Telephone Hybrid

What is a telephone hybrid?

Telephone hybrids are electronic devices that allow communication between the talent panel in a radio or TV show and external callers on a telephone line.
The hybrid balances and combines the audio signals from the studio and the telephone line, to guarantee a clear and seamless communication.

How does a telephone hybrid work?

The voice of the caller from the incoming audio is converted into an electrical audio signal, which is then transmitted to the telephone exhange system.
At the same time, the talent panel's voices are captured by their microphones and sent to the audio mixer and routing system as outgoing audio.
Both the incoming and outgoing audios are then processed simoultaneously by the telephone hybrid, which combines them into a single mixed audio signal, that reaches the caller back via the telephone line.

In simple terms, a Hybrid is an interface that connects two-wire phone lines into input and output XLRs. These XLR connectors are plugged into an audio console or I/O node. Many Hybrids also contain echo cancellation and an automatic equaliser, to eliminate any sort of feedback, clean and balance the audio levels.

If you are planning to have outside calls coming into your show, you should definitely invest in a good quality hybrid.