Pro AVL Asia March–April 2018

We at Blank Canvas Publishing are pleased to introduce a new member of our expanding editorial team, John Leonidou. John joins us with an impressive background, having worked on the busy news desks of several national newspapers in Cyprus.

New as he is to the industry, we thought we’d throw him in at the deep end at the recent ISE show in Amsterdam, now the biggest A/V and systems integration tradeshow in the world. However, we’d underestimated his training. Used to covering war, politics, crime and gas exploration, he wasn’t fazed in the slightest. ‘After 17 years covering the darker side of journalism from Cyprus and neighbouring countries in the Middle East, I embrace this move into the more “sedate” world of A/V – which is kind of a paradox when covering topics like loudspeakers and giant LED screens,’ he said, adding that switching to the industry has opened up a whole new door in his career.

It’s always interesting to get an outside perspective on something that we’ve been familiar with for some time. One thing that struck John about our industry was it didn’t appear daunted by the switch from analogue to digital that has happened in many parallel businesses, including publishing.

‘Some of the veterans I chatted to at ISE were unfazed by this digital evolution,’ he continued. ‘There were no tears or tales of the good old, bad old days. Most, if not all, of the people at ISE are not just in

Just sometimes though, it’s possible to have the best of both worlds. The digital revolution is well and truly upon us all but, here at Blank Canvas Publishing, we strive to keep our print products fresh and relevant alongside our developing digital content. You can read the full ISE report in this issue on pp128–131, and also view a video roundup of the show at www.proavl-asia.com

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Broadcasting the 2018 Winter Games

KOREA: Broadcasters from around the globe prepared for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Games by adding new equipment to their inventories.

China’s state broadcaster (CCTV) commissioned a Lawo mc² mixing console setup with Ravenna real-time audio transport and a TSL Products PAM2-IP audio monitoring system.

The Lawo/Ravenna setup marks the integrator, NDT Group, as well as each with 288 DSP channels and a Using SoundGrid, the consoles have router cards.

NDT designed the system using a as main and backup respectively. provide main and backup support supplied. The end result is an IP audio mobile system that operates with an IP video mobile system and three remote stageboxes.

TSL’s PAM2-IP has been installed at CCTV’s Beijing headquarters to better master control and live production

handling uncompressed SMPTE

Meanwhile, American broadcaster

Audio’s Summa, Artemis Ray and Brio digital audio consoles, ChyronHego’s Lyric graphics creation and playout solution, Live Compositor and

and Harmonic’s MediaGrid shared storage systems and Spectrum MediaDeck integrated media servers, as well as Lawo’s VSM (Virtual Studio Manager) broadcast control and monitoring solutions and IP Commentary systems.

The Calrec Summa console was used in the prime-time audio control room in NBC’s production compound at the Games’ International Broadcast Centre (IBC)

served as its primary console at the sliding venues in the mountain resort was the main console at the indoor

venues in Gangneung. Calrec’s RP1 remote production system and Brio console supported operations at the Gangneung studio, enabling NBC

‘We are happy to once again have

also have Calrec’s latest Brio and production.’

Lyric systems, divided between its Connecticut HQ and the IBC in PyeongChang. Live Compositor systems helped produce additional programming and digital content.

‘We are using the ChyronHego Mosaic XL2, the Mosaic Duo with Lyric Pro, and the Prime Clips units in PyeongChang,’ explained engineering and operations at NBC

The US broadcaster put its new

such as broadcast, on-demand, digital, news operations and long-term archive. The Spectrum MediaDeck media servers in PyeongChang

while the MediaGrid shared storage systems located inside NBC’s studios at the IBC, as well as at NBC

centralised shared storage. Grass Valley has supplied its

In PyeongChang, the American broadcaster used the Belden

video and audio over IP and monitoring and control system. Also employed were NVision routers,

International broadcasters also

rate converter, RTW’s TM3-3GS TouchMonitors, Phabrix Sx TAG

troubleshooting and RTS broadcast intercom systems during the Games.

www.calrec.com

www.chyronhego.com

www.grassvalley.com

www.harmonicinc.com

www.lawo.com

www.tslproducts.com

Calrec’s Artemis console in the NBC Olympics studio

CCTV has added Lawo mc²56 consoles to its setup

Don’t let the limits of the spectrum define the size of the sound. Axient Digital delivers 184MHz of tuning bandwidth, Quadversity™ antenna diversity, and up to 47 active channels per 6MHz TV band, for impeccable audio every time. Learn more at www.shureasia.com/go/axientdigital

Mega Sound at Bollywood Music Project K-array reinforces Gangneung Ice Arena

INDIA: Mega Sound recently handled the sound production at the 2018 edition of Asia’s largest Bollywood music festival, Bollywood Music Project (BMP). The rental company deployed DiGiCo SD10 digital mixing consoles for the two stages at the festival and L-Acoustics loudspeakers for the main stage, all supplied by the Indian distributor for both manufacturers, Hi-Tech Audio Systems.

The festival took place at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium over two days with a line up of more than 50 Bollywood artists. The L-Acoustics setup comprised 30 K2 loudspeakers, 16 KS28 subwoofers and eight Kara cabinets. ‘We installed K2 as the main PA, along with Kara for system,’ recalled Siddharth Chauhan, director of Mega Sound. ‘The K2 outdoor productions.’

‘The L-Acoustics K2 system increases the headroom of the

Vishrut V Joshi. ‘It offers K1 performance in a rescaled package

that is great for touring applications.’

The DiGiCo SD10 consoles were stages at FOH. The Mega Sound team received technical support from the DiGiCo specialists at HiTech Audio Systems. ‘The technical support team from Hi-Tech Audio Systems ensured the sound engineers enjoyed working on the console and that everything ran smoothly,’ said Mr Chauhan.

‘There is always an amount of personal preference when it comes to choosing the right console for

any given job but, for the BMP audio production team, what it comes down to is which consoles can deliver the best possible sound

Tech Audio sales director, Nirdosh Aggarwal. ‘Vikram Mishra, Tanay Gajjar, Nikjil Mulay and other leading audio engineers in the country were behind the consoles at BMP. They appreciated what the DiGiCo consoles had to offer to make their job easier while working with various artists at this event.’

the main stage. ‘DiGiCo is renowned for its support and the stability of its consoles,’ he commented. ‘I like the making my work effortless during the show.’

‘I was using an SD10 for Stage 2 engineer, Tosief Shaikh. ‘The entire system was simple to set up and it all worked perfectly. During the event I never had any stability issues, and the gain sharing at the rack gave us lots of headroom.’

www.hitechaudiosystems.com www.megasound.in

KOREA: Gangneung Ice Arena, home to the figure skating and short track speed skating events during the 2018 Winter Games, has received front-fill reinforcement in the form of 52 K-array PythonKP52 beam speakers, supplied by Soundus. These join an existing Community R Series PA installation.

skating competition, for which music is crucial to the performance

Bosch Security Systems rebrands

WORLD: Bosch Security Systems has been renamed Bosch Building Technologies. The division is formed from two units: the global product business and the regional systems integration services business.

The systems integration unit provides integrated solutions for commercial buildings. Its portfolio includes building security, energy services and building automation. Meanwhile, the product business unit, which will now be known

Advertising overhead

AUSTRALIA: Digital Place

Solutions (DPS) recently installed

NanoLumens LED displays at two QICGRE owned and operated malls in Australia. The installations serve as revenue streams, allowing QICGRE to take advantage of new advertising locations, including the open air above shoppers’ heads.

‘Large, innovative digital display and provide new revenue streams for retail location owners,’ said DPS director, Stephen Rubie.

‘With NanoLumens’ lightweight and easy-to-install LED displays,

we can mount them virtually anywhere a client wants. Our two latest installations at QICGRE’s Canberra Centre and Westpoint

versatile the technology is, with each double-sided vertical display hanging from the ceiling without any additional infrastructure support. These installations would simply not be possible with any other display technology.’

The display at Canberra Centre design and are suspended from glass atriums without the need

as Bosch Security and Safety Systems, supplies video, alarm systems, as well as access control systems and management software globally under the Bosch brand. Its portfolio is completed by professional audio and conferencing systems.

Within the products business unit, Bosch will merge its video systems, intrusion detection and access control and management software business units to form

and required more powerful coverage for the audience area. The Pythons are installed horizontally along the barrier at the front of the audience seating area, offering wide, uniform coverage while not obstructing the view of the rink.

‘The sound is better than ever,’ said a spokesperson on behalf of the PyeongChang Games organisers. ‘We are really pleased with the result.’

www.k-array.com

for major construction or support infrastructure.

‘We are thrilled with Digital Place Solutions’ installation of the

a single business unit, named Security.

‘We want the scope of our portfolio

president of the Bosch Security Systems division. ‘In combining these three business units, our aim is to ensure we can meet our customers’ needs even better in the future. At the same time, this move will strengthen our competitiveness.’

www.boschsecurity.com

NanoLumens displays,’ commented QICGRE’s head of commercial, Dennis Michael. ‘The vibrant, oversized, double-sided displays are a new point of interest for shoppers that allow us to utilise space that previously was impossible to monetise. Think about it: with DPS able to hang huge NanoLumens

corridors, we are basically creating marketing solutions for retailers and brands out of thin air.’

www.digitalplacesolutions.com

www.nanolumens.com

The view from FOH

QICGRE’s Canberra Centre

Westpoint Shopping Centre

Clair Brothers prevents spill at Bar 360

PHILIPPINES: Resorts World Manila (RWM) recently replaced the audio system at its casino’s entertainment hub, Bar 360, with a complete Clair Brothers setup. Sound engineers from Clair Brothers Australia, together with Systech Lighting Controls, faced a tricky challenge in ensuring that live stage sound was being delivered to the customers at a level of 95dB to 100dB due to the complex layout of the venue.

The casino room features a circular layout with bar, stage and audience seating, and had been subverted with noise from the surrounding casino stage also needed to ensure that it did not disturb the casino operations but was instead contained inside the bar area by levelling out the volume and controlling sound distribution.

Bar 360’s new FOH system is run in mono and consists of eight R2D-III bi-amp, 12-inch, 2-way speakers with

acquires Archwave, forms R&D hub

four CS18-II single, 18-inch subs column positions. A side marble area has two R2D-III speakers that are time-aligned to the stage centre –the same as the main FOH system. The stage monitors consist of four FF2-HX cabinets, along with four Clair

with Lake Processing.

‘We want our guests to experience the real live sounds of our bands,’ commented Ernie De Leon, director of entertainment operations at Bar 360. ‘We also need to consider our other guests outside the bar.’

www.clairbrothers.com

www.systechlc.com

WORLD: Riedel has acquired Swiss engineering company Archwave Technologies, resulting in the creation of a new R&D hub in Zurich. This expands Riedel’s global engineering team to more than 100 engineers while increasing its R&D capabilities for IP and standards such as AES67.

Archwave specialises in audio networking and streaming. As part of the deal, Riedel has also acquired Cymatic Audio, an audio manufacturer within the music industry, which enables Riedel to enter new markets. Archwave and Cymatic Audio will retain their individual identities and remain autonomous, while Riedel will adopt Archwave technology for its own product portfolio.

‘At Riedel, IP standards are vital not only for our intercom portfolio but also for all of the other Riedel product lines,’ said Thomas Riedel, founder and CEO of Riedel. ‘By

collaborating with Archwave, we are taking another important

step towards providing complete networking solutions that allow broadcasters to work the way they want to work. With our new engineering team in Switzerland, we now have all the tools we need to that our clients need for their transition to IP.’

Arie van den Broek, CEO of Archwave, expressed excitement about moving forward as part of the Riedel family. ‘It is not often that such a strong and obviously is what I found with Riedel,’ he said. ‘Riedel’s strength, operational excellence and commitment to open technology were the factors that drove the development of this new relationship. We also appreciate that the deal offers new channels to markets within the existing Riedel organisation.’

www.riedel.net

Imagine communicates with Indian broadcasters

INDIA: Imagine Communications took its latest technology on the road recently with a string of presentations in Chennai, Mumbai and New Delhi in a bid to assist broadcasters and media companies in defining roadmaps for a transition to next-gen and hybrid solutions. Technology discussed included formats such as 4K and higher resolutions, high dynamic range (HDR) and high frame rates (HFR), while open standards, including the SMPTE ST2110 family, promoted by the Alliance for IP Media Systems (AIMS), were also examined.

Driven under the theme The future of television. Today, the discussions also looked into the shift from SDI to IP and from traditional hardware

to software-centric solutions on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware, virtualised in the data centre and the cloud. Central to virtualisation is the move from monolithic functional blocks to a microservices architecture.

Imagine Communications products included the Platinum IP3 multilayer router, the Selenio range of cross-platform processors and the Magellan orchestration layer. These technology developments

sessions on playout, and on live and multiscreen solutions. The Versio

integrated playout system was also showcased.

More than 200 customers attended the events. ‘The success of these events also helps us stay close to our customers in each market, understanding their requirements and developing the right solutions,’ said Anas Hantash, director of sales for MENA at Imagine Communications. ‘I see us planning an annual roadshow, focusing on education, to continue this great dialogue.’

www.imaginecommunications.com

Martin Berger, CSO of Riedel Communications; Matthias Bode, CEO of Archwave and Thomas Riedel at ISE 2018

Others dodge problems. We prefer to solve them. Of course, you can work your way around intermodulation and do some software magic — but that is no real solution in the already congested and limited frequency spectrum. By design, Digital 6000 has no intermodulation artifacts. Our superior RF technology results in more channels and more flexibility for any production and any stage — with no trade-off in transmission power or quality. Smarter, leaner, more efficient — this is the built-in principle from user interface up to spectrum efficiency. Redundant Dante™ sockets and the command function are just two components of the recent update.

More about the next step towards the future of audio: www.sennheiser.com/digital-6000

No intermodulation. More channels. More power for your business.

KC Sound takes Nova to the movies

INDONESIA: Flix Cinema is a relatively new chain of movie theatres with two branches in Indonesia. KC Sound was enlisted to install the audio equipment at the chain’s first theatre at the PIK Avenue Mall in Jakarta, equipping four of its five auditoria with solutions from Nova’s cinema range.

Flix Cinema put its trust in KC Sound’s installation work coupled with Nova’s cinema systems due to past experience. ‘We have a good relationship with the COO of Flix Cinema’s parent company, ASRI (Agung Sedayu Retail Indonesia), as we worked together previously when he was the CEO of Blitzmegaplex,’ revealed Sie Kek Chung of KC Sound. ‘They completely trusted us to design the system to the extent that even the interior design was to

follow our speaker placement. They were intent on aiming for a high-quality sound system.’

The four Nova-equipped halls all include C-Line 33/2 or C-Line 33 line array speakers with NCS 121SB subwoofers and CP8N surround speakers. Nova DC 8000 digital speaker management systems also serve each hall with varying combinations of X-800, X-1200

theatre in Indonesia to be equipped with DTS:X object-based cinema audio technology and is installed with CPA 10 multi-channel speakers to provide moviegoers with the immersive experience.

The KC Sound team was experienced at installing Nova cinema solutions, having done so for Blitzmegaplex in the past.

that they had performed a DTS:X installation. ‘We had to familiarise ourselves with installation

guidelines and equipment approval coming from technical support provided by GDC Technology, a

said Mr Chung. ‘A pair of Nova CPA 10s were brought in under their advisement as LSF (Left Surround Front) and RSF (Right Surround aimed towards the sweet spot of the seating area and resulting in

With the cinema open, it seems the client is happy as KC Sound looks set to work with Flix Cinema and its parent company again. ‘Future projects will include the refurbishment and rebranding of old cinemas owned by ASRI,’ concluded Mr Chung. ‘There’s this cinema site in one of their malls in Jakarta that will be acquired soon to join their Flix Cinema chain and we have been asked to provide consultation.’

www.novacoustic.de

GLP heads to Oceania

NEW ZEALAND: Oceania, reportedly the largest lighting rental company in New Zealand, has invested in 24 GLP X4 L LED heads. The very same day that the lighting fixtures were delivered, the rental house sent them straight on the road to cover all regional games and the three All Blacks tests during the British & Irish Lions’ The Lions Down Under rugby tour.

in straw, steels, lavenders, as well as some bling. I particularly liked the straight lines and V shapes of the pixels and the randomised strobes using macro mode. In addition to supplying equipment for the rugby venues, Oceania provided its technical services at the Queen’s Wharf Auckland Fanzone Activation. This served as the Auckland hub for the DHL

Oceania’s general manager, Simon Garrett, had been seeking some midsized LED washes as the company’s as was needed. It was when he and designer Jeremy Fern saw the X4 L at LDI in Las Vegas that he made his choice.

‘The X4 L offers both workhorse and bling modes,’ noted Mr Garrett. ‘It is a fast, very compact wash light with a source range from low to very high 10,000K colour temperature, giving some beautiful cold variation

New Zealand Lions Series and the nationwide Rugby 2017 Festival, with live match screenings and performances lit by 12 of the GLP

which gave the beams a pretty hard edge, and a further six in wash mode as a backing colour,’ explained Mr Garrett. ‘As the DHL Dome was pretty opaque, it would have required 24 to 36 compact LED washes to have animated this as successfully.’

www.glp.de

Chris McKenzie and Simon Garrett

DiGiCo SD9 slashes through Hyderabad Genelec launches into A/V

INDIA: Hyderabad-based rental company Slash Enterprises has recently added a DiGiCo SD9 digital mixing console to its roster. The mixer was supplied by the British manufacturer’s Indian distributor, HiTech Audio.

‘We were looking for something compatible with our line of work and were introduced to the DiGiCo SD9 by HiTech,’ recalled Ronald Daniel, owner of Slash Enterprises. ‘I mix for everything from closed space venues to open air live shows. The audience footfall varies and the needs of artists are demanding. For this array of shows, ease of use is a prime consideration in my console choice and the SD9 is perfectly suitable for my scope of work.’

Slash Enterprises was founded by Ronald Daniel’s older brother, Francis Daniel. Francis Daniel initially DJ’d for events such as weddings and corporate shows, but, as the company grew, it took on work with live bands as well as churches, and eventually Ronald joined and Slash Enterprises began to focus more on providing the latest pro audio equipment.

HiTech Audio delivered training and support to Slash Enterprises to ensure the rental company would get the most out of its SD9. ‘Team HiTech are always quick on their feet for any kind of troubleshooting and training,’ said Mr Daniel. ‘Their experts also provided me with much needed technical support for the DiGiCo console during a live show.

It was a wonderful experience to work with them.’

‘We are proud to associate with Slash Enterprises and believe in providing the best customer support,’ commented Rajan Gupta, managing director of HiTech Audio. www.digico.biz www.hitechaudiosystems.com

WORLD: Genelec used ISE in Amsterdam to officially announce its entry into the A/V market. While the manufacturer’s products have long been used in A/V installations, this move marks its commitment to the sector.

‘We will soon be launching a new, dedicated A/V section of our website which will contain improved A/V-specific product information’

‘We already have a tremendous amount of A/V installations throughout the world, particularly in the Nordic region,’ stated Genelec AV installation business manager, Sami Mäkinen. ‘Over time it has become increasingly clear that the demand for studio-quality audio products in A/V is rising steadily; consequently, we regard the A/V business segment as having great potential for high-quality installations with modern design loudspeakers. Another important factor is the growing demand for integrated IP technology, an area in which we have already

demonstrated our commitment to innovation. Hence, the time is right for us to formally expand our actions and address the A/V market needs with a dedicated strategy, resources and product range. ‘We will soon be launching a new, dedicated A/V section of our website which will contain information, application examples, case studies and other resources so that integrators and consultants need in one place,’ he continued. ‘We are also evaluating ways to optimise our exposure in the A/V market at a technical level as well as undertaking a range of marketing and commercial initiatives with new and existing partners.’

www.genelec.com

Ronald Daniel with the SD9

SOUNDBITES

MESSE FRANKFURT ADDS THAI SHOWS TO GLOBAL PORTFOLIO

THAILAND: Messe Frankfurt

New Era Business Media has added to its portfolio of global trade shows with the acquisition of Thailand Lighting Fair and Thailand Building Fair. The two trade shows have been

Ultimate acquisition of Radial Engineering

was in 1996 that the company released its first direct box, the Radial JDI, and transitioned into a manufacturer of direct boxes and other audio solutions. Over the years, Radial and its distribution network grew, becoming the parent company for brands such as Primacoustic, Tonebone, Reamp, Hafler, Dynaco, Iso-Max and Jensen Transformers.

‘After almost 42 years in the business and my turning 60 decision to retire,’ said Mr Janis. ‘It has been an amazing journey and I want to make sure I enjoy retirement while I still can. I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your amazing support. Without you, Radial would not exist.

organised by Messe Frankfurt since their inception in 2015 and now formally join its Light + Building roster, comprising 15 fairs around the world.

‘The acquisition will facilitate Messe Frankfurt to further develop our presence within the network of ASEAN countries,’ explained Messe Frankfurt board member Stephan Buurma. ‘It will also allow us to expand and strengthen our portfolio in the ASEAN region. Our local partners, The ExhibiZ and the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA), have been instrumental in establishing the shows and we look forward to working together with them for many years ahead.’

www.messefrankfurt.com

www.thailandlightingfair.com

TOP GONGS UP FOR GRABS AT IRAA AWARDS

INDIA: Categories for audio engineering and audio postproduction are open to submissions for the upcoming Indian Recording Arts Academy Awards (IRAA). Candidates are able to submit their work before the deadline for entries on 30 April 2018.

WORLD: Mike Belitz, president and CEO of Ultimate Support Systems, has acquired Radial Engineering. The news coincides with the announcement by Radial Engineering

founder Peter Janis that he is retiring from his post as president and CEO. Radial Engineering was first established in 1991, launching a range of cable products. It

Mr Belitz has stated that under his leadership Ultimate Support and Radial Engineering will benefit from shared strategic and logistical advantages with ‘the end result of wider availability to retailers, distributors, and end-users all over the world’.

‘I also want to assure you that Radial will continue to roll with our same amazing team,’ he continued. ‘Moving forward, my friend Mike Belitz will be taking over as CEO.’

www.radialeng.com www.ultimatesupport.com

Harman helps Hyundai deliver guest experience at Motorstudio

KOREA: A complete audio system by Harman Professional Solutions was recently installed by TechData at the Hyundai Motorstudio Goyang Experience Center to help enhance and integrate the sound of the facility’s exhibition spaces.

Prior to the introduction of the Harman systems, Hyundai hired to create the sound design for the exhibition space while media hardware had been introduced by Medienprojekt P2. Systems

integrator TechData then selected the audio system, made up of JBL Professional and BSS solutions.

JBL PD6000, PD500, CBT, AE and AE Compact Series speakers were installed throughout the space to deliver consistent level and high output, with low frequency support provided by ASB6112 and ASB6128V subwoofers. TechData also installed CBT Series column loudspeakers, which utilise analogue delay beam-forming and

amplitude tapering to accomplish consistent vertical coverage.

Outside of the exhibition space, TechData also installed JBL Control 26CTs in the restaurant and weather-resistant Control 88M landscape speakers on the fourth-

the JBL Control Contractor Series catalogue to provide aesthetically

The IRAA Awards – which recognise achievements in music, soundtrack recording and mixing in Indian music

hosted alongside PALM Expo 2018 at the Bombay Exhibition

be submitted via a Dropbox link provided on the IRAA website. The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on 2 June 2018.

www.iraa.in

matching in-ceiling and surfacemount speakers in the cafeteria, elevator lobby, driving registration and restroom areas. Eon600 Series speakers extend the audio experience outside the building and into the parking area. TechData also installed a BSS Soundweb Contrio EC-4BV for volume control and source selection.

‘The challenge was creating a balance between the look and feel of the space as well as the technologies that create the experience,’ said SJ Rhee from TechData. ‘We collaborated with local architectural sound experts to provide consultation regarding system design. The different JBL speaker models in the exhibition space helped us to ensure consistent coverage with the right levels for a pleasing experience.’ Yeonhee Lee, who is director of Hyundai Motorstudio Goyang, added: ‘The Hyundai Motorstudio Experience Center is our way of communicating with our customers, enabling us to engage with them through the various experiences within the facility. It is imperative that visitors have a seamless experience that targets all their senses.’

www.harman.com

www.techdata.co.kr

Christie provides a VIP experience

CHINA: The Yashan International Resort Hotel has become the first luxury guesthouse in China to be fitted with Christie’s CP2308 cinema projector and Vive Audio system. The solutions were installed in the resort’s in-house VIP theatre in a bid to offer guests an enhanced visual and audio experience.

The system for the 100-seat theatre, which features an 11m wide screen, was designed by Sentiment-

general contracting work. The new audio components in the theatre include LA1 line array loudspeakers, LS3S surround loudspeakers, S115

and S218 subwoofers for bass management, as well as CDA2 and

‘The concept of having an in-house cinema is unique for the hospitality industry and we are excited to have selected Christie’s complete cinema projection and audio solutions for our VIP theatre,’ said Yashan International Resort Hotel chief executive Yingbin Tang. ‘With this facility, our guests can enjoy exceptional visuals and surround sound that was previously available only in upscale movie theatres.’

www.christiedigital.com

Peter Janis

AV Stumpfl China opens in Shanghai

CHINA: AV Stumpfl has established AV Stumpfl China to develop and expand the brand’s presence in the Chinese mainland’s A/V market. With an office in Shanghai, AV Stumpfl China comprises a team of system engineers, A/V and marketing staff.

‘We are seeing a lot of growth potential when it comes to AV

Xilica and Twisted Pair Chu the Phat

attractions, museum installations

‘It is not a secret that the Chinese market is of great importance to most

www.avstumpfl.com

DT 240 PRO CREATE BETTER –

AUSTRALIA: Twisted Pair Productions was brought in by rawGroup to install the audio system at its newest Brisbane restaurant, Chu the Phat. The systems integrator designed a solution comprising Quest Engineering speakers, Pioneer DJ turntables, Shure wireless mics and a Rane mixer running Serato DJ. For processing and zone control, a Xilica Neutrino A0808-N open architecture DSP system was selected. The Neutrino A0808-N features

www.twistedpairproduction.com www.xilica.com

Teens Rock with a Nexo solution

INDIA: First established by Yamaha Music India in 2014, Teens Rock: The Battle of the Bands recently returned for its fourth edition. The grand finale was staged at the DLF Place Saket in New Delhi, with 11 school bands participating from

Delhi, Gurugram, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Indore, Kochi, Bengaluru and Kolkata. Yamaha Music India deployed a Nexo system for sound reinforcement with support from rental company Daedal Prodigy. The Teens Rock musical performances amongst

Teens Rock

L to R: Tobias Stumpfl, Francis Lee, Bin Ye, Fabian Stumpfl

The DT 240 PRO is designed to suit the needs of creative professionals. The compact over-ear design respects your mobile lifestyle while giving you true studio performance in any environment.

Precise and powerful drivers ensure a high output volume on all devices such as laptops, cameras and studio interfaces.

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And of course, TouchMix also goes Beyond Mixing by also offering Wizards, Presets and other beneficial tools that help both seasoned audio professionals and novices alike get great results quickly and easily. No other mixer even comes close in terms of features, ease-of-use, sound quality and reliability. After all, it’s a QSC.

Pascal HQ more than doubles Daktronics installs LED video displays at Perth Stadium

WORLD: Pascal’s Copenhagen headquarters have undergone a 55% expansion, which includes a new state-of-the-art EMC (Electromagnetic Compatibility) testing laboratory. The expansion became necessary due to rapid growth within the business during 2017, particularly in R&D, operations and sales.

The now 1,726m2 site provides additional and enhanced recreational amenities for staff to offer a more ‘stimulating’ work environment. ‘Creating an exceptional work environment is fundamental in planning for continued sustainable growth,’ said Pascal CEO Lars Fenger. ‘It is an essential investment in our people and our people are the essential element in our growth.

It is also important to realise high standards of corporate professionalism internally, that

good reputation of the company in the market.’

The EMC testing lab allows Pascal to test all electrical equipment against standards for EMI (Electromagnetic Interference) onsite. ‘EMC regulatory compliance is the primary challenge for all companies developing and as this type of technology is inherently noisy above audible frequencies,’ explained Thomas Fahlberg, director of product development. ‘With this investment, we are now well positioned to risk mitigate and considerably speed up our development projects, with easy access to pre-compliance development cycle.’

www.pascal-audio.com

AUSTRALIA: Daktronics has installed eight LED video displays in and around the new Perth Stadium in Australia – a move that the US video display company promises will help energise the atmosphere and entertain fans.

they are seated, even in direct sunlight.’

The two main displays are located at the east and west ends of the stadium and measure approximately 10m high x 34m wide, each featuring a 15HD pixel layout. They will provide more than 340m2 of

the game, leading you to the hotdog stands, pointing you to merchandising opportunities, and helping you on your way home.

Perth Stadium is world class and will provide a unique experience through light, sound and digital content designed for the fans.’

The 60,000-seater ground

2018 making it the third largest stadium in Australia after the Melbourne Cricket Ground and Stadium Australia. The stadium, which was constructed by Multiplex, will primarily be used for Australian rules football and cricket. ‘This is a true super system designed to entertain and amaze the fans,’ said Daktronics’ regional manager Blair Robertson. ‘With two of the largest displays in the country, spectators have a perfect view of the replay action wherever

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display area for live video, instant replays and event statistics as well as providing the opportunity to highlight sponsors and statistics during events. The Daktronics Show Control System will tie together data, video, graphics and animations, giving the operator single-point control in and out of the stadium.

‘The moment you approach the stadium the Daktronics super system will start informing and entertaining you,’ continued Mr Robertson. ‘It continues to help you while identifying where your seat is, entertaining you throughout

Two ribbon displays wrap around the stadium at ground level and level one. The ground level ribbon measures more than 1m high x 345m long and features 10mm line spacing. The level one ribbon measures 75m high x 380m long and features a 15HD pixel layout. Both provide complementary content to the main displays such as event prompts, statistics and advertising.

www.daktronics.com

www.multiplex.global

CEO Lars Fenger with application engineer Claus Momme and product development director Thomas Fahlberg

Audio Video Electronics Network Accessories

New VHD2.18J Subwoofer

Housing two 18” high performance transducers the VHD2.18J is a direct radiating bass-reflex subwoofer. The VHD2.18J’s optimised, high efficiency, bass-reflex design produces considerably more output than other similar double 18” enclosures and features intuitive integrated flyware that allows for fast rigging of multiple cabinets.

Johannes Krämer works with many of the worlds leading artists, promoters and events. When he visited KV2 Audio he was looking for something special in a sub. After discussions with Chief Engineer, George Krampera the VHD2.18J was born.

www.kv2audio.com

George Krampera

Chief Engineer

KV2 Audio

Johannes Krämer

Sound Engineer

Richie Hawtin

SOUNDBITES

REALLY A/V ADDS BOSE

CHINA: integrated audiovisual rental company Really A/V has taken line array modules and 12 company provides services to a such as Victoria’s Secret and entertainment events.

Details confirmed for 2018 GET Show

strict noise control guidelines, ensuring an environmentally

Following delivery, Really A/V hired out its new Bose inventory Chinese Orchestra. ‘This group is very much like western symphony orchestras, but with special musical instruments unique to China,’ said Vincent Shanghai Chinese Orchestra. seeing this system becoming more available in local rental inventories.’

pro.bose.com

NEXT GOES EXPRESS

WORLD: models. Distributors will be able equipment.

these improvements to enhance readily available stock.’ The move has reportedly come large and planned orders.

www.next-proaudio.com

CHINA: Guangzhou Entertainment Technology Show (GET Show) organiser Industry Association of South China Entertainment Equipment revealed details of the upcoming edition of the trade show at a press event that attracted more

than 70 people. The 2018 GET Show takes place from 8 to 11 May and is reportedly sold out.

space to occupy eight halls, up

will cover more than 80,000m2

announced that the organiser plans to maintain the show’s reputation as a ‘quiet show’ by adhering to

This year marks the 10th to celebrate, the organiser will host a special event at the Chime begins. More than 2,000 guests will be invited to the celebration, entertainment technology industry representatives, including dealers

www.getshow.com.cn

Wanda brings LED cinema to China

CHINA: Wanda Cinemas is set to become the first company in China to introduce Samsung Electronics’ Cinema LED Screen technology. The cinema chain’s Wujiaochang theatre in Shanghai’s Yangpu District will be the first to replace projectors with the LED screens.

Cinemas in Seoul and Busan in Korea, and Bangkok, Thailand have already been equipped with Samsung Cinema LED screens, as has Arena Cinemas’ Sihlcity branch in Zurich, Switzerland.

‘Since its introduction last year, Samsung’s Cinema LED Screen has captivated the cinema industry with its potential to revolutionise the

visual display business at Samsung.

‘Through Cinema LED, we are

will embrace the opportunity to

spacing issues within the cinema

a 4K resolution and boasts peak brightness levels almost 10 times greater than standard cinema screens. This will allow

movie content, such as gaming competitions, corporate events and presentations, as well as sports and concert simulcasting. Stretching

Screen is accompanied by a Harman sound setup with JBL speakers bordering the screen and deployed

throughout the theatre’s seating area.

the Wanda Cinemas brand,’ said Cinemas. ‘We are honoured to work

to making the Shanghai Cinema LED both movie enthusiasts and casual consumers alike.’

The partnership between Samsung and Wanda will continue to grow, as plans are in the pipeline by Wanda Cinemas to introduce another LED theatre in Beijing later in 2018.

www.samsung.com

www.wanda-group.com

Gearhouse Broadcast scales UCI Mountain Bike Championships

AUSTRALIA: Gearhouse Broadcast provided the broadcast, event comms and postproduction solutions for the crosscountry and downhill events during the 2017 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships. The event communications company supplied 45 camera positions, a full event comms solution across the entire event and a HyperActive Broadcast edit facility.

‘We covered the event in 2016

Gearhouse Broadcast OB supervisor Marcus Doherty. ‘These the HyperActive Broadcast

postproduction and Gearhouse our business into the overall OB and production.’

The Gearhouse team integrated

the broadcast and event comms systems with the Emergency Control Centre (ECC), which it equipped with and UHF radio channels to service the entire event. ‘This included Queensland Police and Ambulance marshals, security, transport and athlete services,’ said Mr Doherty. ‘Our broadcast team also installed a routable monitoring system in the ECC that allowed these groups to monitor broadcast cameras on the which there were several including one that was critical, without interruption to the broadcast.’

commissioned to produce

daily highlights packages in which comprised two Adobe integration to nearline storage within on the EVS nearline servers and HyperActive Broadcast MD Andy Liell. ‘The integration with the EVS programme produced.’

www.gearhousebroadcast.com

PAT brings Nova to the Sydney Opera House Dirac acquires China distributor

AUSTRALIA: Professional Audio & Television (PAT) has delivered, configured and commissioned a Lawo Nova73 network of routers and the German manufacturer’s crystal broadcast console at the Joan Sutherland Theatre in the Sydney Opera House. PAT was enlisted by the Downer Group, which serves as the lead integrator on a current technology renewal programme underway across all venues at the iconic Sydney landmark. The Nova73 Core was

www.lawo.com www.proaudiotv.com.au

CHINA: Dirac Research has acquired its Chinese distributor, Allied Acoustiks, and founded Dirac China. This forms part of the Swedish digital audio optimisation solutions provider’s plans to expand its footprint in the Chinese marketplace.

www.dirac.com

Lawo Nova73

Beam steering a tight line Celebrating 50 years in the Community

steered column array and RenkusHeinz IC Live is really the only one that can offer extended bass for the low frequency content.’

Using EASE modelling, Mr Harris ultimately came to his design of two columns, each comprising three IC Live Triple column arrays. ‘We started at a low level – not

level – as we were very keen that the system should not interfere with the activities of other stores,’ Mr Harris recalled. ‘The system is sounding good. The use of processing to compress signals in

WORLD: Community Professional Loudspeakers is celebrating 50 years in the audio industry this year.

Founded back in 1968 by Bruce Howze to develop loudspeakers for concerts that were both powerful and lightweight, Community would go on to expand its market focus from tour sound to MI and, now, to install.

HONG KONG: The flagship Sogo department store along Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay serves as the surface to which Asia Pacific’s largest outdoor video screen is mounted. Providing sound reinforcement for the content shown on the 230-foot x 53-foot display are a pair of Renkus-Heinz IC Live triple column line arrays. The installation was carried out by ihD Ltd, which was tasked with designing an audio system that could be heard over the sounds

and bustle of the city, while also adhering to strict noise pollution laws.

‘Down in the street we measured a standard level of 75dBA to 85dBA

knew our main challenge would be to get the sound or speech across to people through this level of background noise, but without incurring complaints from other traders or the local authorities,’ explained Ian Harris, president and principal consultant of ihD. ‘For those reasons it had to be a beam-

‘We face tropical storms, typhoons and – even in less dramatic periods – salty rain coming off the ocean, so the loudspeakers were provided added Patrick Leung, from the manufacturer’s regional distributor, CAH Professional Sound.

www.cah.com.hk

www.ihd-hk.com www.renkus-heinz.com

‘[In 1968], touring systems were mainly comprised of large folded bass horns, topped with multicellular high frequency horns,’ commented Community CEO Steve Johnson. ‘There was nothing that could do 500Hz well, which left a big hole in the midrange. Midrange is where

voice intelligibility lives, and to my mind is the most important aspect of a loudspeaker – to communicate. We focused on that midrange right at the outset, and it continues to be paramount in everything we do.’ The company’s role in the audio industry ranges from Elvis Presley tours with the Leviathan in the 1970s to public address for religious gatherings at Mecca. Cities such as Venice rely on Community to provide are installed at dozens of stadia and arenas across the globe.

www.communitypro.com

Bruce Howze and the original LMF in 1968

The right mix for Miriam Yeung

HONG KONG: Miriam Yeung recently performed a series of 11 concerts in her native Hong Kong. Managing the audio production for the gigs was renowned FOH engineer, Frankie Hung, while Shure Asia provided its Axient Digital AD2 handheld wireless microphone transmitter with a Beta 58 vocal mic and PSM 1000 wireless IEM system for the singersongwriter, who wore SE846 sound isolating earphones.

The concerts were staged at the Hong Kong Coliseum, with audio,

lighting and staging solutions provided by Engineering Impact. The PA system comprised 60 L-Acoustics K2 loudspeakers, configured with a dispersion of 11°, and 24 SB28 subwoofers, while dV-Dosc cabinets provided front-fill. Mr Hung managed the main mix from behind an SSL Live L500 Plus console. An SSL L300 was also brought in for band monitoring at the request of bandleader Carl Wong and Miriam Yeung’s IEM mix was handled by

Jacky Lee using a DigiCo SD7. In regards to the Shure Axient Digital system, Mr Hung noted an improvement in sound quality over the older UR system he used previously. Meanwhile, Miriam Yeung and the concerts’ producer stated that using the PSM 1000, they ‘didn’t hear a single drop out’ over the course of the 11 nights.

www.impacthk.com

www.shureasia.com

JAA Systems enables the Voice of Kinabalu

MALAYSIA: Voice of Kinabalu (VOK FM) recently began broadcasting in Sabah following an officiating ceremony conducted by state tourism, culture and environment minister YB Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun. Before taking to the airwaves, JAA Systems was selected to design, supply, integrate and commission the systems in the radio station’s studio.

JAA Systems initially supplied a Klotz Graphite One 12-fader digital audio mixer as VOK FM’s main onair console. Meanwhile, a 6-fader Graphite One was equipped at the radio station’s back-up/production studio, joined by an iMac installed with Pro Tools.

‘We were given a short time frame of less than two weeks to complete the whole installation and staff training before VOK FM’s

BRUTALLY HONEST.

PAGE

soft-launched date,’ recalled David Chan, director of JAA Systems. ‘While every minute counted we were able to assemble our team and get all our suppliers to help get the goods ready to ship within 48 hours. It was a challenging project as a whole, but another great success story for us at JAA Systems.’

The client is also happy with how the project went. ‘With JAA Systems’ good track record and professional team headed by David Chan, we knew we are in good hands,’ said Mohammad Faqrullah Azim, CEO and station manager at VOK FM. ‘The studio systems installation was a great success and they managed to get it all up and running prior to the soft launch.’

www.jaasys.com

www.vokfmsabah.com

The new S Series: Designed and engineered from scratch to reveal details that no other flagship monitors can. With more bass extension. Dramatically enhanced mid-range detail.

And loud, intensely accurate output without fatigue or distortion. This is sound designed to reach your inner ear. Inspire trust in your creative instincts. And move you to create your best work... by hearing what others miss.

Rey Kimara, Beebey, David Chan and Kapten Faqrul

Fox Sports Australia keeps it Calrec

AUSTRALIA: Fox Sports Australia has replaced a dated Calrec Zeta console in Studio B at its Sydney headquarters with an Artemis digital audio console. This is the second Artemis desk to be installed at the broadcaster and it was immediately put to use with a pre-recorded UFC preview show and Fox Sports 501’s football entertainment show,

Just for Kicks

The decommissioning of the Zeta, which had been running since 2008, and the installation of the new console took less than 48 and checked beforehand, ensuring a smooth transition. A team handpicked by Fox Sports Australia’s broadcast projects engineer, Mick

HK Audio and Gräf & Meyer

in sound alert venture

WORLD: HK Audio has teamed up with Gräf & Meyer with the aim of soon being able to offer a range of services related to standard-compliant and highquality audio playback in voice alarm and evacuation systems.

The ‘non-exclusive collaboration’ has seen the two companies set a goal that will offer architects, planners, project developers and integrators a series of products results unveiled at ISE 2018. ‘Venues and spaces that appropriate PA systems can be even more complex when it comes to the technical voice alarm system,’ said HK Audio CEO, Nils Stamer. ‘Now, with the partnership between HK Audio and Gräf & Meyer, we are opening a new chapter for both companies, with pro audio technology and alarm system technology coming together to meet these demanding requirements.’

www.gplusm.de

www.hkaudio.com

Gergos, completed the project. ‘Since we already work with the same desk in our other studio,

adding a new Artemis guaranteed a smooth transition for our crew,’ said Fox Sports Australia network head of

audio, Antony Koveos. ‘We effectively mirrored and networked the facilities by adding Dante cards in both studios and the intercom system. This has given us a high-capacity intercom interface that extends to the outside world and is now available on our outside broadcast network.’

The Artemis in Studio B has been linked to the existing Artemis console in Studio A via Calrec’s Hydra2 network. This facilitates the exchange of audio signals, as well as providing the ability to add the manufacturer’s RP1 remote production unit to

from the studio control room. ‘The opportunity to call up any function on any panel, replicate them on multiple panels, split the surface for multiple users, and set up alternate monitoring quickly and

concluded Mr Koveos. ‘We also know we can count on outstanding customer support from both Calrec and our local distributor, Syncrotech Systems.’

www.calrec.com

... yet still relax listening to the pleasant background music.

A-5000 Digital Mixer Amplifier

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 longterm 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

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Yamaha audio system makes waves in Bali

INDONESIA: Finn’s Beach Club in Bali has invested in a new Yamaha audio installation after recently moving into a new, multi-zone building on the popular Berawa surf beach.

The new Yamaha audio system –and mixer – was designed and installed by David Soewondo of Surabaya-based DMP Musik, and looks to encompass the six indoor bars, restaurant, spa, boutique, changing rooms, DJ booth/stage, two swimming pools, pool bar and numerous outdoor hammocks and single/double day beds within the beachfront complex.

‘The client needed a system that

could distribute sound throughout the venue, however the different zones have different volume

settings, depending on how each area is used,’ said Mr Soewondo. ‘Some of the zones overlap and it

Imagine and SBG to help exploit ATSC 3.0 ads potential

WORLD: Sinclair Broadcast Group (SBG) and Imagine Communications have agreed to work together to speed up the development of a next-generation advertising management software platform allowing broadcasters the chance to properly utilise ATSC 3.0 digital television technology.

The new service aims to offer advanced advertising capabilities that will utilise the opportunities of ATSC 3.0 and fully release the sales opportunities afforded by a multiservice delivery model. The agreement will see SBG play a fundamental role in the development of Imagine’s nextgeneration business process data analytics that allow for unit and impression-based buys.

In addition, SBG has committed to a rollout of beta testing for both ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 models, helping

to ensure that innovative solutions are applied to the new platform that accommodate the overall broadcast industry.

‘ATSC 3.0 provides broadcasters with a rich palette of IP-based service offerings that enhance and complement our over-theair capabilities,’ said SBG CTO, Del Parks. ‘Our development partnership with Imagine will ensure that we maximise the monetisation opportunities that an IP delivery model offers, by utilising business systems that provide precise targeting and geographical

positioning across all distribution and consumption models.’

The service delivery enhancements of ATSC 3.0, which include an IPbased backchannel, accompanied by the monetisation features enabled through the Imagine-SBG collaboration, will reportedly help to boost the competitive standing and creativity of local broadcast groups.

Sarah Foss, who is the chief management solutions at Imagine Communications, added: ‘This agreement provides both Sinclair and Imagine with a unique opportunity to bring our ad management solutions – including zone-based targeting and dynamic ad insertion that have gained market leadership among MVPDs –to the broadcast realm.’

www.imaginecommunications.com www.sbgi.net

was very important that people not perceive delays in the sound. So it was very important for the staff to have a very quick and simple way of adjusting the sound of each zone and to maintain the best audio quality at all times.’

Based on three Yamaha MRX7-Ds, an MTX5 and an MTX3 matrix processors, with six EXo8 output expanders and a DCH8 digital control hub, the system is controlled by eight DCP4V4S and eight DCP1V4S surface-mount control panels. A total of 14 Yamaha power located throughout the venue while an MGP16X mixer is also provided for live events.

‘We chose Yamaha products because of their quality and reliability,’ he continued. ‘The matrix processors, digital hub and control panels make it very easy for venue staff to adjust the zone volumes, ensuring customers enjoy an optimal audio experience throughout the entire site.’ He added: ‘We have used Yamaha products in many other installation projects across Indonesia. The price point is also very competitive, meaning we can offer solutions for customers who have less purchasing power for their venues.’

www.yamahaproaudio.com

QSC K Family hits million milestone

WORLD: QSC has sold over 1 million units of its K Family loudspeakers since the initial launch of the series just under 10 years ago.

‘Reaching this million-sold milestone is also the result of a global network of dedicated QSC channel partners that supported us when we entered the

loudspeaker business, and today, share in our success,’ said Ray van Straten, QSC senior director of marketing for the company’s pro division. ‘We owe them, and the hundreds of thousands of passionate QSC users around the world, our most sincere gratitude.’

www.qsc.com

The QSC K.2 Series is part of the K Family

The Yamaha audio system needs to accommodate the multi-zone building

Disguising the Tianjin Olympic Center Stadium floor

CHINA: Kingsmart provided disguise media servers for the opening ceremony of the recent National Games of China at Tianjin Olympic Center Stadium. Redline Technology Beijing Co, meanwhile, supplied technical support, as Beijing Color projection mapped the stadium floor with an array of ever-changing graphics.

A 2x2plus and three 4x4pros were employed as the primary servers, while three 4x4pros and a 2x2plus served as backups. These fed 74 31,000-lumen and 24

12,000-lumen Sony laser projectors.

‘Thanks to the 4x4pro’s strong output and powerful functions, we were able to utilise just six machines to drive all 98 projectors,’ explained Huang Guijiang, CEO of Kingsmart.

‘The disguise servers achieved perfect blending, integration and overlapping during the whole event,’ added Gong Ming, manager of Beijing Color’s video department.

‘Before using disguise, we worried about whether they could synchronise 98 projectors at the same time and output multiple

6,600 x 4,200 images without any latency. But the results proved disguise was completely up to the job.’ disguise Designer software provided wireless control of the 4x4pros from the control room. ‘I could take the laptop which had Designer on it and calibrate the projectors on the stage, which was operator from Redline. ‘QuickCal’s line up points function played a calibration. It was a big challenge for

VR partnership programme

WORLD: Japanese manufacturer TEAC Corporation and its TASCAM brand have joined the Sennheiser Ambeo for VR partnership programme. The programme is intended to create seamless production workflows for VR and AR by promoting collaboration between manufacturers of field recorders, VR live cameras and live streaming software, mixing plug-ins and VR platforms. TASCAM’s DR-

701D 6-track audio recorder joins products from Zoom, Aaton Digital, Orah, Sphericam, Noise Makers and Harpex. A firmware update for the recorder means it now fully supports recording in A or B format ambisonics.

‘For years, TASCAM has supported audio professionals in the areas of video production and broadcast, and we are proud to partner with Sennheiser Ambeo to

support the rapidly growing world of VR,’ said TEAC Corporation president and CEO, Yuji Hanabusa.

‘The addition of ambisonic support to our industry-leading DR-701D will enable yet another dimension of creativity for DR-701D owners and will help to shape the future of digital entertainment, education and information sharing.’

‘Sennheiser warmly welcomes the TEAC Corporation to the Ambeo for VR partnership programme,’ said Véronique Larcher, Ambeo immersive audio co-director at Sennheiser. ‘We are proud to have its TASCAM DR-701D audio system on board, as it is a product held in high esteem by content creators across the globe.’

www.sennheiser.com www.tascam.com

us to create such massive mapping on the 8,000m2 a combination of bad weather and having projectors on trusses that swing around, meant the image on the stage got misaligned, so we needed to calibrate the projectors once a day. The line up points function was so powerful that when I

created 90 marks on both the stage to get all 98 projectors done. If we had been using other servers, it would have taken at least three days

www.disguise.one

www.redline-china.com

Shanghai Media Tech goes 4K/IP

CHINA: Shanghai Media Tech has upgraded its OB vans and EFP (electronic field production) systems with 4K/IP solutions from Grass Valley. This reportedly gives Shanghai Media Tech the largest fleet of all IP OB vans in Asia. Each OB van and EFP system has been equipped with LDX 86N camera platforms, a Kayenne Video Production Center, Korona K-Frame V-series systems, a Node real-time IP processing and routing platform, IPG-3901 Densité IP gateways and a Convergent IP/SDI router control

Media Tech acquired a total of 44 LDX 86N cameras.

‘Transitioning our full system for the 4K and IP future of broadcast was a challenging task given the number of solutions we needed to upgrade in our OB vans,’ explained Yuan Yue, team manager, Shanghai Media Tech. ‘Grass Valley’s

seamlessly integrated from the start. adapt to our changing needs and evolving industry trends, so we felt comfortable investing in this solution for years to come.’

www.grassvalley.com

TASCAM’s DR-701D

Banking on Mahajak

THAILAND: Mahajak was recently approached to supply a wide range of A/V solutions at the headquarters of the Bank of Thailand in Bangkok’s Phra Nakhon District. The systems integrator followed a system design put together by Creative Crews.

Exterity unveils Accommtec for hospitality

APAC: Exterity has created a new subsidiary called Accommtec, which will undertake the role of focusing on the hospitality technology solutions of the group for the APAC and Middle East regions. www.accommtec.com

B&C completes Eighteen Sound acquisition

said B&C CEO, Lorenzo Coppini.

‘We can now blend our knowledge in manufacturing and development, helping to offer an improved product range, build quality and overall customer experience.’

Sales increase at Stage Tec in 2017

WORLD: B&C Speakers has officially completed its acquisition of fellow Italian transducer manufacturer, Eighteen Sound. The acquisition, which also includes Ciare, was

completed on 11 December, last year.

‘We are proud to add Eighteen Sound and Ciare to our group, and we look forward to offering both brands access to more resources,’

‘These are two great brands that each have a strong culture and legacy that we hope to build on,’ added Ron Tizzard, director of sales for B&C. ‘Both Eighteen Sound and Ciare already have many dedicated OEM customers, and a welldeveloped distribution network that will require few changes.’

www.bcspeakers.com

www.ciare.com

www.eighteensound.it

WORLD: Stage Tec has released its sales figures for 2017, delivering a total of 55 consoles to its customers around the world, 43 of which were large-format mixing consoles. Sales and interest in Stage Tec products was reportedly bolstered by the launch of Avatus, a fully IP-based console with multi-touch displays.

‘We are delighted about the sharp increase in sales, especially considering the state of the market,’ commented Alexander Nemes, head of sales at Stage Tec. ‘Large digital mixing consoles are a very narrow market segment and our consoles, led by the Aurus Platinum, have secured a top spot. Stage Tec’s mixing consoles and Nexus routing

demanding installations.’ The manufacturer’s products were continents with China, Malaysia, Italy and Russia among its biggest markets. In addition, tm stagetec systems, Stage Tec’s Australian distributor, celebrated a milestone at the start of the year when it sold the

‘We thank our customers for their Mr Nemes. ‘All of us at Stage Tec truly value this trust very highly. We projects with our IP console Avatus in 2018.’

www.stagetec.com

UFO mics supplied for Inner Mongolia Power Group

MONGOLIA: Inner Mongolia Power Group has upgraded the conference system at its main meeting venue by acquiring BXB’s UFO microphones and FCS-6300 series conference system.

Supplied by BXB’s distributor in China, Litron, the power company has taken on one FCS-6350 digital conference main control unit, two UFO-6311 table-top chairman conference microphones and 22 UFO-6312 table-top delegate conference microphones. The importance of the issues

being discussed during the conference meetings at Inner Mongolia Power Group had conference system at the venue. The UFO conference microphones are designed with arc bases and hidden speaking buttons while the FCS-6350 is a full-function conference control unit which is applied with Cat-5e cables for connecting with all conferencing microphones. It is also equipped with TCP/IP protocol to allow control and changes by using conferencing

settings with a computer or tablet. Operation modes can be changed and ID numbers for chairmen/ delegate microphone units can be set. There is also the option for preset points for camera image tracking and a volume adjustment function. The FCS-6350 is equipped with a USB connector so that it can connect to BXB’s HD USB camera. Communication software such as Skype, WeChat, and QQ can be used for video conferences.

www.bxb.tw

Room matched sound at Pamulang University

INDONESIA: Pamulang University recently constructed a new auditorium, inviting several systems integrators to submit design proposals for the sound system. This led to the installation of a Bose RoomMatch solution, specified by Bonie Bong of SOF_AudioMinistry and supplied by the manufacturer’s Indonesian distributor, PT Prima Audio. The university was reportedly never setup in its old auditorium sounded. For the new venue, audio became

that could cover the lower seating areas and upper balcony as well as two separate VIP rooms.

A total of eight RoomMatch line array loudspeakers were installed along with a pair of RMS215 subwoofers, three PowerMatch PM8500 amplifiers and an ESP880 processor. Control is via Midas M32 and M32R digital mixers located in two FOH positions: near the stage area and in the main control room on the upper balcony, respectively. A Midas DL16 stagebox completes the setup.

The room seats 5,000 students and faculty members and is 50m deep x 40m wide with a ceiling height of 10m. This volume, coupled with the balcony and an array of hard surfaces, resulted in high

Lasalle College aglow with Dalis

SINGAPORE: Lasalle College of the Arts, an award-winning educational institution based in Singapore, has lit up its Singapore Airlines (SIA) theatre space by recently introducing 10 Robert Juliat Dalis 860 Cyclorama LED battens. The arrival of the fixtures comes following the decision to replace the old conventional cyclorama and

groundrow lighting solutions in the  theatre, 10 years after it opened when the college moved its main campus to its current McNally Street address.

‘Prior to the acquisition of our new Dalis units we were using eight tungsten cyclorama lights and a similar number of tungsten groundrows,’ explained one of

Patrick Wong. ‘These have been excellent workhorses, but

with their problems as well. The

meant lamp replacement was becoming more and more frequent and a bit of a chore. Focusing was cumbersome and limited to the tilt angle provided by the yoke, and the attractive to move them around the venues as needed. The number of colours one could use was always bar down between scenes to switch colours. Most importantly, each unit

1,000W of power, meaning all eight 32,000W (double that, when you include the groundrows), which was simply too much and required quite a number of dimmers to power them.’

Tevin Heng, executive director at Robert Juliat’s exclusive Singaporean distributor, Total Solution Marketing,

attention of the team at Lasalle. Mr Wong and his team later established that 10 units would be perfect to backlight the 13m x 7m span of the SIA theatre’s cyclorama, despite the short throw distance available. Five Dalis units have since been installed on a truss behind the theatre’s

distance of 1.5m.

‘As with most venues in Singapore, there is always a lack of distance between cyc-cloth and wall for proper cyclorama lighting, with the distances normally ranging from 0.5m to 2.5m,’ said fellow Lasalle senior technical

Dalis, however, was able to give an excellent beam coverage even at these short distances. The output is extremely bright and the operation

Nexmedia gets Neo upgrade

INDONESIA: Nexmedia has upgraded the playout system at its Jakarta broadcast production centre. The project included the replacement of existing PlayBox Technology main and backup channel-in-a-box servers with an AirBox Neo solution. Additional Neo systems were also provided to accommodate new on-air channels.

from content acquisition and production to post and playout,’ said Nexmedia’s NOC coordinator, installation has worked extremely well for many years and we were keen to install latest-generation

reverberation. To combat this, the PT Prima Audio team recommended acoustic treatment, which was also carried out by SOF_AudioMinistry.

a blend of panels and wide contours were installed around the ceiling edges. This brought the reverberation time down to 1.8s. Following the installation, the university’s founder, Mr Darsono, is pleased with the sound quality in the new auditorium. ‘The sound is warm and clear, with a proper acoustic design,’ he said.

www.bettersound.co.id pro.bose.com

is simple with a very user-friendly that the light weight of each unit combined with the good quality manufacture and we are very happy. ‘Focusing Dalis is easy, without any restrictions, and the weight of the carried effortlessly by one person, so we can move them to whichever Jasmin.

Lighting designer and 2006 alumnus of Lasalle College of the Arts, Adrian Tan, has also had the opportunity to manage Lasalle. ‘Dalis has exceptional beam coverage at a 90° vertical angle,’ he 1.5m away from the cyclorama and still cover the entire cloth with no problem.’

www.robertjuliat.com

www.tsm-int.com

servers before the older hardware reached the end of its safe life. The new system includes 3+1 redundancy and provides automated control of our router.’

The system will also be used for title preparation, scheduling and playout of Nexmedia’s main channel as well as the new channels including children’s channel Horee!.

playout system. The new features include a streaming input supporting MMS, MMSH and YouTube. RTMP streaming output improvements have also been added, allowing easy web streaming.

‘We have supplied Dell servers

programme storage management,’

‘These are integrated into the apparatus room at Nexmedia’s studios in the SCTV tower at Jakarta’s Senayan City. We have also performed operational and technical training for the Nexmedia team and are available to assist with onsite or online technical maintenance if or when that is requested.’

www.nexmedia.co.id

www.playboxtechnology.com

The Lasalle team

CHINA: L-Acoustics’ Chinese distributor, Rightway Audio, recently staged a technical seminar exploring the manufacturer’s wares in conjunction with the China Institute of Stage Design at the Renaissance Beijing Capital Hotel. L-Acoustics’ application engineer for Asia, Alvin Koh, led the event, taking the opportunity to introduce the manufacturer’s L-ISA immersive technology and Syva solutions to the market.

‘Syva has included advantages of L-Acoustics’ conventional line source systems with the addition of plug-and-play technology,’ Mr Koh to use our patented Colinear Source Technology. It’s suitable for high-end installation projects, including houses of worship.’ He described the L-ISA ecosystem as

providing natural and clear sound for audiences.

Rightway Audio had an announcement of its own at the

to formally name Tao Jianxin as Rightway’s chairman of the board, Danny Lau, for the opportunity. ‘I’m grateful for the seven years I have

WORLD: Clear-Com is marking its 50th anniversary by inviting its employees, partners, users and the global pro audio community as a whole to commemorate the brand’s heritage. The American communications equipment manufacturer will be celebrating at trade shows around the world, in addition to hosting various events with partners and customers. The anniversary will also be commemorated online across the company’s social media channels and via a dedicated website.

support.’

20 years in business. ‘2017 was a tough year,’ he conceded. ‘And we are facing both challenges and opportunities in 2018. I appreciate the support and trust from everyone. Rightway will remain committed to providing the best products and service to its contractors and customers.’

www.l-acoustics.com

www.racpro.net

Introducing L-ISA and Syva the Rightway Clear-Com turns 50

leaders of the past and present, alumni and current staff, committed partners, loyal users and industry

innovation and ingenuity, as well as for better communication.’

During its half century, Clear-Com, which was acquired by HME in 2010, has continued to produce analogue-based intercom systems while also expanding into the broadcast, military, aerospace,

Clear-Com was founded on 18 April 1968 by Bob Cohen and Charlie Button in San Francisco, California. Together, Mr Cohen and Mr Button developed the RS-100 distributed intercom.

‘Over the past 50 years, Clear-Com has grown to become one of the most recognised and highly soughtafter communications brands in the pro audio industry,’ commented Mitzi Dominguez, CEO of ClearCom. ‘While our brand has become synonymous with various intercom products that allow professionals ultimately Clear-Com’s journey is a story about people who were pivotal within this business – visionary

government, sports and house of ‘We have accomplished a lot along the way and throughout this celebration you will see that this is more than just a trip down memory lane,’ said Clear-Com president, Bob Boster. ‘The Clear-Com of 2018 is in many ways unrecognisable to the company that started in the crucible of the Summer of Love. Our technology platforms, our global scope, our diverse range of way beyond the imaginations of Clear-Com’s founders. This is our collective expression of appreciation for each other and what we have accomplished together.’

www.clearcom50.com

Mitzi Dominguez and Bob Boster

Tao Jianxin has been named president of Rightway Audio

Adamson supports Huang

CHINA: Yongjun ‘Park’ Li of Le’er Culture & Art Studio was the system designer and FOH engineer for Huang Guolun’s recent performance at the Beijing National Stadium, also known as the Bird’s Nest. The sound engineer chose to deploy an audio solution comprising Adamson E- and S-Series loudspeakers to ensure that the entire audience could hear the Taiwanese artist on his No Impossible tour.

‘Adamson’s E-Series is very widely applicable, from studios and theatres to major indoor and outdoor stadia and I’ve found it excels in any application,’ Mr Li

explains. ‘The E-Series has an incredible throw, with smooth highs, powerful mids, and low end that

system is very dynamic; it feels like there’s always power to spare, even in productions of this scale.’

The systems were sourced via the Canadian manufacturer’s Chinese distributor, Real Music. The setup saw main hangs of 18 E15 3-way

and eight ground-stacked E219 subwoofers on both the left and right. An additional 15 E15s were deployed per side as side hangs,

K-array stocked at The Warehouse Hotel

SINGAPORE: Asylum was hired for the interior design at The Warehouse Hotel, tasked with creating a look that was chic and stylish, while paying homage to the building’s former life as a river storage facility. However, as the aesthetics wreaked havoc on the ambiance, Loud Technologies Asia (LTA) was brought in to install an audio solution.

delivered by left and right clusters of four E12 cabinets. Completing overhangs to cover the entire upper seating area were eight arrays containing nine and 12 S10 two-way enclosures.

‘Both the pleasing look of the speakers and their very straightforward rigging design, as well as their low weight, made this project very easy and quick to install, which was very important considering the size of the venue and production,’ noted Mr Li.

www.adamsonsystems.com

The hotel’s reception and lobby bar areas feature a triple-pitched roof, original masonry walls and glass surfaces. To overcome the acoustic challenges, LTA installed a K-array solution comprising four

1/2 Horizontal

Kobra-KK52 I line array cabinets, a pair of Rumble-KU210 passive subwoofers and a Kommanderthe setup.

‘The owners wanted a low-level sound but still wanted clarity, so by virtue of the line array, the nanominiaturised line array that the Kobra is, we were able to achieve the requirements for the entire lobby using just four Kobra-KK52 loudspeakers,’ said Colin Quek, LTA president and project supervisor.

www.k-array.com

www.loudtechnologiesasia.com

SOUNDBITES

DIRECTOUT EXTENDS WARRANTY

WORLD: DirectOut has extended the warranty on its entire range of audio connectivity products, networking and bridging systems to 36 months. The German manufacturer states that its solutions ‘run reliably under critical operating conditions’ due to a ‘comprehensive’ testing and quality assurance process.

‘Whether in demanding live situations, in the studio, environments, customers rely on the high quality and the fail-safe operation of our equipment,’ said Jan Ehrlich, DirectOut managing director. ‘By increasing the warranty period in our high-quality in-house production and the multi-stage test and quality assurance procedures to our customers.’

www.directout.eu

KINESYS REFRESHES WEBSITES

WORLD: Kinesys has launched a new look for its Kinesys.co.uk and Kinesysusa.com websites, along with new features such as a live chat, support tickets, a social wall and newsletter subscription. In addition, the websites will include a variety of content, including opinion articles, news and technical information.

Alcons for The Production People

SINGAPORE: Singapore-based technical production company

The Production People (TPP) has invested in an Alcons Audio system. The purchase was made via the manufacturer’s Singaporean representative, Creator’s Solutions.

TPP owner Sheldon Gooi decided to add 12 VR12 and four VR8 monitors with four BF181 MkII subwoofers and three Sentinel10 his company’s inventory having been invited to an off-site demonstration

by Eugene Tay of Creator’s Solutions during Prolight + Sound 2017 in Frankfurt. The off-site demonstration left Mr Gooi impressed, in particular

with regards to the Alcons V series pro-ribbon system that would provide a solution for ‘ballroom’ corporate events.

Grass Valley acquires SAM

WORLD: Following industry rumours and some reports in the press, a securities filing by Grass Valley parent company, Belden, confirms that the brand has acquired Snell-AdvancedMedia (SAM). While no concrete information has been released by either company concerning the specifics of the deal and what it will mean for each brand moving forward, it appears that the

Jünger provides additional loudness control at ZRTG

CHINA: Jünger Audio has boosted Zhejiang Radio and TV Group’s (ZRTG) loudness control and audio processing solutions by installing more units at the broadcaster’s new 42-storey TV Centre in Hangzhou.

‘Many of our customers are embracing automation for the a massive amount of information to take in plus many safety elements and standards of which to be aware,’ said Kinesys’ MD, Dave Weatherhead. ‘To address demystifying automation and motion control and provide a forum where end users and quality information to help them understand the reality.’

www.kinesys.co.uk

www.kinesysusa.com

‘Jünger Audio is one of the few manufacturers that supports all Dolby codec hardware solutions, and auto up/down mix features,’ said Wu Xiao Dong, director of ZRTG’s audio department. ‘The productions is the ability to tackle Dolby E encoding, Dolby metadata emulation, loudness and vocal voice processing.’

Among the units supplied by Edition surround monitoring audio television audio processor and voice audio processor, all of

which incorporate a collection of adaptive processing algorithms and employ the industry standard Ember+ remote protocol. These have been installed at the centre’s postproduction studio 1, 5.1

‘The Alcons demo really caught my attention,’ said Mr Gooi. ‘The sound quality was of a higher standard than our existing systems and I saw a brand that is actively pursuing perfection with its designs and technology. Discovering something that could outperform our existing inventory made me want to invest in some Alcons products to push our boundaries.’

Since taking delivering, TPP has deployed its Alcons inventory for various events. ‘It has never failed to get great reviews from our clients,’ Mr Gooi concluded. ‘It is a truly remarkable system and helps to reinforce the high standards that we, as a company, stand for.’

www.alconsaudio.com

www.creatorssolutions.com

www.tpp.com.sg

acquisition has been finalised, as both the SAM website and twitter page have been updated to reflect the new ownership.

A spokesperson from Grass Valley told Pro AVL Asia that the companies are planning to jointly exhibit at the upcoming NAB show in Las Vegas where full details of the acquisition will be announced.

www.grassvalley.com

dialogue recording studio, audition studio and in two large television studios.

‘We are gradually moving forward with Dolby Atmos surround sound

productions, so we have also

LM by Flux, a software plug-in version of the company’s Level Magic loudness management at digital audio workstation users,’ continued Mr Wu. ‘This codec is ideal for ZRTG’s postproduction departments because it offers and correction and supports all audio formats including Dolby Atmos.’

television centre, ZRTG has also for its new OB vehicle, which is currently under construction in Europe.

www.junger-audio.com

www.zrtg.com

Jünger Audio’s Peter Poers at ZRTG

Eugene Tay of Creator’s Solutions, Sheldon Gooi from The Production People and Tom Back of Alcons Audio

The Alcons systems in use

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Adelaide Oval gains control with XPression

AUSTRALIA: The Adelaide Oval has boosted its stadium control room by introducing Ross Video’s XPression Tessera real-time graphics products and workflow tools.

Produced for sports scoreboards, ribbon boards and studio videowalls, Tessera enables users to link together multiple XPression engines to create scenes across large or irregularly assembled display panels. The control room at the 53,583-seat stadium was already equipped with a Carbonite production switcher and XPression graphics suite from Ross Video.

‘We received a great deal of support from the Ross team who

worked with us to create custom control panels in DashBoard,

Ross Video’s open platform facility control solution,’ said Stephen Lord

of Kojo, the company responsible for all game day production at the stadium. ‘As a result, we’re now using DashBoard to control a number of different devices in addition to Tessera and we’re very pleased at how easy the system has

is a competitive market and we’re always looking for innovative ways to improve the game day experience and draw more people into the stadium.’

www.adelaideoval.com.au

www.kojo.com.au

www.rossvideo.com

Marani teams with Peavey for global distribution

WORLD: To expand the global distribution of its digital audio processing and sound reinforcement products, Italian manufacturer Marani Proaudio has launched Marani USA. In turn, Marani USA has partnered with Peavey Electronics Corporation to help market and distribute its products. As a result, Marani solutions will be available via

Peavey Commercial Audio sales representatives and distributors worldwide.

‘This is a very strong match for us,’ explained Michele Marani, founder and MD of Marani Proaudio

and Marani USA. ‘Peavey has long enjoyed a reputation for pioneering excellence in sound reinforcement and pro audio products. Marani USA will augment Peavey’s considerable portfolio of brands with our unique high-performance digital audio processing products.’

Hartley Peavey, founder and CEO of Peavey Electronics Corporation, expressed excitement

at the partnership. ‘Marani USA’s engineering and the quality of its brands, and we offer Marani USA our extensive worldwide distribution and seasoned sales force to bring its digital signal processing products to new markets,’ he commented.

www.marani-proaudio.com

www.peaveycommercialaudio.com

Williams Sound embraces video with Pointmaker acquisition

WORLD: Williams Sound is branching into new markets with the acquisition of Pointmaker, an A/V manufacturer and app developer focusing on the presentation and collaboration markets.

Diversifying its traditional audio offering, Williams Sound considers Pointmaker’s hardware and software offerings for video annotation technology to be synergistic products that enhance both companies’ brands.

‘Aligning Williams Sound audio with Pointmaker video is all about synergy, with both companies bringing different, but exceptional, expertise and experience,’ said Williams Sound COO, Richard Lough. ‘We are bringing together

two complementary and innovative companies with a similar vision – driving technology that enables

audio expertise with years of video expertise, we are delivering added value and depth of product

communication, strengthens connections and ultimately inspires collaboration.’

‘This acquisition provides an exciting growth opportunity and immediately enhances client access to inspired, innovative technology,’ added Pointmaker CEO, Pat Brey.

‘By combining Williams Sound

Sreejesh Nair upmixes to 7.1.2

offerings. As we move forward, we are mobilising to capitalise on a collaboration market that far exceeds the size of our current individual targets.’ In line with the acquisition, Williams Sound has added two industry veterans with video experience to its board of directors.

Rob Sheeley and Tom Mingo are the co-founders of the Minnesota-based video equipment manufacturer, Vaddio. Mr Sheeley is an entrepreneur who holds numerous hardware and software patents, and will assist the team going forward in new product development. Mr Mingo

formerly led sales for Vaddio, and will assist the company in expanding its sales and marketing efforts to support the company’s next stage of growth.

www.pointmaker.com

www.williamssound.com

INDIA: Sreejesh Nair has worked on the soundtracks for more than 250 films, including Bollywood and Hollywood blockbusters. The sound mixer, who also serves as an audio solutions specialist for Avid, recently disclosed how he achieves a ‘balanced and expressive final mix’ for each score that he works on, using Nugen Audio’s Halo Upmix plug-in and SEQ-S equaliser.

Mr Nair works on Pro Tools to achieve 7.1.2 audio and puts Halo Upmix to use by duplicating the track and adding a harmonic enhancer, such as Phoenix or Avid Reel Tape Saturation, before blending both the new and original tracks. This results in a unique mix placed in a 7.1.2 environment while including the original audio.

be very careful to make sure the mix sounds believable when it needs to, and most importantly,

is invisible,’ Mr Nair explained. ‘It is very important that my mixes sound organic and not clinical. I absolutely hate having straightline automations or static scenes. There will always be some element moving in my mix. I think that having something move subtly yet in a slightly random way gives a lot of expression, which is why I sometimes ride the wet/dry mix of a reverb across the score to diffuse the score with the dialogue. It makes the intent present without losing the movement. I’ve combined this idea with the Halo Upmix’ diffuse feature to produce the same effect in a much more natural way.’

Meanwhile, Mr Nair uses SEQ-S for harmonic mixing, preventing him from having to dip the score when there is dialogue taking place in a noisy environment. This is because SEQ-S provides depth control and the ability to separate the dialogue frequencies from the music.

its EQ matching capabilities but, when I saw its depth features, it gave me more ideas of executing unconventional mixes that still sounded great,’ Mr Nair noted. ‘However, it was when I hit upon the Halo Upmix that my mixes began to align with the way I envisioned them sounding in a 7.1.2 format. The space and the way my mixes sound are very organic, and that’s something I consider my top priority for any mix.’ www.nugenaudio.com

Linking two worlds

Sreejesh Nair

Rob SheeleyTom Mingo

‘This acquisition provides an exciting growth opportunity and immediately enhances client access to inspired, innovative technology’

City Plus FM in sound iXm move

MALAYSIA: City Plus FM, an urban talk radio station based in Kuala Lumpur, has recently acquired a Yellowtec iXm recording microphone, designed for capturing broadcast quality sound amidst

noisy conditions. The recording microphone, delivered by Yellowtec distributor Stagetec Asia, will be used by City Plus FM broadcast journalists reporting the latest news from across the city. Stagetec

Asia has also trained City Plus FM personnel on the microphone’s usage and functionality.

‘I think the microphone is super user-friendly and durable,’ said Lai Sheau Fen, a musical executive for the station. ‘The sound quality for outdoor recording is clear and up to our expectations.’

www.stagetecasia.com www.yellowtec.com

Maverick AV Solutions expands and consolidates

WORLD: Distributor, Maverick AV Solutions, has announced plans to incorporate Asia and the Americas into its pan-European operations. Its parent company, Tech Data, intends to bring Maverick AV Solutions into all of the company’s global markets, while management will remain under the direction of those who drove its regional success in Europe. The move sees Joel Chimoindes join the company as European commercial director to manage continued growth. He spent the last year as managing director at Beta Digital Media Solutions and 18 months as European solution and innovation director at technology and infrastructure solutions business, Azlan. According to the company, preparation has already

RAIN OR SHINE WE WILL PLAY

begun with Mr Chimoindes ready for expansion into the US and then throughout the Americas region.

‘This is a new chapter for Maverick with a new brand and the strongest mix of manufacturer partners we have ever worked with,’ said Jon Sidwick, VP Maverick AV Solutions. We are extremely proud of relationships we have built with our customers and vendor partners and I want to take this opportunity to thank them for the support of Maverick to date. I am excited for a new challenge, working with an already established team of A/V specialists in these markets to bring the experience from the European teams and create new services and solutions for customers in the regions.’

www.tdmaverick.eu

Betting on Bolero

for international races in early December, and has pencilled in plans to purchase additional beltpacks later this year. Bolero is integrated with Riedel’s Artist digital matrix intercom system to provide comprehensive communications across two separate HKJC race courses and in the HKJC studio located in Sha Tin.

HONG KONG: The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) has selected Riedel Communications’ Bolero wireless intercom system to streamline communications for its video productions. The club has purchased 12 Bolero beltpacks, which first went into service

‘Reliable wireless communications are essential for our live TV productions of horse races,’ said Yeung Shui Kin, senior broadcasting services manager at HKJC. ‘Our production crews located all around the race courses have to be able to count on clear, stable and uninterrupted comms from the TV studio. The performance of Bolero has more than met our expectations by delivering outstanding sound quality from any point on our race courses.’

www.hkjc.com

www.riedel.net

Joel Chimoindes

Jon Sidwick

The Bolero headset at HKJC

With a complete line of systems, from small to large, One Systems Hybrid Series models provide true stadium, amusement park, cruise ship, and most indoor entertainment venues. Contact an authorized One Systems integrator, a One Systems sales rep, or One Systems directly to arrange for a demonstration. onesystems.com

Hello. We are the world’s most compact three-way studio monitors, and the

WORLD: Solid State Logic (SSL) has published a new white paper online exploring the technology

the R&D process for the British manufacturer’s products geared towards the studio, live and

SSL lifts the veil Concept Audio appoints new Shure dealer

broadcast industries, including the Tempest digital audio engine, SuperAnalogue, Live and System T consoles.

‘Lifting the Veil is a response to a question we get asked a thousand times: “Why do SSL consoles sound better?”’ commented SSL managing director, Antony David.

‘Spoiler alert: there is no secret sauce or single special piece of technology. In truth it’s the result of an approach to design and manufacture that is deep within the DNA of the company. The article attempts to summarise how the different aspects of what we do come together to produce the magic.’ www.solidstatelogic.com

MALAYSIA: Shure’s Malaysian distributor, Concept Audio, has appointed BG Sound & Light as a premium authorised dealer (PAD). Based in Batu Caves, BG Sound joins Syarikat Instraco and Chan Lee Prosound as a Shure PAD in Malaysia.

Following the appointment, BG Sound has upgraded its showroom and established a dedicated area for Shure products. In addition, customers are able to experience

the manufacturer’s products by way of demonstrations.

‘We appreciate the trust that Shure and Concept Audio have in us to appoint BG Sound as a PAD in Malaysia,’ commented Bryan Goh, director of BG Sound. ‘We will make every effort to become a leading Shure dealer in South East Asia.’

www.bgsoundlights.com

www.conceptaudio.com.my

www.shureasia.com

ShowTex arrives in Australia

AUSTRALIA: ShowTex has opened a new, 650m2 facility in Australia, which serves as a workshop and a warehouse for stock. The manufacturer’s operations down under, joins sales, warehouse and manufacturing offices across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Alan Scoley will serve as managing partner of ShowTex Australia, bringing more than 30 years of experience within the events and entertainment sectors. He is familiar with ShowTex products, including custom curtains and fabric decorations, from his

customer of ShowTex Middle East.

Palme Middle East trade show, I was already interested in becoming a distributor,’ Mr Scoley revealed.

‘Now, 14 years later, my ShowTex

The ShowTex Australia site is located just outside Sydney city centre and features a roof full of solar panels. This, the manufacturer energy’.

www.showtex.com

Listen Technologies acquires Audio Everywhere

WORLD: Listen Technologies has acquired the Audio Everywhere brand and products from ExXothermic Inc. Audio Everywhere technology allows plug-and-play streaming of wireless audio over existing Wi-Fi networks. The brand will now be formally known as Audio Everywhere from Listen Technologies and the technology will replace Listen Technologies’ ListenWiFi solution.

‘Listen Technologies has partnered with ExXothermic Inc over the years because Dr Lance Glasser [founder, president and CEO of ExXothermic] and his team share our passion for designing technology and solutions that deliver clear sound to everyone,’ said Russ Gentner, CEO of Listen Technologies. ‘We are taking our partnership to the next level with the acquisition of the Audio Everywhere

ADB Stagelight supports Halogen

brand and products, and we are proud to continue offering our assistive listening systems, now with Wi-Fi audio streaming under the Audio Everywhere from Listen Technologies brand.’

‘Listen Technologies’ acquisition of Audio Everywhere will enable us to bring our audio-over-Wi-Fi offering to more markets and will facilitate greater collaboration among our teams and more product innovation,’ added Dr Glasser.

www.audioeverywhere.com www.listentech.com

Sonifex licenses Dante

WORLD: Sonifex has become the latest company to license Audinate’s Dante technology.

Commenting about Dante’s addition to the company’s AVN Series AES67 product range, Sonifex’ managing director Marcus Brooke said: ‘We’re initially adding Dante compatibility to our new Portal range of multi-channel audio

mix-matrices, where physical audio inputs will be freely mixed and routed with AES67/Dante streams in a simple and intuitive way to both physical outputs and AES67/ Dante streams. It will also add DSP functions – such as gain – at inputs, outputs and cross-points. Other Dante-based products will naturally follow on quickly after this.’

Steve Greenall, director of UK sales at Audinate, added: ‘We’re delighted to be adding Sonifex to our long list of Dante manufacturers and licensees. Sonifex’s commitment shows the growing use of Dante in the broadcast sector.’

www.audinate.com

www.sonifex.co.uk

WORLD: ADB Stagelight has announced that it will now include halogen lamps in its lighting units at no extra charge. The Osram brand made the decision in light of a possible tungsten ban that is currently being contemplated by the European Union.

‘ADB would like to give a concrete signal of the attention the company pays to the needs of the professional market, which is going through a period of uncertainty

about the future of this technology,’ read a company statement from ADB Stagelight. ‘ADB has a clear picture of the future of professional theatrical lighting and will continue to supply lights with halogen lamps and their accessories for as long as possible, without giving up on the development of new units based on LED technology or other light sources.’

www.adblighting.com

1/2 PAGE

WORLD: The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) and the Media Networking Alliance (MNA) are merging to form ‘a single trade association for promoting IP in the media and entertainment industry’. The joint organisation will retain the AIMS name and be governed by the existing AIMS bylaws.

QSC Systems adds flexibility to Opus

INDIA: Banglore’s Opus Club has become one of the first venues in India to install a QSC WideLine 10 Series line array. Encompassing a large mezzanine floor and an outdoor brunch area, the venue is also one of the largest of its kind in Bangalore and was seeking a new audio system that could accommodate both live performances and DJ events. According to installer, SD Audio, this presented a requirement for ‘additional headroom and flexibility for any visiting mix engineer to easily adjust the system, but with enough control to still protect it’. To achieve the aims, SD Audio relied on Q-Sys as the audio

to select and change DSP requirements quickly and allowing the venue to route audio over a standard gigabit network.

Q-Sys routes audio through

allows users to have an overview loudspeakers.

is supported by ground-stacked

as well as giving sound engineers

Opus Club owners Mr Gopi and Mr Sommaih are impressed with the solution. ‘Our vision was a great club with a sound system that ensured clarity and the right tonal obvious choice as it maintains the same tone across its entire speaker

www.sdaudio.in www.qsc.com

and promoted AES67 technology,

at trade shows such as NAB. both organisations will now pay

by people and companies who wanted to support interoperability

audio and video interoperability. two organisations, we have a larger voice and a single place discussions amongst a larger much more compelling message to the industry, assuring true industry-wide audio/video broadcast, installed systems and reached the conclusion that merging our organisations was the natural thing to do, and

CHINA: Unico Beijing recently opened, occupying the top three floors of the Topwin Center in Sanlitun. The name, Unico, is the Spanish word for ‘unique’,

which marries with the vision of the venue’s owner, Mark Zhang, to combine a variety of musical performances with a high-end food menu. Reinforcing the

various performers who visit, as well as handling BGM duties, is a system formed from Verity Audio’s Ambience loudspeaker series. The venue is equipped with 14

declared MNA chairman, Rich

‘By combining membership, the www.aimsalliance.org www.medianetworkingalliance.com

room, and 24 ground-stacked www.verityaudio.fr

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Ursa Mini Pro 4.6K captures OldTown

MALAYSIA: A travelogue documentary created for Air China’s inflight entertainment services, which was produced by Beijing-based Lingfang Media and focused on the origins of Malaysian chain’s OldTown White Coffee origins, was shot entirely on Blackmagic Design’s Ursa Mini Pro 4.6K. The documentary was graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio and the DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel.

The tight two-day schedule for part of Lingfang’s Wonderland saw Taiwanese duo Wang Ling Fang

and Hsu Yao Peng visiting Ipoh in Malaysia – where the OldTown brand originated – with writer and producer Ms Fang experiencing the local food and introducing the carefree local lifestyle. Director

and cinematographer Mr Peng explained why the Ursa Mini 4.6K was so vital, given the short

‘For the shoots in Ipoh, attached to my Ursa Mini Pro 4.6K were an EF lens, a Blackmagic Ursa

Kit, a Sennheiser MKE600 microphone, a V-lock battery as well as a light, which could be picked up easily with one hand.

‘The moments of the courses being served, white coffee being made and guests enjoying their food were all shot in snapshot

Mackie and Dynatech the choice for Taftoon Bar & Kitchen

INDIA: The Taftoon Bar & Kitchen in Mumbai has turned to Dynatech and Mackie to provide the audio system for the establishment’s musical ambience. Multiple units of Dynatech’s DVA-10 active

loudspeakers serve as the primary speaker system throughout the venue along with multiple HPsubwoofers deliver the low-end

mixing console and Mackie ProDX 4 compact wireless mixer were also used, while the audio setup is centralised and processed via a Marani DPA260P loudspeaker management system.

manners, so the easy operation of the camera was a must,’ he furthered. ‘This was guaranteed by the tactile buttons on the Ursa Mini Pro 4.6K because, with the buttons, my eyes wouldn’t have to

all I needed to do was press a button.’

The shoot also saw the twomember crew needing to adapt to the frantic pace of a work environment like the popular local restaurant Restoran Nam Heong, where staff were renowned for

serving the trademark aromatic white coffee at great speed. ‘Acting quickly was the key,’ continued Mr Peng. ‘The tactile buttons on the camera allowed me to quickly set the ISO, change the aperture to the widest, increase the frame rate from 25fps to 60fps and adjust the shutter speed, to make sure the incoming light would be enough for the high frame rate recording I was about to do. And that’s how I captured many amazing moments.’

www.blackmagicdesign.com

The system at the venue was designed and commissioned by solutions provider, Gavin D’Souza. ‘We knew this package would work fabulously in ensuring audio across the entire space and meet the client’s requirements,’ said Mr D’Souza. The Mackie and Dynatech solutions were provided by their Indian distributor, Sonotone.

www.sonotone.in

Now you Sia

AUSTRALIA: Australian singersongwriter Sia recently performed three stadium shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland, while her FOH engineer, Jon Lemon, operated a DiGiCo SD5 console with a pair of Waves servers in addition to outboard gear including Waves MaxxBass, Maag EQ4s and Smart C2 compressors.

doing it all but realised a few years back that the complexities of these big venues, with networking, delays and timing, is best left to someone else so I can concentrate on the art part of it. Of course, I oversee it all and will walk the room, but on this tour I have one of the best L-Acoustics systems engineer

‘Sia has a big voice so I use Waves Renaissance compressors as well as its 1176 limiters on her vocals as she is so dynamic,’ Mr Lemon explained. ‘It’s pretty dialed in and quite simple because we did a lot of the work beforehand, in this modern way of doing things.’

The SD5 had around 50 inputs. ‘A lot of people may think it’s complicated but I don’t because I have been so close to the music and the process of it,’ Mr Lemon furthered. ‘I know how she sings and I know how to ride it around to keep it level. As everything is so consistent we have a pretty good result most of the time. A lot of modern music is about the system engineer and how the company sets up the

and designers in the business, which makes my life easier.’

The L-Acoustics engineer was Vic Wagner. He worked alongside JPJ Audio’s Mats Frankle and Bob Daniels to tune and time the main PA, which comprised K1 and K2 cabinets.

‘The L-Acoustics K1 is a really reliable PA and sounds great,’ added Mr Lemon. ‘We had two main hangs, subs across the front, sides a mixture of K1 and K2 and then four K2 delay towers.’

The FOH engineer also explained that Sia always performs with a Shure SM58 microphone. ‘She is so used to using the SM58 dynamically it’s part of the way she sings,’ he said.

www.jpjaudio.com.au

CCTV equips 4K trucks with iAM-Audio

CHINA: Chinese public broadcaster CCTV has upgraded its OB trucks to 4K. CSS Group supplied the equipment, including Wohler’s iAM-Audio solution to monitor multiple audio signals in the field.

‘We have a great relationship with Wohler and have been using its products for many years,’ revealed Song Xuan, general manager of CSS Group’s audio division. ‘We had previously recommended Wohler’s AMP2-16V and AMP1-S8MDA solutions. When upgrading

CCTV’s truck to 4K, we knew we needed a reliable but versatile solution that could support Dante, AES67, SMPTE 2022-6, SMPTE 2110, MADI, AES, analogue and SDI formats, and we didn’t have to look any further than Wohler Technologies and its iAM-Audio solution. The equipment’s interface allows CCTV to accurately monitor a variety of signals within a single unit.’

www.wohler.com

Jon Lemon and Vic Wagner

SLV Symposium debuting in KL

MALAYSIA: Event management and equipment rental company Team Grey Group will be staging the inaugural Sound, Light and Visual Symposium (SLV Symposium) from 24 to 26 April at the Quill Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur. The symposium is aimed at A/V and lighting professionals from across South East Asia and will offer

training workshops, seminars and panel discussions.

‘We decided to use our years of experience in event management and

Dante Certification Training coming to Malaysia

MALAYSIA: Stagetec Asia is hosting the first Dante Certification Training in Malaysia in collaboration with Audinate. The seminar takes place on 13 and 14 March from 9am to 6pm in Cyberjaya.

and peers know that you have

demonstrations to the mix.

training programme manager

added. www.stagetecasia.com

creative design to organise the SLV Symposium as we see a gap in the

amongst everyone in this industry from every part of South East Asia. We are

2018.

many in the industry do not have the

bring in industry experts to share

Madrix to conduct their training during the SLV Symposium so as to maximise

in this venture by UnUsUaL

www.slvsymposium.com

www.teamgrey.com.my

Travelling to Bangkok in disguise

THAILAND: Following a recent demonstration held by disguise in Singapore to celebrate its name change from d3 Technologies, the manufacturer and its regional sales partner, Acoustic & Lighting System (A&L), moved on to host a similar event in Bangkok. Avolites sales engineer William Cheng joined them for a 2-day event attended by members of the SAE Institute, which served as an introduction to the disguise brand in Thailand.

the gathering of more than 70 engineers. The event was deemed

‘We came with the intention of introducing disguise to the Thai market and the response was

we sought to demonstrate how

‘The turnout for the event was

me that the interest is high. What

www.acousticlighting.com

www.avolites.com

www.disguise.one

Martin Audio extends monthly webinars

WORLD: The monthly webinar series launched by Martin Audio in late 2017 has been extended to highlight additional products and software platforms, as well as to look at deployment for specific applications with guest presenters. The webinars are streamed live,

feature Q&A sessions and can be accessed for free from anywhere in the world.

advocate of Martin Audio and his

conduct two new webinars – one on MLA Mini and one on MLA at taking part in the webinar series.

how to maximise the use of Martin

www.martin-audio.com/training

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1/4 PAGE

SImon Honywill

14 MARCH

Shure Networked Audio Systems Kuala

Lumpur, Malaysia

be shown the audio networking basics while also learning how to incorporate Shure networked audio systems into an optimally also introduce its IntelliMix P300 www.shureasia.com

15 MARCH

d&big Networkshop Singapore

This workshop explores options for digital audio and data transmission, from basic ‘point-to-point’ links to further integration in complex IP-based audio and control also examines the signal world upstream and downstream of www.dbaudio.com

13 APRIL

Ampetronic Installer Training

Christchurch, New Zealand

This full-day training course covers all aspects of induction loop systems including site surveys, installing, commissioning course is aimed at audiovisual professionals, integrators and www.jands.co.nz

19 APRIL

School of Emerging Technologies 4K Kolkatta, India

This course provides in-depth instruction for system designers, resellers, consultants and sales professionals and is infrastructures for current 4K www.extron.com

IABM and AV8 Media to bridge APAC skills gap

APAC: IABM has teamed up with AV8 Media to deliver broadcast and media technology training courses across South East Asia in what the companies describe as an effort to ‘help bridge skills gaps in APAC’. The technical courses, which can be delivered on site or in the classroom, cover advanced IP networks for engineers, audio and video fundamentals for engineers, e-Learning and an introduction to broadcast technology and e-Learning

Sun Infonet teams up with

INDIA: A 2-day masterclass focusing on Allen & Heath dLive digital mixers was recently held by Sun Infonet in association with Reynold’s Inc in Chennai to offer training on installation, operation and troubleshooting. Sun Infonet product manager Rohit Reddy oversaw the sessions for the sound professionals, sound engineers and rental company representatives in attendance.

the participants and kept them up to speed with the evolving technology,’ commented such workshops, participants keep themselves updated with the latest features of Allen &

hands-on knowledge and

The dLive S7000 was demonstrated in combination with a DM64 MixRack to highlight the features and network ability of the console using a Dante Reynold’s Inc are set to conduct was surprised to see the interest shown by participants as they wanted to know more and more

www.allen-heath.com

www.suninfonet.net

The other courses on offer provide overviews for high dynamic range and wide colour gamut, high for technical and sales personnel, IP multicast for streaming RTP media, IP network essentials for engineers, satellite broadcasting systems, as formats and the broadcast and open to IABM members as well as non-members, including broadcast

‘IABM membership in the Asia rapidly,’ said Peter Bruce, director shortages are widely quoted as being a barrier to companies’ growth long-established training base and experienced teaching staff, is the ideal local partner to help companies bridge that skills gap and stay ahead as industry transformation continues

For more information on the org/technical-training

www.av8.com.sg

www.theiabm.org

Rohit Reddy leading the seminar

Australian distribution ripple effect continues to be felt

AUSTRALIA: The domino effect continues to be felt by distributors and manufacturers in Australia following Jands’ decision to part ways with Harman in late 2017. The latest developments have seen Jands take on QSC Professional’s portfolio of live sound products and solutions together with L-Acoustics

of industry veteran Gerry Gavros who followed L-Acoustics to its new home in Mascot. ‘We have recently appointed two business development managers who will focus on the touring production and live venue markets around Australia,’ revealed Jands MD Paul Mulholland. ‘Both BDMs have

competitive brands that allow them to sell directly into New Zealand,’ explained Bruce Gray, managing director of Jands NZ. ‘We would like to reassure our customers that Jands NZ still supports and distributes Harman Professional products such as JBL, AKG, BSS, Crown, DBX, Lexicon, Soundcraft and Studer in New Zealand. Jands Ltd New Zealand was created 30 years ago in partnership with Paul Mulholland of Jands (Pty) Ltd Australia, to sell audio products in the New Zealand market. However, that partnership was dissolved 28 years ago, while the Jands name was retained.’

line array and coaxial models filling the large hole in its distribution portfolio left behind by JBL.

Following this, Biamp appointed Jands as its new distributor for Australia and New Zealand, having only appointed Midwich two years previously. Since Jands removed Harman from its catalogue, CMI Audio, which already represented

Most recently, Amber Technology stepped up to the plate by announcing themselves as the Australian distributor for Mackie along with Ampeg. Both manufacturers are part of the Loud Audio group and will be supported through Amber’s MI distribution channel. ‘Amber Technology has developed extensive ties and impressive reach into several different vertical markets in Australia,’ explained Matt Frazier, Ampeg and Mackie director of APAC

No hole in Seoul for Ecler

KOREA: Ecler has appointed Integrated Sound Solutions as its exclusive distributor in South Korea. Having been represented by DK Vascom for many years, the Spanish pro audio systems manufacturer decided to make the switch owing to evolving circumstances, as Ecler MD Enric Casimiro explained at the recent ISE 2018 exhibition: ‘In its capacity as a systems integrator, IS Solutions has been using a wide range of our products on a variety of projects. This direct relationship has prospered to the point that IS Solutions created a distribution division, so based on recent results Ecler decided to work closer with them.’

designs are perfect for our business model, so promoting its catalogue to a wider audience seemed natural. While being blessed with best-ofclass price performance features, Ecler’s products are extremely robust, well built and versatile. Naturally, we’re looking forward to educating and demonstrating these latest products to systems integrators, consultants and end users.’

Axys Tunnel and Digitech in Australia, added the Harman retail, recording and prosumer audio brands to its offerings. To ensure CMI’s sizeable Brooklyn warehouse could accommodate such demands, MD Peter Trojkovic was forced to remove HK Audio and Mackie its list of manufacturers. ‘The decision was not taken lightly, as we have really enjoyed working with HK Audio since 2005,’ commented Mr Trojkovic at the NAMM show.

a background in the production industry and work with current and new Jands customers to discover ideal solutions for their needs.’

To help with growing the Biamp brand, Jands will offer its customers training on Biamp systems. ‘We’re eager to start training Jands customers on Biamp solutions,’ stated Jeff MacKenzie, technical resource group manager for Jands.

‘Personally, having been involved with Creative Audio products in the early days, this feels somewhat like a homecoming to me.’

Meanwhile, across the Tasman

its own position as a separate entity.

‘There has been some confusion since Jands Australia relinquished Harman Professional from its product portfolio and acquired

TAG (Technical Audio Group), which has represented QSC since 1994, retains the Californian manufacturer’s Systems and Cinema solutions, including Q-Sys. Jands has established a team dedicated to offering technical and design support to L-Acoustics customers across Australia, along with product training. The team has been emboldened by the presence

will provide the infrastructure, strategy, execution and support to represent Ampeg and Mackie with increasingly successful results in the years ahead.’

Who’s next?

www.ambertech.com.au

www.cmi.com.au

www.jands.com.au

www.jands.co.nz

www.tag.com.au

IS Solutions president Kang Hee Lee explained the rationale in extending the business beyond systems integration. ‘We work closely with government agencies in South Korea and are also strong in the hospitality, retail and educational sectors, but, as a systems integrator, you have no control over spares and stocks,’ he said. ‘Ecler’s digital products and sleek loudspeaker

Alex Schloesser, is a relatively new recruit to the Spanish manufacturer himself and further explained: ‘Ecler needed to gain more visibility through projects in South Korea and, with IS enhance its appeal. I have been very impressed at the speed at which it has built a mature dealer network outside of its own vertical markets. Additionally, it has created an experienced team to handle the sales, marketing, servicing and management involved.’

www.ecler.com

www.is1.co.kr

Mindstec brings MuxLab into China and Hong Kong

CHINA: MuxLab has given the green light for Mindstec to be the company’s exclusive representative for the markets in China and Hong Kong. The two sides recently signed an exclusive distribution agreement that will see Mindstec supply MuxLab’s A/V over IP solutions to those regions.

‘Our vast network and local support shall help MuxLab take its solutions into the China and Hong Kong markets, which are

full of business opportunities,’ commented Harry Lam, CEO of Mindstec Asia. ‘We look forward to introducing MuxLab to our dealers, and showing them how the prevailing A/V over IP technology can help them maximise signal transmission.’

He added: ‘As the bridge among manufacturers, systems integrators and dealers, Mindstec has been at the forefront of establishing and managing distribution networks of A/V technology in different regions.’

www.mindstec.com

www.muxlab.com

Amber Technology has given Mackie a new home

Jands’ MD Paul Mulholland

Jands NZ will continue to represent Harman in New Zealand

Ecler’s Enric Casimiro and Alex Schloesser welcome their new South Korean distributor, Kang Hee Lee from IS Solutions

Sun rises for Meyer Sound in India

INDIA: Sun Infonet has been named the new exclusive Meyer Sound distributor, covering both the professional and commercial sound market verticals, in India. The agreement covers the sound hire, commercial installation and live entertainment business sectors.

The New Delhi-based distributor was selected on the basis of its experience with other notable pro which Sun Infonet has represented since 2003.

‘Sun Infonet has a fantastic team,’ explained Sandeep Braganza, Meyer Sound’s sales manager for India. ‘It is known for its integrity and for its dedication to the brands that it spread across India, it will provide Meyer Sound customers with timely post-sale service and support.’

Sun Infonet director Neeraj Chandra discussed how his company has developed close relationships with consultants and systems integrators across India. ‘This groundwork will enable us to work quickly and effectively in bringing more Meyer Sound solutions into the high-end market for auditoria and large venues,’ he said. ‘We have earned the trust of our collaborators with our proven record of technical

expertise and prompt customer support.’

Hemant Gaba, Sun Infonet’s marketing manager, concluded by explaining how the partnership will

Sound is known for its quality and versatility and Sun Infonet is known for its prompt customer support, on-time delivery, on-site technical support and educational workshops,’

for end users.’

Meanwhile, following the news in the latter part of 2017 that Meyer Sound had parted ways with Meyer Sound Australia, the manufacturer has named Audio Brands Australia as its new Australian distributor. The deal extends into New Zealand, where Audio Brands will partner with

Audio Brands Australia represents several notable manufacturers, including Earthworks, FBT, Mipro and Rane. It now takes responsibility

JAA Systems builds Calrec network

for sales, technical support and service of Meyer Sound products in the region.

‘In Audio Brands Australia we have found an ideal partnership for strengthening and extending the Meyer Sound presence “down under”,’ said Antonio Zacarias, engagement. ‘Audio Brands Australia has a solid, strategic approach in the product lines it represents, as well as a proven track record of responsive service and support. The company principals have a close collaborative relationship with the consulting community, which aligns with Meyer Sound’s growing emphasis on commercial installation. At the same time its personal experience in live performance and touring will connect with that key market.’

www.audiobrands.com.au

www.meyersound.com

www.suninfonet.net

SOUTH EAST ASIA: Calrec’s South East Asian distributor, JAA Systems, has appointed Advance Digital Tech (ADT) as the master dealer for the British manufacturer

industry for more than 25 years. With its extensive experience in the audio industry and great team work, Stagecraft is invaluable to help us promote Calrec in the Philippines.’

in Thailand, PT Goshen Swara in Indonesia and Stagecraft International in the Philippines. It will handle the full range of Calrec products and offer support for new and existing customers in its respective countries.

‘After many months of searching and meeting with potential partners for Calrec in Thailand, we decided to work with ADT,’ said David Chan, director of JAA Systems. ‘ADT has a dedicated team of people who are passionate and have the technical expertise to provide the right level service and support.

‘In the Philippines, we concluded that Stagecraft International was the right master dealer for Calrec,’ Mr Chan continued. ‘Stagecraft has crafted its place in the audio

The JAA Systems’ director also noted that PT Goshen was a wellestablished company in Indonesia. ‘It has a good network and the right connections in the broadcast and audio industry,’ he said.

www.advancedigitaltech.com

www.calrec.com

www.goshenelectronics.com

www.jaasys.com

www.stagecraftintl.com

Meyer Sound’s Antonio Zacarias; Don McConnell and Jeff Shoesmith of Audio Brands Australia; with John McMahon from Meyer Sound

The ADT team with Calrec’s Brio 36

David Chan with the PT Goshen Swara team

NSL named Williams Sound distributor for New Zealand

NEW ZEALAND: Headquartered in Auckland, Now Sound Ltd (NSL) has become the exclusive distributor for Williams Sound in New Zealand. Williams Sound joins QSC, Shure, Cloud and Wekawire in the distributor’s portfolio of brands.

our model for success,’ explained

www.nsl.co.nz

www.williamssound.com

AUSTRALIA: Madison Technologies has added Yamaha’s commercial installation solutions and professional audio products to its distribution portfolio. The distributor will primarily target the Australian integration market by stocking the range of products at its sales and distribution centres nationally, in addition to offering specialist expertise.

AUSTRALIA: tm stagetec systems has become a Dante Domain Manager (DDM) authorised reseller. DDM is a software solution that provides network management for Dante systems. Staff at tm stagetec systems are now Level 3 Dante certified, DDM certified and have completed the CCNA course, allowing them to offer specialised network management solutions.

MALAYSIA: Broadcast equipment manufacturer Yellowtec has appointed specialist broadcast equipment supplier Stagetec Asia as its Malaysian distribution partner. Stagetec Asia will solely handle all sales and support activities relating to Yellowtec products in the country.

www.audinate.com

www.tm-systems.com.au

SINGAPORE: Nishino Takashi has been named the new managing director of TOA Electronics, beginning the role from 1 January. He takes over the role from the retiring Masato Yura, assuming responsibility for managing the business across the Asia Pacific region.

Mr Nishino most recently served as managing director of engineer, developing a range of ceiling speakers, before rising to

New CFO at d&b

where he would later become a director. Having gained vast product experience, he also served as

2012, spearheading regional product development.

continue to develop new products

this region,’ said Mr Nishino. ‘We have to quicken our pace, despite many uncertain factors such as the economic situation of each country

www.toa.com.sg

New MD rings in the New Year at TOA Giacomo Previ takes over Powersoft OEM division

WORLD: Following an almost 15-year stint at Eighteen Sound, Giacomo Previ has joined Powersoft as sales manager for OEM solutions. He most recently served as sales director at Eighteen Sound and gained a familiarity with Powersoft’s patented IPAL technology as the transducer specialist adopted Powersoft’s amplifier hardware module, IpalMod.

world, explore strategic business development opportunities and develop a technology roadmap for future market needs. He will also and will manage a team of six sales support staff.

to the most innovative products available on the market,’ Mr Previ

the exciting new product roadmap will further reinforce its position. My years of experience have given me a deep understanding of the

committed to building relationships with partners old and new based on mutual trust and strong cooperation, taking Powersoft’s successful operations to the next level.’

development director at Powersoft, explained why Mr Previ made a ‘fantastic addition’ to the team: ‘His professional background combined with his strength of character makes him the perfect challenges ahead in an increasingly competitive marketplace. With customer experience front of

partnership is something we live and breathe, leaving partners in no doubt that Powersoft is the only brand to offer a comprehensive,

www.powersoft-audio.com

An expanded Outline

WORLD: Leonardo Dani has joined Outline as deputy general manager of sales as the Italian manufacturer expands its international reach following a period of strong growth. The company reports that this growth stems from the success of its GTO loudspeaker family in the global touring market and from the increasing number of high-profile installations of its Stadia Series, including the stadia built for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

Mr Dani is an accomplished musician with a professional background that includes work technician roles, as well as in sales management roles for contribute to the continued an exciting time,’ said Mr Dani. competitive with anything else

WORLD: Jens Nilsson has been appointed chief financial officer and managing director at d&b audiotechnik, becoming the third general manager of the company, working alongside CEO Amnon Harman and COO Markus Strohmeier. Mr Nilsson is the successor to Kay Lange, who announced his intentions to leave the role in 2016 once a suitable replacement was found.

Backnang headquarters, which Mr Lange was responsible for achievements with the company

international scope transferring approaches that began in 2009. Mr Nilsson takes on the responsibilities of overseeing facility management at d&b. He

Mr Lange has worked at d&b for 31 years and has committed to make himself available for the manufacturer until the end of 2018. ‘Kay Lange’s contribution to the growth, successes and spirit of d&b audiotechnik can’t be valued highly enough,’ said Mr Harman. ‘We owe him a lot. We plan a secure handover for the coming months.’ d&b had only 10 employees and just relocated its operations from a garage to a repurposed furniture store when Mr Lange joined in 1986. He is considered company that today has more than 350 staff working at its

possesses experience from roles as sales and marketing. His most recent position was as group

he was also a member of the executive board.

‘We look forward to working at d&b audiotechnik,’ added Mr Harman. ‘He has the right experience to strengthen the management team on its way from a loudspeaker systems manufacturer to become an audio technology and solution company.’

www.dbaudio.com

currently available and brand new designs, such as the Newton processor, will allow us to demonstrate clear operational advantages to our clients everywhere.’

to the newly created role of Newton product specialist, with the company expanding the support team for the processor.

www.outline.it

Kay Lange and Jens Nilsson

Leonardo DaniFernando Rey Mendez

Nishino Takashi

Giacomo Previ

A trio of promotions at K-array

WORLD: Stefano Zaccaria has transitioned into the role of VP of sales and marketing at K-array, while Daniel Strasserra has been promoted to sales engineer at the company’s headquarters in San Piero a Sieve and Daniele Mochi takes on a new position as project manager. ‘Stefano, Daniel and Daniele have been important fixtures in the K-family for a while now and I look forward to seeing what their new roles will bring to the company,’ explained the Italian manufacturer’s president and co-founder, Alessandro Tatini.

As VP of sales and marketing, Mr Zaccaria will work closely with Mr Tatini and utilise his vast experience in working alongside small-to-medium-sized companies.

He initially joined K-array in 2016 as a temporary manager, becoming a full-time employee at the start of 2017 and assuming responsibility for strategic sales and business development.

Mr Strasserra, meanwhile, has been with K-array for eight years, serving in the sales and service departments. He has reportedly played a key role in supporting

customers and promoting the brand in new market segments and brings technical expertise to his new role gained during his time as an after sales and product specialist instructor. His new position will involve approaching key customers and building the brand in the nightlife sector.

In the four years since joining the manufacturer, Mr Mochi has been involved in several major projects, including Teatro di Habana in Cuba, Vodafone Arena in Turkey and White Nightclub in Dubai. He has also presented workshops, seminars and presentations and is responsible for the recently launched K-academy. www.k-array.com

Riedel turns to Martin Berger for global sales

WORLD: Riedel Communications has appointed Martin Berger as the new chief sales officer with the former Vorwerk head of corporate development/marketing tasked with aligning and managing the global sales organisation while also steering the company’s expansion into new businesses.

‘I am very excited about the opportunities this new global role brings and I will work very closely with our regional teams, partners

and customers to grow Riedel’s market share,’ said Mr Berger.

‘With technologically advanced solutions and a great team, I’m take our sales organisation to the next level. By developing and empowering our salespeople, we will continue to meet the evolving demands of our customers worldwide.’

Mr Berger, who holds a master’s degree in economics and business

administration from Witten/ Herdecke University, has more than 20 years of experience in various international sales and marketing positions. During his time at Vorwerk, his responsibilities included managing sales on a group level, strategic marketing, new business development and mergers and acquisitions.

‘I am very glad that I was able to convince Martin to join CFO Frank Eischet and me on the

management board to help us meet the challenges ahead and continue our successful growth path,’ said Thomas Riedel, CEO of Riedel Communications. ‘I have known Martin for many years, and he comes in with a solid sales and marketing background. With Martin on board, I now can focus on innovation, brand management and strategic relationships.’

www.riedel.net

Stefano Zaccaria, Daniele Mochi and Daniel Strasserra

New Riedel CSO Martin Berger

AUSTRALIA: Having extended its geographic reach in 2016 with the opening of a New Zealand office, Professional Audio & Television (PAT) enjoyed its most successful year to date in 2017, winning various high-profile broadcast projects and constructing its own purpose-built facility. As the business continues to grow, Joe Hammer has been hired as business development manager.

Mr Hammer is a veteran of the broadcast and postproduction sectors. In recent years he has served as APAC sales director for Fairlight and as a product support specialist for Blackmagic Design.

‘Joe is a proven sales specialist who has impressed me with his

technical in-depth knowledge of the products he has represented over the years,’ explained PAT Managing

director, Patrick Salloch. ‘We are honoured to have Joe on our team and are looking forward to growing various market verticals within our business through Joe’s expertise, business acumen and outstanding customer service mentality.’

Mr Hammer stated that he had been following PAT’s progress over the years. ‘I strongly believe that the company’s culture, as well as the consistent push to deliver cutting-edge technology, paired with outstanding pre and post service, matches what I believe companies in our industry have to deliver to stay relevant and be successful.’

www.proaudiotv.com.au

WORLD: Pro audio veteran Graham Murray has joined Astro Spatial Audio (ASA) as global business development manager. He brings aboard more than 35 years of industry experience gained at the likes of Fairlight and AMS Neve, as well as in his most recent role as

reference projects having taken place over the last 12 months’, such as the Berlin Opera House. Mr Murray hopes to raise the company’s global ASA’s product catalogue.

‘We have been watching carefully for the right person and the right opportunity to help us expand even further,’ explained Bjorn Van Munster, director of Astro Spatial Audio. ‘Now, with Graham’s extraordinary experience and knowledge, we are ready to leap to the next level.’

‘Having watched ASA’s progress over the last two years, it is now a and become part of the company’s amazing journey into the 3D, immersive audio arena,’ Mr Murray stated. ‘Bjorn Van Munster has done an outstanding job building the brand

APAC: Rohde & Schwarz has appointed Yew-jin Cheong as the director of broadcast and media to focus on its file-based media, encoding, multiplexing, monitoring and multiviewer solutions for the Asia Pacific region. Mr Cheong brings more than 18 years of technical and commercial experience in broadcast and media to the role, spanning the

entire value chain, from content production, aggregation and delivery to monetisation. He has spent the past 16 years at Avid, occupying several roles, including director of pre-sales for Asia Pacific.

‘We need to forge strong technology partnerships with our customers in order to help solve their business and operational challenges, especially in the areas

of UHD, HDR, video over IP and OTT,’ explained Stephan Krafft, VP of marketing and technical sales at R&S. ‘Being in the media industry for almost two decades, Yew-jin’s valued relationships within the industry will greatly help us grow our broadcast and media business.’

www.rohde-schwarz.com

and electrical engineering. He possesses eight years of sales management and tech support experience gained at Powersoft and will focus upon expanding Vue’s presence in the live sound and touring market.

Finally, Mr Rinas will oversee sales in the house of worship market. His background is in live sound reinforcement, studio engineering and custom A/V installations, having started his career at Sound Image 14 years ago as an engineer.

sales director, EMEA for Harman’s Studer brand, and during his stint as APAC regional sales director at Calrec.

ASA is currently enjoying what it describes as a ‘period of rapid

With this exciting technology and the brand agnostic nature of the Sara II Premium Rendering Engine, I look forward to helping ASA establish itself as the industry standard platform it deserves to be.’

www.astroaudio.eu

Mark Larcombe sales role

WORLD: Vue Audiotechnik has appointed a new senior product engineer, George Dreyer, and two additional sales representatives: Jon Garner and Brandon Rinas. The three new hires are in response to continued growth at the company during 2017. They will all be based at the manufacturer’s Californian headquarters.

Mr Dreyer joins Vue with 25 years of electrical and professional speaker design experience at Alesis and Carvin Audio. He will

development and play a key role in introducing Vue’s new product roadmap to the market.

Meanwhile, Mr Garner has a background in electronics

‘Thanks to our clients’ continued faith in us, we just wrapped up the best year thus far,’ explained company founder and CEO, Ken Berger ‘To sustain that growth and our benchmark performance levels, I’m thrilled to welcome George to our engineering group, and Jon and Brandon to the sales team. I am excited to have them join the rest of the Vue family in bringing the future of live sound technology to market.’

www.vueaudio.com

INDIA: With Darren Beckley having been promoted to the role of sales manager at ETC, Mark Larcombe has taken over as regional sales manager for India. In addition, he will oversee sales across the Middle East, including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and Iraq. Mr Larcombe joins from British systems integration, sales and rental company, Stage Electrics, where he worked for eight years and most recently served as an international sales manager. There he was involved in

numerous global projects, including at the PAAET Theatre in Kuwait City, the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre and Royal Opera House Muscat.

‘I have known Mark for many years and I am delighted to pass the mantle to him,’ said Mr Beckley.

‘With his enthusiasm, persona and market knowledge, Mark will be a valuable addition to our international sales team. I will continue to drive the business forward and maintain our high levels of service in his region.’

www.etcconnect.com

Mark Larcombe

George Dreyer, Jon Garner and Brandon Rinas

Graham Murray

Joe Hammer

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Powersoft lays roots with Duecanali extension

The Italian manufacturer continues to set its sights on fixed installation applications as it completes the Duecanali Series

POWERSOFT IS well-known as the systems for the live sound and touring industries; its heritage is built on live entertainment applications. However, in recent years, the Italian company’s focus has market since the launch of the Ottocanali, Quattrocanali and Duecanali ranges.

what we sold in amplifiers was used in live entertainment applications and the revealed Marc Kocks, business development manager for the install market at Powersoft. ‘This has flipped

we’re continuing to target this market with our new products.’

These new products, unveiled at ISE 2018, are the two new additions to the Duecanali Series – the Duecanali 804 and Duecanali 4804. These two amplifiers each offer two channels with the option for DSP and Dante (DSP+D versions), are aimed primarily for use at leisure and retail spaces, and complete the Duecanali range.

The Duecanali 4804’s two channels each states makes it a ‘cost-effective’ solution for small-to-medium-sized installations.

The Duecanali 804, meanwhile, delivers a pair of 400W channels that offer a lower total power solution for installations where a single 2-channel amplifier is enough to meet the system requirements, without the need for additional channels or power.

launched at ISE a year prior, the Duecanali 804 and 4804 can be used in conjunction

configurations, including Lo-Z, Hi-Z, bridge mode, parallel mode and combinations

at 100V and 70V. This is increased for the 100V and 70V.

Both new models can be managed with the Armonía 2.11 Pro Audio Suite, which launches alongside the Duecanali 804 and

performance with on-board, high-end signal processing and Dante digital audio distribution.

Powersoft has also recently launched a free mobile app for Android that allows users of X Series amplifier platforms to recall saved settings by connecting their phone to the amplifier via a USB cable. The manufacturer describes this as an ‘instantaneous’ process and, as such, has named the app Snapshot Selector.

Should a user connect their mobile device to an X Series amplifier, a link to Snapshot Selector in the Google Play Store will automatically pop up. Once downloaded, the app will open automatically each time the phone is connected to the amplifier. The user interface is designed to be simple and intuitive, enabling the user to save and the amplifier, including routing, equalisation and limiting. The app also allows the users to select the source priority that will be applied after the snapshot has been recalled.

www.powersoft-audio.com

The complete Duecanali Series

Video Over IP Solu ons

Crestron focuses on audio

THERE HAVE been several new audio-based additions to the Crestron product catalogue recently, including and Vector series speakers.

Starting with the amplifiers, the AMP-225 features two 25W channels a single 50W channel for 100V applications. Additional features of both models include EnergyStar specification, built-in fault protection and a modular construction that allows multiple units to be chained together in a single rack space, or surface-mounted under a table.

The Vector loudspeakers, meanwhile, are a new line of

medium-throw performance cabinets intended for use in large commercial spaces such as auditoria and lecture halls. The Vector cabinets are integrated with Crestron’s Avia DSPs, which the manufacturer claims will reduce the harsh-sounding resonances and sound colouration caused by horn reflections, resulting in ‘superior pattern control, higher gain before feedback and improved intelligibility’. The use of the Avia Audio Tools also reportedly

Meyer hits new lows

VLFC IS the latest addition to Meyer Sound’s Leo family of line array systems. Short for very low frequency control, the speaker

operating levels. Cabinet porting and internal baffling are said to

the lower limit of human hearing.

streamlines the process of audio design and programming by allowing new control and functions to be added on the fly, without the need to ‘re-wire and recompile’ to make changes.

www.crestron.eu

IV6 arrives in the Community

AESTHETICALLY DESIGNED for indoor or outdoor applications,

I Series family with the addition of the IV6 Modular Vertical Array 600 system. The scalable, adaptive loudspeaker features widedispersion IV6-1122 array 12-inch elements that are available in both 5° and 15° vertical coverage versions. While maintaining the best qualities of long-throw line arrays, the IV6 offers up to 5° of splay between elements, thus eliminating to overcome the physical limitations of conventional line arrays. The accompanying single 18-inch above or behind any array for lowLocated on the rear of each loudspeaker, integrated Passive

Acoustic Optimisation (PAO) settings allow up to 55 different frequency response profiles to be

independently selected for each element in the array, bypassing the requirement for additional amplifiers or DSP channels. Furthermore, Community’s PAO module included within EASE Focus 3 software calculates the ideal PAO settings for each loudspeaker. Community has collaborated with audio rigging manufacturer Polar Focus to design a variety of colourmatched array frames that integrate with Polar Focus’ wide variety of install-friendly, array-to-structure hardware. IV6 loudspeakers are finishes for indoor applications. Weather-resistant versions featuring enclosures and optional powdercoated, stainless-steel hardware are available for outdoor applications.

www.communitypro.com

JBL widens the VTX A family

installations, such as theatres, houses of worship and live performance venues, with the VTX A12W.

engineered to create visceral impact at frequencies below the threshold of hearing. By focusing energy into a narrow band between 30Hz and 13Hz, variations in air pressure that are sensed by the body as compression waves.

VLFC houses two low resonant frequency 18-inch cone drivers and its on-board power is supplied by a 2-channel ClassAB/H bridged amplifier with MOSFET output stages for high peak power and ‘clean’ transient

footprint as the company’s 1100-LFC low-frequency control element, so users can reportedly use the same rigging grids and caster frames. The two products, when combined together, produce a linear bass response from 13Hz to 100Hz.

www.meyersound.com

Nova covers all bases

NOVA’S NEW Pariz integrated sound reinforcement system has been designed for both basic setups, such as conferences, and much larger concerts and live shows thanks to the system’s ability to adapt to a large variety of applications.

The P9 line array module features a dipolar arrangement with two 8-inch

for low frequencies of 27Hz, the port reportedly reduces noise from airflow down to a minimum. The optional 2-point rigging hardware is recessed into the cabinet’s enclosure, which enables the P18LEX to be flown in a column of subwoofers or at the top of a P9 line array module.

JBL PROFESSIONAL has added the VTX A12W line array loudspeaker to its VTX A range, featuring a 120° dispersion pattern for wide horizontal coverage. The Harman brand is targeting mid- to large-sized touring

When combined with a VTX A12 system in the lower part of a line array, the VTX A12W provides a wider pattern that reportedly helps balance coverage closer to the audience. The A12W is built with many of the same components as the A12 and includes the same low-, mid- and high-frequency sections. The difference comes with the redesigned Radiation Boundary Integrator (RBI) for reduced horn edge diffraction,

improved LF sensitivity, lower distortion and the 120° directivity down to 250Hz. The HF section integrates a phasing plug and waveguide for high sensitivity and linearity to suit high output levels, while the LF section includes Differential Drive woofers, with a dual magnet, dual voice-coil design

The A12W is constructed with a full-face grill design, available in an array of colours, that reduces the protecting them from all manner of environmental elements and achieving an IP55 rating. JBL has manufactured the cabinet to be lightweight and easy to rig.

www.jblpro.com

and a high precision 1.4-inch HF compression driver mounted dispersion. The loudspeaker cabinet includes a passive 2-way crossover said to ensure high efficiency in system cabling and amplifier reportedly eliminate side lobes, while said to provide precise mid-range coverage. The V-arrangement of the two 8-inch transducers and the two horizontal dispersion to 90° in the 700Hz to 1.1kHz frequency range.

The P18LEX is a cardioid subwoofer

18-inch neodymium transducer and incorporates a Neck Coupling Reinforcement membrane for a power capacity of 1,600W. Tuned

Finally, the TX20 is a 4-channel power amplifier said to offer a combination of power and audio performance combined with DSP and network control. The TX20 delivers 5,000W per channel or 10,000W for a bridged pair. The amp uses drive module presets, which are defined as the number of outputs driven from one DSP unit. The drive modules also allow for a less processorcentric and more speaker-oriented system design, according to the manufacturer. Up to 50 drive module presets are permanently stored inside the TX20 even if the TX20 is not being used with the Nova.Net software. www.novacoustic.com

AMP-225

The P9

Plug-and-play comes to line array

DERIVED FROM the Latin words

shine), Amate Audio has created the Nítid loudspeaker series for enhancing operational versatility with optimised plug-and-play set up and instantaneous operation. Following the recent launch of the Nítid stage monitors, the Barcelona-based manufacturer has extended its series roll-out with the addition of the N208 compact line array and N18W/N218W subwoofer systems. Targeted for use in mid-sized installations and live event productions, the new additions combine the same digital processing technologies common to the existing Nítid designs.

The low-frequency section of the 2-way active N208 incorporates two direct radiating 8-inch loudspeakers each outfitted with a 2.5-inch voice coil and neodymium magnet.

The HF/MF section comprises a 110° x 11° aluminium long-throw waveguide coupled with two 1.75-inch neodymium magnetic compression drivers. Designed in-house, the waveguide provides consistent signal reproduction over a greater distance than normally associated with compact line arrays, thus enhancing the number of applications for which the system can be deployed.

N208 arrays are configured in coupled pairs of active and passive cabinets in the same manner as those developed for the flagship X210 line array, while the active cabinet contains the 1,500W Class-D amplification and DSP control for both units. With a custom rigging design and wide selection of optimised DSP control presets, near instantaneous deployment of the N208 is enabled.

Matched for use with the N208, the Nítid N18W and N218W subwoofers contain single and double direct radiating 18-inch woofers, respectively, within bass-reflex tuned enclosures. Both models are powered by Class-D 2,500W amplifiers and are equipped with dedicated DSP system control. A selection of presets configures the N18W and N218W for a wide range of applications, including various cardioid signal presets. System control is accessed via the proprietary SensitiveTouch keypad technology, for which the

MM-Acoustics appeals to riders with the M26LA

HERALDING FROM Macedonia, MM-Acoustics has added a passive, modular line array to its touring line of products. Lightweight and compact in its design, the M26LA combines dual, symmetrically inserted 6.5-inch LF drivers incorporating 2.5-inch voice coils and a BMS 1.75-inch voice coil compression driver that can deliver 130dB SPL (continuous programme). Capable of producing 600W of continuous programme power, the 2-way design operates within a 70Hz to 20kHz (–6dB) frequency range. Measuring 580mm x 215mm x 350mm (WxHxD) and weighing

19kg, the M26LA is constructed of Baltic birch plywood and textured coating. Flexibility is enhanced as the rigging hardware is rated for up to 24 boxes per hang, while at the other extreme a pole mount adapter has been incorporated into the design for mounting two boxes.

internal crossover.

www.mm-acoustics.com

Work Pro debuts new line array elements

LCD display is located on the rear-mounted control panel. The interface enables rapid set up and recall of multiple system parameters for which an onscreen output power display helps monitor the system and ECO mode automatically powers down the amplifier in the absence of any signal. DSP control on the N208 includes a 5-band EQ menu with five equalisers, crossovers, delay, limiter, gain control, mute and input dynamic compressor. While selectable presets include dual, four and eight N208 units without and with subs, the cabinets’ custom rigging system and accessories provide ease of flying or stacking for rapid deployment of the Nítid line array.

The polyurea-coated birch plywood cabinets incorporate robust grilles and ergonomically designed handles. A range of accessories allow for flying and stacking of the N208, while the N18W and N218W subwoofers feature M6 rigging points together with M20 and M10 plate sockets for full-range enclosure coupling.

Amate Audio’s universal switching mode power supply features on all three models providing 90% efficiency power supply to the amplifier circuitry with any mains condition between 85V and 265V AC.

www.amateaudio.com

THE SL 210 A and the SL 218 SA subwoofers are the latest additions to Work Pro’s Arion line array range. According to the manufacturer, the units form a system suited for use in demanding environments that require power, high-quality audio reproduction and controlled directivity.

The SL 210 A is a 2-way, biamplified line array element with the option of remote monitoring and control via Ethernet, a built-in DSP section and twin 1,000W peak Class-D Pascal amplifiers (both featuring a built-in universal power supply for international use). The low frequencies are handled by two 10-inch Faital Pro LF drivers and a bass reflex enclosure, while a 1.4-inch Beyma compression driver, with a polymer diaphragm, takes care of the high frequencies. The compression driver feeds the VI-10

waveguide which integrates the high frequencies from multiple SL 210 A units to create a ‘seamless’ HF response from the complete array. The SL 210 A provides 120° horizontal coverage and a maximum sound pressure level of 135dB. The frequency response extends from 18kHz down to 100Hz (–10dB).

The built-in DSP provides the EQ, level and phase adjustments required to produce a ‘faithful’ sound, no matter how many SL 210 A elements are being used in the overall array. The DSP also provides driver protection, with independent RMS/peak limiters for each bass and treble unit. All the DSP functions can be controlled directly on each SL 210 A unit via the rear-panel keypad and display.

By connecting a Windows computer to an SL 210 A-based array via Ethernet, users can control the array remotely via free software, monitor the array operating temperature in real-time, select factory presets for the correct number of SL 210 A elements in the array, choose the crossover frequency for the subwoofer(s) if in use, and apply delay and up to eight parametric room correction EQs.

Lower frequencies can be reproduced using the SL 218 SA subwoofer, which is powered by a 4,000W Class-D Pascal amplifier and can handle frequencies from 30Hz up to either 120Hz or 150Hz, depending on the exact user and system requirements. The SL 210 A/SL 218 SA system has been designed with audio installations, theatres and concert halls in mind.

www.workproaudio.com

The rear panel of the SL 218 SA

Stacked SL 210 As

N208/N18W stacked

SL 210 A front

Rational Acoustics in Smaart update

Clair Brothers expands One Series

Live Manager adds to APG appeal

A&H adds sE Electronics to ProFactory presets

taken this one step further with the Qu series,’ said Toni Scherrenberg, added an effects unit to its GLD

sE Electronics’ V7 with Allen & Heath’s Qu-32

FOLLOWING COLLABORATIONS with Shure, Sennheiser and channel libraries for its Qu series

Mic Presets ‘offer engineers of all

abilities an ideal starting point to effects and snapshots are

Avid Venue S6L update enhances monitor mixes

AN UPDATED version of the Avid software update and On-Stage app introduce a range of updated control walking around on stage, hearing Meanwhile, the app allows up to 16

subtle effects through to heavier www.allen-heath.com

Windows gains full TouchMix-30 Pro recording capabilities

WINDOWS DAW users are now able to access the recording capabilities of the QSC TouchMix-30 Pro with the latest

offering a studio-grade 32x32 channel DAW interface, that up until now was the sole preserve of

The TouchMix-30 Pro was itself launched as an enhanced version of the standard TouchMix

production professionals and live

predecessors, the TouchMix-30 Pro has 16 outputs that add to the

‘Pro’ features include a 10-inch

As well as On-Stage app support, access to sends in addition to with the new Sends on Faders

Offering over 300 processing channels, the S6L incorporates touchscreen workflows, ProTools on-

www.avid.com

eight sub-groups with 6-band full

120 presets and six stereo effects

new ceiling speaker to its

inch, full-range loudspeaker such as distance conferencing

Advanced voicing filter sets using the AC-C2T includes a 4-pole www.qsc.com

ClearOne provides upgrades with extended capabilities

THE DIALOG 20 2-channel bandwidth is delivered through ClearOne’s new P-Link (peripheral and control connections with the P-Link connects to peripheral

incorporating ClearOne’s adaptive

additional cost, Collaborate Pro

narrowband interference because it

Collaborate Pro supports traditional cloud video and web conferencing, presentation and professional audio www.clearone.com

The Dialog 20 wireless microphone system

AC-C2T

The Venue S6L console

BRIO: DESIGNED AND MANUFACTURED IN THE UK. 100% BROADCAST, 100% CALREC.

Calrec’s reputation for build quality, reliability and audio performance has made it an industry standard around the world.

anthony.harrison@calrec.com calrec.com

Brio is the most compact and affordable digital console in its class, packed with pure broadcast features as standard; broad IP functionality, MADI connectivity, comprehensive monitoring, automixers, loudness metering, full 5.1 capability, extensive IFB resources and built-in I/O.

Studio-quality mic on the move

SPECIFICALLY CREATED for USB connection to an iPad, iPhone, Mac or PC, the Apogee MiC Plus is a portable microphone that can be used for voiceovers, vocals, instruments and interviews.

The cardioid condenser capsule incorporates a PureDigital connection offering audio quality up to 24-bit/96kHz together with 46dB of digitally controllable mic preamp gain.

The plug-in and record MiC Plus requires no configuration and operates as an audio interface once connected to a computer or iOS device, by recording into an app.

Combining a microphone, microphone preamp and AD and DA converters, the MiC Plus also features a 3.5mm stereo headphone output and Blend function for zero latency monitoring. The Blend setting on MiC Plus provides ease of adjustment when monitoring the microphone input heard in

Dan Dugan increases automixer functionality

THE DUGAN Model M and Dugan Model N automatic microphone mixers from Dan Dugan Sound Design have both received upgrades to increase their functionality in their primary role of managing live microphones in unscripted talking situations.

comparison to the recorded signal coming from the software.

www.apogeedigital.com

Clarett goes USB

FOCUSRITE’S CLARETT range of audio interfaces has recently gained USB connectivity. Previously only available for use via Thunderbolt, the new USB models retain the majority of the other features of the original Clarett models, including the –128dB EIN low-noise mic pres, 24-bit/192kHz AD and DA conversion, and –119dB dynamic range.

The Clarett USB range currently consists of three models providing a variety of I/O configurations. The USB 2Pre features 10 inputs and four

outputs as well as MIDI I/O and an ADAT input.

The USB 4Pre offers 18 inputs and eight outputs and also adds S/PDIF I/O and two headphone outputs.

The USB 8Pre retains all of these features and also offers 18 inputs and 20 outputs. USB connectivity includes both standard USB cables as well as the newer USB-C. Included software is from XLN Audio, Focusrite, Softube, Ableton and Loopmasters.

www.focusrite.com

Updates to both units include the addition of six internal mix busses that can be sent to any outputs or used as Music System threshold inputs. Mix bus matrix inputs include all processed channels and all unprocessed inputs. In addition, the Dugan Model N’s Dante functionality now includes AES67 compatibility, device locking and Dante Domain Manager compatibility. The automixers have been designed to work with standard

audio mixing consoles. The Model M has MADI I/O, both optical and copper, while the Model N has Dante I/O, primary and secondary. Both models provide 32 channels of Dugan automixing at 96kHz or 64 channels at 48kHz and are PoE capable. The Dugan Speech System, Music System and Gain Limiting are all supported. In addition, the M and N include a scene memory that can record and recall all operating settings, either globally or by unit, in a library of named scenes.

Meanwhile, the manufacturer has also unveiled the Model E-2A, an automatic microphone mixing controller with analogue and ADAT I/O. The E-2A incorporates 28 channels of processing (12

One for the Tube Heads

HAFLER’S HA75-DAC is a tubeUSB digital-to-analogue converter, featuring XLR and RCA analogue audio connections. It builds on the HA75 Tube Head by adding a USB DAC for digital audio playback at up to a 192kHz resolution, allowing for the connection of a computer along with separate analogue audio sources. Analogue and digital inputs are selected via a front panel selector switch. The on-board 12AX7 tube reportedly provides the HA75-DAC with tube character and ‘natural compression when pushed hard’. A non-radiating charge pump applies 140V to the tube for optimal headroom and vintage inspired warmth, while the device’s Focus control can be used to simulate the

ADM comes to Prism Sound interfaces

PRISM SOUND’S Titan, Atlas and Lyra audio interfaces and its Sadie workstation have been updated to support ASIO Direct Monitoring (ADM). ADM allows mixers in the interface device to be automatically controlled from within a DAW environment. This means, for example, that users recording to a

DAW can reportedly achieve near zero latency for performer foldback when ADM is activated in the software.

‘By including ADM functionality in our audio interfaces, it is possible to automate the operation of the interface mixer by combining it with muting of the corresponding

effect of listening to live speakers in a room. The unit’s headphone load impedance selector can complemented by a three-position voicing switch that can boost low frequencies, increase overall loudness or set to bypass for neutral voicing.

The Radial Engineering division has also released the PH50B and PH60B phono preamps, which

balanced analogue plus 16 ADAT) and supports all Dugan algorithms: Speech System, Music System and Gain Limiting. Channels may be grouped into three independent automixers. A six-bus pre/post matrix mixer is also provided, with 56x6 capability. The Model E-2A may be controlled remotely via the Dugan Control Panel for Java (included) or the Dugan Control Panel for iPad (sold separately); tactile remote control is available via the Dugan Model K Control Surface, also sold separately. The Model E-2A replaces the Model E-2 and can be linked with additional E-2A units as well as other digital Dugans.

www.dandugan.com

include unbalanced RCA and balanced XLR outputs. Inspired by the resurgence of vinyl, these, the manufacturer states, ‘address a growing market for high-quality, standalone phono stages’ by building upon the PH50 and PH60 with additional connection options for pairing with mixing consoles and recording interfaces.

www.hafler.com

channel in the workstation,’ explained Prism Sound’s sales and marketing director, Graham Bowell.

‘This is a much smoother and more convenient solution for end users who want to switch to a low-latency input monitor path for recording.’

www.prismsound.com

HA75-DAC

Clarett 8Pre USB

Screenshot of the Sadie workstation

BRAIN TRUST

In business, education, and in the arts, having trust in your partners, your team and your AV network is critical to success.

The most informed and experienced professionals understand this, which is why the brightest in the business trust the agility, scalability and security of Audinate’s Dante audio networking and award-winning Dante Domain Manager.

Jonathan White, Audio/Video Manager at the AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas is among them. To learn more about how Jonathan is getting the most from his trusted Dante network, visit audinate.com/braintrust.

AT&T Performing Arts Center Dallas, TX

TWO NEW multichannel audio interfaces have been launched by TASCAM that it describes as providing Dante connectivity without ‘unnecessary features like mid-level microphone preamps, MADI and S/PDIF interfaces, and other little-used functions’ that merely add cost and complexity. Supporting digital audio at up to 24-bit/96kHz, both units house analogue line level I/O via D-Sub connectors (eight on the ML-32D and four on the ML-16D) and feature front panel LED meters to display both signal level and overload for each active channel. The ML-32D and ML-16D allow engineers to connect 32 or 16 channels of audio

between the analogue domain and Dante-enabled digital components, including the manufacturer’s DA6400, SS-R250N and SS-CDR250 multichannel audio recorders.

Additionally, the Japanese company has also recently launched a new media player that combines a slot-loading CD player, AM/FM tuner, SD recording capability and Bluetooth wireless and USB connectivity. The CD-400U can record from CD or the AM/FM source to CD or to USB media.

The player houses XLR balanced outputs, RCA unbalanced main outputs and a second set of RCA unbalanced outputs dedicated to the AM/FM source in 1U space.

ADI-2 DAC more than

in audio from external sources, combining with the Bluetooth wireless. A ¼-inch stereo headphone output enables quick monitoring of operation. A standard RS-232C terminal enables external remote control, while an optional IF-E100 Ethernet card will provide IP control over Ethernet in an upcoming release. A two-line backlit LCD displays the settings for easy programming and operation. Furthermore, once configured, a Panel Lock function can disable the panel buttons to avoid unauthorised operation.

www.tascam.com

WHILE RME has based its ADI-2 DAC on its ADI-2 Pro AD/DA converter, the manufacturer insists that the new 2-channel digital/ analogue converter is more than just a stripped-back version. The removal of the Pro’s analogue inputs, digital outputs and the balanced headphone mode reportedly created space on the PCB for more relays, a different double symmetrical attenuator circuit and one additional buffer OP amp. Offering up to a reported

120dBA signal-to-noise ratio, the half-rack, 1U, 32-bit/768kHz reference converter features RME SteadyClock technology, 5-band parametric EQ, bass/treble adjustment, Crossfeed playback and loudness control for the analogue stereo outputs. Operation is through three encoders with push-button functionality and four further buttons to access dedicated menus. The unit reportedly remembers all current settings, including the menu position. The

Audionamix launches separation software

AUDIONAMIX HAS released a new version of Trax that it claims can separate any song into three individual stems automatically. The Xtrax Stems software is being targeted at DJs and musicians that are looking to manipulate multitrack content during live sets and performances; however, it can also be used as a practising tool, allowing musicians to play along with their favourite tracks with, for example, the drums or vocals muted.

XTrax Stems is also intended to form an entry-point into the manufacturer’s complete line of audio separation software, which includes ADX Trax Pro, ADX SVC and ADX VVC. The software is currently only available for MacOS 10.11 to 10.13 users. The four cloud-based separation algorithms used by the software also mean that a high-speed internet connection is required.

www.audionamix.com

UA emulates EL8

UAD SOFTWARE v9.4 for UAD hardware and Apollo interfaces will include Universal Audio’s Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor Compressor plug-in. The plug-in has been created in collaboration with Empirical Labs and its founder, Dave Derr.

The Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor Compressor plug-in reportedly provides all the features and sound of the original Distressor design.

The manufacturer’s team of DSP experts started with a complete circuit trace and component study of Dave Derr’s selected golden unit. Simultaneously, the team analysed three more Distressors representing the lifetime of the product, creating what the manufacturer describes as ‘one of UA’s tightest circuit models to date’.

www.uaudio.com

just a stripped-back ADI-2 Pro

unit’s whole setup, as well as equaliser settings, can be stored under individual names.

The DA converter features two headphone outputs, including a dedicated in-ear connection. Input options include a coaxial SPDIF connection, an optical SPDIF/ADAT connection and a USB 2 port.

After DA conversion, the analogue signals are available at the stereo XLR and stereo RCA outputs, or at the TRS standard and mini-jack outputs of the headphone amp.

Back to basics

THE LATEST addition to Waves

Audio’s plug-in catalogue has seen it draw upon an industry standard to assist engineers mixing in a DAW. It has launched the Waves VU Meter to help set proper recording levels and to mix with adequate headroom and a wellbalanced gain structure.

The manufacturer states its plug-in offers ‘unparalleled smoothness and perfect ballistic response

that equals the best hardware VU meters’. The plug-in can be loaded on any or all tracks while recording in order to make sure recording levels are not too hot, or inserted on the master bus and pinned to the screen for a visual reference of overall levels.

According to mixing engineer, Fabian Marasciullo: ‘Waves’ VU meter plug-in will be extremely helpful for younger mixers as they

learn how to build proper gain stage in their sessions. It will help them see things, like why their tracks are distorting, in ways that

The ADI-2 DAC has a USB recording function for incoming SPDIF signals, meaning it can work as a 2-channel USB audio interface, capable of recording at sample rates up to 192kHz and playing backup to 768kHz, both PCM and DSD signals.

The unit features a high-resolution IPS display with AutoDark mode that automatically switches off the display and all the LEDs after 10s.

www.rme-audio.com

Martin Audio adds Focus

COMPATIBLE WITH EASE

are hard to understand with just a DAW meter.’

www.waves.com

Focus 3, Martin Audio has introduced GLL loudspeaker measurement data for many of its point source loudspeakers. EASE Focus 3 from AFMG Technologies is an acoustic simulation program for 3D modelling that enables users to views and receiver locations while calculating sound coverage and frequency response.

www.martin-audio.com

Next-generation control processors from Apex

DEVELOPED IN

system techs and

announced. The Intelli-X3 648 is a 1U system management processor with optional Dante capacity for full network redundancy.

circuitry and mastering-grade and WaveCapture LiveCapture.

as offering all of the audio tools

also provided. Wireless access to Intelli-X3 devices allowing direct control over a wireless network.

simultaneously.

into any network via internal IP configuration is provided as play connectivity and more rigid IP assignments for use in fixed installations. SNMP support is

Conference connections

SHURE’S INTELLIMIX P300 audio conferencing processor is now shipping. The P300 offers Shure IntelliMix DSP algorithms and connectivity with Shure

Wireless solutions. According to a small footprint and is simple conferencing technology that offers just the right set of features

small-to-medium-sized rooms’.

re-engineered front panel with from multiple PC devices simultaneously.

www.apex-audio.eu

Wenger Trancends real-life acoustics

the stage area storage space to

structure from their ceiling or lack the resources to set up and remove a shell onstage. Its focus is on improving the acoustics onstage for

Transcend system extends the

The processor connects up to eight Dante microphone channels in a

noise reduction and automatic

while the 3.5mm connector means the conversation.

www.shureasia.com

Audio Precision supports A2B performance testing

AUDIO PRECISION has systems supplier Mentor to support multichannel audio performance

together with clock and power over a single wire.

APx500 audio analysers and

ACOUSTIC SPECIALIST Wenger

on the development of two new acoustic systems for performance

and singers can hear on stage as well as the acoustic options for facility managers seeking a more multi-purpose venue. In contrast to Wenger’s traditional passive Transcend Acoustical Shells pair a

Wenger processer with Lexicon’s active acoustic system technology

dead to accommodate modern musical performances or making a dry acoustic space more lively to facilitate natural spoken word reproduction.

designed for those venues that lack

encompassing the entire area. Wenger’s isn’t the only active acoustic system currently on the promises the need for fewer microphones and speakers to system.

www.wengercorp.com

TSL blends the best of both

TSL PRODUCTS’ Monitor Plus

Audio range (MPA) has gained a new addition in the form of the MPA1 Mix SDI. The new unit provides

of handling mixes comprised of

audio sources. The manufacturer states the MPA1 Mix SDI is ideal for confined MPA1 Mix SDI allows users to simultaneously monitor up to 16

An A2B test case example

platform provides straightforward

The APx delivers multichannel audio measurement analysis and custom test solutions.

www.ap.com www.mentor.com

sources. The device displays audio level meters and mix configurations on its front panel display as well as

network connectivity for software

other devices in the MPA1 series

features via a software update. For the MPA1 Solo Dante and MPA1

The entire MPA1 range also has new that feature integral phase meters as standard.

www.tslproducts.com

info@dbtechnologies-aeb.com

TRI-AMP DIGITAL ACTIVE STEREO SYSTEMDIGIPRO® G4 AMPLIFIER WITH PFC - 132 dB SPL 2400W PEAK

DOUBLE COLUMN MODE

MONO MODE

STEREO

NEW CONTROL PANEL DESIGN ES1203 ALSO INCLUDES

• OLED DSP Interface

• On-board 5 channel mixer

• Bluetooth® built-in audio receiver

• Digital steering presets

• 3 input channel modes (mic/instr/line)

dBTechnologies

• Waterproof cover for the sub

• Bag for the two tops

• D35mm pole

• 2.5m Speakon cable for mono use

• 2x7m Speakon cable for stereo use

www.dbtechnologies.com

Studio Technologies increases Dante focus

STUDIO TECHNOLOGIES has put a further focus on Dante with a pair of releases.

Its new STcontroller software application offers a means of confirming and revising microphone input parameters associated with several of Studio Technologies’ Dante-compatible products. Upon executing, STcontroller automatically identifies compatible devices on the Dante network. The Dante device names will be displayed and then

the user can select and control the desired units.

The initial release of STcontroller supports the Model 214, 215 and 216 announcer’s consoles, the Model 5205 mic/line to Dante interface, and the Model 5414 mic/ line input and line output interface.

Using the application, microphone input parameters can be observed and adjusted, specifically the gain of the microphone preamplifier circuitry and the on/off status of the P48

phantom power source. In addition, STcontroller allows the on/off status of the Model 5414’s high-pass filter function to be selected.

The second release is an announcement that the manufacturer has updated all of its Dante-enabled products to be compliant with Audinate’s upcoming Dante Domain Manager network management software.

www.studio-tech.com

Delivering audio to multiple targets

DESIGNED TO integrate multiple IP audio codecs for program distribution for studio-to-studio links, studioto-transmitter links, DVB and web radio, the IQOYA *X/Link hardware audio over IP codec from Digigram allows connectivity to legacy audio infrastructures (analogue, AES/ EBU) and full IP audio infrastructures (AES67/Ravenna). The number of supported stereo I/Os ranges from one to eight.

IQOYA *X/Link allows multiformat encoding and multi-protocol streaming of each input program, as well as IP audio transcoding.

Using the manufacturer’s FluidIP technology, the hardware offers a set of features that reportedly provide reliable transport of

Symetrix releases Composer v5.6 update

SYMETRIX HAS released Composer v5.6, the latest version of its programming software for Windows. With Composer v5.6, the web interface diagnostic page now shows Dante-related diagnostics, and each DSP unit supports

connections with up to four Shure devices.

Additionally, there are now Juice Goose Super-modules to control its series power sequencing and control devices. These Super-modules, which feature a new graphic user

interface, provide simultaneous user control of each individual pod, enabling the user to individually or sequentially power the pods up and down. Composer v5.6 supports the Control Server and USB Audio Card

Audinate creates bridge for Brooklyn II Dante modules

WITH THE release of Dante audio networking module, Audinate has provided critical support for Dante Domain Manager (DDM) together with performance release allows manufacturers to existing launched products making them DDM-ready. As a key component in the Dante 4.0 system update, Brooklyn II v4.0 will implement DDM support across the Dante ecosystem, allowing only those products to fully participate in Dante domains.

DDM brings new functionality to Dante networks including user authentication, role-based security and audit capabilities, while allowing almost unlimited expansion and organisation of

Dante Domain Manager

Dante systems over any network topology.

Meanwhile, Audinate has released a soft IP solution entitled Dante IP Core, said to allow OEMs working with FPGA-based designs to add Dante connectivity to A/V products at a ‘lower cost and with greater flexibility than ever before’. Dante IP Core runs alongside OEM product applications such as ASRC, audio

encryption and signal processing on a range of Xilinx FPGAs, reportedly providing channel counts up to 512x512 with low-latency and submicrosecond synchronisation. The solution also incorporates SiLabs clock synthesis, serial and parallel audio, DDR2, SRAM and a variety of standard control interfaces.

www.audinate.com

audio content over managed and unmanaged networks (FECs, redundant dual streaming with time diversity, VLANs, QoS, IGMPv2 and v3) and audio service continuity on transmitter sites (three backup levels, backup on SD card and switchable hardware bypass of the first audio input to output in case of power supply failure). It also offers four RJ-45 network ports and two internal redundant power supply units.

In other news, Digigram has also provided an MPX option for its IQOYA

*Link and IQOYA *Link/LE STL audio over IP hardware codecs. The audio codecs will now allow for the transport of the MPX signal directly from the studio to the transmitter sites via a software option. The input MPX signal can be analogue or digital (MPX over AES192), and the output MPX signal is delivered in both formats. This solution reportedly eliminates the need to deploy and maintain several pieces of equipment at each transmitter site.

www.digigram.com

and, in addition to programming Symetrix DSPs, it natively configures the set up and routing of Symetrix Dante I/O Expanders as well as select third-party Dante endpoints. Integrators can design a complete end-to-end DSP signal path with just one application.

www.symetrix.co

Jünger Audio adds Dante and MADI connectivity

BROADCASTERS OPERATING on the modular C8000 audio processing system have been handed a simple and convenient interconnection following the release of Jünger Audio’s two new interface cards.

The German manufacturer’s C8315 and C8316 dual interface cards provide 64 inputs and outputs for the Dante network and support operation in AES67 compatibility mode.

As an additional feature, both cards are also equipped with an independent MADI interface, while the C8316 version is equipped with a parallel MADI BNC output. Through a special 1:1 hardware mode, they can be used as a direct bridge between AoIP and MADI without occupying the C8000 system’s audio busses.

They differ in the assembly of the MADI interfaces with BNC sockets (C8315) or an SFP cage (C8316),

for the use of optical modules in multi- or single-mode optical fibre operation.

www.junger-audio.com

STcontroller interfaces

The C8315 module

USB Audio Card

EVID-S COMMERCIAL LOUDSPEAKERS

WITH EASY WALL-MOUNT SYSTEM FOR INDOOR AND OUTDOOR USE

INSTALLATIONASEASYAS1-2-3

Designed with the contractor in mind, EVID-S is the latest member of the EVID family – a cost-effective, go-to solution offering superior sound quality for indoor and outdoor applications.

Learn more at www.electrovoice.com

PRE-WIRE: Attach the wall-mount and terminate the cables inside. A built-in bubble level saves time.

PROTECT: Apply the paint cover to protect the wall-mount until construction is completed.

PLACE: Simply slide the pre-wired speaker with adjustable arm onto the wall-mount and lock into place.

Samson’s new options for micro-transmitter

SAMSON’S RECENTLY released ATX series micro-transmitter UHF wireless systems (see Pro AVL Asia January/ February 2018, page 76) has already undergone an expansion. The series the AWX Wind Instrument, but is now presenters.

around the system’s ATX Micro Transmitter. The AHX Headset

Flexibility and stability for DJs

THE GRAVITY LTS 01 B is a laptop DJs, music producers and other

slipping.

headset with a DE10 miniature condenser microphone.

The AHX Fitness Headset system includes a double ear headset with a water-resistant Qe condenser mic.

an LM8 omnidirectional lavalier microphone with a mic lapel clip.

www.samsontech.com

1/2 PAGE

Adam Hall’s Gravity stands range, with diagonal screen lengths between 12 inches and 17 inches as well as music production controllers, including the Novation Launchpad, the Native Instruments Machine and the Ableton Push.

The stand’s patented design is based on a lightweight aluminium construction and is made to

base, the LTS 01 B can also be or attached to a table edge to save space via the clamp supplied.

saving storage.

www.adamhall.com

www.gravitystands.com

Klang adds EQ

KLANG:TECHNOLOGIES HAS added parametric EQ to its 3D in-ear mixing system with the

input signal when no dedicated monitor console is available. The

root intensity reportedly allow users to gradually blend in the

characteristic can also be adjusted.

an output mix EQ with presets and output phase invert. In the Channels Setting View, a channel groups, shown with their respective colour and icon. Users can also assign a group colour to all group

This provides users with the placing sound sources more easily. The Compact Device List View means that when channels are soloed in the Fader View, the Stage

do not need to switch between snapshot.

www.klang.com

Klang KOS 3

The AHX Headset system

Biamp and Attero Tech collaborate on wall plates

DEVELOPED IN collaboration

with Attero Tech, Biamp Systems has released a new line of Dante for its protocol-agnostic Tesira DSP platform to enable audio

three models to address a range of input needs, the wall plates operate

plate elements include audio input a locate function, which enables IT personnel to identify the location

The software can also act as a single point of connection for third-party control systems using Biamp’s control API, Tesira Text control commands can be routed through the Tesira software

the specific wall plate in the fault reporting window and on the

the Attero Tech wall plates are identified with a ‘-B’ at the end of each part number, for which

Time-saving lighting control

EATON’S ZERO 88 brand has launched a pair of new additions to

They are capable of controlling up

‘While Tesira has always been capable of connecting audio to and from Attero Tech’s Dante wall plates, it’s the newly added capability of controlling and monitoring the wall plates directly through the software that truly benefits our customers,’ said Zach

www.biamp.com

manufacturer’s RigSync technology, a lighting rig, without the user

interfaces, as well as Mood Boards tilt grid, the encoder wheels or the effects can be used to control dedicated buttons and a Master wireless touchscreen monitors and smartphones to act as remotes, the rig and allowing the user to

Additionally, Apple Watches can

wheels or the 7-inch, multi-touch

www.zero88.com

Dante wall plates

Litepanels continues to look to the stars

LITEPANELS HAS built upon its Astra 1x1 panel format to offer a 50% increase in output with reduced power consumption and longer battery run times with the latest generation of Astra 3X

the flexibility to adjust the beam angle on the go. The manufacturer also states that the bi-focus panels provide ‘the punch of a spot when shooting on location and when working with natural sunlight’. Also new from the Vitec Group brand are the Sola 4+ and Sola 6+ daylight-balanced Fresnel LED lights. Compared with their nonplus counterparts, the Sola 4

LynTec offers Whole Venue Control

LYNTEC’S WHOLE Venue Control has been developed to allow lighting professionals to mix and match the manufacturer’s panels and control them as one across a venue. The same is true of the company’s electrical power control solutions. Users can set up, control and monitor all AVL sequences or DMX lighting zones across a facility by connecting to a single IP address.

the same network. This means that our customers can now put the right panel in the right place.

Meanwhile, the bi-focus editions allow the operator to switch from a 48° flood to a 15° concentrated light by turning a dial. They incorporate custom optics with two lens sets and are designed to offer

‘Previously, each LynTec controller interface could only display one panel type and customers could not have control zones that extended across multiple panel types,’ explained Mark Bishop, president of LynTec. ‘Now, with Whole Venue Control, we’ve made it possible to extend zones across motorised circuit breakers and relays within

‘The new NPAC solution gives customers a rack-mounted power control for lighting control,’ Mr Bishop added. NPAC is a ready-toinstall power and zoned lighting 2U management solution that is part of the Whole Venue Control line-up and can manage up to 80 amps. It is built to protect and control installed entertainment AVL systems across multiple zones via multiple control protocols (HTTP, Telnet, sACN and DMX) and simple contact closures. The NPAC series comprises 120V and 240V models that feature four 20A circuit inputs.

www.lyntec.com

Series and 6X Series LED lights. This equates to the new Astra 6X being six times brighter than the original 1x1 version, while the Astra 3X is three times brighter than its predecessor. There are two versions available for both the Astra 3X and 6X solutions: daylight and bi-colour models. The bi-colour models are equipped with high-CRI, surfacemount LEDs and a soft diffusion panel designed to induce a soft wrap-around quality and to remove ‘the edge’ from reflective surfaces.

Picasso turns to the stage

ANOTHER LIGHTING option has joined Elation Professional’s Artiste Artiste Picasso. Models in the Artiste series derive their names from famous artists in a nod to the promises to offer. With a stated output of 22,000 total lumens, the Artiste Picasso becomes the most powerful unit in the series and houses a new 600W, 8,000K Cool White LED engine with advanced optics. Elation boldly dubs the product ‘one of the brightest and on the market today’.

Additionally, its standout features include an ultra wide 7° to 53° zoom, CMY colour mixing and linear CTO colour correction, seven dichroic colours, seven rotating glass and seven static-stamped metal interchangeable gobos. The Artiste Picasso also integrates a 4-blade rotating framing shutter system, full

360° bidirectional animation wheel, 8-facet and linear rotating prisms, and a high-speed electronic shutter and strobe.

Connectivity options include DMX, RDM (Remote Device Management), Art-Net and support for the sACN protocol.

and Sola 6, these new fixtures offer 120% and 50% increases in output, respectively. They are able to control both focus and intensity via standard DMX 512 protocol with single-shadow properties for cutting and shaping. Sola 4+ and Sola 6+ can be powered via DC and reportedly operate without the heat generation of a traditional Fresnel.

www.litepanels.com

Robe extends PATT family

THE LATEST member of Robe’s growing PATT family of ‘scenic’, retro-styled luminaires is a highpowered, multi-coloured RGBW

The virtual colour wheel provides 66 pre-set swatches, while the preprogrammed pixel effects include colour, dimming and strobe chases, waves and

In addition to the manufacturer’s E-Fly internal wireless DMX transceiver, physical connections include 5-pin XLR, RJ-45 etherCON and powerCON True1 in/out. Onboard Control is via a full colour 180° reversible menu display or 6-button touch control panel on the base of the unit.

The American manufacturer has also debuted a line of LED-based Fresnels named the KL Fresnel Series. With KL standing for Key Light, the series has been designed to produce ‘the warmer, natural key light that designers desire’. A 3,000K fixed colour temperature and high CRI of over 97 is said to ideally mimic the output of tungsten halogen lights. Available in 50W, 150W and 350W models, all KL Fresnel models house a motorised zoom and include barn doors and a filter frame.

www.elationlighting.com

housed in a slim, lightweight, brushed metal frame. onePATT can used for matrix-style and other geometric as well as single source illuminations.

An integral intelligent electronic control system reportedly guarantees flicker-free operation and overtime protection. The LED also provides remote-addressing, calibration, status messaging, a dedicated power supply, easy remote maintenance and longterm reliability, according to the manufacturer.

With a minimum life expectancy of over 20,000 hours, the fixture offers individual control of each RGBW pixel and a variable CTO between 2,700K and 8,000K.

pulses at variable speeds and directions. The electronic shutter provides a variable speed strobe of up to 20 flashes per second. Control of the fixture is via USITT DMX-512, RDM, Art-Net, Kling-Net or sACN protocols. The fixture’s maximum operating ambient temperature is 45°C, the maximum surface temperature is 70°C and the minimum operating temperature is –5°C. onePATT measures 321mm (H), 309mm (W), 151mm (D) and weighs 2.1kg. Up to seven onePATTs can be connected to PATT Driver, the company’s power/databox specifically designed for pixelPATT, PATT 2017 and onePATT products. www.robe.cz

Astra 6X

Sola 6+

Astra 3X

Sola 4+

Projecting to the masses

WITH SIZES ranging from 200 to 265 inches, Elite ProAV has released Saker Plus, a large venue electric motorised projection screen. The screens are available in six sizes: 200, 235 and 265 inches in 4:3 format; and 200, 235 and 265 inches in 16:9 format.

The screens incorporate a MaxWhite 1.1 Gain front projection surface that offers a wide viewing angle and is said to uniformly diffuse light in all directions. They are active 3D, 4K ultra HD and HDR ready, and incorporate standard black masking borders and black screen backing. Ring bolts are included to allow for installation from a suspended ceiling. The RJ-45 port allows third-party

control system integration, while a wireless 5V to 12V trigger is included for synchronised operation with the projector’s power cycle. There is a detachable 3-way wall switch keypad for up/ stop/down manual operations and internal radio frequency/infrared receivers with IR and RF remotes are also included.

The screens are plug-andplay ready and do not require any hardwire installation.

www.eliteproav.com

Christie hits a purple patch

DESIGNED FOR rental, staging

Christie Digital has added the Crimson series of 3DLP laser phosphor projectors to its product catalogue. Capable of delivering up to 25,000 ISO lumens for up to 20,000 hours of light with 60Hz processing, the Crimson Series incorporates BoldColor Technology, TruLife Electronics for ultra-fast processing and Christie Twist warp and blend capabilities. With the addition of Christie Mystique, multiple projector calibration

BroaMan receives a signal

BROAMAN HAS expanded its Repeat48 range with the Repeat48-2Fiber module. It can be used to convert from multi-mode to single-mode fibre or to/from any CWDM or DWDM transceiver thanks to its two SFP cages.

Repeat48-2Fiber supports transceivers up to 12G and can reportedly be used for 12G video or 10G IP systems. ‘It is now possible to fully integrate 12G video with IP video workflows and run all on the same fibre infrastructure, even on single fibre’, stated BroaMan

Individual Repeat48 or Repeat48WDM devices can be equipped with up to 12 Repeat482Fiber modules, or up to six Repeat48-2Fiber modules can be mixed with up to six SDI-Fiber converter modules.

times can be reduced to save both time and set up costs. Housed in a compact form factor almost identical to the Christie Boxer chassis, the Crimson projectors come with an IP5X sealed, solid-state laser light source and provide quiet operation and 360° orientation. For 3D visualisation or simulation applications, the Crimson HD25 and Crimson WU25 projectors offer higher frame rates and up to 120Hz processing.

Existing Christie M Series and Christie J Series customers can

upgrade to the Crimson WU25 and HD25 models without needing to purchase new lenses.

The manufacturer is expanding its D Series line-up with three new single-lamp models,

technical sales manager, Maciek Janiszewski.

Alternatively, SFPs can be used with direct SDI, HDMI or RJ-45 connectivity.

www.broaman.com

which are available with up to 8,100 ISO lumens and both WUXGA and HD resolutions. The projectors offer 65,000:1 contrast ratio, 3,000 hours of lamp life and simplified integration. Reportedly offering high brightness at roughly half the cost of competitive laser phosphor units, the LWU720i-D, LWU620i-D and LHD720i-D projectors have been designed as an alternative to laser phosphor projectors.

www.christiedigital.com

Operation in channel-rich 5GHz frequency l Interference-free in congested site environment l Wired-like wonderful audio quality with maximum clarity l Less than 23ms low latency l Up to 128 Beltpack connection per Base Station l Up to eleven(11) full-duplex audio channels l Up to five(5) group communication channels l Patent-base super-scalable IP based repeater solution l Hands-off like a butterfly & bee l No limitation on the number of Beltpack linkable per RBS25 l Compact Beltpack for high mobility l Compatibilities with other wired systems l AES 256bit level 3 encryption l Mobile Station in the line-up l LaON in-house solution including the wireless SoC and RF module built-in the systems l Easy wiring and installation l More with less cost-effective solution

Saker Plus Crimson

The INTERCOMmunication-maker www.laon-tech.com info@laon-tech.com

LT750 Expert system with 7.2KHz audio frequency response

Large-scale solutions from Aten Big changes in small packages for AV Stumpfl

DESIGNED TO enable faster set up time, lower maintenance requirements and a lower

Total Cost of Ownership, AV

DESIGNED TO demands for large-scale, multiover long distances via a standard

and economical digital signage solutions for a wide range of environments, such as trade shows,

Christened the T-32 Shift, the projection screen leg allows mobile projection height without manufacturer has also made feature of this release is a Hotacquiring all the information without the need to edit IP www.avstumpfl.com

136dB and LF down to 59Hz from a single 10" driver-equipped line array box? You better

conference rooms and shopping

The receiver and transmitter address the challenges that when implementing A/V over IP what Aten describes as ‘no to the manufacturer, users do not www.aten.com

Video editing updates from Grass Valley

GRASS VALLEY has added a number of new features to its Edius Nonlinear Editing Software. Designed for creative and production professionals around the world, Edius 9 incorporates a ‘clouddesigned for large facilities. Edius 9 can be installed across multiple systems and run simultaneously at any given time, adding more licences if needed.

Some of the other enhancements available with Edius 9 include native editing of HDR material; export of HDR; the ability to mix

SDR and HDR material in the same project; native end-toend support for HDR content from professional camcorders; workflow updates; third-party hardware support updates; and third-party hardware

4K 50p/60p output support (only available in Edius Workgroup 9).

In other news, the Canadian manufacturer has developed the T2 Series 3 SD/HD audio/video playout centre that features a 7-inch touchscreen on its front panel in addition to 1-channel input and

2-channel output that can be used simultaneously for recording and playback.

Each T2 Series 3 model – T2 Express 3, T2 Pro 3 and T2 Elite 3

– features increased CPU and memory capacity said to improve stability and reliability. Depending on content format, T2 can accept files via one of its six USB 3.0

Ross introduces Software Defined Production

ROSS VIDEO hopes to provide broadcasters with a progressive growth path to IP focusing on transport-agnostic solutions with

Production (SDP) Ecosystem. The new family of products allows broadcasters to choose the method of transport that is most appropriate for their project and offers myriad adaptability and scalability options.

The SDP setup seeks to facilitate workflows with fewer pieces of equipment by offering multipurpose tools that can be used flexibly to meet particular needs on-demand, rather than a single function.

Software Defined Production

The family comprises the Newt point-of-use IP signal converters and the Raptor Edge openGear module, high-density IP gateway,

both of which are AIMS-compliant, as well as the Gator UHD-capable signal processing modules, the Ultrix processing platform, the

WyreStorm splits transmission

XPression family of real-time motion graphics systems and the DashBoard control and monitoring ecosystem. In addition, the Bach OEM module and Swift SMPTE ST 2110 system-on-chip from Coveloz are included in the SDP family, as are Ross’ new AcuityIP and CarboniteIP production switchers.

AcuityIP and CarboniteIP are native IP versions of the Acuity and mid-sized Carbonite Black production switchers. With the ability to interface with standardsbased SMPTE ST 2110 and ST 2022-6 infrastructures, they are able to connect to COTS IP solutions via standard 10GbE SFP+ interfaces with integrated discovery

ports (two at the front and four at the rear) or by data transfer over a standard Gigabit Ethernet network. ‘T2 Series 3 is flexible, providing one SD/ HD platform for ingest, replay, transmission, editing and content management, while also offering a user-friendly experience, combining VTR-like controls with touchscreen and workstation operation’, explained Pete Semerak, vice president, news, Grass Valley.

www.grassvalley.com

and registration of streams using open control protocols including NMOS, EmBER+ and DashBoard. An optional aggregation switch connects 40GbE or 100GbE interfaces to a core or spine switch. AcuityIP and CarboniteIP retain all the I/O processing features of their SDI family members,’ noted Nigel Spratling, director of production switchers and video servers at Ross Video. ‘Users are able to mix and match IP and SDI interfaces, so each switcher may be used to connect directly to legacy SDI equipment as required, making them ideal for hybrid installations.’

www.rossvideo.com

BOASTING THREE transmission technologies, the SP-0208UHD splitter featuring HDMI and both Class-A and Class-B HDBaseT. It has dual HDMI inputs that can be automatically or manually switched to any of its four HDBaseT Class-B, two HDBaseT Class-A and two HDMI outputs.

According to the manufacturer, the splitter enables the distribution of 4K to 35m or 1080p to 70m using Class-B HDBaseT, or, for longer distances, 4K to 70m and 1080p to 100m. The two HDMI outputs can either feed additional local displays or cascade transmissions to another splitter or matrix switcher.

The SP-0208 is compatible with HDCP 2.2 content, supports 4K 60Hz 4:2:0 and 4K 24Hz with 10-bit HDR and also includes EDID settings to manually adjust a system to the source, PoH to remotely power receivers and Active CEC control.

In related news, the manufacturer has also unveiled a pair of in-wall HDBaseT 5Play transmitter and standalone PoH receiver kits, the TX-IW-70-POH-KIT and TX-SW-IW0201-KIT. Aimed at meeting rooms and classrooms, the 2-Gang in-wall Class-A HDBaseT transmitter and standalone PoH receiver kits offer solutions for the delivery of HDMI and VGA with audio signals.

The wall plates themselves feature front-facing local source connection of either HDMI only (TX-IW-70POH-KIT) or auto-switching HDMI and VGA with audio input (TX-SWIW-0201-KIT). On the reverse of both models is Class-A HDBaseT 5Play supporting transmissions of 4K UHD with HDR and HDCP 2.2, multichannel audio, bidirectional control via IR and RS-232, PoH power and Ethernet pass-through over distances up to 70m or 1080p/60Hz/48bit up to 100m.

As for the RX-70-4K standalone PoH receiver included in each kit, this supports serial routing and CEC pass-through and features Class-A HDBaseT technology and 5Play support. The RX-70-4K can remotely power its in-wall transmitter when used as part of a point-topoint extender system. Signal and device activity is illustrated by panel LED indicators for power supply, signal status for established display connection, Link for confirmed HDBaseT connection between

matrix/receiver and HDCP presence in signal.

Connecting these solutions, the manufacturer has created a line of active optical HDMI cables for the delivery of uncompressed full bandwidth 4K UHD with HDR content. The CAB-HAOC-20 and

CAB-HAOC-30 active optical HDMI cables enable the uncompressed transmission of 18Gbps HDMI content up to 20m or 30m, respectively, supporting full bandwidth 4K/60Hz at 4:4:4 8-bit and HDR 12-bit at 4:2:2 with HDCP 2.2. Both cables have a 20mm cable head width, solid alloy head

T2 Series 3

SP-0208-HDBT-H2

TX-SW-IW-0201-KIT

The CAB-HAOC-30 cable

Pure Array Technology

incredibly thin line array microphones

Capture-KMC20V

Wide horizontal cardioid polar pattern and narrow vertical polar pattern

Horizontal and vertical setup

www.k-array.com

Designing unique audio solutions never dreamed of before.

J8 EVOX J8

ACTIVE TWO-WAY PORTABLE ARRAY

BE AMAZED!

The RCF J8 features a line source satellite module with eight 2” full-range drivers paired with a high-powered 12” woofer in a bass reflex enclosure. All powered by on-board 1400W Class-D amplification. The EVOX J Series maintains a similar footprint to the original EVOX systems, now in a portable composite enclosure. The system offers stunning sound performance with crystal-clear vocal reproduction and unparalleled musical response. Also available in white.

• 128 dB Max SPL

• 1400 Watt 2-way peak power

• DSP Processing with FiRPHASE

• 12” woofer, high power 2.5” voice coil

• 8 x 2” ultra compact fullrange 1.0” voice coil

AJA is Avid for Media Composer Entry-level 4K

SONY’S LATEST entry-level full HD camera system supports 4K and HDR production. The system combines the HXC-FB80 portable camera with the HXCU-FB80 camera control unit and is designed for a wealth of applications.

The HXC-FB80 joins the manufacturer’s HXC product range, shares many of the features found in the HXC-FB75 and has the same configuration options as its predecessors, the HXC-FB80H, HXC-FB80K and HXC-FB80S. The new camera offers a signal-to-noise ratio of –60dB with high sensitivity of F12 at 59.94Hz or F13 at 50Hz, which facilitates low-light shooting as well as a raft of camera painting and processing functionality. It possesses three 169mm CMOS Exmor image sensors and runs at 59.94Hz/50Hz progressive

operation at 1080x1920 between the camera head and HXCU-FB80 camera control unit via 3G. Also supported are 23.98PsF, 25PsF and 29.97PsF shooting. The ND filter can be controlled remotely by an adopted filter servomotor in the camera head alongside the electrical CC filter. Control is available through the CCU front panel or RCP remote operation, including PC-RCP (HZC-RCP5) and the Master Setup Unit (MSU) system.

Meanwhile, the HXCU-FB80 camera control unit upscales HD content to 4K (3840x2160) and delivers a 12G-SDI output in addition to a quad-Link 3G-SDI. A planned firmware update will also add an HD HDR output to support Hybrid Log-Gamma.

pro.sony.com

WITH THE spreading popularity of 4K and the emergence of HDR, AJA has been quietly adding new functionality to some of its most

for the Ki Pro Ultra Plus multichannel recorder and player enables the latest HDR formats with HLG and HDR10 playback, and adds support for the recording and playback of ProRes 4444 XQ.

As well as adding the latest popular video formats to existing products, AJA has also recently partnered

with Avid on the production of the Avid Artist DNxIV, a new hardware interface option for Media Composer. The Thunderbolt 3 capture and output device is said to offer the latest 12G-SDI and HDMI 2.0 I/O connectivity, as well as advanced audio features and 4K/UltraHD support up to 50p/60p frame rates.

The DNxIV is essentially a variant of AJA’s Io 4K Plus but built to Avid’s specifications, adding a built-in audio input for an analogue

microphone on the front of the device and simplifying audio punchin. AJA’s conversion technology facilitates real-time scaling of 4K and UltraHD to HD for monitoring and output. The DNxIV also includes an additional Thunderbolt 3 port for daisy-chaining to other Thunderbolt devices.

Finally, new AJA FiDO converters with 12G-SDI capability have been launched to support the transport of 4K/UltraHD/2K/HD/SD video and audio over distances up to 10km over one optical cable. Models include the TR-12G transceiver, the T-12G single-channel transmitter, the R-12G single-channel receiver, the 2T-12G dual-channel transmitter and the 2R-12G dual-channel receiver. The new models reportedly meet relevant SMPTE specifications.

www.aja.com www.avid.com

Ki Pro Ultra Plus v2.0

Avid Artist DNxIV

CM1008D

ROCK20

Axon identifies the missing link between IP and SDI

AXON DIGITAL Design has released an 8-channel, bidirectional Ethernet/ SDI bridge for broadcasters to negotiate the transition from SDI to IP. The Synapse NIO440 can handle standard, while also supporting core, the Synapse NIO440 handles all conversions between Ethernet/ IP and SDI, while allowing the use of multiple video formats and Ethernet/IP standards at the same time in any combination.

The Synapse NIO440 provides a 4-in/4-out gateway into a distributed switching network, plus a 1GigE connection to a shared data network. Routing between inputs and outputs is achieved through a Layer-2/3 network based on a star topology. Individual switches can be linked by one or more 40Gb/s connections and all connections are made using fibre-optic cables. A connection between

Miniature expansion

NIO440 cards is established when information about the source is entered into the card where the signal is to be routed to, while the source can be routed to as many destinations as the network

a control system such as Axon’s Cerebrum solution to detect, name and provide user-friendly interfaces, routing is simplified. In addition, the

AZilPix’ wide-angle and fisheye lenses

bridge can be used for point-topoint video/audio/data and point to multi-point routing and distribution connections using IT switches.

The Dutch manufacturer is also shipping a 6K lens for its AZilPix Studio.One system that enables stitchless generation of 360°

employing ultra-high resolution cameras with wide-angle or fisheye lenses to capture a live event from multiple angles, Studio.One has been designed to integrate into both traditional and IP broadcast applications for blending seamlessly with VR video production. Studio.One consists

MAKE YOUR VENUE A FOCUS VENUE.

NEXT GENERATION BEAM STEERING TECHNOLOGY FOR LARGE CONCERT SOUND APPLICATIONS. FOCUS VENUE BY FOHHN.

of a camera, capture server and processing software whereby the server ingests the raw, wide-angle video data from the cameras for recording and live processing into one or more rectilinear views and a view mosaic. Framing can also be carried out offline at the viewing or camera with a zoom lens on a pantilt unit for close-up views, a single operator can capture perfect shots from multiple vantage points using the software-based ‘virtual camera’ cutouts.

www.axon.tv

DESIGNED TO provide connectivity, performance and reliability for huddle rooms and web-streaming applications, the CV502-U3 high-

Marshall Electronics incorporates adjustment settings, interchangeable lenses and secure mounting options. It provides plug-and-play connectivity to any Mac, PC or input infrastructure and uses video capture drivers that include common computer software and soft codecs.

The CV502-U3 delivers up to 1920x1080p resolution at 60/59.94/50 frame rates. It supports a low 0.2 lux rating, ships with an interchangeable 2.3mm, 126° angleof-view HD lens and is equipped with an adjustable, heavy-duty monitor/ desk mount that can be adapted to any installation using a ¼-inch-20 with thumb-screw locks reportedly allows users to operate the camera without having to repeatedly set it up.

www.marshall-usa.com

It’s that easy:

1. Rig the electronically steerable line array straight – safely and quickly.

2. Adjust its vertical beam dispersion using just one piece of software – intuitively, in real time, in precise 0.1° steps – and enjoy extremely even sound distribution.

3. If necessary: Adjust the beam for changing sound reinforcement situations.

Experience Focus Venue live – the Beam Steering system for large halls, stadia, and open-air events! Just register for a no-obligation Autumn product demonstration: +49 7022 93323-0 or info@fohhn.com

A sporting shot in the dark

FOR-A’S FT-ONE-LS and FT-ONE-LS-12G cameras take the compact size and portability of the FT-ONE 4K and provide additional mobility by allowing the camera head to be separated from the body. This, the manufacturer states, enables ‘unprecedented shooting positions or angles for live sports or

The new cameras possess a ²/³-inch lens and are also said to offer improved performance in low lighting conditions, such as at evening sporting events and indoor arenas, that typically prove troublesome for some high-frame-

rate cameras. This is because is available as an optional feature. frames per second (fps) in 4K and LS supports two SSM lenses in 4K EVS XT-3. Meanwhile, the FT-ONE-

Small body, big brain

LS-12G supports eight SSM in 4K with a dedicated video server. Alternatively, it supports three SSM running with EVS XT-3. www.for-a.com

IP-based sports production from NewTek

DESIGNED TO automatically translate connected SDI sources to NDI, the 3Play 3P1 from NewTek offers both NDI and SDI input, cross conversion and output.

telestration reportedly allows users to start, stop and scrub video in

NewTek LivePanel, according to the manufacturer. Multichannel recording, internal transitions and social media publishing also feature. With Ethernet connectivity, 3Play 3P1 is described as ideal for contemporary sports networks, production companies, professional

COMBINING THE power of its XS AV Matrix Series with the size and features of the V-1 video is a small footprint, multi-format matrix switcher with multi-screen monitor, main and side screens, and picture-in-picture (PinP) inputs with scalers and scaled outputs. It accepts signals from a

variety of sources such as cameras and computers, making it ideal for corporate production, worship and rental applications.

Frame synchronisation and scaling are provided on all inputs.

The 4:4:4/10-bit processing accommodates resolutions up to WUXGA/1080p. In addition to matrix switching, a split mode allows up to three inset windows to be composited into a background video for PinP applications, while switcher mode provides seamless

transitions between videos, or PinP or key-compositing, with multi-view preview for real-time operation. Event setups can be recalled from scene memories, and the USB memory stores switcher settings as well as still images.

Two channels of line level audio I/Os are provided through RCA jacks. Audio can be mixed internally mixer, while audio embedding and de-embedding is also supported, with delay control for lip-sync adjustments.

For installed use, the device 232 for controls from PC or touch panels, and EDID to auto-configure output resolutions in smart displays.

proav.roland.com

Hippotizer comes prepared with updates

HIPPOTIZER PREP has been users to encode, pre-programme and visualise content from a PC or laptop. A pre-programming software tool, it offers unlimited watermarked outputs, allowing users to plug-and-play projects of

Unlimited mixes can be assigned to one or more outputs, while the Prep dongle provides 10 notch effects, which enables users system to create interactive and generative content, as well as live video effects in a single workflow.

hardware, it brings new features such as NDI (video over Ethernet) send and receive, a new tabbed selector, drag-and-drop pin board creation and editing functionality for ZooKeeper, and Notes and Tags functionality that allows users to tag media with key words and search them by those tags

under media select. There is also an enhanced UI for Shape, which groups options and is provided with nulls, parenting and bulkediting functionality. Controllers in Shape can now move objects in real-time and in 3D, while GPU selection enables ‘better Play and

www.green-hippo.com

paradigms for sports production and replay from

3Play systems have also been incorporated.

3Play 3P1 can be integrated

TC1 and NVG1 Graphics Server production suite delivering a full IP workflow. The solution supports custom user interfaces that can be built from any browser on any networked device via

sports organisations, college athletic programmes, esports producers and venues limited by conventional replay systems that wish to use networking technology and interconnected production workflows.

www.newtek.com

Panasonic signs the way

PANASONIC HAS unveiled four

to offer high operability ideal for staging and digital signage. All four displays offer a brightness 2 for viewing in bright spaces and wide-view IPS/E-LED panel technology. The E-LED backlighting is said to be energy around the clock.

is said to reduce the installation time of multi-unit installations by allowing users to save the settings from one screen and transfer to another via USB. Users can connect displays using a LAN network to clone menu settings

and adjust values from one screen to another. Colour adjustment allows for brightness and colour matching across multiple screens, while image adjustment options allow users to change the settings to suit their chosen image. Failover and Failback functions keep images on display even if the signal fails. The display switches to a back-up signal and switches back to the main signal as soon as the signal is reconnected.

Early Warning Software is said to reduce downtime by allowing users to identify problems before they occur, while Multi Monitoring and Control Software allow users to control and monitor over 2,000 devices.

www.panasonic.com

TH-65SF2

FT-ONE-LS

Broadcast 3.0

AdiPdti

mc2 96 – Grand Production Console

With experience gathered over more than 40 years, German audio innovator Lawo is distinguished by its engineering and manufacturing of the most reliable and most advanced audio mixing consoles available. Originally developed for mobile and studio broadcast environments with zero tolerance for failure, Lawo consoles are also widely chosen for their audio quality in theater, studio and live performance applications.

With the mc² 96, the mc² platform is pushed beyond limitations, culminating in a pure, unparalleled audio production tool dedicated to those who can tell the difference. Whether it’s intended to be used in broadcast, theater or recording – in each of these applications it stands out with a unique set of features. The mc² 96 provides optimized performance within IP video production environments with native SMPTE 2110 support. In addition, the revolutionary LiveViewTM feature enables thumbnail previews of video streams directly in the fader labeling displays, and innovative mix-assist systems support the engineer in achieving outstanding results.

Curious? Visit bit.ly/LAWOmc96 for details.

Digital Projection in resolution revolution bid

DIGITAL PROJECTION has introduced what it describes available 8K DLP Laser Projector along with a new 2D and 3D LED display solution. The Insight Dual Laser 8K projector promises to offer ‘the ultimate solution for the and immersive visualisation and large-venue applications’, while solutions displaying bright and vivid imagery ‘thanks to a broad dynamic range and high colour bit-depth’.

The new Dual Laser Projector 8K resolution (7680x4320) performance equates to 33 million pixels and 25,000 ANSI lumens of solid-state, laser phosphor illumination. In addition to the resolution and lumen performance, it uses proven DLP technology incorporating 3x1.38 DarkChip, DMD chips and Digital Projection’s ColorMax technology. These are reportedly vital imaging characteristics when matching

projectors in tiled or blended applications.

Lamp replacements are never required due to the solid-state laser illumination system. Other features include the simplification of blending multiple projectors, as laser projectors are closely matched ‘out of the box’ for colour and brightness. It also features MultiAxis orientation capability of portrait or landscape use and every angle in between, and there are optional high-performance lenses.

Eiki sees red

USING BOTH blue and red lasers that it claims result in ‘superior colour performance’, Eiki’s EK-820U (1920x1200) is a 10,000 lumens projector boasting a contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1.

Intended for use in large venues, the EK-820U features a sealed optical engine design (IPX6) that provides dust protection. Its laser

light source is rated for 20,000 hours.

Traditional laser projectors typically incorporate just a blue laser. The addition of a red laser reportedly results in greater brightness and a higher red colour ratio without diminishing the blue or green performance. The unit features USB Type A and B connectors, as well

Meanwhile, Digital Projection’s new 2D and 3D LED videowall offers a full HD 1080p imagery and ultra-HD 4K for various installations including retail, broadcast, command and control, visitor attraction, house of worship as well as rental entertainment applications.

It is built on a native 16:9 aspect ratio and there are four models to choose from (Radiance LED 1.2, 1.5, 1.9 and 2.5).

The new Black SMD LED range offers up to 1,000 nits of brightness,

a contrast ratio of 3,000:1 and a 120Hz refresh rate. The lifetime span is also to be rated at 50,000 hours.

The wall solutions also provide a 160° viewing angle and a fan-less panel design. Radiance LED walls are also rated for 24/7 operation and can be configured with power

and signal redundancy for mission critical applications. Each panel is front-service accessible. This makes it possible to service any panel within the display without disrupting the alignment of any other panel.

www.digitalprojection.com

as RJ-45 connectors for HDBaseT and Ethernet. The projector also provides support for RS-232 control

as well as an input for a dedicated wired infrared remote. Additional connectivity includes HDMI input

and output, HD-SDI, a DVI-D connector and VGA I/O. Key features include horizontal and vertical lens shift, h/v keystone correction, edge blending and a warping engine. There are eight optional lenses available, encompassing throw/ width ratios from 0.36 to 15.24. www.eiki.com

The world’s first 3LCD laser ultra-short throw projectors

for use in classrooms and corporate meeting spaces. It purportedly works on ‘nearly any flat surface, turning it into an interactive, touch-enabled digital whiteboard’. Supporting screen sizes of up to 100 inches, it is capable of seamless interactivity across dual screens, as two EB1470Ui projectors can be paired side-by-side to create an ultra-wide, 177-inch interactive screen.

Desktop connectivity allows the projectors to access remote PCs in other locations.

EPSON HAS unveiled what it claims short throw projector, the EB-700U, alongside an interactive version, the EB-1470Ui. These projectors combine inorganic 3LCD panels with an inorganic phosphor wheel and are aimed at organisations seeking solutions with minimal

maintenance and low cost of operation. They each offer a laser light source, which provides up to 20,000 hours of operation and delivers 4,000 lumens of white and colour brightness, as well as a WUXGA beyond full HD resolution of 1920x1200 pixels. The interactivity of the EB-1470Ui makes it suited

The EB-1470Ui can also be used to create an interactive table-top with an optional table mount. This allows users to annotate Microsoft Office documents using the Microsoft Ink function. An interactive digital whiteboard is in-built, allowing content to be shared with up to 15 laptops and mobile devices on the same network. Users are able to write on the digital whiteboard or any image projected from a non-PC

source, including smart devices, document cameras or Blu-ray players. Alternatively, the Multi-PC Projection software enables up to 50 laptops and mobile devices to connect to a single projector for viewing, while Microsoft Remote

The EB-700U, meanwhile, can project images of up to 130 inches in portrait or landscape. With its ultra-short throw, multi-direction projection capability and ability to operate without a PC (content can be fed from a USB drive), the manufacturer is targeting digital signage applications for projection in confined retail settings and corporate or public spaces. It features 360° rotation and reportedly starts up within 5s. With a contrast ratio of 2,500,000:1, the EB-700U presents myriad connectivity options, as well as remote management and control tools.

www.epson.com

Insight Dual Laser 8K

EB-700U

EB-1470Ui

Another Sennheiser evolution

The U 67 returns

The manufacturer states that the

evolution wireless

EVOLUTION WIRELESS G4 from Sennheiser comes with a new user

a multichannel functionality for the

The microphone has been base sets in the 300 series, plus www.sennheiser.com

Any place, any time

SIMPLICITY IS

for a performance with an acoustic the microphone capsule has been setup consists of a microphone,

the microphone to a table or control wireless systems with a also allows users to calculate multichannel setups prior to an www.beyerdynamic.com

elastic suspension, a microphone

www.neumann.com

Antelope makes a match

transistor schematic that features in www.antelopeaudio.com

NEUMANN’S ICONIC U 67 tube

become iconic for the Neumann

ANTELOPE AUDIO

Fox is a USB microphone from beyerdynamic

The U 67 is back

G4

DF magnetic

LAVOCE ITALIANA’S new DF14.30T and DF20.30T are 1.4-inch and 2-inch exit ferrite magnet compression drivers designed for high-power, 2-way or 3-way applications.

Both units present 110W AES power handling and 107.5dB sensitivity and feature a patent-pending phase plug design that reportedly lowers the risk of unwanted distortions from the

Compact solutions from Celestion

UK MANUFACTURER Celestion

in its new AF range of ‘valuepriced, weather-resistant,

Designed for use in compact line arrays, column speakers and compact single-speaker applications, the 3-inch AF3010 and 4-inch AF4010 are said to complement the company’s existing AN series of line array drivers.

edgewound CCA voice coil on a reinforced polyimide former for highpower handling, reliability and the possibility of a low crossover point.

Also new from the Italian transducer manufacturer is the WAN103.01, a 10-inch ‘high-sensitivity (98dB) and high-power neodymium magnet’, which has been designed for line array and mid-bass applications. It has a 450W AES power rating and is built with a 3-inch copper clad aluminium voice coil, die-cast basket, FEM-optimised motor structure and suspensions.

www.lavocespeakers.com

A narrow and slanted Vue

coat of transparent, candy-apple red over a black base.

introduction of the h-8N, a narrow dispersion sibling to the h-8, and the hm-108A precision slant stage monitor.

Both new models feature the manufacturer’s VueDrive electronics with DSP programmed specifically for each transducer/cabinet pairing, and built-in, dual-channel, Class-D amplification. They are each designed to maintain the same aesthetic look as their h-Class brothers and sisters, including grill and handle surrounds finished with the manufacturer’s signature, 2-part

The h-8N offers 60° coverage. Its driver setup is identical to that of the h-8, with an 8-inch transducer and a neodymium compression driver that are complemented on the high frequencies with a response beyond 25kHz by a Truextent beryllium diaphragm at the system’s core.

DAS Audio adds power

DAS AUDIO has unveiled two powered models as part of its Event series: the Event-212A line array and the Event-121A subwoofer, aimed at providing Event series users with the possibility of handling an even wider range of applications.

The Event-212A is a powered, 3-way line array that employs two DAS 12-inch loudspeakers in a dual band configuration where each speaker operates in a specific frequency range. The DAS loudspeaker units have been combined with a single M-75 compression driver and an

The lightweight (around 600g) AF series, when combined with existing AN drivers, will provide users with a wider range of driver sizes and construction types ‘to suit all design budgets’. The AF3010 and AF4010 feature ferrite magnets and coated paper cones in a pressed-steel chassis.

The AF3010 is a 35W driver with a sensitivity of 87dB (at 1W/1m) and a frequency range of 120Hz to 19kHz. The larger AF4010 also delivers 35W, with a higher sensitivity of 88dB and a frequency range of 100Hz to 16kHz. The manufacturer developed the

range to optimise acoustic and electromagnetic performance and deliver wider dispersion to higher frequencies.

In other news, Celestion has also developed two small-format coaxial drivers, the TFX0512 and TFX0615. Designed to provide a cost-effective partner to the company’s FTX series of coaxial units, both drivers feature a ferrite motor driving the low-frequency element. For high-frequency

reproduction, the TFX0512 and TFX0615 include a ¾-inch and 1-inch neodymium magnet element and silk diaphragm, respectively.

The compact size of the HF unit means that it can be positioned inside the LF driver’s voice coil, reportedly providing wellmatched directivity and time alignment of the LF and HF signals.

www.celestion.com

injected aluminium high-frequency waveguide to provide ‘unmatched performance, sensitivity and coverage’ in both the 90° and 120° formats.

The line array incorporates the DAScontrol interface said to offer a hassle-free setup and easy alignment with the Event-218A and Event-121A subwoofer systems.

in the array, HF compensation for throw distances and correction for the splay angle can be selected via DAScontrol and the LCD screen on the back of the cabinet. The array includes FIR filters reportedly to provide a linear phase response and precise impulse response that add clarity and a more natural sound.

Meanwhile, the hm108A, which includes the same 8-inch transducer and beryllium-infused compression driver as the h-8 and h-8N, is designed for critical foldback applications such as in theatres and for reinforcing choirs.

The h-Class isn’t the only Vue family to welcome a new arrival, as the al-12 line array clan increases in size with the addition of the al-12SB flyable subwoofer. The al-12SB has been designed to deliver ‘well-defined, low-frequency

reproduction to below 35Hz’. Its rigging options include the ability to be suspended above or behind al-12 cabinets in an assortment of configurations, such as cardioid arrangements, and as the base of a ground-stacked al-12 array. al-12SBs can also be deployed as a standalone sub array in a variety of flown or ground-stacked configurations. Inside the al-12SB are a pair of specially designed 18-inch transducers and a large neodymium magnetic structure with 5-inch voice coils.

www.vueaudio.com

that incorporates a 4-inch sandwich split winding voice coil, an FEA-optimised neodymium magnet assembly and an FEA-optimised suspension system with double silicon spider.

The Event-121A is a directradiating, rear-loaded powered subwoofer that incorporates a single 21-inch neodymium loudspeaker to provide low-frequency reproduction for Event series line arrays. The sub uses the DAS 21LFN loudspeaker

The Event-121A electronics package includes a 3,200 Wpeak Class-D amplifier and a 24-bit DSP. On the rear panel are controls for gain, polarity and a variable lowpass filter that ranges from 63Hz to 100Hz, while a cardioid preset button is said to simplify the use of subs in cardioid configurations. The sub is phase response coherent with the Event-208A, Event-210A and Event-212A.

www.dasaudio.com

h-8N and hm-108A

Event-212A

Event-121A

AF3010

TFX0615

Lavoce’s DF20.30T

Lavoce’s WAN103.01

Compacting Vio

dBTECHNOLOGIES HAS introduced a pair of ‘compact’ cabinets to its standalone solution, or as part of a

transducers are located behind

www.dbtechnologies.com

T is for tighter budgets

to set a precise inclination of the that comes as standard,

Shrinking bass with Precision

distortion and precise dispersion

AUDIO introduced its opposite end of the price point

Bose goes all in

The series comprises a pair of consistent horizontal and vertical dispersion across frequencies, www.adam-audio.com

BUILDING ON the success of the

to produce a ‘transient response and means that its output is solid ‘At this sort of size, most other manufacturers use bass reflex www.funktion-one.com

pro.bose.com

ADAM

Vio L208

T7V and T5V nearfield monitors

AT moves to the next generation

AUDIO-TECHNICA HAS launched the third and fourth generations of its 5000 and 3000 Series, respectively.

The 5000 Series dual receiver has been updated with a tuning bandwidth from 470MHz to 700MHz and users now have the option of selecting a standard receiver with two balanced XLR outputs or a receiver that also includes a Dante output. The full-rack receiver chassis holds two independent receivers and offers antenna power, frequency scan, IR sync functionality, a ground-lift switch and a front panel headphone jack.

Two transmitters are available for use with the 5000 Series: the ATW-T5201 bodypack transmitter and the ATW-T5202 handheld transmitter. They are available in two frequency

ranges: DE1 (470MHz to 590MHz) and EG1 (580MHz to 700MHz). The compact ATW-T5201 is equipped with the manufacturer’s new cH-style, screw-down, 4-pin connector, while the ATW-T5202 includes a high-pass filter.

The new 3000 Series systems are available in four frequency bands: DE2 (470MHz to 530MHz), EE1 (530MHz to 590MHz), EF1 (590MHz to 650MHz) and FG1 (650MHz to 700MHz). Frequencies can be scanned and selected on the receiver

Dante options for Burl Motherships

and synced with the transmitter via IR sync functionality. System configurations feature an ATW-R3210 receiver along with an ATW-T3201 bodypack or ATW-T3202 handheld transmitter. The ATW-T3201 is also equipped with the cH-style, screw-down, 4-pin connector, while the ATW-T3202 comes with either an ATW-C510 dynamic or ATW-C710 condenser interchangeable cardioid capsule.

www.audio-technica.com

myMix adds Dante compatibility

myMIX II is a v2 update of the myMix personal monitor mixing and recording system that includes Dante compatibility, making it suitable for studio as well as live

use. The new system features an ‘ultra-quiet performance’ and two network inputs, which can be mic, line or instrument level. It can

be operated as a self-contained unit or integrated with any analogue or digital mixing console.

BURL AUDIO has released two motherboards, the BMB3 and the BMB4. The BMB3 is a Dante option for the B80 and B16 Motherships and features two Ethernet ports for use with Dante-enabled DAWs and any Dante-enabled device. With two Dante ports, 64-in/64-out (at 44.1k, 48k, 88.2k and 96k) and 32-in/32-out (at 176.4k and 192k) are supported. The BMB4 features an Ethernet port for 64 I/O channels of Waves SoundGrid connectivity. With six BAD8s and four BDA8s, a 48x32 I/O can be achieved. When Motherships, the I/O possibilities are described as limitless.

The Dante connectivity is available via any format –Dante, MADI, ADAT

or analogue – and will reportedly operate with any digital console on the market.

www.mymixaudio.com

BMB3

Leading the way

NEW YEAR’S

EVE PARTIES

ARE BIG

BUSINESS

FOR Chinese broadcasters. However, only three live broadcast licences are issued by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television of the People’s Republic of China. Those unlucky stations denied permission to broadcast live as one year gives way to the next get around the issue by holding their parties either before or after New Year’s Eve. In 2017, for the second year running, Zhejiang Television Leading 2018 Concert from 19:30 to midnight on 30 December in the 20,000-capacity Spring Cocoon Stadium, or Shenzhen Bay Stadium.

The concert featured artists from Zhejiang Television’s popular 2017 TV programmes, including Running Man and tutors from Sound of my Dream, as well as popular singers such as Jolin Tsai, William Chan, Chris Lee, GEM and Teresa Carpio.

The Shenzhen Spring Cocoon Stadium, named for its resemblance to a silkworm cocoon, is open to the elements,

although the partial roof curves inwards to cover the seating. It is constructed from steel and Low-E (low emissivity) glass that lets in the daylight while keeping out the heat. Despite its advantages, such architecture and the resulting acoustics can be somewhat challenging for a sound team working on events.

‘Not much thought went into the acoustics of this place,’ comments the show’s sound director, Jin Shaogang. ‘Apart from the glass, the seats at the back form a big notch where they meet the roof. The sound from the main system will gather here, creating lots of reflection.’

Mr Jin has worked on many shows in the stadium, most recently WangFeng 2017 The Times tour in Shenzhen. But as this concert was to be broadcast live on TV, he came up with a different sound system design using L-Acoustics speakers.

A three-sided stage stretching across one of the longer sides of the elliptical stadium was built for the show. An L-Acoustics K2 line source solution consisting of an L-R main system of 14 flown cabinets covered the audience, with eight K1-SB subwoofers flown behind each K2 hang. Four front-fill systems of three L-Acoustics Kara cabinets were stacked on the left and right sides of the stage to cover the first five rows of the audience, with five subwoofer stacks, each consisting of three L-Acoustics KS28s, in front of the stage.

The stadium bleachers consisting of three tiers of seating were covered by delay towers. Two of these, at the left- and right-hand sides of the bleachers, contained nine K2s with four further K2s stacked in the centre of the racetrack. Another three K2s stacked on the left and right covered the audiences on the edge of the first tier. There was only one audience tier on each of the shorter sides of the stadium, which were covered by an L-R delay system of six L-Acoustics dV-Dosc speakers per side. A total of 24 X15HiQ coaxial speakers were used as stage monitors, and all speakers were powered by L-Acoustics LA12X amplified controllers.

‘We’ve rarely used delay towers in this venue before, and usually I will use L-Acoustics K1 as the main system, as it has a longer throw,’ explains Mr Jin. ‘But this time I chose its little brother K2, and didn’t use as many cabinets as before in terms of quantity. Because this was an on-air show, the system design had to make sure the sound capture for TV was clean. The main system only covered to the edge of the stadium racetrack, and the bleachers were covered by the delay tower. This was to prevent the sound

Photography courtesy of Wang Tiequn

An L-Acoustics system was chosen for the first live televised concert in China to welcome 2018. Sue Su counts down

K2 delay system

Wang Tiequn from systems provider Hangzhou Dasi Stage Art

bouncing back after it gathered in the notch formed by the roof and the bleachers, which would have made the sound capture for TV very unclean.’

The stage set also created a lot of challenges when it came to sound reinforcement. ‘The stage set design wasn’t ideal for us, because there was a very long catwalk in the middle of the stage,’ he continues. ‘This meant the acts were performing in front of the speakers, which also meant their microphones were capturing sound in front of the speakers. Thus, a lot of unwanted sound would be picked up by the microphones, which was quite a challenge both for the directivity of the speakers as well as for our tuning technique.

‘The horizontal angle of K2 is adjustable, so we varied this from 0° through to 6° to cover the audience. Furthermore, this prevented the main system from affecting the monitor speakers and in-ear monitors used by the performers on the catwalk.’

Thanks to the flexible L-Acoustics rigging system, the arrays didn’t need to be lowered during adjustment, and neither did the flying point need to be changed.

‘As K2 is a high-power, long-throw speaker, both power and SPLs were able to meet my requirements,’ he continues. ‘And above all, it retains a very good timbre in the high frequencies and transients as well as damping low frequencies at high SPLs, which allowed me to control the speakers well.’

The sound source was split into three by Klark Teknik Square One and DN1248 Plus-FM mic splitters for the PA system, music and vocal broadcast mix and final broadcast mix, respectively.

Two DiGiCo SD5 digital consoles for the PA system, one of which was a backup, and a SD10 for speech mixing, were located at FOH, while the two SD7 monitor consoles were located in a control room next to the stage. Two mirrored SD5s in one of the broadcast control rooms were used for the vocal broadcast mix, while the music broadcast mix was provided by a SD7B in an OB van. Music and speech broadcast signals were sent to a Lawo mc256 console in another broadcast control room for final mixing, which was also set up with five Genelec 8340 monitors and a 7370 subwoofer.

‘DiGiCo is very powerful in terms of building a network,’ says monitor engineer, Zuo Xin. ‘All consoles for the PA system were linked via a fibre network. No matter where we needed a signal from, we could get it from the stagebox, which was very convenient.’

Mr Zuo was working on one of the SD7s along with monitor engineer, Xu Zhen. ‘Starting from Voice of China in 2015, we began to work separately on two consoles, and found this reduced the workload, so we kept working like this,’ he continues. The concept of the stage design was to give the appearance that all performances were happening in a modern city. The stage was divided into three performance areas by four towers of LEDs, with an 8m wide x 20m high LED screen in the central area. Two smaller LED screens were mounted in each of the left and right performance areas, while a further two LED screens extending to either side of the stage provided a 3D display.

A complex situation was created by the many radio frequencies in use in the area, which was added to by the LED screens and projectors used on the show. These would all bring a lot of interference to the wireless microphone system, so to minimise the problems this would cause, the sound team chose to use both Sennheiser Digital 6000 and Shure Axient digital wireless systems. ‘We used more than 60 frequencies, and two systems allowed us to have more choice in terms of frequency range,’ explains Mr Zuo. ‘Many in-ear monitors were used on the show and, if we’d only used one system, it would have been very difficult to add the frequency of the IEMs into the wireless system.’

Some 12 channels of Sennheiser Digital 6000 and 40 channels of Shure Axient Digital were used with DPA d:facto II, DPA 4088 headset, Neumann KK205 capsules, and Shure KSM8 and KSM9 capsules. In-ear monitoring was provided by 10 channels of Shure’s PSM 1000 personal in-ear monitor system. Both Sennheiser and Shure’s distributor, ACE, had sent engineers to help with frequency planning and on-site support. ‘Wireless systems are more and more popular in large-scale shows now,’ continues Mr Zuo. ‘However, in China, people still do not pay enough attention to this. I think we should be employing a dedicated wireless engineer.’

The whole sound system was provided by Hangzhou Dasi Stage Art Technologies, with L-Acoustics and DiGiCo distributor Rightway Audio Consultants providing full support for the entire show. Wang Tiequn from Hangzhou Dasi was especially appreciative of the service provided by the Rightway team, which consisted of technical director Zhou Fengxin, technical engineer Li Wenhao and Pan Weijie. ‘I haven’t been using L-Acoustics for a very long time, but I have many friends and customers who have, and the brand often appears on riders, so choosing it can make the whole procedure smoother. But good products only impact 50% of my decision. The more important part is the service. Rightway always responds very quickly, and this means a lot to us.’

When Pro AVL Asia arrived at the stadium, Mr Jin was about to align the system, which had already been rigged by the sound team. Acknowledging the sound quality and the hard work carried out by the sound team, he commented: ‘You can hear the sound is very clean, which means the alignment of the whole system has already been done very well.’

And with the prestige of being the first TV station to welcome in the New Year, getting it right from the start was crucial to the day’s proceedings.

www.digico.biz

Jin Shaogang with the DiGiCo SD5 at FOH

Flying high

The new Terminal 4 at Singapore’s Changi Airport opened in October 2017 with a Bosch PA system adding to the passenger experience. Caroline Moss checks in

SINGAPORE IS A NATION THAT PRIDES ITSELF ON CUTTINGedge developments, and the new Terminal 4 at Changi is no exception. Currently rated the World’s Best Airport by consultancy set high. So to demonstrate that passengers travelling to and from the terminal would have an even better experience, a new concept was rolled out. Fast and Seamless Travel (FAST) at Changi hints at what to expect, from start-to-end automated check in, automated bag drop and immigration clearing to actually boarding

functioning is the PA system installed throughout the terminal by Robert Bosch Security Solutions (RBSS).

RBSS’ involvement began back in 2013, when the company entered the tendering process set by the Changi Airport Group. Bosch systems are already installed in two of the other three terminals, so the client was already familiar with the company’s products. RBSS was awarded a contract to install a solution based around its Praesideo digital public address and emergency sound system and incorporating more than 3,500 loudspeakers throughout the terminal.

‘The public address system here serves three main purposes,’ explains Jitendra Kumar, project manager at RBSS. ‘The first one is emergency evacuation messages. The second is to make announcements or calls from a central announcement room, including any flight or gate changes and occasional messages. The third use is for background music.’

Unsurprisingly, the scale of the project was unprecedented for the company. ‘We have provided security systems for airports, but this is the first airport PA we have done, and our biggest-ever PA project,’ says Jerome Lim, sales manager at RBSS. ‘The number of zones is easily about 20 times bigger than an average project.’

The PA zone tally exceeds 150, including 21 departure and seven bus gates, departure and arrivals halls, duty-free shops and all public areas inside and outside the terminal. Building work started in 2014, with RBSS attending project meetings from the middle of the year and starting cabling works and small speaker installations in 2015. By 2016, the company was moving its equipment racks in, working closely with systems integrator Commercial Industrial Supplies and Services (CISS), which handled the whole installation.

‘We needed to cover the entire area, which consisted of lots of different surfaces, with uniform sound,’ explains Mr Kumar.

Bosch steerable line array column speakers, including the active LA3-VARI-BH, LA3-VARI-BH+E and LA3-VARI-BH+E+E, have been installed into pillars throughout the departure hall and departure lounge for announcements and background music. LBC 3099/31 ceiling speakers have been used in high-ceilinged corridor areas in the departure lounge, with LHM 0626/00 ceiling speakers for tenanted shops.

‘There are pillars everywhere throughout the airport, into which we have installed our beam steering speakers that can directly project the sound at ear level,’ explains Mr Kumar. ‘Some of the areas are fully carpeted so the reverberation time is very low, and the sound quality is good. However, the departure hall is constructed from marble with carpeted flooring and has the highest SPLs. This means it has a slightly higher reverberation time, comparatively, to other areas. So here we have used our

Jitendra Kumar, RBSS; Chua Yong Khiang, CISS; Jerome Lim, RBSS

The kinetic artwork responds to audio detection

Discover how Integrate can create exceptional experiences for your business and what’s next for the industry by exhibiting in 2018.

backend equipment to EQ the speakers for optimum sound quality.’

High frequency extension units have been installed where the sound needs to be projected the furthest; these can double the distance of the standard speakers, reaching up to 50m. Further column speakers, the LA1-UM40E-1, have been installed throughout passport control in departures as well as the baggage hall, while LBC 3011/41 box speakers can be found in M&E (mechanical and electrical) rooms, offices, corridors and stairwells, and a large quantity of LHM 0626/00, LBC 3950/01 and LBC 3099/31 ceiling speakers cover areas such as offices, staff and public corridors, toilets, shops, F&B outlets, baggage hall, departure lounge, transit corridors, meeting areas, immigration hall and transit coach waiting areas.

Bosch LBC 3491/12 and LBC 3492/12 horn speakers have been installed for emergency announcements in open areas with high ceilings, such as M&E rooms, AHU (air handling unit) rooms, multistorey car parks, baggage handling systems and taxi holding areas, while Sound Projector LBC 3430/02 speakers cover sheltered walkways in the coach holding areas.

was a rock solid support throughout the project phase,’ says Mr Kumar. ‘He contributed to the design aspects of the project and eventually helped during the testing and commissioning phase as well. Meanwhile, Jimmy was instrumental in the setup of the physical racks and equipment in our office and performed pretesting. Later on he set up the equipment racks onsite and did the overall internal wiring, system programming and testing and commissioning.’

The Bosch steerable line array column speakers are connected to Electro-Voice N8000 NetMax digital matrix controllers. The redundant N8000s are located in PA rooms on the landside and the PA room at airside north.

Bosch PRS-CSR call station remote microphones have been installed throughout the terminal, where they can be used for distances up to 1km, connected via Cat-6 cabling. The paging station configuration has been set up for standard customer service and staff operation announcements, providing advanced control and monitoring from a touchscreen interface. They are being used in T4’s fault management centre (FMC), fire command centre (FCC), arrival hall, two information centres in the departure lounge, SATS baggage office, baggage handling system control room and lost and found. Changi’s CAR (central announcement room) located in T2 is connected to T4 via a redundant fibre-optic backbone using ring topology. ‘One of the challenging parts of this installation was running the fibre cabling all the way from T2 to the ramp tower,’ explains Mr Chua. ‘It’s a distance of 2km and it had to go underground.’

All data and audio are transported in the form of IP packets via this fibre-optic network backbone. The T2 CAR is installed with a customised touchscreen microphone interface paging station. This consists of a dual microphone interface and dual monitor (one standard, one touchscreen) workstation. This is used for remote emergency and business announcements, and provides advanced control via touchscreen interface and dedicated zone status monitoring via LCD screen. The dual redundant microphone interface provides primary and secondary audio inputs for integration to external microphone systems.

As the entire system is fully integrated, RBSS needed to incorporate some third-party devices into its design, including contact-to-fibre converters from ComNet, audio to fibre converters from Optical System Design and network switches from Allied Telesis. ‘We purchased the necessary equipment and assembled and tested it in our office before uninstalling it and bringing it to the airport,’ explains Mr Kumar. ‘So although we doubled up our workload, we knew exactly how it would work, eliminating any last-minute surprises. In the end, this turned out to be a very good upfront investment of time and effort as the system was integrated seamlessly on site, and worked very smoothly.’

Onsite, space constraints had to be taken into account during the construction stage. ‘We had to run the trunking and cabling in parallel with other ELV (extra low voltage) services and this involved a lot of onsite coordination as the given site space for such services was limited,’ explains Chua Yong Khiang, project manager for CISS. ‘To overcome the challenge of this space constraint, and to achieve smooth onsite coordination and installation of the cable support system, we used BIM (Building Information Modelling) software. As this allows 3D modelling, we were able to see a clear picture of how the cable, conduits and trunking would be installed in any site space and also to pre-check if there were any clashes with the cable support structures of any other services.’

Other key members of the design and installation team were RBSS systems engineers, Eugene Eng and Jimmy Tan. ‘Eugene

The terminal’s entire backend system is comprised of a Bosch Praesideo PA system that is distributed from four equipment rooms: three in the MTB (main terminal building) and one in the new 68m high ramp tower, which handles air traffic control and is one of the airport’s critical areas. Each equipment room typically contains Bosch Praesideo system rings with Bosch PRSNCO3 network controllers, amplifiers, LBB 4404/00 CobraNet

Customised, hardwired backup microphone systems have also been installed at T2 CAR1, CAR2, CAR3 and T4 information counters. The backup microphone systems, which have a zone selection panel and a gooseneck microphone, are hardwired to the PA equipment via audio and contact-to-fibre convertors.

Indeed, full redundancy was a key criterion of this installation. ‘The overall system is very robust, providing redundancy of the Praesideo network controllers, CobraNet systems, NetMax, network backbone, backup power amplifiers, dual PA lines for each zone and hardwired backup microphone,’ says Mr Kumar.

interfaces, PRS-CSI call station interfaces and third-party devices such as Optical Systems Design OSD730 audio-to-fibre converters, ComNet FDC8RS1 contact receivers, Allied Telesis network switches and EVC Technology EVC-DR-320 digital emergency voice recorders.

All the Bosch Praesideo PA system rings in the MTB – one landside, one airside north and one airside south – are networked in redundant ring topology. The ramp tower equipment is connected to the landside PA equipment via redundant star topology. Allied Telesis network switches are used for the network backbone, with a redundant Bosch CobraNet network used for audio transport between different equipment rooms, handling four input and four output channels.

A Praesideo call station is being used at an information desk in the public arrival hall. Announcements made to airside go to the main PA room landside, then from there to a CobraNet audio device that routes the audio to other locations.

Two NanoLumens Performance Series LED screens have been provided by Electronics & Engineering to display tailor-made content to passengers travelling through the terminal. A 70m x 5m screen with a 6mm pixel pitch, dubbed the Immersive Wall, has been installed above the centralised security screening area. A further 10m x 6m, 4mm pixel pitch display in the departure transit area’s Heritage Zone is built directly into a shophouse façade with building fronts highlighting Singapore’s architectural evolution from the 1880s to the 1950s. NanoLumens created a customised solution for Changi based on a redesign of its proprietary Nixel Series technology, which was able to accommodate the custom content designed for the terminal by Moment Factory.

With the October 2017 opening of T4, the bar at Singapore’s Changi Airport has just been raised a little higher.

www.bosch.com.sg

CISS project manager, Chua Yong Khiang

Electro-Voice N8000 NetMax digital matrix controllers

NanoLumens LED screens in the Heritage Zone

Bird of paradise

NIGHTCLUBS IN MUMBAI CAN BE BRASH AFFAIRS, WITH brightly lit signs and pumping music announcing their presence and vying for attention. Not so The Finch, which has discreetly opened on a busy highway in Powai, providing the city with a sophisticated live music venue and restaurant. Adding to the hipness of this place, a microbrewery produces craft ales on the premises, with the Barbara Weissand white beer deserving special mention for its name alone.

To reach The Finch, we park on the highway next to some trucks and walk through the dark across a little bridge that leads into the former warehouse. Only upon reaching the entrance is there any sign that this place is something out of the ordinary. Low lighting and a discrete sign bearing the club’s bird logo come into view, the door swings open and suddenly that Powai highway seems a long way off.

‘Mumbai has plenty of clubs; what we need in India are venues with good sound,’ offers The Finch house engineer, Camille Polycarp. ‘Many musicians don’t know what good sound is as they’ve never experienced it. I really like the acoustics here. You can easily have a conversation over the music, even when a band is playing.’

The venue’s winning formula is largely down to the project team from Plutusone Hospitality, supported by Geeta Kirpalani, who is responsible for brand communication and events at The Finch. The owners, described by those who’ve worked with them as ‘visionary’, had the foresight to bring onboard a renowned live sound engineer, a lighting designer and an acoustic consultant to design and equip the venue. The décor – elements of grey and pewter with pale wooden floors and good lighting – is high quality and tasteful. With the bookings diary already filling up for 2018, this is one Mumbai club that’s here to stay.

‘The owners had a very clear idea of the space they wanted and the sort of music they were going to present here,’ explains Milind Raorane, the aforementioned acoustician for The Finch. ‘They wanted to create a good live music scene in the city. This place is a little far away from the current happening places in Mumbai, so they were taking a risk in coming here, though there is a local market for it. They wanted a team that knew exactly what they were doing because they are the first ones to set the tone here, and everything needed to be bang on.’

Mr Raorane worked closely on the venue alongside FOH, monitor and systems engineer, Samir Kripalani, whose live sound experience combined with Mr Raorane’s acoustic knowhow to create a good synergy. Roosevelt D’Souza was on hand to design the venue’s lighting, with Harman India supplying the audio and lighting package.

‘We’d worked with Samir and Roosevelt on events in the region and turned to them for the audiovisuals and lighting fit out at The Finch,’ says Ms Kirpalani. ‘The boys understood the breath of the vision and rocked up to the challenge. Our CEO backed us with unstinting support on all asks. It was truly an amazing experience working with such professionals.’

The main challenge within the space from an acoustic perspective was the low ceilings and pillars. ‘Samir partnered with Milind, who was on the ground in Mumbai, and the project involved meticulous planning and execution over many long hours of hard work,’ continues Ms Kirpalani. ‘The quality of sound, acoustics and lighting is unparalleled, whichever nook you may

The Finch in northern Mumbai is providing the city with a much-needed live venue, with good acoustics and a Harman setup. Caroline Moss goes for a song

Harman India’s Ankush Agarwal, Samir Kripalani and Ashish Bajaj flanking acoustician Milind Raorane

be in. Although the space covers almost 2,500m2, the sound is perfect everywhere, including the washrooms.’

The audio team worked closely with Harman technical support engineers Narendra Nair and Sudhagar Padmanabhan, exchanging ideas and making an EASE analysis of the entire space. The solution for the club was to use an L-R system consisting of two JBL AM7315 full-range, 3-way speakers per side, with two JBL ASH6118 horn-loaded subwoofers beneath the stage, rather than a distributed system. ‘The intention behind using this system is to be able to give a similar experience to being outdoors, in a large area, so you don’t feel hemmed in by the space,’ continues Mr Raorane. ‘The entire ceiling has been acoustically treated with 10-inch deep acoustic foam panels that soak up all the extra energy, which would otherwise linger and confuse the artists, and the floor is fitted with a special rubber mat to dampen all the vibrations.’ The test-certified and fireregulated panels were custom made by Ecotone in Delhi. Another challenge was to carve out enough room for a stage that could accommodate a five-piece band with drum kit, and at times a piano. Although this can be a cosy fit, the brief has been accomplished. The venue has invested in a good backline inventory including a Yamaha piano and Pearl drumkit, and, as well as a steady stream of domestic artists, word is spreading to international bands keen to play in India. The rest of the main room is given over to a mix of table seating and a bar area. Additional customers can be accommodated in a glass-fronted annex off the main room, which has been designed as a separate acoustic zone where people can dine or smoke with lower sound levels or no music while still viewing the stage and club through large windows. Four JBL AC28s have been installed here, with another for the VIP areas at either side of the stage. There is a further AC28 mounted on the rear wall behind the FOH engineer, together with an AL7115 low-frequency model, and Control 16C/T ceiling speakers in the ladies’ and gents’ washrooms. The entire system is driven by Crown amplifiers and controlled via BSS Soundweb London technology including a Blu-100M signal processor and Blu-BOB1 output expander. Shure SM57 and 58 mics as well as a Sennheiser ew 335 G3 wireless handheld vocal system have also been provided.

Four JBL PRX712Ms provide stage monitoring, and front of house is mixed from a booth at the far end of the room on an Allen & Heath Qu-24 console, with a remote AB2412 stagebox connected via a Cat-5 cable.

Harman also supplied Martin Professional lighting equipment for the venue, including a Rush Gobo Projector 1, Rush MH 5 profile, Rush MH 4 beam, Mac Aura XB and Atomic 3000 lights, a Martin splitter, a Jem Hazer and an Avolite Pearl 2010 console. ‘The ceiling height was low, so I kept in mind the power and heat factor,’ explains lighting designer, Mr D’Souza. ‘I had to use small fixtures that would not generate too much heat or consume lots of power, but was powerful enough for performances.’

‘Roosevelt has got the lighting absolutely right and the space is just beautiful in the evenings, with stage and mood lighting that speaks of fine technique,’ adds Ms Kirpalani.

The main visual focus of the room is a large screen from Indian manufacturer Milan Screens, which drops down in front of the stage and is paired with a Viewsonic PRO8530HD rear projector.

This is supplemented by four 42-inch Panasonic LED panels in the smoking annex and 53-inch Panasonic LED panels at stage left and stage right. Mirror TVs have been installed in both washrooms, and a TV panel at front desk is used for signage. Concerts are filmed by a ceiling-mounted Panasonic HD camera that takes a live sound feed from the FOH console.

‘We persuaded the client to have the screen in front of the stage, so they could do a back projection that wouldn’t be disturbed by people walking in front of the projector,’ explains Mr Raorane. ‘It also functions as a curtain before the bands come on.’ This is particularly useful before the first band plays every night; the house lights are dimmed and a promotional video shot in the club is played to kick off the evening’s entertainment.

Mr Kripalani chose an A/V over IP solution for the club’s video delivery, selecting WyreStorm, whose products he’d used on some of his other work. ‘They’ve been doing IP-based solutions longer than anyone else, and they were very helpful and supportive,’ he says. ‘They introduced me to an IT company that carried out all the necessary work here.’

A WyreStorm NetworkHD-100-TX and NetworkHD-100-RX A/V over IP solution provides seven outputs from five inputs, taking content from cameras and projectors and displaying it on the monitors around the venue. ‘We’ve integrated it on a NetworkHD Touch app, which gives them flexibility to drag and drop any content onto any screen at any time,’ explains WyreStorm’s India and SAARC sales manager, Rohan Tadke. ‘For a layperson who’s not well-versed in technology, this is very simple for them to understand.’

To ease the venue into its first few months of operation, Warren D’Souza and his team from Sound.com was on hand to provide backup support for all backline, technical and engineering issues before handing over to an in-house team.

Ms Kirpalani is justifiably proud of the venue she helped to create. ‘The Finch Mumbai stands as a testament to the hard work and passion of Samir, Milind and Roosevelt with their superb sound, visuals, acoustics and lighting,’ she says.

Last word goes to the musicians. On the evening that Pro AVL Asia visited, the Rohit Vasudevan Diaries were performing a number of original songs and cover versions. ‘The first time we performed here, we didn’t have a clue about good sound on stage as we’re not used to it, especially in indoor venues,’ says Mr Vasudevan, a classically trained musician. ‘We came here and did a sound check and everything was so clear. We were all looking at each other and saying, “I can hear myself!” Once the artists can hear themselves, they can relax and play much better, and the vibe goes out to the audience. I truly believe it’s the acoustician who starts that process.’

www.harman.in

www.wyrestorm.com

Rohit Vasudevan Diaries

The Finch’s state-of-the-art microbrewery

The Allen & Heath Qu-24 at FOH

United in sound

Singapore’s United World College is upgrading its facilities with Bose sound systems. Caroline Moss reports

WHEN UNITED WORLD COLLEGE’S EAST CAMPUS IN

United World College’s Muhammad Kazly bin Kas Kazam

Andy Tan, Yusof Ahmad and Muhammad Kazly bin Kas Kazam in the school’s new café

‘We had smaller cafés before, and this one provides so much more space,’ explains Mr Kazam. ‘The café is open all day, and three times a week it is used as a place for all the school boarders to have their dinner – around 200 people in total, including the house parents.’

The café system is also being used to make announcements, and background music is often played, though plans are also afoot to use it as a performance space. ‘I’m looking at purchasing an L1 portable musicians’ sound system for performances in the café, which can also be moved to different venues,’ continues Mr Kazam. ‘It’s very streamlined and discreet, so it won’t get in the way, or be knocked over. Health and safety in Singapore is a priority, and this is a school where children run and climb a lot, so a small profile is good, and the less cabling the better.’

Mr Tan worked closely with the café’s architect when designing a system for the space. ‘I sent some layouts to Yusof and he advised me to use the FreeSpace ceiling speakers as they were planning on playing soft background music,’ he explains.

‘We’ve used the FreeSpace DS 16 models, putting in 12 on the ground floor and six upstairs. It was a very straightforward solution, and, as the speakers are black, they just disappear into the black ceiling.’ This year, further F1 systems will be going into the 420-capacity school auditorium, which is used for bigger events such as orchestral performances, concerts and speeches. The school has already purchased the new systems, which were due to be installed in February 2018.

‘We have purchased three sets which we are going to rig as an L-C-R system at the

front of the auditorium,’ says Mr Kazam.

‘Since you can very easily change the configuration of the F1 arrays, we will be able to cover the entire room. We are overhauling the cable system and fly bar in the auditorium, and we thought since we are doing that why not change the speakers too.’

Even more F1s are being planned for United World College’s black box theatre.

‘My idea is that if I’m using all F1s, I can easily replace them if one of them is faulty and needs to go for service,’ continues the technical manager. ‘If we have several mobile systems we can use them as 5.1 setups too, and the ones that are not permanently installed can be mounted on a pole and fired upwards as well as downwards, giving many different options.’

Mr Kazam is so enamoured of Bose that in time he’s hoping to upgrade the classrooms to the brand as well. ‘This is just the first stage,’ he says. ‘We will slowly upgrade all the facilities here.’ Something for students and staff alike to celebrate as United World College moves into its seventh year at the East Campus.

pro.bose.com

www.uwcsea.edu.sg/east-campus

‘This is just the first stage. We will slowly upgrade all the facilities here’

The auditorium is next up to be fitted with Bose speakers

Good sports

THE NATIONAL SPORTS CLUB OF INDIA (NSCI) IS SOMETHING of a Mumbai institution. Set up in 1950 to provide sporting facilities other than cricket, the club’s present building was constructed in 2004 on the original Worli site, with panoramic views across the Arabian Sea.

The club has been undergoing a series of renovations to provide improved facilities for its members. In the last two years, this has included the addition of the 214-seat Center Stage Dolby Atmos cinema (Pro Audio Asia, November–December 2016) and an acoustical overhaul of the 5,000-seat Sardar Vallabhai Patel indoor stadium. Now, NSCI members can also benefit from the addition of a new nightclub and a bar/restaurant situated on the first floor and ground level of the building, respectively, each offering around 1,000m2 of recreational space.

Acoustic consultant Milind Raorane was called back to work on acoustic designs for both spaces following his work at Center Stage.

‘This corner of the building was an empty space that had been earmarked for entertainment,’ he explains. ‘When it came to the club, we went through a lot of design configurations – where the stage should go, where the bar should be – going through lots of evolutions until we settled on the final design layout. It’s a nonsymmetrical space, which meant it was a little difficult to decide where to place different elements. Also, lots of services had to be accommodated, as well as equipment racks, elevators, entrances and exits. There was a lot to integrate.’

The contract to supply and install the A/V systems in both areas was awarded to Rivera International, a Mumbai-based distributor that has branched out into system integration. Rivera supplied Kling & Freitag systems for both spaces, with part of the committee’s decision to choose this brand based on its successful installation into Center Stage.

DJ multi-players, a Pioneer DJM900NXS2 DJ mixer and an Allen & Heath Qu-24 mixer with audio rack. From the DJ position, a snake can be run to the other end of the room to a temporary stage platform used to

host occasional live performances. Two Kling & Freitag Line 212 large, full-range speakers are flown either side of the DJ booth, with a K&F CA 1515 providing in-fill for a diagonal extension of floor space to the left side of the DJ. Four Nomus XLS subwoofers are positioned below the DJ booth, providing a low-frequency extension for the Line 212s. A further three CA 1515s and four

The first-floor Envy nightclub has been designed around a central marble bar surrounded by a dancefloor. A DJ booth at one end of the room houses two Pioneer CDJ2000NXS2

Mumbai’s leading sports club has had a further upgrade, adding a nightclub and members’ bar. Caroline Moss visits

The NSCI committee with secretary Rakesh Malhotra (second from right)

Rivera International’s Rajesh Sadarangani

Acoustician Milind Raorane

Envy’s central bar and dancefloor area

SW 115s are being used as fill speakers, and the entire system is driven by one Powersoft Ottocanali 12K4, one C 48:4 and two C 28:4 amplifiers.

Lighting bars fitted with ToneArt moving heads and LED PAR and strobe lights above each position can be deployed, depending on which end of the room is hosting performances. A row of custom motorised screens can be lowered to cover the large windows that overlook the sea, and a row of five ViewSonic Pro8530HDL projectors display graphics for DJ events, sports coverage or films, with content taken from a server or set-top box. Two ToneArt LED walls are deployed in the club: one as a backdrop behind the DJ and the second on the front fascia of the DJ booth.

‘The club has 15,000 members, plus their guests, so we’ve created a multifunctional space and many different activities will take place here,’ explains Mr Raorane. ‘In the past, a restaurant was used for live music events, with all equipment hired in. Now they have all the equipment they need to do everything here themselves.’

Although the club and restaurant have standalone systems, audio can be patched from the club to the restaurant down below so both systems can run the same programme simultaneously, or function independently of each other. A Symmetrix Jupiter 8 loudspeaker management system allows all events to be controlled via a tablet.

When it came to acoustics, Mr Raorane was faced with challenges thrown up by the asymmetrical room size and its hard reflective surfaces. ‘Lots of marble and glass has been used in the décor, and the look the designer planned meant we couldn’t use any foam or fabric,’ says Mr Raorane. ‘So there are lots of offsets, all structural members holding up the entire ceiling that we have converted into diffusive objects to assist with the acoustics. And we have relied on this asymmetrical design to not create sound issues. The uneven ceiling combined with chandeliers, pelmet offsets and rhomboid room layout rendered a space with non-parallel surfaces, hence averting hard reflections and densely spaced standing waves. This spared us from having to use any obvious acoustic panels or extensive use of DSP corrections in the audio system.’

Noise restrictions within the building also meant that sound should not travel down into the members’ bar downstairs, or into the arena, so Mr Raorane relied on a technique he’d used when designing Center Stage. ‘We’ve created a double-layered ceiling and a double-layered wall, so the sounds don’t travel into other areas,’ he says. ‘The dancefloor is floating; it’s been constructed from a 6-inch layer of suspended foam.’

The system was designed using EASE software, but the team also had to make lots of calculations including phase analysis. ‘We were relying on our final measurements which we did in real-time as we calibrated the system,’ explains Mr Raorane. ‘We calculated it so the different speakers at either end of the room would each cover half of the bar. We’ve left lots of headroom in the system so it can provide more than the necessary SPLs for the room.’

On the ground floor, the Indulge bar/restaurant occupies the same 2,500m2 footprint as the club. Here, six Kling & Freitag CA 1215 speakers and eight SW 112 subs have been installed, driven by a Powersoft Duecanali 5904 and seven Lab.gruppen

IPD 2400 amplifiers. A further seven ViewSonic Pro8530HDL projectors, motorised drop-down screens and a ToneArt LED wall have also been provided.

Once again, the NSCI committee is happy with the club’s upgraded facilities. ‘We didn’t have any good nightclubs or bars in the near vicinity, and we wanted to offer somewhere that our members would enjoy coming to,’ says the club’s hon reg secretary, Rakesh Malhotra. ‘We are primarily going to be showing lots of live sports on the screens in Envy, plus we’ll be having regular bar nights and every Saturday a DJ will come and play. The club will be good for our younger members, while the downstairs bar will attract those who want to have a quieter night. We have car parking for 1,000 cars, so it’s easy for people to come here, and now we can get more of our members together.’

In turn, Rivera International’s CEO, Rajesh Sadarangani is pleased with the committee’s dedication to upgrade its facilities. ‘They’ve been doing an amazing job to provide the members with the best, and we are proud to have helped them achieve it,’ he says.

www.kling-freitag.com

www.riverainternational.com

Large projection screens drop down over the windows

DJ booth with a Kling & Freitag system

Chris Zhang from Phoenix Audio, Ann and Tony Andrews, Roger Luo of Space Plus Group and Funktion One’s Mike Igglesden

that it would be based on the feeling and atmosphere of an EDM festival, with a technical setup to match.’

Between the opening of Space Club Chengdu in 2015 and Space Plus Chongqing in 2017, Mr Luo was introduced to Funktion One co-founder Tony Andrews at the 2016 Prolight + Sound Shanghai trade show by the British manufacturer’s Chinese distributor, Phoenix Audio. It was during this meeting that Mr Luo decided to equip his next club with a sound system comprised entirely from Funktion One loudspeakers.

‘We discussed what we wanted to build in Chongqing,’ remembers Mr Luo. ‘A nightclub that could serve as a flagship in the region; a market leader. As Funktion One is well known for delivering the ultimate sound in top clubs around the world, we decided to go with a range of its products for the new nightclub.’

Following the meeting in Shanghai, Mr Andrews became heavily involved in the project, from system design to alignment. The main hall at the venue measures 31m long x 25m wide, with a ceiling height of 14m. The hall is divided into two zones: the rear zone and the front zone, nearest the entrance. All four corners of the space are outfitted with a pair Evo 6E high-intensity, 3-way loudspeakers from the manufacturer’s Evolution Series, which have been flown to point towards the centre of the venue. Further pairs of 6E cabinets have been flown above the entrance and on the opposite wall to ensure complete coverage throughout the front zone. The back zone is reinforced by two Evo 6EH 2-way cabinets, chosen due a shorter ceiling height in this area.

extends its low end reach down to 26Hz, near to the lower limits of the human ear’s frequency range.

‘We are the first Chinese club to build a subwoofer wall,’ says Mr Luo. ‘The inclusion of the BR132 gives us a 5-way system and adds an extra layer to the music.’

The entire speaker setup is driven by 10 Funktion One E-Series amplifiers while processing is managed by the manufacturer’s XO4 audio management system. Control of the system is provided by a CDC four:m digital mixing console.

‘Many sound reinforcement systems in nightclubs are only mono, because it’s simpler,’ says Mr Luo. ‘But our system provides a stereo effect. The whole installation is mirrored. The setup in each part of the venue is set with left and right channels, which gives the music much more detail and presents a more natural sound. However, it is difficult to achieve in a space like this.’

Product selection is only half the battle when it comes to putting together a high-quality sound system. System design, installation and alignment are all equally as important. With this in mind, Mr Luo invited Mr Andrews and Phoenix Audio’s team to come in and align the Funtion-One solutions. Having not only founded Funktion One, but Turbosound as well, Mr Andrews was able to impart plenty of knowledge to the staff of both Phoenix Audio and Space Plus.

confirmed the design with him before he flew here, he found that the venue was slightly different to what was in the drawings, so he asked us to take everything down and do the installation, including all the cabling, again.

‘He would climb up and down from the speaker points with our team members and he used a laser pen to check the distances to ensure the flying points were in the correct place precisely to the millimetre,’ Mr Zhang continues. ‘We worked until 5am each day. Tony revealed that the most fascinating aspect of audio is that every space has its unknown elements; that every project is a process of exploration and creation. During the installation and alignment, he would ask for suggestions from the team which we all discussed together, and he shared his knowledge with us. For everyone at Phoenix Audio who worked with Tony, it was an absolutely excellent learning opportunity.’

The DJ booth is positioned in the front zone and two VIP areas run across the wings of this space. Each VIP area is covered by five Resolution 1.5 2-way enclosures, with one more hung each side of the DJ platform aimed at the dance area in front of it. Serving as DJ monitors are two PSM318 cabinets on either side of the booth.

A highlight of Space Plus Chongqing is the punchy low end that it achieves courtesy of the ‘subwoofer wall’ situated in front of the DJ booth. This is formed from two of Funktion One’s BR132 32-inch bass loudspeakers – the largest member of the bass reflex series – making its debut in a Chinese nightclub, and four F221 21-inch subwoofers. The BR132s feature Powersoft’s M-Force linear transducer, which reportedly

‘The main system in the front zone was closer to the DJ booth than it is now and the speakers were closer to each other,’ recalls David Cao, sound director at Space Plus Group. ‘This would have brought more SPLs to the seating area and the dancefloor, which is how it would normally be set up in China, but it would weaken the stereo effect. Tony insisted that we put the two groups of boxes further apart. He emphasised the width of the stereo sound field. We didn’t understand to begin with, but now that the club is open to the public, many customers have told us the sound field in here is very open and feels very comfortable.’

Mr Cao is responsible for managing the deployment and alignment of the sound systems across each club in the Space Plus Group. He has worked in nightclubs of varying types for more than 20 years and has developed a great admiration for Mr Andrews. ‘We respect Tony very much and have certainly learned a lot from him,’ he says.

As a distributor, Phoenix Audio has a longstanding relationship with the Funktion One founder, having previously represented Turbosound when he was at the helm. ‘Tony is an artist,’ explains Phoenix Audio director, Chris Zhang. ‘He not only requires the sound to be good, but also that the appearance of the speakers and flying points are aesthetically beautiful. Although we

In regards to the visual aspects of Space Plus Chongqing, Mr Luo designed all the stage décor himself, inspired by the giant, mechanical spider that has dominated the Resistance stage at recent Miami Ultrafest festivals. More than 700 moving heads and 600m2 of LEDs were used throughout the club. The LEDs have been used to form a spider, its eyes on the wall of the DJ booth and its legs wrapping around the whole venue. ‘We are the first club to use pieces of LED to build the stage art, which means we use LED screens as lighting,’ Mr Luo claims. ‘We had visited many different EDM festivals before opening the club and wanted to bring something from one of those events inside.

‘Our intention is to build a place of worship for music, to showcase our concepts and ideas of what music is,’ Mr Luo continues. ‘The DJs are the soul of the venue and many of them are producers. We also have record companies, branding companies and music festival organisers supporting us.’

With the support of the music industry, as well as the assistance provided by Mr Andrews during the installation of the Funktion One system, Space Plus Chongqing is getting rave reviews, with many of the DJs performing there considering it to be the bestequipped club in China.

www.facebook.com/SpaceChongqing

www.Funktion One.com

www.phoenix-audio.com

Roger Luo and David Cao

Space Plus attracts top EDM acts

Tony Andrews with the Phoenix Audio and Space Plus teams

Click: here

Richard Lawn visits

IN TODAY’S HIGH-TECH WORLD, TRANSFORMATION OF a property needn’t necessarily mean costly and long-term demolition and construction work. The addition and assimilation of carefully planned audio, video and lighting technologies into a building’s fabric can be instrumental in bringing about a metamorphosis.

Click Square in Bandung perfectly demonstrates such a transition. Incepted as a community-based creative and digital technology hub and formerly known as BE Mall, Click Square facilitates collaboration between creative agencies representing photography, music, film, fashion, animation and other professional businesses seeking to produce and promote their arts within the Bandung metropolitan area and its region. Working in close cooperation with the mall owner’s representative AUVI89, specialist A/V and lighting systems integrator Renewal Indonesia was awarded the contract to update the mall’s concept by developer, Gamaland. ‘By contracting Renewal Indonesia, we have utterly transformed the space into something totally unique with the AVL systems that have been integrated into it,’ comments AUVI89 CEO, Widi Surya Budiana. The Renewal Indonesia touch is clear to see upon entering the premises as visitors are greeted by a 12m x 7m outdoor Lightlink LED wall that helps incoming revenues by airing commercials. Eye-catching P5.9 LED screens are also located above the main and side entrances, measuring 22.5m x 4m and 2.5m x 1.5m, respectively. These LED screens are merely a taster for the largest

interactive LED floor in Indonesia. Measuring 15m x 8m, the full touch system is used for playing games such as soccer. ‘This is the first mall that has integrated permanent video mapping projectors,’ explained Renewal Indonesia CEO, Iman Oesman. Among the large inventory of equipment installed into Click Square are 14 Barco 2K 30,000 lumen projectors, whose media content is fed from a disguise 4x4 Pro server.

To complement the sophisticated visual system, Renewal Indonesia has also ensured that the audio is of a similarly high standard. An outdoor stage hosts regular live performances, for which a d&b audiotechnik Y Series system comprising four Y8 long-throw and two Y12 nearfield modules have been configured as L-R arrays. Low frequencies are being handled by two-perside Y Subs and two ground-stacked B22 dual 18-inch models capable of operating in infra-mode. In addition to powering the entire FOH and subwoofer system, the racked d&b audiotechnik D80 amplifiers also contain individual DSP settings that can be automatically recalled for the varied shows.

While FOH mixing has been entrusted to an Allen & Heath dLive S5000, a dLive S3000 console was selected for monitors. Microphone inputs into the S3000 include Shure Beta 57A and Beta 87A wireless models operating over a QLXD24 wireless transmission in addition to AKG wired mics on the drum kit. The artists receive their summed mix through a combination of FBT StageMaxX 12Ma and Verve 112mA wedges. Stage personnel communicate during performances using a LaON 9 Client system.

Over 160 fixtures constitute the lighting system on an overhead truss above the stage. These include 80, 300W

hybrid 3-in-1 spot wash moving head beams and 60 Lightlink LED bars, all of which are controlled by a grandMA2 lighting console. A 9m x 5m P5.9 LED screen has been fixed behind the stage, with multi-screen content processed by an Analog Way Ascender 48 4K via fibre-optic cabling utilising a TIPI modular matrix and TIPI signal extender.

In addition to the live performances, an internal radio station broadcasts to the entire 10-level building via a public address network of LD Systems speakers. Powered by d&b audiotechnik D12 amplifiers, 500 Contractor CWMS 52 B 5.25-inch models operating in 30W low-impedance mode were selected for wall mounting throughout Click Square Mall. ‘We prefer to use this model owing to its competitive price performance features, sleek aesthetics and the attached wall bracket promoting ease of installation,’ says Mr Oesman.

Click Square also boasts a four-room recording facility including a main control room, isolation room, vocal booth and live instrument room. An Avid Pro Tools system together with an S6 dual touchscreen digital work surface lie at the heart of the studio workflow, which are both interlinked to PRE 8-channel mic preamps and HD I/O digital audio interfaces. The recording engineers are equipped to handle surround-sound editing courtesy of the Avid XMON management system and 7.1 Neumann KH 80 DSP speaker system installed in the control room. Neumann U 87 and Shure KSM141 microphones are the preferred choice, but a selection of AKG, Audio-Technica and Shure models are also used for vocals and instruments.

A Dante Connect network connection linking the Allen & Heath consoles to the studio ensure that live audio multitrack performances can be recorded using the Pro Tools setup. For capturing the visual spectacles, a multi-camera system using Canon XF105 and XF205 cameras relay their output to a Roland V-Mixing System. A Teradek Slice HD-SDI H.264 decoder streams low-latency HD 1080p video content to an Apple MacBook Pro for editing.

Renewal Indonesia has created a visually dazzling and aurally inspiring backdrop courtesy of the extensive A/V and lighting functionality that has been embedded into the old BE Mall. User satisfaction, from the main stage to paging stations to the recording studio, is, as the venue’s new name suggests, just a click away.

An Indonesian shopping mall has undergone a major renovation that has repurposed it for a technological future.

An Avid S6 dual touchscreen digital work surface lies at the heart of the studio

The PA network of Click Square utilises over 500 LD Systems speakers

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Unite Your Audience

The Martin Audio Experience

Jewel in the crown

FOR INDIAN SONGWRITERS AND MUSICIANS, THE SUREST way to commercial success is via the movies, and this applies Mumbai’s Bollywood. So when Chennai-based jewellery empire NAC wanted to invest in a new business, it made sense to get involved in one of the region’s growing concerns and provide

the company pulled in an experienced crew of local industry professionals to help execute the project, with New York-based ‘It was something of a radical idea when it started off,’ muses Vinay Sridhar, an audio engineer who often works in partnership began when we needed to mix something and it was proving was looking to expand his business ventures, and advised him that there was a market in Chennai for a studio like this. There was a dearth of studios available to rent, and there was so much work out there. The initial idea was for a music studio, and then it grew into a bigger concept.’

And indeed, renovation of the commercial premises expanded to convert the entire building into a facility that would be capable of handling every aspect of audio and video film postproduction. All audio facilities were overseen by Mr Modi and Mr Sridhar, working closely with Harish Raam LH, co-founder and president of Knack. Mr Raam has a long career in the film industry, having worked as a distributor and associate director, and was able to provide feedback from a client’s perspective. ‘Our CEO Anandha Ramanujam’s passion for cinema has taken shape as Knack

A new commercial studio in Chennai has been set up to handle all aspects of audio and video postproduction.

Caroline Moss drops into Knack

Vinay Sridhar at the controls of the Neve Genesys Black

WSDG-designed Dolby Atmos room ADR suite

Studios,’ he explains. ‘The biggest advantage is that we have built this studio keeping in mind client comforts and technicians’ requirements with regard to the technologies used here. As an associate director, I visited most film postproduction studios, and I thought it would be great if all postproduction could happen in one studio, saving a lot of time and cost. I have also worked as a music supervisor, which gave me a lot of knowledge on the music and audio postproduction side as well. So the whole studio has been designed from a client’s perspective. At Knack we are striving to give the film fraternity the best working experience.’

Before the studio could throw its doors open, a renovation period of around a year took place. ‘We reconstructed and renovated the interior and had it beautifully designed,’ continues Mr Sridhar, who is now Knack’s technical head. ‘As a sound engineer, I’ve been working extensively with music and film. My father was a sound engineer who began his career with A R Rahman, and who worked with Aditya’s father in the early days; we used to do recording projects at home and I was very interested in it. It’s a passion of mine; it’s in the blood and I’m trying to replicate some of the things that were being done by those guys back in the day.’

One of Mr Modi’s contributions to the project was to bring in studio design company WSDG, which his company represents in India. The first floor of the building is dedicated to audio and was designed entirely by WSDG. It encompasses a large recording and mixing control room and live studio that can accommodate a small orchestra, a Dolby Atmos film mixing studio and a further ADR/audio production suite.

The recording studio – which is also being used extensively as a VIP ADR room and scoring stage – has a Neve Genesys Black G64 mixing console, soffit-mounted Dynaudio M3XE main monitors and a 5.2 system of three Eve Audio SC407 and two SC307 speakers with two TS112 subwoofers. The 36m2 control room has full view of the isolation booth and the 42m2 live room, which has a 120-inch projection screen for scoring.

Mr Sridhar and Mr Modi were responsible for equipping the audio studios with all the relevant equipment. ‘For the scoring stage, we initially wanted to have a lot of analogue outboard gear, but then we decided against that and went with a really good console that has everything in it,’ says Mr Modi.

The choice of a Neve Genesys Black has combined a traditional studio approach with the ability to easily integrate new technology. ‘It does everything a modern-day studio can; we can interface it with Pro Tools and Logic,’ says Mr Modi with some pride, mentioning that this is the first Genesys Black to be installed in India.

To achieve the correct ceiling height in Knack’s largest Dolby Atmos room, located on the same floor as the recording stage, a major engineering project had to be carried out to remove the floor above. The resulting double-height, 85m2 room accommodates a Dolby Atmos-approved QSC system consisting

of 32 SR-1030 cinema surround loudspeakers, two SR-1290 surround speakers, two SB-5118 and two SB-7218 cinema subwoofers, and three SC-423C screen channel speakers. It is also equipped with an Avid Pro Tools S6 modular control surface and a 250-inch Galalite screen.

Completing the first floor is an ADR and audio production studio with a 14m2 control room and 12m2 recording space, equipped with an L-C-R system of Eve SC305 active speakers with SC205 surrounds and a TS110 subwoofer.

WSDG constructed each of the three spaces as a floating ‘room-within-a-room’, using the latest acoustical simulation and tools, including the company’s proprietary room mode calculator, ABEC Acoustic Boundary Element Calculator, and Insul, which predicts the sound insulation of walls, floors and ceilings, to create acoustically balanced environments in compliance with international standards of isolation and internal room acoustics. Special attention was paid to low-frequency control in every room in an effort to create a professional production and postproduction environment.

This was the first world-class facility that WSDG has completed on the subcontinent, and the entire design project was carried out remotely, with local supervision. The company has production offices on three continents and more than 45

years’ experience working in this way in numerous countries around the world. ‘This practice has become an asset and has proved efficient and cost effective,’ explains WSDG partner and director of design, Renato Cipriano. ‘At our end we learn from the clients’ culture and methods, and, at their end, they learn new technologies and techniques, and how to implement them. There is always growth when we share our experiences and that is what makes these projects fun to work with.

‘Additionally, Aditya Modi had worked as an intern in our New York office early in his career. He understands both our work process and our corporate culture, and this knowledge enabled him to serve as an effective interface between the client and our design team. Having Aditya on the ground during the build out was beneficial to both sides. Knack has a very unique atmosphere expressed by the colours, finishes and by the programmable lighting elements that play an important role in the vibe of each space.’

Upstairs on the second floor is a smaller version of the Atmos room downstairs. This room was designed by Manoj Kumar, owner of local recording school, Soundtechnic Media, who also helped oversee the WSDG designs. ‘We generally start the mix here and finish it downstairs,’ explains Mr Modi. ‘All the speakers are identical to the ones below, and we have a smaller version of the Avid console, an S3.’

The second floor also houses one of the facility’s two DI (digital intermediate) rooms that, like all the video rooms at Knack, were designed by the late Ashish Nanajkar, a partner of Mr Modi’s who tragically passed away during the construction process. Mr Nanajkar also designed a second DI room on the third floor. Both DI rooms are installed with Baselight Two systems that, apart from handling colour grading for cinema and online, are also ready for stereoscopic grading.

The third floor also incorporates a large VFX bay with 60 workstations for CGI work. Here, two shifts per day will be carried out, making it possible to handle 120 shifts in a 24-hour period. ‘This will be the part of the facility that generates a lot of revenue, and it’s one of the reasons why we graduated from wanting to be an audio-only facility to including video too,’ explains Mr Modi. ‘Now we are fully equipped to handle end-toend projects.’

All equipment for the entire facility was installed and integrated by Studio Care, with Dolby handling set up for the two Atmos rooms. The facility is also equipped with three lounges and a games room in the basement, to accommodate the large number of actors, musicians and filmmakers working on sessions in the building.

When PAVL Asia visited, Knack had been up and running for around three months, working on a multitude of South Indian film projects. ‘It’s been a very good start,’ says Mr Sridhar. ‘We’ve also done some good work with Sony Music which wants to get on board and start working with independent musicians here in the music studio. It’s been a while since a large independent artist has come around due to the dominance of film music. Lots of the independent musicians in Mumbai started off scoring film music, and we hope we can do something like this in Chennai.’

With the broad range of technology and services on offer, Knack looks certain to help both Chennai’s film and music industries in their ongoing development. www.wsdg.com

Aditya Modi

Recording and mix studio

Second-floor Dolby Atmos room

A long and winding road

MSI has long been at the forefront of Japan’s developing touring market. Richard Lawn meets the pioneers

AS ANY JOURNEYMAN WILL TESTIFY,

THE

FOCUS

ISN’T about getting from A to B, it’s about the journey itself. As a raw 18 year old planning and managing local concerts in the Kansai region, Shuzo Fujii immersed himself into his eventual role as a pioneering Japanese road warrior. Little did he suspect back in 1974 that his passion for audio would help establish several successful businesses both in and beyond Japan, with more than 150 staff that he regards as family. In addition to the hard work and gritty determination displayed over four decades, Mr Fujii attributes his eventual success to simply being open minded and continually learning. However, his exposure to risk makes him a very unique character in Japanese touring circles. Having quickly learnt how to mix for professional artists, Mr Fujii established himself as an audio engineer, travelling throughout Japan in a truck full of equipment. Together with Teruyoshi Kimura and Motoshige Nishio, he built up Live Sound Mob, changing the name to MSI (Maryland Sound International) Japan in 1992, the year in which the company was contracted by Whitney Houston’s management for her Japanese arena tour.

With the launch of L-Acoustics’ V-Dosc in 1994, the touring world was jolted upright to the benefits of line array technology. ‘Back then, most global operators such as Clair brought their own PA systems in and had not accepted line arrays onto the touring riders,’ remembers Mr Fujii. ‘Japan was and still remains a rather conservative market, so no one wanted to risk investing in this technology in case it wouldn’t be accepted. However, I see myself as a pioneer and love a challenge.’

MSI founder Shuzo Fujii flanked by Audio Brains’ Osamu ‘Sam’ Yamashita and Martin Audio Japan’s Yusuke ‘Loki’ Karato

The Rock in Japan festival relies on an extensive Martin Audio MLA system

The L-Acoustics V-Dosc systems – still busy 14 years on

Having been provided with details about the French speaker system in 1996, Mr Fujii travelled to the US a week later to hear it in action at a concert. ‘I think everyone remembers their first V-Dosc experience – and I’m no different. In comparison to the stacked point source systems at the time, it clearly stood out aesthetically and sonically. The relatively small, compact system distinguished itself with consistent SPLs across the auditorium, while flying it above the stage cleaned up the appearance for the audience.’

From there, Mr Fujii immediately flew to Paris and arranged a meeting with L-Acoustics’ founder, Christian Heil. The rest, as they say, is history, with Mr Heil agreeing to make MSI Japan a V-Dosc partner. Customers were invited to the 10,000-seat Yokohama Arena, which proved to be the final concert date on Japanese guitarist Tomoyasu Hotei’s 1998 tour. Until that point, MSI Japan had deployed MSI MS12 cabinets but, for the finale, the wraps were taken off the newly arrived V-Dosc to unveil an L-R system comprising 16 cabinets in each hang above the stage. ‘Not only did our customers come to this show, but so did our competitors as they were all curious to see if the new technology would perform,’ he continues. After the sold-out show, Mr Fujii’s peers acknowledged that MSI Japan had indeed raised the bar significantly. In addition, the concert promoter showed his gratitude as the flown system opened up more seats to be sold in areas that would previously have been restricted by offering no view of the stage.

Following the success of the concert, Mr Fujii decided to invest in 200 V-Dosc cabinets together with amplifiers, subwoofers and DSP. ‘We couldn’t initially invest in such a system for the upcoming concert by Japanese female group, Morning Musume, but the promoter was desperate to use it, so they assisted us financially.’

Although MSI Japan was now established on the V-Dosc network, Mr Fujii’s mind remained open to new technologies. ‘Back then we were based in Osaka and manufactured our own consoles and loudspeaker systems for our touring production requirements

status as a top touring system over the next 10 years. Until that point in 2007, no one else had bought a J-Series in northern Asia and we inadvertently started a trend.’

Despite investing further in J-Series and L-Acoustics K1 systems, acquiring more than 100 cabinets of each, MSI Japan was never going to rest on its laurels, and Mr Fuji maintained an open mind. ‘I was reading an article on Martin Audio’s Multi-cellular Loudspeaker Array (MLA) technology in Pro Audio Asia back in 2011 and disbelieved the specifications and claims that were being made about it. I certainly could not understand the electroacoustics of the box. I talked to Craig Lovell, an Englishman whom I had known since his Amek Japan days at the InterBEE show, who put me in touch with Martin Audio’s then sales manager, Simon Bull. Following a conversation, I decided to travel to the UK and watch the War of the Worlds concert at Birmingham’s Indoor Arena. The orchestral performance using MLA and DPA microphones was of a very high audio quality, with the best transparency and clarity I had ever experienced.’

At the time, Mr Fujii quietly doubted what he had listened to, and insisted on travelling to the company’s headquarters in High Wycombe. Here, Martin Audio’s head of R&D, Jason Baird, better explained the MLA technology and gave him a factory tour. ‘I fully comprehended that MLA could be a huge weapon in Japan and should be good enough for the acoustically challenging 55,000-seat Tokyo Dome, which had always been plagued by reverberation,’ he continues. ‘We set up an MLA system for the Korean TVXQ! concert in 2012 and invited our customers along for the event. Jason flew in from the UK to help us prepare for the concert, and assured us that we didn’t need to use delay towers. I was still really nervous as I knew this represented a big risk but, following the sound check, I knew it would be alright on the night.’ Since then, MSI Japan has successfully used MLA as its loudspeaker of choice at all the major festivals including Rock in Japan, Countdown and Summer Sonic at the Makuhari Messe. As a result, the MLA inventory has had to keep up with increasing

demand and currently numbers 300 modules. ‘Hibino has successfully integrated rental, sales, servicing and distribution,’ he furthers. ‘I was beginning to see the advantages in this business model in terms of control and cost benefits if you brought distribution in-house. I also realised that ordinary distributors could not properly service their clients in terms of training and the provision of bespoke maintenance services.’

Headed by Yusuke Karato, Martin Audio Japan was incepted in 2013. ‘Our staff don’t go and sell systems, as the system sells itself when it is out performing, but you need technical staff to provide sales support to interested parties.’ Combining rental and sales was a logical step, and Martin Audio’s then MD, Anthony Taylor, supported Mr Fujii in his quest. Meanwhile, the Audio Brains distribution arm had been set up in 2007. Following the d&b purchase, Audio Brains had taken responsibility for Avid’s live console division. Apex and beyerdynamic followed and, in more recent years, Audio Brains has been bolstered with the addition of Symetrix and Powersoft.

As a V-Dosc partner, MSI Japan had been appointed to tour with Andy Lau in China in 2004, rapidly establishing the line array standard there. This led to the establishment of a Hong Kong office to support both this and future productions, while a second office opened in Shanghai two years later. ‘The office is still there but, over time, the V-Dosc network has grown considerably and there are many more competitors in existence in China,’ reflects Mr Fujii. ‘We still operate from our Hong Kong office. However, we have offices in both Beijing and Shanghai with our own Chinese engineers, together with experienced Japanese female engineer, Naho Yamada, who is the chief sound engineer for the hit Chinese programme, I am a Singer.’

MSI helped to establish an independent office in Taipei complete with an MLA inventory in 2013. ‘Taiwan has many good artists and tour promoters who tour China frequently, so we are there to support such acts. Like Japan, Taiwan is rather conservative, so we decided to initiate joint ventures with local companies. We’ve been honoured as most touring operators who have worked on world tours quote MLA systems tuned by MSI as their favourite of all. Those comments make me extremely proud of the staff we have in the head office in Japan and our subsidiaries. We have built up a professional relationship over decades, promoting great technologies along the way.’

under the brand name, Interrupt,’ he explains. ‘However, the launch of the Yamaha PM3000 console marked a turning point. Although our own console integrated compression and noise gate dual functionality on each input channel, the Yamaha model had raised the bar significantly. In short, we knew it was pointless manufacturing outboard equipment. So at that point, I decided that we really had to tune in to what our customers wanted rather than simply providing equipment that was becoming obsolete. The time savings and benefits associated with digital technology were clearly evident.’

When d&b audiotechnik’s sales director, Peter Tongue, suggested MSI become a dealer for the German brand in 2006, Mr Fujii accepted the offer. ‘I loved the team behind it, so we bought the first ever J-Series system together with J-Sub subwoofers in Japan. We toured Japan, promoting the J-Series to a much greater audience. As a result, our purchase proved to be a catalyst in the J-Series’ fortunes regionally and cemented its

The journey continues for Mr Fujii and his crew. ‘I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my career and wouldn’t have lived it in any other way. Some people may say I have taken great risks, but I was simply ambitious and wanted Japan to experience the same high levels of production that existed in America. Audio has been, and will continue to be, my life’s work and you simply never stop learning so long as you have an open mind.’

Not only has Mr Fujii overtaken slower vehicles in the middle of the road to lead the pack, he has continually remained focused on the road ahead. And with a nod to the Bob Marley concert he helped to set up at Osaka’s Festival Hall, which he credits as his favourite ever, audio remains this pioneering gentleman’s One Love

www.Audio Brains.com

www.martin-audio-japan.com

www.msi-japan.com

Martin Audio’s technical training manager Martyn Rowe and Patrick Lau with Shuzo Fujii and the Audio Brains team

Audio Brains’ Junta Kamazaki

Martin Audio’s Simon Bull confirming Audio Brains’ distribution agreement at Prolight + Sound Frankfurt

Rising up the ranks

ALTHOUGH DUTCH MANUFACTURER ALCONS AUDIO

celebrated 15 years in business last year, the trio leading the company – managing director, Tom Back, head of R&D, Philip ‘Dr Phil’ de Haan and CFO, Maurice Laarhoven – all have more than 25 years’ history in audio apiece. Their paths converged at Stage Accompany and, since starting their own company in 2002, they have gone on to pool skills acquired from differing backgrounds to drive separate aspects of the business.

‘Between us we had some great but different development ideas – we ended up deciding Philip would make the product and I would sell it,’ recalls Mr Back. ‘Later, Maurice contacted me and I was able to convince him to come aboard with my new idea, and that is when we decided to form the trio. Those three elements –the overall management of the company led by me, with Maurice handling finance and Philip R&D – have been central to the way Alcons has been run.’

It didn’t take long for Mr Back to develop grand ambitions for Alcons. ‘I wanted to be in the d&b, Meyer, L-Acoustics range, at the top of the market,’ he confides. ‘I knew that we could do that because of the specific R&D knowhow we have about DSP, amplifier electronics, transducers and acoustics.’

Alcons has also been shrewd enough to offer the market a clear differentiator among other loudspeaker systems, although Mr Back admits this can sometimes be a hindrance as much as a virtue. One of the elements that has defined Alcons has been its use of pro-ribbon transducer technology.

‘Like a lot of developments in the Netherlands in the 80s, the original ribbon technology we use now came from Philips Electronics,’ explains Mr Back. ‘It’s not a ribbon in the conventional sense; they still suffer many hurdles such as fragility, poor power handling and efficiency. But this was a kind of hybrid that was developed by Philips for its consumer electronics loudspeakers, called “isophase”. Those original drivers are now more than 30 years old and are highly sought after if you can find them.’

Mr de Haan has been working on this technology for more than 30 years, bringing it to where it is today: a technology with numerous patents and patent-applications and over 32 different varieties in dispersion patterns, power handling and efficiency.

‘Alcons purpose-develops pro-ribbon drivers for its point source, point source array, line source and line array systems,’ continues Mr Back. ‘It’s a real-world alternative to any mid-high frequency transducer, bringing Hi-Fi sound quality to concert-level SPLs. Although we deliberately named our technology “pro-ribbon”, we still have to overcome the popular belief about ribbons – fragile, poor power handling, poor efficiency, low impedance. With thousands of drivers in daily use, the actual failure rate is close

to zero, and most of these are the result of curious engineers incorrectly opening the drivers.’

The first pro-ribbon product in 2003 was the VR12 compact versatile monitor, featuring the RBN601 6-inch pro-ribbon driver – a first – and a 12-inch driver in a multi-angle enclosure. Well received by the market and still in the Alcons portfolio, it was designed for use as a full-range monitor on a stand, a top cabinet in top/sub combo or a floor monitor. This was followed a year later by the first Alcons line array, the LR16, which debuted at the Museumsinsel festival in Berlin. This also used the RBN601 pro-ribbon driver coupled with double 8-inch mid-bass transducers and was the first time Alcons could demonstrate the suitability of pro-ribbon in line array applications. Later that year it found favour with Toto’s engineer, Colin Norfield, who used it for the band’s performance at the Tall Ships festival in Larvik, Norway. Subsequent line array systems include the LR14 ultra-compact line array launched in 2007, the LR7 micro line array in 2008 and the LR18 in 2016. Other significant product releases have included the QR24 column line source in 2012 and the RR12 point source array in 2013.

The pro-ribbon technology has evolved to the point where it can now be used in large-format systems, the most recent of which is the LR28 line array introduced in 2016. This features the RBN1402rs 14-inch pro-ribbon transducer for mid and high frequencies, which Mr Back describes as the company’s best proof of robustness. It is also the first time that the same transducer technology can be used in applications from studio monitoring, up to a 50,000-seat stadium concert tour.

‘The system’s output is on a par with the largest touring systems that are using 100-year-old compression driver technology,’ he claims. ‘The first LR28 clients have had these systems in use for two years, without any failures.’ The first of these clients was Trondheim Lyd, a sound and light provider from Norway, which has been using it for artists including Tom Jones, Roxette, DJ Tiesto,

Alcons Audio has been steadily establishing itself and its technologies for 15 years, carving out a niche in the world of sound system manufacture. Caroline Moss reflects on the company’s trajectory

Alcons LR28 at main stage of Dance Valley EDM festival

Tom Back and ‘Dr Phil’ de Haan with LR28 systems

Status Quo, Suzanne Vega and The Waterboys without having to replace a single component. Meanwhile, Dutch rental company Jurlights has been using the system on large-scale EDM festivals.

From day one, Alcons has strived to achieve a fine balance between offering something new and revolutionary and sticking with tried-and-trusted concepts. ‘Our growth is partly down to the range of our product portfolio. When we thought about starting the company we asked ourselves: “There are so many manufacturers of black boxes, what are we going to do differently from them?” That’s something we had to consider, but when you’re competing with 35- to 50-year-old companies, you also need to refer to concepts that customers have been used to for all those years. In this industry we’ve seen so many examples of excellent engineering and great sound, but it’s too revolutionary and the market doesn’t accept it. We focus on bringing new technology in market-proven concepts.

‘If we didn’t have the belief we could offer something that would raise the bar significantly when it came to potential sound quality, we wouldn’t have started the company. It’s been great justification when we hear from our clients that they believe Alcons goes much further in achieving the best sound quality

possible than any other manufacturer. A large part of that is, of course, from the pro-ribbon technology, which offers up to 90% less distortion than traditional compression driver-based systems, and it’s very audible.’

This focus on absolute sound quality is also the reason why Alcons systems defy classification, something that is borne out by a wide user base. Clients range from Lucasfilm and Walt Disney screening rooms and VUE cinemas through to Levels Audio postproduction studios in Hollywood, the Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg, Hamilton: an American Musical on Broadway and the Netherlands’ largest EDM festival, Dance Valley.

From the original trio and a handful of loyal friends, Alcons has grown to employ almost 30 full-time staff split across three separate buildings. ‘We are very rapidly expanding,’ stresses Mr Back. ‘On the woodworking side we’ve just moved in to new premises because we were in urgent need of more space. Our former office is about 1,200m2 and that’s now been completely converted into the woodworking department with brand new CNC machines. Now we are looking for much larger premises to move to before the end of the year, bringing everything – woodwork, electronics, transducers and assembly – together under one roof.’

While much of this growth has come from new territories, largely driven by its regional offices in Germany and USA and representation in around 30 countries, the markets the company serves have also expanded. ‘Our technology and R&D expertise lends itself to a wide range of applications and solutions,’ asserts

Mr Back. ‘Besides the typical installation and small-to-medium rental markets, we’ve been focusing on cinema from day one, getting our products established in screening rooms, and that’s had a knock-on effect for residential. At the other end of the spectrum, we’ve entered the touring market.’

And with Hamilton – currently one of the most successful musical productions in the world – transferring to the West End and taking the sound design from Broadway with it, it seems Mr Back’s ambitions of joining the big league have been realised.

www.alconsaudio.com

Alcons’ woodshop specialist Duc Tran with his namesake, the Duc double 18-inch cinema subwoofer and first-ever Alcons speaker, in 2002

Vue Kerkrade, Holland, one of the world’s first Dolby Atmos cinemas, installed with Alcons C-series pro-ribbon cinema systems

Alcons RR12 in Elbphilharmonie Hamburg

A letter from America

Dan Daley considers how a new breed of smartspeakers is propelling the industry back to the olden days of mono devices

HERE’S SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT: audio is being propelled at this moment into the immersive era, led by cinema and broadcast sports, in which 10 speakers will be considered a ‘normal’ array – the classic 5.1 plus four channels of overhead. That’s seemingly underscored by the dramatic increase in consumer loudspeaker sales in the last couple of years. However, consumers are not buying Dolby Atmos speaker arrays in large numbers, and for that matter proper (discrete) 5.1 surround systems are also still only a small fraction of the market. What they are buying, and doing so by the hundreds of millions, are so-called smartspeakers. Amazon, the market leader with its Alexa-powered Echo devices that respond to spoken commands, will hit sales of 244 million units in 2022, up from 24 million in 2016, according to a Forrester Research forecast, making Amazon the world’s biggest speaker brand, having sold 75% of all smartspeakers. In other words, we’ve gone back to mono, without realising it.

Amazon’s Echo is joined by Google Home and likely soon by Apple’s HomePod, which is following a market trajectory more like that of Apple TV than the iPhone or iPad, but, given Apple’s market power, will soon add even more heft to this growing category. But the vast majority of smartspeakers are mono devices; a few are designed as stereo units, but the spacing between their adjacent transducers simply cannot produce useful stereo images. And while smartspeakers are sometimes pitched in pairs, they’d still be just two independent speakers, not halves of a

Changing up the mix

Aside from the irony of selling more speakers than ever in the process of bringing audio back to a state like it was when Meet the Beatles an entirely new way of mixing music, in order to keep pace with what consumers want. If the

A letter from Europe

evolution from the CD, to downloads, and now to streaming has taught us anything, it’s that consumers will choose convenience over sonic quality every time. All the passionate advocacy for ‘quality sound’ from the pro audio and compelling, but largely for naught. Consumers want their music when they want it and where they want it. If that happens to be out of a $29 talking can, then so be it, and all the wailing and gnashing of teeth isn’t going to change that. You can educate consumers or you can cater to them – but only one route is going to pay the mortgage.

So, what does music made for smartspeakers comprise? Apple provided a good roadmap a few years ago when it introduced the Mastered For iTunes fact that it is meant to be both a mastering process and a distribution format – that is, it acknowledges that the audio it’s processing is intended for non-physical formats, in this

Music, the company’s online subscription portal. In this case, the medium is indeed the message. Spotify, Soundcloud and other streaming portals have been around long enough for a substantial body of mastering protocols to have been built up and become available online. (Masteringthemix.com is one of the better ones.) Mix and mastering engineers are well advised to start applying these techniques.

Mixing for the broadest medium isn’t tantamount to accommodating the lowest common denominator. Rather, it’s an acknowledgement that the landscape for music production has changed once again. There’s more to it than turning the L-R panners to the centre and cutting 3dB, and, while it’ll never have the presence that a great stereo mix through very good speakers will, it’ll help recordings better navigate the technical and economic exigencies of music’s new world.

Phil Ward considers whether concert venues should be tightening their security in the aftermath of the Bataclan and Manchester Arena attacks

FRENCH STATE TELEVISION HAS BEEN

obliged to put back the airing of a tender drama that sets a Parisian love affair at the time of the attack on the Bataclan, the small club venue where Eagles of Death Metal were

the stage, the audience and the foyer. Ninety lives were lost, including Nick Alexander, the band’s merchandise seller who was packing up near the entrance, and many injured in the 2-hour onslaught.

The delay is public channel France 2’s response to a petition of over 38,000 signatories who have objected to what they see as the exploitation of the event for

This is in the face of the all-too-real tragedy that struck the community with such force that a brace of coordinated survivors’ groups still offers support and counselling more than two years later.

It was these lobbies that got behind the petition, started by one victim’s widow, resulting in the postponement of the scheduled broadcast of Ce Soir-Là (That Night) until the show’s production team has had time to meet with them and arrive at a mutually agreeable way forward. No doubt they will emphasise the sensitive aspects of the narrative that portrays the couple at the centre of a love story that sees them meet at survivors’ group sessions – because although they weren’t at the concert, they both stepped in to help people escape.

I was in two minds about this, but I have spoken to a survivor: Steev A Toth, the Eagles of Death Metal production manager who was trapped inside the building for the full duration of the attack, hiding in an equipment room. His view emphasises the need to keep the stories alive, whether as imagined myths or simple pragmatism. ‘We had years of trying

to improve crowd control after those deaths at Roskilde in Denmark – I was there with The Cure – because it made it a high priority. Unfortunately, Bataclan will now go down as a similar watershed. No one’s ever been in that situation at a gig – 90 people killed at one show, out of 1,500 – so it has to rise to the top of the agenda.’ Mr Toth also had the gruesome task of incinerating the mics, pedals and backline that were beyond salvaging, once they’d been released by French police and returned to the UK.

He’s right. Apart from the ethical matters pertaining to the dramatisation of brutal news, there are more practical questions that the industry should be asking about the vulnerability of tightly packed concerts

airport-style security checks on all crew and gear before load-in, an expensive move with limited potential. I saw sniffer dogs backstage

at Justin Bieber’s only UK gig in Cardiff last June, but one lone nutter was intercepted just outside wielding a machete. Principality Stadium authorities had already closed the roof, for fear of drone attacks.

With all things considered, most industry professionals believe passionately that we should not be bowed. Joel Perry, who works as concert touring account manager at renowned North of England rental company Wigwam Acoustics, part of the SSE Audio Group, last summer for the survivors and victims’ families of the bomb attack at Ariana Grande’s appearance at the Manchester Arena. Never one to mince words, Mr Perry told me in no uncertain terms why business should continue as usual despite the risks. ‘We’ve all got a massive responsibility to be very positive,’ he said. ‘The concert industry may be “recession proof”, but if fear wins we’re all …’

Working in 3D

PROAVL-ASIA HAS BEEN RUNNING A SERIES OF ARTICLES by Dennis Baxter which have laid the theoretical groundwork of ambisonics. Now it’s time to look at the practical implementations of the technology. With immersive audio now knocking on our door, what ways are there to create content for this format and is it as specialised as many people think?

In this article, we will explore how ambisonics is being used in the current marketplace and the tools available that support ambisonic production, more of which appear every day. Ambisonics certainly isn’t a new way of capturing multichannel audio but, having originally been designed with spatial audio in mind, it has undergone somewhat of a resurgence and has become more interesting with recent developments in software decoding and the surge in popularity of virtual reality. Google has settled on ambisonics as its preferred format for special audio, albeit just first-order ambisonics for the time being. It is a particularly useful format for VR/gaming as, once encoded, it can still be manipulated and rotated without having to have access all the audio sources individually.

There are already many techniques and bespoke products for capturing high-quality surround audio, the majority of which use discrete mic capsules feeding separate channels of a multichannel recorder such as the DPA 5100 Dimension microphone. The downside of this is that a separate channel is required for every capsule. There are also some other solutions that combine clever software processing with a smaller number of capsules, such as

Sennheiser’s Esfera systems and Schoeps’ Double Mid/Side mic; however, all of these are still limited to capturing the horizontal sound field.

For the uninitiated, ambisonics is a technique for capturing and producing surround sound in both the horizontal and vertical planes from a single source.

‘Ambisonics is a different type of audio format,’ explains Paul Tapper from Nugen Audio. ‘We’re all very used to audio being presented as two channels for stereo or six channels for 5.1, or more for higher channel counts, where different streams of audio are going to come from specific locations. We’re also becoming familiar with the idea of object-based audio where you have maybe some channels, but also objects that can be independently moved in three dimensions. There’s also this third form of audio encoding called ambisonics, which is a way of encoding three-dimensional audio in quite an efficient way, and is also independent of your orientation. This is perfect for technologies such as VR headsets, and I think that’s why it’s become so interesting recently.’

‘Ambisonics for VR is the standard that is most popular,’ continues Sennheiser’s Johannes Kares. ‘The reason for that is that there are three different ways to transmit 3D audio. The first and most common is channel-based audio, a 5.1 stream for example, and that really works well for loudspeakers. On the other hand, you have upcoming object-based formats that take each object and transmit metadata along with it. The downside is that depending on the complexity of the scene, the data rate can be

very high and for streaming that can be a bit of a problem. For VR, ambisonics is really great because it combines the advantages of channel-based and object-based systems. You have a generic 3D sound field that is not dedicated to a certain speaker layout – kind of an object-based mixing approach – but on the other side you maintain a constant bitrate, because ambisonics is always four, nine or 16 channels of audio.’

The most common ambisonic format is a 4-channel format called B-format. B-format recordings can be created through either the manipulation of mono sources or by using a sound field microphone – an audio microphone composed of four closely spaced subcardioid or cardioid (unidirectional) microphone capsules arranged in a tetrahedron.

Sound field microphones capture raw audio – known as A-format – from the four capsules, which is then processed to B-format signals for recording. B-format matrixes the raw audio into a more or less 360° sound field by recombining channel content to create one omnidirectional channel and three bidirectional channels.

Dennis Baxter has discussed B-format in some detail; however, to briefly recap, B-format consists of the following four signals: W – a pressure signal corresponding to the output from an omnidirectional microphone; X – the front-to-back directional

Is working in ambisonics as difficult as you think? Simon Luckhurst addresses the reality

A prototype Audio-Technica ambisonic microphone

Sennheiser’s Johannes Kares

Paul Tapper from Nugen Audio

information; Y – the left-to-right directional information; and Z –the up-to-down directional information.

Sennheiser’s Ambeo microphone is an example of a recently released sound field mic. ‘The Ambeo mic is quite a standard way of recording ambient sound for VR,’ furthers Mr Kares. ‘The output of that mic can be converted to what is called ambisonics B-format, which is really the de facto standard for the major platforms that support VR video, like Facebook and YouTube. At the same time, it’s also very important to be able to take traditional microphones, such as spot mics and lavalier mics, and be able to mix them with a microphone like our Ambeo mic. It’s really a great workflow that makes a lot of sense for creating immersive experiences.’

As there has been some confusion about ambisonics, Sennheiser recently partnered with other manufacturers to showcase possible workflows. This includes, for example, native ambisonic recordings via the Ambeo microphone to Zoom’s F8 and F4 multi-track field recorders, even permitting users to adjust the gain on all four capsules of the Ambeo mic evenly and simultaneously with one knob. Mr Kares adds: ‘It’s now possible to record directly from the VR microphone onto the Zoom recorder, where it is converted to ambisonics B-format. You can take this signal and directly import it into Pro Tools for mixing and working.’ Sennheiser has also published a catalogue of information on recording and mixing in 3D that anyone interested in this domain would be wise to read. Additionally, it’s also highly possible when working in 3D audio that you have sound sources in a variety of formats that need to be processed for ambisonic workflows. For Nugen Audio, as with many manufacturers, the latest enhancements to its Halo Upmix processing software have centred on support for ambisonics.

Mr Tapper explains: ‘There’s a problem that if you’ve got loads of source clips that are perhaps some stereo music, someone speaking, some ambience, the chances are you don’t have those in an ambisonic format. We created Halo Upmix for upmixing stereo to 5.1, 7.1 and 9.1, but now it can also be used to make ambisonic audio as well.

‘You take your mono or stereo clip,’ he furthers. ‘You can redistribute the audio energy in the horizontal plane, move it up

or down in the vertical plane, and you might want to separate out the directional sound from more of the ambience. This can then be exported straight out into the B-format. At the moment, we support first-order ambisonics but soon we’ll be adding second- and third-order functionality, too. This gives you the tools you need to take your existing library from channel-based to ambisonics.’

But what do you do with those B-format signals? We’ve captured, we’ve processed, but how do we mix? Thankfully, ambisonic

workflows can be set up in most major DAW platforms, whether natively or in combination with additional plug-ins. If you’re producing both the immersive audio and the accompanying 360° video, programs such as Adobe Premiere Pro natively support ambisonic workflows in the first order. If you’re looking to create more involved second- or third-order mixes, a dedicated audio editor is a must. Reaper, Cubase, Nuendo and Logic all possess ways of setting up immersive workflows. Pro Tools HD takes this one step further by integrating Facebook’s Spatial Workstation plug-ins out of the box and templates to quickly set up workflows.

Pro Tools 12.8.2 added bus and track formats for first-, secondand third-order ambisonics that include four-, nine- or 16-track templates. Using the various plug-ins available within Pro Tools, users can then manipulate the audio by, for example, rotating the sound field or isolating sounds from specific directions. Tools such as Nugen’s Halo Upmix or Audio Ease’s 360 pan suite can be used as a plug-in in the DAW environment to position mixed sources (mono, stereo or 5.1) into an ambisonic mix, much the same way as in a traditional surround sound mix. Regular automation can then be used to track moving objects, or to keep sounds tied to their visual source when the camera is moving. So despite some tricky initial theory, recording and mixing in ambisonics is no more difficult than regular recording and mixing.

‘I am often told that this all sounds very amazing and interesting, but that ambisonics is a complex and hard format to understand,’ says Mr Kares. ‘But, for us, once you understand the technicalities of this technology, it’s not so different from actually mixing in stereo. The general workflow is really not that different, it’s just the framework that you’re working in is a different one.’

It’s clear that while ambisonics isn’t going to replace traditional ways of sculpting sound, it has an exciting future. However, it’s not going to replace the more traditional ways of sculpting sound. ‘It is a great new way of telling new stories and creating new experiences that people have not had before.’ Concludes Mr Kares

www.nugenaudio.com

www.sennheiser.com

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The Ambisonics Extention in Nugen Audio’s Halo Upmix

Seeking a realistic audio education

higher-education

audio

CONVENTIONAL

AUDIO EDUCATION PROGRAMMES

ARE simply not adequate for a wide variety of the audio industry’s jobs and needs. And yes, there are jobs. So what do I know that makes for a different perspective? It all comes down to the fact that I am a professional audio engineer who teaches rather than a professional teacher who knows something about audio. I currently teach an introduction to broadcast audio and advanced broadcast audio at a 4-year arts college. Additionally, I have been exposed to university programmes in nine different countries while conducting professional- and university-level broadcast audio training over the past 25 years.

What I’ve seen among the institutions of higher learning is the lack of a clear path towards achieving a relevant audio education and degree. In fact, for many students, an audio education at university level can be daunting to achieve. The most important courses are often embedded within different fields of study, forcing the aspiring audio student to embark on a sort of scavenger hunt to find courses to fulfil the audio degree programme, much less the needs of the workplace.

So here’s a realistic approach if you’re seeking an audio education.

Consider your options. The quest for an audio education should begin with some serious soul-searching as to what the desired outcome of your financial investment should be. And it is an investment, because the cost of education is at an all time high –right along with the number of unemployed college graduates.

In the audio disciplines, there is a wide spectrum of educational options to choose from. The availability of audio instruction ranges from speciality media arts schools to mass communication programmes at many major universities. In addition, online learning is changing the patterns of education in all fields. Media Arts and Sciences are taught at various levels of theoretical depth and operational specialisation. From a general, 4-year media degree to a 3-month equipment certification, audio education and training is readily available. The challenge

for the aspiring student is selecting a programme of study while understanding the training outcomes of that course of study.

At a 4-year college or university, a media degree might include courses in media technology, the science of picture and sound, broadcast systems and media production. (These course descriptions were pulled from actual school catalogues.) At the end of the day, a film, video and television degree will give students an overview of media theory and production. Add a good internship and you just might get a job.

Even though many programmes have an actual radio or television studio, more often than not there is a gap in the type and age of the equipment a student is trained on and the current professional technology actually used in the field. Many motivated students gravitate to an area of interest – audio, camera, capture or graphics – but generally are not given the more focused learning opportunity to become proficient.

One requirement for success in many audio occupations revolves around the quick and creative execution of audio directions. This

is evident in all aspects of the industry and makes hands-on training critical. Be sure to find out if hands-on training is available as part of the audio programme and what types of equipment are used in that training before you enrol.

While digital film topics are typically well covered in most educational programmes, audio courses revolve around the visual studies. For example, audio for film would cover location sound capture and recording, plus postproduction and the principles of sound design for film, but not live broadcast applications.

Where there is an abundance of audio-specific studies is in recording technology. This programme of study can be tied to a music programme at a university or found at a profusion of private schools offering 4-year arts degrees as well as shorter certificate programmes.

Music programmes can be difficult for untrained musicians, so much so that many schools have softened their entrants’ music requirements to fill the need to educate aspiring recording technicians. For several decades, courses in recording technology have been one of the largest areas of audio instruction and jobspecific audio training.

The recording technology degree programme should teach a wide range of recording and mastering principles across a variety of media platforms, including creating audio for music, film, television and the gaming industries. These studies will be based on hard disk recording technology and usually taught in a studio setting. Most programmes are project-based and guide the student to having a portfolio upon graduation. Acquiring a recording technology degree will train you in the audio aspects for video, including recording narration, building audio tracks for commercials, cartoons and documentaries, postproduction and mixing, radio and even commercial music production. But be aware that these programmes are often limited in scope to just the recording aspects of audio.

Know the job market. For the audio graduate, often it is not until you are looking for a job that you realise the vast number of

Dennis Baxter offers his experience and exposure to the reality of the

system and a course of action for those who aspire to an education in

Dennis Baxter with his students

audio-related jobs that are out there. Jobs in the audio field span all aspects of the entertainment industry, but there is a lack of exposure to many of the live areas of audio-related occupations. Furthermore, new graduates may find themselves under-educated with a significant lack of training in outside broadcast, live music as well as theatre sound production.

To me, most audio education degree programmes seem to be too limited in scope. Touring technology requires a far different set of skills than recording and there are very few opportunities to get those skills. Sometimes the employer has had to fill the gap in audio training – for example, Britannia Row, a UK-based PA and lighting company, implemented its own programme where applicants were instructed in the skills the company needs. Applicants who achieved top of the class standing received a paid apprenticeship. But this approach is rare. Even the most basic apprenticeship programme requires some textbook learning and many operations and businesses want an entry-level person to be useful from day one.

The reality is that while an audio education might get you an interview, many audio jobs require skills that are not developed or even taught in a large number of audio education and training programmes.

So, what do you need to do to get the very best return on your investment and equip yourself for an audio career? One of the most important things you can do is to develop a realistic course of action for achieving a relevant audio education. It can be as simple as a checklist … but the thinking and research that you put into it are well worth it.

1. Define what you are looking for

Are you training for an entry-level position or are you trying to advance in a specific field or cross-train in a different area of audio? Unfortunately, this step is not adequately explored or really fully understood by the parent or student. Many students are

attracted to a general, university-level media education and, in being so, marginalise their chances of a job. They will receive instruction that is more theory than practice and sometimes simply not relevant in today’s industries. I am continually surprised at the lack of relevant curricula in many educational organisations. A close examination of a school’s curriculum can indicate the depth and expertise of the audio programme’s core content.

is to get as much hands-on training as possible while you’re still in school. Experience everything you can. Potential employers are increasingly expecting the audio graduate to be immediately useful and not require babysitting or re-training. Hands-on exposure to specific operations of digital equipment such as mixing consoles, communication systems, recording and playback devices and routing is mandatory for the student. Be sure to find out availability of studio training and the types of current equipment used.

The professional audio industry has recognised some of the deficiencies in audio education and provides opportunities to augment degree programmes with applied learning outside of the university structure. Specific manufacturers offer online tutorials about the use and application of their professional audio equipment. Tutorials such as Genelec’s speaker system set up and alignment, DiGiCo’s videos and offline mixing console tutorials, and Audio-Technica’s microphone use and applications should be a viable component of the education process. Additionally, manufacturers including DiGiCo, Genelec, RTS and Audio-Technica have supported realistic audio education goals by loaning equipment for hands-on training to hundreds of students.

The abundance of institutions offering music and recording studio technology programmes has led some to poorly adapted live audio classes to round out their curricula. There may be similar equipment in the student studios, but the emphasis, training and hands-on learning is completely different. The result is a short-changed education.

You will quickly discover when audio study is an add-on because of the lack of proper audio equipment to train on. For example, audio for film and audio for television should not be taught together because the disciplines, applications and equipment are completely different. This is probably why there are very few schools that teach outside broadcast because only a handful of schools have an OB van. There is definitely a void in outside broadcast education and training.

2. Avoid predatory marketing

Unfortunately, a small number of educational institutions are marketing ‘glamour’ to attract young students with stars in their eyes. By portraying graduates with high-paying jobs in fancy recording studios or metamorphosising into a recording star, these institutions are implying that bountiful jobs do exist and that their degree programmes will ensure a glamorous career in the future. But predatory marketing is a sure sign of a school to avoid. High tuition fees and the low realistic value of the education itself can leave students – and parents –disillusioned and owing thousands on student loans.

3. Invest in the building blocks

Selecting an audio programme can be difficult if you don’t know what the building blocks are. From my vantage point, there are fundamentals for any audio student in disciplines such as acoustics, basic electronics, microphones and monitoring. Having a working understanding of the maths and physics behind sound is absolutely necessary. And after learning the theory, the applied aspects of audio are a critical part of the learning formula. You will need instruction in sciences such as digital technology and its application across all platforms –audio, video and communications. The equipment is computerbased and gaining a working knowledge of audio software plus computer troubleshooting and testing skills is essential. One of the biggest problems for new graduates is a lack of operational know-how with professional equipment. The key

Another important thing you can do is to work while you go to school. Find a job in the industry – outside of the school. This will give you the chance to learn on different equipment with working professionals. The most proficient students I have taught are those who have augmented their coursework with real work experience. Apply for a job in an equipment rental company, PA company or sports facility. Get your foot in the door, make yourself useful and you will progress rapidly. Even if all you can do at first is coil cables, you may just get the job because your employer knows the value of orderly and proper equipment maintenance.

4. Join industry associations

The Audio Engineering Society (AES) is an international organisation and is just one opportunity for an audio student to rub shoulders with professionals and be exposed to the latest thinking and innovations in the industry.

Plan to focus your studies on something you’re interested in. As you progress through your degree, you’ll find areas in audio that are compelling. Spend time on these gems, learn all you can about them from books, the internet and industry publications.

Moreover, look for a school that stresses the integrity of an audio degree, pushes on the science and maths, offers hands-on environments and teaches a well-rounded curriculum for a wide variety of audio disciplines.

At the end of the day, job placement is the final objective of your education. It is a fair question to inquire about the educational institution’s successful placement rate and companies that have hired their graduates.

For those of you who are students, those of you who know people who want to have a career in sound and those of you who, like me, just want to mentor the next generation of audio professionals, think about what you’ll say when someone asks you, ‘I want to be a sound engineer. How do I get started?’ You can answer by telling them that they need a course of action that will net them a realistic audio education and a lifetime career of creative, challenging and exciting work in sound.

Basic set up theory

NAMM 2018

What effect did the newly expanded Anaheim Convention Center – which now features new halls dedicated to pro audio and event technology – have on this year’s show?

WHILE WALKING THROUGH A CORNFIELD IN THE 1989 Field of Dreams Adamson Systems Engineering

Funktion-One K-array KV2 Audio Powersoft

RME’s Christian Latzelberger and Eric Chiu on the Synthax booth

NST Audio, Full Fat Audio and Funktion-One – Dan Cartman, Daniel Agnes, Ann and Tony Andrews, Dave Millard and David Bruml

Lectrosonics’ Peter More and Karl Winkler hosted an Entertainment Wireless Technical Academy in the adjacent Hilton Hotel

Ultimate Ears Pro general manager Philippe Depallens

beyerdynamic unified communication and collaboration product manager, Philipp Schwenker showcases his latest creation, the Fox USB studio mic

Bose Professional’s Kyle Sullivan with the new S1 Pro multi-position portable speaker Stefano Bini, Ilaria Fioravanti and Marco Cantalu from dBTechnologies with the Vio line array system

Dowson Yu from JTS Professional with the new CS-120 digital conference system

Burl Audio’s Trevor Reid and Bristin Millard

DPA Microphones’ vice president of marketing Anne Berggrein with CEO Kalle Nielsen

credibility of NAMM’s extension to a more professional audience beyond MI. DPA meanwhile promoted its latest Core models alongside d:facto and d:vote on the same level with a live band. Located some distance from the main halls, the NAMM organisers could be forgiven for feeling apprehensive on the eve of the show. The Arena had always felt somewhat remote and detached from the other exhibits in the old format, so the extra distance to ACC North would serve as a greater test for NAMM visitors wishing to drag themselves away from the melee of the MI halls. They need not have worried. From the outset, the bridge between the halls experienced heavy traffic, perhaps drawn to the heavily subscribed live demonstrations on the Avid, Roland and Waves booths.

Finally removed from the confines of room 7800, Harman was actually out on the show floor to promote an immersive setup consisting of the new JBL 3 series MkII monitors amongst AKG, Soundcraft and other JBL products together with Martin Professional lighting solutions. ‘For Harman in the past, we were in a smaller room and we didn’t have the visibility with the crowds,’ shared Lea Bush, marketing strategist at Harman. ‘Now

is really a first for Mipro, so we wanted to receive direct feedback from musicians. But it was a dilemma whether to exhibit here or with the other microphone producers in ACC North.’

Both Allen & Heath and dBTechnologies, exhibiting the dLive consoles and Vio line array, respectively, on the booth of their distributor, were kept busy from the outset. Likewise P Audio, promoting its Vita line array system alongside transducers and woofers, also welcomed a steady flow of distributors and dealers. If Adam Hall had been torn between ACC North and the main convention centre, its decision to remain seemed to have paid dividends. The Porsche parked outside the Arena signposting visitors to its stand to view the Maui P900 flagship speaker system clearly helped, as the Cameo lighting, Gravity stands, LD Systems portable speakers and Palmer MI accessories were clearly aimed at the end user.

In a similar vein to the A-T and Sennheiser wireless microphone system launches, new products unveiled at NAMM are primarily focused on enhanced price performance features. In contrast, while TASCAM drew lengthy lines of Bootsy Collins admirers to its booth for an hour, the latest Dante-enabled ML-16D and ML-32D analogue Dante converters attracted a more refined audience of studio engineers and recordists. However, elsewhere, new launches such as the Focusrite Clarett USB interfaces, Presonus Earmix 16M personal monitor and RCF ART 7 series typified NAMM shows of old.

The inaugural AES@NAMM programme included four training academies, a variety of tutorials and sessions in addition to whitepapers being hosted in the adjacent Hilton Hotel. ‘With the professional audio industry growing and changing rapidly, we believe it makes sense for our society’s in-person gatherings to evolve as well,’ explained AES president, David Scheirman.

‘Considering the rapid advances that are taking place in the technologies and tools we use, there is nothing like direct exposure to the latest advances in audio equipment and workflow processes. This event was designed to provide a sampler of knowledge and hands-on training across the entire signal path, from microphone to speaker.’

With more than 300 sessions taking place off the show floor, there was a degree of angst amongst exhibitors that such distractions might limit show floor traffic. Their fears turned out to be unfounded as workshop registrations were somewhat lower than anticipated. However, the additional element to the NAMM show and the collaboration with AES bodes well for the years ahead as an educational format enriches the offerings of an already packed programme.

For the 2018 show, the NAMM organisers succeeded in drawing a significant number of new exhibitors to ACC North in addition to plugging the gaps in the main convention centre. Other event organisers would doubtless have been satisfied to attain such a lofty goal, but NAMM went further. The organisation ensured that huge expanses of show floor were not diluted in visitor numbers – a fact noted repeatedly by exhibitors in all the halls. Nor was the increased attendance figure exclusively North American as international registrations outgrew domestic. At the close of NAMM 2018, some noted professional loudspeaker developers were already drawing up new, increased stand spaces for 2019, possibly to coincide with planned product launches. The NAMM organisers may have been subjected to excessive SPLs over the years but they understand the art of listening when interacting with their customers, providing them with a befitting platform worthy of their participation.

we are in this new open space where we can showcase our studio technologies in an area that allows us to provide a demo, showing attendees that Harman has solutions they probably didn’t know about before.’

In close attendance, QSC preferred to celebrate its 50th anniversary with the original founders cutting a birthday cake on its booth. Having decided not to exhibit its Systems technologies, QSC focused on the extensive range of K series speakers including the new KS112 subwoofer, TouchMix-30 mixers and E series amplifiers from the Professional series. Synthax hosted Alva, Ferrofish, RME and myMix products, but in keeping with the lower level vibe, guests were entertained with live music, giveaways, coffees and demonstrations in order to keep them there. ‘I cannot believe how busy we have been this year – this is the best NAMM I have ever attended,’ enthused MD Mathias von Heydekampf. ‘RME is showing the ADI-2 DAC Interface, and TotalMix Remote Software for the first time at NAMM 2018. During the four days, we have interfaced with so many existing and hopefully new customers including many from Asia and Latin America.’

Back in the main halls and despite the relocation of many professional audio brands, NAMM was hardly scaled back, with vacated spaces now occupied by MI manufacturers and suppliers. Perhaps resistant to change, a number of familiar pro-companies opted to stay put, including Mipro. ‘We’ve been exhibiting at NAMM for over 20 years and, as a wireless microphone and speaker manufacturer, we decided we need to interface with musicians,’ explained marketing director, Eugene Chen. ‘The MR-24 digital wireless pedal receiver is making its debut, which

2018 Dates: 25 – 28 January

2019 Dates: 24 – 27 January

Venue: Anaheim Convention Center

Total exhibitors: 2,000

Attendance: 115,085

Contact: www.namm.org

www.nammshow.org

P Audio’s Howard Chen and Simon Rains present the new Vita system

Traffic on the bridge between the main convention centre and the new ACC North resembled the 405 at rush hour

Current VP of QSC Gene Joly and CEO Joe Pham with founders Pat Quilter and John Andrews

Another successful NAMM for the Audix team

Mipro’s Eugene Chen unveiled the new MR-24 digital wireless pedal receiver

ADAM Audio chairman David Angress unveils the company’s new T Series studio monitors

Wolfgang Freixenet introduces Sennheiser’s ew100 G4 wireless platform

TASCAM’s Yosuke Matsuno and Takashi Tsunoyama promoted the new ML-16D and ML-32D analogue Dante converters

Always Listening – Audio Technica SEA’s S K Teng welcomes his Thai distributor from Vichai Trading Thitikorn Sopchokchai

Focusrite’s marketing director Giles Orford showcases the Clarett USB interface

NAMM

‘As an importing manufacturer from overseas, Adam Hall feels at home at NAMM sharing our technologies amongst passionate people. To enable creativity, Adam Hall always shares its extensive knowledge – but I feel it this year like no other trade show. There’s a spirit here that you don’t experience anywhere else.’

Adam Hall marketing manager, Nikke Blout

‘This level of ambient noise is manageable but navigating around queues getting through security nightmare. They seem to have programme, we’ve had three studios presenting throughout the day with DiGiGrid and Waves. They were much less successful marketed or thought through. They’re going to have to drastically revamp things if they’re going to do it again next year.’

Genelec marketing director, Howard Jones

‘With the opening of the new ACC North, we were unsure where to exhibit initially. As we are also promoting electronic drum kits and other MI products, this position was best in terms of interfacing with musicians while attracting visitors moving between the halls. It hasn’t disappointed as it has been very busy this year.’

Studiomaster general manager, Patrick Almond

‘We haven’t been here since 2015 when we were in the Arena, but felt encouraged enough to return this year given the opening of the has been steady as we have invited the majority of theatre technicians, consultants and production companies here to the show.’

KV2 Audio international sales director, Dave Croxton

‘NAMM is a great friend and as a good friend of the organisation I have been get together and I’m excited that we’ve found a way to do it. We’ve had a good turnout. It’s kind of a new concept. People might still be expecting the big toy store and not much else, yet there is all this rich content now.’

AES executive director, Bob Moses

‘We were in the Arena for the last two years because we were new to NAMM, and now we’ve moved over to Hall A which is far better for us.

because they are so spread out, but booth. However, I am still up in the air as to whether this is a good location for us.’

Switchcraft’s Wendy Charak

‘This has been a very successful show for us. We feel that the NAMM show is getting more popular and there are more and more visitors from different countries all over the our new active speaker, and it was a great success.’

Audiocenter sales and marketing director, Dena Tsui

‘This new hall is a much better place to be. It’s brought all of the pro manufacturers in one place together and it’s really worked. And those that stayed in the old location, I think they’ve felt a little bit isolated. Next year all the pro manufacturers will be in one building, and that’s really positive.’

DiGiGrid brand manager, Dan Page

‘Hall A has been a great location for the last two or three years, but whether it will be as good next year will be interesting to see. It may no longer be the best place to be.’

JoeCo founder, Joe Bull

NAMM, and we are receiving an award recognising our 50-year achievement. Happily it’s been a very successful show from the standpoint of seeing customers who we might not have seen at the AES show otherwise. I’ve been coming here for many years and the mixing of pro audio into NAMM has made it weirder, but that’s actually a good thing. There is more of a reason for somebody to come here not knowing exactly what they’re going to see.’

Clear-Com president, Bob Boster

‘Bittree is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year and this

response has been great and a little overwhelming. I was a little nervous when we came here knowing there is a pro audio section but being in Hall A has been really good for us.’

Bittree general manager, Ari Baron

‘We deliberately located ourselves between the musical guys and the pro audio guys because that’s where we are in terms of our product range. I can’t complain about the location. The general we are very positive about the changes.’

Celestion marketing/artist relations manager, John Paice

‘The new halls and new focus have been an excellent change. We are very happy with the positioning and the hall is quieter, meaning we can have high-quality chats with our engineers without being interrupted by musicians. I think the AES section at NAMM is really interesting but I don’t think it has been announced correctly. It would be cool next year to have signage directing people to the right places.’

Klang:Technologies co-founder, Pascal Dietrich

‘We had originally planned a location in Hall A so we were late in switching over to these new good but not great compared to what we were used to in the other section.’

Auralex marketing director, Robb Wenner

audiotechnik has participated at the NAMM show. Unlike other trade shows, the appeal of having a demo room directly associated with your booth was a big plus for us in terms of manpower and setup. It’s been a complete success as the demos have been packed with two days followed by a large contingent of good musicians on the third day. Unlike other trade show associations, NAMM actually listened to us and delivered on their promises.’

d&b audiotechnik Latin America sales manager, Christian Stumpp

‘This year’s NAMM has been particularly good for us. We’re in a decent position amongst peer groups in the new hall, so we’ve had that appropriate footfall and customers come through that really want to see the new result6. There are always going to be concerns or changes raising questions but I feel that NAMM’s really executed this group quite well. Most guys from pro audio have their own little corner at NAMM now.’

PMC export sales manager, Chris Allen

ISE 2018

What makes

IT HAS TAKEN 15 YEARS TO GET TO THIS POINT, BUT ISE is now clearly the most important tradeshow in the industry. Some composition of the audience or from the raft of new technology every category.

One of the elements that highlighted the increased importance of the event is the way that R&D cycles have shifted to accommodate was a phrase that came up time and time again. Whether it was Crestron

Audio-Technica

Sony Audinate Kramer

the majority of major launches appeared to centre on the software rather than the hardware.

Shure

Newtek

d&b audiotechnik was showing the concept in action with regular demonstrations of its Soundscape

others on show. New control technology was on show from DiGiCo Yamaha with the Rivage sister company Nexo Dynacord EAW and Powersoft beyerdynamic Biamp ClearOne K-array Nureva Revolabs and Sennheiser ASL amongst others.

from LDA audiotech

Adam

Hall Axiom Community EM Acoustics JBL and Martin Audio

Pan Acoustics of Analog Way BenQ Calibre Christie LG and Panasonic Maverick

Argosy Lawo and Stage Tec

Datavideo

ISE the most important event on the global tradeshow calendar? Pro AVL Asia walked the aisles of an expanded RAI to find out

Thomas Riedel with a larger than life Bolero intercom transmitter

Vincent the Frog outshines the eMotus 50D speaker, Luis Hinojar and Daniel Gonzalez on the Ecler booth

Williams Sound’s Pat Brey and Diane Thomas demonstrate the virtues of the new IR T1 infrared technology

Roberto Mataloni with FBT’s selection of Mitus, Muse, Ventis and Vertus speaker series

Bruce and Christine Howze celebrate 50 years of Community Professional

Amate Audio’s Jordi Amate was busy at ISE 2018 introducing the new Nítid speaker series

Adamson Systems' Jochen Frohn unveiled the latest IS7 addition to the IS series

Work Pro’s Juan Jose Vila promoting the Lightshark digital lighting controller

Franziska Koch and Daisuke Imagawa from TOA Electronics Europe presented the new AM-CF1 audio collaboration system

CIE’s Chris Edwards and Inter M’s Fred Yoon displaying the Evamatrix 20x8 Bus Matrix Controller

L-Acoustics invited attendees onto its luxury Island in addition to L-ISA demos using Syva speaker systems

something with video” and that is where we connect.’

‘IP is starting to become standard but broadcasters are much slower taking to it than people in the A/V market who just need to get something working immediately and may already have network technology on the premises,’ said Eric Norrell from AJA ‘That is a reason for us being here with our new technologies.’

If the theme of broadcast manufacturers exhibiting was a continuation, one genuinely new trend was the significant amount of lighting vendors taking space. The likes of Avolites, Claypaky, Elation, GLP, MA Lighting and Robe all had a notable presence at the show.

With so much to see, it is unsurprising that ISE once again attracted a record crowd, with over 80,000 visitors coming through the doors. ‘It’s grown and grown over the years,’ noted

Coda Audio’s David Webster. ‘I don’t mean just in terms of the size of the show but in terms of the people coming that make a difference. It is exceptionally busy compared to the past.’

‘We do commercial A/V, residential A/V and digital signage and so to see 70,000 to 80,000 people of that discipline all in one show is fantastic,’ said Rick Komendera from SurgeX. ‘This is certainly the biggest show we have worked with.’

While ISE was originally conceived as a European event, the attendance is very much global. ‘That is the beauty of ISE, you can gather people from all over the world,’ said Eleuterio Fernades from Exterity. ‘The only place we don’t get a great footfall from is the US, but they have InfoComm and Cedia. For everyone else, the show is proving to be really popular.’

Sovico Pro’s Jay Han and Daniel Kwon with the audio mix and distribution Matrix

CEO Rashid Skaf on the Biamp booth

Bodo Falkenried with LD Systems’ newly developed Curv 500 duplex satellite models

Antonio, Andre and Tiego Correia from Next-proaudio present the Matrix series of column speakers

An Astro Spatial Audio demonstration on the Alcons Audio booth

BXB moved to join the video crowd in Hall 8

The Christie stand gathered a lot of interest

It was a busy ISE 2018 for DiGiCo’s Roger Wood with the debut of the 4REA4 platform

‘We’ve been introducing a couple of new ranges of products and we’re getting more and more traction here,’ said Active Audio’s Eric Dubouays. ‘What’s really quite amazing is the fact that we get people from all over the world – Australia, Turkey, Middle East, Asia, US – so it’s really the place to be.’

‘I think people are recognising the advantage of going to one big show rather than the smaller regional shows,’ observed Meyer Sound’s Chris Mead. ‘People are seeing it as worthwhile because you can go to one place once a year and you can see everything in the same place.’

‘We’ve been meeting with quite a lot of potential customers and distributors,’ noted James Godbehear from first-time exhibitor, Cadac. ‘It’s one of those shows that seems to attract everybody of every description.’

‘We can see people from so many different countries in one spot,’ reflected BXB’s Zolzaya Erdenechimeg. ‘There have been people from Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. The Asian attendance has increased this year, which surprised us.’ ‘This has become the global market show, people from all over the world come to ISE,’ stated Apart Audio’s Kris Vermuyten. ‘People from Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru, up to Australians, Chinese, Koreans and everything else in between, so that is definitely worth it for us.’

It was not only the quantity of visitors that impressed the show’s exhibitors. ‘It’s the only show that you don’t get time wasters at, everyone that comes here is qualified and you get good-quality conversations,’ said Stuart Down from Quested Monitoring Systems. ‘There’s not one person that’s spent time with us that I’ve thought “that’s a waste of time” and this is the only show that you get that.’

‘For us, it’s a very important show and critical part of our approach to this region from a business standpoint,’ explained Clear-Com’s Bob Boster. ‘Many of our partners are here and it is an opportunity to see people early in the year while they are working on their projects.’

‘There’s been a steady stream of people but we’ve never been swamped,’ offered Tempest’s Tim Burnham. ‘Most have been good people talking about real jobs.’

‘Probably this is the best show we’ve done in terms of people, the clientele and the vibe,’ said first-time exhibitor, Frank Andrewartha, from Quest Engineering. ‘We’ve been able to meet all our new distributors here and we’re definitely going to be back.’

‘There are zero tyre kickers, every conversation you have is a meaningful one which is refreshing,’ agreed Peavey’s James Kennedy. ‘We are getting virtual orders on the show floor, which is really rare.’

While there were many positive points about the show, ISE 2018 was not perfect. The addition of Hall 15 as a temporary structure to the front of the RAI may have been able to provide an extra

4,000m2 of space, but it ran the risk of feeling like a corridor that people used to enter and leave the show.

Indeed, the scale of the show has actually started to become a negative for some people. ‘My impression from the first two or three days was that it is getting too big because the infrastructure is not keeping up with it,’ stated Klaus Seitz from Bosch Communications. ‘In my opinion, it has reached a level where it cannot become bigger if it is done in Amsterdam.’

‘There are some logistical problems here,’ agreed Televic’s Herman Geerinck. ‘The RAI is getting too small for the show.’

This observation lead to further conversations about where the show could move to and subsequent rumours of new venues sweeping the aisles. For all this talk, there were also some stark warnings about taking this approach. ‘A change of location would kill ISE,’ stated XTA’s Waring Hayes. ‘Maybe changing the time of the year could help, although it probably wouldn’t in terms of helping the capacity.’

‘There are lot of rumours going around, people are pointing to Frankfurt while others are pointing to Milan or Berlin,’ said Audac’s Tom Van De Sande. ‘It is dangerous for the organisation to undertake such a drastic change. Look at Prolight + Sound –they tried to save the show by separating Musikmesse and it took it down quite strongly.’

While the event is certainly experiencing growing pains, these are a result of all the positives it brings. It must also be noted that the popularity of tradeshows is cyclical; ISE is currently number one but others lie in wait. The challenge for the organiser will be how to continue growing the event within the confines of the RAI with its global audience.

ISE

2018 Dates: 6 – 9 February

2019 Dates: 5 – 8 February

Venue: RAI, Amsterdam

Total exhibitors: 1,296

Attendance: 80,923

Contact: www.iseurope.org

Outline’s Leonardo Dani promoting the new Arena cabinets alongside the established Stadia series

Motome Tanake and Andy Cooper with Yamaha’s newly launched Rivage PM7 console

Klaus Seitz on the Electro-Voice booth with the EVC series

K-array took a rare time out between promoting the elegant Capture line array mic and an almost invisible Azimut speaker system

Martin Barbour explaining the Q-Sys Reflect concept

I believe that ISE is still one of the most important exhibitions for highquality exhibitors in the trade market. It is also equally important for the customer that walks around the exhibition – Fabrizio Milan, Tasker

There is such a cross-section of dealers; this show in particular has a broad spectrum of people coming to it. We’re really reaching so many different audiences that don’t necessarily make it to Cedia or InfoComm in the US – Brett Stokke, RTI

Being under the Yamaha branding has helped us in terms of recognition. We have had some

really

good traffic –

Meghan

Kennelly, Revolabs

It has been very good. The visitor quality is quite good. End users come to the show to find new technology and they are excited when they see the new things from us – Christy Fang, Taiden

Televic launched six new products at ISE 2018

We have come across a lot of known faces out of the Middle East, there are many people from the GCC around here. We have seen a mix of everyone, but mainly the systems integrators – Nittin Dargan, Bose Professional

Broadcast is very niche and a much smaller market, so we’re hoping to get some extra sales on this side. It’s really hard to get noticed at a big show like this, but it’s been positive – Marcus Brooke, Sonifex

We have seen little to no tyre kickers which I think is a reflection of the size, scale and number of exhibitors. I exhibit here because it is a meeting place for my distributors and I have seen every one of them –Simon Curtis, Cloud Electronics

There has been huge growth in the quantity and quality of the visitors. We are seeing more systems integrators and more distributors who are just interested in selling to systems integrators. The technical knowledge is higher than in previous years – Florian Kunz, HK Audio

We have been surprised to see a broad range of different customers with a deep knowledge in technology. It has been better than expected –Jan Ehrlich, DirectOut

I think there are a number of reasons as to why ISE is able to pull large numbers. People are saying that if they go to Amsterdam and spend four very efficient days there, then they can see everything they need to see – Tom Back, Alcons Audio

The launch of Genelec AV has been received very well. The interest towards us is growing and now we can say to people we are taking this seriously – Sami Mäkinen, Genelec

We play in a lot of different markets and we see people from each vertical here – Jeff Terzo, Just Add Power

User-driven design

Christie has attempted to put the end user at the heart of the design process as it takes its Velvet Apex series of LED panels to a pixel pitch of less than 1mm

WHERE SHOULD THE PRODUCT DESIGN PROCESS START?

Is it a case of engineering teams pushing technology to its

Christie senior product manager, Ted Romanowitz The Apex 0.9 has a 0.96mm pixel pitch

We take those and we remote them up to 100m away. What that does is take the heat, noise and complexity from that cabinet and moves it 100m away into a service closet.’

The senior product manager describes these remote power units as being rack-mounted, telecom grade and hot-swappable, featuring n+1 redundancy and automatic failover. ‘In the unlikely event that something should fail, then you can just go to the service closet,’ he explains. ‘All of our products are SNMP so you can monitor them. You’ll get an alert if there is a failure with our power supplies so you’ll know you have to hot swap, but it will hot failover so it will keep the wall running. With an internal power supply, a whole section of the wall would go down and then you’ll have to tear the wall apart to get to the power supply. This way there is no disruption at the wall as everything is taken care of remotely.’

Remote power supplies are not the only consideration Christie has given to its users in the design process. Like all members of the Velvet Apex series, Apex 0.9 is also front serviceable. ‘We have really gone the extra mile to think about how we develop our products for serviceability with the integrator in mind,’ says Mr Romanowitz. ‘Most walls that need rear access require a thirdparty mount with scissors. A 0.9mm panel is so delicate, if you have a mount structure to get rear access or if you’re scissoring it out and scissoring it back and you rub them, there is pixel dust everywhere. That is why we like the front serviceability. With our Apex line, you just remove a module board – and there are 12 module boards per tile. With the competition, you have to remove the whole tile which is either 27 inches diagonal or 54 inches.’

It is this area that the senior product manager also believes provides another advantage to the design if the worst should happen. ‘We do include 5% spares with all of our walls,’ he continues. ‘In the unlikely event that something goes wrong, then you don’t have to wait. We have a service location in the UK, one in India and a location in China so we have covered our service requirements geographically. We have a full-on repair station, so if someone is cleaning and they knock a ladder into the wall and kill a module, they can just grab one of their spares and replace it within minutes, all from the front, very easily and quickly. They can take that damaged module, ship it to the repair station that is nearest to them, then we can repair it and send it back to them very quickly.’

While the serviceability of the 0.96mm pixel pitch, 16:9 aspect ratio full HD LED panel was an important factor, providing the right control and monitoring capabilities was also vital. ‘It is manageable remotely, there are automatic alerts that will tell you if something is up with the wall,’ says Mr Romanowitz. ‘It’s also got interfaces including RS-232 and IP for popular control systems like Crestron or AMX.’

Of course, it is not only the end user who needs to be thought about during the design process. ‘You can give the end user enough capability to do the majority of things that they are going to do, without going crazy,’ offers Mr Romanowitz. ‘That actually

makes the integrator valued because they can come in and adjust or maintain the wall, but it allows the end user just enough. We have a focus not only on the end user, but also our integrator partners, because they are a key part of the Christie story. We want to team with them, shoulder-to-shoulder, and provide the best experience we can to the end user.’

By taking this approach, Christie believes it has created a product that fits in both camps of design – an engineering-led design created with the user in mind.

www.christiedigital.com

Each tile is made from 12 module boards

Apex 0.9 in action at ISE

It is time to change social media strategies

THE NEWS THAT FACEBOOK FOUNDER

Mark Zuckerberg was planning to overhaul the popular social media platform’s newsfeed to focus on friends and family has sent a shudder down many corporate spines across the globe, and A/V companies will also be in

This audacious step will result in two billion users seeing fewer news articles, viral videos more cute pictures of cats, babies and sunsets as well as status updates from relatives or the social network has made to the newsfeed –

‘Businesses, brands and media’ look set to be brushed aside to pave the way for more content

Zuckerberg said he wanted Facebook to bring people ‘closer together with the people that matter’ and to take definitive action following mounting criticism for its role in serious social and political problems such as cyber-bullying and

But what does this mean for your business’ Facebook page, particularly ones that may depend on using their pages to reach and constrain active and engaging businesses from trying to reach the people who liked their will result in people ‘spending less time’ on Facebook but he is willing and very determined

‘We feel a responsibility to make sure our services aren’t just fun to use, but also good for people’s well-being,’ Mr Zuckerberg wrote on

our product teams from focusing on helping you find relevant content to helping you have more

gauntlet, and businesses on Facebook have only a few months at best to find a way to come up

So what’s next for A/V companies on social media?

touched upon how valuable social media is for direct communication and, indeed, if it is the right tool for reaching target audiences within

customers, we have different ways we can do so that are arguably more personal than social quickly or generate interest in a product or activity, then social media is a great recourse, now that we have sizeable communities with strong reach potential and high engagement

For others like Christina Balanon from Bosch Communication Systems, Facebook is an essential tool and helps to strategically target certain products to specific regions and groups

‘Through customer feedback, we can develop products, communications and support aligned Facebook provides tools to create dedicated product promotions targeted at specific regions,

Needless to say, those social media strategies

As things stand now, with for example 100,000 likes, a Facebook page can have a reach of 1,500 to 3,000 (something like 3%) depending months, that organic reach (the total number of unique people who were shown a post through unpaid distribution on Facebook) will be further

Organic reaching is now more crucial than ever but it is vital to know the tricks of the trade to Businesses will need to work even harder than

B2B marketing may be forced to take a social media backseat in place of more ‘compelling’ stories that essentially sell themselves and have to resort to being accompanied by ‘sweeteners’ (additional incentives to click on a link) to send them on their way across Facebook?

The truth is, we won’t fully know until the Facebook sweep actually takes place, but there

(instantly streaming live to followers and interacting with viewers in real-time) in his announcement, which is something all social media pundits say is very beneficial if used more people, reach a target audience and

that Facebook has been favouring videos and

Other social media gurus say images also have a tendency to travel better provided they are not

A real Zucker-punch

Some argue that there is an ulterior motive to us up for his new vision of Facebook business pages?

To say Facebook is not about the money and only about the people would be about as naïve as believing all the news on the internet is one day moved into a ‘nouveau plateau’ or a concurrent newsfeed on Facebook that users could switch on and off? And if so, at what price?

But contemptuous theories aside, Facebook has come under intense scrutiny in the last few years, which is hardly surprising given the influence it can have over what millions of people see online Google, it holds the power to alter the way people

The big three had been in hot water over their alleged roles in the 2016 US elections – particularly after accusations that Russian intelligence allegedly abused social media platforms in an attempt to sway the result and

to see that this touched a raw nerve with Mr Zuckerberg; hence his pledge last year to ‘fix’ some of the problems on Facebook – which also

As ever in this day and age, businesses will be forced to reluctantly adapt to this move by willing to completely sever the hand that has

But there is an east wind coming, and companies will need to either sail along or risk

John Leonidou explores exactly what Mark Zuckerberg’s New Year’s resolution means for audio, video and lighting businesses

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