YES Productions and its parent broadcaster, WYES, have recently acquired two new sound consoles from Calrec Audio: a Sigma for an HD truck and a Zeta for its New Orleans studio. These installations bring the number of Calrec consoles at YES to three, making the PBS station and its mobile production affiliate an all-Calrec operation.
"When I have a console bouncing down the highway in a mobile unit, it needs to be reliable because I can't afford problems," said Jim Moriarty, vice president and general manager of YES Productions. "Having Calrec consoles in place is a load off my mind, because I know they are going to work, and work well. To me, Calrec has earned its name recognition and reputation by building top-quality consoles and providing service to match."
A new 64-fader Sigma console, equipped with Calrec's Bluefin high-density signal processing, has been installed in the HD-1 OB truck. A year ago, YES installed a Calrec Omega with Bluefin console in its HD-2 truck and found it to be reliable, operator-friendly and a selling point with clients.
YES audio engineers appreciate several specific Calrec features. The Calrec console is flexible enough to be operated either with or without its touch screen, and it can be controlled without the computer. Engineers also like the ease of customizing the board’s setup and the convenience of having built-in compressors and delay on every channel.
Calrec's Sigma console provides 320 channel-processing paths that can be configured for up to 52 full Dolby 5.1 surround channels. Channel capacity is augmented by a buss structure identical to Calrec's larger Alpha console, including 20 auxiliaries and 48 tracks. The system's built-in delay smoothes out synchronization problems like those associated with mixed-format HD/SD production.
The smaller, 24-fader Zeta console installed in the WYES studio has 108 channel-processing paths and is used primarily for news and entertainment shows, including a new cooking show that will be carried by many PBS stations nationwide starting in the fall of 2010. The studio Zeta also gives YES a means of familiarizing new audio operators with the workings of a Calrec console in a calmer setting than live mobile production.
