The speed and flexibility of Fairlight’s Xynergi desktop media creation system has inspired German public broadcaster Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) to install five of the systems at its facilities in Cologne.

WDR has been a Fairlight customer for more than 10 years and already has Fairlight MFX3+ Disk Recorders in a number of its audio studios, where they are used for long form audio drama productions. In recent years the broadcaster has upgraded two of these rooms to DREAM1 Station and Constellation, Fairlight’s large-scale digital recording, editing and mixing system.

The decision to invest in Fairlight Xynergi was taken at the end of 2007 and quickly led to the installation of two Xynergi MPC96 systems with SX-48 MADI interfaces used for operator training. The three remaining systems were installed in May, along with a 12 fader Sidecar and two CC-1 upgrades for the DREAM1 Station and Constellation systems. This latest generation mixing surface has impeccable ‘green’ credentials and offers a combination of speed, functionality and workflow unattainable from any other console.

Mario Schmitz, Fairlight’s head of European Operations, says: “All of the systems will be connected to Fairlight’s SFX Library Server AudioBase 3, which will allow the broadcaster to speed up workflow and share audio files between studios. We are delighted that WDR is increasing its commitment to Fairlight by installing Xynergy and we feel confident that the systems will bring significant benefits to WDR’s staff.�

WDR is using its Fairlight systems on a variety of audio production projects, in particular long form audio dramas.