AMSTERDAM — It’s being heralded as “a groundbreaking innovation in broadcast audio capture.”
Introducing a product from Shure that’s designed for sports and studio, delivering “front-row sound to viewers while reducing the number of microphones and cables required.”
With digitally steerable lobes and onboard digital signal processing, engineers can isolate sources, reduce ambient noise, and maintain total control over the mix through the newly released DCA901 Planar Array microphone.
It’s a product that was previewed at IBC2025 and will be brought to market in 2026.
Dave Grundtvig, Senior Audio Supervisor for Remote Operations at Shure, comments, “The DCA901 can completely change workflows in any broadcast sport because it provides ultimate capture flexibility and allows you to change things in an instant if needed. It won’t compromise any element of the show. I deployed them in an NBA game and was
completely shocked at the amount of coverage: that two arrays could cover the whole NBA floor. I would have needed 12 mics to try to capture the same thing.”
The DCA901 represents what Shure calls “a strategic milestone,” expanding its presence in digital broadcast and sports audio capture. “Conventional methods for capturing audio have become increasingly complex as broadcast production standards and audience expectations continue to rise,” said Nick Wood, Associate Vice President of Global Marketing and Product Management at Shure. “With the DCA901, audio engineers can now do more with less, delivering sound that pulls viewers even closer to the action with fewer microphones and cables.”
DCA901 elements include talent dialogue and on-set or on-field movements. Its digitally steerable lobes isolate voices and action, minimizing crowd noise and bleed. DCA901 provides wider coverage than analog sources, and delivers up to eight isolated channels of focused, high-fidelity audio. Additionally, DCA901 can simultaneously and seamlessly capture 5.1 and stereo conversion, supporting both modern and traditional broadcast formats.
DCA901 also includes Integrated DSP with automixing, EQ, compression, and delay deliver consistent quality audio with minimal post-processing; digitally steerable lobes which can replace multiple shotgun or parabolic mics; and a single-cable Dante or AES67 connection.
To make it all happen, Shure is collaborating with EDGE Sound Research to pair DCA901 with the startup’s Virtual Sound Engine software.
— Editing by RBR+TVBR in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
