Telos Alliance, the Cleveland-headquartered broadcast audio tech company, has confirmed that the Z/IPStream X/20 and R/20 will serve as their next generation of stream encoders and processors.
Z/IPStream X/20 is an all-in-one streaming audio software encoding and processing platform for Windows PCs and servers, while R/20 is a dedicated 1RU encoding and processing hardware appliance with AES/EBU, Livewire, and AES67 I/O.
As the successors to the X/2 software and R/2 hardware products, X/20 and R/20 retain all of the same codecs and encoding features as their predecessors, including Adaptive Streaming in support of Apple HLS and Microsoft Smooth Streaming formats, but set the stage for the introduction of new features and processing options to help users create their content.
Among these is Omnia Forza, which makes its debut in a Z/IPStream product as a mid-tier processing upgrade between the standard Omnia 3-band offering and the flagship Omnia.9 option. Also available are Nielsen and Kantar watermark encoding for audience measurement.
Both Z/IPStream X/20 and R/20 can also be ordered with Déjà Vu, the surround sound upmixer from Omnia founder Frank Foti, which transforms stereo content into a multi-channel experience. Déjà Vu uses the MPEG-Surround format, which is decoded by a wide variety of streaming players and is compatible with stereo playback systems.
“As the audience for streaming audio continues to grow, broadcasters are relying upon tools like our Z/IPStream platform to process, watermark, and encode audio more than ever,” said Geoff Steadman, Omnia’s Product Manager. “Z/IPStream X/20 and R/20 provide us with the ability to offer more features, options, and processing choices, now and in the future, all with the goal of helping our customers create their best possible content.”
Z/IPStream X/20 and R/20 will be available in mid-October 2023.
Current Z/IPStream X/2 and R/2 customers wishing to take advantage of these new options and any future enhancements or updates will need to upgrade their existing products to X/20 and R/20, which they can do at no charge through October 31, 2024, by contacting their Telos Alliance representative.
