NBC Universal has installed more high-test Calrecs at network headquarters in New York. The new configuration in Studio 2A consists of a 44-fader Sigma digital audio console with a Bluefin high-density signal processing system and interconnection to a Calrec Hydra audio networking system.
NBC also added Calrec Bluefin technology to an existing 68-fader Alpha. This facility upgrade is intended to help launch the network into 5.1 surround sound and to improve the connectivity between various audio resources at Rockefeller Center. The network is using a Sigma Bluefin in its 2K commercial control room, which handles tape integration for the "Today" show and commercial integration for remote sports events.
To handle 5.1, NBC upgraded the "Today" Studio 1A Calrec Alpha with Bluefin, doubling the Alpha's processing power, allowing up to 78 full 5.1 simultaneous surround sound channels.
The Hydra networking system provides remote source sharing between multiple Calrec consoles throughout a facility, over Gigabit Ethernet, on copper or fiber. NBC used Hydra to connect the "Today" studio with a 64-fader Alpha Classic in the "NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams" 3A control room, and the new Sigma Bluefin in the 2K commercial control room.
