Axel Technology - Oxygen 1000

The Axel Technology Oxygen 1000, with its six faders, features a compact design without being limited to a simple near-field console. Axel Technology has developed it as a fully-fledged digital broadcast console designed for on-air applications and radio production. Its steel chassis houses a DSP architecture that centralises mixing, processing and routing, with a claimed latency of less than 0.7 ms. The user interface retains a layout similar to that of an analogue console, whilst offering functions specific to broadcast environments.

The three microphone inputs feature Automix, 48 V phantom power, dynamic processing and a five-band parametric equaliser. Automix can automatically manage active microphones, their gain and attenuation, and then apply final compression to the combined signal. For a broadcast with multiple speakers, this function significantly simplifies voice management whilst retaining the ability to monitor each microphone separately.

The connectivity includes four analogue stereo inputs and four analogue outputs, plus an AES/EBU output, two USB audio interfaces and a Bluetooth interface. The built-in telephone hybrid allows a POTS/PSTN line to be connected directly, whilst a Telco N-1 connection can be used with an external hybrid. Additional Telco channels can be created by reassigning certain inputs and outputs.

The Oxygen 1000 can also be fitted with a Dante interface providing eight stereo inputs and eight stereo outputs over Ethernet. This option provides an AoIP connection compatible with AES67 and SMPTE ST 2110-30. However, the USB audio interfaces are disabled on versions equipped with Dante.

The HDMI screen displays levels, sources, timers and On Air status, as well as providing access to the console’s configuration. Control can be remote-operated via Oxygen Remoter and the web interface, whilst presets, snapshots and processing parameters can be saved and recalled.