Calrec unveils compact version for Argo audio mixing platform and ImPulse1 engine at NAB 2024. Calrec’s Argo audio mixing control platform, honored with the NAB 2023 Product of the Year award, will take center stage at this year’s NAB event.
   

Making its debut appearance will be the new, compact variant of Argo-S, our adaptable and scalable IP-native mixer control surface. This variant integrates the meter-bridge and touch UI into a single row of displays, allowing users to seamlessly switch between the Calrec Assist full Web UI and full meters on any section, on-the-fly. Retaining Argo’s hallmark ethos of flexibility, customization, ergonomic design, resilience, and support for multi-user workflows, this form factor is ideal for fitting into tight spaces or serving as a drop-in replacement for smaller consoles. It’s also well-suited for applications where a low-profile design or improved line-of-sight over the surface is essential. Like its larger Argo counterparts, each 12-fader wide section operates independently in terms of processing capabilities, path control access, power supplies, and connectivity, ensuring no reliance on any individual section.

Calrec’s Argo Q and Argo S models, designed to adapt to evolving production requirements, embody a novel approach to audio mixing by offering a flexible control philosophy that breaks away from traditional geographic tie lines between processing and control.

Argo is fully modular, featuring interchangeable hardware panels and Calrec’s time-tested Assist UI at its core. This ensures a familiar and user-friendly interface whether operating on physical hardware panels or a remote GUI. Its modular panel system encourages broadcasters to tailor surface hardware to meet their specific needs, with the larger Argo Q model boasting two mid-level rows of interchangeable panels and the Argo S model featuring one mid-level row.

Argo’s architecture provides unmatched system resilience, with the surface safeguarded against single points of failure thanks to each self-contained, 12-fader section benefiting from a redundant power supply and dedicated processor. This system flexibility enables these self-contained sections to be connected via local or wide area networks, making them ideal for distributed productions. For instance, a customer could have a 48-fader main console in London and a 12-fader FX surface in New York linked to a core in Paris, facilitating flexible working arrangements.

Calrec has introduced a comprehensive system of user templates to enable instant customization of the hardware user interface to meet changing requirements or user preferences. Argo’s physical control surface features optically bonded touchscreens for superior visual feedback and accessibility. Soft panels enhance the user experience, while hardware panels allow users to define functions and apply them as templates, facilitating quicker navigation across the surface and enhancing intuitiveness. Additionally, Argo’s interchangeable panels can be positioned as needed, simplifying console expansion and adaptation to individual requirements, including sub mixing or mixing in alternative locations.

Also showcased at NAB this year is Calrec’s ImPulse1 IP audio processing and routing engine — a compact yet potent, cost-effective ST2110 version of the well-established ImPulse. ImPulse1, a compact 1U solution with an optional second core for redundancy and a new 128 input channel DSP pack, offers entry-level pricing.