THE POWER OF PULSE-EIGHT

They say you can judge a company by how it copes with challenges and by that marker Pulse-Eight has come through the last 12 months with flying colours, not just coping with the pandemic, but actually growing during that period Director of Sales Marc Waple explains.

The last 12 months or so have been among the most challenging for any type of company to deal with. Travel disruptions, restricted working practices and world-wide shortages of components all made it extremely challenging for manufacturers to continue to operate during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, with our proud ‘Made In Britain’ heritage and some nifty footwork in getting ourselves organised, Pulse-Eight did not just survive, but thrived, producing two new cutting edge products during lockdown and maintaining our extremely high manufacturing standards; including one of the toughest and most thorough testing regimes around.

Anyone who has ever visited our manufacturing site in Poole, Dorset will have seen how proud we are of how well our systems are designed and the efficiency of our processes. You might say it’s relatively easy to set up a production line that can cope with everyday normal operation - after all that is what we do, we are a manufacturer through and through, but its less easy to cope when a serious challenge like COVID-19 arrives. That is when the real test of a system is delivered. We are very proud that we were able to carry on (mostly unaffected) and continue our roadmap of new product creation, delivering the ProAmp8, (our one of a kind multizone and multichannel home cinema solution) and our neo:6a (6 x 8 HDMI/ HDBT distribution matrix) during lockdown. Not only that, but we continued to develop and deliver our rigorous testing regime which underlines the reliability people expect from Pulse-Eight.

TESTING TIMES

We want to be sure that every single piece of equipment that we produce will be able to cope with what the world will throw at it, so each of our products has their own specialised testing setup, created just for that line to test the PCBs to their maximum capabilities on both a mechanical and electrical level. This approach ensures that each product is 100% functional before it ever reaches our customers, and we can remove from the supply line at source any products with an issue. For maximum efficiency, this process takes place before final assembly and following that, all completed units receive a final full load real world testing to double check

they are ready to do exactly what we say they will and installers can purchase with genuine peace of mind every single time they order a PulseEight product. All of these steps are carried out on 100% of what we manufacture, so we genuinely have complete control of the quality of the stock we produce. We are not reliant on any other company and consequently have one of the lowest failure rates in the whole industry, reliability is literally built into our product’s DNA.

NEW INNOVATIONS

So, reliable products are a great asset, but they also need to deliver the functionality that installers want. Enter our two latest creations, the ProAmp8 and neo:6a.

Let’s look at the ProAmp8 first up, designed as a powerful multizone and multichannel home cinema solution for this exciting and growing part of the sector.

This versatile product boasts a highly capable Eight-Zone Power Amplifier that delivers excellent audio performance with robust and reliable Class D amplification all in a compact form factor for ease of installation. The product is happy in a traditional rack installation, but can be located elsewhere and is good looking enough to be on show if that is required.

The ProAmp8 has been created to be the ideal all-in-one solution for both surround sound and distributed audio systems, delivering a flexible solution to cope with a huge range of projects.

Delving into the features a little more, the ProAmp8 delivers full audio DSP and EQ settings, Multi- Zone Mode and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound Mode. This level of versatility allows for a 5.1 home cinema to be created at the same time as powering a multiroom, whole-house distributed audio system all from the one unit.

The amplifier has been created to be the perfect partner to Pulse-Eight’s ProAudio DSP pre-amp range and latest neo video matrix products. The ProAmp8 delivers an EightZone Power Amplifier driven by ICEpower modules creating up to 100W of high-quality sound per channel. There are also eight stereo (L/R) analogue inputs and one digital (coax/optical) input with Dolby support and bridgeable outputs zones to create flexible power configurations. The unit also delivers full Dolby Zone DSP and Equalizer (EQ) control and has its own fault detection and system reset abilities - which protects the amplifier and connected speakers from any potential damage. The product offers a low-energy consumption profile when in standby and not in use and also has automatic sensing and 12V trigger options for efficient energy savings with a fast wake-up. Also on board is user-friendly Web UI control access, with the product delivering easy integration with third-party control systems. Proudly built in Britain, the ProAmp8 can cope with a multitude of tasks at a level of quality and reliability that installers will love.

Also added during lockdown was our new neo:6a matrix with added audio breakout. The complete kit includes six HDBaseT 70m Class B PoH receivers, delivers Ultra HD 4K Video Transmission (up to 340Mhz), as well as 1080p and 3D support. Also included is full HDCP 2.2 support to deliver reliability and future proofing abilities as well as six HDMI Inputs, six HDBaseT Class B Outputs, two HDMI Outputs and six HDMI Source Audio Breakouts (Optical & Digital Coax). As with all neo matrices, the neo:6a allows multiple control methods including, HDMI-CEC Bi-Directional Control functionality, Bi-Directional IR Control and a highly responsive Web Interface. Completing this comprehensive line up of features and abilities is automatic EDID management, a three-year warranty and of course our ‘Built in Britain’ stamp of quality.

We firmly believe that installers and the industry in general are looking for key abilities, great products, reliability and innovation. At Pulse-Eight we strongly feel we deliver in all these areas, not just when it is easy, but when it hard and that is how you recognise the PulseEight difference.

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Product testing is second to none at Pulse-Eight