Linear Acoustic is announcing a new TV audio processor, the Aeromax 5.1-XL, at NAB. It’s the first TV audio processor to feature built-in Dolby Digital (AC-3) encoding. The 5.1-XL comes equipped with a loudness controller, upmixer, and metadata manager, as well as full-time, two-channel downmixing to support legacy analog paths. The processor accepts 5.1 network audio, two-channel local audio, and digital or analog auxiliary/EAS stereo audio. HD-SDI audio input and internal Dolby Digital (AC-3) encoding are available as options. Now shipping. $18,250 (starting).