Liquid Media Hub, one of the UK's principle Media Content Services provider, has installed PMC speakers in a 7.1 configuration in all three of its audio production suites, thus ensuring unsurpassed audio quality and allowing work to move freely between each room.
“We chose a combination of PMC twotwo.5 speakers for the rear positions and twotwo.6 speakers for the front positions because we felt that we needed the greater low end that twotwo.6 delivers, along with a much fuller sound thanks to its increased cabinet and woofer size,” says Liquid Media Hub’s Managing Director Gary Edwards. “The twotwo.5 and twotwo.6 are both good, clear speakers. We liked the clarity of sound, and the cabinet size each offered was the perfect fit for the specific positions in our production rooms. There was a minor question mark over ear fatigue during extended listening, but this has not proven to be an issue. We think the PMCs are the best of British speaker design and manufacture, and among the best speakers in the world.”
Liquid Media Hub offers content management and distribution services covering all stages of the content lifecycle. This includes a complete video servicing package handling ageing formats and archive libraries through to current HD and 4K/UHD standards, with delivery to any global broadcast or VOD platform.
The company was founded by Gary Edwards in the wake of Technicolor’s decision to close its media services department, where he had spent almost 20 years as Technical Director. After a nine month building programme to create its facility infrastructure in Leighton Buzzard, Liquid Media Hub was officially launched in October 2016. In establishing the new business, the company acquired a number of Technicolor’s assets and combined them with new technology purchases to ensure that Liquid Media Hub’s media services were able to utilise the latest cutting-edge solutions. Among these assets were the PMC speakers, which were originally acquired by Edwards whilst at Technicolor and then acquired for a second time in December 2016.
“Our audio production suites are, to a degree, generic,” Edwards explains. “Each has a KVM (Keyboard, Video, Mouse) control interface enabling the operator to access any workstation and application from the control surface within the production room. We chose the same monitor hardware and used the same construction design techniques for each room so that they could be used interchangeably. This set-up means that any of the rooms can be used for audio post production, quality control or on- or offline video editing. We perform audio post production – that is, track laying, preparing final audio mixes for TV programmes, editing work and high end 4K/UHD broadcast QC, including loudness testing.”
Edwards adds that the compact size of PMC’s twotwo speakers help Liquid Media Hub achieve professional-level audio in the smaller scale production rooms used for TV post production, as opposed to theatrical post production.
He is also delighted with the aftercare he has received from PMC, citing an occasion when Liquid Media Hub encountered an unexpected power supply issue with some of its speakers. “PMC quickly resolved the issue by taking the speakers back to the factory, fitting new PSUs free of charge and returning them within a couple of days – even though this was a number of years after installation,” he says.
Full broadcast 5.1 and 2.0 QCs are a large portion of Liquid Media Hub’s business, of which audio plays a key part. Gary Edwards also believes that audio post production is an area ripe for expansion, citing recent projects as an indication of the diversity of the services that the company can offer.
“Liquid Media Hub has been involved in a number of projects on the music side of the business including creating 5.1 audio for concerts such as James Blunt, Group Love, Tom Odell and Carole King,” he says. “We have also been involved in the remastering of the 2006 documentary Glastonbury where we created the 5.1 audio from the original DA88 masters for theatrical release.”
With the future looking bright for Liquid Media Hub, Edwards adds that expansion is on the horizon.
“We hope to add another three audio production rooms with full 7.1 audio capabilities in the next 12 to 18 months,” he says.
No doubt PMC speakers will be on the shopping list!
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About PMC
PMC is a UK-based, world-leading manufacturer of loudspeaker systems, the tools of choice in all ultra-critical professional monitoring applications, and also for the discerning audiophile at home, where they provide a transparent window into the recording artist's original intentions. PMC products use the best available materials and design principles, including the company's proprietary Advanced Transmission Line (ATL™) bass-loading technology, cutting-edge amplification and advanced DSP techniques to create loudspeakers that present sound and music exactly as it was when first created, with the highest possible resolution, and without coloration or distortion. For more information on our clients and products, see www.pmc-speakers.com.
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