BYU Broadcasting Equips New HD Truck with Calrec Omega Audio Console

BYU Broadcasting, the production and broadcast arm of Brigham Young University, has selected a Calrec Audio 48-fader Omega with Bluefin HDSP console for deployment in a new mobile production truck that will cover entertainment, sports, devotional, and information shows starting this month. The new HD-equipped truck, is 51-feet long with a 48-foot expansion and replaces a 48-foot straight, analog production vehicle built in 1987.

“We looked at a lot of audio consoles, but in the end the Calrec Omega had all the features our audio engineers needed in a compact chassis that’s ideal for mobile production,” says Brandon Smith, BYU Broadcasting director of broadcast technical operations. “We are particularly enthused about how the console will support our entertainment needs. We need tracks to be posted to the multitrack machine for later broadcast of musical performances, and with the Omega’s generous number of multitrack outputs, we will have no trouble accomplishing that.”

Besides serving mobile broadcasting needs, BYU Broadcasting’s Calrec Omega will be integrated via fiber into the audio network of a new television and radio broadcast facility that will originate a variety of events, from musical concerts to devotional shows. The new facility is slated to be completed this year, and the truck, parked in its bay, will be able to function as an adjunct control room for both taped and live broadcast. BYU Broadcasting serves not only its local Provo, Utah, area, but also a worldwide audience via cable, satellite, and the Internet.

More Omega features that BYU Broadcasting will include fast reset, digital signal processing (DSP) redundancy on both the mainframe and the control surface, compact I/O panels and mainframe suitable for a truck, and highly configurable TFT metering capabilities, which afford complete control of the assignable system. The Omega will also be utilized as a teaching console for the dozen or so audio engineering students mentored by BYU Broadcasting each semester.

Today’s Calrec consoles incorporate the company’s exclusive Bluefin High Density Signal Processing (HDSP) networking technology, giving the consoles the power and flexibility to configure complex shows to be packed inside even compact consoles. Calrec’s Omega desk features 160 channel-processing paths packaged as 48 stereo plus 64 mono channels, allowing up to 24 x full 5.1 surround channels.