iZotopes first step into the hardware market is a noise reduction unit. The ANR-B as it’s called was actually announced months back but has just now been released. The market is obviously broadcast:

From the iZotope press release:

Broadcasters face real-time noise challenges ranging from cell phone call-ins to noisy air conditioners and bad wiring. ANR-B automates the process of high-quality noise reduction in real-time so noise issues no longer make or break a segment.

Says Mark Ethier, CEO of iZotope, Inc.

ANR-B uses iZotope’s advanced noise reduction technology to identify and suppress environmental broadband noise, hum, phone line artifacts and more, “dramatically increasing the quality of radio and TV call-in programs and on-location broadcasting” – says iZotope. They also claim that unlike other noise reduction solutions, ANR-B actually detects noise in real-time and adapts to changing noise over time, allowing for automatic operation with little to no input required from the user. Time will tell how well this works, but WGBH Boston, “America’s preeminent public broadcasting producer”, has used one of the first ANR-B units for the radio program “The World,” a co-production of Public Radio International and the BBC, and they seem happy with it.

At WGBH Radio our reporters and guests are often interviewed in war zones and some of the most remote locations on Earth. These places are only accessible by phone line, ISDN and satellite phone, leading to audio quality that is far below the standard for our award winning news radio programs. iZotope’s ANR-B reliably and quickly removes ambient and path noise automatically, allowing us to focus on getting the interview completed instead of fiddling with controls to get usable audio.

- Ray Fallon, Engineer at WGBH.

Key Features

• Automatically removes noise from audio in real-time
• Two channels can work independently or as a stereo pair
• Includes presets for specific scenarios – ISDN, cell phone, and more
• Residual Noise switch lets user quickly preview the noise being removed
• Single knob controls noise suppression on each channel
• Adapt Mode adapts to incoming audio signal for automatic operation
• Manual Mode lets you capture a noise profile
• Single knob for simple control of noise suppression on each channel

Specifications

• Power – 100/220 VAC, 50/60 Hz
• Analog Audio – Balanced XLR, Output +4 dBu
• Digital Audio – AES-EBU, Sampling rates (kHz): 44.1, 48, 96, Impedance: 110 ohms, Interface: Balanced, transformer coupled
• Sync – DARS (AES Black), AES-EBU
• Firmware update/remote connections – 10/100 BaseT Ethernet, DB9 RS-422

ANR-B is now available for $4,995 MSRP. More information at iZotope.