Winter Classics warms up with S12 live production by Lawo

The Women’s Winter Classics in Gstaad marked the first live outing for OB truck S12, the new mobile production unit operated by Swiss broadcast service provider brutal güet. The open-air women’s ice hockey event also served as the inaugural live deployment of the vehicle’s fully IP-based Lawo audio infrastructure. The production demonstrated how flexible system configurations can be reliably implemented in a demanding live environment.

The Winter Classics rank among the premier events in Swiss women’s hockey. Staged in the centre of the village and framed by an alpine backdrop, the matchup saw reigning champions SC Bern face league leaders EV Zug. For brutal güet, the event provided an ideal opportunity to put the production concept of the new OB van into operation for the first time under live broadcast conditions with unconventional stadium infrastructure.

At the heart of the audio control room now stands a Lawo mc²56 MkIII console with 48 faders. It is paired with a redundant A__UHD Core and an AoIP network based on SMPTE ST 2110, AES67 and RAVENNA.

The latest mc² generation provides advanced DSP capabilities that streamline daily workflows. “Being able to store and recall EQs, compressors and presets, as well as using dynamic EQ processing, makes multilingual productions much easier,” says Christian Maier, senior broadcast audio engineer at brutal güet. “I don’t have to build the same signal chains multiple times.” DSP resources can also be allocated selectively for the greatest sonic benefit.

Speed is another critical factor in live broadcast operation – both in day-to-day use and when troubleshooting. “If a camera operator reports they can’t hear anything, I can immediately check a second or third metre to see whether the signal is leaving my system. That tells me right away where to look – or where not to look,” explains Maier. The Lawo mc²56 MkIII console also ensures precise timing and latency management across all signal paths, so audio remains perfectly aligned even in complex setups.

The unpredictable number of spectators created one of the biggest audio challenges of the open-air production. “It makes a significant difference whether 500 or 5000 people are standing around the rink. In some cases, spectators may even be just a metre behind my ambience microphones,” notes Maier. To address this, the team implemented a customised microphone setup using directional shotgun microphones.

Maier’s mixing approach for the event balanced strong atmosphere with clear speech, using dynamic EQ, sidechain filtering and automix to shape ambience. Critically, the latest Lawo console generation provides greater creative and technical flexibility for this level of control.

For brutal güet, the S12 marks a technical milestone as a fully equipped mobile OB van, built to handle sports, cultural events and live productions, setting the stage for future broadcasts.

Find out more at lawo.com