Calrec and Grass Valley partner to virtualise audio workflows

The companies plan to integrate Calrec's ImPulseV virtual digital signal processing (DSP) software with Grass Valley's AMPP cloud-native live production platform to create a software-defined production environment. The deployment is intended to provide broadcasters with a unified environment for managing live broadcasts.

Coupling Grass Valley’s video production experience with Calrec’s broadcast audio system, ImPulseV, is expected to strengthen audio workflows within Grass Valley’s Ampp Ecosystem. Calrec’s pathway into Ampp OS will start with Ampp Control integration and evolve towards a fully native ImPulseV application running on Ampp. The collaboration strengthens Ampp’s tier 1 audio capabilities alongside its tier 1 video production strengths, creating a single platform for high-end live productions.

The cohesive Calrec ImPulseV and Grass Valley Ampp integration is designed to help broadcasters virtualise audio workflows without compromising quality, latency, or the operator experience. It will reportedly deliver common orchestration, shared control, scalable infrastructure, and elastic resources aligned to live production demands. It will also provide cloud and on-prem flexibility.

Calrec's ImPulseV creates flexible workflows across commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware, public and private cloud, existing processing hardware and distributed resources, contributing to a flexible hybrid production environment. ImPulseV is part of Calrec's Ecosystem, powered by True Control 2.0, which unifies the company's control surfaces with remote production capabilities. Broadcasters can use True Control 2.0 to manage up to five Calrec consoles or processing cores simultaneously.

By integrating ImPulseV with AMPP, broadcasters' flexibility to manage their assets is further expanded. One control surface can adapt – without loss of quality – to local, cloud and remote productions.

Both ImpulseV and AMPP provide OpEx based deployment models, enabling broadcasters to expand event coverage. The integration delivers audio capabilities that scale, without compromising the operator experience.

Sid Stanley, Managing Director at Calrec, said: “Our virtual ImPulseV technology, combined with the Grass Valley’s Ampp Ecosystem, creates a powerful proposition, uniting best-in-class solutions to give broadcasters the freedom to build, scale, and adapt without compromise. As our industry transforms, the need for agile, scalable, future-ready solutions has never been greater. Together, Calrec and Grass Valley are setting a new standard, combining cloud, virtualisation, and multi-vendor integration into one seamless ecosystem for next generation production.

“The introduction of ImPulseV into this ecosystem is a key milestone, enabling customers to deploy everything from micro-control rooms to global production environments with speed and precision – shaping infrastructure around their needs, not the other way around. This is not just an important announcement for today, but a meaningful step towards the future. Both Grass Valley and Calrec are deeply committed to continuous innovation and investment – because in a world moving this fast, standing still is not an option.”

Adam Marshall, Chief Product Officer at Grass Valley, commented: “With the integration of Calrec’s ImPulseV into Ampp, we are extending the power of software-defined production with tier-one audio workflows. Media organisations can now deploy premium audio capabilities in a fully software-defined environment while maintaining the quality, responsiveness, and familiar operator control expected for high-value live production. Whether on-prem, in the cloud, or across hybrid environments, it all operates within a single, unified platform.”

David Howell recently spoke to Jonathan Lyth, Product Director of Enterprise Media at Grass Valley, to find out how broadcast AV is redefining itself around network-native, production-grade media systems that can scale, are interoperable and operate reliably inside modern IT environments. Discover more here.