YES Productions Goes All-Calrec

YES Productions and its parent broadcaster, WYES, recently purchased their second and third Calrec Audio consoles to make the network an all-Calrec operation. The PBS Station and its mobile affiliate acquired a Simga for an HD truck and a Zeta for their New Orleans studio.

“When I have a console bouncing down the highway in a mobile unit, it needs to be reliable because I can’t afford problems,” says Jim Moriarty, VP and GM of YES Productions. “Having Calrec consoles in place is a load off my mind because I know they are going to work, and work well. To me, Calrec has earned its name recognition and reputation by building top-quality consoles and providing service to match.”

A new 64-fader Sigma console, equipped with Calrec’s proprietary Bluefin high-density signal processing, has been installed in YES’s HD-1 truck where it replaces an aging early-generation digital console. The move comes on the heels of YES installation of a Calrec Omega with Bluefin console in its HD-2 truck last year.

“With only two trucks, YES Productions is nonetheless an international player in the mobile production business, having covered thousands of entertainment and sports shows including the Olympics,” says Jim Wilmer, Calrec director of sales (Americas). “In this economic climate, everyone is budget-conscious, but YES, like all our customers, recognizes that at Calrec, cost effectiveness and high quality go hand in hand.”

Calrec’s Sigma console provides 320 channel processing paths that can be configured for up to 52 full Dolby 5.1 surround channels. Channel capacity is augmented by a buss structure that is the same as that of Calrec’s larger Alpha console, including 20 auxiliaries and 48 tracks. The system’s built-in delay smoothes out synchronization problems like those associated with mixed-format HD/SD production.

The smaller, 24-fader Zeta console installed last December in the WYES studio has 108 channel processing paths and will be used primarily for news and entertainment shows, including a highly anticipated new cooking show, which will be carried by many PBS stations nationwide starting in the fall of 2010. The studio Zeta also gives YES a means of familiarizing new audio operators with the workings of a Calrec console in a calmer setting than live mobile production.