As Pro Audio Asia goes to press in December 2016, the world’s political landscape looks very different to how it did a year ago. This year has thrown up some huge challenges and disruptions, bringing about a tangible air of uncertainty, and an awareness that changes are afoot. How those changes will manifest remains to be seen, of course. It is too early to predict with any accuracy how the seismic events of Brexit and the US election will unfold, or how the violence in the Middle East will ever be resolved. So the effects of changing world affairs on our industry are impossible to call. But to cheer ourselves up, let’s take a look at the effects this small industry has had on the world in its relatively short lifetime.
While it’s true that globalisation is under attack for leading to some of the situations we see unfolding today, the world is undoubtedly a better place for the democratisation of technology and the exchange of cultures which mere decades ago wasn’t possible. The increasing access to information, communication and entertainment is undoubtedly enriching lives around the world. And that is partly down to our industry, which develops and distributes products, expertise and services around the globe that assist the process of creating and producing music, performance and broadcasting.
about what they do, and where we can build globe-spanning relationships with like-minded people, all working towards the same goals. Most of us are lucky enough to be able to travel freely and conduct business on an increasingly international platform. It is to be hoped that all of this can be maintained
All that remains is for us at Pro Audio Asia to wish you, our readers, a very happy and prosperous new year.
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17 Upper Grosvenor Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 2DU, UK
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CHINA: In collaboration with its Chinese regional distribution partner, Lion Audio, both Fane International loudspeakers and sister company Precision Devices have opened a new business development centre in China. Located in the Panyu district of Guangzhou, the centre is strategically situated above a shopping centre hosting many high-speed rail link. The sales and development centre will provide an important foundation for the UK brands by further enhancing their presence whilst providing service and support for their growing customer bases.
The new business centre serves Precision Devices with a boutique showroom displaying a range of the Fane and Precision Devices components, whilst providing technical application support to
customers. A further goal of the centre is to develop relationships with new and existing manufacturers and suppliers by hosting technical seminars, product demonstrations and meetings.
‘Our new centre is an important investment and step for our continued growth and development in the region,’ commented Fane and PD sales director Neil Barnes.
we have established and underlines long-term approach we attach to developing close relationships with our partners. The centre allows us to deliver close strategic support services and immediate on-hand
technical support. Alongside our regional partner, Lion Audio, our focus is to add real value to our business relationships. Loudspeaker components cannot be sold on their technical data alone. We need to show the products, explain
suitability and make suggestions for optimum performance in our clients’ intended application and enclosure design. We also have a dedicated demonstration and listening room where we can demonstrate our
requirements. Our products need to be heard to fully appreciate the levels of performance that can be delivered. Our objective is to provide a winning advantage.’
www.fane-international.com
www.lionaudio.net
www.precision-devices.com
TAIWAN: Tainan City Council’s meeting rooms have been equipped with conferencing systems from Taiwanese manufacturer BXB. The installation comprises solutions from the FCS-6300 Conference and Fun microphones series, which have been deployed across seven rooms
within the council chambers.
The council’s large meeting room, presentation room and four review
FCS-6321 delegate and FCS-6322 chairman microphones. The tables in each of the rooms already
possessed holes to accommodate the wiring for a previous system, and these were reused for tablemounting the new microphones. The manufacturer notes that these microphones are designed to not be affected by mobile phone signal.
Meanwhile, Fun-6313 and 6314 microphones have been installed in the party caucus room. These are also table-mount microphones, which feature BXB’s smart voicecontrol functionality and won the iF Design Award.
www.bxb.tw
WORLD: Samsung Electronics has to acquire Harman International Industries for US$112 per share approximately US$8 billion. The for approximately 65 per cent of sales. Samsung made this sector that the combined strengths of the companies makes for a compelling proposition. The companies technologies, as well as its long-term largest automakers, will ‘create the combined business by enabling connected mobility, semiconductors, user experience, displays and its global distribution channels.
‘Harman perfectly complements Samsung in terms of technologies, products and solutions, and joining forces is a natural extension of
Electronics. ‘Dinesh Paliwal is a
strong senior leadership team and
the major factor in the deal, there are also other sectors which the combined companies will look to brands and audio capabilities and
complete portfolio of consumer and professional products and systems.
A/V market the deal is expected to business-to-business platform integrated, large-scale audio and stadiums, concert facilities and other performance centres.
‘This compelling all-cash transaction
employees as part of a larger, announcement is a testament to
Harman chairman, president and CEO. ‘This transaction will complementary strengths together
underscores the strength of our success and leadership across our markets. We look forward to working together with Samsung to
When the deal closes, Harman will operate as a standalone Samsung subsidiary, and continue to be led by Dinesh Paliwal and its current management team. Samsung force, headquarters and facilities, as well as all of its consumer and professional audio brands. Samsung employees of both companies. The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close in mid-2017.
www.harman.com
www.samsung.com
Python KP52 models, whilst the performers compact KRM33P wedges. Crucially, all the enclosures come out of the box IP-rated and prepared for the equatorial conditions. Powering the entire system are two KA84
SINGAPORE:
largest retail and lifestyle centres. Located at Park amphitheatre commands a sweeping Resort World Sentosa. The outdoor seating area – comprising wooden tiered pews and protected from the intense elements by a large white circular canopy structure – looks down upon the simulary sheltered 1m high, 10m x 12m stage. This was recently used as concert party, for which the Synergy AVL
management was tasked to upgrade the Working closely with Loud Technologies Asia, Synergy AVL was appointed to replace loudspeakers that had operated faithfully in the hot, humid, saline conditions for six years. A stereo pair of dual K-array Kayman
4-ohms. Bypassing the need for external each channel. These functions are remotely library of presets can be easily accessed Technologies Asia has customised the looking at traditional point source and line array solutions, Synergy AVL wanted to be one such systems, so we proposed a K-array with linear output. When we showed a sample of the KY102 Kayman system, the assessors were sceptical that such a slim enclosure would output a peak SPL of 138dB, but luckily the strong portfolio that K-array possessed
by the K-array speaker system, the on-site Synergy AVL technicians worked around the clock to determine the white space for the existing Shure wireless microphones, light programming and engineering brackets for the new trussing. At the same time, the old tungsten lighting was replaced with a Cameo LED solution supplied by Adam Hall Asia, combining 24 CLZ120 Zoom Pars and a
furthered Synergy AVL director Henry Sara.
extension from the same left and right suspended brackets are two 1,800W-rated KMT21P 21-inch subwoofers. Rear-seating
www.loudtechnologiesasia.com
www.vivocity.com.sg
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biamp.com/devio
INDIA: Famed for his award-winning work as an Indian re-recording mixer
much more time to execute a mix because of the time it took to sync time.
function for creating a downmix that add harmonic distortion and reverb www.film-mixing.com www.nugenaudio.com
MALAYSIA:
each two hours in duration. Shure
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VIETNAM: Amate Audio recently invited its Vietnamese customers to visit its headquarters and factory in Terrassa, Spain, to attend a two-day seminar. The Spanish manufacturer sought to strengthen its relationship with its customers in Vietnam, and organised the event in collaboration
where the manufacturer had set up a presentation and demonstration of its Xcellence range. This offered the chance to listen to and compare the series in different setting. Paco Rodriguez, also a product applications engineer,
with its Vietnamese distributor, Media Equipment Joinstock. The seminar began at the manufacturer’s factory, where those in attendance were given an introduction and overview of the company and shown the manufacturing process. Amate Audio product application engineer, Daniel Bartolomé, then discussed the Joker series, providing training and demonstrations during the
On the second day, attendees were taken to La torre del Conill,
joined Mr Bartolomé in leading the demonstrations as well as providing line array and subwoofer alignment knowledge. The morning covered outdoor applications, while the afternoon and evening turned to indoor installations, as the Vietnamese clientele were taken to a Terrassa-based nightclub, Number One Club, which is installed with a variety of Amate Audio solutions.
www.amateaudio.com
www.mej.com.vn
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Genelec’s long-standing commitment to providing state-of-the-art monitoring solutions for professional applications continues. The new generation of high resolution Smart Active Monitoring (SAM™) Systems expands further with the 8340 and 8350 Smart monitors, the 7360 and 7370 Smart subwoofers and the 9301 AES/EBU Multichannel interface. Acoustically adaptable to every environment, providing outstanding sound reproduction accuracy, flexibility and unlimited configuration possibilities, Genelec SAM Systems allow you to only focus on your creative work. www.genelec.com
THAILAND: Bangkok’s Sikarin Hospital, located in the city’s Bang
WORLD: Camco has been acquired by L-Acoustics’ holding company, L-Group. Based in Wenden, Germany, Camco currently employs 50 staff and its products are available in 60 countries. The manufacturer also supplies components to pro audio manufacturers, such as L-Acoustics.
‘For over a decade, Camco has been a key supply partner of L-Acoustics. Their expertise in electronics for the professional sound industry has contributed to controllers. Welcoming them into the L-Group family of companies will allow both L-Acoustics and Camco
to continue growing our research and development expertise,’ explained Hervé Guillaume, managing director of L-Group. ‘This merger will give us the tools to develop future products to better serve our clients and explore new markets.’
Camco will continue to operate from its German headquarters with its existing team, keeping its brand name while becoming a sister company to L-Acoustics. The production of its systems, such as the i-series, Vortex, D-Power and well as OEM solutions will carry on.
‘Our recognised expertise in
the design and manufacture of electronics, combined with L-Group’s excellence in the varied domains of sound reinforcement will allow us both to deepen our skills and enhance our ability to innovate. The united strength of our teams will open up multiple and exciting opportunities for mutual future growth,’ said Reiner Sassmann, managing director at Camco. ‘We are excited to join forces with a leader in the professional sound industry.’
www.camcoaudio.com
www.l-acoustics.com
www.l-group.com
to cater to its newly-expanded needs. Having recently constructed a 14-storey third building, the hospital now has 235 beds for inpatients and the ability to handle 2,800 outpatients in addition to 24hour emergency services. AllAhead Co Ltd was awarded the contract to design and install a comprehensive security solution in the new Building 3. It devised a security solution that can be centrally monitored based detection, evacuation voice alarms and access control systems from Bosch. A Plena voice alarm system with 153 speakers was installed for the hospital’s public address announcements and background
panel with 336 FCP-O320 optical smoke detectors were installed for monitoring the presence of smoke
he can immediately address the situation.
To provide video surveillance of the premises, 59 Bosch Flexidome IP indoor cameras and 26 IP Bullet cameras were installed inside the building and along its perimeter. The project was secured by AllAhead Co Ltd thanks in part to Bosch’s reputation in the sector, states the manufacturer, as well as the installer’s ability to implement the project and provide after-sales services and training.
asia.boschsecurity.com
WORLD: The Freedman Electronics Group, which owns pro audio brands such as Røde Microphones, Event Electronics and Aphex, has acquired surround sound recording brand SoundField from TSL Products. The purchase sees Freedman Electronics Group enter into the ambisonic audio market. SoundField is considered the forefather of 360-degree surround sound audio capture technology, having established it in 1978.
Freedman Electronics now assumes control over SoundField, including
PHILIPPINES: Audiocenter’s distributor for the Philippines, Tanlin Electronics Corporation, recently and roadshow event to take place in the country. Tanlin has represented the manufacturer for over 20 years and used the Cebu-based event to showcase the K-LA-DSP line array and TS Series active systems.
To fully demonstrate the products, a stage setup was rigged with
its existing product catalogue, which is set to continue, and branding.
Support and warranty for SoundField products will now be handled by Freedman Electronics. Meanwhile, TSL Products retains the upmix/ downmix processing product range, which will be rebranded.
‘The applications for cinema, home theatre, music, gaming and, crucially, the rapidly growing virtual reality medium are astounding,’ enthused Peter Freedman, managing director of Freedman Electronics. ‘Oculus Rift,
Playstation, Google, Samsung, HTC, even Facebook, are all exploring and expanding immersive VR.’ Following the acquisition, TSL Products product director Pieter
Schillebeeckx will be joining Freedman Electronics to serve as its new product development director. He will bring more than 16 years of experience in working with SoundField’s technology.
challenge,’ said Mr Schillebeeckx. ‘Røde is simply the envy of the audio industry and, with Peter Freedman’s vision on both product innovation and market strategy, this is a great opportunity to develop new technologies and be part of the
ongoing audio revolution that Røde is building.’
‘We’re proud to have brought the revolutionary SoundField range to its current prominence across many sectors,’ concluded TSL’s Chris Exelby found a new home with one of the world’s most innovative microphone manufacturers, where it can be developed still further.’
www.rode.com
www.tslproducts.com
per side and 12 K-LA218-DSP subwoofers ground stacked in a stage. Monitoring was handled by six TS-15 cabinets while Audiocenter systems engineer Roshan Malim aligned and tuned the system. The event was well publicised with a promotional video having played out on an LED advertising screen in Cebu’s business district in the days leading up to the seminar. This resulted in a strong attendance
at the roadshow, which featured performances from local bands Limited Edition and Sonata Cebu Band as well as local DJs. The mayor of Cebu also appeared.
www.audiocenter.net
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CHINA: For the second year in a row, Guangzhou Haona Audio Equipment Co Ltd (Haona) supplied the audio equipment for the Electronic Jungle Music Festival at Shenzhen Universiade Centre. The festival, which featured sets from jungle artists such as R3HAB, Knife Party and Adventure Club, was presented by Jungle Events and organised by MNET Media.
NEW ZEALAND: Southward Car Museum, based in Paraparaumu, exhibits more than 250 vehicles including three aircraft. In addition to providing visitors
relocated and set up wherever it is needed. ‘For me, Qu’s greatest assets are the touchscreen interface, which makes tasks such as EQ-ing and routing very easy,’
‘We were responsible for the whole sound system, including both the big stage and the smaller one,’ recalled Haona president Kong Qinghua. ‘The general contractor for lighting and sound, Music Trick Lighting (MTL), asked us to take on the project because our equipment is suitable for the show and we also provide strong technical support.’
An L-Acoustics loudspeaker system comprising 24 K1 units that were complemented by 24 K1SB subwoofers was deployed on the big stage. Joining these were eight Kudo cabinets, six KS28, 16 SB28 and a pair of SB18s, as well as six Kara. For stage monitors, six 115XT HiQ were installed, while eight LA48a and 24 powered the system alongside six
provided coverage for the VIP area.
The small stage was served by 12 Outline GTO loudspeakers and six
by a pair of X8 and 12 T11 units.
Completing the setup were two L-Acoustics SB18, a pair of 115XT HiQ monitors and two LA12X
‘L-Acoustics and Outline are well recognised in the electronic music industry,’ explained Huang Zhenan, Haona’s managing director. Mr Kong added: ‘They have a very strict training regime in place for their dealers and distributors, which provides consistent and standardised technical support in each country,
the effect of the show.’
Not only did the festival expand in duration for this edition (from one day to two), it also increased in size with the addition of the second stage and a relocation to a larger venue. This resulted in additional challenges for the Haona team.
‘There were small hills with trees at the venue and the organisers added a VIP section,’ said Mr Kong. ‘We needed to calculate the coverage accurately before the show and take all of these factors
into consideration. There were also some adjustments made onsite and we had only two days for setup and alignment.’
‘The equipment needs to be able to work for eight consecutive hours, from 2pm to 10pm, with full power energy and at a very high SPL,’ added Mr Huang. ‘These are harsh conditions for the products. Concerts or touring shows, for example, last two to three hours and nightclubs
needed to prepare more headroom when we designed the system and back-ups.’
Careful planning was required to ensure that the best possible solution was implemented and communication was key. ‘It’s very important to communicate with the customer before the show and plan accordingly,’ Mr Huang noted. ‘Manpower can be arranged equipment can be checked in the warehouse, but if the organiser or the venue require changes to be biggest challenge. In such situations, the person who is in charge needs to make very quick decisions.’
www.haona.com.cn
and automotive enthusiasts with an informative day out, the museum also serves as an event venue, hosting festivals, balls and conferences, and recently upgraded its audio setup. Included as part of the new equipment installed was an Allen & Heath Qu16 rackmount digital mixer.
‘We need to offer our clients a professional service, including good quality audio equipment,’ explained Levi Hampton, booking and events coordinator at the Southward Museum Trust. ‘The Qu mixer is a no brainer – it’s easy to operate from setup to pack down.’
can vary depending on the
the Qu mixer’s dSnake Cat-5 cable connection allows for it to be easily
concluded Mr Hampton. ‘The simplicity of the console makes for load out time.’
www.allen-heath.com
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WORLD: Sennheiser has released the Ambeo Music Blueprints, an online guide for 3D sound recording using the manufacturer’s Ambeo 3D immersive audio technology. The dedicated website features three categories: Ambeo for Loudspeakers; Ambeo for Binaural; and Ambeo for Virtual Reality. Aimed at seasoned audio engineers as well as those that aspire to work in sound and streaming specialists, the website offers expert advice, sound examples, equipment rental options, instructional videos and free downloadable plugins.
‘Our greatest experiences of music are usually live moments in which we are completely immersed in sound and the situation,’ said Véronique Larcher, director Ambeo Immersive Audio at Sennheiser.
‘With Ambeo Music Blueprints, we are showing how to record and mix music with the same grandeur and
natural, spatial sound as in the original performance.’
The Ambeo for Loudspeakers section looks into the main microphone setups employed for creating 3D audio recordings. ‘For
a 3D audio recording, the usual stereo pair of main microphones is replaced by the Ambeo Cube or the Ambeo Square,’ noted Gregor Zielinsky, tonmeister at Sennheiser. ‘Just as with standard
stereo recordings, the sound of the main microphones can of course be enhanced by employing spot microphones – the Ambeo Blueprints explain what aspects to pay attention to for best results.’
Ambeo for Binaural examines new for Binaural is a straightforward way to produce 3D audio for immediate enjoyment by listeners. All they will need is their standard stereo pair of headphones,’ explained Ms Larcher.
Finally, the Ambeo for Virtual Reality area highlights how Ambeo can be adopted to create 360-degree recordings. ‘Just as the production of immersive recordings and streamed content is a growing craft, so the Ambeo Music Blueprints will grow, becoming a hub for comprehensive information on 3D immersive audio, with a wealth of useful tips and tricks from sound experts across the globe,’ Ms Larcher added.
To access the blueprints, visit www.sennheiser.com/ambeo-blueprints.
www.sennheiser.com
JAPAN: The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) has set up a new subgroup to focus solely on the organisation’s activities in Japan. This subgroup, chaired
by Ted Miyazawa of Panasonic, will tailor AIMS’ goal of delivering education and awareness of industry standards for the transmission of video, audio, and ancillary information over an IP infrastructure for the Japanese market.
‘Japan is home to key vendors and customers that contribute to the IP transition effort, so naturally AIMS wants to be as effective as we can in communicating with those important stakeholders,’ explained AIMS board chair Michael Cronk. ‘We recognise that our marketing will be more effective in Japan if it is conducted in the Japanese language and targeted at events and activities that draw Japanese broadcasters. We have a strong message for a common set of IP interoperability
formation of a Japan subgroup is one step towards ensuring that our message reaches a global audience.’
www.aimsalliance.org
MALAYSIA:
to be purchased in Malaysia has been installed at 24-hour news and information channel Astro Awani. The broadcaster purchased its Brio console through JAA Systems Sdn Bhd (JAA.S) .
‘Although Brio occupies a small footprint and is easy on the budget, it is still a true broadcast mixer with the comprehensive feature set we need,’ said Rizal Ali, senior assistant vice president, technical operation-
management at Astro Awani. ‘We had just six hours of downtime to switch from our old mixer to the Brio console. With the help of JAA.S, we were able to integrate the new console into our facility and bring it online very quickly.’
‘Calrec’s new Brio mixer is a compact and powerful mixer that easily copes with more than its price suggests,’ added David Chan, reference site in a new territory can
WORLD: US-based manufacturer, QSC has become a GPA (Global Presence Alliance) accredited vendor. The GPA’s purpose is to provide a single source for all A/V and communications solutions worldwide, as well as standardised services to ensure global consistency.
QSC manufacturers a range of pro audio solutions, including signal processing, digital signal transport and computer control systems.
‘We understand that our end user customers are looking to integrate global standardsbased technology throughout their enterprise. However, with this desire comes unique needs in different regions,’ explained
Joe Pham, CEO of QSC. ‘This partnership expands QSC’s global reach and provides our customers with the increased level of local support, design expertise and consistent user experience they are accustomed to. We look
forward to serving our global clients and becoming an even more strategic partner.’
‘QSC is a tremendous example of a traditional audiovisual manufacturer making the transition into the converged digital reality of our market today,’ said Byron Tarry, board president at the GPA. ‘They are exhibiting great leadership and innovation, and have shown great alignment to the GPA’s goal and delivery model. We’re excited to add them to the growing list of marketleading technology vendors that are committed to a better, more through the GPA.’
www.global-presence.org
www.qsc.com
be a challenge. With a broadcaster as respected as Astro Awani providing the benchmark, other broadcasters
in the Calrec brand. I’m certain that further exposure to Brio and other Calrec consoles will drive rapid and meaningful growth.’
and the team at JAA.S would be successful in introducing Calrec technology to Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia,’ concluded Anthony Harrison, international sales manager for Calrec. ‘We’re extremely pleased with how quickly and convincingly JAA.S was able to convey the value of Brio to potential customers and into Malaysia. With JAA.S on hand to provide local support, customers know they will also enjoy a high quality service0.’
www.calrec.com
www.jaasys.com
Shinichiro ‘Yone’ Yonekura is Director of Business Development for d&b Japan. He’s been on board since 1998. “For nearly twenty years now d&b has been growing with wonderful people all around the world. It still impresses me and makes me proud to say that every single loudspeaker is made by hand by our colleagues in Germany.” In 35 years d&b has evolved from a small garage venture to a worldwide standard in professional sound systems. It’s people like Yone who make this story possible,
35 Years
KOREA: A meeting for fans of Korean boy band VIXXCHOOL took on a new meaning recently, with an audience of 9,000 people descending on Seoul’s Olympic Gynamstics Arena. Supported by a large TW Audio Vera speaker system, the concert was arranged to show support for the band’s core fan club, who nickname themselves ‘Starlight’. Instead of a typical concert, the show included individual performances from the band members and fewer group presentations than usual. Star Networks Korea was entrusted to supply the audio for the event.
‘A K-Pop concert has to be loud, much louder than a heavy metal
concert, simply because one is up against thousands of screaming
fans,’ offered Star Networks’ head technician, Seokwoo Choi, on the
PAPUA NEW GUINEA: The television series, Coke Studio began in Pakistan in 2008 and has since spawned versions in India and MENA. Sponsored by Coca-Cola, the show features various artists from the respective region, performing in a live studio environment. The latest incarnation of Coke Studio is the upcoming Coke Studio PNG (Papua New Guinea), which was recently recorded at Port Moresby’s Stanley Hotel ballrooms and will be broadcast on TV Wan.
Six8eleven Video Productions
during the show’s recording, drawing upon its extensive
challenges of catering to such a performance. ‘We increased the number of Vera36 boxes and subwoofers so we had enough headroom to handle this challenge whilst maintaining the clarity and
intelligibility.’
The setup saw left-right hangs of 42 Vera36 enclosures, with 16 Vera S33s and eight BSX subwoofers
were powered by 20 Lab.gruppen
Framed by an illuminated arch as part of the set design, the wide split into main hangs of 21 cabinets, ‘During the show, when the arch was illuminated, the loudspeakers seemed to disappear into oblivion,’ added Mr Choi. ‘This was important for the director of the show. He needed to have a big system, but also one that wasn’t too obvious or massive in size. But most of all he was impressed with the sound of the system and its power. The show went down really well.’
www.twaudio.com
experience with ARX products. The production company deployed a 16-channel MSX 48 Splitter that distributed the signals to the monitor mix, multitrack recording studio and for the back-up sound recording. The Australian manufacturer’s Direct (DI) boxes were also implemented across the various musical instruments used by the artists, while a Blue DI (Bluetooth Direct Box) facilitated background music delivery during commercial breaks. The studio’s sound was mixed using a DiGiCo SD8 console.
Coke Studio PNG will showcase a variety of musical styles, from that
JAPAN: Celebrating its 50th anniversary, the National Theatre of Japan has been undergoing refurbishment in a bid to attract larger audiences as the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games draw closer. An is currently underway, for which six SSL Live L500 Plus consoles are playing a major part.
State owned, the theatre is operated by the Japan Arts Council and holds the responsibility of upholding traditional Japanese theatrical and performance styles. This includes researching, educating and providing performances for disciplines including kabuki, bunraku, noh and kyogen. The main building comprises a large hall that
accommodates audiences of up to 1,610, whilst a smaller hall seats another 590 visitors. Separate from the main building, the Engei Hall is used for staging smaller productions.
Prospective suppliers were given notice that the theatre’s console of choice would need to produce
natural sounding audio. The combination of the Live L500 Plus console’s SuperAnalogue mic amp technology together with its 96 kHz operation and signal processing capabilities made it a front runner. With limited space available in the theatre’s machine room, the fact that the console’s processing
of the local culture to contemporary genres such as rock, hip-hop series includes Melanfunk, Betty Tamanabae, Richard Mogu, Pius Wasi, George Telek, Moab String Band and Emma Richards.
www.arx.com.au
hardware is housed inside the console itself, rather than in racks, gave the Live L500 Plus console a clear advantage.
The large hall has now been installed with three of the consoles,
A further two were deployed to the small hall for which one is used for mic inputs and the other for both remaining Live L500 Plus has been which is moved throughout the venue to wherever it is needed and used for both recording and sound reinforcement applications.
‘The L500 Plus consoles are working as we expected,’ commented National Theatre head of technical division Makoto Ishi. ‘They have very and outputs, and the stem bus-type and output matrix are very useful.’
www.solidstatelogic.com
ACTIVE HIGH-OUTPUT STAGE MONITOR
The TT45-CXA is a full-range, high-performance symmetrical monitor. The linear curve response, the consistent coverage and acoustic output make the TT45-CXA the professional choice for medium and large stages. The voicing is accurate and deep, the sound transparent in the mids and extremely accurate at very high frequencies. The size is compact and the profile low, for a discrete appearance. By producing a response with flat amplitude and phase, fullrange bandwidth and exceptional impulse response, the TT45-CXA far exceeds the capabilities of conventional nitors.
• 2200 Watt, three-way class D amplifier
• 50° x 90° constant directivity coverage
• 2 x 10’’ neodymium woofers, 3.0’’ voice coil
• Horn loaded 1.4’’ neo compression driver, 4.0’’ v.c.
• Symmetrical design
• Multifunctional cabinet
• DSP processing
• Onboard RDNet control
JAPAN: While celebrating its constructed its inaugural 4K OB van. The production truck was installed
MediorNet Compact real-time media network as well as an Artist digital matrix intercom system and a Performer partyline system. The the manufacturer, as the MediorNet deployed.
‘As we expand our business to address rapidly growing demand for 4K content, we can
CHINA: A new cruise liner destined for the Chinese market, has been delivered from the Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany to the Dream Cruises shipping company. The ship will undertake weekly and weekend trips departing from Guangzhou, and week-long trips from Hong Kong and Sanya. Tasked with providing
with Meyer Werft specialists during the design stage, ASC devised technical solutions with an emphasis on the ‘translation of show ideas into practice’, with special attention paid to audio reinforcement in areas such as the 1,000-seat theatre. There’s no shortage of things to do on the vessel either; entertainment includes small submarines which accommodate four passengers ship, the Zodiak Theater presenting
media equipment in the cruise liner’s various entertainment areas, German systems integrator Amptown System Company (ASC) was enlisted for its expertise in audio, light, projection, and control engineering and its implementation of broadcasting and transmission applications.
was no small feat. Working closely
reliability of our signal transport and communications infrastructure,’ stated an Express Co representative. setting the industry standard, and we plan to take full advantage of it in providing top-notch 4K OB production services.
‘We’re very excited about the brings to our new 4K-capable OB van, as well as the versatility and interoperability of the company’s Artist and Performer systems,’ continued the Express Co
spokesperson.
‘Japan’s ambitious plans for rolling out 4K broadcasts are coming to fruition, and demand for 4K production is high,’ said Cameron
technology, already proven in 4K production for some of the world’s most prestigious sporting competitions, Express Co, Ltd can meet this business opportunity with an innovative OB van that handles all signals effectively.’
www.riedel.net
rooms, the Zouk at Sea event area with Indoor Club, Sport Bar with pool tables, a bowling alley, the Zouk Beach pool party venue and a water park.
While it’s common on similar ships to source equipment from a variety of companies, ACS worked with d&b audiotechnik to design and install a ‘single-source’ PA system to provide
distribution options throughout the ship, with the d&b models selected according to the application and area. A DiGiCo console takes pride of place for mixing in the Zodiak Theatre.
Away from audio, a large complement of Martin Professional equipment has been deployed
console in the Zodiak Theatre. A serves as a stage for dance shows, which is programmable with content via a coolux media server system and can be moved while the show is ongoing. The Zouk at Sea Club with an outdoor party area at the with a saltwater-resistant Daktronics LED-Wall suspended from a bespoke steel structure.
www.amptown-system.com
No compromise in performance. Whatever you’ve experienced before expect more, even under the toughest RF conditions. The outstanding audio quality, rock solid RF wireless transmission and proprietary audio codec from Sennheiser’s wireless masterpiece, the Digital 9000, are now available for the most demanding live productions with the Digital 6000.
No compromise for your business.
Digital 6000 is ready to be used with a wide range of Sennheiser and Neumann capsules and antenna solutions, increasing the return on your existing investments. Made in Germany, the two-channel digital wireless receiver features an ultra-wide 244 MHz switching bandwidth and a wide range of connection options, making Digital 6000 a smart, reliable choice for years of professional use.
No compromise in your workflow.
Digital 6000 integrates seamlessly into digital or analogue system infrastructures via Dante, AES-3 or transformer-balanced analogue outputs. Security is ensured by AES 256 encryption. An automatic frequency setup function and dedicated management software (WSM) make for simple, reliable operation.
CHINA: Having been appointed as the exclusive dealer for EAW’s Radius loudspeaker system and Mackie’s Axis modular digital console, Guangzhou Wsound Technology Co Ltd chose Pro Light & Sound
Shanghai as its event of choice to launch both products to the local market. The dealer also hosted
a seminar in the Grand Ballroom of the Shanghai San Want Hotel in collaboration with the brands’ Chinese distributor, EZPro.
EZPro’s Tao Cheng opened the Wsound’s appointment as a Radius and Axis dealer. ‘EZpro and Wsound have been communicating for a
year, building both our trust and understanding of each other,’ he stated. ‘We’ve now reached an agreement to cooperate with each other.’
Acknowledging the new partnership and EZPro’s support, Guangzhou
Wsound vice president Liang Weijie outlined the dealer’s plans to support the new brands in the region with the opening of several operations centres.
‘In order to provide better marketing and service support, Wsound has established operation centres in Guangzhou, Shanghai, Chongqing
president. The various centres will be run by Qian Wenqi and Xu Heng in Shanghai, Li Yu in Chongqing and
Zhang Jie from Beijing.
Following the presentation, Mackie’s APAC product specialist, Jason Tan, offered an overview and demo of the Axis mixing system which is capable of supporting wireless remote control from up to 20 iPads at the same time.
company is planning to host more roadshows and develop new business relationships over the coming months.
www.eaw.com
www.ezprointl.com
www.mackie.com
www.wsoundpro.com
INDIA: Dev Electronics has installed the sound solution at new Mumbai-based gym, AF10. With the client seeking a system that could provide high-quality audio playback for a variety of music genres to keep gym-goers motivated as they work out, the systems integrator deployed a solution based around Apart Audio’s Mask 6 wall-mounted loudspeakers.
system is fed from a Pioneer XDJ-R1 all-in-one DJ system.
‘High energy music provides a burst of adrenaline and energy, so you could say that music is what keeps the body and mind going during an intense workout,’ explained a member of AF10’s management team. ‘We can proudly claim that our gym facility delivers
In addition to multiple units of the Mask 6, which have been integrated throughout the facility’s main gym hall and CFT hall at key locations to ensure the best possible coverage, the Belgian manufacturer’s Sub12S subwoofer has also been implemented. Dev Electronics serves as an authorised Harman distributor in India and looked to its Crown portfolio to power the installation at AF10 by
fantastic quality sound thanks to the amazing system we have in place. Many of our members have complimented us saying that our music playback is the best that they’ve come across. The entire team at Dev Electronics has done a splendid job integrating and tuning the system.’
www.apart-audio.com
www.develectronics.com
CHINA: Held jointly by The Audio Professional Committee of the China Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (CSMPTE) and Pro Light & Sound Shanghai, the inaugural International Film and Television Technology Forum (IFTT) was deemed a great success by organisers and attendees alike. The main theme of the forum was Cross Integration and Innovation, which addressed topics related to the latest concepts and developments in production, products and technologies for sectors, in addition to media integration, 3D audio and IP application technology. Held in the large ballroom at the Holiday Inn in Pudong in tandem with the the forum saw a plethora of international experts delivering speeches on topics such as AoIP (presented by SSL’s Anthony Gofton), 3D and the genesis of immersive audio (presented by Andrew Levine) as well as talks from Adamson’s David Dohrmann and Sennheiser’s Kevin Jungk.
Jing Fu Li, director of the sound committee of CSMPTE explained the rationale behind staging the event. ‘The market is developing
technology from Germany. Also, the 22.2 multichannel technology from Japan is here. We invited more than 10 specialists to speak at the forum
attendees, with representatives coming from different provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. ‘Whilst we are a
and CCTV, as well as from provinciallevel TV stations and professional manufacturers. Because this is an academic exchange, they feel this is very valuable.’
Thoughts are already turning to the next IFTT, where organisers are keen to remain in Shanghai – due in part to the good cooperation it affords with PL&S Shanghai. ‘We’re IFTT has gone,’ enthused Mr Chen, chief secretary of the CSMPTE audio committee at the end of the second day. ‘We’ve had over 300 TV stations and universities through the doors; a really nice broad section of attendees. The challenges that our industry faces with the introduction of new media means that we have a pivotal role to play as we inform our members about those new technologies and their
very fast with increasing demands; our forum provides a focus on cutting-edge technologies in the industry at this time. For example,
surround sound technology here, including Dolby Atmos and the latest
talking about the most advanced comprehensive technical overview
television industry.’
Over the course of two days, the forum attracted more than 300
attendees are our members, and this ensures the quality,’ added Mr Jing. ‘They have come from a variety of organisations such as the Shanghai Film Studio, The State Production Base of China Film Group
real collaboration; we’ve had great support from the companies we’ve worked with and more companies want to join us next time.’
www.csmpte.com.cn
AUSTRALIA: Sydney-based restaurant, hotel, bar and wedding venue operator Merivale has recently added The Newport shore-side pub to its expanding portfolio. Upon taking over the venue, Merivale CEO Justin Hemmes and A/V manager Glenn Rayner sought to replace the sound system, opting for a Martin Audio setup comprising the CDD and MLA series. Technical director of the manufacturer’s Australian distributor Technical Audio Group, Anthony Russo, provided consultancy and assistance with the design, while the installation was carried out by Corporate Technology Services.
‘We looked at the existing audio at The Newport and quickly established that the only way we’d get the sort of clarity and coverage we required was to have lots of speakers,’ said Mr Rayner. More than 180 CDD to negate any dead spots, following a shootout with several other loudspeaker brands.
‘It’s an enormous installation –the design process took months,’ explained Mr Rayner. ‘Because it’s coaxial you can install the speaker in a landscape or portrait orientation
and you maintain the same highly coherent sound quality. What’s more, the dispersion pattern of the Martin Audio CDD design is intentionally non-symmetrical. It means there’s a wider dispersion
pattern for those close to the speaker (say, around 120-degrees) and narrower for those more distant (around 80-degrees). The advantage of such an approach is a more consistent delivery of HF, regardless
of the listening distance.’
The venue’s garden includes a stage and has been installed with speakers from the MLA range. Eight MLA Mini elements have been installed per side, with two MLA Mini subs. ‘We wanted to do something that not only sounded good but looked the part,’ Mr Rayner noted.
‘The Martin Audio array certainly looks like it’s meant to be there and looks a lot like a festival stage –
The Newport, a portable rack that can be wheeled to the side of the stage has been equipped with a single Cat-5 connection for plugging into the MLA system. This has been loudspeaker zones throughout the venue during a performance, with the 180 CDD loudspeakers serving as delays, the MLA PA system set to time zero.
‘Across every output and group of speakers we have EQ, compression, delay, HPF, LPF, DSP on every output; we’re not limited in any way,’ said Mr Rayner. ‘It means we can walk the venue with a Wi-Fi every set of speakers. It took weeks to get right.
‘I’m looking forward to having streamed media available all the time, anywhere,’ he concluded. ‘It’s something we have in a more modest way but I can see it being widespread when it’s more cost effective and simpler to use.’
www.corptechservices.com.au
www.martin-audio.com
www.tag.com.au
Kling & Freitag balances passion with precision for uncompromising audio quality and 'German engineering'
We are driven by a desire to provide and technically guarantee music and sound as a genuine sound experience. This is what each product by Kling & Freitag stands for - or, as we say, 'Passion built in'
INDIA: Purchased through Dev Electronics, Indian live sound company Hardia Sound has invested in a JBL VTX line array system and Based in Indore, the company has reportedly enjoyed an explosion in the gig scene in Indore and the surrounding areas, with ‘most event and concert organisers, corporates and luxury hotels seeking its expertise for their respective 18 VTX V25 cabinets, 18 S28 subwoofers with accessory kits and
The system has already been put to use supporting recent Dandiya
‘Without a doubt, the VTX system super reliable and super easy-to use and work with,’ said Mahesh Hardia, combined with the awesomeness of the V5 presets and Crown I-Tech HD
We were impressed with the performance and delivery of the system the moment we heard it, and there was no doubt about
JAPAN: Having recently been appointed as the Japanese distributor for dBTechnologies, event to introduce the Italian manufacturer’s products to the
‘From experience, we always knew how crucial it was to purchase the rig from a source that was trustworthy, reliable and customerfriendly, especially from the sales, engineering and technical support was absolutely no doubt that we’d be doing business only with Dev Electronics, and needless to say, the experience we had in dealing with the entire team was absolutely have the new JBL VTX rig and we’re wonders for an enhanced scope of
‘Dev Electronics has always strived to deliver the best possible solutions customised to suit users’ needs, and we are absolutely elated to have been of service to Mahesh Hardia and his team at Hardia Staying true to our eternal objective of delivering the best sales and after-sales experience to all our clients, we welcome Mahesh and his entire team at Hardia Sound into the Dev Electronics family and we look forward to serving them with their future technical solution
www.develectronics.com
CHINA:
in the Shanghai Happy Valley, within the Shehan tourist resort, plays host to a variety of spectacular shows
Lake of Illusions is the latest performance to be staged at the 1,500-spectator time performance incorporates
Offering spectators a panoramic view, the show was reinforced by a d&b audiotechnik V-Series weather resistant loudspeaker system supplied and supported by the manufacturer’s Chinese distributor, Lake of Illusions was created, designed and produced by French who specialise in multimedia shows include the 1998 French World Cup and both the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing
The audio system used to cater for the production included 12 Vi8 full range cabinets deployed for the mid
The whole system was driven by d&b also be remote controlled through the d&b remote network via Ethernet or
The event took place in Tokyo at the City Hall building, with approximately 100 industry
Yosuke Matsuno coordinated and hosted the demonstration, which started with a welcoming speech followed by an introduction to dBTechnologies from its sales
The manufacturer’s application manager, Marco Cantalù, and manager, Tetsu Uchida, discussed line array cabinets, the Sub series, impressed, not only by the high
The complete equipment installation took the team a month, with a further month spent rigorously programming the audio systems to ensure its safety
That attention to detail this paid dividends however, with nightly sell
www.dbaudio.com
www.eca2.com
www.sws.com.hk
sound quality of dBTechnologies professional audio systems, but also by the company’s history and
‘We received wonderful support from the dBTechnologies team, Our partnership has just begun, but
dBTechnologies’ success in the
‘Japan is one of the most important marketplaces for
best possible partner for our brand in Japan, as they created a team of highly talented people who immediately caught the potential of our products and presented them in the best way to Japanese
thanks goes to Yugi Hanabusa and general manager Kenji Matsu for their presentation speeches, and of course I’d like to thank Yosuke Matsuno and Tetsu Uchida who did excellent work for the launch
www.dbtechnologies.com
www.teac.com
‘We were impressed with the performance and delivery of the system the moment we heard it’
HONG KONG: The Faculty of Arts at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is made up of 11 departments that run a multitude of undergraduate, masters and doctorate educational programmes. Several committees coordinate the faculty’s activities and meet regularly in the department’s main conference room. When the existing conferencing solution began to fail regularly, an upgrade was deemed necessary, with 31 channels
microphone system installed by A/V solution provider EduServe.
‘The head of faculty wanted a higher quality solution to ensure that discussions and meetings could take place without interruptions,’ recalled EduServe manager Carl Poon. ‘A solid acoustic environment and interference-free system were the top priorities.’
Due to the range of topics
discussed between varying numbers of committee members in the conference room, the new system also needed to provide a degree wireless gooseneck base transmitter
gooseneck microphones provided the solution for participants seated around the meeting table. Adding speech reinforcement for anyone standing in the room, EduServe also deployed three lavalier microphones. An access point transceiver, networked charging stations and audio network interfaces for integrating third-party equipment complete the setup.
into the room’s existing sound structure,’ concluded Mr Poon. ‘It is fully compatible with the already central control system, and is also
video conference system available in the room.’
www.eduserve.com.hk www.shureasia.com
INDIA: speakers have been used for FOH monitoring for Arijit Singh at the recent Global Citizen India Festival 2016 taking place in Mumbai. The monitors were provided by Eve’s Indian distributor, Modi Digital. Attracting 70,000 fans, the event India Festival, the goal of which is to highlight the accomplishments of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
absolute treat to have in a live scenario,’ explained Sunny Sanour, FOH engineer for Arijit Singh. ‘Usually studio monitors work well in a controlled environment but these
blew my mind. I was tasked with doing a broadcast mix of the live gig and these monitors helped me achieve that studio clarity and detail to make the mix sound good. The low ends which these monsters can produce is amazing. I will be travelling with these monitors for all my tours. Thanks to Aditya Modi from Modi Digital for letting me try them.’
‘In addition to its “regular” business, Modi Digital always looks for ways to present Eve monitors at all kinds of opportunities or events,’ added Eve Audio’s Kerstin Mischke. ‘The concert 2016 is a prime example.’
www.eve-audio.com www.modidigital.com
INDONESIA: Clair Brothers Indonesia (CBI) supplied the audio solution for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Pekan Olahraga Nasional (PON) at the Gelora Bandung Lautan Api Stadium. CBI in turn called on the expertise and guidance of Wayne Grosser, director of Clair Brothers Australia, to assist with the design.
‘The client wanted a 5.1 system, which is pretty hard to do in a 75,000-seat stadium on three sides, and we had less than three weeks to get the project prepared,’ Mr Grosser explained. ‘So we did a left and right, centre and surround and a centre main. The centres served as two systems: as central effect and central for the presidential speech.’
big metal sail. It looked stunning, but sound-wise it was very challenging,’
To control the vertical dispersions, the i218-LT cabinets were installed arrays. ‘The dispersion on these is 2.5-degrees and the throw was approximately 148m,’ Mr Grosser furthered. ‘We had 12 stacks of three i218s as centre effects and also for covering the three sides. Those centres reached the last bleacher of the seating! We didn’t need to apply subwoofers around the perimeter because the four i218s in each of the 12 positions had dual 18s in them, so there was plenty of low extension.’ The surround element was a used Avid Pro Tools for the playback and we had rainforest effects, among others, coming in through those surrounds which would merge forward into the lefts and rights,’ recalled Mr Grosser. ‘I think there
that got mastered down to 16. CBI’s Pro Tools expert, Asmoro Jati, worked each night until 6am.’
A further challenge came from the location selected for Indonesian
president, Joko Widodo, to give his address. The speech was given from the VIP area located directly opposite the main stage. This would result in a 226ms delay in the president’s audio coming back to him.
‘When the announcements were made from the podium we didn’t use the left and right clusters as they noted Mr Grosser. ‘That’s where we used the 12 stacks of i218s which provided coverage up and around all three sides with good intelligibility. the entertainment aspects, we didn’t have any sound from the main arrays
The ceremony was deemed a success and the setup remained in place during the course of the games prior to its use for the closing ceremony. ‘The closing was pretty much all done in Pro Tools,’ concluded Mr Grosser. ‘It was interesting as we had limited information and a tight time frame. CBI’s managing director, Ellyas Benyamin, and his team did a great job considering the challenges that were presented throughout.’
www.clairbrothers.com
The solution comprised a main LR PA of four Clair Brothers i218LT three-way active long throw cabinets and 28 i218-M elements. An additional 16 i218-Ms were ground stacked across 12 positions around the stadium. Delivering surround sound were eight R2D-M and eight kiT12 two-way elements. subwoofers while 20 12AM units served as stage monitors. PLM 10K
the setup, which was controlled via a pair of DiGiCo SD7 consoles at FOH while two SD10 consoles handled the broadcast feed.
‘One of my top engineers, Cameron Elias, was on the SD7s, which were located up with the show director high in the bleachers due to the politics of the event and security protocol,’ stated Mr Grosser. ‘The two SD7s were in mirrored mode for redundancy, which worked well, but they were up at the 148m mark. That’s what the engineer had to
mix with. I managed to balance the system, making it as true as possible and consistent from that position down to the VIP seating, but because you’re close to the ceiling you’re dealing with additional ambient
The design of the stadium itself provided the main audio challenge. ‘The acoustics at this stadium were we controlled the vertical dispersion of the arrays because the roof was
Touring
VIETNAM: Electro-Voice’s X-Line Advance X2 compact vertical line array system has been debuted in Vietnam at an event held jointly by Bosch Security Systems Asia and regional partner Truong Thinh Equipment Sound – Light Co Ltd. Taking place at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center (SECC) in Ho Chi Minh City, the event welcomed audio professionals and guests of Truong Thinh and was followed by a threeday training course conducted by Electro-Voice product specialists for Bosch BSCPs, and Truong Thinh’s partners, dealers and technicians. The main highlight of the event was a demonstration of the new 12-inch X2 system, which has been designed to offer a high sound
pressure level, extended high frequency response and linear low frequency output in a compact cabinet to satisfy the demands of large houses of worship and theatres, as well as concert,
touring, sports and performing arts venues. A twin 18-box line array of EV X2/212-90 mains and 24 X12-128 subwoofers were deployed for the demonstration, powered by
RCM-28 Remote Control Module and a NetMax N8000 system controller. Powering the demos were performances from Dom Band, TT Band, Duz So, DJ Le Trinh, producer Phuc Bo and rapper Ha Le.
‘Bosch feels honoured to be able to organise such an impressive introduction event of the X-Line Advance Line Array X2, the epitome of EV’s sound products and systems,’ said Terence Ng, general manager, Bosch Security
Systems (Vietnam, Cambodia, and Myanmar). ‘We would like to express our gratitude and appreciation to Truong Thinh Equipment Sound –Light Company Limited to make this launch a success. We will continue to strengthen our partnership and support to Truong Thinh for many years to come.’
Director of Truong Thinh Equipment Sound – Light Company Limited, Pham Ngoc Truong, added: ‘The legendary X-Line Advance X2 linearray loudspeaker system has set a leading position that surpasses all other line arrays yet is a compact,
We are very happy to be able to bring this audio system into the Vietnamese market, and we are looking forward to many sales opportunities of the X-Line Advance X2.’
www.electro-voice.com
BANGLADESH: GatesAir has been awarded the contract for phase two of Bangladesh’s national HD radio rollout. The turnkey system comprises two self-contained FM radio stations with GatesAir
Flexiva FAX air-cooled 10kW FM transmitters, antenna systems and all auxiliary and support equipment. Bangladesh Betar, the only national government broadcaster serving Bangladesh, awarded the contract
supported rollout is ongoing. The initial phase, which covers the capital city of Dhaka and also includes two GatesAir Flexiva FAX 10kW transmitters, was targeted for completion by the end of 2016. The second phase will cover the populated cities of Mymensingh and Gopalganj, with an expected on-air date of June 2017. Both projects are radio deployments in South Asia.
GatesAir’s ability to also provide turnkey services helped to cement the phase two contract win, according to A.K.A.M. Fazlul Hoque, project director at Bangladesh
Betar Engineering. Along with site planning, design, integration and commissioning services, GatesAir will reportedly continue to provide extensive training services both in
Bangladesh and at its Illinois-based manufacturing centre.
‘GatesAir’s professional services, reliable systems architecture and value across the project duration, and will enable us to operate a cost-
FM and HD Radio service for a large portion of our population for many years,’ said Mr Hoque. ‘GatesAir’s bandwidth-rich HD radio platform will also allow us to add more audio channels and data services in the future without requiring any resources.’
www.gatesair.com
HONG KONG: Systems integrator and distributor, Jolly Pro Audio, has installed a Calrec Audio Artemis digital audio console inside News Studio 3 at Cable TV Hong Kong. The new 40-fader console is the Jolly Pro Audio, which serves as the manufacturer’s regional distribution
A division of iCable Communications Ltd, Cable TV is Hong Kong’s largest cable television network with more console was acquired in 2012 news studio, ST1, while 40-fader
versions were installed in both its ST2 news and ST9 entertainment studios. The British manufacturer’s
heart of Cable TV’s Hydra2 network, which delivers control and access to all networked audio resources. Hydra2 is also connected to Cable TV’s Waves Sound Grid network via a Waves Sound Grid interface module.
Artemis’ touchscreen.
‘Cable TV chose the Artemis because it offers the reliability and
Jolly Pro Audio executive director Andy Leung. ‘The Cable TV team also they’ve worked with, the Hydra2
initial installation.’
‘We are honoured that Cable TV has become such a loyal customer, in Calrec for their entire studio to the excellence of our consoles and networking solutions,’ said Anthony Harrison, international sales manager at Calrec. ‘Thanks to customers like Cable TV and received from Jolly Pro Audio, Calrec audio consoles to the Hong Kong broadcast market.’
www.calrec.com
www.jollyproaudio.com.hk
JAPAN: FM Hokkaido Broadcasting recently sought an IP solution to with six transmitter sites to reduce the cost of each STL (studio-totransmitter link). The broadcaster selected Digigram’s Iqoya *Link AoIP (audio-over-IP) codec, which is
The solution was recommended Solutions. functionality, quality, and reliability of Digigram’s Iqoya systems and features that are critical to our technical manager at FM Hokkaido Broadcasting. ‘SCA is a longtime
requirements. Since we took the total of 26 Iqoya *Link units, 12 of which are installed at the main station in an MPEG L2 an additional
SINGAPORE: Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, Rent was recently staged by theatre company Pangdemonium at Singapore’s Drama Centre Theatre in the National Library. Written by the late American playwright Jonathan Larson, the award-winning Broadway rock musical chronicles the lives of eight 20-something bohemian artists living through an AIDS epidemic in New York’s East Village during the late 90s. The inspirational story is backed with a notable musical
microphone choice, techniques and positioning were key to an overall good performance.’
After initial considerations and with only four days for setup, tuning and rehearsals, the designers settled for Audio-Technica. ‘They offer a very wide range of microphones, and I have used a variety of them before for recording and live productions,’ added Mr Yue. ‘Also thanks to the support from Audio-Technica and them letting us pick from their extensive inventory, during Rent
not colour the sound, and with the choices they offer and the positioning we were able to achieve in the little space available, only minimal EQ was needed.’
‘For us, Rent was the perfect showcase for how Audio-Technica can provide complete, purposetailored microphone solutions even theatre and musical world,’ stated Teng Shao Kai, sales manager of Audio-Technica (S.E.A.)
All-in-all, 27 channels from the band plus the actors’ vocals were sent to a Yamaha Rivage PM10 console at front of house. Every single input was split and copied, one channel set was used for on-stage monitors and the band members’ personal monitoring through an Aviom system, while the other set served for FOH.
came to help with scene changes, yet Mr Lee was always kept on his toes during show performances. ‘Rent is telling a story, and the audience must never get lost,’ he described. ‘So, maintaining the linearity of the show from scene to scene with their many different music styles and lead instruments, keeping the vocals, sung or spoken, intelligibly in a healthy balance with the rock band, was positively challenging.’
The result was delivered through a d&b audiotechnik FOH system. A centre cluster of 10 d&b T10 was hung above the stage, while left and right of the stage were each covered by four V12 stacked on V-Subs and B2 subwoofers catered to the main
soundtrack which earned critical acclaim when it was last staged in Singapore at the Repertory Theatre in 2001. Therefore, director Tracie Pang highlighted the importance of the audio quality and in doing so contracted Jeffrey Yue and Lee Yew Jin from CTRL FRE@K to handle sound design and engineering.
‘Our task was to keep it very close to the original Broadway production,’ explained Mr Yue. ‘Meetings with the director, Ms Pang, and the musical director, and understanding the story for system design and choice of equipment and techniques.’
The band crammed into a small space onstage right behind the set,
input signals, Mr Lee described: ‘We were facing the risk of picking up unwanted ambient noise from other backstage activities and equipment when, in addition to DI where possible, using microphones to catch the sound characteristics of acoustical instruments and guitar and bass amps, which are important tonal factors in many songs. So,
rehearsals we were able to try different models and setups, like the proved ideal for overheads; I love its clarity and will continue using it for my other shows.’
Other models included the dual-
AE3000 on the guitar amps and the low-frequency enhancement of the electric violin.
‘We strongly believe less processing is better,’ emphasised Mr Lee.
‘Audio-Technica microphones do
INDIA: Mumbai-based event management company, Shiva Systems, has expanded its audio system rental inventory with the purchase of d&b audiotechnik’s V-Series speakers. Ansata, the distribution partner, facilitated the sale.
‘When we were looking to purchase a new system, I wanted a brand that was a globally accepted standard for performers and acts across the board,’ explained Senthil Kumar, director of Shiva Systems. ‘I reliable, easy to use and most importantly, high on performance value in terms of sound quality and power. Without a doubt, the V-series
Manning the console, Mr Lee utilised DCAs for grouping inputs as well as sums. ‘Having both front of house and the on-stage systems on one fader each enables me to easily control and mix levels to prevent one overpowering the other, and to create the wanted “live” experience.’
A QLab Live Show Control system
Additional coverage of the two balconies above was achieved with further Ci and Q Series loudspeakers and matching subs, respectively. Remote control of power and mute was enabled through d&b’s R1 control software and R70 interfaces.
sea.audio-technica.com
www.ctrlfreak.sg
www.pangdemonium.com
system met all my expectations.’
The investment comprised eight line arrays with six B22 subwoofers. To power this setup, which was soon put to use as the main PA system at the 2016 edition of Mumbai’s Mud Rush Festival, Shiva Systems also purchased four of the manufacturer’s
‘The system is extraordinary in terms of its output to size ratio –the units are extremely lightweight and compact, which makes them extremely easy to transport and rig,’ Mr Kumar continued. ‘The power, dispersion and coverage is equivalent to speakers that are twice the size. The ArrayCalc software makes tuning the system easy and
ensures that the output is perfect. The icing on the cake was doing business with Leslie Lean and his team at Ansata, as they lived up to their stellar reputation in the market with great sales and aftersales service and support. We’re extremely pleased with our decision in choosing V-series.’
‘It’s heartening to have positive feedback from Senthil about the performance of the rig in a live environment,’ said Mr Lean. ‘We’re extremely glad to welcome Shiva Systems into the ever growing family of happy d&b audiotechnik users.’
www.ansata.net
www.dbaudio.com
www.shivas.co.in
... yet still relax listening to the pleasant background music.
Background music plays an important part of your business and therefore quality and reliability must also match performance, design and style. The A-5000 series offers the ability to control your music just the way you want it, with built in digital signal processors (DSP) that boast high efficiency and durability. Digital amplification for long-term use. Precise EQ settings via PC for optimal performance and security. Available in 60 and 120 Watt versions making it an ideal choice for small to medium restaurants and retail establishments.
We supply sound, not equipment. www.toa.com.sg I TOAasiapacific www.toa.co.in I TOAINDIA www.toa.eu I TOAeurope www.toa.jp (TOA global)
CHINA: Due to contractual disputes, The Voice of China was rebranded in 2016 and became Sing China event required an audio solution reliability. It was with this need in mind that the broadcaster reportedly
which were supplied by the an SD10 and an SD9. In addition to the equipment, the distributor also delivered technical support.
‘We have a 24/7 hotline to solve
Sing China,
support team was also available that happens – either planned
CHINA: Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk
was required at each cinema.
which doubles to 120,000 lumens when two
Qsquare were all equipped with this dual illumination system.
at IBC 2016, we have demonstrated to the world that Christie is the only projector
‘The show was a success, pleased that we have a very www.digico.biz www.racpro.net
in the system. This is unquestionably the most advanced projection system available, and the only system that can screen this
this major movie event, and have pulled out all the stops to ensure that Taiwanese audiences can enjoy this technically
and realism, would set a new milestone in cinema projection and it truly delivered on
www.christiedigital.com
CHINA: The Guangzhou Municipal Government and the China Illuminating Engineering Society recently hosted the sixth annual Guangzhou International Light Festival. The event was organised by Ruifeng Audio Technology Corporation Ltd and Guangzhou Ruifeng Jiansheng Light & Audio Equipment Engineering Co Ltd and curated by the newly-established Guangzhou Ruifeng Culture and Communication Co Ltd. The festival began with an opening ceremony at the Guangzhou International Sports Arena.
With Ruifeng Audio involved in the festival organisation, it should come as no surprise that LAX loudspeakers played an important role at the event, while the company also utilised the opportunity to showcase its other talents. ‘This marks an expansion of the company. Ruifeng was a distributor to begin with and then we started to build our own brands. Next, we set up our own engineering company to implement we have the cultural company,’
CHINA: Chinese recording artist and actor, Luhan, recently staged a concert as part of his Luhan Reloaded: 2016 tour that was streamed on YY Inc owned mobile app, ME. The live stream followed the former EXO member in the lead-up to the concert, including rehearsals, as well as the main
use Blackmagic Design’s Ursa Mini dynamic range.’
The Ursa Mini cameras were each equipped with the manufacturer’s Ursa Mini B4 Mount. All four of the which offers the device’s widest possible latitude.
explained Penny Huang, the general manager of Ruifeng Culture and Communication. ‘Because LAX was an already established audio brand, we looked to add more value and this was one of the reasons that we started Ruifeng Culture, which works on all phases of an event, from concept creation, playwriting and direction to prop making, rehearsal, lighting, sound and stage art.’
During the event itself, LAX speakers were installed to provide audio that complemented the lighting displays, with 70 per cent of the lighting features accompanied by interactive sound elements. Ruifeng deployed a dedicated team to design the sound systems for the different works. Meanwhile, with the festival taking place in Guangzhou’s central business district, where there is no existing emergency broadcasting setup, Ruifeng also worked with the police department and designed two dedicated emergency operation centres and a broadcasting centre for the festival.
www.laxpro.co
NEW ZEALAND: Showtechnix, which serves as EM Acoustics’ distributor
Halo-C compact passive line array element. Within a three-month time span, the distributor has completed a pair of Halo-C sales; one to the Forum North cultural and entertainment centre in Whangerei, which led to the second sale, to sound production and rental company, BounceNZ.
Forum North sought a system to replace the outdated solution inside its Capitaine Bougainville theatre. ‘We wanted a system that would provide quality sound and coverage throughout the theatre and that would last us at least 10 or even 20 years. Our old system had been in place since 1985, and whilst it was one of the premium systems its age and was no longer capable of handling the kinds of shows we are doing,’ explained Forum North technical manager, Ben Brittliff. ‘We
met Dave Shepard from EM and Martin McNally from Showtechnix at the annual Evanz conference and discussed details with Dave and Martin, we then knew this was the right choice for us. The technology inside these discreet units meant that they outperformed many of the larger, more cumbersome systems we had been considering.’
Showtechnix brought in Glen Ruske, owner of BounceNZ, to assist
performance. To provide the coverage, four Ursa Mini 4K PL cameras and an Atem 1 M/E Production Studio 4K with the Atem 1 M/E broadcast panel, all from Blackmagic Design, were implemented by the production company, Guangdong i-Mass Vision.
‘Concert lighting tends to be complex, bringing you both extreme brightness and darkness at the same time,’ explained Jiang Weizhong, director of Guangdong i-Mass Vision. ‘So we decided to
‘Besides a much wider dynamic live production gives you another
advantage because it includes an internal high quality recorder,’ said Mr Weizhong. ‘This means even in footage from each camera, great for postproduction, without hanging an external recorder for each camera.’
The signal from each camera was fed via SDI to a Blackmagic HDLink Pro for colour matching, before being sent to the Atem 1 M/E Production Studio 4K switcher, which was controlled by the broadcast panel. From there, the feed was taken to a live grading system, following which it was sent to ME’s live streaming system. ‘There are no white balance as found in EFP cameras,’ noted Mr Weizhong. ‘However, using the HDLink Pro converters, we were able to apply a pre built LUT to each of the camera feeds for colour matching, which is a simpler solution.’
www.blackmagicdesign.com
in calculating and aligning the EQ for Forum North’s new system. This was elements and, impressed with the system, he purchased a system for his own company.
Halo-C elements were straight out of the box, and how transparent they sounded,’ Mr Ruske recalled. ‘We need a multi-use system to cover other applications as well
and we feel that we can use Halo-C on pretty much anything, from corporate work to a complete LCR system for theatre. The cabinets are discreet, compact and sound and absolutely perfect for the live theatre work we do all over New Zealand.
consideration for Mr Ruske and drove additional investment, and looks likely to steer future purchases. ‘We also purchased the EM Acoustics amps and processors continued. ‘It’s an all-round great system and we’re very pleased with it. In fact, it’s performed so well for us that we decided to invest in some of EM’s smaller systems a small standalone system. We’ve added 12 ultra-compact EMS-51s to our hire stock.’
www.emacoustics.co.uk
MALAYSIA: A recent software upgrade at Star Media Radio Group, a leading Malaysian radio broadcaster, has seen Stagetec Asia improve the broadcaster’s audio logger with Sonifex Flashlog 8. Star Media Radio Group comprises four stations - RedFM, Suria FM, Capital FM and 988 FM – and broadcasts
Malaysian airwaves.
The Flashlog 8 upgrade reportedly provides the broadcaster with several a Raid storage capacity up to 2TB, which can last up to two years of radio broadcast log, states Stagetec Asia. Additionally, the Flashlog 8 can record up to 64 stereo line channels, 32 stereo FM stations, 32 AM stations, four DAB+ ensembles and 32 internet radio streams. The updated version of Flashlog 8 can also capture up to 16 stereo internet casts and is able to increase or decrease the number of logging days.
the upgrade process, we successfully managed to complete the work on time and without disrupting the radio operation, a necessity when the radio
is airing 24 hours a day,’ offered Stagetec Asia technical manager, Yap Wei Keong. ‘Meanwhile, the technical manager at Star Media Radio Group, Flashlog, commenting that “it looks good and I have not encountered any issues so far. The audio is a lot clearer now”.’
www.stagetecasia.com
CHINA: Following the construction the Beijing Film Academy’s School of Merging Technologies Pyramix audio workstation with a MassCore Engine and Horus network audio interface.
‘Once we start a session with the Merging equipment we enjoy an improvement in production quality,’ stated Professor Tong Lei, the dean of the sound school. ‘This equates to something similar to the best of classical music recordings.’
The studio’s Horus interface provides AD/DA conversion with support for up to DSD256 and DXD (352.8kHz PCM) super highresolution audio formats, and a large number of I/O channels over a single Cat-5/6e cable accommodated via Ravenna/AES67.
Aside from the new audio studio, the sound school has recently built the studio to research the standardisation of 3D sound. This research studio is connected to 40 speakers for playback, the positions of which are fully adjustable allowing for different
The 3D panner inside Pyramix is used here to customise the listening environment by adjusting the room size and speaker positions, without the need for additional third-party plugins. ‘The Pyramix DAW’s native 3D panning functionality allows us to cast off the shackles of the existing immersive sound formats,’ concluded Professor Tong Lei. ‘This has given us unprecedented convenience and gives us the possibility to undertake our 3D sound research far more
www.merging.com
SINGAPORE: Following the operations under a single headquarters in Singapore, Harman Professional has established a Customer Experience Centre at the same location. The centre was unveiled by Harman’s newlyappointed APAC vice president and general manager, Ramesh Jayaraman, as ‘demonstrating our commitment to expanding growth and customer engagement in the a permanent exhibition for a wide range of products from Harman’s JBL, Crown, Soundcraft, Studer, AKG, Martin, AMX, BSS, dbx and Lexicon brands.
With roughly 100 employees and nearly 1,700 sq-m of space, the Singapore HQ is the product of a
Jayaraman, 335 sq-m of which is dedicated to the experience centre. Everything is wired up and ready to use; from listening to each one in the range of AKG headphones to mixing a Beatles multitrack on a Studer
console or controlling Martin moving heads. Chiming with Harman’s recent emphasis on complete solutions for by application and demonstrated in real world-type scenarios.
‘We’re spending a lot of money on setting up a display at trade shows for product launches, presentations and demonstrations, only to tear it down again after three days,’ explained Erik Tarkiainen, Harman’s vice president global marketing.
‘We believe permanent displays are
for the clients and, hence, a better investment. People can come in anytime, bring their clients, learn and experience technology.’
Aside from product demonstrations, a portion of the centre is dedicated to providing training, with a number
means a focus on A/V equipment, networking and control in corporate, hospitality and retail environments. ‘Of the emerging markets around the world, the ones in this region have
of desks in front of a projector screen. Following the opening
Harman has planned three more
HQ in California, USA, in Martin Professional’s hometown of Aarhus, and in the Japanese capital, Tokyo. Each one will reportedly be setup
APAC general manager. ‘Corporate, hospitality and cinema are growing markets in ASEAN countries. Decision makers, consultants and advisers for these sectors in the APAC region are normally based here in Singapore, or come here. We want to showcase solutions for them. The new location will help us develop closer relationships with our enterprise and entertainment hand how we can meet their needs through innovative, integrated and holistic solutions.’ pro.harman.com
CHINA: When the Shenzhou-11 manned spacecraft successfully took off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Chinese national brand LAX was called upon to provide a public announcement system at the Beijing China Manned Space Engineering Command Center.
China as just eight hours after blast-off, the manned spacecraft
successfully docked with the Tiangong-2 space lab sent up in September 2016. The LAX audio system was deployed to broadcast the realtime status of the spacecraft throughout the facility during the launch. ‘We are proud our speakers witnessed this historic moment in Chinese aerospace,’ commented a spokesperson from LAX. www.laxpro.co
ON 17 NOVEMBER 2016, THE Global Citizen festival was staged Ranveer Singh. The festival is run poverty by 2030. And providing industry.
‘Sound was in a bad state in those days; everybody wanted to
The ‘70s also brought a gradual we were doing on a professional and Chennai.
inventory over the years. One of the
were being introduced, so a similar revolution was taking place in the world of mixing desks. ‘We bought Midas H3000 analogue consoles,
to come in,’ Mr Drego remembers. ‘Nobody had a 64-channel desk back then. Then when digital technology became available, we invested in the Yamaha PM5D.’ stopped working as an engineer himself, handing that baton to the next generation such as Electrocraft chief sound engineer and manager, Dwayne Das. ‘Lots of people have passed through our company and trained as sound engineers,’ says Mr Drego with obvious pride. Mr Das joined Electrocraft in employees. Today, around 30 people work from the warehouse in Bandra, Mumbai, with freelance engineers recruited when required. ‘Roger’s always been driven by passion, and he always strives for perfection,’ says Mr Das of Electrocraft’s success. ‘He made it a point of keeping up with new developments in the industry by travelling to trade shows across the world in an era before the internet made everything more accessible. ‘Of course, technology has changed over that time, mainly from horn loaded systems to line source arrays, and analogue to digital,’ continues Mr Das. ‘But we are still using the V-Dosc which we bought in 1998; nothing has and DSP.’
touring industry include the construction of newer venues suitable to large concerts, and own technical staff. ‘We don’t need to provide bands with a sound engineer so much any more,’ says Mr Drego. ‘This is quite a new thing. Lots of sound companies are doing a good job, with trained engineers and modern equipment, but it’s fair to say we started the trend.’
Mr Drego and his staff never stop
with lots of foreign crew over the years, as different PA companies and engineers come in with foreign
learn something.’
This has stood the company in
AN AUDIENCE of 80,000 turned out for the Global Citizen festival at Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex, having “earned” tickets through philanthropic pledges and activities to help alleviate poverty. Coldplay singer Chris Martin is the current curator of Global Citizen, and funds raised from the concert were donated to charity. And the band didn’t disappoint, with a two-hour set featuring a guest appearance by A R Rahman.
Audio equipment for the festival was provided by Electrocraft, with support from SNL Professional and Effect Tech from Mumbai, J Davis Pro Sound from Bangalore and Navneet Wadhwa from Delhi.
Two main LR hangs of 14 L-Acoustics K1 cabinets and six K-Subs per side were bolstered by LR hangs of 12 K2s per side,
40 SB28 subwoofers. Six LR delay systems were deployed across the venue, 76m apart.
good stead for productions such as a millennium concert with A R Rahman, Nelly Furtardo and other artists, which involved a very short changeover for Rahman and his orchestra. ‘We accomplished the changeover in seven minutes, including moving one big band out and another in, putting everyone in place and line checking,’ says Mr Das.
Another more recent
classical and world music concert along the Yamuna river in Delhi for spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. For this, a 365 x 36m stage was constructed to accommodate 3,000 musicians playing sitars, tablas, and guitars, and a 1,000 strong choir. Electrocraft deployed 128 of its own-brand Roger Drego RD8 boxes as the main FOH and
160 boxes for another eight delay systems.
The company now handles 30-40 productions a month, ranging from corporate events and product launches through to weddings, international concerts and EDM appearances.
Having helped shape the
industry, Mr Drego started to brand his OEM products, launching the Roger Drego line of loudspeakers realised that a lot of professional brands were very expensive, especially after paying the duty,’ he says. ‘So we decided to manufacture a mid-priced range for applications such as nightclubs and auditoriums.’ burgeoning installation market, Mr Drego’s attention to detail as the live touring market has.
www.rogerdrego.com
consisted of 12 L-Acoustics K2s per side, with 10 per side V-Dosc cabinets comprising the third and fourth, nine per side V-Dosc
system of six K1s and three Karas per side. The entire system was powered by L-Acoustics LA8 and Lab.gruppen PLM 10000Q loudspeaker management systems.
Electrocraft also provided an extensive console lineup, with two DiGiCo SD7s, two Avid S6Ls, Vi7000, Vi6 and Vi3000 at FOH, two further DiGiCo SD7s, an Avid SL6 and SC48 and two Soundcraft Vi3000s for monitors and two Avid broadcast.
‘The main issue we faced was getting good clean signals to all
Mr Das. ‘All band changeovers were smooth and we had no issues there at all.’
MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, THE sharing of knowledge and imparting of information is more gratifying to the educator than the recipient. Having attended a SynAudCon conference at InfoComm 2006 in Las Vegas, Professor Jae-Pyung Kim was both stimulated and enlightened by the technical information that he had experienced. Rather than keep this to himself, he decided to share it amongst his peers in his native Seoul once he had returned home. Like a man on a mission, Professor Kim has pioneered and continued
to pursue Korea’s only recognised audio educational curriculum.
Since graduating with a PhD in electronic engineering at Konkuk University, majoring in wireless communications in 1995, it was Professor Kim’s interest in audio that chartered him to his present course. His interest in audio developed from his work as an engineer and transmission operator at the Christian Broadcasting Company. To further enhance his developing skills, he attended lectures in communications at Daelim University College. ‘I found audio a much more interesting subject,’ confesse’s Professor Kim. ‘However, back then, the courses were all entirely based on computing, with very little on audio. There was a huge gap in the curriculum as many broadcasters, production companies and house of worship technicians were struggling to train their staff to the required standards.’
Professor Kim challenged the Korean government to invest in this himself in remotely learning over 30 audio engineering subjects that ultimately led to him becoming the in Korea. ‘Back then, there were no colleges providing courses on acoustic design and simulation –only engineering,’ he recalls. ‘You could attend workshops on Smaart and EASE, but there were no formal economy then was not great, but graduates always get hired, so the
next logical step was to create a dedicated audio curriculum.’
Having succeeded in gaining a budget that established the Department of Broadcasting Sound & Visual within the college’s engineering faculty, Dr Kim then had to assemble a team that would assist him in his quest. He therefore enlisted the services of several
editing, motion graphics, 2D and 3D animation for which successful
as sound and video professionals, stage sound operators, web design technicians, computer graphics technicians and multimedia contents producers. But to get to this point, the curriculum had to evolve quickly explains Professor
of international standards and codes of these systems has assisted Professor Kim in his continued quest. ‘In Europe and codes are applied ensuring that those manufacturers without Many Korean manufacturers have been developing audio systems for the export markets for many years. However, without these standards
prominent audio friends, including Professor Gun Chang Moon, with more than hands-on experience as principle audio and acoustic consultant. ‘There are currently eight Professors employed by the college here who are all highly experienced engineers holding full-time positions in the industry,’ he explains. ‘They all work with top quality international brands and as such are extremely knowledgeable. We are collectively challenged to keep the curriculum up to date with changing technologies, but we still have to teach the basics, even though the students seldom want us to.’
Today, the courses have developed from sound system design to video
Moon. ‘We soon realised that the broadcasters wanted to learn more about the audio engineering rather than design for example. We also provide free educational programmes for anyone who wants to know more about audio engineering. These are nonhelp to raise standards in the workplace. Musicians and end users can come along to develop a better understand of recording, postproduction and mastering techniques. By attending these styles of workshops for a day or two, they return to their everyday working environments with new skills. As new products and technologies
are continuously rolled out, these styles of classes serve as refresher courses. However, for more serious students ultimately wishing to gain a at Daelim University College.’
As the Department of Broadcasting Sound Media Technology continued to add increasing numbers of students each successive year, Professor Kim attracted the close attention of the Korea Broadcasting Equipment Industry Association (KOBEIA). Inaugurated as the Association’s second chairman, Professor Kim’s quest shows no signs of slowing down. ‘Korea boasts the seventh largest economy in the world, yet the educational standards in our particular industry have only just
to accept that Korea boasts some of the most modern performing arts centres and live venues in the world, yet the systems integrators and suppliers lack knowledge in anything other than the basics in architectural acoustics. I am aghast when I visit venues and see wrong speaker placements coupled with a lack of acoustic preparation. By saving on the cost of using a consultant, a venue will pay the price with lower ticket sales over the years.’
Although audio quality may be lower down the list of requirements products, the implementation
they would never be able to export their products, but by implementing them it has raised awareness of applying the Speech Transmission Index (STI) as a measurement standard, we have also drawn more attention to room acoustics and the audio equipment.’
As the integration of high resolution computers and telephony, the scope widening. ‘The department that we have created at Daelim University College provides me with so much personal satisfaction,’ he admits. ‘Being able to teach subjects that are dear to me, whilst helping students get better jobs and raising codes of practice here in Korea is a joy. The goal is to raise enough audio awareness for everyone from K-Pop performers to top government
better understanding of what we are trying to promote can only be a good thing for our industry as venues and institutes will then invest solely on quality rather than price. But there is still much work to be done. In fact I want to enrol overseas students to our College.’ As a true pioneer in Korea’s pro audio industry, Professor Kim’s boundaries know no limits.
www.daelim.ac.kr
www.broadcasting.daelim.ac.kr
Professor Jae-Pyung Kim from Daelim University College has been a pioneer in audio education in Korea. Richard LawnProfessor Kim and Professor Moon
‘There are Professors employed by the college here who are all highly experienced engineers holding full-time positions in the industry’
11-12 JANUARY
Singapore
BSS is offering two days of training on its HiQnet Audio Architect platform.
www.bssaudio.com
19-22 JANUARY
TEC Tracks comprises over 70 sessions and seminars, all taking place during NAMM. Topics will cover recording, live sound and lighting, and will include a range of keynote addresses.
www.namm.org
6-9 FEBRUARY
Attendees to the ISE Show will have the opportunity to get CTS CTS prep and the study sessions followed by the exam.
www.iseurope.org
INDIA: Shure’s Indian distributor, Sun Infonet, recently partnered with Shure MEA to conduct a training seminar covering the manufacturer’s DIS conference and discussion solutions for a range of systems integrators, audio consultants and end clients. The two-day workshop took place in New Delhi and covered both hardware and software solutions as part of the Shure Audio Institute educational and networking platform.‘The best way for a brand to progress further is better understanding their customers and delivering solutions that make their work and operations easier director of Sun Infonet. ‘Therefore, Sun Infonet, in association with Shure MEA, organised this seminar with a view to bring working professionals directly in touch with
key representatives from the brand hand understanding of the needs and expectations of end users. And with the kind of turn out that we’ve received, we’re absolutely positive that our initiative has worked out fabulously well – both for the brand as well as for the end users.’
‘We continue to focus on engaging with the market through various
training and educational initiatives as this is the best way to capture market needs, resolve challenges and identify opportunities,’ furthered Chicco Hiranandani, director of sales and marketing at Shure MEA. ‘Sun Infonet has enabled us to meet in the past six months and we look forward to working with them on future engagements.’
The event’s success was echoed by those in attendance. ‘This training is excellent and provides in-depth knowledge about latest technology and its best use while also providing current challenges,’ enthused Harish Sharma from Perfect Audio Visual Systems.
www.shuremea.com
www.suninfonet.net
ASIA: Broadcast Solutions’ ongoing series of Broadcast Innovation Days saw events staged in Jakarta and Hanoi recently with support from partner companies Riedel, IHSE, Zenon Media and Jünger Audio.
that Innovation Days had been were designed as lectures with an additional exhibition, plus handson sessions on the products and solutions presented. The German systems integrator reported a ‘huge’ interest from the local broadcast community.
In Jakarta and Hanoi the companies teamed up to demonstrate a wide variety of products and solutions under the title Think Big, Start Small – The Power to Scale. Both sessions also focused on topics including options on streamlining the broadcast implement future-proof solutions, one of the main concerns of the attendees.
Visitors could also learn about
Streamline OB van family. Also on display was the complete portfolio
of multichannel recording and slow solutions from slomo.tv alongside software-based solutions such as broadcast Ultrasoft and Serenity,
as well as Satcom antennas and camera systems.
www.broadcast-solutions.de
ASIA: As part of Eve Audio’s recent tour of Asia, the manufacturer staged a pair of seminars in conjunction with its Korean distributor, Sound n Music. The purpose of the seminars was to introduce the region’s pro audio market to its range of studio monitors. Eve Audio’s CEO, Roland Stenz, and sales and marketing manager sales Kerstin Mischke were among the manufacturer’s representatives that made the trip. held at LoudBell Studio, where owner and engineer Moon-soo
SINGAPORE: Midas’ Singapore distributor, Consolidated Audio introductory training course for the manufacturer’s M32 mixing console. The Fundamentals of Mixing course was designed and delivered by CAN audio engineers, Chad Batchelor and Colin Oliveiro, and was deemed a ‘remarkable success’. The session was attended by 10 audio professionals and covered practical information and knowledge on applications of the M32, with discussions and a Q&A session.
and you can really feel how excited people are to get hands-on with an M32, especially those starting out in their career,’ commented Mr Batchelor. ‘Some attendees are now keen to move on to the M32 for
training that we will be continuing with.’
Hands-on training was also part of the course, allowing trainees the opportunity to record their own time mixing on an M32. Users were familiarised with all of the console’s functions, including busses, VCA, matrixing and multitrack recording.
www.can.sg
www.midasconsoles.com
Park uses SC203s as well as a 2.2 system that includes two SC307s and a pair of TS108s. There was a reported attendance of 15. On online Korean audio platform Cuonet provided the venue for the second seminar, which attracted 25 participants. Reputable Korean composer and producer Chi-woong Yoon was also in attendance. Mr Yoon is noted as having worked with some of country’s biggest artists, such as Lee Seung-Cheol. Once the second seminar concluded, a workshop took place that tackled
low frequency enhancement with subwoofers for main monitoring. The Koearn seminars came on the back of similar workshops held in India with distributor Modi Digital. A seminar in Mumbai was held at The Orchid Hotel and saw an attendance of 48, which included Sounds Good Studio’s chief
recording engineer, Kunal Dabolkar, Saibu Simon from In the Mix Studio and Grammy Award winner PA Deepak, who mixed the soundtrack to Slumdog Millionaire . Meanwhile, 24 participants, including Sudhin from Pro Musicals and Cognitive Audio Labs’ Shamanth Nagendra, attended the Chennai workshop, which took place within the annexe of the Sir Mutha Venkattasubba Rao Concert Hall.
www.eve-audio.com
www.modidigital.com
www.sound-music.co.kr
ASIA: Consolidating a year of growth in 2016, beyerdynamic has unveiled new distribution partners in both Japan and Myanmar. Headquartered in Singapore and appointed as the sales and marketing director at beyerdynamic in late 2015, Kamal Mahtani has already overseen changes in Australia, Indonesia and Korea, which recently included Syntec being authorised to handle beyer’s complete portfolio of products.
‘We’re developing many new exciting products across the consumer, prosumer and professional ranges in 2017, so it was important to strategically select the right partners for all the various vertical markets beyerdynamic serves in a number of countries,’ explained Mr Mahtani. ‘In addition, we’re in the process of expanding the sales team here at our Singapore our sales partners. This will include training, focused product seminars, roadshows and such like.’
manufacturer has appointed Audio Brains to take its Japanese business forward for the complete wired and wireless ranges. Having promoted beyer’s conferencing products for many years, the distributor also represents a heavyweight line up including d&b audiotechnik, Martin
Audio and Powersoft, while its close links to powerhouse production company MSI is one of many factors that played a part in the decision to appoint them. TEAC will continue to distribute the full range of headphone products.
‘Traditionally we have always been strong supplying rental production companies, but over time we have developed an increasing market sector,’ explained Audio Brains’ Junta Yamazaki. ‘In an effort to provide a total solution such as Dante networking, we are honoured to offer beyerdynamic’s full range of wired and wireless models.’
In the emerging market of Myanmar, Ghin Ghar Cherry has been tasked with driving the beyerdynamic brand particularly in markets.
Finally, having been formed earlier this year by managing director Michael Sloss and initially charged with distributing beyerdynamic’s consumer and professional headsets, Syntec (Synchronised Technology Pty Ltd) will now be responsible for the manufacturer’s entire catalogue. ‘Being appointed the authorised import and distribution partner for the full range of beyerdynamic products in both
Australia and New Zealand gives us the opportunity to utilise our longterm knowledge and understanding of the markets to secure continued growth across numerous business segments,’ enthused Mr Sloss.
Mr Sloss has also announced a strategic partnership set up between his company and Ingram Micro’s Australian and New Zealand divisions. ‘It is with great pleasure that we take this opportunity to announce that Syntec has formed a strategic partnership with Ingram Micro Australia and New Zealand to for several of beyerdynamic’s installation and conferencing
microphone product lines that align with Ingram’s strategic approach to both complete installation and integration solutions,’ Mr Sloss furthered. ‘Ingram’s knowledge of the of the Australian A/V and IT industry, their infrastructure, supply chain capabilities and dedicated A/V sales and product management team, make them a perfect channel partner for the installation and integration arena.’
‘We are extremely excited to be involved with this strategic alliance with Syntec and beyerdynamic,’ furthered Andrew Upshon, general manager, professional A/V ANZ at Ingram Micro. ‘We look forward to introducing these high quality products to our customer base and further strengthening the development of the beyerdynamic range in the region.’
‘Having committed to our new sales partners, beyerdynamic will be fully supporting their many and varied activities in 2017,’ concluded Mr Mahtani. ‘We’re already rolling out a busy programme of sponsorship branding at events, concerts and on radio stations. It’s vital that the brand visibility is there to be seen and that the products are made accessible to a wider audience.’ www.beyerdynamic.com
CAMBODIA: As it continues to expand its presence in South East Asia, Riedel Communications has announced a partnership
‘Given the company’s technical expertise and its connection to that MediorNet and other Riedel products will quickly become a
Riedel’s systems added to its catalogue, the company will target broadcasters, production companies and infrastructure providers.
‘Riedel is known worldwide
KOREA: YNC Solution has been appointed as the Korean distributor for Voice Acoustic. A relatively young company, the distributor was established by a team with vast experience of the systems integration market in Korea. The distribution agreement followed a product demonstration that YNC attended at the manufacturer’s factory in Germany.
‘In the traditional and competitive market of Korea we’ve waited for the right partner who understands our product philosophy and spirit,’
explained Stefan Rast, sole owner of Voice Acoustic. ‘We’re very happy to have YNC on our team. They’re a perfect match to our existing distributors from other areas.’
‘Our team takes on the challenge of a highly competitive Korean market,’ added Terrie Lee, representative director of YNC.
‘We at YNC Solution are very familiar with the country’s systems integration sector.’
www.voice-acoustic.de
www.yncsolution.co.kr
who has more than 20 years of Cambodian broadcast sector experience. The new partner will represent the manufacturer’s full portfolio of products.
and excellent reputation for supplying the right technologies for its customers’ needs,’ explained Cameron O’Neill, director, Asia-
critical part of many broadcast operations in Cambodia.’
Express provides sales, integration and support for broadcast solutions, multimedia systems, television graphics systems, contribution and distribution solutions, as well as storage and archiving systems. With
for the reliability and versatility of its products,’ said Mr Guay. ‘Working together, we will bring Cambodia’s broadcasters valuable new options for signal routing and communications, in turn enabling cost-effective productions.’
www.riedel.net
CHINA: Great Wall Musical Instrument Co Ltd has been for ADAM Audio in mainland China. The German manufacturer joins the likes of TASCAM, Focusrite, Sennheiser and K&M in the distributor’s portfolio.
‘It is a great honour for us to represent ADAM Audio, one of the top manufacturers of studio monitors in the world, in our home co-owner of Great Wall Musical Instrument Co Ltd. ‘The quality of their products is of the highest standard, and we look forward to offering our customers ADAM Audio monitors.’
MALAYSIA: Concept Audio, Shure’s distributor in Malaysia, has appointed Harmonic AV Sdn Bhd as a new Shure authorised dealer in Sandkan, Sabah, in the East of the country.
name Harmonic AV Center, the company is owned and operated by managing director Victor Chow, and offers customers a wide range of audio and visual
products. Harmonic AV aims to provide a one-stop solution, from systems design through to installation.
‘It is great to introduce the very best and most intelligent brand of microphones to our customers. This is the reason that we are working together with Concept Audio,’ Mr Chow commented.
www.conceptaudio.com.my
ability of our new partners at Great Wall Musical Instrument Co Ltd,’ added Alexander Sacken, head of sales at ADAM Audio. ‘They have long term experience and in-depth knowledge of the very important Chinese market. When it comes to professional audio solutions they be it from top-of-the-line studios or the home recording community. We are very happy that they have chosen to take ADAM Audio on board alongside their excellent portfolio of well-chosen brands.’
www.adam-audio.de
www.musicgw.com
THAILAND: Music Group has announced Digitcontrol as the new exclusive distributor for its Lab. gruppen, Lake, Tannoy, Midas and Klark Teknik brands in Thailand. Digitcontrol is one of the four companies owned and operated by Vichai Group.
‘We have a young and energetic sales team formed under the visionary leadership of Chanan Koonlaboon to assist systems integrators, dealers and rental companies with a complete range of product solutions,’ explained Thitikorn Sopchokchai, director of
CHINA: Technology Development Co Ltd, aka Budee, has been appointed to represent Automated Processes Inc’s (API) complete product line in China. The American manufacturer has also added to its global roster of dealers, with Tel Aviv-based AudioLab now representing it in Israel.
in 2002, the company has grown
Mainland China.
the best” foreign brands to China.’ Over in Tel Aviv, AudioLab’s team specialises in pro audio solutions for studios, production, recording, and sound editing facilities and applications. ‘We at AudioLab have made it our goal to bring the best high-end brands to the Israeli pro audio market,’ explained Oren Alsheich, owner of AudioLab. ‘We
Vichai Group. ‘Music Group is an innovator and a fast growing disruptor in the marketplace so we are very excited to team up with them to deliver integrated audio solutions for our customers.’
‘We have previously worked with these world-leading brands so are honoured to be invited back to represent them,’ added Vichai Group’s managing director, Thaweesak Thamsirisup.
www.music-group.com
www.vichai1983.co.th
Budee is a well-known distributor in the territory thanks to its fast growth in the market and support of brands such as Nugen Audio, DKTechnologies, Martin Audio, Tannoy, Avid, Electro-Voice, Lectrosonics, Wheatstone and Sennheiser, among others. Since being established
‘API has a fantastic reputation for building high-end consoles and other audio products,’ stated Budee’s director of strategic alliance, Mills Xu. ‘Budee, always focused on solution needs and providing the best possible service to its customers, is a well-known entity in the Greater China with Budee’s service oriented approach to bringing the “best of
are excited about representing API, a company we have always had tremendous respect for as well as faith in their products.’
www.apiaudio.com
www.audiolab.co.il
www.budee.com
‘We respect Fane’s technical development abilities,’ enthused Mr Hu. ‘Their speaker drivers have been sold in the Chinese market for many years and most of the domestic speaker brands are using with our market. Fane’s complete speaker systems have never been sold in Mainland China. With our more than 20 years of experience in the entertainment market, we believe we can open this market up very soon.’
Digitcontrol will exclusively represent five Music Group brands in Thailand
CHINA: The Concorde Group has been appointed to exclusively distribute Fane International’s pro audio products in China. The
a signing ceremony held jointly by both companies at the Concorde
the Concorde Group was general manager Hu Yuanya and president
Fang Xue Xia, together with Fane International’s former chairman Arthur Barnes, technical director Mark Oldroyd and business development manager Asia
introduced themselves and their respective histories before Mr Barnes presented a distribution
‘We’ve never wanted to sell our products in China until we’d found the correct partner,’ offered Mr Barnes. ‘They approached us to see if we would be interested in working with them, have had their own systems for many years and have got great knowledge of the marketplace.’
www.fane-international.com
us of the technical and sales abilities that make them an ideal partner for this middle-to-high end wireless digital microphone.
September 2016, EAD has done a great job in sales and marketing.’
CHINA: EAD Digital (Guangzhou)
Ltd has become the exclusive Chinese distributor for beyerdynamic’s TG1000, having previously used the microphone during several projects across broadcasting, governmental, entertainment and theatre model of beyerdynamic’s wireless
digital microphone range, targeting the high-end live sound and broadcasting markets, which require high standards of sound quality and stability.
‘We started looking for a distributor for the TG1000 last year,’ explained Jason Zeng, beyerdynamic’s sales director for Greater China. ‘EAD convinced
‘When choosing a new product, EAD not only considers its current needs, but also considers future requirements,’ said EAD’s managing director, Szeto Kwong product catalogue.’ Following the distribution announcement, beyerdynamic and EAD held a TG1000 wireless microphone training workshop at
manufacturer’s product manager, Michael Altemark, share some of the applications of the wireless microphone.
www.beyerdynamic.com
www.ead.cn
INDIA: Outline has appointed Global Pro-Audio Management as its exclusive regional distributor for the Indian subcontinent. The New-Delhi based distribution company was founded by Gaurav Malvai in 2010 and its portfolio has expanded due to the company’s sales service.
‘Having heard Outline products at various locations around the world I knew that I wanted them for my own business and the timing was right as they were seeking a new distributor in India,’ Mr Malvai explained. ‘Outline’s extensive product range gives me the chance to develop relationships in every market here, from large events and live productions through to all sorts of installation work.’
Mr Malvai’s business also covers pro audio rental. ‘I’m in the process of phasing out the existing products in my own rental inventory and replacing them with Outline,’ he added. ‘Their product range gives
that the rental division needs and of course it will also provide many opportunities to showcase these amazing products.’
www.globalpro-audiomanagement.com www.outline.it
AUSTRALIA/NEW
Amber Technology Limited has become the exclusive distributor for JTS Professional Co Ltd in Australia and New Zealand. The partnership sees Amber Technology provide dealers in the region with pre-sales and post-sales support, as well as the line-up of products from JTS Professional’s portfolio.
‘While our products have been present in Australia and New
Zealand for some time, we believe that our new partnership with Amber Technology will deliver broader
KOREA: Professional audio loudspeaker and processing company, ISP Technologies, has announced its newest pro audio partner in Korea, KmTech, an audio
to their marketplace,’ said ISP Technologies owner and CEO, Buck Waller. ‘After discovering that ISP designs and manufactures patented and patent pending, state of the art, professional audio gear, KmTech investigated further, resulting in this partnership.’
distribution and sales for JTS Professional,’ noted JTS vice general manager Dowson Yu. ‘We are
committed to supporting the team at Amber Technology as they represent our brand across the many market segments in which they operate.’
Amber Technology’s managing director, Peter Amos, expressed his enthusiasm at adding JTS Professional’s products to his company’s catalogue: ‘JTS is a are excited to be able to represent such a fast-growing and innovative
brand in Australia and New Zealand,’ he said. ‘The JTS products will specialised markets that Amber Technology services. With two highly complementary brands, we are JTS market share on both sides of the Tasman.’
www.ambertech.com.au
www.jts.com.tw
located in Seoul and headed by president and CEO Seung Hyun Kim. KmTech has been in operation since 2009 and cites ‘decades of experience’ in audio and video system design for its engineering staff. ‘KmTech is continually looking for the most technologically advanced products to provide
KmTech provides professional audio gear to major Korean broadcasting companies (KBS and MBC), concert halls, houses of worship and hotels. They have provided audio, video and lighting systems for the Changwon Science Center, Imperial Pelis Hotel, Intercontinental Hotel, ChungSung Church, and the new Samsung C&T building, among many others.
www.isptechnologies.com
www.kmtav.com
THAILAND: GLP has appointed Complete AVL Solutions as its exclusive distributor in Thailand. With immediate effect, the distributor represents the manufacturer’s full catalogue of products in the country.
The agreement comes after Complete AVL Solutions had been seeking an internationally recognised lighting manufacturer
all these criteria and for us it was an easy decision after we had
made contact, and found out that the company was looking for a distributor in Thailand,’ noted David Toh, manager of Complete AVL Solutions.
‘We have known both GLP sales director Søren Storm and general manager of GLP Asia, Michael Münz, for a long time, so we know that we will get all the support we need,’ Mr Toh continued.
‘They both have a strong network in Thailand and we are looking forward very much to working as a team. GLP has a very strong range of products aimed at the professional market, so rental companies, theatres and TV studios will be very important for us.’
www.completeavl.com
www.glp.de
ZEALAND:SERIES
NEVER BEFORE HAS THE AMPLIFIER REACHED SUCH A HIGH LEVEL OF INTEGRATION
Processing, routing, measurement, control and power distribution are now included into a single platform. X Series by Powersoft: amplification evolved.
WORLD:
to step down from his role at the
for furthering growth throughout the country with a focus on deepening relationships with high-level endlaser-focused on the customer
at Biamp and the respect of the
that distinguish Biamp Systems Systems; president and CEO of Steve’s many years of dedicated
WORLD: The Focusrite Group has named Tim Carroll as the new group chief executive having previously served as vice president for audio products at Avid Technology and reportedly possesses extensive management as a familiarity with many of the the company ‘through its next era
are delighted to welcome him to
WORLD: has served as an audio design tradition and legacy of creating innovative and extraordinary audio
comes to us with 18 years’ audio management and sales experience made him the outstanding leadership in the execution of our Focusrite team has a tremendous passion for providing state-of-theart solutions for musicians and www.focusrite.com
oversaw all sales and installations
the manufacturer’s development career has also included positions management and electrical the recipient of several awards for experience has helped drive and support Biamp’s growth within the presence while delivering the very
Biamp’s product management and sales teams have seen audio product manager and Chris Flanagan promoted from senior applications engineer into the
www.biamp.com
WORLD: Outline has created the new role of worldwide technical advice from an expert with hands-on crew chief during a 20-year career with some of the world’s leading
in France as a theatre sound all the technology Outline has
for a professional response to what www.outline.it
will continue to excel and thrive exceptional talent to the director
www.apiaudio.com
‘It will be a privilege and honour to be joining Focusrite as chief executive’Vincent Perreux hard at work at a Status Quo gig in October 2016 Todd Humora, the new director of engineering at API Biamp Systems headquarters in Beaverton
WORLD: Several long-term QSC employees have been promoted to senior management positions within its global sales, engineering and executive management teams. The new promotions include Anna Csontos to vice president, chief of staff; Perry Celia to senior director, domestic sales and Arnie Marx to senior director, software development.
‘QSC has been very fortunate to have an extremely healthy business that continues to grow year after year, and this is due in large part to the talented people who work here and continue to grow in their careers,’ stated QSC CEO Joe Pham. ‘We congratulate Anna, Perry, and
immensely from all of their efforts and contributions.’
Ms Csonto has been a member of the QSC executive team since joining the company in 2011, where she has been credited with playing
WORLD: Gary Zywiecki has joined Radial Engineering’s Vancouverbased team as the new manager of engineering. He brings more than 25 years of product development experience to the role, gained
across the wireless, GPS, telecommunications and control software industries, including experience in the rapid deployment of disruptive technology.
Within his new role, Mr Zywiecki
WORLD: The applications engineering team at EAW’s Whitinsville headquarters has been expanded in the form of Bryan DiFabio. Mr DiFabio will provide technical expertise to the manufacturer’s customers worldwide.
‘We are thrilled to welcome
Bryan to the team,’ said Adam Shulman, director of marketing and application engineering for EAW. ‘His experience and background will be extremely valuable to our customer base. He is a great example of the new directions we will be taking the applications team in the coming year.’
‘I like working with a tight-knit
an instrumental role in developing business strategies for growth. Her new role will see her overseeing the legal department and the systems business development teams while continuing to lead the application
engineering team and execute various strategic initiatives for the company.
Mr Celia has been at QSC for the last eight years, holding a variety of sales management positions. A
will manage the entire R&D process, from concept to launch. The team that he leads comprises engineers with a range of disciplines as diverse as vintage vacuum tube technology and digital and wireless technologies. Possessing a management degree from Simon Fraser University, as well as a technology degree with honours from the British
30-year veteran of the pro audio industry, Mr Celia assumes the role of senior director, domestic sales for the professional business unit.
Lastly, Mr Marx has reportedly overseen countless software and acclaimed Q-Sys Designer releases during his 16 years at QSC. In his new role, he will continue to oversee software development for the company’s Boulder and Costa Mesa teams, playing an integral role in the development of their global software development efforts.
In addition to these promotions, Claudé Zamboni, VP of IT, and Karon Evanoff, VP of Supply Chain, join the company’s executive team.
www.qsc.com
Columbia Institute of Technology, Mr Zywiecki has held several senior management and VP roles at companies including Sierra his most recent role prior to joining Radial Engineering, he served as director of engineering at Philips Lighting.
www.radialeng.com
group of people focused on producing the best products/ services possible,’ added Mr DiFabio. ‘That is exactly what I have found with the EAW team. I’m excited to add my contributions to the group.’
www.eaw.com
EMEA/APAC: Celestion has hired Neil McDougall to take on the role of distribution sales manager, covering the Europe, Africa, Middle East, India and APAC Regions. In
The new distribution sales manager brings a wide variety of experience to the role, and plenty of it. He has worked as a professional musician, which lends itself well to Celestion’s guitar and bass loudspeaker division, and has previously owned his own music retail business.
Mr McDougall has also served in several sales positions for numerous manufacturers, such as Yamaha, Roland UK, AVSL and InMusic, where he gained experience in looking after international distribution.
WORLD: Stage Tec has promoted long-term employee Dirk Berar to head of software and systems development. The new role will see Mr Berar coordinate and moderate software development. In addition, Thilo Schütz has joined the manufacturer as a sales representative for Aurus, Crescendo and Nexus consoles for
Mr Berar adopted the role of systems engineer, integrating the diverse engineering disciplines at Stage Tec. His responsibilities included project management, requirements management and systems engineering for development projects.
‘This position requires somebody with expertise, somebody who is able to motivate a team and is highly customer-oriented,’ stated Dr Helmut Jahne, managing director of Stage Tec.
his new role, Mr McDougall will be based at company headquarters in Ipswich and will work to build and develop business relationships with Celestion’s distributors across these geographical areas.
‘I look forward to working with all of our Celestion distribution partners, many of whom I already know,’ enthused Mr McDougall. ‘Celestion is a highly respected brand with a rich heritage, and I have always admired their reputation for having a very professional work ethic and friendly atmosphere as a company. As I believe strongly in this approach to business, I’m delighted to join them’.
www.celestion.com
WORLD: Following work on a joint initiative between Digigram and Merging Technologies to develop a management tool for Ravenna/AES67, the former’s project manager and head of research, Nicolas Sturmel, has of senior technologist. In his new role at Merging, Dr Sturmel will draw upon his experience of software architecture, development and testing, project leading, presentation and standardisation
while aiding the manufacturer in expanding its catalogue of Ravenna/AES67 products.
use in theatres. Mr Berar joined the manufacturer as a graduate in 1999. He began his career at the company in software development where he worked on developing dynamic automation for Cantus and mixing consoles. Increasingly,
‘I look forward to driving the development of new products in an innovative team, it’s an exciting challenge for me,’ concluded Mr Berar.
Commenting on his appointment new sales representative, Mr Schütz said: ‘I am looking forward to working in a great team and am proud to have the opportunity to realise exciting projects with this outstanding equipment.’
www.stagetec.com
AES67 projects, with the one that involved collaboration with Merging revealed at IBC 2016. Possessing
‘Nicolas’ expertise and experience is a welcome addition to our team of talented engineers’
During his four-year stint at Digigram, Dr Sturmel was responsible for researching future platforms and solutions for broadcasting audio and video. He was involved in various Ravenna/
a PhD in signal processing and information technology gained from the University of Paris Sud Orsay, Dr Sturmel is considered an expert in audio-over-IP and is a member the Audio Engineering
Society, providing input to the AES Standards Working Group on Digital Audio.
‘Nicolas’ expertise and experience is a welcome addition to our team of talented engineers,’ said Claude Cellier, president of Merging Technologies. ‘IP technology is such an important element of our products we need real experts to champion its wider adoption in the audio and video world.’
www.merging.com
CADAC IS drawing from the best of both worlds with the brand-new CDC seven mixing console unveiled at last year’s AES. Sandwiched in between the British manufacturer’s CDC six and CDC eight format of the CDC six and with the control capabilities of the CDC seven – dual 23.5and a 36-fader surface.
‘We were extremely pleased with the reception the CDC six received when launched 18 months ago,’ offered Nick Fletcher, director of R&D, ‘As a result of the continual development of our innovative user interface, industryleading latency management system and unsurpassable audio performance we believe the CDC seven offers an incredibly attractive proposition for those who want something that stands head and shoulders above the norm.’
According to Cadac, the CDC seven maintains all of the ‘feel and familiarity’ of the CDC six, in particular its user
operation and minimal learning curve. The new model doubles both the number of large format LCD touchscreens (with the associated encoders) as well as the physical fader count. Expanding the number of inputs to 96, the new console retains the CDC six’ 56 busses; 48 of them
The high contrast displays feature the same swipeable graphical user interface that Cadac users will be familiar with. The encoders immediately to the right of and below both screens further encourage the use of touch and swipe gestures to navigate and operate the console. A third, centrally-mounted 6.5-inch LCD touchscreen provides system control. The integration of the two main touchscreens gives users the ability to display and control multiple tasks simultaneously. For example, the VCAs can be displayed on one screen while the inputs to the VCAs are displayed on the other. The faders and encoders will follow the GUI displayed on the individual screens, helping to
set includes Cadac’s Monitor Mode with Mix Focus, as well as the ability to create custom fader layers. All 36 motorised faders on the CDC seven are stated to offer stereo metering and a full-colour
The desk can also be integrated into Cadac’s own MegaComms digital audio network, reportedly resulting in a total through-system latency from stage inputs to console outputs (including all console processing and A/D/A conversions) in operating at 96kHz.
The CDC seven also integrates 16 onboard stereo effects and comes
Waves interface allowing for direct connection to a Waves MultiRack SoundGrid server and Waves’ effects library while also enabling multitrack recording straight to a laptop.
www.cadac.co.uk
The CDC seven promises all of the control capability as the larger CDC eight in a more compact format
HAVING ENJOYED success and won awards for its Nucleus professional DAW controller, audio interface and studio monitoring hub, Solid State Logic (SSL) has released the Nucleus2. In response to customer feedback, the updated console adds to its predecessor’s multi-DAW control, console grade mic pre, DAW I/O and studio monitoring capabilities with the inclusion of talkback, main/mini monitor switching and Dante connectivity. Nucleus2 also differs
The talkback input feeds the headphone output with an adjustable gain.
‘TALK’ has been added to the surface and triggers a switchable -20dB DIM if required for the monitor outs. Also included due to popular demand is a monitor button that compares different systems’ mixes.
The SSL Dante Network I/O audio interface included on Nucleus2 takes the place of Nucleus’ USB soundcard. The new system features an inbuilt network switch and a pair of Ethernet ports: one that connects to a computer; the other for connecting other Danteenabled devices to a setup. The manufacturer has also made it possible to switch the talkback signal to feed a second channel
remote communication.
Control system to the AWS console line, SSL has released some updates to the stereo channel/InLine channel model, the AWS 948
is the inclusion of rear panel stereo channel output connections, which in a single pass enable stereo channel mode stem recording and in place, post pan, stereo stem generation in In-Line channel mode. The second new feature is in the form of a soft key on the ‘Chan Setup’ page that allows users to insert In/Out switching on In-Line channels independently. Enhancements have also been console’s screen.
Finally, the manufacturer has been adding to its SSL Live L500 and L300 consoles with
the release of the V3.2 software update as well as a new control app for iPad named TaCo. The software update provides the SSL Live consoles with over 20 improvements and new features. These include integrated Dante I/O module sample rate conversion, sample rate support for Dante 48, 96 and 192kHz with AES67 compatibility and a which adds quick control assignment options and the channel control tile screen layout. Meanwhile, the SSL Live TaCo iOS app enables wireless control of the consoles over Wi-Fi. It has been designed to be intuitive for users of all levels, from monitor engineers to performers. It can be limited to allow a user to individually control an aux mix, or used to control all mixes from a single interface. To supply
TOURING MUSICIANS are the target demographic for PreSonus with its StudioLive AR USBseries hybrid mixers. The series comprises three models: the 18-channel StudioLive AR16 USB, 14-channel StudioLive AR12 USB and 8-channel StudioLive AR8 USB, all of which are designed to be compact, lightweight and versatile, allowing for simple transportation, while maintaining the analogue connections and digital tools required for both studio and live performance applications.
Each of the StudioLive AR USB mixers is compatible with Windows and Mac OS via a USB 2.0 audio interface that captures all input channels as well as the main mix. Included with the mixers is the manufacturer’s Capture live-recording and Studio One 3 Artist DAW production software, enabling users to record, mix and distribute music. An onboard stereo SD recorder also features on the AR16, AR12 and AR8, allowing the recording of a main mix without computer, while also providing the
track.
Additionally, the mixers include PreSonus’ Super Channel, facilitating the simultaneous playback of audio from four stereo sources. These sources are Super Channel’s unbalanced RCA
the onboard SD recorder and the USB connection. Bluetooth 4.1 is also built-in to each of the mixers, enabling users to pair a smartphone or tablet and gain wireless access to their music libraries.
The I/O connections also featured on the USB mixers include Class-A mic preamps, instrument and line
personal mix control to several performers at once, up to 10 iPads running the app can be connected simultaneously. The app’s Menu and Bank buttons can be repositioned on either the left or right of the screen, depending upon the user’s writing hand orientation.
Making use of the manufacturer’s Query technology, TaCo allows for only the channels that are contributing to the selected aux to be displayed, negating the need to navigate through irrelevant channels. Input channels can also be categorised into sub-groups via the Live console’s Stem groups. The app is available for free on the App Store and users require an L300, L500 or L500 Plus console operating with V3.2 software or higher.
www.solidstatelogic.com
inputs. Also included are semiparametric 3-band EQ and an internal stereo effects processor.
On the software side of things, PreSonus has updated its VocALign audio alignment tool to be compatible with the ARA (Audio Random Access) extension.
ARA technology is the result of a collaboration between PreSonus
and Celemony Software and provides audio plugin interfaces with enhanced DAW communication and instant audio data access.
Existing VocALign licensees can download the updated ARA versions of VocALign Project and VocALign Pro for free.
www.presonus.com
At Celestion, we’re always looking to find innovative solutions to the challenges faced by PA manufacturers. That’s why more and more forward-thinking brands are choosing to work with us.
Take our coaxial drivers for example: unlike conventional designs, our FTX range uses a cutting-edge common magnet motor design to deliver big improvements in signal coherence and time alignment for a more natural sound from a very compact and lightweight speaker. Visit our website or contact us now to find out more about our innovative PA driver solutions.
The Ui series interface has been improved
THE NEUTRON-NB is an expansion module compatible with Midas’ Neutron audio system engine available for the Pro X digital console that serves as a network bridge. It provides a multi-channel interface between a pair of digital audio networks from third parties.
When added to the Pro X with a Neutron engine, the network bridge offers up to 64 extra bidirectional channels between two independently clocked domains, operating at differing sample rates. It also features a 10-port AES50 interface that can be routed for additional
network expansion and facilitate 240 bidirectional channels at a 96kHz sample rate.
Midas has also drawn upon the digital audio networking technology of Klark Teknik. The Neutron-NB includes two expansion slots that have the ability to add network modules from the Music Group sister brand, including the KT-AES50, KTDANTE64, KT-MADI and KT-USB.
been released for the M Series digital mixers, with V 3.0 delivering added networked system control for users of the M32, M32R and M32C. Included
in the update are new versions of the M32-Edit (Windows, Mac OSX, Linux and RPi2) and M32-Mix (iPad) remote control apps, which now incorporate touch-optimised and scalable UI, keyboard shortcuts and
The update also features the new Automixing functionality that facilitates phase inversion for local, aux and Ultranet outputs, X-Over capabilities over Ethernet or Midi from compatible consoles.
www.midasconsoles.com
PEAVEY’S CREST Audio mixer division unveiled its Tactus digital mixing consoles at this year’s BPM Pro show. The hardware/ software hybrid solution has been developed in partnership with Waves, integrating the Waves SoundGrid plugin suite and eMotion LV1 software mixer application with three hardware units: Tactus.FOH, Tactus.Stage and Tactus.Control.
Tactus.FOH acts as the system’s audio processing core, while the Tactus.Stage is a 32-in/16out remote stage box with an integrated Ethernet switch for networking.
While full functionality is achievable with the softwarebased LV1 mixer, the third hardware component, Tactus. Control, is a motorised fader board complimenting the LV1 UI by providing moving faders, illuminated buttons and knobs for the most commonly used functions.
QSC IS targeting both production professionals and live performance venues with the newest addition to its TouchMix Series, the TouchMix-30 Pro. A 32-channel compact digital mixer, the device has been designed with an ‘enhanced feature set’ that will reportedly deliver an intuitive and live applications. The manufacturer stated that the mixer is also suitable for musicians. The unit’s 32 mixing channels
comprise 24 mic/line, six line, stereo and USB. In addition to increasing the number of channels when compared to its predecessors, the TouchMix-30 Pro has 16 outputs that add to the level of management.
Also included are the ‘pro features’, from which the console takes part of its name. These include: a 10-inch multi-touch touchscreen, anti-feedback and room tuning wizards, a pair of real-
It incorporates 16 main and two master motorised faders, as well as Mute, Cue and Select buttons and a multi-line scribble strip display, which can be made to follow screen layer selections or be locked on a layer for expanded control.
www.peaveycommercialaudio.com
SOUNDCRAFT HAS made improvements to the user interface for its Ui series of remote controlled digital mixers.
functionality for users who access the system through phone, tablet or computer.
The user interface upgrade for those mixing via any of these devices includes Aux Send mute inheritance, stereo/unlink L/R master DYN; and player list font changed for language support. In addition to this, tablet and computer users will also be able
levels, do manual data entry, mute FX/All for player page, F1/ F2 next and previous snapshot functions, while there is also pedal footswitch play/record functions.
The Harman-owned manufacturer has also used the general improvements to the series. These include more robust on start-up, and a feature to reset local user settings to default.
www.soundcraft.com
NEW PRESETS for Audio-Techinca microphone models have been added to Allen & Heath’s Qu Series digital mixers. The ProFactory Mic presets package aims to provide channel library presets for industry leading microphones. The new Audio-Technica presets include settings for MB, ATM and Pro series microphones, joining the existing library of Sennheiser e600, e800 and e900 series models and PGA, SM and Beta series from Shure. According to the British manufacturer, the team at Allen & Heath has worked closely with engineers at each manufacturer to ensure that the optimal settings
A&H has introduced mic presets for various several brands
were applied for each mic paired with the Qu’s AnalogiQ Preamps. The presets can be downloaded from the Qu series product pages on the A&H website.
www.allen-heath.com
time analysers, a touch-and-route patch matrix and eight sub-groups with 6-band full parametric EQ as well as 32-channel direct-tohard drive record and playback functionality, a 32-channel DAW interface for Apple computers and USB MP3 playback. Also featured are 24 Class-A mic preamps, 14 mono mixes that can be paired for stereo, 120 presets and six stereo effects processors.
www.qsc.com
RCF HAS released a trio of additions to its range of Precision Transducers: one for the high frequencies, two for the lows.
The ND340 professional high frequency transducer is a neodymium compression driver. It features a polyimide diaphragm, voice coil assembly, which utilises a high temperature Kapton former. With continuous programme power handling of 100W, a 1,200Hz to 20kHz frequency range and a 2-slot geometry phase plug the ND340 is designed for use with compact two way systems, multiple-way systems and compact arrays, while offering a
transducer, the LF18N405
A NEW model has been added to Alcons Audio’s CRMSC speaker family to cater to the requirements for immersive surround systems.
The CRMSC-SRHOR is designed as a matching surround system for any small-to medium-sized CRMSC Cinema Reference Monitoring solution and houses identical MHF components as the rest of the series but in a horizontal arrangement. It can also be used as a main screen
system in smaller applications, with low-frequency support. According to the manufacturer, the model combines clarity and intelligibility with an ‘unusually high’ dynamic range. Internally, it comprises a single 90-degrees horizontal dispersion RBN202 pro-ribbon HF driver that has a 400W peak power input and is reportedly capable of a 1:16 dynamic range with up to 90 per cent less distortion between 1kHz and 20kHz. A vented 6.5-
inch mid-bass driver handles LF reproduction.
Tbe CRMSC-SRHOR enclosure
noise as well as high sonic quality and low distortion. Pascal has also implemented its UREC Power Factor Correction power supply technology with U-PRO, to allow operation with universal AC mains power, while the system has negating the need for heat sinks and cooling devices and adding to its long-term reliability.
reportedly delivers ‘powerful and accurate bass frequencies with low distortion, low power compression and very high SPL’. It makes use of
large triple roll surround to offer strength and control, while also boasting a single spider system designed with a heavy cloth for added control to withstand large
modulation, RCF has incorporated voice coil ventilation and reduced power compression are offered by the unit’s dual-forced air venting magnetic structure system.
The manufacturer states that the LF18N405 is ‘designed for touring and perfect for high-
bandpass enclosures’. It includes a 4-inch inside/outside copper voice coil, 3,000W continuous sensitivity and frequency range of 25Hz to 1kHz.
Meanwhile, the LF21N401 is ‘designed to provide powerful and accurate sub-bass frequencies with low distortion and low power compression with a fast response’. In addition to a large triple roll cone assembly. It maintains many of the characteristics of the LF18N405, although its sensitivity
T/m is described as providing a quicker and accurate low frequency.
www.rcf.it
aiding wall or ceiling mounting, and European RAL colour scheme. For increased headroom and optimum
performance, the manufacturer encourages the use of its ALC controller. Furthermore, the Signal Integrity Sensing pre-wiring in the ALC provides cable and connector compensation between it and the speaker. According to Alcons, this accuracy, regardless of cable length and system impedance’.
www.alconsaudio.com
FOLLOWING ON from its T-PRO, Pascal has continued down the alphabet with the launch of the designed for self-powered portable installations. The series comprises two modules, the U-PRO 1 and the U-PRO 2, that provide single 280W at 4-ohms and 280W + 100W asymmetrically rated two way power channels respectively. With voltage rails that are relatively high for its RMS power
output, U-PRO possesses 280W RMS ratings and can reportedly deliver ultra-short bursts of 1,000W peak power or 500W RMS. This, the manufacturer states, supplies the ‘power requirements for cost effective, high SPL self-powered portable PA’.
With dimensions of 38mm
modules are particularly aimed
manufacturer boasts low residual
available to support integrated DSP, network and analogue I/O boards, which can all access protect/ mute, temperature and clip signal readouts, as can wireless control interfaces. The modules’ standby power consumption is EuP2013 and green energy star compliant and an Auto Standby/Wake-up feature that includes selectable time settings has been built in to keep U-PROs 1 and 2 in line with any future regulatory requirements.
www.pascal-audio.com
THE NEWEST member of the Jericho horn family has been unveiled by Danley Sound Labs as the 18-driver-strong J3-94. Designed to meet the requirements for high impact, stadium and concert venues, the new Jericho horn reportedly delivers 142dB of continuous output by combining the output from its 18 individual drivers into a ‘single phase-coherent signal with ‘Hi-Fi quality’ intelligibility.
The J3-94 produces a 90-degrees horizontal by 40-degrees vertical beam width with the Jericho’s characteristically steep dropoff outside of the beam. While weighing nearly half that of the original J1-94, Danley promises that the compromise is just ‘slightly less bass output’.
The unit is a tri-amped cabinet using four amp channels: two for the lows, one for the mids, and one for the highs. The 18 drivers inside
woofers, eight 6.5-inch mids and four 1.4-inch highs with built-in overload protection. It comes as on top and bottom and L track mounting.
www.danleysoundlabs.com
FOLLOWING ON from the
d&b audiotechnik last year, the German manufacturer has now unveiled new point-source speaker models intended for permanent installation in environments such as nightclubs, live performance spaces, houses of worship, and sports venues. Named the 24S and 24S-D, the two new models join d&b’s xS-Series, which also features redesigned front grilles to make the series less obtrusive. Accompaning the point-source models is the single 21-inch 21S-SUB subwoofer. Differing in their horizontal dispersion characteristics, with 75-degree x 45-degree (h x v) for the 24S and 110-degree x 45-degrees for the 24S-D, both models house dual 12-inch LF drivers in a dipolar arrangement together with a single horn loaded 1.4-inch exit compression driver, which is rotatable for mounting either vertically or horizontally.
According to the manufacturer, ‘by separating the LF drivers they achieve constant directivity control in the same plane as the dipole down to approximately 500Hz’. The result of which is said be less transmission of energy into
increased gain before feedback. Both models offer a frequency response from 55Hz to 18kHz, but for those catering to bass-heavy applications, the matching single 12-inch in standard mode offers a frequency response from 35Hz to 100Hz. It can also be run in Infra mode and used to support other d&b subwoofers, extending the LF performance to 33Hz with an upper limit of 85Hz. In combination with
21S-SUB produce SPLs of 138dB, 137dB and 134dB respectively. In terms of construction, d&b has opted for a larger volume cabinet design to aid with low frequency reproduction but states the cabinets ‘are modest enough to preserve sight lines and overcome rigging and placement restrictions’.
www.dbaudio.com
IN RESPONSE to increased uptake and higher demand for Audinate’s Dante networking technology, Renkus-Heinz has released Dante-enabled versions of its Iconyx Gen5 and IC Live cabinets. The manufacturer has also made –RD versions of its Iconyx IC Series and IC Live ICL-F Series units, providing them with dual redundant Dante connectivity facilitating audio transport as well as sample 96kHz. On the software end of the spectrum, the manufacturer has unveiled an update to its Rhaon II software package, with the release of Rhaon 2.1 supporting Dante connectivity. The update also features more than 200 software enhancements, such as allowing for multiple zones, delivering the newly-developed Device Icon View mode for large setups, simple generation of system status reports for all
Renkus-Heinz speakers, such as the IC8-RD, are now Dante enabled
device parameters and the ability to copy and paste DSP settings across different types of device.
www.renkus-heinz.com
TO ENSURE that its Display software package provides the most accurate prediction and array optimisation possible, Martin Audio has released version 2.2. Display is designed for use with the manufacturer’s MLA Series, delivering a numerical optimisation process to remove
information.
TURBOSOUND HAS upped the number of available Flashline Monitors to six with a pair of ferrite driver models. The TFX122M-AN and TFX152M-AN join the existing four powered and switchable passive/bi-amp 12-inch and 15-inch neodymium wedges in the range. The new 12-inch and 15-inch additions are also slightly lower powered, featuring 1,100W of peak power as opposed to the 1,400W from their neodymium siblings. A further difference can be found with the dome compression driver. For the new models these are in the form of 1-inch titanium tweeters, whereas
the original four use 1.4-inch neodymium units.
are very similar. As with the rest of the range, both new models have a nominal dispersion of 60-degrees horizontal by 40-degrees vertical and feature DSP from fellow Music Group brand, Klark Teknik. The family of wedges work individually without a controller so feature a user interface via LCD display or remote control via Turbosound’s PC Edit software, while connectivity is again via Music Group’s Ultranet digital audio network.
www.turbosound.com
Operating on ‘the latest devices’ and Windows, Display 2.2 reportedly offers increased accuracy, with re-measured and recalibrated acoustic data, and an optimised hard avoid. The manufacturer states that improved sonic consistency is also supplied as elemental EQ is now full-band on all MLA systems, while the series’ arrays will demonstrate response. Splay optimisation is also described as taking approximately 30 per cent less time than in previous versions of the software and the new Express Setup tool has been added for when standard arrays and default setting are used.
The update boasts a Matlab graphics system and enhanced usability with more room in the EQ tab provided for the audience and goal value graphs, simpler access for reference level, an auto-scale frequency response plot in the SPL view, and the ability to generate rigging reports for printing for any type of system. Display 2.2 has been distributed to existing MLA owners
automatically and has been released simultaneously with Martin Audio’s VU-Net 2.0 control and monitoring software, which allows for the adaptation of the input EQ to the new output from both updated software packages. It also supports CDD-Live, for comprehensive control and monitoring of the manufacturer’s systems.
www.martin-audio.com
HARBINGER HAS added to its Vâri catalogue with the Vâri 2200 Series, which comprises new 12-inch and 15-inch full-range powered loudspeakers, as well as the addition of a powered subwoofer in the form of the 18-inch V2218S. Constructed for use across a range of applications and venue types, the new models are reportedly lightweight while offering ‘a fresh, modern, angular look and improved electrical and acoustic design’.
jacks, while Channel 2 consists of ¼-inch and RCA line inputs, and Channel 3 delivers an aux input for connecting mobile devices. A balanced XLR line out enables the connection of multiple speakers for larger applications.
The V2218S subwoofer has also been produced with DJ sets and concerts in mind, and incorporates the same optical limiter and LED clip indicator as its loudspeaker siblings and contains an 18-inch low-frequency driver that’s powered by 1,500W
GERMAN EN-54 specialist, IC Audio, has gone complete wirefree with its latest offering, the DLWiFi 60 plus ceiling speaker. The product, an active powered stereo ceiling speaker pair, allows to users to stream music/audio to it via a local Wi-Fi network. Boasting the two-way DL-WiFi 60 plus models connect with and can be controlled by the manufacturer’s WiFi-Control 60 application, which can be downloaded from the Google Play Store and Apple App
Store for free. The app supports Apple AirPlay, for direct streaming from an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch. A single pair can be expanded up to eight speakers (four pairs) for increased audio converge. A ‘sophisticated’ built-in softclipping function aims to guarantee a balanced sound at very high volumes, while the speaker’s frameless design offers also a magnetic grille for an unobtrusive installation.
www.ic-audio.com
The 12-inch V2212 is an updated version of the V2112, designed to deliver detailed and intelligible sound for applications such as spoken word, vocals and acoustical instruments. The V2215, meanwhile, follows on from the 15-inch V2115 and is described as being best suited for reinforcing DJs and bands, providing ‘even more deep bass’ than its predecessor. Both speakers include Class-D 600W limiter, preventing damage via transient peaks. They are built with steel grilles for durability and
balanced handles on the top and sides for ease of transportation, as well as an LED clip indicator that informs users of when they are overdriving the system. A pole mount is also included for use, depending on the application and setup.
As with the older models, the V2212 and V2215 feature a threechannel mixer and a two-band EQ.
Channel 1 comprises a switchable mic/line input, XLR and ¼-inch
Harbinger has enabled users to select between 90/120Hz frequency control, input level control and 0-degree/180-degree input-polarity switch via the unit’s integrated crossover. With a pair of XLR/¼-inch combo inputs and XLR outputs of the selectable full-range link or highpass variety, the V2218S is also coupled with a pole mount and boasts heavyduty casters, steel grille and balanced side handles as part of its architecture. www.harbingerproaudio.com
A NEW model in Dynaudio’s Pro series of high-end studio monitors is aiming to stand (quite literally) head and shoulders above the competition. Built to order in Denmark, the passive
of approximately 75 per cent promises the manufacturer.
to integrate the manufacturer’s Dynaudio Directivity Control (DDC) technology, which reduces for a more transparent and detail listening environment. According to the product manager, Sebastian allows you to hear what is really going on and that helps you to make those crucial decisions when dynamics’.
The DDC technology controls sound radiation by utilising a vertical, symmetrical drive unit
crossover topology – a reduction
CORE BRANDS-OWNED manufacturer, SpeakerCraft, has taken the key technologies it developed for its Aim Series 2 in-ceiling speakers and applied it to a pair of in-wall left-centreright (LCR) cabinets. The headline inclusion that the Aim LCR5 Five Series 2 and Aim LCR5 Two Series 2 speakers take from the in-ceiling siblings is the manufacturer’s Arrayed Point Source (APS) tweeter module APS incorporates three pivoting titanium dome tweeters mounted
According to SpeakerCraft, the extra surface area from the three tweeters enables a lower crossover point which delivers extra
sound pressure in the midrange frequencies.
Away from APS, both of the new models incorporate dual, 5.25-inch woofers angled within the assembly as well as SpeakerCraft’s Acoustic Isolation Technology to minimise acoustic energy transfer to the mounting and surrounding surfaces.
As for the key statistics, the Aim LCR5 Five Series 2 matches its two woven Kevlar cone woofers with 1-inch custom titanium dome tweeters. It boasts a 48Hz to 22kHz frequency response with a power handling of 190W at 8-ohms. The Aim LCR5 Two Series 2 pairs its two glass and carbon
soft dome tweeters, two 5-inch mid-range drivers and four 7-inch woofers matched to a drive unit. The basic crossover design is 5-way, with crossover frequencies at 290Hz, 480Hz, 2.2kHz and 8.5kHz. The total frequency response covers 28Hz to 25kHz, while the models have power handling of up to 550W at 4-ohms. To implement DDC in the lower frequencies, the woofer cabinets are positioned directly above and below the mid- and high-frequency driver middle section to provide a more equally spread LF radiation.
www.dynaudio.com
A NEW 6.5-inch passive added to the HFA speaker series to complement the series’ larger existing models. Destined for use in small live performances, installations, or
dome tweeters. It delivers a frequency response of 52Hz to 20kHz with a power handling of 135W at 8-ohm impedance. One of the key applications that SpeakerCraft can see for its in-wall speakers is with object-based surround audio systems. Both units have the ability to pair with the manufacturer’s Dolby Atmos enabled in-wall height speaker –the ATX100.
The ATS500 System pairs the Aim LCR5 Five Series 2 with the ATX100 behind a single grille. The ATS200 System combines the Aim LCR5 Two Series 2 with the height module, also behind a single grille.
www.speakercraft.com
setup, the HFA106p offers a user-rotatable 90-degrees x 40-degrees coverage pattern from its 6.5-inch custom low frequency driver and 1-inch custom compression driver. This results in a stated frequency response of 82Hz-18kHz, a peak SPL of 124dB and sensitivity of 92dB.
Weighing 12.7kg, the HFA106p enclosure is made from birch plywood and is coated with a scratch-resistant textured paint. To aid with the deployment of two-way portable systems, companion HFA112s, HFA115s, and HFA118s subwoofers use an integrated 2-channel digital range passive speakers.
www.next-proaudio.com
THE NEXT
Aperta 300 stands have been
the Aperta 300 stands are also measure 300mm x 200mm x 75 systems from a wide variety of manufacturers.
AN IP-RATED version of AMC Baltic’s Viva 4 wall-mount plastic speaker series has been unveiled by the Lithuanian company. The Viva 4IP is IP-55
Rated at 20W (8-ohms) with a frequency response of 90Hz20kHz and a sensitivity of 89dB features a four-inch woofer and 1-inch silk tweeter. The enclosure measures 205mm x 188mm x 132mm and is available in black
www.amcpro.eu
clarity and performance. The stands also include tilt adjustment to allow users to precisely match the
The manufacturer states that Aperta openness.
www.isoacoustics.com
Packing a 138 dB wallop, Kiva II breaks the SPL record for an ultra-compact 14 kg/31 lb line source. Kiva II features L-Acoustics’ patented DOSC technology enhanced with an L-Fins waveguide for ultimate precise and smooth horizontal directivity. WST® gives Kiva II long throw and even SPL, from the front row to the back, making it the perfect choice for venues and special events that require power and clarity with minimal visual obtrusion. Add to that a 16 ohm impedance for maximized amplifier density and a new sturdy IP45 rated cabinet, and you get power, efficiency and ruggedness in the most elegant package. www.l-acoustics.com
iOS USERS can now find EAW’s EAWmosaic app available for free download in the Apple App Store. The application is designed to provide users of its Radius system with wireless remote control and monitoring capabilities from an iPad. With the iPad connected directly to a Radius system via a single cable, the app is also capable of providing multichannel audio from any Dante-enabled source, such as a front of house mixing console. According to the manufacturer, end users can
A ‘REVAMPED’ version of Amate Audio’s classic 30-yearannounced by the Spanish loudspeaker manufacturer. The original TriPhonic
EAWmosaic is an iOS control app
‘create system design proposals, complete with acoustical predictions, in minutes while
standing in the design space’.
www.eaw.com
reinforcement as well as to serve as a part of a distributed PA sound system.
The eRK108 is built with an 8-inch woofer, 0.5-inch tweeter and is capable of 60 WRMS at 8-ohms, while featuring a 70/100V line transformer. It has been constructed as a cost-effective ground loudspeaker for both inside and outside use.
well as a 70/100V transformer with four power taps.
Finally, the eUC106 is only for inside installations. A spherical pendant loudspeaker, it features a 6.5-inch woofer, 0.5-inch tweeter and 40 WRMS at 8-ohms with a 70/100V line transformer.
www.ecler.com
Ecler’s eRK108 is a cost-effective ground loudspeaker
ECLER HAS expanded its Essentials range with the addition of four installation loudspeakers, three of which can be used for outdoor applications, as well as inside. The new products are targeting installs within retail shopping environments, clubs, bars, cafés and gyms, as they are designed to provide background
Also suitable for use indoors and out are the eCS403 and eCS803 column speakers that are both built with an aluminium enclosure, are rated IP44 outdoor class and bundled with a wall bracket. The eCS403 possesses four 3-inch woofer transducers and boasts 50 WRMS total power at 4-ohms, while the eCS803 has eight of the woofer transducers and 100 WRMS total power at 8-ohms. Both units offer low impedance direct connection as
The spherical eUC106
JBL PROFESSIONAL has released an update to its audio network
HiQnet Performance Manager, with version 2.1 providing measurement integration with versions seven and eight of Rational Acoustics’ Smaart analyser. This allows users of the Harman brand’s software to access measurement data in real time over a wireless network from a computer running Smaart.
Performance Manager 2.1 also brings a range of improvements to the software’s go-online mode, adds functionality to the select input sources mode, improves upon user groups and updates the line array control panel.
improvements as have the add speakers mode, the new run show mode and the line array calculator.
The error-reporting tool has new functionality and the speaker presets have been updated. Preset support for CSX F35 has also been added.
of the update as well, tackling issues such as the high CPU usage when meters were running,
were set to 1kHz and the opening Localisation settings. A further update – Performance Manager 2.1.1 addresses a Generic Speaker creation issue and allows the software to be run on the same computer as Audio Architect.
www.jblpro.com
witnessed great success as a onestop shop solution for L/R satellite and sub systems.
Named the TPD 2.1 (TriPhonic Digital), the revamped model draws on the same design in the digital domain, with Class-D amp circuitry, onboard digital signal processing and a switched mode power supply added. DSP
peak/RMS limiters and delays for the time alignment of amp channels. Despite these additions, the manufacturer also promises the same simplistic operation as the classic model. With the device weighing 8kg, its stereo channels each provide 500W of power, while the dedicated subwoofer channel offers 1,000W – all at 4-ohms.
The universal switched-mode power supply includes active Power Factor Correction, enabling it to operate in any mains condition between 85V and 240V AC. For power saving, a builtin EcoMode puts the unit into standby mode in the absence of an audio signal. For additional control options, a computer running Amate’s DSPLink software can be connected via USB port.
www.amateaudio.com
THE THREE-MEMBER 27 Series of broadcast headsets has been designed to comply with the EC directive on noise in the workplace. All three models include Sennheiser’s switchable ActiveGard function that reportedly protects commentators against noise bursts. ActiveGard has been designed to detect noise peaks above 110dB, and compress the signal to this level, ensuring that any transmitted information remains fully comprehensible.
Taking this one step further, the HMDC 27 also features switchable NoiseGard active noise reduction. This technology reportedly increases intelligibility while also protecting the user’s hearing and avoids noise-induced stress and fatigue. The active noise reduction does not require batteries but is powered via the P48 power supply from the broadcast desk.
The other two members of the series are the HME 27 and the HMD 27. These differ in their microphone type. The HME 27 offers an electret microphone while the HMD 27 has a dynamic microphone. The mics for all three members of the series have again been designed with noisy
environments in mind. The HME 27 has a pre-polarised condenser microphone with cardioid pick-up pattern (frequency response: 40Hz to 20kHz), while the HMD 27 and HMDC 27 possess a hyper-cardioid boom microphone with a frequency response of 40Hz to 18kHz. The headphones have a stated frequency response of 8Hz to 18,000Hz and a THD below 0.1 per cent (measured at 1kHz, 100dB SPL). The cable has a small number of coils near the earcup that the manufacturer states acoustically decouples the headphones from handling noise.
www.sennheiser.com
YAMAHA HAS spotted a growing industry trend of headphone monitoring within both live sound and studio environments. In response to this, the manufacturer has expanded its MT Series with the launch of the HPH-MT8 and HPH-MT5 professional monitor headphones. Both new models are designed to deliver the sound quality, stereo imaging and source signal reproduction of the NS-10M studio monitor, while including the isolation that headphones can offer. Built for comfort when users are in the midst of a lengthy monitoring session, the HPH-MT8 and HPH-MT5 have been built to withstand life on the road with a closed-back, housing, while the headband is reportedly sweat resistant. The ear pads have been constructed with synthetic leather and low-resistance cushions to absorb vibrations and decrease leakage. To add to the comfort levels, both units include three-dimensional arm pivoting functionality and an adjustable slider length. The HPH-MT8 also facilitates single-ear monitoring with aluminium support arms and steerable earcups. Custom drivers equipped with
45mm (HPH-MT8) and 40mm incorporated with neodymium
These deliver the MT8 and MT5 with frequency responses of 15Hz-28kHz and 20Hz-20kHz respectively. Both units are bundled with a detachable 3m straight cable and a 6.3mm stereo adaptor, while the MT8 also comes with a detachable 1.2m coiled cable.
In the spirit of transforming the
technology of one of its systems into that of a different form, Yamaha has released the TF-Rack, which introduces the TouchFlow Operation of the manufacturer’s TF Series in a a 3U, 19-inch rack enclosure sits an all-in-one 16+1 stereo input and 16 output digital mixer. It is built with the same touchscreen as the TF1, TF3 and TF5 consoles that combines the manufacturer’s Selected Channel and Centralogic interfaces. The Touch & Turn control has also been lifted from the consoles, providing the ability are QuickPro Presets, designed for microphones to enable quick setup, while remote control is offered by way of wireless apps, such as TF
Editor, TF StageMix and MonitorMix. TF-Rack utilises Yamaha D-PRE input and output channel processing via eight processors that feature analogue XLR/TRS combined mic/ pin line inputs and eight analogue XLR outputs and a further eight analogue outputs of the TRS variety, the rack mount mixer includes an expansion slot to add an optional NY64-D audio interface card, which alongside a Tio1608-D I/O rack unit, can facilitate a basic Dante with 40 input mixing channels, 20 Roll-Out, while offering 34 x 34 digital record/playback channels that are accessible through USB 2.0 + 2 x 2 and a USB storage device.
Launching alongside TF-Rack is compatible with the entire TF Series, adding support for setting up limitedaccess user accounts and additional QuickPro Presets.
support to its Dante-enable products. Currently, 24 of the manufacturer’s systems possess Dante networking capabilities, and these will be supplied with device and Dante will allow Dante and Ravenna devices to work together in broadcast systems that offer unprecedented Tsugawa, director of Yamaha’s pro audio business unit.
www.yamahaproaudio.com
FIRMWARE UPDATE
2.0.19 for Shure’s ULX-D digital wireless systems provides support for the manufacturer’s Access Control functionality, which protects systems from unauthorised changes. This is because it allows a user to assign a PIN to networked devices, while the software will monitor them and only grant access to those that enter the correct authentication code. The update also reportedly
provides improvements to audio stability in marginal RF conditions,
high-pitch noise issue. Those who download the update,
found on the Shure website, are advised to complete the procedure for both receivers and transmitters as version 2.0.19 and any following releases will not be backwards
versions. Also included is an update to the system’s Dante software, in addition to myriad
www.shure.com
FOLLOWING THE development of its CMIT 5 and SuperCMIT microphones over a decade ago, Schoeps has now developed the MiniCMIT. Distinctive for its models integrate the same interference
tube/capsule, combining high directivity and minimal colouration
distinguishes itself by incorporating two capsules with DSP for enhancing directivity across a wider range of frequencies, whilst the MiniCMIT and CMIT 5 models share the same circuitry with similar characteristics. This allows the microphones to be interchanged
without altering the sound. Measuring 151mm in length and 21mm in diameter, the MiniCMIT offers increased directivity at high frequencies, allowing it to better suppress lateral sound. A selection of applicable windscreens and suspensions are available for all three models.
www.schoeps.de
THE LATEST reference-class model in beyerdynamic’s Pro series has been announced as the DT 1990 Pro, integrating the German manufacturer’s Tesla drivers like its sibling, the DT 1770 Pro. Describing the Tesla technology as ‘highly responsive
half the thickness of a human hair’, the German audio specialist says the result is distortion-free reproduction at all signal levels.
When Pro Audio Asia interviewed its visionary, Mario Gebhardt, back
magnetic system you can combine it with very lightweight coils to get a very good transient response. In the past, you could optimise a system for high SPLs but you would normally compromise on the transient response’.
The difference between the two Pro Series models is that the DT 1990 Pro features an open-
back design, limiting its use to soundproof environments, where as the DT 1770 Pro is closed-back and subject to less environmental interference.
Two different variants of replaceable memory foam ear pads ship with the unit – one favouring ‘neutral, analytical sound’, and the other ‘a warmer tuning with more bass’. Two cables, one straight and one coiled, also ship with the headphones and connect to the device via mini-XLR.
www.beyerdynamic.com
THE LATEST round of updates for CEDAR Audio’s Cambridge line has seen Cambridge V11 gain several new forensic audio tools – audio enhancement, dialogue noise suppression and restorations modules – joining the existing suite of more than 30 audio tools. According to CEDAR, these have been presented with simplicity of operation and speed of use in mind, offering Learn and Auto functions where possible to determine the optimum processing parameters. A derivation of the manufacturer’s CEDAR Trinity surveillance systems typically supplied to law enforcement agencies has also been released for audio forensic use in Cambridge. It is stated to provide four related tools that, through the use of four sliders, allow users to suppress background noise, reveal voices and increase the intelligibility of speech. It also allows users to enhance the background if that contains wanted detail. Once again ease of use is the focus
with Cambridge Trinity Enhance, as the manufacturer claims that material to a standard that would have seemed impossible a few years ago.
Finally, the Declip tool present in Cambridge V10 has been
DRAWING ON features and
Symphony I/O Mk II and Ensemble
Thunderbolt products, Apogee has unveiled the Element Series software/hardware-controllable
Thunderbolt audio interfaces.
The three new models – Element 24, Element 46 and Element 88 – are stated to offer Ensemble Thunderbolt’s recording quality in simple form factors.
In addition to this recording capability, the Element series introduces software control to provide additional functions that can’t be achieved in the hardware domain, for example, allowing their needs and control the device remotely via Wi-Fi using the Element Control for iOS App.
Users of Apple’s Logic Pro X are able to adjust Element’s I/O settings directly from the Logic channel strips, while for those wanting more traditional desktop control, the optional Apogee Control hardware features a Duet like form-factor with eight assignable buttons and a master control knob.
replaced with Declip-2, based on an improved algorithm. As with the previous version, the process looks to identify and remove most instances of clipping in a single real-time pass, however a new adaptive Auto mode which tracks changes in the amplitude at which clipping occurs, aims to eliminate distortion and restore the original dynamic range of the signal with a single-button press. Manual controls are also supplied for tweaking the results if desired. Cambridge V11 will be shipped with CEDAR’s Cambridge Series IV host systems running Windows 10 Pro 64-bit. It will reportedly run successfully on all previous Series IV hosts as well as CEDAR Cambridge Series III hardware (with a new video card) running Windows 10 Pro 64bit or Windows 7 Ultimate Pro. Some earlier systems may also support Cambridge V11, but the manufacturer stresses that performance will be compromised and some features and modules will not be available.
www.cedar-audio.com
The various models differ only in their I/O capability. Element 24 offers 10 inputs and 12 outputs. This is expanded to 12 inputs and 14 outputs for Element 46, and further to 16 inputs and 16 outputs for Elements 88. AD/DA conversion for all three models is stated to be 192kHz/24-bit, while round-trip latency when operating at 96kHz with a 32-bit buffer setting is 1.41ms. Any two Element audio I/O boxes can also reportedly be connected directly to Thunderbolt ports on your computer thanks to
multi-unit Thunderbolt support.
In addition to Element, Apogee has launched a Dante Network Symphony I/O Mk II audio interface, meaning the device now offers Dante, Thunderbolt, Pro Tools HD and SoundGrid connectivity. The Symphony I/O Mk II Dante option card uses Audinate’s Dante Brooklyn II module, which features plug and play media networking for up to 64 bidirectional channels at 48kHz.
www.apogeedigital.com
MACKIE HAS released a free update for its Master Fader iOS app. Master Fader v4.5 provides support for the manufacturer’s Axis digital mixing system in addition to delivering control for the DL32R, DL1608 and DL806 digital mixers.
Due to popular demand from Master Fader’s existing user base v4.5 also offers new reverbs with a new advanced control section.
To assist users in balancing volume across the audible spectrum in the form of a visual tool, the update adds
a spectrograph to the app’s real time analyser (RTA). The combined RTA/spectrograph tool has been made visible on every input channel, which was not the case with the RTA feature alone, prior to the update.
Additional features include new factory presets for EQ, dynamics and FX, new metering ballistics options, such as selecting the time period that the meter holds an RTA peak level for, and the ability when saving an FX preset to include the FX return EQ.
www.mackie.com
AIMED AT videographers, TASCAM’s DR-10L is a compact body-pack recorder and lavalier microphone that is designed to offer the audio quality and features of its bigger brothers, the DR-10X plug-on ENG and the DR10SG shotgun mic recorders. As the recorder can be concealed at a subject’s hip, the DR-10L removes the unpredictability that arises with wireless solutions, such as interference, while remaining inconspicuous.
The unit is powered by a single AAA battery that reportedly provides 10 hours of recording. It records 48kHz/24-bit Broadcast or microSDHC cards. The features that DR-10X draws from its siblings include a built-in limiter for preventing distortion, a low-cut
and an OLED display designed to be readable in direct sunlight. The
manufacturer’s Dual Recording mode is also included, which records a lower level safety track in a bid to safeguard against spikes in source level.
www.tascam.com
IN RESPONSE to a growing and global trend of RedNet users employing ever-larger RedNet systems, Focusrite has upgraded its RedNet Control software system with the release of version 2.0. The software enables remote control of the manufacturer’s RedNet range of Dante-based
tabs automatically with devices from the list, while tab contents can be managed via a drop-down menu. Users can identify and rename a device on the sidebar list by right clicking on it. There is the option the devices that meet the selected criteria; for example, by sample rate
MARKING RUPERT
new transformer-gain, Class-A mic preamp in over 40 years, the Shelford
directly-coupled transformer input with gain provided by the custom transformer itself. The RN4012 transformer provides
controlled by a stepped attenuator and precision trim pot. The mic pre section also includes a sweepable
transformer-gain, Class-A mic preamp in over 40 years
line selection, 48V phantom power, and polarity reverse.
The new preamp design is complemented by the 1073and 1064-inspired inductor EQ section from the manufacturer’s existing Shelford 5051 and 5052 modules, a new diode bridge compressor inspired by the 2254
with additional functionality, a new dual-tap transformer output with high- and low-headroom outputs, saturation, and reportedly twice the operating voltage of Rupert Neve’s vintage modules.
www.rupertneve.com
audio-over-IP systems and the update has been made to give users more intuitive control.
RedNet Control 2.0 provides users with a tabbed graphical interface, much like you would encounter on a web browser. Each tab on the interface can display up to 12 devices, depending on the level of detail required, and 50 tabs can be
available can be dragged from a sidebar list into a grid on a tab. With the capacity to control up to 600 RedNet devices, the equivalent of 9,600 Dante audio channels, the new update has been designed to handle the largest of systems. The system can also be set to populate
or devices that are not currently in a tab. Search functionality is also included for the device list. Devices are now shown graphically on the new user interface.
RedNet devices may also be grouped on each page, enabling simpler management of signals. One example given is that tabs can be arranged to represent a particular area or room of a facility. The version 2.0 update also improves the software’s device monitoring, metering and parameter controls, while also allowing for the locking and unlocking of devices.
www.focusrite.com
POWERSOFT HAS provided sponsorship and support for
The app is available on Android, devices, and is designed to provide calculations, utilities and reference information for the design of pro audio setups such as PA systems and sound reinforcement applications, as well as lighting. The Italian manufacturer’s contribution to the app comes in the form of a dedicated session that focuses upon its limiter thresholds. It has been developed to assist users in setting a starting point for limiter setups by running tests, validating and tuning the results. Finally, to allow users to set a maximum voltage, an optional Clip Limiter is also available with the tool.
www.brusi.com
Powersoft has contributed to the development of the PAcalculate app
IK MULTIMEDIA’S iRig HD 2 builds upon its predecessor by reportedly offering professional-quality 96kHz digital audio with
A portable, digital guitar interface for use with iOS devices, Mac or PC, the second generation iRig HD offers an integrated headphone with dual mode switch and the full version of the manufacturer’s AmpliTube real-time guitar and bass multi-effects processor software. The mobile interface features an input gain control for signal levels that can be monitored via a multicolour LED indicator. The headphone output, meanwhile, includes preamp and level control, and a lighting cable connector has been added to deliver iPhone 7 compatibility. This allows users of Apple’s latest phone, which
iRig HD 2 is compatible with iPhones, iPads, Macs and PCs
doesn’t include a headphone jack, to monitor their recording using their existing headphones, and can also be used to simply allow the listening of music from the phone via headphones. The Amp Out jack facilitates the use of an iPhone, iPad, Mac or PC
without requiring an adapter. The
users to select the type of signal sent.
The device comes packaged with a mic stand mounting bracket.
www.ikmultimedia.com
Attack and Release knobs, which respectively adjust the response times (clockwise for faster response times) when the compressor exceeds the threshold and falls below it.
Klark Teknik is aiming for a vintage, yet modern design features with its new compressor
www.powersoft-audio.com
PAYING TRIBUTE to the 1176LN, Klark Teknik has constructed the 1176-KT as a FET-style (Field Effect Transistor) compressor, but with a modern, discrete signal path that calls upon the custom input and output transformers of the Music Group-owned company’s sister brand, Midas, to reportedly deliver a high-quality sonic performance.
With a UI designed for simple operation, the compressor features four compression ratios: 4:1 moderate, 8:1 severe, 12:1 mild limiting and 20:1 hard limiting. To effectively cater for drums, bass and guitars as well as rock ‘n’ roll vocals Klark Teknik has included the All-button mode. On the front
In keeping with the vintage look and feel that the manufacturer is aiming for, the 1176-KT possesses an illuminated VU meter that displays the gain reduction and output level of whichever meter button has been selected. The enclosure is a 2U steel rack mount unit with Neutrik XLR connectors and a universal power supply that includes auto-voltage sensing capabilties.
www.klarkteknik.com
Universal 2.4 GHz - license-free operation worldwide
Detailed & Crystal-clear 24-bit digital sound quality
True Diversity up to 100-meter | 328-foot reception range
Wide Dynamic Range ideal for instrument & vocal experience
Digital Sound without analog’s companding noise
64 ID Codes increased compatible channels simultaneously
Rechargeable transmitters > 12 hours of operation
www.mipro.com.tw
CONTINUING IN its quest to provide 500 series standard version rack series units, elysia
has launched the mpressor 500. In addition to retaining features from the larger mpressor, such as the manufacturer’s gain reduction limiter that is designed to provide unique dynamics shaping options, the mpressor 500 includes new functionality in its switchable THD Boost, which allows for signal saturation effects.
Also included in the product topology, negative ratios, stepped controllers and an anti log release. Auto fast switchable semi automation is featured as well. The manufacturer states that make it suited to both recording
www.elysia.com
THE SMARTBOOM Lite series of headsets reportedly retains the ‘features, comfort and reliability’ of its larger sibling, Pliant Technologies’ SmartBoom Pro headset series, while providing them within a smaller form factor. Comprising 4-pin XLR female, 5-pin XLR male and unterminated versions, the Lite series is designed to deliver enhanced acoustic isolation while incorporating a single-ear design with a closed back that makes it a lightweight option.
dynamic cardioid microphone with noise-cancelling capabilities. As with the Pro models and as the
name suggests, the Lite versions make use of the manufacturer’s SmartBoom technology that enables the microphone boom to serve as a quick muting on/off switch. Each of rubberised matte black and include an adjustable headband to offer a pad and 150cm cable are supplied. The CoachComm division has also introduced CrewCom: a wireless intercom solution designed to enable high user density, large range and scalability. The manufacturer also states that the system includes the ‘smallest fullyfeatured professional
voice quality and multiple simultaneous frequency’.
The system is built on a ‘highly scalable’ platform and comprises a family of devices to facilitate any size and type of application. The products that form the solution are available in
to use in areas that the band is legal. These frequency ranges can be used in any combination simultaneously.
To provide the system with a network on which to operate, Pliant has developed CrewNet, which coordinates all of CrewCom’s system timing, audio, signalling and controls and provides a means of transport. It can operate on a standard Cat-5e cable or higher, and across single mode lines of produced CrewWare as a software package for CrewCom, delivering and real-time monitoring for each device within the setup.
Our engineering team works in parntership with our clients, offering not only technical support and advice but making sure we are always listening. Learning what matters to you means we are ready with intelligent and innovative solutions.
FOLLOWING THE release of Clear-Com’s Agent-IC app in iOS, the manufacturer has made the mobile application, that allows for the secure connection and communication with the Eclipse HX digital matrix intercoms system remotely via smart phone or tablet, available on Android devices.
Described as a mobile intercom client panel, Agent-IC connects a smart device to Eclipse HX over an IP network. It is designed with an intuitive user interface to simplify the process of deploying across remote teams. The app also enables point-to-point calling and group calling, partylines, PTT, local cross-point audio level control and while also providing security in the form of audio encryption and user ID/password accessibility.
Agent-IC is based on the G.722 codec and is available for Android OS 5.0 and higher via Google Play, and on Apple devices on iOS 8.0 and above through the App Store.
Clear-Com has also been hard at work on the hardware side, producing a new addition to the
HelixNet beltpack range. The HXII-BP-X4 has been designed for use with the HelixNet digital partyline intercom systems. It offers a ‘lighter-weight, tougher and more ergonomic design’ than its predecessors, and utilises PoE (Power-over-Ethernet), accessing two of the system’s 24 channels at a time.
‘The HelixNet platform is an all-digital system based on networked technology, which
■ Flexible, tough multipair-cables for permanent use
■ User-friendly cable solutions
■ Customer oriented manufacturing
■ Robust stagebox-systems
■ Big stock and fast delivery
means all the end points in the system can connect and draw power from the PoE switch,’ explained Clear-Com product manager, John Wyckoff. ‘This allows easy remote connection of beltpacks through PoE switches and users to add more beltpacks to systems already maxed out with 20 Digital Power Line beltpacks.’
www.clearcom.com
THE PERSONAL Digital Recorder (PDR) has been developed by Lectrosonics as a micro digital recorder for situations when a wireless microphone cannot be practically used. Designed to synchronise with an SMPTE 12M – 1999 timecode, the portable recorder records in 24-bit, 48kHz digital onto a Micro SD card (HC type) in the .wav (Broadcast Wave File) format. The PDR can be jammed to an external time code via a 5-pin Lemo connector, whilst a headphone output jack allows monitoring of the signal input or playback of previously recorded any mic or line level signal, providing bias voltage to power a wide variety of electret lavaliere microphones.
The input connection and wiring is compatible with microphones pre-wired for use with Lectrosonics’ wireless microphone transmitters with servo bias type inputs. The PDR runs for over six hours on a single lithium AAA battery, for which setup and adjustments can be made on the keypad interface or the LCD. Measuring 60mm x 54mm x 17mm and weighing 71g (with
battery), the PDR’s ergonomic shape has been machined from a solid aluminium billet before being hard anodised. The resultant form factor claims to make the PDR easy to place in garments
and costumes or to conceal as a plant microphone for capturing environmental or location sound.
Adding to its DSW (Digital Secure Wireless) microphone system, Lectrosonics has manufactured the DBa digital belt pack transmitter for use in a variety of demanding applications. It boasts 24-bit/48kHz digital audio, a lightweight yet tough build for durability, and AES-256-CTR encryption technology to ensure privacy.
With a wideband tuning range between 470 and 698MHz, the DBa also possesses an RF output stage that’s highly linear to decrease inter-modular distortion and 50mW transmission RF power that aims to negate dropouts. It also features a TA5M mic/line input.
The transmitter has an audio frequency response of approximately 20Hz to 20kHz, 2.5ms system latency and a dynamic range of 108dB. A pair of AA batteries power the device, with alkaline batteries providing more ones over nine’.
www.lectrosonics.com
Agent-IC is now available on Android devices as well as iOS
The DBa digital belt pack transmitter is part of the DSW microphone system
VOCOPRO HAS introduced its new range of wireless microphone systems, the Hybrid Line, which is aimed at performers and speakers that require a reliable system of good quality that is also simple to Hybrid-Play (headset/lapel) and Hybrid-Acapella (handheld) series, which each feature eight-, 12- and
The systems operate within the 900MHz band so as to remain immune from interference, particularly in broadcasting
up to approximately 60m for 24-bit digital audio – this is reportedly accomplished by utilising the manufacturer’s digital ‘mic-onchip’ technology, as well as an
frequency response is between
50Hz and 20,000Hz and each digital microphone in a system has its own ID, removing channel
A balanced XLR output is
WITH DIRECTIONAL sound gaining an increased focus in the world of pro audio, several manufacturers have now introduced dedicated
Townsend Labs, whose debut product has now been unveiled
Described as a high-precision, side-address, large-diaphragm condenser microphone, the Sphere L22 combines with a DSP plugin which much like a guitar emulator, replicates eight large diaphragm classic condenser microphone
‘Traditional modelling techniques like those used in classic hardware emulation don’t fully address the characteristics that truly make microphones unique and desirable,’
‘To capture those key spatial details, we pioneered methods to study microphones in three
The 3D approach to modelling offers users some distinct advantages, such as the ability to change mic types, polar patterns and other characterisers postrecording, make stereo recordings from a single mic and reduce bleed and undesirable room colouration
Thanks to the dual-channel design, users can also reportedly perform phase-coherent mixing of multiple virtual mic models from the same physical microphone, before or after tracking in the Sphere plugin, while it’s also
possible to adjust the relative phase alignment of the two mics
The hardware itself has a stated self-noise level of 7dB-A SPL and can handle ‘in excess’ of 140dB
Sphere DSP plugin is available
Apollo Interfaces and UAD-2 hardware, and when used with Apollo devices offers a low round
included for each channel on the Hybrid Line products, reportedly providing ‘precise volume control or the ability to patch in all the microphones quickly with up to four
and Hybrid-Acapella systems all come bundled with brackets for
In other news, in what the
company is terming an industry contained multichannel wireless systems that ship with custommade bags for portable use, which is essentially the same technology as outlined previously but packed
The UDH Play and Choir are four or eight-channel wireless systems headset/lapel microphones and operate on the 900MHz frequency band and 24-bit audio can be utilises All-in-one wireless Mic-On-IC technology integrating an onboard
The hybrid systems combines UHF analogue transmission with digital www.vocopro.com
THE TELOS Alliance has unveiled a new solution to aid small radio studios with the transition from traditional ISDN and POTS lines to IP-based phone systems, claiming that by banishing the monthly costs attributed with traditional lines it can provide broadcasters with put, you’re paying for the capability you need, while getting unparalleled quality for on-air calls,’ offered Joe Talbot, telephony product manager for
caller speech quality and AGC ensures consistent caller levels, while Omnia Dynamic Digital EQ (DDEQ) adjusts EQ
For existing Livewire users, installation is stated to be as simple as connecting a single engine and adding networked
studios can reportedly use a Telos Multipurpose Node for audio and GPIO connectivity provides phone hybrids for each studio, without the need for additional wiring or physical
reportedly no restriction to the number of SIP lines or phone numbers that can come into the number of hybrids/faders in the
The solution is compatible with a variety of call-management software applications from third parties, and comes with XScreen call-screening software from
In other news, a new software update for the Telos Alliance’s offers the device improved clipper performance, tools for improved reception and multipath management, and UECP support
According to the manufacturer, the new and improved clipper of loudness compared with the previous version, and with induced intermodulation distortion’,
thereby preventing low-frequency content from causing audible
Beyond these characteristics, the new clipper can also reportedly be used to shape the texture of the audio to help create a station’s Elsewhere, improvements to managing and reducing multipath distortion include an additional SSB (single sideband) mode that is stated to maintain near full stereo reception, even on receivers that quickly switch to mono during
the manufacturer has introduced ‘Stokkemask’ clipping in line with the the ITU-R SM-1268 standard, which dynamically controls RF
Lastly, Omnia has added support for the standardised UECP protocol to the RDS generator, which provides the ability to transmit
KALTMAN CREATIONS
claim to the title of manufacturer of addition to its Invisible Waves line, audio engineer and includes a of the manufacturer’s Touch to users to listen to RF signals with the press of a button. Local
customisable markers available for monitoring the performance of transmitters and tracking the range. RF-Vue can be purchased in
RF analysis on a tablet
a standalone option to be paired with a compatible tablet. The user interface is designed to be intuitive
THE YVC-300 portable USB and Bluetooth conference phone is the result of Revolabs’ efforts to cater towards the needs of small collaboration spaces and huddle rooms. It is designed to deliver intelligible sound in ad hoc meeting areas, for groups of four to six people, providing a portable solution that makes use of an organisation’s existing devices.
Users can connect the conference phone to a PC-
based conferencing client via USB, or to a smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth. When connected to a smartphone or tablet, the YVC-300 serves as the microphone and speaker,
conferencing capabilities to a user’s phone. Fast-pairing is also with NFC-enable devices. can also be connected to the
Assistant tool.
www.kaltmancreations.com
to showcase the V__matrix before its target audience: the
and processing platform and is designed to provide a future-proof core infrastructure based on open rack space, consuming less power and supporting the transition to
and output ports. All calls that are made across interfaces are merged into one single call.
has also included its processing technologies within the YVC-300m such as adaptive echo cancellation, background noise reduction and www.revolabs.com
iMix 5.1 is designed to lack artificial ambiance
ORBAN’S IMIX in headphones’, claims the products to be launched under the Orban brand since its
as well as the most recent version measurement algorithm. headphones, the headphone
transfer function) calibration or surround encoding is also not needed, as the device is designed to render a discrete and stable includes rendered test tone locations with the likes of BLITS tones (Black and Lanes’ Ident Tones for Surround) providing ambience.
connectors and a built-in webserver, while users have the option to add balanced analogue
www.orban.com
TO ENHANCE AudioTools Server’s format, Minnetonka Audio module. This provides users of the enterprise audio processing platform with the more tracks, to decrease the container to include less tracks than the original or to alter the existing track depth include up and down mixing, additional language tracks, track and decoding. The nablet module can be utilised onsite, in the cloud or within a virtual environment. It comes as part of the AudioTools Channel Manager module. ‘Some processes result in the
from Minnetonka Audio. ‘Our core expertise is audio, so we decided
understands video container formats as their core business.’
www.minnetonkaaudio.com
www.nablet.com
production, including studios and OB vans, and even across multiple locations, as signal modules.
V__matrix decentralises routing and processing
manufacturer as a ‘virtualised real-time broadcast production infrastructure’, it utilises several cores that are connected to a COTS (commercial of-the-shelf) redundant connections, forming a distributed IP routing and offers clean switching with frame virtual modules are loaded via core processing blades that function, allowing the user to The core processing blades come make use of the manufacturer’s VSM Broadcast Control and Signal switching and routing is facilitated for both IP and routing over IP, control and
www.lawo.com
Verance Open Watermarking is now included in Linear Acoustic’s processors
IN EARLY 2016 Linear Acoustic announced a partnership with Verance to bring the latter’s
VP1 Open Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) technology to the former’s Aero platform. Following that announcement, the Telos that Verance Open Watermarking – reportedly the inaugural ‘open
initially be available exclusively via the Aero.2000 and Aero.100 television audio processors.
The Open Watermarking functionality provides broadcasters with a full broadband-enabled suite of features, including interactive content and addressable advertising. Verance’s ACR watermarking system was one of many proposed to the ATSC for
SONIFEX HAS embraced AoIP since it joined the Ravenna group in 2012. As a result, this is the main transport mechanism for a pair of releases, AVN-GMCS PTPv2 grandmaster clock with GPS receiver and the AVN-TB range of talkback intercoms.
The AVN-TB products are IP audio based talkback intercom units. With both 4-wire analogue inputs and outputs, as well as AoIP network audio connectivity, the AVN-TB units can reportedly be used with existing legacy 4-wire systems and with
new AES67 AoIP networked audio infrastructure. Additionally, all audio is at 48kHz sample rate and its dual 1Gb LAN ports and a 1Gb SFP be used in larger networks.
be released is the AVN-TB10AR, a 10 button intercom. Comms can be made as a Talk action, a Listen action or a duplex Talk/ Listen action to/from each station.
Coloured LEDs in the buttons help to show which action is being used and there is also a Callback button
evaluation and was selected by the committee for standardisation within Users of Linear Acoustic’s Aero.2000 and Aero.100 real-time loudness processors can gain access to Verance Open Watermarking via a software upgrade.
www.linearacoustic.com www.verance.com
Wisycom’s rack-mountable ACM50
WISYCOM IS bringing lithium battery charging to the 19-inch rack with its ACM50 battery charger. The 1.6kg unit is housed in aluminium and can reportedly charge up to 10 batteries simultaneously.
The unit features two LED indicators under each charging
slot, allowing users to view the status of their batteries and is powered via an AC or DC connector. The manufacturer states that it takes the ACM50 two hours to fully charge a battery.
www.wisycom.com
for when you’re unavailable to receive a call. The stations can be from anywhere on the AoIP network and Bonjour Device Discovery means that other stations can be found quickly and easily. The unit also features acoustic echo cancellation and built-in mic AGC (automatic gain control). Each unit has a built-in webserver which is where the majority of made and a front panel OLED
display. The intercom has a front panel power button and dual power connectors – an IEC mains input and a 12V DC input. Also, a secondary power source reduces the effect of power down events.
The AVN-GMCS is a PTP GPS receiver and grandmaster clock used for synchronising AoIP audio networks. It has been designed to become the master clock and distribute time packets to synchronise all the nodes within a network. This reportedly enables sub microsecond synchronisation between all nodes.
This release of the hardware offers a front screen that now
frontpanel
displays the number of GPS satellite signals received with a screen saver which shows the current time. Equally, more
(including the default Ravenna, media AES67 and AES-R16 SMPTE 2059-2 and AES67 interoperable
has been added to the unit so that accurate time/day will be available. Finally, the PPS and wordclock outputs are interchangeable so either output can be used and the web interface is now responsive.
www.sonifex.xo.uk
AudioLan2.0 blends AES67 and AES70 into single solution
ARCHWAVE HAS
System designers love the focussed dispersion of NEXO speakers. It gives them the tools they need to achieve perfect coverage in any space.
The new ID24 achieves smooth, full-frequency sound and high output from a cabinet measuring just 309mm wide, with a unique, user-rotatable horn providing unprecedented control over HF directivity.
With an ‘a la carte’ selection of colours, grilles, directivity and connectivity, and compatibility with a wide range of mobile and fixed-installation hardware, ID Series delivers precision sound, right where it’s needed.
DIGIGRAM’S NEW suite of cloudbased services is designed to streamline end-to-end management of the process of content contribution from an internet-based source to the studio. Named blu by digigram, the manufacturer states that the subscription-based suite is a ‘cost-effective, centralised web for users ‘to establish a high-quality bidirectional communication with any remote contributor with internet access’.
focused service unites a cloudbased SaaS application with a professional audio interface (blu
Connect studio) to improve the user experience,’ explained Digigram product owner, Martin Dutasta.
‘With this pay-as-you-go model for managing and processing contributed content from an array of sources, broadcasters can dedicate more time to creating programming.’
The SaaS software and blu Connect studio interface create a protocol-agnostic contribution platform. Together, they enable instant and secure IP audio contribution via the cloud or by other real-time means, such as by phone or IP codec, and the option for cloud-based audio processing
an etherCon RJ-45
both the power and bidirectional digital audio signal by interconnecting with a standard PoE-enabled
and media recording. Studio staff connect to blu by Digigram using a web platform and using the contacts interface, can launch a full duplex contribution the blu Connect interface. The receive an email or SMS message connection with a PC or Android
smartphone. The web platform supplies audio controls to the users on both ends, as well as tools for an editorial team to add contextual metadata to a recording and to manage the members of their contribution community.
The blu Connect interface includes AES/EBU, AES67 and analogue I/ Os, with a plug-and-play system that connects automatically with
the blu by Digigram service via an encrypted connection and generates also provides scalability options, with the manufacturer citing that ‘users can extend the system’s capabilities by adding concurrent
a traditional AoIP codec, or adding new functionality to accommodate future services’ as an example. The system has also been designed to integrate with a broadcaster’s existing infrastructure, including apps, websites and other contribution portals.
blu.digigram.com
STUDIO TECHNOLOGIES has manufactured the Model 362 on-air talent and production staff.
Model 362 features Dante AoIP technologies and facilitates headphone monitoring for two audio channels from a Dante application.
The listen-only device channel routing abilities, dual level controls, ¼-inch and by Power-over-Ethernet (PoE).
Setup and operation is reportedly
Model 362 is compatible with Audinate’s Dante Controller PC software that can distribute a pair of audio sources to the
able to set and maintain a level on the headphone output via two push-in/push-out rotary potentiometers. The unit’s operational status is indicated by four LEDs.
The manufacturer has ensured that Model 362 is also compatible with its other Dante-enabled products, as well as those from third party companies.
www.studio-tech.com
WITH VERSION 1.1, Audinate has introduced or expanded on several notable features in its Dante Via software, such as increasing application support to 16x16 channels and adding ASIO device support, adjustable source mixes and device protections. Described by the Australian company as a major update to the audio
the latest version is available free-of-charge to existing owners from Audinate’s website.
Increasing the channel count, Dante Via 1.1 supports up to 16x16 channels of audio for each application and up to 32x32 for each connected device. Users
connections between multiple applications and devices within a single computer, or between multiple computers using Dante
A brand new feature in version
Dante Via screen shot
unwanted changes to the software being made from other computers
a new Mixer panel enables level adjustments of multiple sources that are combined at stereo destinations, while the
WITH AES67 continuing to gain
NetworX has released a Ravenna to SAP freeware conversion tool intended to help connect Ravenna devices to other AES67 units.
The manufacturer stressed that such a tool is required because ‘crucial to the success management between devices and the exchange of SDP data’, something that the AES67 standard doesn’t mandate.
In Ravenna, ‘the SDP data is conveyed via the RTSP protocol which is a common method in layer 3 IP applications’.
‘While some Ravenna devices have implemented SAP in addition to Ravenna’s standard SDP data exchange method, we felt that interconnectivity would be greatly facilitated if a generic Ravennato-SAP converter providing a translation service between Ravenna and SAP announcements were available,’ explained ALC
new Append Channels feature automatically assigns sources to available channels when connecting to multichannel destinations, allowing logical routing to DAWs and mixers.
www.audinate.com
NetworX’s Andreas Hildebrand.
‘Furthermore, since the RAV2SAP converter supports manual entry and read-out of SDP data as well as automatic translation, it also enables devices not adhering to the Ravenna or Dante technology realm to connect to any available AES67 stream via manual SDP data exchange, as well as acting as a great diagnostic tool for monitoring exchanged SDP data.’
ravenna.alcnetworx.com
Vero is a large format sound system, which has been engineered for new levels of audio and operational performance. It has been designed, developed and perfected over the last six years by some of the most knowledgeable and experienced audio engineers in the world.
Its meticulously crafted proprietary waveguides and driver technology produce naturally even frequency response and coverage.
The result is uncompromised system dynamics, headroom and coherency combining to present an incredibly spacious stereo image, which is why Vero is already gaining the plaudits of sound engineers from around the world.
www.vero-system.com
JOINING THE Prism 4x4 and Prism 8x8, which feature four and eight inputs and outputs respectively, Symetrix’ newest Prism Series device, the Prism 0x0, serves as the DSP core of a Dante network and permits expansion via 64 channels of bidirectional Dante networking, in addition to delivering processing, mixing and routing for Danteenabled endpoints.
‘The Prism 0x0 has many applications,’ said senior product manager, Trent Wagner. ‘For example, a lot of digital consoles have Dante but don’t offer feedback elimination, auto-mixing, and
Simply insert the Prism 0x0 between the remote stage-input boxes and the console, if Dante-enabled, or use the Prism 0x0 as an
BLACKMAGIC DESIGN’S
DeckLink range has gone 4K with the introduction of the DeckLink Mini Monitor 4K and DeckLink
Mini Recorder 4K PCIe capture cards. These new models include the same features as their HD cousins, but with the addition of Ultra HD (UHD) and high dynamic range (HDR) capabilities. With OEMs and developers in mind, the Australian manufacturer has made both DeckLink Mini 4K units fully compatible with Desktop Video SDK
for building custom playback and recording solutions.
In addition to UHD and HDR, both the monitor and recorder versions support all formats up to 2160p30, including, SD and
four lane generation dual PCI Express cards that possess 6G-SDI and HDMI 2.0a connections capable of supporting 10-bit YUV and 12-bit RGB video, as well as Rec 2020 colour and support for HDR formats
insert or bus processor. For outputs, relay the signals through the Prism 0x0, if the amps are Dante-enabled, or insert it on the console’s busses.’
According to the manufacturer, devices in the Prism series feature the same digital signal processing power, mic preamps and AD/DA converters as Symetrix’ Radius and Edge products to provide 64 channels of bi-directional Dante networking. DSP, analogue audio and converter technologies are reported to be identical in all four products.
www.symetrix.co
and metadata. A full height and a half height PCI shield are both included with the two DeckLink Mini 4K cards to enable installation within a standard computer PCIe slot
DeckLink Mini Monitor 4K provides SDI and HDMI playback and monitoring and its outputs switch between all video formats automatically. DeckLink Mini Recorder 4K, meanwhile, captures video directly from SDI and HDMI sources, such as decks
and cameras, feeding it to a computer. It has been designed for versatility, reportedly allowing for integration into mobile live capture environments. Both models are compatible with uncompressed format video, including QuickTime, making them compatible with most major professional editing, colour correction and visual effects software suites.
www.blackmagicdesign.com
KRAMER ELECTRONICS is targeting presentation environments with its KW-14 HDMI transmitter and receiver pair that provides short-range, wireless A/V distribution, noting that listed and
cabling. The system comprises the KW14T transmitter and KW-14R receiver. One transmitter can distribute HDMI signals simultaneously. The transmission range is up to 30m and can penetrate obstacles, including walls. With a 1080p resolution at 60Hz, the on-screen display
KW-14 is designed for short-distance wireless HDMI distribution
screens and will automatically select the most suitable RF available to avoid
www.kramerelectronics.co.uk
are signal processing devices that are internal processing channels and I/O connections. Following this, apps can be downloaded to provide the required
greenMachine is true to its name
LYNX TECHNIK AG’s greenMachine combines hardware, downloadable apps
regularly add new apps to the aptly named greenStore.
In keeping with the greenTheme, the greenMachine has been designed
are available that include the hardware and apps: the 3G/HD/SD dual channel SDI Frame Synchroniser and added Up/Down/Cross Conversion versions, as well as the HD (1.5Gbit/s) SDI dual bidirectional transport package. Upon purchase, the user selects the
via the greenGUI. The greenUniverse, greenMachine’s installed apps and hardware.
www.green-machine.com
www.lynx-technik.com
PHOENIX AUDIO Technologies has currently comprises three devices
MT505 SIP/IP Telephone, MT502 PSTN the application.
The MT502 PSTN and the MT505 dial pads and displays. This Power Hub.
The PSTN Spider MT502 is now compatible with Skype for Business
Skype calls, in addition to using it as your daily speakerphone and a separate keyboard, mouse, or dedicated controller necessary to dial
COO, Jacob Marash.
www.phnxaudio.com
adjustable brightness LED video light to minimise the need for external lighting equipment’, ‘advanced noise reduction and remarkable detail reproduction’ and technology that makes use of DSP. The camera’s provide a wide viewing angle.
SONY’S LATEST MCX-500 multicamera live producer has been created for single users that operate multi-camera setups. Designed with small-scale applications in mind, the all-in-one switcher is said to offer ‘the performance and technical heritage associated with Sony’s market leading A/V solutions, but at an affordable price’, making it particularly suited to applications such as houses of worship.
The MCX-500 includes features taken from the manufacturer’s MVS series, such as its broadcastquality chroma key algorithm, and has also been designed to offer an easy-to-use interface, suitable for a voluntary A/V team. The switcher includes four channels and the option for nine inputs such as four 3G-SDI, two HDMI, a pair of CVBS and an RGB input for title overlays. Compatible with a ‘wide range of video cameras’, the device features PiP and Keyer overlay functions, channel audio inputs in addition to the four channel video inputs, including XLR and embedded audio from SDI or HDMI.
It is reportedly able to adapt to live images with AVCHD formats
without an external recorder, meaning that users can edit or distribute a video as soon as recording ends. A GUI option is provided to allow remote control from an external device, while Ustream integration has also been included for those looking to stream events online.
The HXR-NX5R, meanwhile, is the newest addition to the NXCAM camcorder family. It offers multiformat recording capabilities and improved network functionality, such as FTP and live streaming, built-in Wi-Fi and simultaneous backup recording via its dual SD card slots.
Sony states that the three 1/2.8type Full HD Exmor CMOS sensors and 40x Clear Image Zoom double the camera’s optical zoom without loss of image quality.
Additional upgrades that the HXR-NX5R brings include a 3G-SDI terminal, enhanced control options by way of a direct menu function and a responsive joystick and the choice of advanced XAVC S 50Mbps or established AVCHD/DV recording as well as what the manufacturer
The successor to the RM-1000BP, Sony has released the RM-30BP compact multi function remote commander. Initially compatible with the PXW-FS7 v4.0 as well as the HXR-NX5R and MCX-500, the manufacturer has plans to expand the portfolio of devices that the remote commander will work with. It can be used as a handheld device, placed on a table-top or attached to the arm of a tripod and provides remote control such as recording/display functions, shutter speed, white balance, lens control and playback and multi-camera control for up to three units.
Finally, Sony has increased its portfolio of Trimaster El OLED master monitors with 17-inch BVM-E171 and 25-inch BVM-E251 replacing the BVM-E170A and BVME250A monitors and providing 4K production features.
pro.sony.com
DESCRIBED BY the manufacturer
lumens laser projector, Epson’s EB-L25000U is its highest lumens projector. Aimed at expanding Epson’s presence in the high brightness market, the projector has been designed for large venues and outdoor projection.
The EB-L25000U integrates a fully sealed laser optical engine with laser-light source and inorganic components.
Offering a contrast ratio of 2,500,000:1, users are reportedly
Epson’s EB-L25000U projector
able to operate the projector continuously for 20,000 hours before the brightness starts to decrease. The 25,000 lumens unit comes with a wide array of motorised 4K compatible lenses and is able to rotate and tilt
360-degrees in all directions. The EB-L25000U also offers edge blending, a built-in camera for colour calibration and lens position memory function.
www.epson.com
HARMAN’S AMX brand has brought low-bandwidth 4K video transmission to its latest networked A/V solution – N2300 Series. With a bandwidth of less than 200Mb/s, the manufacturer is promising 4K distribution over existing Gigabit Ethernet Networks with a reported latency of only one frame, thereby making the solution attractive for a variety of common applications.
The N2300 Series supports both the latest HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2 standards for compatibility with the latest 4K displays. Thanks to systems can range in size from a single encoder and decoder or grown to make a larger system simply by adding units. The N2300 encoders and decoders are PoE-powered, negating the need for an external power supply and simplifying installation. Quiet operation is also assured as the
units do not contain an internal fan for cooling.
Like other AMX networked A/V products, the N2300 Series has Native NetLinx capabilities for quick integration with Harman solutions, while additional features include keyboard/mouse support, RJ-45 and SFP network connections, support for balanced and unbalanced analogue audio, and RS-232 and IR ports for device control.
The NMX-DEC-N2322 decoder is available as a standalone unit that can be mounted behind a display.
The NMX-ENC-N2312 encoder is available both in standalone and for installation near a source or in a rack, using the AMX N9206 2RU rackmount cage. The AMX N9206 holds up to six cards and an optional consolidated power supply.
www.amx.com
Room Agent has been updated to include Office 365 integration
VERSION 1.2 of Extron Electronics’ Room Agent software enables the manufacturer’s TouchLink Pro touchpanels to
365, adding a further scheduling option. The Room Agent interface software already allowed TouchLink Pro to become a Microsoft Exchange client.
Additional features that version 1.2 brings include the ability to customise room availability hours and to view an entire day’s worth of scheduled meetings. Following the update, users can also expand a meeting subject and edit phrases on an ad hoc basis.
www.extron.com
does not readily corrode, rust or stain with water making these speakers perfect for aquatic environments as well as traditional settings.
Premium products are also created made of precious materials, like gold, available on demand.
THE LATEST addition to Acoustic Geometry’s Acoustic Bass Management (ABM) product line, the CornerSorber, is designed as an ‘easy-to-use solution that would realistically reduce destructive lowfrequency room modes’.
against the wall in the corner of a room and features Mass-Loaded Vinyl (MLV) absorption membranes
to lessen low-frequency room modes and provide an environment capable of more accurate sound reproduction.
The CornerSorber has reportedly been laboratory-tested to ensure its ability in allowing maximum pressure-zone room-mode reduction. Each unit measures approximately 61cm x 107cm with a depth of 15cm and is bevelled
THE G-SORBER system comprises two layers of Trevira CS wide width fabric that Gerriets states will adaptability when controlling the acoustics within a room. The fabric is especially designed for the G-sorber, which is available in a variety of sizes up to 4m wide x 10m high.
The absorption unit is designed to adjust the reverberation times for any any style of décor and can be colour or digital print design. With its double layer textile design, G-sorber is a single roller unit with compact housing dimensions
The G-sorber is double layered
on two of its sides and at the top to allow a pair of CornerSorbers to be placed 7.5cm vertically or horizontally apart from and parallel with each corner of the room. When combined with the manufacturer’s Curve Diffusor, the CornerSorber reportedly delivers consistent bass absorption from 50Hz to 500Hz and can evenly diffuse frequencies in excess of
500Hz. Designed to be suitable for a range of uses and venues, this newest member of the ABM family including black-stained oak, custom stain and paint colours, maple, cherry and walnut, leather and brushed aluminium.
www.acousticgeometry.com
The CornerSorber utilises MLV absorption membranes
PSI AUDIO describes its AVAA (Active Velocity Acoustic Absorber) as an ‘anti-wall’, as it is designed to neutralise a wall’s negative to absorb the standing waves of up to 150Hz, controlling a room’s low frequencies. Being an ‘active absorber’ means that that the taking up less space, states the manufacturer.
Each AVAA unit will reportedly produce the effect of a hole in the size.
The device is said to emit no sound and to not require any for portability and can be used in any type of room, including recording facilities.
www.psiaudio.com
be wall or ceiling mounted and is described as requiring little maintenance.
www.gerriets.com
LYNTEC’S RANGE of RPC series power control panels is to gain Telnet Protocol Support, allowing for an expansion to its interface
developed on-board monitoring and control capabilities from any
remote location.
Telnet is a data transfer protocol for transmitting serial data commands over Ethernet
(PLASA E1.31) and HTTP GET
for RPC remote controlled power
panels. The RPC series also accepts RS-232 serial, DMX-512 and contact closures as control inputs, offering a self-contained platform for power control applications.
www.LynTec.com
WYRESTORM HAS provided a new solution for boardrooms and classrooms with WyreStorm software for wired or wireless network display sharing from Windows and Mac devices to its presentation switchers, SW-0501HDBT and NetworkHD NHDSW-0501. ScreenLink was designed to provide a quicker approach to multiuser content sharing. The software supports simultaneous connection of up to 26 Mac or Windows computers to each SW-0501-HDBT or NHD-SW-0501 presentation computers can be displayed at the same time through a variety single, dual, PiP and quad-view. screen set-up process with a fast connection of new devices, and can be directly downloaded from
the presentation switcher, USB key or web. Security can be set to
requirements. Users connect to the local network to enter the on-screen number and start beaming their screens to a display connected to the SW-0501-HDBT or NHDSW-0501.
Both switcher models also support
uncompressed sharing, offering compact switching and auto scaling at up to 1920x1200p at 60Hz, microphone input with phantom power, stereo inputs and automix stereo audio output. Control options are featured and include
separate or combined RS-232 to manage and control the switcher or external devices. The SW-0501-
outputs with PoH for power transmission of up to 100m.
WyreStorm’s ScreenLink
also offers the features of an H.264 of Network HD 100/200-Series
location to multiple displays and videowalls in multiple zones.
capabilities reportedly allows for the combining of presentation switcher features and ScreenLink
content sharing features within the Network HD system for scalable A/V distribution. The company has also released a new app for iPad, Touch, which is designed to allow users to preview live video and control a Network system, for both single screens and video wall applications. The app features drag-and-drop selections
of content onto each display, allowing for accessible switching of any number of sources to any number of displays or videowalls the iPad screen.
Additionally, it is automatically the central Network HD system controller, ensuring users have access to their source content quickly. A live video preview of all selected content is also displayed in main video placeholders on the iPad screen, as well as on live video thumbnail previews of connected sources along the bottom of the screen.
The app can also be integrated with the WyreStorm Enado control system, enabling control of the source devices themselves and reportedly taking advantage of the Enado features, such as BYOD for addition of control devices.
www.wyrestorm.com
REPORTEDLY ADDRESSING
the ‘need for quick and easy XLR signal routing’, Switchcraft has started shipping the a DTRS wired, 24-channel XLR patchbay, the AP24MX3DB25F, and a pair of 16 channel XLR PT Series patchbays, the PT16FX16M and PT16MX16F.
The AP24MX3DB25F comes in the form of a 2U rackmount pass-through patch panel that the manufacturer states is ‘ideal for live room and broadcast studio installations’. It is two inches deep, allowing for 24 XLR connections to be directly routed to three groups of eight DB25, which are found on the front of the panel and wired in a
The two additions to the PT Series, meanwhile, offer front-of-rack I/O accessibility, making them suited to ‘permanent or mobile studio environments’.
The two models feature male (PT16FX16M) and female (PT16MX16F) XLR connections on the front and a pass-through
THE SE portable acoustic treatment has received a hardware upgrade designed to simplify its use,
counterpart on the back, to facilitate a variety of patching requirements.
Switchcraft has also released a pocket-sized DirectBox that the manufacturer describes as ‘a cross between the SC700CT DI box and
318 inline audio adapter’. Designed for durability as well as portability, the 370DI AudioStix converts unbalanced stereo outputs from mobile devices, computers and other consumer equipment into a balanced mono line level for mixing
consoles and sound systems. It includes dual RCA inputs, a 3.5mm TRS input, DE Series locking male XLR for balanced, mono and microphone level output, a ground
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The mounting upgrade kit
increase stability and offer better overall performance.
The upgrade comes in the
Mounting Bracket Upgrade Kit, which is mounting hardware based on that used for the 10th
The new mounting hardware allows for panning and tilting, addition, all moving parts are chromatised in order to ensure low wear and it can reportedly be positioned at any angle.
The upgrade kit includes the updated hardware, a mic thread adapter and a screw wrench for assembly.
www.seelectronics.com
lift switch and a 20dB pad for handling stronger signals without distorting them.
www.switchcraft.com
Tasker’s TSK1032
TASKER HAS produced a full range of carbon screened cables for use with musical instruments.
studio recording and multi-effect processing applications. The smallest cables in the new which are both 6mm in diameter
with nominal sections of 0.2mm² (C300) and 0.5mm² (C285). Both feature carbon and spiral shielding
SOMMER CABLE has constructed cable for outside installations.
from temperatures as cold as -40-degrees celcius and as high as 80-degrees celcius.
The Aqua cable is waterproof to a depth of 10m and resistant
as UV rays thanks to its outer jacket. It has a 5-wire design and is halogen-free with tight braiding
that the manufacturer states
while also recommending that it is adopted for both indoor and
Transit MC 2030 HD is the demand from its broadcast
ALTINEX HAS introduced the MT312-104 control card and MT322-105 and MT322-107 distribution cards for use with its MT302-201 Digital MultiTasker. The MT312-104 is designed for use with touchscreen control panels and while the MT322-105 and MT322107 distribute AC power from a which can be connected to any type
Offering command of serial and card boasts two relays and two sensor inputs. These relays can light and RF sensors. The sensor
The MT312-104 can also supply information from third party
By connecting to the MultiTasker the input status of the sensor connected to the RS-232 ports.
Multiple control cards can also be used within a single MT302-201 systems with unlimited capacity.
and MT322-107 power distribution measuring circuits to detect load alarm can be triggered when power male connector for the AC supply power receptacles for the three outputs. Built-in sensors alert the when the current draw approaches the AC power supply input and three
allowing for direct control of
AC301-103 can be used to passthrough IR signals from remote outputs.
states makes them particularly being suited for use in studio recording. Both cables feature a 0.5mm² nominal section and includes carbon and spiral
shielding is of the carbon and
a 0.2mm² nominal section and Tasker describes this cable as being ‘ideal for guitar multi-effects
www.tasker.it
when the current draw approaches cause the cards to automatically start turning outlets off should the
industry customers. It is a 3G broadcast cable that combines the transport of both power and digital Measuring 18.8mm in diameter
and featuring a ‘compact and capability facilitates 3G signal
www.sommercable.com
draw. A message informing the user that outputs are being shutdown is sent to the MT302-201 Digital Both distribution cards are able to
commands. The time delay between switching is also programmable
for the on/off detect feature is adjustable to accommodate different loads and determine when A/V equipment is on or off. This feature allows the control system to by the amount of current it draws.
www.altinex.com
Altinex’s MT322-105 and MT322-107
It didn’t matter how far back their seats were. Or how cavernous the hall was. All they heard – all they felt – was sound that was warm, intelligible and personal. With clear, precisely-controlled sound from Iconyx Gen5 steerable loudspeakers, their seats were the best in the house. To learn more or for a demo, visit www.renkus-heinz.com.
renkus-heinz.com/iconyx-gen5
©2016 Renkus-HeinzSteerable sound isn’t just about being heard, it’s about being understood.
in January 2013, the highly acclaimed multipurpose venue has gone on to host a range of domestic and international conferences, concert performances, gala dinners, exhibitions and award functions. Built on the rooftop of the existing casino resort, the A$100 million investment continues to draw ever increasing crowds to its Sydney Darling Harbour location. It has also won over the critics as a result of the integral state-of-theacoustics. However, in its quest to continually source new clientele seeking the best live entertainment, the management has added further functionality that will continue to serve to entice artists, promoters and visitors alike.
The Echo Entertainment Group company entrusted Québecbased Scéno Plus with the delicate mandate of designing a multi-functional space on the roof of Australia’s second largest casino. The Canadian arts and entertainment designer converted this loft space into a three-storey theatre. With the addition of installed acoustic partitions, the 12m high room can be divided into two separate soundproofed sections for holding simultaneous events, whilst the mobile ceilings cocktail style event.
The balcony with a capacity of 1,047 seats has low sightlines providing the audience with an uncompromised stage vista.
screen televisions and with access to a distinguished private area. Out of view below, telescopic bleachers can transform the for 720 additional spectators.
‘The design brief was to re-create a Las Vegas style theatre here in Sydney and that is what Scéno Plus achieved,’ remarks Star Entertainment’s head of audio Ian Brown. The entire shell of the theatre is sat on steel frames and acoustically isolated from absorbent paneling and a poly metal wrap. ‘When I was brought in, I was simply charged to make the venue the best sounding in Australia. We looked at and heard a lot of different systems, but the riders and the demonstrations resulted in us specifying d&b audiotechnik J-series and we haven’t been disappointed.’
10 J8 and two J12 cabinets per side, which are augmented mode together with six J-Infra subwoofers also in cardioid mode below the stage. To ensure perfect coverage, three T10
a further four Qi7 speakers. Finally, an assortment of Q7, Q
foldback system on stage.
‘The requirement was to run the PA up to a maximum of 115dB SPL with headroom to spare,’ explains Mr Brown. ‘The d&b system is simply warming up at 115dB. On account of its power, touring engineers have compared it to a Formula One car. We’ve run it very high at times – but the LEDs on the DiGiCo SD10s and SD11s never go anywhere close to the red.’ If the tornado de force is being felt inside, the hotel guests are more likely to be complaining about the sound of gaming machines. ‘Immediately outside the theatre when we’re running a concert performance, the SPLs are around 42dB. The acoustic isolation works are that good.’
Following the opening of the Star, a 10m x 5.5m Air LED screen consisting of 220 5mm panels each measuring 500mm x 500mm has been added to create a new visual dimension for guests. This was integrated following the increasing demand in professional LEDs being quoted as the main visual source, before being unveiled for Alicia Key’s performance in December 2013. ‘Our production team work closely with clients on preparing bespoke digital content to suit and enhance the events,’ explains Event Centre technical manager Steve Shezzi. ‘For an upcoming series of events, the screen will be elongated out around the edges of the Event Centre as a scrolling ticker tape display of digital content. Having used the system on a variety of event styles we can now offer pre rigged and
The Star was not going to gamble on getting the audio and visual equipment right for its Event Centre. Richard Lawn takes a tour
LOCATED IN SOUTH LONDON, DULWICH COLLEGE MAY BE one of the UK’s oldest independent schools, but in Singapore Dulwich College International (DCI) is one of the most recent educational establishments to open its doors. Through DCI, Dulwich College has been expanding its presence in Asia for 10 years, building bridges between Eastern and Western communities.
Located in Bukit Batok, the purpose-built Singapore campus recently added a senior school campus to its grounds, inspired by the Barry Building Façade at Dulwich College London. The 28,400 sq-m facility incorporates two black box theatres together with a library, gymnasium and dance studio. Bejewelled with a 700+ seat performing arts centre, Electro-Acoustics Systems Pte Ltd (EAS) was called upon
to demonstrate its expert higher educational credentials and perform a thorough practical in theatre and recording technology integration.
Working closely with the architect and A/V consultants CCW, EAS applied its higher educational signature to the performance arts centre in addition to the black box and recording studios. As such, it bears few semblances to a venue that is being used exclusively for student rehearsals and productions. Project engineer Gerald Lee and the EAS team began work in late 2015 by installing a Belden Cat-5e infrastructure and continued the phased works when other building contractors had completed their tasks.
‘Managing the performance arts centre, black box and recording studios concurrently in Dulwich was no easy feat,’
design of the sound reinforcement system. ‘The auditorium is a dual-level theatre consisting of a wide stage and a short front-tosystem was the key to providing the desired results,’ explains EAS senior systems engineer Chua Cong Wei. Powered by Lab.
‘Variai gave us the modular options of three different cabinet angles, so we were able to create long, middle and short throw
Mr Chua. ‘This was accomplished by placing three 7-degree boxes on the top, followed by a 15-degree and a 22.5-degree
(top) to 120-degrees (bottom), so we can optimise sound coverage in every corner of the venue. Complete coverage from
triumphs over a traditional line array, both sonically and visually.’
implementation was the unpredictability of the site progress. While keeping in line with the main project schedule, the objective was to complete the tasks at critical areas to ensure that EAS kept to the key stakeholder’s schedule. However, as the work in other areas move as quickly, it resulted in a frantic coordination with third-party suppliers and contractors to ensure line with the overall project schedule.’
The theatre’s shape provided a particular challenge for the
microphone points.
Located in the rear control room, a Yamaha M7CL-48 monitoring needs for the school productions. Interfaced to a desktop computer with an EtherSound card, a Steinberg Nuendo recording software and interface card in the rear of the console enables the students to record live performances. The digital console incorporates all the DSP required for the performance arts centre’s needs, but EAS opted to rack mount
microphones is more than ample for the venue’s needs, but SM35-TQG and WBH54B head worn and WL184 condenser
Electro-Acoustics Systems Pte Ltd demonstrated its educational credentials for the new performing arts space at Singapore’s Dulwich College. Richard Lawn heads
clip models. In addition, wired SM57 instrument and KSM141 ambient condensers have been added to the inventory together with an AKG drum set. For the BOH needs, a ClearCom FreeSpeak-II wireless base station ensures all operating personal can communicate via FreeSpeak-II-BP wireless belt packs together with a combination of CC-27 and CC-400 headsets. Assistive listening has not been overlooked as a Williams Sound infrared system has been installed whereby two radiators activate an inventory of earpieces, t-coils and pendants.
A Christie WU20K-J 3-LCD 20,000 ANSI lumens projector and a motorised Stewart Luxus BB Electricscreen serve as the venue’s video system. A Sony BRC-H700 camera system, Blu-ray player and PC are the main inputs that are fed into a Panasonic AV-HS450 switcher processor. Live performances can be captured on a Datavideo HDR60 250GB hard drive recorder. Various Kramer scalers, switchers and distribution and the outputs. An extensive ETC inventory has been added whilst Robert Juliat Lucy 1200K HMI put the thespians and
The black box theatre can be sub-divided into two creative spaces for more intimate performances. Both partitions are catered for by Yamaha M7CL-48 consoles, whilst an extensive pool of Shure MX418 goosenecks, SM57 instrument, SM58 vocal and UR4D+ wireless microphones are on hand. The loudspeaker system for both black box theatres was an APG DX12 system augmented by TB1155 15-inch subwoofers. A can be utilised according to the size of the performance and inventory represents a scaled down version of what has been installed in the main auditorium.
A recording studio has been created to provide the students with a creative zone that allows them to mix performances in the digital domain. A Yamaha O2R96 24-channel console may be the focal point, but the Avid Pro Tools HDX 16x16 digital audio workstation (DAW) lies at its core. The DAW incorporates 50 plugins, virtual instruments and compatible applications or sound for picture assignments on an Apple iMac 27-inch monitor. In addition to further Shure microphones, the studio
also incorporates an extensive video toolbox including a Sony BRC-Z330 HD camera system and RM-BR3000 camera control unit, a Datavideo SE-2200 production switcher and Blackmagic Design’s H.264 hard drive video pro recorder.
EAS has incorporated a Dante network into the new campus courtesy of Yamaha MY16AUD Dante network cards that have been inserted into the four consoles. The expression that school days are the best may actually ring true.
www.easpl.com.sg
www.dulwich-singapore.edu.sg
WHILST SOME VICTORIANS KNOW ALBERT DADON AS A property developer, others are more familiar with Albare, the touring jazz guitarist. Having successfully combined his day and night jobs, Albare has established Melbourne’s newest jazz club, Bird’s Basement, in the depths of his latest 50+ storey development on Williams Street. The intimate venue was signed in partnership with Birdland New York and aims to attract jazz fans seeking either an early dinner or late supper show. Factory Sound was appointed to design and install the entire audio and lighting system in Bird’s Basement, for whom installations manager Jonathan Sinclair took responsibility for the project. ‘This project was challenging for a number of reasons,’ explains Mr Sinclair. ‘We were building “Albare’s place”, his baby, his home turf, and it needed to fall into his vision every step of the way. Luckily we all share Albare’s insatiable desire for pristine audio. There was never any discussion about best value – only best result.’
Having entrusted Factory Sound to create Bird’s Basement, his touring engineer Joe Petrolo became the conduit for all the key technical decisions. ‘This was going to be a heavily used, heavily critiqued venue and we needed to have faith that the
with my colleague Tony Lofts, we looked at a few options before selecting a Nexo system for the project. The elongated basement measures 18m in width by 6m in depth at some points, for which the stage is central, ensuring that all the tables are in close proximity.’
Left-right GeoS1230 speakers provide the main outputs, whilst GeoM620 and PS10-R2 models were preferred for the central provide coherent lower frequency extension. Powered by Nexo decision to entrust a Nexo system. ‘Not only does it have the smallest footprint possible, but it also has an extremely high dynamic range and sound quality, ensuring that every seat has a stereo image. The stage and room layout has been designed to capture as many seats around the stage as possible in a traditional jazz bar feel, so we split the audio into smaller groups of systems to maintain even coverage.’
Working closely with Group Technologies’ Drew Menard in designing and installing the audio system, Mr Sinclair declares his admiration of the GeoM620 speakers, which were also
added as delays in the far corner section. ‘This cabinet is a truly wondrous speaker for live performance and even though those seats are furthest from the stage, all reports from guests have been incredibly positive. The vibe is maintained perfectly.’ Used as a foldback system, further PS10-R2’s complete the loudspeaker inventory. Prior to installation, Mr Menard supported Factory Sound by providing NS1 simulations that the central subwoofer and treated the lower frequencies as a L-R speakers. Ultimately, the calculated predictions allowed us to solve the problems associated with the room.’
Loudspeaker processing has been enabled by a Xilica Neutrino DSP, into which all the system calibrations have been locked. ‘Xilica is renowned for its pure sonic quality – something which many DSP’s actually lack. We are not shy about inserting Xilica in any loudspeaker system regardless of size. There is a custom touch panel for control over each section of the PA in addition to some basic pre-set selections.’ A DiGiCo S21 is used for mixing clean as you can get. The S21 is a ripping board for such an
application and the mix engineers are enjoying the ease of multitrack recording during the shows.’
minimising the DSP.
stressful for all the contractors.’
and acoustic tiles throughout. ‘Glass features offset all the
expectations with regards to audio and lighting.’
www.BirdsBasement.com
www.factorysound.com
www.gtaust.com
create a jazz feel. ‘This is one of the only occasions we wished
THE INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR THEORETICAL SCIENCES (ICTS), which operates under the auspices of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, was founded almost 10 years ago in Bangalore, India. Its aim was to bring together physicists, astronomers, cosmologists, mathematicians and biologists, to examine the challenges posed by nature.
to a global centre of activity in various areas of science, creating the need for larger premises. The centre, which was previously operating out of two buildings in the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, moved last year to a new, purpose-built campus
space and on-site accommodation for more than 150 academic members, including 75 visitors.
‘We’re in Bangalore because the academy ecosystem here is very conducive to our type of centre,’ explains Professor Spenta R Wadia, the founding director of the institute. ‘It’s a science hub, and it engages in bringing people from all over the world together.’
Presenting and archiving information is a fundamental part of what the institute does, and a technological upgrade was required for this. Realising the need to integrate a customdesigned A/V solution into the new campus, ICTS contacted T2 went on to design A/V systems for an auditorium, 100-seat and 50-seat lecture halls, several meeting rooms including one that can be subdivided and a room for director conferences.
‘We were dealing with the faculty director and the scientists themselves, and they had a very clear brief of what they wanted to achieve, especially within the auditorium,’ recalls T2 managing director and principal consultant, Kelvin
in the country. They needed high quality speech and visual reproduction for their lectures and seminars, and they wanted to do it as simplistically as possible. We actually gave them a lot more sophistication than they wanted; though I feel we pretty much met every criterion. It’s a simplistic system that’s straightforward to use.’
Rampure. ‘There are around 150 people based on the campus, including our PhD students, postdoctoral scholars, staff members and visiting faculty members,’ he explains. ‘They work in different domains, such as astronomy, string theory and the LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) can collaborate and discuss their research domains. People come from all over the world. We have 75 guest rooms for visitors, and a hostel facility for the students. All our students are full time, but there are also part time visiting students, who come here for two or three months. We have enough space out here in our new campus for that.’
The biggest structure designed by T2, the 350-seat auditorium, is used for a variety of lectures, some of which are open to the public as well as to college students and faculty members. ‘In any month we have a minimum of two to three programmes which run from 15 to 30 days, and every the public,’ says Mr Rampure.
The auditorium has been installed with a pair of JBL side of the stage, while four stage-mounted Control 28 AV subwoofers mounted beneath the stage and two Eon 510 stage monitors. The system is powered by Lab.gruppen C 88:4, Crown
Caroline Moss investigates
LIKE MOST ACCOMPLISHED TOURING ENGINEERS, THE
www.monitorcity.com.au www.portphillip.vic.gov.au
$500 Value
Now included with all our audio interfaces
Sound Wizard has upgraded the Alliance Française auditorium in Pondicherry with a new acoustic design and QSC system. Caroline Moss visits
THE BUSTLING CITY OF PONDICHERRY IN TAMIL NADU, Southern India, continues to attract people with its unique blend of French and Indian traditions. The former French territory, today a tier 2 Indian city, is still home to around 6,000 French citizens, most of whom live in the White Town heritage quarter.
Established in 1889, the Alliance Française de Pondicherry is a good example of how French culture is thriving in the town. Based at Maison Bellocq, a well-preserved colonial building in a quiet, tree-lined street, the organisation is keeping Indo-French relations alive, promoting French culture and language and developing exchanges between both countries.
To coincide with the 125th anniversary of the organisation, a decision was taken to renovate its 182-seat auditorium, designed in 1990 by local French architect Pierre Elouard. The venue was built at a time when audio engineering was almost non-existent in India, and it had long suffered from poor acoustical quality, much to the inconvenience of sound engineers, performers and audience members alike. In addition to its own programme of performing arts, classes, exhibitions and workshops, the Alliance Française is often requested to host cultural or intellectual activities organised by the city, so the stakes were high when redesigning the space for today’s applications.
Fortunately, an established acoustic consultancy was to hand, just 10km up the road. Sound Wizard’s Didier Weiss, originally from France, settled in nearby Auroville in 2000 and has built a reputation as a go-to acoustic designer.
‘The requirements from the Alliance Française team here, as well as the original French architect, were that the look should remain as close as possible to the original auditorium,’ says Mr Weiss. ‘It was really just a concrete shell with plastic chairs, creating an echo chamber with a reverberation time of close to 3s.’
One of the main requirements of the client was that the auditorium should work with natural acoustics, and not be wholly dependent on a large sound system to relay audio.
‘They wanted to have an unplugged, acoustic venue for some theatre, traditional Indian music and chanting, with good natural transmission from the stage to the audience,’ continues Mr Weiss. ‘The whole design process was based around that.’
Mr Weiss carried out room simulations using EASE, and constructed an elaborate array of ceiling and wall panels with different layers of acoustic materials depending on where there
All the panels were designed and built in Sound Wizard’s workshop
‘The panels have been placed to enhance the sound from stage to audience directly, without a sound system,’ continues Mr Weiss. ‘When there’s an event here with people talking on stage, you can hear clearly up to the back seat because the room has been designed to bring acoustic energy, on time, to the proper place.’ This design has also reduced the need for monitoring on the large stage.
Sound Wizard’s acoustic design was just one part of the
renovation process. The other was the installation of a small L-R array at either side of the stage, each consisting of four QSC WL2082-i installation line array speakers, with a centre cluster of two QSC WL118-sw subwoofers.
In addition to providing sound reinforcement for live events, the system also functions in 5.1 for the cinema screenings. For this purpose, a total of 14 QSC AD-S82 surround speakers have been installed. ‘We’ve created a virtual central channel using the L-R system, and the rest of the room has been calibrated according to Dolby 5.1 requirements,’ says Mr Weiss. ‘The auditorium can now function as a cinema, a theatre for unplugged performances
The system is driven by a combination of CMX800, CMX 2000 and CX168 amps, with processing provided by an SC28 DSP unit and an Extron SSP 7.1 surround decoder.
As part of the renovation, the plastic seats were replaced with cinema seating constructed from fabric designed to replicate the human body’s absorption qualities. Seating has been removed from the sides of the balcony to leave space for emergency exits
as per contemporary health and safety requirements, and the balcony has also been acoustically treated. ‘It now functions as a bass trap so there’s no build up of low frequencies at the back seats,’ says Mr Weiss.
Alliance Française director, Olivier Litvine, is happy with the improved functionality the revamped auditorium brings to the organisation. ‘We held 124 cultural events between April 2015 seminars, lectures, conferences, concerts, dance and drama performances,’ he says. ‘We are also expanding into new areas such as our Digital Concert Hall series of classical concerts which are being streamed into the hall.’
The most recent of these was a live streaming from the Berliner Philharmoniker, offering not just a taste of France, but also of a wider European culture. The auditorium upgrade at Alliance Française de Pondicherry is opening up new possibilities in this unique Indian city. www.qsc.com
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Australia Production Audio Video Technology Pty. Ltd.
Cambodia AV Designs & Consulting Engineers Co., Ltd.
India Acoustic Arts Pvt. Ltd.
India ProMusicals
Indonesia PT Suara Visual Indonesia
Japan Sound House Inc.
Korea Chungbo Sound Inc.
Malaysia Search Music Sdn. Bhd.
New Zealand Webb Enterprises Ltd. TA NZ Rockshop
Pakistan V-Sel Music
Philippines JB Music and Sports Inc.
Singapore Consolidated Audio Networks Pte. Ltd.
Sri Lanka Euro Entertainment (Pvt.) Ltd.
Taiwan Seapower Technology Co., Ltd.
Thailand Music to Home Co., Ltd.
Vietnam Viet Thuong Trading Service
Manufacturing Corporation
HOW CAN YOU ACHIEVE HIGH QUALITY AUDIO REPRODUCTION from ultra-slim, compact devices? This is the question being explored by Dr Sin-Lyul Lee as part of his work as a technical adviser for Korea’s Next generation Sound Supporting Center (NSSC).
‘Korea is home to the number one smartphone and TV manufacturers in the world with Samsung and LG as well as topclass automobile manufacturers like Hyundai. These companies all want new types of transducers that are ultra-slim, small in size, low in weight and are cheap to manufacture,’ explains Dr Lee.
As the founder of audio and acoustic consulting company Sonicast, Dr Lee works directly with a number of smartphone, TV and automobile companies as well as their loudspeaker suppliers to ensure they are getting the best possible audio from their products. This combines well with his position at the NSSC where he is sponsored by the Republic of Korea’s government to measure and develop audio devices and transducers as well as to certify audio performance.
‘Conventional moving coil transducers are not appropriate for ultra-slim and small-sized smartphone and TV speakers,’ states Dr Lee. ‘I am currently studying various kinds of electro-acoustic transduction mechanisms that could be an alternative to the moving coil method.’
While computer-based transducer design software such as Comsol and Ansys play an important role in this process, physical test and measurement equipment is vital. As such, the
Dr Lee is studying various kinds of electro-acoustic transduction mechanisms that could be an alternative to the moving coil
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One of the latest studio projects for Munro India features main monitoring by British manufacturer, ATC. Caroline Moss reports
MUMBAI-BASED DARSHAN NAIR, A COMPOSER AND producer of music for the advertising industry, has given up his recording room at Famous Studios in Santa Cruz and opened
‘I wanted to set up somewhere from scratch that was what I’ve created here, and there is room for them to sit and
something I wanted to try out as soon as I got an opportunity,’
city is such that this part of town is the advertising domain,’ he
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FOR INDIAN SONGWRITERS AND MUSICIANS, THE SUREST
Minnale
Caroline Moss
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The result is an array of possibilities in terms of the room’s
he soon found it wasn’t practical to shuttle between the two
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The associated electronics for both control rooms are in a
Iru Mugan
LAUNCHED IN 2008 BY THREE BRITISH EXPATS, THE
the back of the stages.’
This issue was compounded by the backdrop of tall glass buildings, plus some sensitive areas where it was imperative that the noise levels didn’t breach the maximum set by the Hong Kong Government’s Environmental Protection Department. Not least of these was the area around City Hall, a cultural centre housing a concert hall and theatre.
‘The City Hall is very close and there could be no worries about exceeding noise levels there throughout the entire festival,’ continues Mr Hote. ‘I recommended using d&b systems for the two main stages, with the subs in cardioid mode to limit the
low frequency leakages. We advised Peter that because many foreign engineers are familiar with d&b and like working with the systems, lower volume levels would be accepted. Peter listened and took my suggestions on board.’
As well as working with MSI,
consultant Henry Chan, director of Allied Environmental Consultants,
organisers to prepare a report for the environmental department to make sure the sound wouldn’t affect the nearby areas, especially City Hall, the hotels and some commercial buildings,’ explains Mr Chan.
‘To prepare the report, Mr Hote travelled to Hong Kong in May to assist with PA system design and setup, using cranes in situ on the
harbourfront.’
requirements regarding overall noise levels,’ explains Mr Chan. ‘The second thing was to minimise the interference between each stage.’
This was aided by some judicious placement of food and beverage outlets, and the angles at which the different stages were positioned. ‘All the shipping containers that have been used for F&B were placed where they are for a purpose - to separate the stages and act as noise buffers,’ explains Mr Chan. ‘And the Club Minky theatre was entirely constructed from containers to help with the acoustics.’
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material. ‘I designed these to contain the angles because I didn’t recommendations, included d&b J-Series systems for management system.
for the Silent Disco.
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stage on the Sunday night, breached the limit. Among other
AUSTRALIA IS BLESSED WITH A HIGHLY PROFESSIONAL, mature and talented A/V rental sector born from the resilience and resourcefulness that characterises its remote geographic setting. Norwest Group has been synonymous with all the major sporting events around the world since the 2000 Sydney Olympics Games. Whilst consolidation has ensured the disappearance of many long serving rental partners, JPJ continues to forge ahead. But global players such as Eighth Day and Clair have recently moved in to take their slice of the Australian market. Whilst this may sound like good news to the hotel or festival promoter wishing to save on his production costs, there is a dark side to the supply and demand curve.
Audio Visual Dynamics managing director Peter Worth and his family acquired the company with its personnel of four employees in 1992. The Melbourne-based business today numbers 140 dedicated employees, staging in excess of 10,000 productions in 2015. But the highly motivated entrepreneur cannot and will not sit still as he drives on to continue to provide a complete A/V solution within the hotel and conference venue market.
When the Worth family bought Movie Hire in 1992, the main turnover for the small A/V equipment rental company came from renting out basic presentation supplies such as screens together with overhead and slide projectors. ‘In 1993, we new direction of the company – a supplier of presentation
headquarters. ‘It was more than just a name change. We are, and have always been a sales-based company, very customer oriented rather than product driven.’
Recalling two similar events in 1993, it would appear that Audio Visual Dynamics owes more to Mr Worth’s customer focused values than in spreadsheets or knowledge of equipment technology. ‘I received a phone call late on a Friday night relating to a set-up we were doing at a hotel. Basically one of the hotel staff had accidently knocked one of the large Sony PVM monitors over on its stand and smashed it. The client required a replacement at 7am, so I packed up a monitor at the warehouse and took it over in the back of my car and the end client was none the wiser. On the Monday morning the hotel GM told me that if we charged them for that TV, we’d never do business with that hotel again. We eventually agreed on a reduced invoice. We never got the business from that hotel again however.’
A lightning strikes twice scenario placed Mr Worth in a dilemma some weeks later when a similar scenario was repeated at the Novotel Hotel in St Kilda. ‘They actually broke the TV and insisted on paying for it, but I tried to explain that we should take responsibility.’ The outcome could not have been any more different as Audio Visual Dynamics acquired the A/V supply contract not only for that hotel, but also what ended up being the entire Accor Hotel group in Victoria (Pullman, enjoyed a wonderful relationship with all the Accor hotels ever since. In total we currently have in-house service contracts with 24 venues including some of Melbourne’s most iconic sporting, cultural and function centres.’
His honest approach and ability to communicate has enabled general manager once told me that if AVD staff came in and out acting like contracted A/V help, then we wouldn’t survive. So those employees inducted to a particular hotel are trained to be fully in sync with their operations and dress, groom and act accordingly. Ultimately, the hotel hires out the room and we are contracted to facilitate the clients’ needs with an A/V solution. It’s our duty to deliver the experience and make sure that it’s right – if that means breaking the budget or buying extra equipment or adding personnel, you do it. You want your experience.’
Naturally, he is immensely proud of the fact that the company has never needed a bank loan or overdraft nor has Audio Visual Dynamics had to go to court to settle a dispute. There is no human resources department or managerial hierarchy at the company as Mr Worth believes in simplifying the business model. ‘We’re fully customer focused, with no salesmen or business development managers – only account managers. I don’t hold formal meetings. If there is a problem, great feedback from the hotels and their clients and as a result we retain long-term business.’
Although Mr Worth accepts that he must stock rider friendly A/V equipment, his emphasis is on the employees and how they interact with the client. ‘I genuinely believe that we working here at Audio Visual Dynamics. If you employ the right people with the right culture you can train whatever additional technology knowledge is required at a later stage. If our people can’t communicate with the presenters and event organisers, then it doesn’t matter how good a tech that Dynamics.’
As over 40 staff have now been in long-term employment at Audio Visual Dynamics, it would appear that this ethos has been rewarded. ‘We promote from within and as a result, our employees are rewarded with the opportunity to take their careers forward internally. Each venue manager treats their particular venue like their own business entity sharing the same passion and sense of achievement achieved at their venue.’
Richard LawnMr Worth has insisted on using Nexo speakers ever since he heard a PS10 speaker in use in 2004. ‘Aesthetically, they stood out but upon hearing them, I realised that it could consistently deliver superb intelligibility. It’s so versatile – we use them for nearly everything and have never had a problem with them.’ Audio Visual Dynamics’ love for the PS10 quickly extended to the PS15 and most of the manufacturer’s other speakers, most recently culminating in the highly versatile ID24 model.
Audio Visual Dynamics has enjoyed long-term relationships with most Australian equipment suppliers including Group Technologies. ‘We draw on some help from Drew Menard at Group Technologies and he assists us with modeling and predictions, which we then install into the venues we manage. We may be quick
Visual Dynamics, our people and to adequately express where we are and what we have achieved in the marketplace in the face of international competitors vying for our business. We’re still a relatively young company so we have to learn, develop and progress without a manual.’
The unique human touch demonstrated by Audio Visual Dynamics is an art that cannot be replicated on a spreadsheet or within the digital domain. Ultimately, people prefer to deal with people.
www.avdynamics.com.au
learners but we’re not afraid to take advice from industry professionals equipment purchases. But the technology is changing rapidly with much more plug and play products being accepted and you see A/V to IT convergence happening. Twenty years ago, staff were cheap and technology was expensive – that’s not the case anymore.’
Peter Worth’s business ideology may be old school to some, but his insistence to trade on such values has ensured that Audio Visual Dynamics has not been sucked into a dog-eat-dog war of undercutting.
‘I am immensely proud of Audio
has enjoyed long-term relationships
WHEN A HIGHLY REGARDED MANUFACTURER CELEBRATES its 70th anniversary, the sensible thing would be to take a trip down memory lane and explore exactly what has given that brand its longevity. However, as JBL marks this milestone, the talk is very much about the future not the past.
Towards the end of 2016, Korean technology giant Samsung announced it was to acquire Harman, JBL’s parent company. While pro audio is only a small portion of the overall Harman portfolio, the brands that fall under the Harman Professional umbrella are some of the most recognisable in the industry. As such, this proposed deal has raised questions about the future of brands such as JBL and where they will sit under the new organisation.
The instant answer to this question is that it will be ‘business as normal’ for all the Harman Professional brands. But what exactly does that mean for JBL?
‘From its very inception over 70 years ago, JBL has always stood for innovation in the service of the highest performance in sound production and reproduction,’ offers Mark Gander, director of JBL technology for Harman Professional Solutions. ‘If we look at where we have been and where we are now, through the perspective of technological innovations and the products which embody them, we can view the path and vision for the future of JBL loudspeakers and sound system solutions.’
This means that the manufacturer will continue its focus on every technical aspect of a loudspeaker to keep advancing its products. ‘Throughout all the years, there has been a continuation of the JBL tradition of focusing on advancements in transducers – the heart of the sound system – with new patented technologies for higher output, with smaller size for Mr Gander. ‘The JBL tradition set by founder James B Lansing is to employ the latest materials, design innovations and manufacturing techniques to advance the performance of the transducers. From used in the ground-breaking D130 15-inch loudspeaker in the for high energy, small size and light weight transducers, JBL has pioneered the application of new magnetic materials.’
Perhaps most-pertinently for recent developments is the manufacturer’s eagerness to learn from companies in other
industries. ‘Keeping abreast of technological and material developments in aerospace and other industries allows JBL to keep at the forefront of innovation and performance,’ states Mr Gander.
It is not just the materials that are important for the next generation of JBL loudspeakers. Power density is another vital factor. ‘Customer demand for higher output and smaller size from loudspeakers and sound systems continues to necessitate the creation of unique electroacoustic solutions,’ reasons Mr Gander. ‘Modern arraying techniques require the placement of multiple transducers in close proximity to one another to achieve these goals. Power Density is putting more voice coils, acoustic diaphragms and acoustic radiating systems in smaller spaces and packaging them in multiples, for both the same frequency range and to combine multiple frequency ranges. This yields high power handling and greater acoustic output in smaller physical packages.’
The examples that Mr Gander gives of this in practice is JBL’s Differential Drive cone transducers and D2 dual diaphragm compression drivers. These share the use of two voice coils in two magnetic gaps, which the manufacturer states effectively doubles the power handling and acoustic output while halving power compression. ‘The innovative physical design of the assemblies and the use of small but high-output neodymium
that multiple transducers can be placed in close proximity,’ he explains. ‘The result is complex assemblies with multiple drivers
The proposed acquisition of Harman by Samsung means there is no better time to explore what the future holds for the manufacturer’s 70 year-old brand JBL
that achieve the high output small size goal in systems as diverse as VTX line arrays, CBT column arrays, and VLA stadium and arena speakers.’
Importantly for the future, research in this area continues to bear fruit. ‘JBL already has patents on new ways of making high power multi-coil-and-diaphragm transducers for even higher power density and acoustic output in more compact form factors. In the near future these will be revealed in new products
Of course, the future technological developments of JBL speakers are not limited to the transducer. The manufacturer is exploring advances in every loudspeaker component. Directivity has always been important with the manufacturer making constant advances in its waveguide technology for different was purchased by Harman in 2013, bringing digital control of dispersion into the JBL toolbox. ‘JBL Intellivox Digital Directivity Control provides the technology that creates this solution,’ says to next-generation adaptive pattern control for VRX line arrays.’ Away from the physical components and akin to the work that for the manufacturer in the software side as well. ‘JBL and Harman products are involved in continued and accelerated into loudspeakers,’ he states, citing the PRX800 powered loudspeakers with Wi-Fi and DSP which can be controlled via the PRX Connect app as an example. ‘This is one example of how we are committed to the development of more elegant and great sound as easily as possible for both the operator and the listener. JBL and Harman’s goal is continued evolution of software integration for both operational sophistication and operator simplicity.’
The individual developments in both physical and electronic components of loudspeaker design are positive signs for the future of JBL. But perhaps the ultimate expression of where its future lies comes from areas where its hardware and software development programmes combine, such as the LSR4300
Correction, our exclusive technology that automatically analyses and corrects the response of each speaker in the room for absolute accuracy at the mix position,’ explains ‘The future of JBL will see an evolution towards complete onethe sound system to its environment, whether that’s in studios, on stage or anywhere sound production and reproduction take place.’
While there is the potential for many things to change at JBL when it comes under the ownership of Samsung, the attitude it has when it comes to product development is not one of them. ‘Our past, current and newest products indicate our directions for future developments, and the passion for performance that has carried us from the past through to the present will drive
If Samsung’s promise of ‘business as normal’ does prove to be the case, then there should be some interesting new developments to come out of JBL’s R&D department. That is the kind of 70 year legacy any company would be proud of.
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Sound
DURING THE 2008 AND 2012 US presidential elections, I was fortunate enough to be allowed onto the sites of three of the debates. I was part of the technical team, thanks to Audio-Technica, which allowed me –after proper vetting by the Secret Service – to get up close to the stage, standing next to the broadcast A1 Mike Abbott as he mixed the audio for the debates between Barack Obama and John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012.
At both debates, I was shadowing the late, brilliant Larry Estrin, who supervised the audio for the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), the non-partisan group that organised the sensitive events. Sadly, Larry passed away earlier this year. But even his presence would not have assured me a place on the stage. As the CPD watched the madness of the election cycle unravel, it clamped down on its information spigots. The 2016 US presidential elections were the climax of a long and theatrical season of drama, comedy,
farce and burlesque, interspersed with the verbal equivalent of mixed-martial arts combat, conducted in large part by Donald Trump, a pompous ass who nonetheless – startlingly, terrifyingly, and ultimately depressingly – was elected President of the United States of America.
But despite the result, what the debates and the rest of the circus-like environment around the elections revealed is how central audio was to the outcome of the most powerful elected revelation of Mr Trump’s lascivious comments while on a luxury bus on the lot where the celeb-biz programme Access Hollywood was videotaped in 2005. The reason we heard that audio is because a microphone on the video camera chronicling the visit by Mr Trump and presenter Billy Bush was left on. In this sense, the microphone has become, in an age when video surveillance is ubiquitous, the omnipresent ear, ready to collect whatever is in earshot without discrimination. You have to
NOW AND THEN, A REALIGNMENT OF brands occurs with truly global consequences. Whether you’re sitting in Europe, Asia or the Americas, such events cannot pass without comment – and this is one of those occasions as Fairlight’s audio heritage passes to digital video giant Blackmagic Design.
Two years ago a phase of ‘recapitalisation’ began when Fairlight became wholly owned by KFT Investments, leading to organisational restructuring, the installing of Philip Belcher as a fully briefcased CEO and some new product strategies – especially, of course, the launch of ‘live’ consoles Evo.Live and Quantum.Live; a new OS; and a typically big, fat audio engine – the CC-2 – for the new age of playback channels, inputs and output busses in the gazillions. Oh, and an objectbased 3D audio platform too.
I say ‘live’ with those cautionary inverted commas because these are not touring
models to compete with DiGiCo, Midas or even Avid: they are optimised for what CTO Tino Fibaek calls ‘semi-stationary installations’, which largely means OB. This is still a broadcast and postproduction portfolio despite the appearance of the buzzword ‘live’ in the epithets and, if previously there may world of runners and riders, I doubt if it’s as clear now.
KFT Investments is a privately held company with interests ranging from biotech, aviation and agriculture to hospitality, aged care, property development and plain old venture capital, so the recording of a pop gig will no well beyond page 207 in the annual report. Nevertheless, the grooming of Fairlight for sale appears to have gone to plan as well as anyone could have expected, and probably better. Blackmagic Design has all the hallmarks of being a perfectly suitable home.
point a camera; an omnidirectional microphone doesn’t need anyone to pull the trigger.
Mr Trump’s audio foibles and they were many, were not the only times that recorded sound affected the course of history. There was the time in 1984 when President Ronald Reagan joked ahead of a radio address, ‘My fellow Americans, I’m pleased to tell you today that I’ve signed legislation that will outlaw Russia
That didn’t take long to leak out. In 2009, a television network caught President Obama calling Kanye West a ‘jackass,’ which had the extremely rare effect of prompting consensus between him and Republicans. Then there was the most famous audio clip of all, made so by its absence: the 18-and-a-half-minute gap in the sound from one of the Watergate tapes. And while it didn’t stave off President Richard Nixon’s historic resignation, it did at least keep possible impeachment, indictment and conviction at bay. But audio issues dogged this election more
debate, Mr Trump complained that his podium microphone had problems, that its volume was lower than his opponent’s, and that it any problems – and the broadcast audio was a terse, cryptic statement: ‘there were issues regarding Donald Trump’s audio that affected the sound level in the debate hall’ with no further explanation.
The lesson that each of these instances reinforced was that you should treat every microphone as ‘hot’ – constantly on, as it likely is. But that lesson will be ignored, as it always is. And perhaps that’s as it should be. If every world leader and entertainment celebrity was completely circumspect in their speech, we might never fully learn the truth of their deepest sentiments. Worse, it could make for a boring election. And that, unlike even the worst of Donald Trump’s unsavoury utterances, would be truly unforgivable.
You can’t help comparing it with Avid’s acquisition of Digidesign in 1994. Both of those companies started life in the USA, and both Blackmagic and Fairlight were founded in Australia. That goes a long way towards melding the corporate DNA, despite the global evolution that has ensued. The collection of digital video brands over the years by Avid and Blackmagic has been relentless, but it was the Digidesign purchase
that digital media – multimedia, really –could co-exist under a protective umbrella of synergies. Others like Roland have proposed a similar creative nirvana where audio and video co-exist more intimately, but in truth the two disciplines maintain too many discrete professional requirements. Clear divisions, in every sense, must be preserved. One key difference is that a transmuted
Last year Fairlight CEO Philip Belcher told me
that new horizons beckoned: ‘Fairlight has a lot of patented IP that we developed for the audio industry, but we’re also looking at that technology being used in other industries,’ he said. ‘For example, we have successfully licensed Picture Key technology in gaming machines where human-machine interaction with positive tactile interface is essential.’ This, now, is precisely where Fairlight will concentrate – sans audio.
Whether that means ‘Fairlight’ will disappear as an audio brand, as Digidesign has, time will tell. Thankfully, the technology will not. Blackmagic’s gift to Mr Fibaek and the other key members of the audio team is, essentially, manufacturing and distribution on a grander global scale. Once again, audio has had to buddy up with a much bigger industry to survive: the invisible essential, so often the afterthought, takes refuge where the light of investment shines so much brighter.
If you’ve missed an issue, wanted to refresh your memory on an older project or simply wanted to delve into the history of the pro audio industry in Asia, Africa or the Middle East then the Pro Audio Central archive is the place for you. Our fully searchable collection of Pro Audio Asia, Pro Audio
MESSE FRANKFURT GMBH DIRECTOR OF FAIRS, MICHEL
Biwer pointed to the ‘driving force of digital audio networks’ in his opening address at Pro Light & Sound Shanghai (PL&S), although visitors may have been more concerned with the driving force of heavy rain which signaled the opening of the 14th Shanghai show. As with previous years, the PL&S side of the show has always had to work hard to distinguish itself
Music China, and this year the organiser was certainly making a concerted effort to ensure a comprehensive offering of additional ‘pro’ events, seminars and forums to complement the
An inaugural Recording and Production Zone had been set up and in meeting rooms dotted between the halls, VPLT International Audio Training courses were being held. ‘Vision X’
DPA’s Francis Lai, Tony Andrews from Funktion One and Hippo Feng from RedX Audio
Outside there were two substantial outdoor demos taking place between the rain showers with the ‘Sound of China’ line up including Audiocenter, ZSound and Tasso whilst the ‘Sound of the World’ section displayed KV2, Verity, Next-proaudio, TW Audio and Coda amongst others.
Soundking Group had taken the bold step of booking a large, prominent marquee time which enabled it to accommodate both the burgeoning portfolio of products and services now under its wing as well as a dedicated cinema demo area. Visitors could then get hands on with the Cadac
named the Suitcase series on its booth. ‘This is one of the three development manager Josep Maria Sans. ‘We’ve had a great reaction to the new amps, they’re a new concept visually and
the Studiomaster and Carlsboro displays and take a look at
ranges from Kling & Freitag courtesy of MYC China, its local distributor.
Australian connector manufacturer Amphenol for that the Chinese are looking for better brands – a lot of the speaker and lighting manufacturers here want to have a brand name on their product,’ sales and marketing director Stephen Richards elaborated. ‘It’s been a bit of an eye opener but I think it’s been a success and we will attend Guangzhou as more of the manufacturers are based there.’
Foshan based manufacturer SAE Audio conversely has been a
very different, visitors are used to seeing a two or four channel certainly caught people’s attention!’
Kerstin Mischke from German monitor manufacturer Eve Audio in one of the more decibel challenging Music China halls. coming for years and believes that it’s an important show to have a presence at. We’ve got the full line up of products here along Music have been with us since we started the company just over Whilst RAM Audio distributor, Ruisheng’s booth, the Spanish manufacturer had taken the decision to take a stand in its own right displaying the S Series, Zetta and V series along with the new MDi series amps with Dante protocol. ‘There are international visitors attending and we’ve seen contacts from South America, Canada and Vietnam,’ said managing director David Arnau. ‘People are coming to buy Chinese products but they are also looking for Western manufactured products too. Supporting our distributor here has also given us the chance to get to know his customers better and they have some important projects coming up for which Dante is a must.’
As well as Phonic and Full Fat Audio, Ruisheng also there had been a good response both from the TW Audio
picking up again.’ The one frustration during the show had been the issue of counterfeit TW Audio products found in another hall and for which the organiser had to be called to have the offending products removed from display.
Distributor Real Music has traditionally always opted to
been positive for it particularly with its involvement in the
The TS Sw series, VHLA MK2 horizontal and MK3 series vertical line array could be found on the prominent Audiocenter stand and visitors could get up close and personal on the DMT booth with an XL desk from SSL, Avid S3, the KRK V series along with offerings from Lydkraft and Universal Audio. Marketing director Roy Shen was pleased overall with the show but
‘Whilst we continue to see healthy growth in the broadcast and live markets, in the future I think education will be our target
people to work in this industry.’
Phoenix Sound has been back representing Funktion One in China for two years. It took the opportunity to display the F55, Evolution 7E and Resolution 1 speakers on its booth and also reinforced its commitment to the manufacturer by having the only dedicated demo room at PL&S.
On the prominent REDX booth, senior staff engineer Jeffery Vallier had been kept busy throughout the show. ‘The reaction been great and we’ve had lots of interest from OEMs and distributors who can see the technology and understand that it’s something very different and unique. It’s very exciting, and as well as local interest we’ve also had visitors to the booth from Europe, India, the Middle East and Australia.’
Another local manufacturer which was investing heavily in the show was long time exhibitor ZSound and visitors to its booth were able to see a range of its product lines including the CM, LA and R series of loudspeakers. Manager Mr Zengshan admitted that the past two years have been
tough for the rental market following the Shanghai Bund tragedy with the cancellation of many outdoor events. ‘Now there is a resurgence of the festival market with many music festivals taking place and we are able sell a lot of large scale systems. The resurgence is happening across the country – there are more than 30 capital cities in China and almost all of them have some form of festival, so we expect to see this side of the market continue to grow. Furthermore, if you go to different cities you can see many music colleges and training facilities, I believe the music section of the show will continue to grow even bigger and this will then help the growth of the live event market.’
PL&S Shanghai continues to expand and introduce new initiatives each year and should be applauded for its efforts. Ensuring those efforts are extended regarding noise levels and counterfeiting issues is the key consideration for future years.
2016 Dates: 26 - 29 October
2017 Dates: 11 - 14 October
Venue: Shanghai
Total exhibitors: 717
Attendance: 26,527
Contact: www.prolightsound-shanghai.com
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THIS YEAR’S THEME, ‘WHAT WILL YOU DO NEXT: CONVEYING the possibilities of new media to the world’ was apt as companies from 34 countries chose the Tokyo event to showcase the newest and best of their ranges. The exhibition launches as companies brought their latest and most sophisticated technologies to a highly developed marketplace.
of Harman brands including DiGiCo DPA, Calrec and Coda Audio on the other. But there was added interest this year as the show acquisition by Samsung. The local team was reinforced by a top of the agenda.
JBL
always well researched and ahead of the game as well. What you’re seeing on the booth is pretty much everything that’s
of interest in the newly-released S31 console. ‘Our smaller
to a secret new prototype. ‘The opinion of the Japanese market Fairlight on hand to talk about the change of ownership to Blackmagic Design this space.’
Bosch Singapore.
and the RTS
and the staff are experienced in touring sound and connected to S-Series line array and demoing it in the event hall.
acquired Renkus-Heinz Tendzone in Japan with the Solon DSP Dante-enabled units. These were shown alongside the Community ClearOne and Televic ranges.
L-Acoustics
with systems from d&b audiotechnik, Bose, Nexo, EAW, Electro-Voice, K-array, Adamson Systems, Meyer Sound, Coda, Martin Audio and JBL all being put through their paces.
Midas
Klark Teknik Tannoy Turbosound and other Music Group
d&b Japan had a QSC Core on its stand to demonstrate its Blackline+ and new CDD systems were being shown alongside Powersoft and Symetrix well as Avid Apex and beyerdynamic
The Yamaha stand was showing not only the full range of and the Nexo system. The company has also enlarged its distribution range with the addition of Line 6 and Revolabs
Studio and broadcast consoles were also prominent on the SSL
InterBEE attracted around 10 per cent more visitors and exhibitors than 2015, proving its ongoing appeal as an international forum for new technologyInterBEE Experience microphone demo area Fairlight’s Joe Hammer on the Blackmagic stand The d&b Japan team with Gert Sanner and the new 24S and 21S Digigram’s Nancy Diaz Curiel with SCA team Karl Winkler with the new Lectrosonics PDR Cameron O’Neill from Riedel Adamson’s David Dohrmann second from left with the Rewire distribution team DPA’s Ken Kimura Live Gear’s Yahiro Nishikawa with K-array
console to arrive in Japan, which after the show was going into a client’s new OB truck. ‘Business is still good here, the focus is on broadcast and live, private studio business and education,’ said SSL’s Chris Jenkins.
AMS Neve. ‘We’re showing the already installed in facilities in Japan, and there’s been a lot of interest.’
this kind of technology.’
Onkyo Tokki, one of Japan’s biggest distributors, was showing EAW, QSC, Biamp, Atlona and the new Mackie Stagetec, Mipro, Schoeps and Sound Devices was being shown on the Tech Lectrosonics. ‘It can
overkill,’ said Karl Winkler.
GreenGo.
software upgrades for Out Board Electronics’ Digigram was on hand to show Allen & Heath.
Shure, Sennheiser, Audio-Technica, Roland, TEAC
Apogee
Riedel, who was showing the upgraded MediorNet with
‘InterBEE is getting bigger again, and I would say the Tokyo
TASCAM brand new cassette recorder. ‘We discontinued our last one and Europe.
inputs and outputs, Madi and SDI cards with Dante capability.
Antelope Audio
showing the Zen Tour portable interface with touch screen the LiveClock portable clock,’ said Maria Zharova.
Amphion, which API consoles
Genelec speakers on the stand of distributor, Otaritec. ‘Overall we’re
2016 Dates: 16 - 18 November
2017 Dates: TBC
Venue: Makuhari Messe, Tokyo
Total exhibitors: 1,090
Attendance: 38,047
Contact: www.inter-bee.com
ANYONE WHO’S EVER DABBLED WITH RECORDING, BE IT professional or for fun, will know that sinking feeling when halfway through an important session, the monitor you’re perched in front of goes blank. If you’re lucky, it happened in the studio and while regaining that magical take could be more illusive than presumed, at least you have a chance. But if failure happens during a live concert recording, it’s game over. Suggest an artist that would be happy with the scenario – because Pro Audio Asia can’t. It might be embarrassing at the time, but more importantly, it might well cost you future work. If an artist feels like they wasted time and money with nothing to show for it, why would they return?
As someone who not only understands and appreciates this Duggan, decided something must be done.
‘I produce music and record bands in my home studio, but also live. Having used lots of different computers in the past Logic, it’s always occurred to me that there’s no protection when your workstation fails,’ recalls Mr Duggan. ‘I remember having a not very reliable setup some time ago, and it becoming very frustrating, very quickly when the DAW kept crashing and I didn’t know why. It was embarrassing for me then, so for people in professional studios that are recording a big artist, it must be horrible. That’s where the original concept came from – a professional system that can protect you against losing your recordings.
‘But it’s not only suitable for studios, there are a lot of people out there who record bands using a laptop and an audio interface. They have no backup and laptops have a lot of background processes running. Something happens at the gig, the laptop fails and they’ve lost all of their work. It seemed to be a useful idea to not only have a system that worked well in the studio but which could also be used as an audio interface in live scenarios, so you can be making a recording there, and also making a secondary backup recording.’
The idea seems obvious, yet it appeared that nobody had set to work on a solution. ‘After coming up with the idea, I did lots of market research, seeing what was out there and
whether there were any products that currently provide this kind of functionality. I didn’t come across any. So we realised that there was room for something new. A product that, as it happens, has ended up becoming an entire range because this key feature is so unique.’
the US has already been deploying BlackBox recorders to, in effect, manually simulate the functionality BlueBox provides. ‘They have a BlackBox in every single room, recording allday long so they don’t miss anything at all,’ says Mr Duggan. However, the BlackBox and DAWs within that facility still operate independently. BlueBox represents a bridge between the two. There are currently two models available in the BlueBox range, the BBWR24MP and BBWR08MP, with a third planned products in September. There’s a third product, the BBWR24B,
product, the BBWR24MP, has 24 inbuilt preamps in a 1U box, which was a fairly impressive bit of design and a challenge to say the least. The third version being released now doesn’t have any preamps integrated at all, and follows in the heritage of our very successful balanced BlackBox, the BBR1B.’ The second BlueBox already available, the BWR08MP, offers the number of switchable input channels to eight and providing 16 dedicated balanced inputs.
protection from failure is in its DNA. Having established the company in 2007 to launch the BlackBox Recorder in 2009, has built its reputation on this premise. Interfacing its systems with computer workstations, however, brings an entirely new set of challenges.
‘We have a great hardware and software development team that are very experienced and have been in the industry for a long time,’ explains Mr Duggan. ‘They have experience with
Imagine recording in a world without fear of losing that golden take. Simon LuckhurstThe BlueBox range marks JoeCo’s first foray into the world of audio interface technology The front panel of the flagship model, BBWR24MP Francis Duggan of JoeCo
writing drivers, but from so long ago that it was before Windows even existed. Mostly, we were starting from scratch. This meant there was an incredible amount of research involved. You really have to understand what you’re letting yourself in for rather than
the market research, what we wanted to achieve, its target markets, and then the technical information that we need to
encountering things you’d never considered.’
It would be naive to underestimate this task. Asked whether Pro Audio Asia
internal design is really quite different and we’ve added some new features that the BlackBoxes do not have what so ever. For
BlueBox has advanced monitor mixing functionality redone the majority of the electronics, changed some things that we’ve wanted to change for a long time in the BlackBox range to make things sound better – not that our systems
‘We’ve also added some features that are useful for a variety of situations. It’s got wireless and Bluetooth control, so you can
which is fairly unique.
the devil is in the detail, yet so are the rewards. Asked which and laying everything out and watching all of those ideas come
we’ve always tried to make them suitable for lots of different considered until now.
aim, as it’s the thing we hadn’t done before. I’ve used a lot of being a really great interface is just brilliant.’
in a world that continues to shun the hardware-only domain, BlueBox is the logical conclusion – a best of both solution.
www.joeco.co.uk
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