Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) is offering what audio specialist Steinberg describes as the world’s first round-the-clock programme in 5.1 surround sound. Its Nuendo Media Production System forms the core of the Digital Surround Radio service, with the Nuendo Dolby Digital Encoder also included in the workflow for the 24-hour surround broadcast.
“Nuendo played a decisive role in enabling us to provide the 5.1 surround broadcasting service at all,” says Heinz Peter Reykers of WDR’s audio systems engineering department in Cologne. “Nuendo fully meets our requirements not only for system stability and audio quality; the forward-looking integration of Dolby Digital as a plug-in allowed us to implement professional surround-radio transmission at incredibly low cost.”
Digital radio transmission covers more than 80 percent of Germany, and that share continues to grow. Reykers is optimistic about further expansion of surround broadcasting for digital radio in the country: “We have received many enquiries from colleagues at other German radio stations about our surround broadcast system.”
