VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Edwino]

Hi everyone, and glad to be on this great forum!!

I am going to buy an isdn unit most likely a telos zephyr, and I am wondering if there are any problems people have had with models in regard to communicating with other units, or anything at all in general. The prices on ebay range from $800 to $2500. Which model is the best for VO, does it matter?


Anything I should watch out for, do they break down, etc.

Also if anyone has a unit for sale, let me know.

Thanks,
Edwin

[Bruce]

I can't speak to the Telos, but my Musicam Prima LT has been trouble free as far as connecting with others. The very few troubles I've seen over the years have all been on the calling end and usually a telco problem. The Musicam supposedly reads what format the incoming codec is set for and adjusts accordingly. However, since 99.9% of all calls in our business seem to be the same format, MPEG Layer 2 yada yada with cheese, that has never come up for me.

Occasionally Dave at digifon.com has a used unit of some kind or other for sale...much like buying a certified used car I'm guessing.

B
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VO-BB Member #31 Enlisted June, 2005

I'm not a Zoo, but over the years I've played one on radio/TV. .

[Edwino]

Thanks Bruce,

I did just that and Dave returned with a couple of options. Like you said a certified used car sort of thing. It seems from reviewing the APT Tokyo is something people like.

[Bish]

I went through the "which ISDN box do I get" issue a short time ago. My conclusions were as follows: The Telos Zephyr is the standard. Anything you get must be able to work in a mode that is compatible with it's standard "VO" setting. Don't forget that these boxes are not necessarily designed for our specific application and have a whole host of "broadcast" features and fancy algorithms and codecs that we are not interested in.

What you need is:
128kbps, 48kHz, MPEG layer II, 20kHz b/w, mono

Now if you're connecting to a regular host and they want to tweak values or use non-standard, that's fine, but if you're connecting to various different studios, you'll need a common base. Personally, I use a Musicam Prima 110 in preset mode #37 "The Telos Zephyr compatible mode".

My concern here is that I'm pretty sure that when I investigated my options, the APT did not satisfy this requirement. I think it offered compatibility with layer III, but not layer II. I know I discounted it for a good reason, I just can't remember what that reason was!

Double-check the APT compatibility tables. You may be better off sticking with Telos or Musicam... they have the biggest VO user-base.
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Bish a.k.a. Bish
Smoke me a kipper... I'll be back for breakfast.
I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls.

[Jason Huggins]

There is a Telos Zephyr for sale here on the forum that is in your price range...on the lower side actually. It's about 3 threads down in Gear.