Seamless software and Hydra2: Customers get busy with Calrec consoles

The past few months have been very active for Calrec. Not only have we had numerous customer wins across different regions, but our customers are always pointing out specific features of our technology that make their jobs easier while achieving premium quality audio. One of those benefits is the fact that our consoles' are easy to learn and use.

Take the case of our recent project with Parisian TV sports channel L'Equipe, who is using a Brio36 and a Summa console for live mixing, commentary, and sports programming that includes cycling, biathlons, rallying and judo. The station's Technical Manager, Patrick Vautier, said that the learning curve with both consoles was quick and easy. The combination of the Summa and Brio36 work perfectly because they use the same software that's very popular with the L'Equipe team.

Calrec customers are also particularly impressed with the Calrec's Hydra2 networking capabilities, allowing customers to work in a fluid way across facilities. With Hydra2, customers can connect their consoles with routers and I/O interfaces so that a large number of inputs and outputs can be shared, despite the location of the physical hardware.

RTV Montenegro, a national public broadcaster in Montenegro who recently debuted a new OB van with an Artemis and Hydra2 makes this point. Hydra 2 was one of the key advantages that we saw with Calrec. We have a stage box in [our new OB van] with internal audio sources plugged into that. Hydra 2 is used for all routing, including the audio that passes through two additional external stage boxes. They are connected via fibre and instantly appear on the network, completely transparently, making life for our audio engineers much easier, commented Dejan Vujovic, Chief Technology Officer at RTV.

And then there's Torneos y Competencias, a leading sports marketing and production company in Buenos Aires, Argentina, that recently purchased five Calrec consoles - three Brio36 consoles and two Artemis Light consoles bring the company's total to eight Calrec consoles in its facility - as they are already using two Brios and a Summa.

Pablo Mascitelli, the company's Technical Manager said Hydra2 has made a big difference. Hydra2 networking allows us to share the audio sources between mixers, broadening the configuration of our studios. We also have Dante and MADI cards, and it's in our plans to implement them later this year.

Torneos' Artemis consoles get a full workout - helping to produce 15 hours of news and sports programming every day. Shows include Central Deportivo (a sports news show), De Futbol se Habla Asi (a talk sport football show for DirecTV Sports Channel), Nitro (a motor racing news show) and Central FOX (a sport news show for Fox Sports Channel). The Brios are installed in Torneos' smaller control studios that produce football matches. In these studios, offtube commentary is inserted using the Brios and additional content and graphics are also created.

When it comes to prepping for an audio-over-IP future, Hong Kong free-to-air broadcaster ViuTV is ready with its new Artemis Light, Brio12, Brio36 and AoIP interfaces from Calrec. We wanted to be able to satisfy our current networking requirements while also prepping ourselves for an IP future as that transition occurs across our wider infrastructure, commented Mike Lau, Assistant Vice President of Production and Facilities at ViuTV.

The Artemis Light is housed in Studio 1, which is used for entertainment content, game shows and live performances. The Brio36 is being used for talk shows in Studio 2 with the Brio12 in Studio 1 acting as a backup. ViuTV uses MADI and Dante cards; the former for intercom connectivity and the latter for connection to a live PA mixing console, for multi-track recording and wireless mike connections. Lau also said he's very pleased with the consoles ease-of-use and their superior sound quality.

If you want to learn more about how you can vastly improve your company's audio capabilities, don't hesitate to get in touch!

LINK:	https://calrec.com/blog/seamless-software-and-hydra2-customers-get-bus...
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