Calrec Audio Ltd. — Roger Henderson, Managing Director

Q. What products or services does your company offer?

Calrec manufactures digital audio mixing consoles for live broadcasting. With Calrec’s award-winning FPGA-based Bluefin technology, the company has developed a range of audio consoles that offer unrivalled power in a minimal footprint. As broadcast specialists, Calrec builds in full redundancy as standard, guaranteeing an ultra-resilient solution for modern broadcast facilities. Favored by leading broadcasters across the globe, the Apollo and Artemis range of audio consoles are used anywhere from multistudio complexes producing light entertainment shows to outside broadcast trucks covering major sporting events.

A significant element in modern television productions is the ability to network and integrate audio consoles into a wider context. Using Hydra2, Calrec’s audio networking product, resources can be easily shared making it possible to configure a multistudio setup to allow enormous flexibility, which in turn streamlines the workflow. Moreover, it is also possible to integrate third-party equipment into the process allowing external control via protocols such as SW-P-08 and EMBER.

Q. What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trend at the 2013 NAB Show?

The hot topic at the moment is network integration and interoperability. At Calrec, we know a lot about audio networking and have already brought two solutions to the table because we want to ensure that our customers’ needs are well-represented. Calrec’s recent acceptance into the AVnu Alliance has heightened our commitment to further integrate our networks into existing network infrastructures.

Q. What’s new that you will feature at the NAB Show?

Our main focus at the 2013 NAB Show is our ability to incorporate third-party control to our Hydra2 network. We have designed the stand as a mini-network and incorporated control from a selection of third-party equipment via various protocols.

In an effort to drive the movement toward a common protocol for audio networking, we have joined the AVnu Alliance, an industry consortium dedicated to the development and promotion of a professional-quality streaming standard for networked audio and video content based on the IEEE 802.1 AVB Ethernet extensions.

The AVB standard addresses Ethernet’s most serious shortcomings as a transport for streaming audio, and reliable interoperation is crucial for AVB’s success. We hope that AVnu accreditation will come to be recognized as a stamp of quality. Customers who buy products with the AVnu seal of approval will have confidence that they will connect together without any problems.

Q. What is it about the NAB Show that brings you back every year?

The NAB Show is the pinnacle of the exhibiting calendar in the broadcast sector and truly is a global show. It is not only the ideal place to launch our new products and features but it is a great opportunity to keep up to speed on emerging technologies from other sectors of the industry. It is imperative going forward that we work in unison with other companies who manufacture complementary products in order to provide a solution for the customer that befits their needs. Attending NAB Show not only keeps us abreast of the direction that the industry is moving in, it also provides us with an “under one roof” opportunity to establish and maintain relationships with our peers and our customer base to ascertain how best to move forward.