Calrec to Unveil Small, High-Powered Audio Console at IBC 2009

Calrec Audio today announced it will unveil Artemis, a small audio console with huge routing and processing power, at IBC2009 in Amsterdam. Artemis is based on the award-winning Apollo platform introduced at the NAB show this year and, like Apollo, relies on the most advanced Calrec technology — Bluefin2 for processing and Hydra2 for routing. Bluefin2, the next generation of Calrec's trademark Bluefin High Density Signal Processing platform, enables Artemis to provide substantial resources at multiple sample rates. Running at 48 kHz, Bluefin2 gives Artemis up to 640 channel processing paths, 128 program busses, 64 IFB/track outputs, and 32 auxiliaries. Hydra2 is Calrec's next-generation networking system, which uses high-capacity 8192 x 8192 crosspoint routers while making available a variety of I/O units to provide analog, AES, MADI, SDI, and Dolby® E formats. All use copper or fiber connectivity and can be fitted with GPIO cards. Console routers can stand alone or be connected to form large networks. Artemis features also include a second compressor/limiter in each channel, more than 70 minutes of assignable delay, and three independent APFL systems for multiple operator use. As always, Calrec engineers have designed the infrastructure so that the facilities share no resources, making each available to the user at all times. Artemis' soft control surface combines OLED displays, touch screens, and light-emitting knobs to provide the user with instant visual feedback and the flexibility to reconfigure the desk on the fly. Central to the Artemis console is a dedicated integrated router so that its I/O functions can be performed by the Hydra2 networking system. As with all Calrec consoles, the system architecture includes full automatic hot-swap redundancy for all DSPs, control processors, routers, power supplies, and connections. Since its launch in April, Apollo has been sold to NTV in Japan, while both the Artemis and Apollo consoles are key to broadcast television operations at the MediaCityUK project in Salford Quays, Manchester, U.K. Coincidentally, Calrec's first-ever Apollo was delivered to The Fountain Studios, London, U.K., on the 40th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing, July 20, 2009. The Artemis console was named for the Greek goddess, Artemis, twin sister of Apollo, who later supplanted Selene as goddess of the moon.