Corplex gets a Platinum upgrade from Calrec

By Andrew Lippe
Remote production services provider Corplex is upgrading the audio desks in its
Platinum HD mobile unit this June, incorporating Calrec’s Bluefin High Density
Signal Processing system technology, adding flexible TFT metering, full 5.1
Surround Sound spill control, and 12 more faders (for a total of 60). The
Platinum has been used on the Masters, PGA Championships, and in CBS football
games and Super Bowl XLI.

“Platinum had the first installation of the Calrec Alpha eight years
ago,” says Dave Greany, Corplex vice president and partner. “Calrec
is giving us an upgrade that is effectively like getting a brand new
console.”
Bluefin High Density Signal Processing was introduced at NAB
2006 and packs performance into a single card, more than doubling the
processing power of the Alpha console on just one DSP card.
Kevin Emmott, Calrec marketing coordinator, says Calrec
ensured that having to increase console capacity to cope with HD television
would not involve buying a new desk for existing customers. Bluefin technology
is compatible with all existing Alpha consoles.
Calrec’s TFT metering system enhances the way in which
signals can be metered while 5.1 source handling allows 5.1 Surround Sound
sources to be processed and handled as single inputs. The addition of a
Surround Spill panel allows for comprehensive adjustment of individual discrete
elements.
The upgrade allows both the Platinum truck with the Calrec
Alpha and Calrec’s new unit Iridium, hitting the road this summer with a Sigma
desk, to be at the same level of capabilities.
“I like to say our Alpha has found the fountain of youth,”
says Greany.