Plenty of comm racks carry analog ports nobody has patched since the last time someone needed a 2-wire. That hardware costs money, rack space and power, and on a lot of corporate and broadcast shows now it just sits there.
Clear-Com's Avalon IP Station is built for those shows. It's a 1RU intercom core that runs FreeSpeak wireless, HelixNet partyline and V-Series IrisX keypanels over the network, and it drops the built-in analog I/O that Arcadia carries.
What It Is
Clear-Com introduced Avalon on June 15, 2026, around InfoComm, as "a purpose built 1RU IP intercom communication platform" for broadcast, live events and production. The pitch is simple. If your show doesn't need analog audio connections, you shouldn't have to pay for them.
According to Clear-Com's Meet Avalon page, Avalon offers "the same core performance and capacity as Arcadia": up to 200 licensed ports, 100 channels and 300 roles. The difference is that it comes "without the cost of built-in analog hardware."
Architecture: IP
Avalon runs on AES67, Dante and Clear-Com's I.V. Direct.
4 LAN ports: 2 × RJ45 and 2 × SFP. Each one can be assigned to management (which also carries HelixNet and I.V.), AES67, Dante primary or Dante secondary.
AES67 connects the FreeSpeak IP transceivers and IrisX keypanels.
Dante handles local audio interfacing, with up to 64 Dante ports.
I.V. Direct links to other Clear-Com systems (LQ, Eclipse E-IPA, Arcadia, other Avalons), locally or remotely, with up to 64 ports.
AES67 can't share a LAN port with Dante primary, and Dante has to be on a different VLAN or network from the IP transceivers. The AES67 network also needs PTP accurate enough to keep the FreeSpeak IP transceivers happy. In other words, a cheap switch from the shop shelf won't do.
Clear-Com Avalon IP Station. Image: Clear-Com
Capacity
According to Clear-Com's datasheet, a single Avalon handles:
FreeSpeak: 32 IP transceivers and 64 beltpacks (1.9 and 5 GHz)
HelixNet: up to 24 channels and 128 user stations (beltpacks, speaker and remote stations)
V-Series keypanels: up to 64 over AES67 or I.V., with the "Essential" feature set
Dante: 64 ports. I.V. Direct: up to 64 ports
200 licensed ports total, plus 100 IFBs and 300 roles
The catch is that Avalon doesn't work with FreeSpeak II E1 transceivers or 2.4 GHz beltpacks, according to Clear-Com's own fine print. If your shop has a pile of those, check before you quote.
Licensing
Capacity is licensed by port. The model number (16P, 32P, 48P, 64P) tells you how many ports you start with, and you can add licenses in the field. In the CCM web app you can set each licensed port to accept any connection type or lock it to Dante, Wireless, I.V., AES67 keypanel or HelixNet. If a device shows up without a matching port, the connection is refused. That's handy for keeping stray devices off the system, and a nice surprise at 6 AM if you got your counts wrong.
How It Fits With Arcadia, Eclipse and FreeSpeak
Clear-Com calls Avalon and Arcadia "a family" of system cores. Arcadia is still the choice when you need built-in analog and IP, front-panel control and support for older systems. Avalon is for shows that are IP-only. Eclipse HX is still the big matrix, and Avalon talks to it through I.V. Direct and E-IPA. Analog, 2-wire, 4-wire and GPIO come in through the LQ Series interfaces. Clear-Com also says Avalon can reach Encore partyline and its virtual clients through LQ.
Setup and UI
There's no front-panel menu to scroll through. You set up and monitor everything in CCM, Clear-Com's browser-based Core Configuration Manager, which Arcadia users already know. Clear-Com calls the feature set "Essential," which is a polite way of saying it isn't every matrix feature Eclipse has.
For years, comm has been the last department with a rack full of analog ports "just in case." Avalon is Clear-Com saying out loud that many shows don't need them anymore. The tradeoff is that your comm system is now only as good as your network. The PTP, the VLANs and whoever set up the switch are all now part of the comm chain. When the beltpacks drop, there's a good chance the problem is the network.
Shipping Status
Availability on dealer shelves is uneven. As of Oct 7–8, Full Compass listed the 16-port and 32-port models as in stock. The 48-port and 64-port models showed "extended delivery time," and Markertek listed the 64-port as a preorder expected in January 2027.
-CTC Staff
