BBC Radio Theatre installs Roland M-400

As part of a larger building programme, the Radio Theatre has been refurbished and fitted out for a wide range of audience shows, primarily but not exclusively output to radio, including light entertainment productions, comedy, Christmas specials and one-off events. The venue for many historic recordings since the 1930s when it was known as the BBC Concert Hall, today the theatre’s 312-seat auditorium has been equipped with extensive PA and lighting facilities, and includes an 80-track digital recording facility.

The RSS M-400 digital mixing system, which has been supplied by Total Audio Solutions, has the job of mixing the two PA systems in the theatre, a d&b compact line array and a distributed speech system.   More than 100 mic inputs are sent from stage via MADI to the main control console for the on-air broadcast mix.  From the stagebox, a smaller selection of 40 inputs is split to the RSS S-4000 Digital Snake stage unit, travelling up CAT5E digital multicore to the M-400 console, where these inputs are used for the front-of-house sound mix, and providing up to 8 foldback mixes if required.  The system configuration permits the use of a second M-400 as a monitor console, currently seconded from a BBC multimedia events team.