NEP UK has introduced Calrec’s ImPulse 1 cores, an RP1 and a compact Type R mixing panel into its NEO hybrid remote unit, used to deliver coverage of the English Football League (EFL) to Sky Sports.
Designed around two headless Calrec ImPulse1 cores, an RP1 and a compact Type R mixing panel for disaster recovery, the lightweight mobile unit delivers reliable remote IP connectivity and routing for up to three EFL matches every week.
“NEO is part remote production technical truck and part tender, a hybrid trailer designed to reduce the number of vehicles we send to site,” said NEP UK deputy head of sound/technology Neville Hooper.
“The ImPulse1 cores are used purely for audio routing and distribution; they process incoming field audio, gain match everything for onward distribution, route to and from the RP1, manage outputs of the RP1 for local onsite distribution, and hand everything off to Sky’s Production Hub in Osterley.
“Meanwhile, a lightweight Type R panel allows us to create a disaster recovery mix in the event of circuit problems or issues at Sky, and as the surface is POE-powered it consumes much less power than a conventional console,” added Hooper. “Coupling this with the headless ImPulse1 cores means we can keep power consumption to a minimum without sacrificing processing capacity.”
The implementation adopts NEP’s proprietary TFC Broadcast Control System to integrate third-party IP equipment and route IP flows from other devices on the network, with incoming Dante signals processed as AES67 in the ImPulse1 cores. NEP delivers a multichannel MADI audio stream to Sky as well as MADI streams to Calrec’s RP1 for local cue feeds. Both are remotely controlled in Sky’s production hub in Osterley.
“NEO provides a blanket configuration that meets all our needs,” said Hooper. “As there is no control surface on the ImPulse cores, control is managed via Calrec’s Assist, Control and Connect GUIs, which are already familiar. Calrec Assist is the main configuration tool across the ImPulse Cores, Type R and RP1, and it is helpful to have the same user interface to configure all devices; it speeds up learning as there are less new interfaces to learn to operate the system.”
