HEBDEN BRIDGE, U.K. -- Sept. 9, 2013 -- At IBC2013 (stand 8.C58) Calrec launches Callisto, a brand new audio console for live broadcasters. Callisto is designed for broadcast professionals who need to produce creative and engrossing broadcast audio easily, but may not require as many resources as the company's Apollo and Artemis consoles.
"We've designed Callisto to keep the user interface simple and straightforward," said Henry Goodman, Calrec's head of sales. "Throughout the design process, we've kept the focus not just on features and capabilities, but on the totality of the user experience. The result is the elegant console we're introducing this week at IBC."
Callisto's mechanical design is refined, with a lean construction that keeps components and materials to a minimum. Disciplined power distribution means the console is around 30 percent more efficient than a comparable Artemis Light, Callisto's closest stable mate. Service access is from the front of the console, and the entire control surface can be replaced by removing just 12 screws.
When designing the new console, Calrec focused on ensuring that Callisto's highly intuitive GUI would be suitable for a broad range of operator levels. Users control the console via a 17-inch multitouch screen inspired by familiar tablet technology, with a straightforward interface that uses established finger gestures to navigate the system. The crisp, high-resolution display provides elegant controls and clear presentation of information.
Designed for live broadcast applications and with a focus on intuitive operation, Callisto simplifies even complex workflow tasks, such as creating mix-minus feeds, with common procedures that are just one tap away.
Callisto's other large displays are fully configurable to display bus, output, and loudness meters, and feature dedicated metering, routing, and processing information per fader.
The physical control surface is available in fixed 32- and 44-fader configurations with a new streamlined layout. Each channel strip has only the most essential mechanical controls, featuring a fader, two flexible control cells, and a dedicated gain pot.
Callisto uses Calrec's award-winning Bluefin2 technology at its core, and the same integral 8192 x 8192 Hydra2 router as the Apollo and Artemis consoles. Bluefin2 and Hydra2 technologies are in use 24 hours a day at hundreds of facilities across the globe, and are still the most advanced audio processing technologies available.
Bluefin2 provides Callisto with a pool of 180 channel processing paths, which can be assigned as mono, stereo, or 5.1 channels. As with all Calrec consoles, there is no resource-sharing across the DSP, so all facilities are available on all channels at all times. Callisto has eight groups, four mains (all of which can be mono, stereo, or 5.1), 16 auxes, and 32 tracks.
The broadcast-focused feature set also includes complete system redundancy, dedicated delay on all paths with additional assignable input and output delay, mechanical PFL overpress on all faders, and three 5.1 studio monitor outputs.
Callisto and the rest of Calrec's line of consoles will be on display at IBC2013 on stand 8.C58. Information about Calrec and its products is available at www.calrec.com and www.community.calrec.com.
Photo Link: www.wallstcom.com/Calrec/Callisto.zip
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About Calrec Audio Ltd.
Calrec Audio, part of D&M Holdings Inc., is exclusively dedicated to excellence in audio mixing for on-air and live production. A broadcast specialist for more than 40 years, Calrec has developed a range of digital consoles relied on by the world's most successful broadcasters. For putting sound in the picture, broadcasters put their trust in Calrec. More information is available at www.calrec.com and www.community.calrec.com.
