop device by MAYAH combines the advantages of a powerful audio codec and a small digital mixer. Up to four professional microphones and headphone sets can be plugged into the MERK II, while analog and digital AES/EBU inputs and outputs are still available. MERK II can operate over IP, ISDN or X.21 networks using more than 15 professional audio coding algorithms, including the entire MPEG range up to MPEG-4 HE AACv2, Eapt-X, linear audio and more. All the functionalities of the Codec and the integrated Mixing Console can be controlled over IP with a windows-based remote software, as well as with a platform-independent Web-Remote Interface. MERK II also supports SIP protocol for the particular mobility and interoperability with the standards-based IP Codecs of other manufacturers. Such features as Gateway, Backup and automatic recognition of up to 95% other Codecs over ISDN (FlashCast® Technology) are provided in MERK II by default.

About MAYAH Communications GmbH

The company’s main objective is the development and distribution of innovative high quality solutions for audio and audio/video communications in broadcast and corporate networks. Focus is given to standardized audio and video formats, such as MPEG-1, -2 and 4 as well as proprietary but accepted formats such as E/apt-X, 4SB ADPCM and others. MAYAH started its operations at the end of 1997 and is a privately held company with its headquarter in Hallbergmoos near Munich, an R&D department in Flensburg and a worldwide distribution network. MAYAH stands in close relationship with and is licensing technology from FhG-IIS (Fraunhofer Institute), Coding Technologies, IRT, and others. Its customers are in radio and TV broadcasting as well as telecommunications, studios and ISPs.

FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY: MERK II Portable Audio Codec / Mixer – product image (EPS / JPG)

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For further press information and images please contact

Daniel Adasinskiy
Press & Marketing Assistant

MAYAH Communications GmbH
Am Soeldnermoos 17
85399 Hallbergmoos, Germany

Tel.: +49 (0) 811 5517-49
Fax.: +49 (0) 811 5517-55
E-mail: daniel@mayah.com