NEP Studio 54 recently installed a 48-fader Solid State Logic C100 HD console to handle the audio for Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report."
NEP has upgraded two studios for full HD production: Studio 52, where Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" is produced and, most recently, Studio 54.
According to NEP chief technology officer George Hoover, the original C100 HD in Studio 52 has been in use for more than two years, and its performance during musical segments as well as its 5.1 surround mixing have been well received. "The C100 HD interfaces with our Pro Tools system so we can go back and forth to do fairly sophisticated audio posting on the segments for DVD release," he said. "Now we have this capability for 'The Colbert Report.'"
The video and audio control rooms for "The Colbert Report" are located three floors above the production studio. The C100 HD is interfaced directly into the console's preamps to pick up the microphones from the studio floor. The console also interfaces to the rest of the studio system for playback elements, protocols and multitracks.
"The Colbert Report" is essentially a sitcom that gives the appearance of being a traditional newscast. The addition of music performances demanded a higher quality sound.
