Uncategorized – Quick Media | Broadcasting Solution

The Top Equipment Needed For Radio Broadcasting

Microphones

Without a doubt, having good microphones for the hosts to record their voices is essential. You could start off with earbuds, regular headsets or built-in mics but in the long run if you wish to get a little more professional, that means you need to offer good quality audio.

A traditional microphone (the standalone ones) offers the best audio quality. This is because these types of microphones, also known as dynamic mics, usually produce a brighter and clearer sound compared to the other types which are also known as condenser mics that produce a warmer, focused sound.

The condenser mics will usually have a USB jack whereas the dynamic mics consist of a XLR jack. Another equipment you need to pair with your microphone would be a shock mount. This equipment is useful to prevent any unwanted sounds caused by your mic such as movements of the mic, vibrations along with the sound coming from the typing of keyboards.

Headphones

When you prefer to have full control of the audio, you need to make sure that you can monitor the quality of the audio with the help of headphones. Imagine if you’re speaking with the mic but without headphones, you’re not able to hear what you sound like!

To make sure that you can clearly hear the audio, you should use over-ear headphones instead of earbuds, though the latter works just as well but it wouldn’t be as good quality.

Here’s an interesting fact you need to know about if all this is new to you: the studio monitor speakers will be muted automatically once the microphone is turned on. Hence, nobody would know what is going to air unless they have headphones.

Mixers

Mixers, also known as a mixing table, enables you to group a few inputs to a single output alongside the ability to manually adjust every level per input. Therefore, you can easily connect all the essential equipment such as your headphones or microphones.

The main function of a mixer is to allow better control (so you can adjust everything consistently) and to make sure that the overall audio quality is maintained all throughout.

Plus, if you have several people talking on the microphone at the same time, you can broadcast all of their voices live simultaneously.

Soundproofing

In order to make sure that the host or announcer’s voice sounds good, you will need to soundproof your entire studio. The main reason why there is a lot of echo or a ‘hollow’ sound coming out from a room is due to the fact that sound naturally bounces off any smooth surfaces.

The best way is to create some sort of special texture on the walls of the room so that the sound can be bounced off upon hitting the walls.

Microphone Processor

You probably also need a microphone processor so that you can minimize external noises coming from the background or make sure nothing interrupts the signal. Another perk of having a microphone processor is that you’ll be able to achieve top-notch audio quality because you can simply stabilize your audio without the use of editing the levels.

Optional: Computer Monitor

Well, if you need to do more than just monitoring your audio, having one or two computer monitor screens would come in handy to get a complete overview of your studio while on-air.

If you need help on starting your radio broadcasting studio, you can contact QES Malaysia as they have many years of experience with setting up a radio broadcasting studio from A to Z.

The Different Types of Television Cameras

Here are the different types of television cameras available on the market:

ENG Cameras or Video Production Cameras

First, we have ENG (Electronic News Gathering) video cameras. Initially, these cameras were exclusively used by live news studios. However, they have now transcended as the dominant means of video production for most broadcasting uses, such as producing live events, shooting documentaries, music videos, and corporate training tapes.

Also known as broadcasting cameras or cinema cameras, these equipment are typically the most expensive camera types, ranging from $10,000 to over $100,000.

These cameras have a variety of high-end features. For example, some ENG cameras can record in frame rates of up to 240 fps, allowing you to capture the tiniest of detail. Others may allow the frame rate to be adjusted while recording. Further, some ENG cameras have advanced sensors that adapt to any lighting condition, accept various lenses, and do much more.

If you need a television camera that offers maximum configurability and utmost precision, an ENG camera will best suit your requirements.

Studio Cameras

These types of television cameras are placed on the floor, supported by pneumatic or hydraulic mechanisms called pedestals. Typically, they are used within a studio.

These cameras can be placed on a tripod when used outside a formal broadcasting facility. So, there’s always a base that supports them. Studio cameras can further be of many types, but they all retain the following defining characteristics:

They are lightweight, which signifies that you can easily take them off the pedestal.
They are lens-flexible, which means their lens can be changed to a smaller size to be used handheld on a camera operator’s shoulder.
They are cable-bound, which means they are not portable like a camcorder.
They are equipped with a tally light, which is a small signal lamp that indicates that the camera is “live.”
They can’t record.

EFP (Electronic Field Production) Cameras

EFP cameras are considerably similar to studio cameras in that they predominantly find their use in multiple camera-switched configurations. However, these television cameras are mainly used outside the studio environment.

For sports, concerts, and live news coverage of special events, EFP cameras are almost exclusively used. These cameras can be mounted on pedestals and cranes or kept on the camera person’s shoulder.

And again, similar to Studio Cameras, EFP Cameras have no recording ability. They only transmit signals to the broadcast facility via fiber optic cables, radiofrequency, or triaxial cables.

PTZ Cameras

PTZ (Pan-Tilt-Zoom) Cameras are the types of television cameras that are implanted within a solid frame and operated remotely.

Having a flat base, PTZ cameras can be securely affixed to different surfaces, such as a table, ceiling, or tripod. These cameras are an outstanding choice for “set and forget” recording styles, where the filming locations or conditions are not frequently changed.

If you are looking for television broadcasting services, QES Malaysia is widely familiar with the various televisions made available! Contact them today to find out how they can provide you with the equipment or consultation you need.

The Different Types Of Audio Equipment and Their Benefits

If you are planning on purchasing several audio equipment for your radio broadcasting station or for whatever reason it may be, you should get to know what the available audio equipment is so that you will not make the wrong decisions. Besides that, you will also know what the audio equipment you actually need before purchasing them.

Here are some of the common types of audio equipment in the market:

Audio Cables

Contrary to popular belief, audio cables are one of the important types of audio equipment when it comes to sound design. The type of audio cables can make or break the sound quality too.

The available types of audio cables are:

Balanced audio cables: These cables usually consist of three wires (cold wire, hot wire and shielding ground wire mesh) which use an XLR connection or TRS (tip ring sleeve). When it comes to large distances, this type of cable would work best.
Unbalanced audio cables: This type of cable consists of two wires which is a hot wire and a shielding mesh wire. The hot wire is used to transmit signals through short distances whereas the shielding mesh wire is known as a zero point of a signal.

Headphones

Other than hearing any form of audio through the speakers, you can also use headphones! These days, there are so many types of headphones to be used such as for gaming, work or radio broadcasting stations.

Some of the available types of headphones include:

Closed-back Headphones
On-Ear Headphones
Open-back Headphones
In-Ear Headphones
Over-Ear Headphones

Try to use a wired headphone because sometimes Bluetooth ones aren’t able to offer the same audio quality due to the signal connection strength.

Preamplifier

To boost the audio electrical signals, a preamplifier, which is an electronic audio equipment, will be used. When recording an audio, there will be some sort of noise interference going on. With the help of a preamplifier, you can improve the overall quality of the sound by eliminating any noise distortion caused by other equipment such as a microphone.

The latest technology of a preamplifier allows you to switch between the microphone signal and the current line within just a switch of a button. You will also have to take note of the audio levels when using a preamplifier as there’s a chance of the audio to be clipped.

Microphones

Microphones are also known as one of the oldest audio equipment around. If you want to record an audio, of course you would need a microphone! Even when you’re at a radio broadcasting or TV broadcast station, there are microphones.

There are three types of common microphones:

Dynamic Microphones: This type of microphone is usually used when the environment is noisy. One of the best places where these microphones are used is during live concerts.
Handheld Microphones: A microphone like this can pick up the sounds in the environment well, which makes it a popular option in talent shows or the newsroom.
Shotgun Microphones: When recording audio or sounds during movies or videos, a shotgun microphone will be used as it is attached to a boom pole. This type of microphone also doesn’t pick up any unwanted sounds caused by the environment.

Audio Analyzers

Audio analyzers is a type of audio equipment that adjusts the gain, noise, level and frequency response of the audio quality. Certain products have particular standards, so with the help of audio analyzers, the quality of the audio can be adjusted accordingly to meet the required specifications.

You can also measure the audio signals to assess for any deficiency such as distortion or interference. A common type of audio analyzer would be the audio precision.

Mixers

Using a mixer helps to blend the various sounds in an audio such as midrange, bass and treble. This helps to mix a few tracks together and flow well to produce a single song. Essentially, mixers help you equalize, position and balance the various audio channels available.

Are you trying to find a company that provides broadcasting equipment or services for your business? Contact QES Malaysia today so you can get advice on which audio equipment you need!

Must-Have Equipment In A Podcast Studio

Shock Mount

If you don’t know already, microphones tend to have weird sounds which don’t travel in the air. Hence, when recording your podcast, it will pick up unwanted sounds such as tapping or objects moving about.

A shock mount helps to prevent your microphone from recording those random vibrations or sounds. Most of the shock mounts are compatible with any type of microphone.

Headphones

Headphones are essential when it comes to podcasts because you need to know how your audio sounds (despite cringing at your own voice). The reason being when you are recording your podcast with headphones in, you can hear exactly what you’re recording.

You can start off with over-the-ear headphones as it offers the best quality so you can clearly hear how your audio sounds. Try to avoid using earbuds because you won’t be able to hear your audio well.

Microphones

Probably the most important equipment when it comes to podcasts, choosing a good quality microphone makes a difference to your podcast quality.

Do you have multiple people speaking at the same time? If that’s the case, you shouldn’t use USB microphones as it will just be everyone’s voices cancelling out each other. Below the common microphones used in podcasts:

USB Microphones: This would be ideal if you are a solo podcaster and don’t plan on bringing any guests over. Basically, it’s just you speaking.
XLR Microphones: Professional podcasters would use this as it has to be connected to a computer and a mixer to function.
Dynamic Microphones: This microphone would be useful for those who don’t have acoustic treatments in the place of recording. It offers a clear and crisp sound.
Condenser Microphones: If you have acoustic treatments in your recording studio, then this microphone would benefit you as it is more sensitive to the environment noise along with the high frequencies occurring in the background.

Microphone Stand or Boom Pole

Imagine always having to bend down to speak on the microphone. Nobody wants that! It’s best to get a microphone stand or a boom pole so that you can simply adjust the level to your liking.

That way, the microphone can be close to your mouth without you having to bend down or whatnot (because the level of the microphone from your mouth makes a difference to your audio quality!)

Besides, you will also save yourself from accidentally knocking your microphone over.

Computer or Laptop

Of course, you will need a computer or laptop to edit or produce your podcast as you’ll need to use an editing software to put your recordings together.

You can either use a Mac or Windows PC as both will work just fine. Most podcasters tend to use Apple MacBook Pro. But ultimately, you should use something that you’re already familiar with.

Windscreen Or Pop Filter

Sometimes when we pronounce certain letters or words, it tends to sound plosive on the microphone. Hence, a windscreen such as a foam windscreen attached at the top of the mic will prevent those sounds from getting recorded.

The same goes for a pop filter – it will boost your audio quality as you place it around your microphone (usually made out of foam or metal).

Mixer

This equipment will be useful because when it comes to podcast broadcasting with several people, it allows to boost the audio quality while more than one person is talking at the same time.

You can also opt to record your podcast live with the help of a mixer as it enables special AUX features where everything is being recorded at one go, on top of adding several sound effects or music.

Require additional assistance to start your own podcast? Quickmedia not only offers broadcast services in terms of setting up the equipment but also consultation to ensure you achieve great success.

How To Start Your Own Television Network

Here’s how you can venture into the task of starting your own TV network:

Define Your Goal and Target Audience

Why are you starting your own TV network? The earlier you define it, the faster your television network will realize success.

You might be starting a TV network to genuinely fill a gap in the market, or you might want to use it to promote your business. Defining your goal will also determine the content you will deliver and hence, your target audience. You could focus on:

Live broadcasts
Original TV shows
Sports shows
Informative channels
Tutorials
Testimonials and case studies
Live events

And so on. It is best to niche down rather than to try all sorts of content to please everyone. Specializing will help you create a dedicated community or fan base.

Rent a Channel

In the industry, you will find many channels available for lease. Any cable operator that maintains the minimum threshold of the number of channels defined by the regional law must reserve a group of channels for leased access.

You can rent one of these channels at a monthly, half-yearly, or annual subscription. The cost to rent these channels is primarily determined by the number of channel subscribers — quite intuitively, the bigger the company, the more you will pay.

Set Up Your Technical Equipment

If you are mostly going to air purchased/rented content, you might not need any equipment. However, if you will need to air live content, it’s best to get at least the essentials:

Video source: At least one camera. Technically, you can use a webcam or even your smartphone to go live, but professional cameras get the job done most efficiently.
Audio source: Mainly a microphone. You can also use background music or a pre-recorded audio file.
Encoder: It is needed to stream from continuous image files. You can choose between a dedicated hardware encoder or a software encoder that runs on your computer.
Lighting: It’s crucial to get a suitable lighting system to assist your recording and live streaming sessions.
Mixing equipment: If you use multiple video sources, you will need a mixer to manage their video output.

Advertise Your Network

When it’s time for the big launch, you will want to make sure people are watching. Explore economical advertisement options like local promotional events or newspaper ads. Also, be more interactive on your social media accounts.

Use visually appealing, balanced, and captivating posts to generate high audience engagement. You can also organize giveaways to get the people talking!

If you are planning on starting your own television network, be sure to contact QES Malaysia because they are pioneers in offering broadcasting services including all the equipment needed for a television network.

How To Start Your Own Podcast

Identify your niche

Before choosing your niche, you need to ask this question to yourself: why are you starting a podcast? Once you answer that, it will be easier to choose your niche as well.

Aside from knowing the ‘why’, you should also know what is the ultimate goal of your podcast. Is it to earn more income, or perhaps to build some sort of authority in your field? One thing to take note of is that generally, your podcast should help people in some way.

When choosing your niche, it should be aligned with your ‘why’ and ‘ultimate goal’. Studies have also shown that podcasts with a specific niche tend to do well compared to a podcast that talks about many different niches.

Then, you also need to build your target audience persona because you should know who your potential listeners are. Some of the things you should know about your target audience would be the kind of interests they have, activities and also their basic demographics.

Plan out your podcast structure

By this, we mean what kind of structure your podcast will have. For instance, you can have a mixture of interviews, news-based, educational, or even scripted podcasts (similar to TV shows or radio dramas).

You should also identify whether you’ll have a co-host, or if it’s just you alone running the show. The reason why you should make sure your podcast format is set in place is because it will affect the kind of equipment you’ll need.

Another factor to take note of would be the length of your episodes and how often you plan on publishing them.

This is a given – you should also come up with a podcast brand such as a good name (which represents your brand) alongside a good cover art.

Prepare all the equipment

After planning out how our podcast will be like, then you can decide what and how much equipment you need! The common equipment you need for your podcast would be as follows:

Dynamic Microphones: This type of microphones generally will prevent any background noise from appearing in the audio. It’s also a great option if you will have two people speaking at the same time. Hence, it is widely used by most podcasters.
Condenser Microphones: This type of microphones are useful if your environment is very quiet due to the fact that it is quite sensitive but offers great audio quality at the same time.

The below equipment is not a must to have, but it would be good to help improve the overall quality of your audio:

Microphone Stand/Boom Pole: If you don’t want to keep holding the mic, this would be helpful so you can move around without the need of bringing your mic with you everywhere you go.
Over-the-ear Headphones: Though you can simply use earbuds, using over-the-ear headphones tend to help with noise rejection alongside offering better audio quality.
Shock Mount: Vibration sounds from a microphone are pretty common so you will need a shock mount to prevent them from being recorded.
Pop Filter: If you regularly encounter those clicking noises while placing the microphone close to your mouth, this equipment will prevent that sound from being recorded.

Choose an editing and production software

Now that you’ve settled the hardware part, you need to decide on your editing or production software. Basically, the software will record your podcast from the microphone and then allow you to save it to your computer/laptop in the form of a MP3 file.

Some of the recommended free editing software would be Audacity, which is available for both Windows & Mac users and GarageBand, which is only available for Mac users. However, if you’re a total beginner, you might find it difficult to use.

You can consider a beginner-friendly alternative which is the Alitu. They make it easy for you to create your podcast episode with ease. It is browser-based so you don’t need to download the software either.

Publish and promote your podcast

Once you have finished editing your podcast episode, you need to publish it and show it to the world! You can choose to either upload your podcast episodes on various podcast hosting services or your own website (if you have one). Some of the popular podcast hosting services include Buzz Sprout, PodBean and Transistor.

You can also find various podcast directories where you can publish your podcast episodes. The popular ones that guarantee listeners would be Apple Podcast, Spotify, SoundCloud and YouTube.

Want to hire a professional to set up your podcast studio? Quickmedia offers various broadcasting services that are sure to set you up for success!

Digital Advertising In A Nutshell: What You Need To Know

What is digital advertising?

Digital advertising is a form of marketing through various media platforms online such as websites, social media and so on. The content being advertised comes in a variety of forms such as text, audio or video.

The Different Types of Digital Advertising

Search Advertising

Search advertising can be separated into two parts: search engine marketing (SEM), which is the paid option and search engine optimization (SEO), which is the non-paid option. Although you don’t need to continuously spend money on ads every month for SEO, it does take a longer time to produce results.

Social Media

Social media has been booming the past recent years and becoming one of the pioneer digital advertising methods most businesses are gearing towards. Some of the popular social media platforms would be Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

Whether it is through organic or paid efforts, social media has a wide reach as there are more than 2 million active users on a daily basis.

PPC (Pay Per Click)

Pay per click digital advertising is when you will have to pay a cost once someone clicks on your ad. Essentially, you won’t be burning money on customers who aren’t interested in your services or products but rather the ones that you can eventually turn into a paying customer.

Email Marketing

As the name suggests, this method of digital advertising is being done through emails. Though it is also known as one of the older methods, many people these days still open up their emails at least once a day.

When starting with email marketing, you need to build an email list and get your target audience to subscribe to your newsletter. You can either maintain a weekly or monthly newsletter and offer quality content to your audience aside from promoting your products or services.

A major tip when it comes to email marketing is to prevent spamming your subscribers with too many emails. They will just immediately choose to unsubscribe from your newsletter which causes you to lose a potential sale.

CPM (Cost Per Mile)

This type of digital advertising is based on impressions, meaning you will pay a cost based on how many times your ad has been viewed. Usually, you will have to pay based on every 1,000 impressions or views on a website.

Benefits of Digital Advertising

Less cost

Generally, when you compare traditional advertising vs modern advertising, you don’t have to spend a large budget on digital advertising because the strategies implemented are much easier to make changes and adjust based on what is working and what is not.

Able to measure results effectively

All of the digital advertising media platforms allow you to access a wide range of statistics including tracking your campaigns to know how effective it is. For every digital advertising campaign, you can view the analytics and get to know what the engagement or response is like from your customers.

Can narrow down target audience

With digital advertising, you are able to target a specific audience based on demographics such as age, location and so on. These advanced target methods could hugely benefit your business so that you can achieve the highest ROI possible while meeting your marketing goals.

Cons of Digital Advertising

Trends are constantly changing

One of the major downsides of digital advertising is that it is always evolving so you need to stay up-to-date with the latest updates or trends to continuously run successful digital advertising campaigns.

That also means regular upskilling is definitely needed to improve your current skills.

Can be too time-consuming

To successfully execute a digital advertising campaign, proper planning is required. You will be expected to track the campaigns and make certain adjustments whenever necessary in order to maximise your ROI.

Technology is required

Digital advertising is highly dependable on technology and the Internet. Without these two, it can’t be executed. This also includes the fact that your advertisements can only be viewed by those who have Internet access along with any form of technology such as mobile devices or laptops.

Planning on moving to traditional advertising? QES Malaysia is able to help your business by setting up various broadcasting services and equipment.

Common Mistakes When It Comes To Broadcasting Equipment (And How to Avoid Them)

DON’T buy incompatible broadcasting equipment.

Most likely, you’re not buying a piece of standalone broadcast equipment. If it is part of a larger infrastructure — like a mobile unit, production studio, or flight pack — ensure that the new equipment sits well with other components of your production ecosystem.

Products bought from different manufacturers may not be compatible and often require specific interconnecting devices or additional engineering time to get them working with each other. You can:

either make sure that all pieces of your broadcasting equipment will work well together, or
make sure that there’s a solution that’ll make them work well together, or
forgo the purchase and find equipment with better compatibility.

DON’T buy outdated broadcast equipment.

Broadcasting equipment is always evolving. Manufacturers continually release updated models or new products with more sophisticated features and functionalities.

While staying on top of the curve may feel intimidating, researching what you want to purchase is important. One of the worst buying experiences is to purchase a piece of equipment only to see a better model released the following week. And while it’s true that the newest model isn’t always the best, it’s still important to not buy something outdated unless you’re convinced that it will do the job.

DO buy equipment that genuinely fills a need.

When it comes to purchasing broadcasting equipment, it’s appealing to focus on what you “want” instead of what you “need.” There’s an ocean of “fun” broadcasting gadgets on the market. You might see a piece of equipment that would be exciting to own, but is it worth the cost if there’s no justified use?

Stay focused on what you require, and ensure that your purchase genuinely fills a need. Ask yourself: Is this something I will use regularly? Only buy the equipment if the answer comes out to be a “Yes.”

DON’T buy from an unreputable source.

Depending on what you’re looking to buy, there are hundreds of options for purchasing equipment — maybe even more. However, purchasing your broadcasting gear from a reputable source has several upsides.

While cost is undoubtedly the central consideration for most buyers, you need to make sure you’re protected in case there’s an issue with your equipment.

If you’re buying online, check the seller’s return policy. It’s important to buy returnable equipment to ensure that you’re not stuck with an incompatible device. Further, read the product’s reviews before buying it to check if previous buyers had any issues.

DON’T buy equipment that can’t keep up with your content output.

The equipment that you’re buying should accommodate your current needs and more, so you don’t outgrow it in the future.

If you’re getting broadcasting equipment for a facility, it’s important to keep your growth potential in mind. In case you expect to expand your content output, factor it into your buying decision. You don’t want to find yourself with a new piece of broadcasting equipment that’s maxed out already.

Need more advice on choosing the right broadcasting equipment? Reach out to Quickmedia who are experts when it comes to broadcasting services.

Building Requirements When Starting A Broadcast Facility

The Broadcast Facility Must Have Adequate Ceiling Height

Insufficient ceiling height is the most common problem linked to building a broadcast facility. Oftentimes, there’s just not enough headroom.

The height of the ceiling of your broadcast facility dramatically impacts the studio’s lighting. The infrastructure needs adequate space to hang a lighting grid suitably — you don’t want your lighting instruments clutching the ceiling. Further, there must be sufficient room for circulation.

Even the ceiling of a typical office building is not high enough to suitably install lighting grid and fixtures. So, when evaluating a building for your broadcast facility, give ceiling height the topmost priority.

Proper Ventilation and Air Conditioning Should be in Place

Broadcast equipment doesn’t fit well with heat or moisture. Therefore, broadcast facilities must always maintain a cold and humidity-free environment.

To ensure that, make sure your building has sufficient HVAC and venting to support your broadcast facility. You will also need a dedicated thermostat to control the facility’s temperature. Without these temperature-regulating instruments, you’ll never be able to provide your broadcast equipment with an optimal environment to function.

Another consideration regarding HVAC is the positioning of blowers and fans. They should NOT be in your studio or anywhere you plan to record content — as they cause unnecessary background noise that can be picked up on a microphone.

There Must be Sufficient Electricity to Power Your Broadcast Facility

Electricity is another huge aspect to consider. There must be enough electrical power to not only support all your broadcast equipment but also to accommodate equipment that the facility may need in the future.

Further, you want to make sure the power outlets are placed where you need them. This also includes the studio’s ceiling to support lighting instruments.

If possible, making arrangements for clean power is ideal. Meaning power drops exclusively reserved for your facility — not shared with other circuits in the building. It will help you avoid the dreaded situation of losing electricity in the middle of a broadcast.

Ensure Appropriate Connectivity

The final building consideration when starting a broadcast facility is connectivity. Unlike some of the factors detailed above, you have better control over the connectivity at your facility.

Make certain that you have a high-quality internet connection dedicated to supporting outbound transmissions and your operation’s overall IT network. Besides, redundant internet circuits are always advised. If your broadcast facility is situated in a commercial office building, you need redundant ISPs for maximum coverage.

Lastly, depending on where your broadcast facility is geographically located, look into the possibility of acquiring a fiber circuit to enhance the performance of your system. If active fiber isn’t available, look for dark fiber nearby that you can use to make a new fiber circuit.

Reach out to QES Malaysia today if you need more help on setting up a broadcasting facility as they are experts in knowing the dos and dont’s of broadcasting.