NHK K3 Ruby relies on Genelec surround sound monitoring

NHK
Enterprises America, Inc. rolled out a new HD mobile broadcast production
truck, K3 Ruby, in time for this year’s American professional baseball season.
Thanks to an
all-Genelec Active Monitoring environment, featuring a pair of Genelec 8040A
Bi-Amplified Active Monitors for stereo and five Genelec 8020A Bi-Amplified
Active Monitors and a Genelec 7050B Active Subwoofer for surround sound
monitoring aboard the truck, K3 Ruby will have the ability to produce both
stereo and 5.1 surround sound up to the highest standards of quality.
Since 2001, when former Japanese Pacific League star fielder Ichiro Suzuki
joined the Seattle Mariners, NHK has aired more than 280 games a year in Japan. This
year, the new K3 Ruby has been covering select baseball games, including the
All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium, for Japanese broadcast.
Kazutaka
Noda, Audio Engineer with NHK Enterprises America, who designed the truck’s
audio and intercom systems, chose the Genelec Active Monitors for a variety of
reasons. “What’s good about the Genelec monitors is the balance and power
that comes from their internal amplification,” he stated. “They are ideal
for remote broadcasting work because of their built-in, perfectly matched power
amplifiers, as well as their durability. They’re tough. I’ve been using
Genelecs since the early 1990s, and another main reason I continue to choose
them is because they are the standard reference speaker of choice for so many
engineers, and you need that when you are monitoring in many different
locations, sometimes with local and freelance audio professionals.”

Noda mounted the 5.1 L-C-R array (Genelec
8020A’s) by hanging them off the racks above the Euphonix digital console, with
the rear speakers on stands that are stowed until needed. The separate stereo
pair (Genelec 8040A’s) are on floated mounts above the meter bridge. “The
reason we use 8020A’s for the 5.1 system is because the relationship between
the space and size of speakers is very important,” he explains. “It
needs to have enough space and air around the units to create a
natural-sounding environment, and the Genelecs achieve that very, very well.”