Reuters America's Studio A in Washington D.C. is upgrading its audio operations to digital with the Yamaha DM2000 console.

Reuters' Studio A produces a variety of news shows and news magazine shows, such as: "Hispanics Today," WNET's (PBS) "Religion and Ethics News Weekly," and "Democracy Now." The group upgraded its video production to digital two years ago.

Reuters' Television Maintenance Engineer Keith Allen said the company needed more inputs and the flexibility a digital console would give them. Reuters consulted with two contract audio engineers who work frequently in Studio A on selecting a console.

George Toman, one of the Reuters' freelance engineers said, "The best thing about the DM2000 is the ease that it can be programmed to fit any application. Like all digital consoles, it takes a bit of forethought during the initial set up, since reconfiguring during a live situation may require you to go through multiple pages while mixing. However, four fader layers, channel copy function and programmable soft knobs make changing inputs easy."

Allen pre-wired the new racks, and then the crew gutted the approximately 12- by 14-foot audio control room (Studio A is 30 by 40 feet). The connection to the router itself and the connections to the intercom system were among the only things left. Allen then installed the racks and the equipment.

Reuters had a custom table delivered by a contractor, Arrakis Systems, whose design for the control room included a rolling table for the DM2000 that allows access to the occasionally used computer and other equipment located behind it.