on Sept. 24, KUVO-FM, Denver, featured a surround sound broadcast of Dianne Reeves performing with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. The on-air demonstration is part of KUVO's efforts at implementing HD Radio to its fullest potential. KUVO already claims the title of Colorado's first FM HD Radio station.

Dianne Reeves performing with the CSO on KUVO.

Held at the Boettcher Concert Hall in Denver, the jazz performance was recorded and broadcast in 5.1 surround sound. KUVO carried the performance live with a system that used two mixing consoles, the Harris/Neural Audio Neustar 5225 encoder and Neustar codec preconditioner, and a pair of APT Tokyo codecs.

The performance was first mixed on an Allen and Heath ML-3000 5.1 mixer. This mix was then encoded to the watermarked stereo mix through a Harris 5225. The stereo mix then added stereo elements for the broadcast, such as announcer mics and transition audio. The systems ensures stereo compatibility if a 5225 decoder is not present. When a decoder is used on the receive side, the stereo elements remain in stereo and the surround elements are distributed to the appropriate speakers.

A diagram of the audio system is available at beradio.com. Follow the links to this article.

Dianne Reeves in concert photo by Grant Leighton

To view a signal diagram of the broadcast setup, click on this link.