Audio Systems and Workflows

Helps Members to maximise the quality and availability of sound production technology.

The Audio Systems (AS) group is focussed on three main topics: personalised sound experiences, radio production and loudness. For each of them there is a specific mailing list and workspace. A workspace for the AS group is also avaialble: AS (open to EBU Members ONLY) and AS-ALL open to all.

The multimedia world is moving towards more engaging end-user experiences, and audio is an important aspect of this.
These audio experiences include personalization and interactivity, allowing the listener to optimize the audio experience for their needs. This may include improving intelligibility (e.g. increasing dialogue volume relative to the background), or selecting dialogue of a preferred language. Immersiveness is another feature, delivering more realistic and impressive auditory experiences, as well as flexibility and compatibility with headphones and a multitude of speaker layouts.
The key to enabling these features is metadata, which is sent alongside the content to describe the intended audio experience as completely as possible and new codecs called NGA (Next Generation Audio) codecs (MPEG-H 3D Audio, AC-4, DTS-UHD). 

Here some links to enjoy a personalised sound experience using NGA codecs, please put on your headphones (binaural rendering):

- Eurovision Song Contest 2018 (MPEG-H Audio)

- European Athletics 2018 (AC-4) 

 

GOALS

  1. Build knowledge around the interactive and immersive sound experiences

  2. Promote the ADM (Audio Definition Model)  and S-ADM as “the” metadata to enable these experiences in production and emission

  3. ADM/S-ADM profiles for production and NGA emission definition

  4. ADM/S-ADM interoperability tests

  5. Collecting the requirements for tenders ADM/S-ADM based

  6. Develop PoCs to show what’s possible to achieve

  7. Perform ADM/S-ADM trials     

  8. EAR/IAR updates, if/when needed

 

David Marston (BBC R&D) will guide the group through the ADM journey.

 

HOW WE WORK

The actual work is performed via the e-mail reflector(s) and webexes to coordinate the work and keep all in-sync regarding the latest activitities. If you are interested in these topics, please JOIN the GROUP clicking on the button on the home page. You will be automatically added to the appropriate email reflector and given access to the relevant workspace and other tool. 

Depending from your affiliation, you will be included in the mailing list restricted to the EBU Members (public service media organizations) or to the one which includes the EBU Members and all the industry professionals (including equipment manufacturers, research organizations, etc.)

WORKSPACE(S)

EBU Members ONLY

ALL (EBU Members and industry professionals)

 

TEST CLIPS (Members ONLY)

Repository

CLOSED (4 March 2022)

Radio now encompasses a host of broadcast and on demand platforms. On these platforms we give our audiences a huge variety of content, reflecting the values, passions and culture of our countries and the wider world. From programme conception, through production, to broadcast and archive, we use many systems and technologies. Please join and share your knowledge of the tools of radio production in the 21st century. This group is currently open to EBU Members ONLY.

 

GOALS

  1. Sharing experiences & issues 
  2. Workflows
  3. Discuss tools currently used and  their evolution
  4. Looking into the future: challenges ahead (organizational, technical, editorial, etc)
  5. Promote the adoption of R128 in production 
  6. Metadata for Radio
  7. Production in the cloud

Richard Courtice (BBC) will guide the group through this journey

 

HOW WE WORK

The actual work is performed via the e-mail reflector(s) and webexes to coordinate the work and keep all in-sync regarding the latest activitities. If you are interested in these topics, please JOIN the GROUP clicking on the button on the home page. You will be automatically added to the appropriate email reflector and given access to the relevant workspace and other tool. 

Depending from your affiliation, you will be included in the mailing list restricted to the EBU Members (public service media organizations) or to the one which includes the EBU Members and all the industry professionals (including equipment manufacturers, research organizations, etc.)

 

WORKSPACE(S)

EBU Members ONLY

 

The switch from audio peak-normalization to loudness normalization is one of the biggest revolution in professional audio. It is important for broadcasters to be aware of the loudness paradigm. The EBU PLoud group created the popular EBU R 128 Loudness Recommendation, making sure there is a common, vendor-independent and relatively simple way to measure loudness. 

 

GOALS

  1. Revision of R128, if/when necessary
  2. Loudness for NGA (Next Generation Audio)
  3. Loudness for Radio production
  4. Loudness for cinematic content

Florian Camerer (ORF), Werner Bleisteiner (BR)/NGA, Wolfgang Rein (SWR)/Radio will guide the group on this journey.

 

 

HOW WE WORK

The actual work is performed via the e-mail reflector(s) and webexes to coordinate the work and keep all in-sync regarding the latest activitities. If you are interested in these topics, please JOIN the GROUP clicking on the button on the home page. You will be automatically added to the appropriate email reflector and given access to the relevant workspace and other tool. 

Depending from your affiliation, you will be included in the mailing list restricted to the EBU Members (public service media organizations) or to the one which includes the EBU Members and all the industry professionals (including equipment manufacturers, research organizations, etc.)

 

THE WHOLE PICTURE

Starting with R 128, our expert working groups have established a number of globally recognized de-facto standards helping to minimize perceived volume jumps between items in a programme, as well as between channels. Visit our Loudness topic page for a complete overview.

WORKSPACE(S)

EBU Members ONLY

ALL (Members and Industry professionals)

Currently the following deliverables are planned (green indicates the deliverable has already been delivered). Note that deliverables are dependent on enough participation in the work and that the planning is subject to change. New deliverables are added regularly.

2023

PERSONALISED SOUND EXPERIENCES 

  • status_med_12px.png ADM Production Profile (Q4 2023) 
  • status_done_12px.png ADM/S-ADM Toolbox (Q2 2023) 

LOUDNESS

  • status_done_12px.png PLOUD-All: R128s4 - Cinematic Content(Q4 2023)

 

2022

PERSONALISED SOUND EXPERIENCES 

LOUDNESS

  • ​​​​​​​status_med_12px.png PLOUD-All: Loudness for NGA (Q4 2022)

 

2021

PERSONALISED SOUND EXPERIENCES 

LOUDNESS

  • status_med_12px.png PLOUD-All: R128s3 - Cinematic Content(Q3 2020)
  • status_done_12px.png PLOUD: Loudness for Radio (Q2 2021)
  • status_med_12px.png PLOUD: Loudness for NGA (Q4 2020)

RADIO PRODUCTION

 

2020

2019

2018

This page includes the recommendations published by the EBU and by other SDOs related to the Audio Systems topics and the links to the software developed by the EBU Members and third party.

PERSONALISED SOUND EXPERIENCES

  1. ADM (Audio Definition Model): ITU-R BS.2076-2
  2. A serial representation of the Audio Definition Model: ITU-R BS.2125-0
  3. EBU ADM renderer for use in NGA broadcasting: EBU Tech 3388
  4. EBU ADM Broadcast Production Profile: EBU Tech 3392 
  5. EBU ADM guidelines
  6. ADM Renderer for Advanced Sound Systems: ITU-R BS.2127
  7. EAR Production Suite (sw)

 

LOUDNESS

  1. EBU R 128: Loudness normalisation and permitted maximum level of audio signals
  2. EBU R 128s1: Specific guidance for short-form content
  3. EBU R 128s2: Loudness in streaming
  4. EBU R 128s3: Loudness in Radio
  5. EBU Tech 3341: Loudness Metering specification
  6. EBU Tech 3342: Loudness Range descriptor
  7. EBU Tech 3343: Production Guidelines
  8. EBU Tech 3344: Distribution & Reproduction Guidelines 
  9. EBU Tech 3401: Guidelines for Radio Production and Distribution

The EBU Loudness test set v5.0 offers various sequences to test loudness meters for (minimal) compliance. It also includes a pink noise signal to help set a correct reference listening level as per EBU Tech 3343 (paragraph 8.2). The reference listening level signal is available as a separate download as well: 500-2000 Hz monophonic pink noise @ -23 LUFS.

Related topics

Loudness (PLoud)

The switch from audio peak-normalization to loudness normalization is one of the biggest revolution in professional audio. It is important for broadcasters to be aware of the loudness paradigm.