NEP Broadcasting deployed Calrec Audio consoles to deliver 5.1 surround sound for Super Bowl XLIV.
To cover the event NEP Broadcasting deployed five trucks: SS-24 for the actual game, with Ed Soltis at the audio controls; NEP/NCP-8 for the extensive pre-game and post-game shows, with Jack Stocker doing the mixing; NEP SS-9 for tape-release mix and sub-mix of replay sources, with Kevin Little on audio duty; NEP Denali Silver for pre-game and halftime musical shows, with Ed Greene mixing; and NEP-SS 25 for the NFL Network and world coverage feeds, with Peter Puglisi doing the mix.
For the musical portion of the Super Bowl coverage, NEP Broadcasting relied on a 1999 vintage Calrec Q-2 analog desk that has been used for a number of events, including multiple Academy Award broadcasts, the American Idol finale, and other top-tier entertainment shows.
The most challenging part of the production was the lengthy pre-game broadcast, including tailgate parties, announcers on a remote football field, and multiple studio sets. Replays, each of them with an associated sound had to be coordinated by cross-fading among sources then feeding back to the main show mixer.
Relying on their MADI capability, the Calrec Alpha consoles routed multiple signals from one console to another without each source having to be represented on the control surface.
