Pro AVL MEA May-June 2020 by Blank Canvas Publishing Ltd

LIVE SOUND

LIGHTING

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VIDEO MAPPING WITH BART KRESA

POSTPRODUCTION

Mayâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;June 2020

OUT BOARD PROFILE

SERVICE UNINTERRUPTED

PINPOINT PRECISION

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CONTENTS

Volume 17 Issue Three May–June 2020

NEWS NEWS Covid-19 decimates 2020 trade show calendar

EDUCATION NMK focuses on certification, NEXO trains SA techs

DISTRIBUTION Sennheiser selects SYSTECH, Genelec partners with GSL

APPOINTMENTS CT recruits SI BDM, Graham Murray returns to Calrec

SPECIAL REPORT Bart Kresa muses on the art of video mapping

SPECIAL REPORT Restrictions are driving change for distributors

FEATURES COVER: PINPOINT PRECISION Complex cliff-side projections at Qiddiya

EYE OF THE DRAGON Procom selects K-array at Iris Dubai

TOP DOWN SOUND Toplum gets an unconventional Yamaha solution

SERVICE UNINTERRUPTED LINC Church moves online due to lockdowns

Editor’s note In hindsight, all of the warning signals were there. Back in January, our very own general manager Richard Lawn accurately noted that the spread of coronavirus was following an eerily similar trajectory to SARS in 2003, but much worse. At the time, that felt like a massive overreaction. Look how wrong I was. So how best to sum up the last two months? We’re in unpredictable and rapidly changing times at the moment. On the surface, it’s an apocalyptic situation. Practically all live events in all territories have been cancelled or postponed for the foreseeable future. Business has essentially dried up and the knock-on effects for rental and events companies – spare a thought for roadies at this time – cannot be understated. Most projects can’t continue until social distancing and lockdown measures have been removed. But it’s not all doom and gloom. Some entrepreneurial companies have managed to identify new, long-term business opportunities, and tech companies the world over are more focused on removing physical boundaries to enable us to work more smartly and efficiently. One thing is guaranteed – people need entertainment and the audiovisual industry as a whole is not going anywhere. Globally, it seems the virus has passed its peak. At Pro AVL MEA, we think it is important to look towards the post-coronavirus future rather than dwell too much on the current situation. With this in mind, upcoming issues of the magazine will continue to offer our traditional blend of project-based articles, with additional highlights looking at how the industry, and individual companies, are responding to Covid-19.

BUSINESS LETTER FROM AMERICA Dan Daley tunes into multichannel TV music

LETTER FROM EUROPE Phil Ward goes undercover to deconstruct Bond themes

COMPANY PROFILE Charting Out Board’s three-decade journey

R&D Lectrosonics’ fourth-generation digital receiver

NEW PRODUCTS The industry’s most comprehensive product news

ANALYSIS Dave Croxton discusses the evolution of KV2 Audio

Email: sluckhurst@proavl-mea.com

CONTACTS Richard Lawn:

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COVER: Qiddiya LICENCES: Singapore: MCI (P) 065/05/2019 All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the copyright owners.

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Chris Yardley:

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REPORTER

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@ProAVLMEAMagazine May–June 2020 PRO AVL MEA 3

NEWS

Covid-19 decimates 2020 trade show calendar

Since we published our March/April editions, the world as we knew it has changed beyond recognition. Skies, roads and railway tracks are practically silenced as travel grinds to a halt, while bustling cities have turned to ghost towns. Early indicators that this would be a year like no other for our industry came in the form of trade show postponements and cancellations. Once these started, it was only a matter of time before others followed suit. PRO AVL MEA presents a timeline of event cancellations, with new dates in brackets where available. WORLD

With our teams having attended NAMM and ISE relatively unscathed, in late February things took a bleak turn for Frankfurt Prolight + Sound as major exhibitors started pulling out and the reality of the situation beyond China began to dawn. Alarm bells were immediately ringing after the regional shows in Asia were not merely postponed for the near-future, but indefinitely for this year. Messe Frankfurt did originally announce a postponed date for later in the year, but was forced to rethink plans as the situation continued to worsen. Messe Frankfurt has now cancelled the 2020 edition and it returns next year (13–16 April 2021). Blank Canvas’ Richard Lawn managed to attend what’s turned out to be one of the last industry trade shows this year, a muchreduced ABU in Kuala Lumpur in early March, but it was anything but business as usual. A matter of days later and uncomfortably close to the start of the exhibition, CABSAT announced a cancellation of the 2020 exhibition entirely. At the time of writing, new dates for 2021 are yet to be announced. NAB cancelled its April 2020 show and returns next year (11–14 April 2021). Making the best of the situation, the organiser is attempting to replicate the exhibition in an online format with NABShow Express, which takes place from 13–14 May 2020. The Middle East Event Show held out even longer in the hope that the situation would have improved by its mid-June 2020 date. Its fate was sealed when, at the beginning

of March, all public events in Dubai were cancelled for the foreseeable future. It is now due to take place from 14–15 October 2020. Meanwhile, the pandemic took a scythe through the remainder of Q2 and into Q3 with AES Vienna and InfoComm also taking the hit. InfoComm has been rescheduled to 16–18 June 2021, with AES Vienna to announce new dates shortly. Further down the line, and keeping options for 2020 open at this point, are PLASA (6–8 September), IBC (11–15 September), AES/NAB New York (21–23 October) and LDI (23–25 October). The fact our annual calendar features such a plethora of international trade shows underlines the hugely sociable and global nature of the AV industry. By the time the next one is greenlit, no global trade shows will have taken place for a full half-year. With so many trade shows cancelled and country-wide lockdowns forcing most people to stay at home, the industry has turned its attention to online training and webinars in recent weeks. Here is a brief rundown of some of the opportunities available: - ADAM Audio has announced that it is presenting a number of ADAM EDU webinars and videos designed to enable everyone from audio students to novices and seasoned working professionals to further their education in audio on a variety of business and technical topics. www.facebook.com/watch/ AdamProAudio/729666450776236

NAB Show has decided to go virtual in the face of continued lockdowns - AVIXA is opening its online training catalogue to all AV professionals, regardless of membership level, waiving online access fees until 12 June and allowing full access to its online training. Users can learn new topics, work towards CTS certification or earn CTS-RUs even while working from home. www.avixa.org - Audinate has offered several educational programmes including a Dante certification programme for systems designers and engineers. www.audinate.com/learning - ETC is offering its online classes for free on LearningStage involving topics such as basic concepts to advanced training for console users, lighting designers and technicians. More online resources will be announced in the upcoming weeks for lighting professionals keen to keep learning. courses.etcconnect.com - Harman Professional Solutions has started the Harman Pro University Learning Session, which includes a series of webinars such as Industry Expert workshops and Harman expert webinars. pro.harman.com/lp/learning-sessions - K-array is making its educational training more accessible, hosting regular live sessions that include control software and live sound webinars. www.k-array.com/en/k-academy

No such scenes will be witnessed in Las Vegas this year

4 PRO AVL MEA May–June 2020

- NMK Academy is offering AV engineers educational webinars to those who want to

keep up to date with the latest innovations and enhancements in the industry. www.nmkelectronics.com/education - Obsidian is forming free weekly training sessions that cover its ONYX control platform and its NETRON data distribution range. www.obsidiancontrol.com/events/obsidian_ online_classes - Shure has ramped up its online presence with an expansion of the Shure Audio Institute. Weekly webinars are taking place on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. www.shure.com - Trinnov Audio has created a platform to allow partners to provide remote online assistance to end user customers. More training webinars will be scheduled through to the end of the year and the sales team will be available for remote training on an individual dealer basis. www.trinnov.com - Yamaha is continuing to create education programmes in live and installed audio which can be accessed online via Yamaha’s YouTube channel. www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P L3rjqgoqj7LJiMb3lPVvIXYSAwVdX SGHK Resourceful companies are finding virtual ways to showcase products and conduct seminars, but the industry will always need a forum for connections old and new, innovative collaborations, trade partnerships and creativity. We hope to see you at one of them in the not too distant future.

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NEWS

Protec group expands with AVL investment UAE

The new KSL system at its debut outing

Flair invests in region’s first KSL system UAE

Dubai-based Flair Event Services has reportedly become the first owner of d&b audiotechnik’s KSL system in the region. The company has already put the new hyper-cardioid system to use on several concerts and intends to roll it out fully in the future. ‘In my 15-year career in live events, no single innovation in audio event technology has impressed us as much as the innovations in the d&b SL-Series,’ stated Flair Event Services managing director, Sameer Rahman. ‘Flair is very excited to welcome the flagship KSL system to its ever-growing inventory of cutting-edge equipment and, paired with our highly qualified and

Protec has upgraded its inventory with the addition of audio, video and lighting products from several brands. Spread across its warehouses in the UK, UAE and KSA, the new video equipment includes Absen indoor and outdoor panels and NovaStar controllers. The new audio and lighting additions, meanwhile, have been purchased to enable Protec’s Dubai team to meet the increasing networking and processing demands its local clients expect. The new Absen PL2.5mm and PL3.5mm screens will be deployed to assist clients across the EMEA region, together with NovaStar NovaPro UHD Jr all-in-one controllers and ADJ VX6 video controller boxes. On the lighting side, the company has taken

stock of Clay Paky’s Xtylos and Sharpy Plus fixtures, reportedly becoming the first company to own them. The latest purchases for the Dubai team follow Protec’s recent acquisition of Outline Newton 16+8 processors, and this time included a Waves SoundGrid Extreme Server and Shure Axient with Showlink. The company has also increased its stock of RedNet Dante A8R I/O interfaces, D16 interfaces, Luminex 16XT gigabit Ethernet switches, L-Acoustics Syva loudspeakers, X15 stage monitors, X8 live monitor loudspeakers, ADX1 Shure beltpack transmitters and Sennheiser 2050 in-ear monitors. www.productiontec.com

experienced team, we are delighted to offer this to our clients.’ The KSL system is the smaller brother of the GSL and is part of d&b’s SL-Series of hyper-cardioid line arrays. As part of its reasoning for selecting the system, Flair states that KSL brings ‘incomparable directivity and resolution in the overall sound quality, especially the consistency and definition of the high-frequency band across the listening field’, while its hyper-cardioid sound dispersion pattern coupled with Array Processing allows for the even distribution of sound with ‘laser-like precision’. www.dbaudio.com www.flair.ae

Adam Hall panel unites industry WORLD

On 31 March, the day the industry should have gathered for the opening of Frankfurt Prolight + Sound, Adam Hall hosted an informative and thought-provoking discussion panel that was live streamed and is now available on demand. Under the banner of We Will Get Through This Together, the panel demonstrated that, around the world, various arms of the entertainment technology business, including industry associations, manufacturers, production companies and media groups, are pulling together in this time of crisis, lobbying for government packages, offering support and advice about keeping businesses afloat, protecting the interests of freelance workers and casting a positive light on the future. The eight participants of the group discussion were Alexander Pietschmann, CEO, Adam Hall Group; Marcel Courth, editor in chief, Production Partner; Joe Lamond, president and CEO, NAMM; Marcus Pohl, chairman, ISDV and president, IGVW; Nico Ubenauf, CEO, satisfy; Luca Lastrucci, CEO, Powersoft; Marcus Graser, CEO, Clay Paky; and Simon Kropp, editor in chief, Event Rookie. The panel was moderated by Courth, who kept the discussion on point and interesting. Two of the participants, Lastrucci and Graser, were speaking from Italy, the first region

6 PRO AVL MEA May–June 2020

outside China to be hard hit by Covid-19, and one of the first to enter strict lockdown, with factories temporarily halting production on government orders. Both were upbeat, discussing the importance of support for staff working remotely, the opportunities to be creative when it comes to R&D and product development and what the business model might look like going forward. Lamond and Pohl highlighted the importance of looking after freelance and self-employed staff upon whom the industry relies so

much, outlining initiatives to do so. The role of the media was also examined, with Kropp identifying a fine balance between reporting on the situation while being careful not to spread panic by delivering only bad news. He pointed to the need to provide a distraction for readers and viewers. Discussing the future of live events, the panel broadly agreed that while initially there may be a fear of large gatherings and crowds, there will be a desire for real, live events and gatherings once the crisis is over.

Streaming is expected to play a greater role. Lamond predicted a bright future for trade shows, pointing to a primeval human need for social gatherings, though some of the panel wondered whether large trade show stands and equipment demos might be a thing of the past as companies prioritise these events for social interaction, content creation, product design and trading relationships, instead holding virtual product launches and demonstrations. Offering some perspective, Lamond shared a story he dug up while going through minutes of historic NAMM meetings. During the great depression of the 1930s, his predecessor, having not been paid for a year, evidently decided to sell the furniture and lock the office while the industry shut down until things picked up again. Lamond used the story to emphasise the message, saying the constant from this earlier time was that they got through it, and that this will happen again. ‘Most important is how we take care of our people and deal with this,’ he said. The entire 90-minute discussion can be found here: www.adamhall.com/gb-en/ virtual-tradeshow www.adamhall.com

NEWS PRODUCTS

PRODUCTS

AsteraApp updated to V11

The new fos/4 family

LED LIGHTING manufacturer Astera has unveiled V11 of its AsteraApp with new features and effects. The first of these is layer effects, which gives users full control over all the pixels in the Astera fixtures that can be used to create fluid and kinetic effects. This works on rows or bars of pixels whereby the size and position of the bar can be adjusted and then assigned colours and effects. Each bar can move along at different, pre-defined speeds, while a variable

post-delay can be applied to produce complex, process-style effects. Up to eight bars can be layered on top of one another, each with a different size, speed, position or effect. A fur ther update of V11 is optional new targets which displays the targets as a list so users can see the previous effect sent to each target and edit it directly. Parameters such as brightness can also be changed directly in the targets list.

Harman takes to thefos/4 clouds ETC launches Augmented environments in Dubai HARMAN HAS launched CloudworX Manager, the first application from its cloud-based CloudworX software which has been developed A 3D programming environment toAUGMENT3D, unify the configuration, deployment and UAE that offersofprevisualisation, live interaction and monitoring Harman’s AVL systems. ETC recentlyManager held afunctionality, launch event for its augmented reality is available CloudworX is browser-based latest fos/4 at itsintegrators newsoftware. Dubaitolocation, as part of fixture ETC’s Eos v3.0 It can be which allows systems install, The Studio.and Theany event approximately installed on Eoswelcomed console a DisplayPort configure maintain deviceswith without having 50 attendees from a range of backgrounds, the backthe that runs Windows 7 ororlater, or on toon configure devices individually locally. including companies, lighting a PC orTV/news Mac connected to the a console network. Supported devices include AMX Acendo designers andand technicians from different Augment3d hasthe been developed to support Core system AMX Acendo Book businesses throughout region. the majority of 3D filethe types, including .3DS, scheduling touchpanels. These products can ‘The purpose by of this event was to introduce be configured going to the CloudworX page our fos/4, which is a on brand-new the Harmanproduct, website. new panel light for the also broadcast industry,’ CloudworX Manager features support commented ETC’s Opasna Randev. ‘ETC for private or single sign-on accounts; formed dedicated team to create sorting,a filtering andresearch searching of discovered AVOLITES HAS announced theand worldwide the best light for use onofcamera created devices; configuration like and unlike release of sizes its new software control system. three panel (small, medium and large) is options a free V12 software inSynergy two array – Lustr X8 andupgrade Daylight for its lighting console and amedia server ranges HDR. The fixture includes new eight-colour which lighting designers visibility and array forallows LED colour mixing which now includes control the and video elements deep red.ofItReference alsolighting includes arelease full list from of effects, of THE NEW 4.4 a multimedia performance. configuration over NFC, a thoughtful industrial Sonarworks allows users of the professional Synergy allows users to pull control of design and much more.’ audio calibration software to assign presets pre-created screendevices surfaces layers Aside from regular training sessions, the into for multiple output andand provides a Titan-based lighting console. It can launch was the first to settings, be held since greater control overevent output as also well create surfaces in an Ai media server from the opening of ETC Dubai – The Studio. as additional interface tweaks for ease of withinensuring thearrived console interface. All operations Attendees groups at different times use, theinsystem can work in the occur using Avolites’ throughout the dayallow and proprietary were given aTitan tour background and users to focus onof the Net protocol take place on whatever new premises and then a live demonstration making music. The update is available now to hardware the user is 4running, from in Titan and presentation of the fos/4 fixtures the all existing Reference users. USB interfaces toarea. the Sapphire Studio’s Black Box They were able to get Reference 4.4 also includes 15 Touch new console with andprofiles fromnew Aiwith software licences to hands-on the fixtures and also have headphone models from the server. aSennheiser, lookQ4 at media otherSkullcandy, ETC and High Systems ISK,End KEF, Mackie, the The Lightmap feature reportedly allows products. ETC product specialists on of hand t.bone and Ollo which brings the were number users stream Ai to video colour data to speaktowith visitors throughout the day.through compatible devices almost 300.

devices; connection of local installations with CloudworX Gateway software; device firmware management; and template creation .DXF, .OBJ and .FBX. It also options and deployment. Harman is supports also planning to for 3Dapplications position, rotation and scale for design create that offer additional positioning and resizing objects.AllFixtures can and management capabilities. CloudworX be added to will the share solution new fields applications thethanks sameto support for X, Ytoand Z positions provided pillars unify platformsand intorotation one ecosystem. for the objective Eos patchofengine. A key the platform is to ensure a ETCsecure statesand thatreliable ‘all automated fixtures safe, environment forwill its work’,To although willhas initially be users. achieveAugment3d this, Harman invested 60 of and the more commonthat incompatible respectedwith protocols certifications include a secure platform built on Microsoft Azure and security compliance designed around Cloud Security Alliance Star Level I, GDPR and ISO 27001.

Avolites finds its Synergy www.harman.com

Sonarworks’ latest reference Attendees check out the new fixtures ‘The products were well-received and we had a lot of positive feedback including praise for the high quality of light output, the fixture’s brightness and colour mixing. The variable sizes of the fixture were positively received,’ Randev added. ‘ETC and High End Systems are always innovating and continue to develop new products. We have a lot lined up for 2020 and will be looking at holding another showcase at the Studio later in the year.’ A new presets sidebar enables quick studio.etcconnect.com management of user output devices to make

Composer and SymVue updates IABM releases

Coronavirus Impact Report

SYMETRIX HAS released Composer 7.2 and added a number of new features, including monitoring of Powersoft Duecanali, Ottocanali, X4 and X8 amplifiers and Panasonic WP-9XX amplifiers. A new Emailer Control Output module, when triggered, can send an email message WORLD with predetermined subject and body IABM, international email association for copy to the a predetermined address broadcast and mediaemail technology via a predetermined ser ver.suppliers, With has released a report on the of version 7.2, the input label of impact the output theofCovid-19 media tab a Matrixpandemic Selector on nowthe displays Layer effectsname, is a V11 feature andchannel entertainment industry. the instead ofThe thereport’s input findings enabling are basedsource on research carried number, selection by text out drop-down by IABM’s Business Intelligence Unit, and menu. In addition, users which monitoring and can nowis change the new unit developments type of an existing trendsin asathey design site unfold. file, and only the physical ‘Accurate, and timely attributes of insightful the unit (inputs and outputs) fixtures with calibrated information has neverprofiles. been soFixtures important without calibrated areZanni, still able to as it now is,’ saidprofiles Lorenzo IABM adopt profile head aofgeneric insightAugment3d and analysis. ‘Asand wellETC as pledges to addeffects furtherwe fixture profiles in the the negative report on, the future. As for pandemic conventional they coronavirus is fixtures, proving to beare reportedly a lesser degree a powerfulsupported, accelerantbut in to broadcast and than automated fixtures. Although once again, media. ETC notes that furtherare enhancements are ‘Risk preferences shifting dramatically planned. and investments that were seen as “too risky yet” just a couple of months ago are now being enthusiastically embraced.’

will change, while all other processes stay Theincluding manufacturer hasscreens. also debuted the same, control its PixelBar wallGUI wash fixture with an Composer’s SymVue authoring features integral pack andcan wireless have also beenbattery updated. Users now Available twobe choosecontrol up andoptions. down buttons thatincan lengths 50cm with 54W power configured like –other buttons in theLED control eight pixels 1m with 180W screen,and enabling volumeand change without LED powerorand 16 pixels – the fixture dragging a fader requiring custom logic that The repor t reveals how pandemic a high and the five colour LED turns ahas fader into aCRI button. When one or more lockdown is selected changing models, chips (red, green, blue, amber and controls are inbusiness edit mode, typing technology and how is we interact. mint).choices The beam angle text changes the text displayed on20°. the control where appropriate, without having to select www.astera-led.com the text in the properties window. In addition, dedicated hot keys are said to make it fast and easy to increase/decrease the font size of a selected control in a control screen. www.symetrix.co

Among Augment3d’s features is Fixture Position Estimation, which allows users to calculate fixture positioning automatically; Blind Preview for viewing blind data in an Augment3d space; and Focus Wand, which interacts with fixtures using augmented reality on a mobile device. It can be reviewed at www.theiabm.org/ www.etcconnect.com the-impact-of-coronavirus www.theiabm.org

Cinegy opens Istanbul

Composer has been updated to v7.2 TURKEY

German video solutions manufacturer Cinegy has opened a new dedicated office in Istanbul in order to provide a faster and higher-quality service to its local clients and systems integrators. Cinegy Medya AŞ will be headed by COO, Murat Küçüksaraç. Cinegy enjoys an extensive customer base in Turkey that includes some of the area’s largest media groups, training institutions and corporate customers. ‘We decided to open a local office in Turkey as it’s always been at the forefront of new technologies, research and practice for us and we’ve helped carry out a number comprehensive important projects itofeasier to access and the calibration profiles for any output device and pre-save them for later

any colour-mixing fixture group, integrating them into a larger video canvas. Both highres LED screens and LED fixture groups can be controlled from a single intuitive user interface without having to create and arrange fixtures incan thealso media server or use. Output channels be selected create Art-Net merges. individually whereas they were previously Synergy allows for liveThis video previews only available in pairs. allows for L-Rof up to six simultaneous streams from the switching and offers more complex signal media server, inside the Titan interface, to routing. give users controlallow over Windows servers located Further updates users toat FOH or Systemwide elsewhere. Synergy’s media browser launch mode in ASIO mode if allows content to be selected and uploaded their output device doesn’t support WASAPI. to specific on now connected servers Mac users, locations meanwhile, have full support there,’ commented Cinegy from the console interface. content for Reference when using managing OSThis 10.15 Catalina. director, Daniella ‘We’re then Systemwide appears onWeigner. the with aproud thumbnail Both andbank Plugin mode can to also have Murat Küçüksaraç heading up Cinegy that can be played as soon as it’s uploaded notify the user of new updates as soon as operating officer who Medya AŞ as chief or converted to AiM. they become available. is building an innovative and experienced www.avolites.com www.sonarworks.com

1/4 PAGE 1/4 PAGE 8112 PROPRO AVLAVL MEA May–June 2020 ASIA Januar y–Februar y 2020

March–April 2020 PRO AVL MEA 89

NEWS

SLS Productions expands with DiGiCo MIDDLE EAST

Dubai-based event solutions provider SLS Productions has expanded its DiGiCo stock by investing in SD5 and SD10 consoles. The purchase was made through DiGiCo’s UAE distributor, GSL Professional. ‘We are extremely happy with our existing stock of SD12 consoles, but we decided to invest in the SD5 and SD10 for their I/O expandability,’ explained SLS’s Martin Luiz. ‘There has always been a demand for the SD5 and SD10, but we had to outsource every time we needed one. We are catering for larger gigs now, as well as experiencing greater demand on the international concert circuit, especially in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), and the majority of our international artists demand DiGiCo as their first preference. Expanding our stock makes perfect business sense, particularly in light of a gig we did recently at the King Abdullah Economic City in Jeddah. The investment gives us more confidence in providing our clients with a reliable service. DiGiCo has always been the most preferred console in the market and, now that we are being awarded more concerts in KSA, it didn’t take

too much thought to decide which desks to go for.’ SLS recently used the consoles for FOH at a three-day music concert that was part of the Saudi International Golf Tournament in KSA, which featured international artists such as Dimitri Vegas, Like Mike, Marco Carola, Bryan Adams, DJ Zedd and Luis Fonsi. ‘The concerts were a great success and the SD5 and SD10 performed impeccably,’ said Luiz. ‘Our experience with GSL has also been exemplary. We have more than 15 years of great business relationship with them. The team is always ready with technical support and to advise us on all their reputed brands. We always get a prompt response from the team if we have any lack of knowledge about using the DiGiCo consoles. Mr Burak is our main point of contact and our business relationship with him always makes GSL our first preference for any new audio purchases and technical advice.’ www.digico.biz www.gslprofessional.com

SLS’s SD5 at the Saudi International Golf Tournament Concert 2020

www.slspro.net

AVIXA steps up in time of crisis

office

WORLD

team. We are excited about this new structuring and the opportunities it will bring.’ www.cinegy.com

AV trade association AVIXA has begun producing a weekly Impact Survey assessment of pro AV industry trends, attitudes and perceptions in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. The report is being released every Friday. To contact AVIXA’s market intelligence team to discuss the effects coronavirus is having on the industry, contact Krystle Murphy at kmurphy@avixa.org. The first set of reports have already been released by the association and highlighted just how serious the challenges faced by the industry are. In total, 87% of AV providers and 83% of AV end users said their companies have felt a negative impact from the coronavirus pandemic. Furthermore,

they did not know, underscoring just how little is understood about the progressing situation. Positively, while most respondents reported their companies have adjusted by reducing travel, postponing or cancelling events, and reducing in-person meetings, virtually none reported closing down operations completely. Most projects that were previously scheduled will still take place after a delay. AVIXA is also opening its online training catalogue to all AV professionals, regardless of membership level, waiving online access fees until 12 June and allowing full access to its online training.

roughly one-third of each characterised it as having a large negative impact, saying it is still too early to tell how far-reaching and long-term these issues will be. When asked to estimate revenue declines over the prior two weeks, the majority of survey respondents simply answered that

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May–June 2020 PRO AVL MEA 9

NEWS

AVenger assembles engineers for RCF demo event UAE

THE Technology chooses ShowMatch

Having been appointed as RCF’s distributor for the UAE and Oman in May 2019, AVenger Electronics recently staged a product demonstration event for the Italian manufacturer at the InterContinental Dubai in Festival City. The event highlighted the HDL 50-A 4K active three-way line array

The main attraction was the outdoor demo area, featuring 16 HDL 50-A 4K modules flown in a left-right configuration beside the hotel along with 10 ground-stacked SUB 9007-AS subwoofers. Four TTL6-A active line sources and a complement of SUB 9007 units were also demonstrated.

module, among other solutions, and reportedly attracted more than 40 engineers from AV rental companies in the region, as demonstrations were led by RCF’s Emanuele Morlini.

A wide variety of RCF solutions were also showcased indoors, including the TT 08-A II active two-way, high-definition speaker, the TT 052-A II ultra-compact model, the TT20-CXA stage monitor and the HDL 26-A biamped, two-way active touring system with HDL 12-AS subwoofers. ‘Following the demonstration, we are in final negotiations with several companies that have shown an interest in purchasing the Middle East’s first HDL 50-A 4K line array system,’ said Joseph Ninel Rebero, sales manager at AVenger Electronics. ‘We are also planning to hold detailed back-toback training events with RCF Engineering’s support team.’

A presentation was followed by listening sessions of the system

www.avengerproav.com

UAE

THE Technology, an audiovisual supplier based in Dubai, has added Bose ShowMatch loudspeakers to its inventory. The company has worked on more than 2,600 projects across the Middle East in its 25 years and has already put the new Bose system to use on several projects, including City Walk Dubai.

The system has already been deployed at City Walk Dubai ‘The sound quality from Bose ShowMatch is, without question, equal or superior to other, more popular players in the market for live entertainment that are not as cost-effective,’ commented head of audio at THE Technology, Walid Antar. ‘Bose is a name that makes you feel comfortable and at home, it’s reliable and you are confident it will not let you down.’ The system was recently deployed at City Walk Dubai to support six famous Arabic singers. ‘The response was phenomenal considering it was an open area next to a busy road,’ added the FOH engineer at

THE Technology. ‘The system justified the audio throughout and left the audience with the joy of experiencing a concert feel, and worked perfectly under heavy rain conditions. We are excited to see Bose’s next big reveal.’ The ShowMatch system purchased by THE Technology was supplied through the manufacturer’s local distributor, NMK Electronics. ‘Being engineered for portability, on the rental side, ShowMatch can work anywhere from tour-level applications to corporate AV events and conferences. This is also one reason why the system can be set up quickly and easily, which is a very important factor as a touring/systems engineer, and also as a rigger,’ commented Sanal Das, Bose Professional product manager at NMK Electronics. ‘ShowMatch has been gaining popularity across the globe and we can see wide acceptance among rental companies and sound engineers who are persistent about both quality and value for money. Positive feedback from companies like THE Technology, which has been in the market for so long and also exposed to more popular brands in this segment, only reinstates this and we are confident that in the next few months we foresee an increased user-base here.’ www.nmkelectronics.com www.thetechnology.me pro.bose.com

www.rcf.it

Multi-Media goes big with Polaris SOUTH AFRICA

South African technical solutions provider Multi-Media AV has made a sizable investment in Absen products, adding 480 Polaris 2.9mm LED panels supplied via local distributor DWR to its existing tally of 400. The company’s inhouse 2.9mm LED inventory now totals 220m2. ‘We have had Absen’s now-discontinued D2V series LED screens in our inventory for a number of years and have been very impressed with the quality and performance of the units,’ said Chris de Lancey, director of innovation at Multi-Media. ‘After analysing the cost of renting versus purchasing additional gear, we decided that it would be a good business decision to increase our in-house LED offering, as there is no indication of

10 PRO AVL MEA May–June 2020

The Absen Polaris panels in Multi-Media’s warehouse

The DWR team loads up the Absen panels for delivery in Johannesburg, South Africa

demand for LED slowing in the future. While projection technology is still very popular in Europe, the South African market has embraced the creativity and flexibility that

modular LED displays bring to the table.’ When asked about the company’s decision to further invest in Absen’s range, de Lancey points to the after-sales service and

maintenance offered by DWR as a key part of the purchase. ‘There are a lot of options available on the market when it comes to LED screens,’ he explained. ‘However, Multi-Media has established its reputation as an industry leader by being a dependable provider of high-end technology solutions and services some of the highest-profile events in the country, where failure is not an option. We rely on the exceptional support offered by DWR Distribution to ensure that we are always in a position to deliver on our commitment.’ www.absen.com www.dwrdistribution.co.za www.multi-media.co.za

NEWS

Ultra-X40 demo for Kenya Culture KENYA

Meyer Sound and its South African distributor, ApexPro, recently hosted a product demonstration at the Kenya Cultural Centre in Nairobi. The event was staged to help build brand awareness for Meyer Sound in Kenya and to formally introduce the

Guests inspect the Ultra-X40

The event took place at the Kenya Cultural Centre in Nairobi

Ultra-X40 point source loudspeaker to the market. ‘We invited people from a range of industries and sectors, including rental and events companies, houses of worship, drama production companies and theatres, consultants, integrators and musicians,’

Thomsun demos Adamson in Dubai UAE

Just before Dubai went into lockdown, UAE-based distributor Thomsun Trading held an Adamson Systems demo event for approximately 80 attendees at Dubai’s SOHO Beach. The guests were predominantly from the local rental scene, together with select systems integrators, all keen to find out more about Adamson solutions. The event was also supported by THE Technology,

PLM20K44 amplifiers with Lake Processors and the systems were managed by a Yamaha Rivage PM7 at front of house. Despite the current circumstances, the event was considered a resounding success and the distributor hopes to hold more in the future. ‘The Thomsun Adamson evening was arranged to present the systems to a range of customers in the UAE, varying from production

said ApexPro’s sales and technical support engineer, Siphelele Khumalo, better known as Pepe. ‘The main purpose for hosting this event was to create awareness by introducing both Meyer Sound and the Ultra-X40 to the market, while building a network of people we can work with in the future.’

The event began with a 30-minute presentation delivered by Chris Mead, Meyer Sound’s sales manager for the Middle East, Africa and India. This was followed by six live demonstrations that took place throughout the day. ‘The feedback we received was that attendees were blown away by the performance of the Ultra-X40,’ said Khumalo. ‘They were particularly impressed by the low end produced by the speaker without a complement of subwoofers. We see big potential for Meyer Sound in Kenya and the surrounding regions. Kenya appreciates premium quality products and we just need to educate the market on the quality of Meyer Sound.’ ‘We are very excited to have carried out our first demo in Nairobi,’ Mead commented. ‘We look forward to the growth of the brand in Kenya going forward with the support of ApexPro and our local resellers.’ www.apexpro.co.za www.meyersound.com

BUILT. 1/2 PAGE Island

which deployed and tuned the Adamson systems used for the demos. The event kicked off with a short presentation by Thomson’s Jose Dos Santos, who discussed the benefits of Adamson’s Controlled Summation Technology and outlined the various line array and point source systems on offer for installation and live applications. The Thomsun team then showcased Adamson’s E15 system along with the E219 sub, as well as the S10 system along with the S119 sub. These were powered by using Lab.gruppen

companies to pro AV installers,’ commented Dos Santos. ‘However, as it turned out, the skies in Dubai decided otherwise and it poured! Nevertheless, a number of brave hearts decided to throw caution to the wind to attend. We’re thankful for the wholehearted support from THE Technology and we are quite sure that, despite the circumstances, those who experienced the systems have had a clear estimation of their capabilities.’

The S-Series. Adamson’s commitment to technology and design means you can deliver unparalleled sonic performance and power to your audience.

www.adamsonsystems.com www.thomsunmusiconline.com

May–June 2020 PRO AVL MEA 11

NEWS

Pulse ME provides custom projections for Meshico UAE

Digital Projection’s E-Vision Laser 8500 projectors have been installed at three different restaurants in Dubai owned by the Meshico Group – Puerto 99 Bluewaters, which overlooks Dubai Marina; Meshico The Point, The Palm Jumeirah, overlooking Atlantis the Palm; and Tulum in Dubai Mall – by Pulse Middle East. The restaurants all feature bar areas with live DJs also outfitted with a Martin Audio PA system. In addition to this, the Meshico Group decided that an extra layer of visual splendour was needed, leading to the creation of a table-mapping show that expresses the ethos of the brand and the spirit of Mexico itself. ‘This was a new customer for Pulse Middle East,’ explained Greg Brown, Pulse Middle East’s operations director. ‘We were introduced thanks to our portfolio and a business relationship between Pulse and the Meshico Group soon blossomed. Once we received their brief for the table-mapping aspect of the install, we decided that the high build quality and attractive price point of Digital Projection’s products made them the ideal choice for the job.’ The brief from the Meshico Group was for versatile projectors that could be used in a variety of orientations and throw distances. Due to the challenging nature of the environment, they also required high levels of both brightness and colour accuracy to show off the advanced content being displayed. ‘Digital Projection worked with Pulse on the design and supply of this project to ensure we could deliver a technically compliant

solution within the timescale required,’ said general manager for Digital Projection in the Middle East, Matt Horwood. ‘Projection mapping provided the most versatile and accurate solution for the client, as it keeps the technology away from the customers but displays the content and wow factor right before their eyes.’ To create the table-mapping display, a total of five E-Vision Laser 8500 projectors were chosen to cover five tables – two individual tables and three that had been combined to make a 4.5m-long surface able to seat 12. With the projection hardware chosen, the first step for the team was to find a

solution where a single mobile device could control the lighting, audio and projection at the same time. This solution needed to be elegant, simple and completely bespoke. ‘Pixilab Blocks offered us the ultimate solution,’ furthered Brown. ‘Admin tablets

control the tables and the phases of the journey as well as writing live text upon the table at any time. Users control individual places using tablets to have guest interactivity with the menu.’ The Pixilab Blocks were integrated with Dataton’s Watchout to provide a multidisplay output to the system. Interactivity comes with the help of a Blocks spot sending NDI video into Watchout to add the additional elements. When the button is pushed to start the show, the video loop synchronises with house lighting and audio to create a unique ambiance. ‘Meshico are ecstatic about creating this first-of-its-kind guest experience for their customers,’ said a spokesperson from the Meshico Group. ‘Upon booking a table, content can be customised for a guest for special occasions, including posting personalised photos upon the table. We are excited to witness birthdays, anniversaries and marriage proposals that make full use of this unique and beautiful dining experience.’ www.digitalprojection.com

The result is an elaborate visual display to entertain guests

www.pulse-me.com

MGG helps out in trying times SOUTH AFRICA

In light of the coronavirus spread, rental company MGG has offered the use of its vehicles to move essential medical and other supplies during the crisis. All of the company’s 32 vehicles have been used to move food, agricultural produce, building materials, medical supplies and even a small business office to those in need in South Africa. The company recently celebrated its latest investment in Robe’s ESPRITE LED profiles; however, it had to stop its usual work due to the Covid-19 spread. Mark Gaylard, MD of MGG, decided to create a quick Facebook post about offering its vehicles to transport important goods. ‘I quickly realised that the general transport and freight business is radically different from moving and delivering goods and trucking services in our core entertainment industry world,’ he commented. ‘It’s highly competitive and a lot of the work gets outsourced to those who don’t own their own vehicles. It’s definitely

12 PRO AVL MEA May–June 2020

The team at MGG have used this time to create hazard-warning signs while making the most of the time and talents of the workforce. Gaylard has also commented that, despite the difficult situations South Africa is suffering from, he is optimistic about the future of the entertainment, meeting, conference and leisure industries. ‘Live events, music and theatre are very vibrant sectors and people do love to congregate and enjoy each other’s company, energy and an atmosphere,’ he added. ‘When we come through this I think there will be a massive demand. While there may be some changes in the way we use remote networking technologies, people will still need and enjoy getting together, music fans will still want to experience bands and DJs live, theatre and movie-goers will still want to relax and escape for that time … we will bounce back.’

The MGG vehicle fleet outside its warehouse not an environment where you can just flip a switch and start moving goods as you

might be used to. But it’s been extremely interesting.’

www.mgg.co.za

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NEWS PROJECTS NEWS:

CT ensures STM powersRiyadh PotchSeason Rag closes with a bang SAUDI ARABIA SOUTH AFRICA Creative Technology (CT) Middle East NEXO’s STM system was recently provided site-wide projection for Leila, The deployed in South Africa the Land of Imagination whentoitsupport took place Potch annual student-driven at the Rag, King an Fahd Stadium in Riyadh. The event heldwas in the sleepy spectacle thenormally grand finale of town Riyahd of Potchefstroom NorthofWest Season, which has(home seen of a host events University). The system staged in the capital citywas oversupplied the lastby two audio production company Sound months. CT was commissioned byStylists. Balich Sound Stylists Worldwide Showsdeployed (BWS). a full STM system ofThe 18 spectacular M46 and B112 sets, 16 S118 subs event, created by Marco and 12and M28 modules. The eight-aBalich hisomni all-female creative team side flown subs, with 20 from BWS,S118 captured thecoupled essence of the Saudi ground-stacked Alpha S2 subs, 10-yeara first for Arabia through an adventurous Sound wasLeila. said to ample old leadStylists, character, Theprovide stage had low end for the young crowd. multiple projected scenic reveals, including combination of flown and stacked aA12m-high Inflatable Fortress, a Gauze subwoofers selected to provide even house whichwas revealed beneath the field coverage, the ground stack providing of play, an with inflatable hand and a hot air

the front rows with the necessary subbass. The M28 omni modules proved once again to be the per fect companion to the bigger cabinets, providing down-fill and front-fill. Onstage, artists were treated to NEXO’s newly released P12 stage monitors, while the drummer received two GEO M10 line array modules paired with LS18 subs. GEO M10 cabinets also played the role of DJ monitors, used as ‘Texas wedges’ by the resident DJ. The entire system was powered by three generations of NEXO controllers and amplifiers – NX242 controllers, Camco Vortex6 amplifiers, and NXAMP4x4MK1 and MK2 powered controllers. The

balloon which moved position during the show.

‘The biggest challenge was projecting onto the moving scenic elements as there was a risk they could be affected by var ying wind speeds and direction,’ explained Tom Stocks, CT’s senior engineer. ‘We used 89 Panasonic RZ-31k and 21K projectors andreleased Epson EB-L1755U laser NEXO’s newly P12 stage monitors made an appearance onstage projectors with ultra-shor t-throw lenses to

span across a 4,400m2 projection sur face Alpha ran off ofhills, NX242 controllers, which S2s included four a lake and a coupled sandpit.’with Camco Vortex6 amplifiers. NXAMP4x4MK1 poweredreal-time controllers ran CT provided BlackTrax tracking the main line all threeand iterations technology to array track and per formers scenic of MK2-powered controllers ran everything elements throughout the show. BlackTrax from stageintegrated wedges tointo PS8 was also thetalkback lighting monitors and ID24 All design and used fornear-field tracking monitors. Leila for the amplifiers run duration. A(except total ofthe 60NX242) beaconswere tracked on Luminexhorses switched Dante peraformers, andredundant scenic elements. network. Thedelivered Dante network included a Lastly, CT a full site-wide Yamaha CL5 frontincluding of houseits console with monitor system, new Birddog rear and CL1 changeover console A200racks PTZ cameras, allowing production, (also Rio racks)and supplying PA lines stagewith management creatives a full during changeover. over view of the site during the rehearsals and show. www.nexo-sa.com www.soundstylists.co.za www.ctme.co

MEZZO MEZZO 1/3 PAGE

THE THEBETTER, BETTER,SMALLER SMALLERSOLUTION SOLUTION FOR FORANY ANYINSTALL INSTALLAPPLICATION APPLICATION

Tawar Mall boasts LED display in Qatar AIT chooses Boselargest for W Hotel upgrade UAE

Advanced Integration Technologies (AIT) has completed a new audio installation at Abu Dhabi’s W Hotel centred around Bose loudspeakers. Overlooking the Abu Dhabi racetrack, home of Formula One in the UAE, the uniquely designed venue boasts several restaurants that required upgraded audio reinforcement. The solutions were supplied by NMK Electronics. Bose was chosen as the centrepiece of the project as a result of its reputation in the hospitality sector. ‘To provide the best experience, we must use the perfect audio system that covers all the aspects needed, like the brand, design and installation,’ explained AIT general manager, Sayed Yammine. ‘Since our company always thrives

May–June 2020 14 PRO AVL MEA March–April 2020

QATAR

to impress its clients, we realised that using Bose Professional products would be a key point in obtaining an outstanding status in the audio system field. We chose this solution because we are sure that the result will be phenomenal, and we will provide the clients with an exceptional experience.’

Several videowall have Garage,digiLED the dining hub ofscreens the hotel, hasbeen installed on the concepts façade of including Doha’s Tawar Mall. five restaurant Mezza 2 , the 8mm pixel pitch screens Totalling 800m Bar, Steam Table and Meat Vault. These were by Dooha Media. threeinstalled restaurants are now equipped with ‘The screensUtility we provided offerspeakers. a rich potential ArenaMatch wall-mount for commercial advertising and help realise Dooha Media’s desire for Tawar Mall to become the city’s key advertising hub,’ explained Matteo Serone, sales project manager, digiLED. ‘The finished product is a spectacle in its own right, and it’s worth noting the long list of customisations behind the screens to account for both the different screen shapes and the unforgiving weather. It was a pleasure to work closely with the team in Doha.’ In total, digiLED was tasked with providing AIT general manager, Sayed eight LED screens around TawarYammine Mall, forming

what is reported be the largest LED display Moving outdoors,toArenaMatch Utility in Qatar. digiLED’s selected loudspeakers haveNS8 beenwas fitted acrossafter the careful consideration of the entire stretch. The pool areaconditions has beenit would be exposed such another as dry heat direct designed to to, provide leveland of music sunlight in a an country where temperatures can fidelity, with ArenaMatch outdoor line array, reach scorching 50° during the summer and a aPanaray Environmental Bass on the months. Also taken was lounge, terrace and into poolconsideration deck. the fact that inthe such brightNMK and direct ‘Throughout project, alongsunlight, with the screens would haveteam to behave able provided to display Bose Professional advertisements without being to affected by outstanding support in order produce natural light. audio system for the client. a successful ‘We aimforward to assist redefining the We look to in collaborating onretail more sector in Qatar, and digiLED have helped play projects,’ concluded Yammine. an important role in that,’ commented Jerry De Vries, operations manager, Dooha Media. www.adv-technologies.com www.nmkelectronics.com pro.bose.com www.digiled.com

NEWS NEWS: PROJECTS

CT projects Powering Lesonto Dunes Diriyah Gate Electroniques SAUDI ARABIA TUNISIA

Situated thethree outskirts Riyadh, For the on past years,ofOng JmalDiriyah Nefta has been to Les Dunes Electroniques, an Gate is home a 19th-century UNESCO World Heritage annual festival thatSaudi takes site whichelectronic has beenmusic restored by the placeFamily. over three days. In previous years, the Royal For its opening ceremony, production team came several audio Creative Technology (CT) across was called upon to issuesprojection and decided to fix this by turning to Pro deliver mapping. Audio Light out (PAL), whichsite became event’s ‘We carried various visitsthe during the technical partner and delivered audio andthe planning phase to strategically plan where lighting products the most recent edition. projectors would beforlocated. This enabled us ‘According to the technical team,explained we were to avoid any potential issues early,’ theHughes, only Tunisian company capable‘As of doing Dan CT’s project manager. thiswas job,’ said PAL’sWorld NajjarHeritage Nizar. ‘We this a UNESCO site,provided we everything for the assess two stages, from needed to carefully where thepower projector distribution and lighting, trussing locations could begenerators positioned.toWe worked and audio, as client well asEVI FOH closely with our andand themonitors.’ Diriyah Gate Development Authority [DGDA] to ensure all

The main andapproved auxiliaryby stages all used the locations were the DGDA ahead ofsame time.’setup, which consisted of Seeburg Galeo XT line170 array speakersPT-RZ31K with Galeoand XT CT provided Panasonic subwoofers, TW Audio T24 were loudspeakers and PT-RZ21K projectors, which set up across Veraprojector S30 woofers with Clair Brothers 1.5AM nine locations. It also set up three stage monitors and two SD9 audio remote media servers, a DiGiCo Riedel MediorNet desks. and PAL network chose amplifiers from Powersoft system ring to distribute media as thecontrol, Italian manufacturer had supported server content, multiviewer feeds and the rental company past. ‘We have genlock. ‘We neededin tothe cover a 350m-wide been using Powersoft’s amplifier projection canvas that had several platforms uneven for two years any issues surfaces,’ saidwithout Tom Stocks, seniorwhatsoever,’ engineer said ‘For the main line arrays, we for CT.Nizar. ‘We strategically placed all projectors X8s and X4s, whileand theinstalled subwoofers tochose eliminate any shadows an were driven by and for K10s. For monitors, eight-camera PTZX4Ls system full site coverage werearea. able This to make Powersoft’s ofweevery was use usedoffor our engineers to assist with the lineup and also distributed

new T604s, as well as the tried-and-tested X4s. The hardware’s quality construction and software’s ease-of-use are a powerful combination. This certainly was a around the site forfestival client monitoring. A total challenge us as awere technical partner as of five SDIfor matrixes used to distribute the audio system had to runtotalling for 30 hours video signal to all locations, over 380 straight in extreme independent 3G SDIconditions feeds.’ but Powersoft’s amplifier were the perfect Hughes platforms added: ‘We were faced withchoice many and made life achallenges lot easier.’due to extreme rain onsite weather leading up to the show, but all departments

PAL also provided lighting fixtures for the event. This included Mythos moving head lights and A.LEDA wash K10 LED lights from and clients pulledprojectors together tobyensure Claypaky andonsite BT-Vintage Briteq.the equipment safe and These were was controlled withready.’ MA Lighting’s grandMA2 and Chamsys’ MagicQ 60. www.ctme.co www.executivevisions.com www.palproduction.tn www.panasonic.net www.powersoft.com www.riedel.net

T SERIES

1/3 PAGE

DESIGNED FOR THE GIGS OF TODAY BUILT FOR THE SHOWS OF TOMORROW

Mosaïek Teatro goes 3D withvia KLANG Natasha Ntuli gets certified smartphone SOUTH AFRICA

Natasha Ntuli,Teatro, a freelance in The Mosaïek part oftechnician the Mosaïek South Africa, already held grandMA2 Church in Fairlands, Johannesburg, certification gained on MA Lighting’s recently purchased a pair of DiGiCo SD5 E-Learningtoplatform, University, and consoles suppor tthe its MA ongoing flagship has now gained heras second qualification productions, such The Voice South from the online the grandMA3. Africa and Idolsportal Southfor Africa. The venue Ntulinow began working in thestep industry when has taken this one fur ther sheinvesting was a teenager, the front of by in a 3Dapproaching in-ear monitoring house engineer at a church conference which solution from KLANG. led to her meeting and working for technical ‘Last year, the Mosaïek Teatro hosted solutions Coffee, followed the third provider season Black of M-Net’s The Voice by a placement at Gearhouse South Africa, which gave ourAcademy. technicalAs she wanted to learn newtoskills, decided team the oppor tunity work she on the to enrol SD10 in a course on the MAwas University DiGiCo console that used for online portalexplained and was able to access it the show,’ technical manager, throughEls. her smartphone. ‘When I found out Estian ‘We all became really that I could programmeand, on the comfor tablelearn withhow thetotechnology

when the time came for us to invest in new consoles, we decided to go with two DiGiCo SD5s.’ While the team have been ver y happy with the DiGiCo consoles, they did experience a few challenges with musicians’ in-ear monitor mixes. ‘In the past, musicians were able to log onto our console remotely and arrange their own in-ear monitor mixes ahead of Sunday morning worship ser vices,’ noted Els. ‘This was no longer possible once we adopted the DiGiCo platform, which grandMA2 online, Ion saved to buy created a platform lot of pressure our up monitor the data I needed for my phone to run the engineer.’ course, and jumped at Kyle the opportunity DWR Distribution’s Robson as soon as I could,’ she said. ‘The grandMA2 is suggested KLANG’s 3D in-ear monitoring

recognised as an industry standard by many production and event companies and being certified to operate a grandMA2 will open up international opportunities for me.’ L–R: Estian Els and Kyle Robson

Olebogeng solution. ‘WeBoinamo, looked ata alighting numberspecialist of and trainer at DWR Distribution, MA products from a range of manufacturers,’ Lighting’s African distributor, stated Els.South ‘However, most of them are helped Ntuli gainand hertherefore cer tificate for network-based, require the grandMA2. ‘Thecables most impressive additional network and switchers thing achievement that to run,about whichher was not ideal inisour setting. she has managed to get through the Kyle provided us with a KLANG:fabrik whole unit course nothing more than demo andwith it was an instant success her smar tphone, as she does not have with ar tists and technicians alike. We access to a personal have a number of ver ycomputer,’ skilled andheprolific commented. dedication passion musicians per‘Her forming at the and Mosaïek, are exceptional, I am verhas y proud and the responseand to KLANG beento havewhelmingly played a small role in her incredible over positive.’ achievements.’ www.dwrdistribution.co.za www.klang.com www.dwrdistribution.co.za www.mosaiek.com www.malighting.com

May–June 2020 PRO AVL MEA 15 March–April

NEWS

Telemetrics spreads Parliament TV’s message AZERBAIJAN

Database System managing camera control for the entire system. Gunduz Suleymanov, general director at Mediatech and the systems integrator for the project, reported that the Telemetrics systems were easy to use for the Parliament TV operators. They stated that all they

The National Assembly of Azerbaijan has recently created Parliament TV, a programme that allows its viewers to keep up with the latest proceedings. To support this, the government chambers in Baku and two of its meeting rooms have been set up with cameras from Sony and control panels from Telemetrics. The house chamber installed eight Sony HXC-P70H HD full-size cameras with Fujinon 22x zoom lenses in the main hall to cover the proceedings. Four Sony HXC-P70 box-style cameras are mounted on Telemetrics PT-HP-S5 pan-tilt heads on wall-mount brackets in each of the meeting rooms. Two Telemetrics RCCP-1A LGS control panels synchronise presets and camera control functions, with Telemetrics’ Enterprise

needed to do was push a few buttons on the RCCP-1A remote camera control panels to manoeuvre the camera to the right angle and focal point. They also pointed out that the reframe Automatic Shot Correction technology helped them trim the shot when a government member moved out of the frame. ‘We chose the full-size Sony cameras for the main hall due to the focal lengths required and insufficient illumination of the hall,’ said Suleymanov. ‘In the small rooms, the PTZs were the better choice because of the size of the rooms and the good lighting conditions. Either way, we are providing the kind of transparency the citizens of Azerbaijan are entitled to. I can’t say enough good things about the onsite support we received from Telemetrics. That’s the most important thing for us. We could not have put the system together so quickly if it were not for their engineering team.’ www.mediatech.az pro.sony www.telemetricsinc.com

Technosound takes Martin Audio above the clouds

Vahagn Stepanyan keeps streaming in check with NUGEN ARMENIA

In order to cater to its clients’ streaming projects, Armenian recording studio owner Vahagn Stepanyan has begun relying on several plug-ins from NUGEN Audio, including Stereoizer, Monofilter and MasterCheck. ‘My studio here in Armenia was built by one of the best American acoustic designers, J Brandy,’ explained Stepanyan. ‘We wanted it to be a space that would rival the biggest commercial studios. At one point, I had

I’ve tried similar solutions but most are not mono-compatible and negatively impact the signal. These NUGEN plug-ins don’t mess up the mono and the amount of the control I have with the software is really good.’ This level of control becomes even more important for Stepanyan at the mastering stage. ‘Whenever I do the mastering, I really like to check how the track will sound via streaming services, particularly for YouTube,’

some issues with what I was hearing on my monitors, so I did some research and came across MasterCheck from NUGEN. I did a demo trial and was blown away by the quality of the product. It really is the best option on the market and I have been using it ever since.’ Since discovering MasterCheck, Stepanyan has also began to use Stereoizer and Monofilter extensively. ‘I like how wide I can make things using Stereoizer,’ he commented. ‘Being able to pan left and right to control the sides, while also pushing the low end with Monofilter, has been a huge benefit.

he furthered. ‘I check each streaming platform and I will only export my project if it sounds perfect.’ In addition to his NUGEN software, Stepanyan uses Apple’s Logic Pro DAW, Focal and Kali audio monitors, Avedis Audio preamps and Antelope Audio’s Orion 32+ Gen 3, along with a wide assortment of microphones and a range of keyboards. No matter what project he is working on, the priority for Stepanyan is in only using ‘the best gear’.

Guests at Frozen Cherry enjoy a spectacular view at the highest point of the Zaarour mountains LEBANON

Technosound has completed a pair of unique installations in Lebanon’s Zaarour mountains that has seen Martin Audio BlacklineX loudspeakers deployed at the Frozen Cherry sunset bar and Dublin Room nightclub. Founded in 2016, Frozen Cherry is a sunset bar at the highest point of the Zaarour mountains and has become a popular year-round destination. Two years later, Dublin Room dance club was founded, also within the Zaarour club. The brains behind this unique concept are Nasri and

The small and intimate Dublin Room

16 PRO AVL MEA May–June 2020

Maher Choueiry, owners of several F&B and design outlets, who come from a creative background in architecture and engineering. They are supported by Elie Zouein, who has experience in business development. The project was the venue’s first experience working with Technosound. ‘I proposed that they install a Martin Audio system,’ recalled Technosound’s Charbel Fahed. ‘Prior to that, they had been renting in another brand. Since these are two of the most exciting venues in Lebanon, I had to choose a unique, powerful and clear system. This is why I proposed the X15s after hearing them at ISE.’ Having also tested other premier sound systems, the venue owners selected the BlacklineX cabinets for both Frozen Cherry and Dublin Room, with the former equipped with Blackline X15 and two X118 subs and the latter with X15s, X12s and four X118s. Design support for the project was provided by Martin Audio product engineer, Simon Purse, who was responsible for specifying both spaces. www.martin-audio.com

www.nugenaudio.com www.vahagnstepanyan.com

WHERE WILL IT TAKE YOU?

NEW A SERIES LINE SOURCE The new A15 and A10 systems deliver renowned L-Acoustics concert performance and reliability for audiences from 50 to 5,000. Mounted on a pole, stacked on the companion KS21 or flown in vertical or horizontal arrays, the new A Series combines plug-and-play ease and international market acceptance. This versatile solution, with adjustable directivity, scales with the needs of your company and is your gateway to the L-Acoustics rental network. A Series can take you anywhere you want to go. l-acoustics.com GROW !

NEWS: EDUCATION PRODUCTS

NMK focuses local training The Datapath to 4Kon graphics taken time out to attend the training. We will surely plan more trainings in the capital city in the coming months.’ Back in Dubai, the Shure Master Class: Wireless Best Practices & Techniques course covered all aspects of wireless audio to give engineers a solid background in wireless fundamentals. ‘NMK provided the perfect environment to spend one day with pro audio professionals discussing the RF fundamentals, the challenges of the environment and how to confidently select, install and operate wireless systems in virtually any situation,

Bose training in Abu Dhabi

from small informal events to large-scale productions,’ commented Andrea Granata, Shure MEA market development manager, pro audio. ‘This training is about technology and is not product-specific, addressing a wide audience of sound engineers and integrators. I am always intrigued meeting the new generations of technicians sharing their experiences and concerns about the magic world of wireless.’ www.nmkelectronics.com www.shure.eu pro.bose.com

UAE

NMK Electronics has been busy recently with certification and training for both Bose Professional and Shure products. New Bose product certification took place in Abu Dhabi for around 35 industry professionals from leading systems integrators and end users, accompanied by live demonstrations of Bose portable systems deployed inside the training venue. Separately, a Shure Master Class at NMK’s training facility in Dubai’s Silicon Oasis was attended by 20 participants from rental companies,

freelance engineers and AV technicians and focused on wireless best practices and techniques. ‘Abu Dhabi is one of the focus cities for us and, assessing the current market, we felt the need to conduct trainings in Abu Dhabi locally,’ stated Nittin Dargan, regional manager, Bose Professional. ‘It is encouraging to see so many partners come forward and participate actively in these sessions – a great job done by M Biju from the RSE Bose Professional team. We also want to thank all the participants to have

Shure Master Class attendees in Dubai

NEXO helps train SA’s technicians SOUTH AFRICA

NEXO is collaborating with full-service production company Sound Stylists and South Africa’s Academy of Sound Engineering in Cape Town to provide free skills training and access to its latest sound reinforcement products. The French manufacturer has also recently completed the sale of P+ Series cabinets for the South African Roadies Association. The trio recently hosted a free ETC seminar comprising workshops and listening experiences, as well as an overview of the French manufacturer’s line array evolution, from GEO S and D ranges to the GEO M and STM Series.

Switchcraft expands patch panel lineup

ASE, freelance engineers, house of worship technicians and audio techs from Sound Stylists. Down in Johannesburg, the new P+ Series sound system has been made available to the South African Roadies Association (SARA) and will be used to help raise the production skills of young and aspiring audio professionals. The SARA rig comprises the new P12 point source cabinets with LS18 subs and NXAMP4x4MK2 amplifiers. www.ase.co.za

Taking place over three days, the seminar was presented by NEXO’s leading training

engineer, Nicholas Poitrenaud, and was attended by students and teachers from

www.nexo-sa.com www.saroadies.co.za

Lower levels

Better mixes Immerse Your Artist With The Best In-Ear Mix!

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Klang - PAA Strip.indd 1 18 DMI PRO AVL MEA May–June 2020 82

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NEWS: EDUCATION PRODUCTS

D Squared adds Sound bodypackAcademy transmitter returns to Dubai Sennheiser

UAE THE DBU-LEMO bodypack transmitter The Sennheiser Sound returned to is the latest addition toAcademy the D Squared the Middle East from recently to help provide product series Lectrosonics. It is fully systems integrators a comprehensive compatible with thewith DSQD digital receiver understanding of ‘audio for between business’.470MHz Held and offers a tuning range in Dubai in partnership with distributor and 608MHz – going up to local 614MHz for the Venuetech, the Sound Academy focused on the export version. German manufacturer’s Designed with circuitryTeamConnect to extend itsCeiling 2 and SpeechLine Digital operating time from a Wireless pair of AAsolutions, batteries, which are designed to facilitate meetings the DBu-LEMO provides RF power selections and10mW, conferences both small allowing and largefor at 25mWfor and 50mW, enterprises. use in a variety of licensed and unlicensed The Sennheiser Sound Academy featured applications. With an audio frequency several hands-on training sessions conducted response of 20Hz to 20kHz (+0.0/–3dB), bydynamic Fadi Costantine, sales manager a range oftechnical 110dB before limiting at Sennheiser Middle East.response, ‘One of and a flat in-band phase significant changes in the the most beltpack transmitter is also modern working environment is ato built with a digital architecture shift from encryption face-to-facein communication facilitate high-level to digital applications. channels, which is placing security greater emphasis on the efficiency Lectrosonics states that studioand quality of these digitised quality audio is achieved thanks interactions,’ he explained. to the components used in‘Managed the poorly, this can prove preamp, a transition wide range input gain frustrating but, executed well, adjustment andwhen analogue limiting controlled via DSP. The input gain is adjustable in 1dB increments over a range of 52dB, allowing users to match the input signal level, while maximising the audio dynamic range and signal-to-noise ratio. A two-way IR port facilitates a fast

set up and allows for data sharing between we findincluding that manyencryption people come prefer digital units, keytotransfer. meetings.’ A switch on top of the unit can be Sennheiseras highlighted research thator shows configured power on/off, mute the averageItbusiness spends talkback. can alsoprofessional be bypassed 42 minutes aAday on conference yet as altogether. micro USB jack, calls, meanwhile, much asused 15 minutes of that time can be taken can be to update up technical struggles. ‘This presents a thebyunit’s firmware significant when out opportunity in the field for systems integrators that areWireless capable of delivering the solutions using Designer that overcome and make software on athese Mac challenges or seamless and intuitivecan digital PC. The DBu-LEMO alsoengagements possible,’ furthered respond to remoteCostantine. ‘dweedle Sennheiser sees its automatic tone’ commands from third- adaptive beamforming technology in the TeamConnect par ty apps such as New

Ceiling 2, which is certified for Microsoft Teams Rooms when deployed with Microsoft-certified DSPs, as one such solution to this problem. Over the course of the Sound Academy, Costantine instructed attendees on the proper implementation of the solution such that it can be installed almost invisibly into the ceiling. He also highlighted how the system can be connected to a Dante audio network, powered by PoE and monitored by an IT department. In subsequent sessions, the technical sales manager demonstrated the impressive audio clarity and scalability of the SpeechLine Digital Wireless which can be tailored to

Bosch EASEs into Portable training

www.sennheiser.com www.venuetech.ae www.lectrosonics.com

Upgrade your boardroom to executive mode

phantom MIDDLE EAST

Bosch Communication Systems COUNTRYMAN ASSOCIATES has hosted a three-day training event the portable Phantom onintroduced EASE acoustic simulation Power Supply with flexible power software at its office in Dubai. A options selectablefrom voltage total of 14and individuals five settings.countries Transmitting DCMiddle electric different in the power through microphone East participated in the event, cables, Phantom which wasthe ledCountryman by Paul Malpas, Supplyfrom is designed to anPower associate the Ramboll produce an ultra-low noise to keep consultancy. audio signals clean.

The event included an explanation The Phantom Power Supply can of room acoustics, absorption run on either a single 9V battery, materials, reverberation time and two 9V batteries (granting it a speakers. Attendees also learned longer life) or mapping a 9V walland adapter. about acoustic how to In addition, options build a designvoltage model output for a concert of with 12V,Electro-Voice’s 24V and 48V can be hall X-Line selected, further extending the Advance Install series line arrays. battery life of the device for ‘All participants were highly microphones thatusdon’t require motivated and left remarkable 48V power. feedback, confirming that the training aluminium body willThe helpunit’s themdie-cast with the major topics low-profile switchesinhave ofand sound and acoustics dailybeen work designed tosaid ensure ruggedness situations,’ Pavel Aheunin, for enduring life on the road. Bosch Communications Systems’ sales manager for Prosound.

Endian’s LectroRM, meaning users can small room setups or even huge campus-wide change settings, including frequency, installations. specifically speech audio level, Created RF power level andforsleep/ applications in corporate environments, unsleep, from their smar t devices. this line of aluminium wireless digital microphones provides The housing is the same size high speech intelligibility and sound and levels shapeofas the previous generation DBa quality. and DBu units, so users can match their At the conclusion theDBu-LEMO. event, attendees accessories with of the The 00 were certificates recognition Lemopresented three-pinwith connector andininput wiring of to expertly is their alsoability identical to thatimplement on the SSM micro Sennheiser’s TeamConnect Ceiling 2 and transmitter, enabling the use of existing SpeechLine Digital Wireless lavalier microphone cablessolutions. and audio adapters.

3/4 PAGE TS-820/920 SERIES

Infrared Wireless Conference System

Professional, Practical, Pyramid-inspired. It’s time to redesign your boardroom with an executive conference system. TOA’s new conference system creates a formal and impressive atmosphere by its dignified solid shape. We supply sound, not equipment. www.toa.eu

TOAeurope

www.countryman.com www.bosch.com

May–June 2020 PRO AVL MEA 19 March–April 65

NEWS: DISTRIBUTION

GSL Professional takes on Genelec and LD Systems MIDDLE EAST

GSL Professional has become the new distributor for both Genelec and LD Systems in the Middle East. GSL will handle the Finnish manufacturer’s full line of studio monitors in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and Iraq, while its appointment as LD Systems’ distributor for the Middle East and Africa follows the success it has enjoyed since assuming responsibility for Cameo’s distribution last year. ‘We are extremely proud, both to represent Genelec as part of our premium product portfolio for distribution across the Middle East region, and also about our new partnership with LD Systems,’ commented Adrian Curtis, managing director at GSL Professional. ‘I am looking forward to building a strong relationship extending their business through our extensive channel partner network.’ Arun Kumar, Genelec’s regional business development manager for the Middle East, added: ‘So much of our global business is now based around providing complete loudspeaker solutions, whether the customer is a music studio, broadcast facility or installation project. That requires distributors with a highly developed commercial and technical

Mediakern speaks French to Masstech NORTH AFRICA

Masstech has appointed Mediakern as its technical partner for France, as well as French-speaking territories across Europe and Northern Africa. Mediakern’s role will be to design and deploy optimised storage

L–R: Genelec’s Arun Kumar with GSL’s Adrian Curtis understanding of our range, and we can’t imagine a better-qualified regional partner than Adrian and his GSL Professional team.’ Adam Hall Group COO Markus Jahnel offered similar sentiments: ‘We’re happy to have found GSL Professional, one of the largest sales partners in the MEA region, to sell our LD Systems brand. GSL is one of the most renowned providers of event technology in the Middle East and, as the

leading Cameo distributor in this region, has already proven in the past year that they can successfully position a brand in the market with their expertise and lots of enthusiasm. We’re looking forward to LD Systems having a promising future in the MEA region.’ www.genelec.com www.gslprofessional.com www.ld-systems.com

and orchestration ecosystems built on the Kumulate content management platform, as well as to provide Masstech customers with advice and guidance in archive, storage, asset lifecycle and database management. ‘Masstech’s Kumulate content and storage management platform brings great value to traditional workflows, by on-boarding state-ofthe-art technologies such as AI and cognitive services to automatically create value on stored content,’ said Mediakern CEO, Michel Jambart. ‘I have always believed that this is the way forward, and I’m confident our users will quickly understand the value of these solutions over passive systems.’ Masstech’s VP of global sales, Luc Tomasino, commented: ‘Michel and the Mediakern team are a fabulous addition to the Masstech stable. They are extremely well-respected throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and their extensive knowledge of media and content management within M&E environments means that they are the perfect partner to deliver Masstech’s next-generation solutions to our customers throughout those regions.’ www.masstech.com

The Adam Hall and GSL Professional teams

www.mediakern.fr

Sennheiser partners with SYSTECH in Lebanon LEBANON

Sennheiser Middle East has announced the appointment of SYSTECH Middle East as a new Authorised Partner in Lebanon for its professional range of products. These include wired and wireless microphones, business solutions and professional headphones. Sennheiser joins other brands in SYSTECH’s distribution portfolio, including Panasonic Business, Røde Microphones, Epiphan Video Systems, Extron, Crestron, SmartBoard, CEDAR Audio, BMD Broadcast and more. SYSTECH joins existing partner Eltek as the sole Authorised Partners for

20 PRO AVL MEA May–June 2020

Sennheiser’s Professional Audio range in Lebanon. ‘Naturally, we are excited to have been given the opportunity to distribute

Sennheiser here in Lebanon,’ commented SYSTECH sales manager, Farah Farah. ‘Not only will these brands consolidate our sales effor ts in the live and installation markets, but they will also help heighten our position in the vital broadcasting sector. Through our effor ts, we can better position the Sennheiser brand with our professional customers by offering supply from stock, extensive marketing and unparalleled after-sales ser vice.’ ‘We are pleased to have SYSTECH join our Authorised Partner network in

Lebanon,’ stated Mig Cardamone, director of sales and marketing at Sennheiser Middle East. ‘We look forward to building a fruitful relationship that we are certain will help strengthen and grow our pro audio business in Lebanon, with a focus on our broadcast and business communications solutions. SYSTECH have a knowledgeable and motivated team and we’ve no doubt that their strengths will complement our existing business in Lebanon.’ www.sennheiser.com www.systech-me.com

NEWS: DISTRIBUTION

NMK named Williams’ distributor of the year GCC

At ISE 2020, Williams AV named its exclusive GCC distributor, NMK Electronics, as the ‘EMEA Distributor of the Year 2019’. The title was awarded as a result of the distributor’s outstanding sales growth throughout the GCC in 2019. ‘NMK has done a fantastic job getting the word out throughout the region about our innovative wireless communication solutions,’ commented Per Persson, VP of international sales at Williams AV. ‘I am excited to see how their close cooperation with integrators and consultants in projects for assistive listening, interpretation and many other applications has resulted in a record year in 2019.’

‘We share a common vision to deliver technological excellence in the communication segment which is why this par tnership has proven to be successful over the years,’ said Abdul Hadi, product manager at NMK Electronics. ‘2019 has seen immense growth in the GCC region, with clients understanding the impor tance of efficient and effective communication systems for all markets. We are excited to see what the future holds for the brand.’ www.nmkelectronics.com www.williamsav.com

MOG finds a partnership that SimplyWorks

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MIDDLE EAST

MOG Technologies, a developer of media libraries, broadcast systems and a cloudbased interactive and multi-content platform, has entered into a partnership with SimplyWorks in the Middle East and Europe regions to provide its customers with more

SimplyWorks focus on helping customers find the best solutions for their broadcast ecosystem, as well as enhancing it with video cloud services, turnkey video appliances and SaaS solutions, aiming towards mutual expansion.

personal and collaborative support and reduce time-frame deliverables in answering workflow queries. SimplyWorks possesses a team of studio, broadcasting and systems technology specialists that use their expertise to help solve client challenges while offering projectspecific insights across the Middle East and Europe. The partnership with MOG will see

‘With this new partnership with SimplyWorks, we have the opportunity to extend MOG’s support in the Middle East, while collaborating with the top experts in the field,’ said João Pereira, sales director at MOG. ‘We’re confident that it’ll be a fruitful relationship.’ www.mog-technologies.com

May–June 2020 PRO AVL MEA 21

NEWS: APPOINTMENTS

Sennheiser appoints Lawo names senior new BDM for Pakistan production manager PAKISTAN

Sennheiser has appointed Sarmad Riaz to handle the expansion of the manufacturer’s presence in Pakistan, with a specific focus on the broadcast sector. Following an internal restructuring, the manufacturer now includes Pakistan within the remit of its Middle East sales organisation. Riaz has taken the role of business development manager. ‘We have formulated a strategic two-pronged approach to build on this success and capitalise on the tremendous opportunity that Pakistan provides,’ stated Mig Cardamone, director of sales and marketing at Sennheiser Middle East. ‘By carefully assessing the market and deepening our engagement with end-customers, we will develop a clear product roadmap and bring our latest and most relevant solutions to market. Simultaneously, we will expand and enable our network of qualified partners to expertly cater to this demand. With over a decade of experience in Pakistan’s AV sector and specific expertise with the broadcast segment and its associated sales channels, Sarmad is extremely well-positioned to drive this strategy.’ Riaz is described as a broadcast and AV industry veteran of over 15 years. He started his career as a sales engineer at Media Links Pakistan, following which he spent over nine years serving in core

WORLD

Sarmad Riaz technical and sales roles at popular TV channels in the country. In 2014, he joined a Dubai-based AV solutions systems integrator before moving to Advanced Media as a broadcast solutions sales manager. ‘Sennheiser is widely recognised by TV channels and broadcasters in Pakistan as the market leader,’ commented Riaz. ‘I am excited to join the company and it is my intention to further strengthen our leadership position while working closely with the channel to introduce the latest audio technologies to this key market.’

Lawo has appointed Johan Boqvist to the role of senior production manager for radio. He will be working with Lawo’s technical team to develop products for Lawo’s radio product line. Boqvist has spent the past 20 years working in broadcast, starting as a sound engineer at Swedish Radio in 2000 where he focused on radio consoles, audio codecs, studio design, playout/ editing and remote production workflows. In 2008, he worked at Swedish Radio’s R&D department, focusing on the launch of the networked AoIP contribution system and the concept and technical design of the Next Generation project. He is also a member of the Swedish Audio Engineering Society. ‘I’m delighted we have secured someone of Johan’s calibre to lead our radio product line,’ said Lawo’s chief technology officer, Phillip Myers. ‘I have no doubt that he will make a significant contribution to its future growth and development progress.’ Boqvist added: ‘I’m quite proud to be a part of the Lawo team and I see this as an opportunity to contribute to the radio industry worldwide. For me, Lawo has

Johan Boqvist always represented high-quality products and cutting-edge innovations throughout the entire product line. I am really looking forward to taking on this position and I believe that my radio experience and knowledge of systems integration and market will be a positive contribution to future radio products and projects at Lawo.’ www.lawo.com

www.sennheiser.com

CT recruits SI manager MIDDLE EAST

Creative Technology Middle East has hired Andrew Nu as the business development manager for its systems integration department. He brings more than 26 years of AV sector experience to the role, including stints at MDS AV as technical manager, at Omnix International and, most recently, in

business development for ShowLED. Based in the UAE, Nu’s experience spans Europe and Asia, as well as the Middle East. He has been involved in several critical viewing command and control room projects and his portfolio of work includes prestigious installations such as supplying the production lighting and TV

suspension systems for the BBC Pacific Quay, Emirates Palace Hotel and Oman Opera, in addition to the full AV for the Qasr Al Alam Guest Palace in Oman and the Dublin Convention Centre. Andrew Nu

www.ctme.co

Andrew Pettit joins DWR Greg Westall joins Focusrite

L–R: Bradley Bruchhausen and Andrew Pettit SOUTH AFRICA

DWR Distribution has added Andrew Pettit to its ranks in the position of sales and technical support for the Cape Town market. He will be joining Bradley Bruchhausen at DWR’s offices in Milnerton.

22 PRO AVL MEA May–June 2020

‘I am very excited to be taking on the role of sales and technical support at DWR Cape Town,’ commented Pettit. ‘I believe that the position will present some much-welcomed new challenges and will allow me to grow both personally and professionally.’ Pettit’s background includes achieving a diploma in audio technology from The Cape Town Audio College while working as a freelance technician. Following graduation, he joined the SOLID Group, a production and events planning company that is well-known for providing high-end technical services for corporate events in the region. ‘One of my key areas of specialisation has been in multimedia and I am very excited to share my knowledge and experience with others in the industry – especially focusing on Green Hippo.’ www.dwrdistribution.co.za

WORLD

Focusrite has appointed Greg Westall to the role of director of product for several brands in the Focusrite Group, including Focusrite, Focusrite Pro, Novation and Ampify. He has worked in the audio industry for the past 20 years for companies such as Universal Audio and Line 6. ‘Working with such an amazing team of product managers and developers at Focusrite is a once-in-a-career opportunity,’ said Westall. ‘I’m thrilled to help shape the next generation of products at a company that’s already defining the future of music creation and pro audio.’ Tim Carroll, CEO of the Focusrite Group, added: ‘I am very pleased to have someone with Greg’s experience and track record joining us. Greg’s deep industry knowledge,

Greg Westall leadership ability and personal style is a great fit for Focusrite and we are all very excited to have him on board.’ www.focusrite.com

NEWS: APPOINTMENTS

Graham Murray returns to Calrec

INFiLED hires Middle East manager

In order to develop the company’s business in the Middle East, Graham Murray has returned to Calrec as its business development manager for the region. He has worked for Calrec in the

past as a regional sales director, supporting and coordinating with distributors in APAC. Murray has 30 years of sales experience in broadcasting, studio and postproduction and has also held several sales and engineering roles with companies such as Studer, AMS Neve and Fairlight. ‘Graham’s wealth of technical experience starting out as an engineer at AMS in the 1980s, coupled with his extensive experience in the broadcast audio industry, make him the ideal fit for this job,’ commented Dave Letson, VP of sales at Calrec. ‘The industry is ever-changing and Graham’s level of technical knowledge and experience will truly strengthen Calrec’s efforts. His knowledge of the region also makes him an incredible asset to Calrec.’

Graham Murray

www.calrec.com

INFiLED has hired Samer Otaibi as its business development manager for the Middle East. Otaibi joins from LG, where he served as regional business development manager for its B2B digital signage department in the Gulf territory. He also has previous experience as a B2B product manager at Etisalat and as the digital signage manager at the Dubai World Trade Centre. ‘We are very happy to welcome Samer on board,’ said Marco Bruines, SVP of INFiLED EMEA. ‘Samer’s handson expertise in digital signage and business experience, combined with his strong network, will be extremely valuable to increase our customer clientele within the Middle East.’

MIDDLE EAST

Otaibi will be based in Dubai, where INFiLED is currently in the process of setting up a new office. His hiring follows news that the manufacturer plans to increase its sales and marketing team and activities across the EMEA region. ‘I am excited to join INFiLED as business development manager for the Middle East and to reinforce the company’s presence in the region,’ commented Otaibi. ‘My aim is to create long-term strategic relationships and to grow the business by delivering outstanding product quality and a superior experience via a unique comprehensive product lineup.’ www.infiled.com

Analog Way names new chairman WORLD

Analog Way has chosen Christophe Delahousse as its new chairman. He will take over from Marc Loret, the founding president of the company, who will continue to work on the board of directors.

Adrien Corso, CEO at Analog Way. ‘We will greatly benefit from Christophe’s experience that will help us take the company to the next level.’ ‘Analog Way has experienced significant development and

1/2 PAGE Island Christophe Delahousse Prior to his appointment, Delahousse worked as the executive vice president of Harmonic and the president of Thomson Video Networks. He has also worked in various roles in business development, finance, sales and marketing. ‘Analog Way is currently expanding rapidly and has ambitious growth plans,’ said

has achieved outstanding results,’ said Delahousse. ‘The company holds a strong position in the pro AV market and delivers innovative solutions for its customers. I’m thrilled to be joining the team and look forward to contributing to its success.’ www.analogway.com

May–June 2020 PRO AVL MEA 23

NEWS: SPECIAL REPORT

BARTKRESA studio’s 5m, 360° Sviatovid video mapped sculpture

Friends anniversary projection on the Burj Khalifa – the world’s largest LED display

Mapping the future

BARTKRESA studio’s Sviatovid, a 5m-high, 360° projection-mapped sculpture debuted in 2019, arriving at ISE in Amsterdam in February, making its US premiere at InfoComm in June and appearing at InfoComm India later that year OTHER RECENT BARTKRESA STUDIO projects include the transformation of the Space Shuttle Endeavour into Tutankhamun’s tomb. Kresa discusses his work in Asia and the Middle East, collaborations with manufacturers and why laser projectors are a game changer.

Most people think that the projection design and mapping phenomena happened after the year 2000. Actually, it began in 1956 in the Czech Republic, when set designer Josef Svoboda began wrapping the stage with projected images. Then, in the 1960s, professor Guenther Schneider-Siemssen took projectors designed for opera houses outside to create open-air installations. From 1980, Krzysztof Wodiczko was projecting large-scale images of his art and videos onto architectural façades and monuments. Screens are useful. I love projection. The difference between an LED screen and a projection medium is that with a screen you can see the technology, but, when projection is done correctly, you don’t see the technology. When we work with a building, we turn the projection off and it’s a building. Then we turn the projection on and we can completely transform that space to the point where it feels physical. Quite often, people don’t know what they’re looking at and, because it’s a dimensional sculpture, they ask, ‘how is that a projection?’ Some people think it’s a screen, some people think it’s a hologram. But the point is, everyone is looking. I brought video mapping to India in 2013. It was a projection onto a beautiful palace, the Umaid Bhawan in Jodhpur for a private

24 PRO AVL MEA May–June 2020

Bart Kresa and his Sviatovid sculpture at InfoComm India 2019 event. Designing for shows in India is really fun because people are passionate about infusing culture, colour and patterns into the projections. I’ve done projections for other high-end wedding festivities since then, and our designs have always been adventurous. In September 2019, we created the world’s largest LED display. It was a projection onto the Burj Khalifa in Dubai to mark the 25th anniversary of the premiere of Friends. Warner Brothers Worldwide Television Marketing commissioned BARTKRESA studio to animate a three-minute-long show that wove Warner Bros’ graphics into a high-energy dance set to the Friends theme song, I’ll Be There for You, by The Rembrandts. The show captivated

crowds of fans in Dubai, as well as millions of global fans, who turned videos of the 25th anniversary show into a viral hit. Laser projectors are changing the industry. So far, most of our work is event-based. We only have five permanent installations in the world. Until recently, I didn’t think the technology was good enough for us to leave it. Before laser projectors, every installation that I have seen is great at the opening. A year later, the bulbs have worn out in a different way, the colour shifts and, after a while, you start to see the tiles. LCD projectors used to collect dust which would burn into the LED panel itself and the projection would become out of focus. But now, half of the calls we

get are about permanent installations, and we can take on those projects because of improving technology. Laser projection only came out just over two years ago, and it’s exploding. I’m hearing about projects that include 250 projectors, 400 projectors – it’s unbelievable now. Having a sealed engine that can run for 20,000 hours makes a huge difference. Prior to this, on some of the large-scale projectors, the bulbs lasted for 200 hours. With laser technology has also come automatic alignment systems. We like to design and create as amazing an experience as we can, and we like to maintain that experience across time. Some of these projectors have early warning systems that will send you a message to tell you that in, say, 100 hours you’ll need to attend to something. Emergency maintenance is expensive – calling someone you need now, because something broke. When you can schedule it in advance, it becomes reasonable. The Sviatovid sculpture we showed at InfoComm India in 2019 was a quarter section of the original. Sviatovid was a 9th-century, allpowerful Slavic deity with four faces. We had a show in New York the week before InfoComm India with the 360° piece. The full sculpture was still in the US and it was impossible to ship it in time. So I came up with this idea. This is the original quarter piece that was used to create a mould. From that, we created a 360° piece, which took four months to make. The fabrication happens in Utah; the company owner is an amazing guy who loves creating things and it’s the third sculpture that he’s made for us. The technique he uses is also used to manufacture speedboats and racing cars out of strong fibreglass with a very

NEWS: RENTAL FEATURES: HOSPITALITY NEWS: SPECIAL REPORT

Dale Sound invests in Galaxies

smooth finish. Our sculptures get shipped around a lot, so we’ve designed Sviatovid to travel better. The sculpture we have in the US collapses into 12 pieces and is stored in three crates, which are small enough to be picked up by courier. Now, I’m working on three other projection-mapped sculptures, all using different materials INDIA and techniques.

three things then we can start talking. Also, I’m opening a studio in Japan with a focus on cultivating the talents of our hardworking artists there. I’ve done a lot of work in Japan; for the last 12 years, we’ve done most of the projection shows for Universal Studios. We appreciate the level of professionalism that exists there. What we do is teamwork; we don’t deal with personality and ego. performances to concerts, we require reliability andstudio’s rock-solid BARTKRESA Giftperformance,’ of Angels at said Lincoln Dsouza, director of Dale Universal Studios Japan has won multiple Sound. exactlyawhat the Volite awards.‘This This is includes prestigious IAAPA Galaxy Thunder 54x3W LED PARs Brass Ring award for theme parksprovide and us. They are so BARTKRESA easy to use that operation entertainment. studio has been is a pleasure it hasprojection-mapping had an absolutely working on theand annual positive impact on the overall production show, including singers, dancers and special value of since the shows we’ve commissioned.’ effects, 2008. In 2015, we unveiled a new edition that incorporated 3D animation

The Volite Thunder is 54x3W Working withGalaxy manufacturers something high-performance LEDthey PARlisten is theand I love doing. Sometimes latest product to be Aadded to Mumbaisometimes they don’t! lot of the functions Dale Sound’s portfolio. This of of based software in our industry and features will reportedly the backbone of today’s projectorsform are influenced by me, theas rental company’s infrastructure such a focus on increased brightness, Glenn Wong of Total Solution Marketing with J5 Productions’ Justin Tan that and is deployed fortolive andput quality being able doevents things like performances. them upside down. Around eight years ago, I ‘Specialising in planning, invited some Christie engineersdesigning to our show Private event at the Umaid Bhawan in Jodhpur, India and customising light requirements for and they couldn’t believe what we were doing www.sonotone.in a variety of events ranging from with the projectors. They asked, ‘whyparties, are you and interactive elements with saturated and using them like this?’ I told them that the painterly designs, mapping six façades along only way to do what I wanted to do was to Universal Studios Japan’s Gramercy Park use the projectors in a different way. They’d SINGAPORE zone to create a winter wonderland. never thought like this before, because is calibrated at 7,000K to generate up to J5 Productions in Singapore has invested most R&D was based around a screen at in 24 Ayrton Diablo-S 300W LED profile 19,000 lumens. MDI (medium dependent interface) 90° to the projector. I’m currently working lighting fixtures. After a successful ‘They are definitely good investment for to technology changedaour lives. The ability on artificial intelligence software with the demonstration, the fixtures were purchased all ourmedia projects – launch parties,combined concerts, send across a network, Christie team, and I’m also working with the from Ayrton’s exclusive distributor, Total conferences and anylike type10GbE of live networks, events,’ with developments Panasonic technical division: Panasonic Media Twelve Bose LT loudspeakers provide zone-fill Solution Marketing. said Justin Tan,the managing director of J5our render farms, ability to virtualise Entertainment. To me it’s 50:50 – I need to The Diablo-S 300W includes CMY colour Productions. ‘We will be tasks putting–them out on computers for multiple it’s amazing. have the best technology and I need to have by Bose teamThey at SKY2.0 Dubai,’ he commented. ‘The teams, Bose Professional and Group, worked hard to and performance is non-negotiable for me, and and aI can vouch thatwheel, mixing seven-colour a gobo many more ofAntaki our shows.’ All these technical advances combined thethe best design. have toinwork together. endless hours that they have spent working on this project, and achieve the best with performance andofa the superior audio experience.’ Bose has delivered the best customer experience in our club.’ wheel, an effects wheel and a full framing the growth experience economy www.ayrton.eu the that they have portrayed, ‘We are excited to have a Bose Professional at SKY2.0 system. It install is specifically designed for means everyone wants experiences now – I’veprofessionalism started an academy of projection designhave impressed www.j5.com.sg www.antaki.com.lb us immensely, andthings we deem ourselves honoured Dubai,’ concluded Nittin Dargan, regional Bose stage manager, applications as it is equipped with and we can provide them. in Poland. Three are important to know to have had studio’s Gift of at Universal Studios won a prestigious www.tsm-int.com pro.bose.com them project. contribution of the Professional. ‘It Angels is a special project a formonochromatic us beingJapan an iconic LED light source that if youlead wantthe a place to The study: show up,and shutdedicationBARTKRESA IAAPA Brass Ring award www.skydubai.com www.bartkresa.com team was to be proud of,can knowing that the sound quality architecture that came with its unique challenges. Both the up and payone attention. If you do those

Ayrton shows its true colours

INSTALLATION GOT EASIER 1/2 PAGE

with

available in black or white

www.next-proaudio.com 2020 PRO PRO AVL ASIA MEA 29 JanuarMarch–April y–Februar y 2020 May–June 2020 PRO AVL AVL MEA 21 25

NEWS: SPECIAL REPORT

Business unusual

Recent weeks have seen most companies’ traditional daily operations grind to a halt as lockdowns designed to prevent the spread of coronavirus have impeded logistics. With Dubai and South Africa being the main hubs of activity in the Middle East and Africa, Pro AVL MEA spoke to long-term distributors NMK Electronics and DWR Distribution to find out how they are adapting. Deserted streets of Dubai during the city’s 24-hour lockdown

Dino Drimakis, operations manager at NMK Electronics clients, firstly just to catch up but also to understand where they’re at and the challenges facing them, whether that is financial implications or whether it’s emotional. Being there to suppor t our par tners is the most impor tant thing. The only operational aspect we have running at the moment is logistics for warehousing, ever ything else is pretty much shut down.

How have day-to-day operations changed at NMK? We’re tr ying to make the best out of it, under the circumstances. We’ve all been doing things that we wouldn’t normally do. It’s getting back to basics, tr ying to make the best out of the situation and be proactive with whatever we can. We’re for tunate that our generation is ver y used to zoom conference calls with clients and understands what conferencing entails in general. Our sales teams have been ver y proactive with this – reaching out to

26 PRO AVL MEA May–June 2020

Does the extra downtime afford any new opportunities? Definitely. There were several things that we have wanted to fix internally in terms of our operations, or cer tain processes, but we were constantly busy with other, more impor tant things with regards to the sales side and the commercial aspects and oppor tunities that were coming in. This has been like someone pulling the handbrake and forcing us to focus on this moment in time. We’re now going back and looking to implement what was in the pipeline.

What new opportunities have you provided for customers? I personally believe we were one of the first companies in our industry, as a distributor, to really focus on education. We want to constantly educate, train, guide and support our clients to make sure that they’re fully aware of the entire buying process. For example, being aware of the implications of investing in the right kit versus the wrong kit. We had a whole 2020 pipeline of training prepared for the NMK Academy so it made natural sense to take that and implement it on a digital platform. We’re seeing so many manufacturers now focus their time and efforts on the educational side. It’s great for our industry as a whole.

How has the online format affected attendance? It’s definitely been more regional. We always get the random one or two people coming from wider parts of the region, from Africa, Iraq and Lebanon, for example. Now

it’s a broader network that we’re hosting. At the click of a button they’re entering a platform where we can guide them through and educate, and, importantly, recapture that relationship itself. It’s been a very proactive approach from Alex, our COO, and the marketing operations team. We’re really excited about it.

Do you think Dubai’s seasonal nature helps prepare companies for situations like this? Living in the Middle East for years, we regularly see this on a costing basis. You have spikes and dips; it’s not consistent like in Europe and the States. But this is painful for everyone. We’re very diverse in our market segment, from retail and consumer, to the project-based business and broadcast, and everyone has been hit. A lot of people that had projects in the pipeline for 2020 are going to be pushing them to the end of 2020 or even post-2021. It’s definitely a roller coaster for a lot of companies.

PRODUCTS NEWS: SPECIAL REPORT

NEWS: SPECIAL REPORT

ETC lights up Media City

Focusrite updates a classic

FOCUSRITE HAS extended its classic ISA channel, and front-panel instrument inputs range with the eight-channel ISA 828 MkII for channels 1–4. which features the same transformer-based The ISA ADN8 is an optional A/D card input stage, complete with the Lundahl for the ISA 828 MkII and ISA 428 MkII. It LL1538 transformer, as its predecessor. provides ADAT Optical, AES3 and Dante With the optional ISA ADN8 A/D card, connectivity at rates up to 24 bit/192kHz. however, the preamp is now compatible with The card offers primary and secondary RJ45 The ISA ADN cards FROM audio-over-IP HUMBLE BEGINNINGS Dante networks. BACK IN Dante output ports, an AES59-configured 1975, a thensupply 18-year-old Fred updated Foster began The power has been DB25 connector for AES3 output and a pair for the ISA One mic preamp and DI. For a journey into entertainment technology that to allow for more efficient power of TOSLINK connectors for ADAT output. outputs, the card offers primary and would create an indelible legacyincontinuing consumption and a reduction heat The ISA ADN2, meanwhile, is an optional secondary RJ45 Dante ports, an XLR to live on long after Fred’s time had passed. generation. The front panel remains two-channel 24-bit/192kHz A/D card that connector for AES3, a TOSLINK connector That culmination continued determination unchanged, with of six-step metering on each provides analogue-to-digital conversion for ADAT and an RCA connector for S/PDIF. Riley, directorwith at DWR and hard workDuncan ethic was realised the Distribution Focusrite has also par tnered with opening of ETC’s new purpose-built studio. Austrian software developer, sonible, to Sitting slap-bang in the middle of Dubai develop Balancer, a processor driven by Media Dubai day-to-day – The Studio offers an How City, hasETC DWR’s ar tificial intelligence that is designed to unassuming entrance that gives way to all enhance any source signal. Balancer is operations changed? manner of bespoke product demonstration available as a free download for members zones, training facilities, meeting spaces Every morning, I have a staff meeting to take of the Focusrite Plug-in Collective. The and smart design quirks. It’s aRobert not so Izzett, care828 of important admin while ISA MkII Durban’s CBZ, devoid of all traffic on day one software-based of the lockdownprocessor analyses an subtle nodmanager, to the company’s expertise our sales has a sales meetingand with standing the industry, but also offers Do you see any positives coming the salesinstaff. They’re doing internal and announced. I’ve been out just once or twice to probably largest external the training, all single throughcollection webinars.ofWe buy food in the whole period. out of this in the long term? ETC High End but Systems (HES) products are and locked down, that doesn’t mean we outside of the company’s US market. Live events are a huge aspect of Perhaps more resilience in the industry and are completely closed for home business. We’ve Upon the toare the AMATE hasreception added toarea itsWe LMS more preparedness for things like this. Prior just gotarriving toAUDIO get at through this time. DWR’s business – what does the studio, I some was given two clear options: left 1U 19-inch rackmount loudspeaker to this epidemic, we were already in a very making extremely difficult decisions future have in store? would takestaff me to reception area management processor series that difficult situation in South Africa economically. regarding atthe theinner moment, but every and meeting space, whilelike, the ‘cool, path toI’m myin’. The biggest industry concern is actually what employs 64-bit for roundAs a country, we are used to little ups and staff member hasarchitecture been right would take me to a high-ceilinged space happens after the lockdown, how businesses the-clock operation. Following on from downs, but this has been a real shock. dubbed the Black Box – so called due to How much South get back to normal and what it means for the the launch ofpreparation the LMS206 inwere mid-2019, Interestingly, I am having a conference the floors, and ceiling so entertainment industry moving forward. For theblacked-out LMS608 has fourwalls analogue inputs, call every other day with about six rental African businesses given before as optimise the lighting that would beand example, what are the social distancing rules a to two-channel AES/EBU digital input companies, the owners of which previously the lockdown? cast onto it. On the left-hand of the going to be? It’s all uncharted waters at the eight analogue outputs, allside on balanced wouldn’t talk to each other. Now we’re all in room, two architectural control systems The president made a first announcement moment. There will be whole industries that XLRs. The processor provides 24-bit the same boat and we are all giving each other from ETC are distancing on display –improved a15 Paradigm and about social March, which will shut down after this and will not come AD/DA convertors foron audio advice. Everyone’s talking and everyone’s Echo – while on the right side of the lighting solutions being controlled viapeople an Ion Desire D60 house lights together with This three meant eventsover ofonmore than 100 people, back. We are atand least per formance inputs and outputs. communicating and it’s quite special. The LMS608 itsfortunate LMS206that and fixed installation applications. room, HES Road Hog 4were console was being XE20. These included ETC Source HES SolaFrame 750sin by ofway. ETC’s new including technical crew, banned. That will never have had enough of entertainment. Thean units are fully configurable, with solidarity is coming in way a big10 predecessor are comparable withFour LED Control parameters include parametric expertly demonstrated in the conjunction with Series 2 Profile, ColorSource Spot Relevé Augment3d software. This was especially I think this is going to change the way was basically the end of live output events They will always want loudspeaker to go and seeand music each input assignable to any and Amate’s Nítid active series equalisers with 1Hz frequency resolution HES TurboRay, SolaWash 1000, SolaFrame Spot heads. interesting asdB/2 the 3D modelling software work in the future in terms of the industry. Everyone then started to organise –and at moving ahave human level, we want experience each output having two crossovers with been designed fortosmall-, –people employing bell parametric filtering. 1000 Ultra Bright and SolaFrame High At thethings. farand endIn ofthe thelong-term, Blackpassive Box, was was interact withfor most other lighting wayable theytocompete and kill each other forup little live streaming concerts. That1000 was all cool those thethere industry selectable filtering and independent mediumlarge-scale sound Selectable delay lines each I/O are CRI fixtures. In the middle the room aisn’t greatgoing dealanywhere. of attention paid to aour manufacturers’ hardware and in turn In South Africa, notwould one rental and there was a little bit ofofhope, then,on alla It’sbeing how we bide compressor/limiter settings. reinforcement systems for both touring tobusiness. 2s (680m) with switchable polarity. low-level trussawas an array of ETC’s prized Gio@5 controller which was controlling the offer an increased amount control of over an company has got four, fiveofmonths’ money of a sudden, 21-day lockdown period was time from this point forward and change.

When seeing is believing, getting solutions directly in front of customers is essential. ETC’s new Media City location looks to make that a reality, as Stuart Todd takes a tour

Amate works round the clock

input signal, applying adaptive smar t filters to optimise the sound’s spectral qualities based on the sonic profile selected. Sonic profiles include Vocal, Guitar and Drums, among others. The amount of effect used is adjusted with the intensity slider, while the Flavour setting switches the overall character of the audio, choosing between Neutral, Warm and Bright. www.focusrite.com www.sonible.com

in the bank. It takes two bad months and they’re out of business. You start to realise from a company standpoint who is there for you and who isn’t, which is also very The LMS608 comes 80I’m passwordhumbling at the samewith time. positive that protectable, user-programmable memory DWR will make it through this and I dare presets offering levels of needed to say that this is variable something we all protection, while 20 additional happen. As an industry we’ve pre-installed become quite factory presets reportedly enable the comfortable. near instantaneous system configuration capabilities of the Nítidboth active As highlighted above, theloudspeaker UAE and series passive sound reinforcement. Southwith African markets have a tendency The processorthroughout also extends to fluctuate the these year, perhaps capabilities with presets toinathese widerregions range accustoming companies ofslightly Nítid models and a number of Xcellence to these tough challenges. There’s no assembled lighting installation. Aswith the name systems. USB Ethernet connectivity doubt that theand industry, perhaps some suggests, the program drawscontrol on be augmented provides external with to changesenhanced and adjustments, will back reality in software order reproduce DSPLink for Windows and MacOS full force, it’s to justaccurately a matter of time. The real the stage or space are working (downloadable fromthat the website). issue is uncertainty. Asyou government support within. It’sover intended to be flawlessly used in matures the coming weeks and a longconjunction with an Eos buttoother www.amateaudio.com term plan emerges, weconsole can start plan options are available anda more arerecovery. in the constructively towards healthy

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64 PRO PRO AVL AVL MEA MEA Januar March–April 2020y 2020 26 y–Februar

May–June 2020 PRO AVL MEA 27

FEATURES: INSTALLATION

Pinpoint precision

A permanent cliff-side projection has been executed to mark the arrival of Qiddiya in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, but it wasn’t without its challenges, discovers Simon Luckhurst

A conceptual drawing of Qiddiya once complete

EVERY PROJECT MANAGER LIKES TO MAKE A GRAND statement to draw attention to their latest and greatest creation. This normally entails getting everyone together at the new site and hosting something symbolic like a ribbon-cutting ceremony. As the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia continues to find ways to put itself on the global map, a new large construction named Qiddiya is set to be the country’s new sports, art and entertainment capital. This ambitious project is all part of the Kingdom’s 2030 vision. Due to open in 2023, Qiddiya focuses on five ‘cornerstone’ aspects – Parks and Attraction, Sports and Wellness, Motion and Mobility, Arts and Culture, and Nature and Environment – in addition to a new community boasting 5,000 residents.

The Martin Pro Middle East team arrive onsite

28 PRO AVL MEA May–June 2020

In order to celebrate Qiddiya, the management has pulled out all the stops. A first major realisation was revealed to the public with a giant mountainside projection on the Tuwaiq mountains during the closing ceremony of the Dakar rally 2020. Initially, the Qiddiya Investment Company (QIC) reached out to Martin Professional ME with the request to visualise a Qiddiya logo roughly 100m2 on the face of the iconic mountain cliff. Martin Professional ME suggested the use of Barco projectors. ‘Qiddiya approached us with a requirement to project their logo on the cliff. After the demo and mock-up, they were amazed by the results of the Barco projectors and we proposed a biggerscale, permanent installation concept for them,’ explains Martin Professional ME project manager, Ahmad Zaim. An onsite mock-up was built for QIC using two Barco UDX projectors to demonstrate their technological capacities. The results were said to be so convincing that the decision was made to extend the UDX projection coverage to 440m wide. Projection mapping specialists at Barco’s Middle East offices then joined forces with the design team of Martin Professional ME and executed a comprehensive projection study and highresolution laser scanning of the mountain. Ultimately, 84 Barco UDX-W40 projectors have been used to transform the mountain surface into a dramatic backdrop. The resulting projection mapping covers a total area of approximately 32,000m2, making it the largest permanent projection mapping in the world. Commenting on the launch of this spectacular project, Michael Reininger, CEO of Qiddiya, said: ‘We received a great reaction when we first used projection to illustrate the potential of Qiddiya at our Ground Breaking Ceremony. This inspired us to create an enhanced and sophisticated light show that uses the latest audiovisual technology that once again highlights how Qiddiya is set to become the Kingdom’s capital of entertainment, sports and the arts.’ The challenges of projecting a uniform image on a natural canvas with an irregular structure are numerous. Martin Professional ME credits the close cooperation with key partners throughout the entire project as key to its success.

FEATURES: INSTALLATION

The projection mapping spectacle at Qiddiya is a permanent installation that runs every night. Martin Pro is continuing to work with the Qiddiya management on future projects and promises that the ‘best is yet to come’.

The trickiest challenge was catering to multiple viewing angles This involved working from prior studies of the mountain, to content design, projection setups with specially developed mounting kits and eventually the live show. German manufacturer VIOSO was appointed to provide the media playback, mapping and auto-alignment solution to run the entire cliff projection. ‘We were involved with setting up hardware, setting up servers, the network, the show and of course everything that was required to do the calibration,’ details VIOSO CEO, Emanuel Züger. ‘We had approximately two to three people onsite during the “hot” phase between October and January and we were also in charge of running the show at the Dakar Final. It was our first real project working with Martin Professional ME and, to be honest, it was not the easiest one. We had a very specific brief because they wanted to achieve something that had never been done before.’ Using 84 double-stacked Barco UDX-W40 projectors, content is handled by AV Stumpfl PIXERA Player software running on 16 VIOSO Anystation Media platforms to display content up to a 16,000 x 5,000 pixel resolution. AV Stumpfl’s AVIO controls all projectors and servers for daily operation. After being scanned by Martin Professional ME and Barco, the data was fed into a computer model and used as the base for the content projection and the calibration to map the content. ‘This model was the basis for putting everything together,’ furthers Züger. ‘We then delivered the software that handles the calibration, together with a set of camera sensors that were placed to calibrate the cameras via visual feedback. It was, for us, a very big hardware deal since we needed to ensure the smooth operation and performance. But we are fortunate that we are quite old in this market when it comes to auto-calibration, so we have encountered a lot of awkward, difficult and different situations. However, it took a lot of work to complete this big mountain and in a very short time frame.’ VIOSO’s Anyblend projector calibration solution is used for aligning the projectors and double stacking and mapping the content precisely on the complex surface of the cliff – including the automated re-calibration using permanently installed multiple calibration sensors. In addition to the awkward projection surface and tight time frames, the Qiddiya management threw another curveball the teams’ way. The idea was that the 3D projection would serve two points of view – one centrally during the Dakar event, while the rest of the time it would be viewed by motorists passing by. ‘The mountain is like a big corner,’ explains Züger. ‘So you can have a projection on each side and that is quite simple to achieve. But Qiddiya wanted it to be right on the corner, where both sides come together, and from a very specific point of

A total of 87 Barco UDX projectors create the projection

The projection was unveiled for the first time at the Dakar Final 2020

The initial brief was to project the QIC logo onto the cliff but the project evolved over time

view. All of the content needed to look undistorted, like you were viewing a flat screen and not a bumpy mountain.’ This is particularly challenging to execute and gave the team some headaches. ‘It took some time but we managed to warp and align everything in such a way that this specific effect, it’s called the POV effect, was working perfectly. Originally, none of us really believed it was a good idea. But when we saw the final footage made from that specific point of view, it was clear that actually these guys had had a very bold and smart idea. It just took quite a while to get a good idea made from creative minds into the mindset of technical people.’

Martin Professional ME allocated a team of 15 specialists to implement the project. After a thorough examination of the cliff and its surroundings, using technologies such as drones and 3D laser scanning and modelling, the 84 projectors were distributed across nine different locations using nine marine containers that have been fabricated to meet the operational requirements of all projectors. ‘One of the main challenges was the dusty, desert environment and the interconnectivity of both power and data of the 84 projectors in such a setting,’ explains Zaim. ‘In addition to that, the calibration and mapping of such a large number of projectors on an irregular curved surface was not an easy job, especially when the time frame for the whole project was set to 60 days only. We realised that there will be some serious challenges ahead of us, but our team worked day and night to break all the walls we hit during the implementation.’ Having now reached completion, the result has not just been rewarding for all involved but has also taught the teams some valuable lessons. ‘Seeing those 84 projectors producing a single blended image on the cliff for the first time was a breathtaking and unforgettable moment,’ commented Zaim. ‘It was all worth it.’ ‘We were so proud to get 84 projectors all aligned pixelperfect onto the cliff face,’ adds the VIOSO CEO, ‘but, in the end, it was about the POV effect. This was a real learning experience.’ Technology can be a massive help, and undoubtedly was on this project, but it doesn’t change the reality that projecting complex imagery on an irregular surface from a distance in the Saudi Arabian desert could only be achieved throughout close team work, tenacity and some out-of-the-box thinking. ‘We were amazed at the final outcome after all that work and supervision from the Martin, Barco and VIOSO teams,’ concluded Martin Professional ME regional sales manager, Bilal Assidi. ‘It’s very difficult to put into words but this truly marks the start of something big, not just in Saudi Arabia but the Middle East as a whole. We are looking forward to the coming challenges where projects like Qiddiya will be a regular scene in the Kingdom. From here, we have already looked ahead and are hoping to pursue projects of this size and possibly work with the likes of such big companies like Barco and VIOSO again.’ www.barco.com www.martinpro-me.com www.vioso.com

May–June 2020 PRO AVL MEA 29

FEATURES: HOSPITALITY

The eye of the dragon

K-array proves to a be a sleek and powerful solution for Iris’s newest outlet in Dubai, writes Simon Luckhurst

Before …

Staff putting on the finishing touches before opening

KP102 Python column loudspeakers look out across the bar

30 PRO AVL MEA May–June 2020

WHEN A SIGNATURE CONCEPT STARTS TO RESONATE AND get popular in a region, it’s often not long before we see the owners looking to replicate this success in other places. Located in the heart of Meydan, Iris Dubai is a product of this trend. Iris’s first incarnation quickly gained popularity when it launched in Beirut back in 2018. While a major aspect of its popularity is undeniably the stunning views patrons can enjoy from its rooftop terrace, good music, cocktails and a classy look have all successfully distinguished the venue from rivals and kept customers coming back time and time again. The concept became a franchise when subsequent outlets opened up in Doha, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Dubai. Previously located on the top floor of the Oberoi Hotel in Dubai’s Business Bay, Iris recently migrated to a new site in Meydan. While the other outlets are all rooftop terraces, Iris Dubai is an open-air venue on the first floor below the popular nightclub, White Dubai. While it may have lost one of its signature traits, there is one universal key ingredient that remains – great sounding audio. Keenly aware of this and impressed at the existing setup at previous Iris locations, the Iris management returned to the same partners for their latest outlet. Local distributor and systems integrator Procom Middle East handled the complete audio integration from design to execution and technical support, and, like the other outlets, centred on a solution from Italian manufacturer K-array.

‘Procom has been the main audio supplier for the Iris franchise for some time now,’ shares Anro Schroeder from Procom Middle East. ‘We did the audio for both Iris Bahrain and Iris Beirut. While Iris was conceptualised as a lounge, the audio requirements go far beyond that. K-array has been Iris’s speaker of choice for all venues.’ The venue goes beyond the typical late-night DJ sets and offers both a Friday brunch service and live band music at various times, all of which provide a different set of requirements for the audio system. ‘We had to create an audio system that could cater to in excess of 2,000 customers and that offered enough power and punch for an outdoor venue,’ notes Schroeder. The large, open-air space is an unusual shape and is divided into several sections with seating spread all around. There is a main dancefloor area, two areas reserved for VIPs and four bars – all centred around a centralised view of downtown Dubai and the Burj Khalifa. ‘We needed a fully distributed system of subs and tops to cover all of the tables in all areas,’ adds Schroeder. Having proved so successful at the previous outlets, Procom stuck with its tried-and-tested K-array formula. ‘These cabinets are high-powered, weatherproof and have a very sleek look – all essential attributes for Iris,’ explains Schroeder. ‘But the main feature of K-array that resulted in it being selected was simply the audio quality. The Iris management wanted a system that offered high-end, clear, powerful audio and K-array delivered exactly this.’

FEATURES: HOSPITALITY The outdoor nature of Iris may be common to all outlets, but the location at Meydan suffers from extra restrictive noise regulations. As such, Procom had to pay attention in the design to limiting outside transmission. ‘This system was really designed by very carefully taking into account noise restrictions in the area and, even though we had many limitations and factors to consider, we were able to install a system that has all the coverage and power requirements of a club installation and yet still meet the noise restriction requirements of the area.’ K-array’s KX12 cabinet was central to the project. Affectionately dubbed the Dragon, the 12-inch solution is what the Italian manufacturer calls ‘a radical interpretation’ of a traditional coaxial that can also be deployed as both a point source solution or as part of a line array. Outputting up to 132dB, the Dragon provided ample SPL for the Iris lounge and ticked all of the boxes in terms of its compact size and sleek aesthetic. ‘K-array’s fundamental design is that of a line array and was perfect for the solution, taking into account the need Dragon LX12s provide the main reinforcement

K-array’s KP52s fill in the VIP areas

for narrow and precise audio within the listening area at Iris. At the same time, the system needed to have enough power to cater for the brunch and evening-goers and what we have installed does just that.’ The floor area and main bar has been outfitted with four pairs of KX12s finished in black to match the venue’s trademark pillars. These have been paired with K-array’s 18-inch KMT18P subwoofers tucked out of sight. The four additional side bars have been catered to with five KX12s and five KMT218Ps. Here, K-array’s KP52 and KP102 Python column loudspeakers have also been wall-mounted to provide additional coverage. The large VIP section relied solely on Python columns and features 12 KP52s spread uniformly throughout. Four KMT18P subwoofers generate the necessary low end for this area. Away from the main rooftop, Procom integrated 12 KT2c speakers into the ceiling for the wine cellar and toilet area.

Control of the various areas can be achieved via a Symetrix Jupiter 8 audio processor that works in tandem with arc-2e wall-mounted remote controllers and the Symetrix Arc-Web platform to create a wireless control network. ‘The system has full wireless control and all floor managers have a login on the system where they are able to control the levels and sources of all key areas as needed for day-to-day operation,’ explains Schroeder. A series of delays and key processing features were also added into the main system at the time of tuning to allow the primary aspects of the system to function together as one. The venue consists of a large, spread-out listening area and several design techniques including local masking in the listening areas were used to ensure that no delays or level differences were interfering with the end result. ‘We worked closely with the consultants on the job and designed the system over a period of three months, running multiple design options and simulations. Noise requirements, level checks and site readings were taken and used regularly during the design process to ensure the neighbouring residential areas would not be disturbed.’ As with the previous outlets, the Iris management could not be happier with the work done by Procom. ‘We would like to thank Procom for all the effort put into Iris Meydan,’ says Wassim Zouein, Iris’s operations manager. ‘From the design and installation to the final product, everything was of the highest quality. The sound system in our venue is excellent.’ The end result is also one that Procom is extremely proud of. ‘By utilising a top-end brand with a cutting-edge product in terms of design and performance, we were able to deliver an end result that meets the most demanding and precise requirements of this project. A serious amount of work went into the design and supply of this system and the results prove just that.’ www.k-array.com www.procom-me.com

COMPLETE PRODUCTION SETS DATAVIDEO GOKITS

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More information on www.datavideo.com May–June 2020 PRO AVL MEA 31

FEATURES: HOSPITALITY

Top down sound

Toplum has three primary zones whose playback and levels can all be controlled wirelessly from an iPad

An all-Yamaha sound system is staying hidden from view at Dubai’s new Toplum restaurant. Simon Luckhurst keeps a lookout DUBAI IS CERTAINLY NO STRANGER TO NEW RESTAURANTS. Tourists need great places to eat and nowhere is more reliant on the tourist-minded entertainment sector than Dubai. But, typically, the trend is that bigger is better – and the glitzier it is, the better yet still. So, it was refreshing when Toplum sprang onto the scene in Mirdif City Centre Shopping Mall. In contrast to the city’s usual eateries, Toplum is all about natural simplicity, bringing guests an eclectic blend of Mediterranean food from a variety of cultures. The restaurant promotes social-style dining with food designed to be easily shared among large groups. It’s not all about the food though, and Toplum is keen to highlight the entire experience guests are offered. It describes itself as providing a ‘memorable energy flowing through our kitchen, staff, baristas and patrons’. For a restaurant located in the heart of a busy shopping mall, it certainly had its work cut out to make good on this promise. This also added an extra level of consideration to the venue’s audio design. The social-style dining concept encourages the use of a larger audio system to overcome the bustling ambience, yet Toplum’s focus on nature means that bulky and unsightly cabinets can’t simply be placed in the corners of rooms. The task of overcoming this predicament was handed to Thomsun Trading, largely as a result of the specific Yamaha solutions it could offer in the form of high-quality, high-output ceiling speakers. ‘We decided to upgrade our sound capabilities for our newest restaurant location as, during the opening of our original restaurant, audio and music were never a priority,’ explains Sheikha Al Mheiri, founder of MAD Investments, the company responsible for launching and managing Toplum. ‘We wanted to focus on this previously neglected element for our new restaurant to complete the overall dining experience of our customers.’ Sticking to Toplum’s simple ideals, Thomsun decided to stay solely within the Yamaha portfolio for the project. ‘The client went shopping for speakers from several different distributors but settled with us as we could provide the whole solution in a single package,’ notes Thomsun Trading business development

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Yamaha VXC ceiling speakers and subs stay out of sight inside the 5m-high ceiling manager, Mikhail Sujan. ‘The requirements were for flush-mount speakers capable of producing equal distribution of sound from a ceiling height of 5m.’ Solving the primary challenge of not imposing on Toplum’s natural ambience, Yamaha’s 8-inch VXC8W cabinets provide the main reinforcement across the restaurant’s three main zones – the dining, non-alcoholic bar and seated areas. These are accompanied by Yamaha’s 10-inch in-ceiling VXS10ST subwoofers for low-end support, all driven by XMV 4280 amplifiers. Background music is played through a Deezer application on an iPad that also integrates with Yamaha’s MusicCast application. The iPad is connected to a MusicCast WXC 50 over Wi-Fi, allowing staff to freely tweak the output from any location. The WXC 50, in turn, feeds Yamaha’s MTX3 speaker management processor, which outputs to the XMV amps. Working alongside Pinnacle Interiors LLC to install the speakers, it took the Thomsun team just under a week to complete the project, before thorough system tuning and commissioning was performed by Thomsun’s Titto Cherian Joseph.

‘To give the client full flexibility, we installed a MusicCast system, the WXC 50. This allows staff to playback music via any MusicCast-compatible application on smart devices,’ explains Sujan. ‘If additional control is required or as a backup in case of intermittent Wi-Fi, we also installed a DCP4V4S zone controller unit.’ It’s rare to see a restaurant space such as Toplum receive reinforcement solely from flush-mount speakers and subwoofers but, nevertheless, the result has met everybody’s expectations. ‘The only real challenge we faced was the height of the speakers from the false ceiling,’ says Sujan. ‘At a few locations, we were unable able to position the speaker due to the fire pipes and AC duct above the ceiling. We had to make a few alterations to the design onsite as we went.’ A quick look at the multitude of glowing online reviews for Toplum and it’s clear that Thomsun made the right choice in opting for hidden ceiling speakers. There are as many patrons commenting on the stunning interior decór as they do its culinary delights. Similarly, Toplum’s management is vindicated by its decision to put the emphasis on sound and music. ‘Since opening, the acoustics enjoyed from our new Yamaha equipment have been great and the feedback from our customers has been very positive. The ambience created and the even dispersion of sound across the restaurant makes it a very relaxing environment, despite being inside a busy mall,’ concludes Sheikha Al Mheiri. ’Our experience with Thomsun’s installation team was also very consultative – they shared their experiences and provided insights during the construction phase that complemented the overall design of the restaurant, while also ensuring that the audio experience was never compromised. Overall, the team at MAD Investments and Toplum are very satisfied with our choice of equipment. We’re now considering something similar for our future openings or upgrades.’ www.instagram.com/toplumdxb www.thomsun.com

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FEATURES: WORSHIP

Service uninterrupted

A lockdown in South Africa meant the suspension of large social gatherings. LINC church turned to livestreaming to retain a sense of continuity for the community WITH MOST OF THE WORLD IN LOCKDOWN AND MILLIONS of people in isolation at the moment, a sense of community is more important than ever. For many, this comes in the form of the church and worship, but, with large gatherings out of the question, how can people continue to be brought together and feel less isolated? Based in Salt Rock just outside the South African city of Durban, LINC Church is a modern Christian church home to a congregation of up to 1,000 people that gather every Sunday for preaching and prayer. For obvious reasons, that’s not possible at the moment. ‘We’re supposed to only go out for emergencies or food right now,’ explains LINC Church technical director, Simon Wilkes. ‘Strictly speaking, you’re not allowed out at all. Normally, we would have two services on Sunday morning with 800–1,000 people gathering at the church.’ A lot of people look to the church first for help, assistance and support in times of crisis. Many HOWs have felt that they couldn’t simply suspend operations just because people aren’t able to attend the site in person. Livestreaming has become the only option to retain a sense of continuity. While LINC Church was already livestreaming its services prior to the lockdown, it was achieving a fraction of the viewership it had hoped for. ‘The first service on Sunday is just a regular run-through. The second one we livestream – by then everybody’s on the same page and we know what’s going to happen,’ explains Wilkes. ‘Typically, we get about 50 people tuning into the stream.’ For a traditional service, Wilkes has three Sony cameras set up in the main Salt Rock auditorium. The feeds serve three purposes: live IMAG for those congregants in the audience, archive recording and producing the video feeds for the livestreams.

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LINC Church’s physical auditorium in Salt Rock, Durban The three Sony NX 5 cameras used by the church feed the ATEM Production Studio 4K switcher. ‘We’re using a Blackmagic Design Hyper Deck for our recordings,’ notes Wilkes. ‘We also have a Blackmagic UltraStudio 4K for capture and playback and a Smart VideoHub 20x20 router that provides control and monitoring. These allow us to send out feeds to all of the breakout TVs located around the church in foyers, the coffee shop and mothers’ room areas, etc. Central to our livestreaming operations is the Living As One encoder – it’s a really amazing piece of kit and creates a bulletproof stream.’

All of this is no enviable task considering the fact that Wilkes is solely responsible for the church’s technical needs, albeit with the aid of volunteers. ‘It’s a very small team. On the video side it’s just myself,’ he explains. ‘Our volunteer culture is very strong at the church and so we have a big pool of people – it’s taken me a couple of years to build that team up to make the production reach the level we’re at now. I think it’s got to a point now we’re producing something that’s really palatable and interesting.’

FEATURES: WORSHIP ‘We’re really lucky that our worship leader and our sound technician live next door to each other and they are literally only 30m away from church,’ the technical director explains. ‘So the worship leader will set up a camera on herself and send the footage to me to be edited. The preaching will definitely have to be done from our homes and I’m not too sure how we’ll achieve that yet.’ Maintaining two-way communication is also vitally important to removing the sense of isolation. In a livestream, you don’t get to see the audience and the rest of the congregation. ‘We have teams remotely at home, five people per platform, that are responding and communicating with viewers on the stream,’ notes Wilkes. ‘For example, requesting live prayer

Wilkes would typically be manning his onsite video workstation

The worship leader sends footage to Wilkes for editing

Wilkes’ workstation has been replaced by a temporary setup at his house

Without a congregation to meet at the church, how was LINC able to produce a livestream? Thankfully citizens were given some brief notice of the lockdown. ‘The lockdown was announced on 24 March and came into effect on 26 March at midnight. We basically had just two days to record as much footage as we could to last the entire three-week period. We gathered the congregation at the church to record three weeks’ worth of worship and preaching for the livestreams, and then all of the rest of the content is being produced directly by pastors at home using their smartphones.’ Wilkes edits and packages up the pre-recorded footage of the congregation with the pastors’ smartphone videos and sends it over to a colleague that lives onsite at the church. He then uploads it onto LINC’s Renewed Vision ProPresenter machine which feeds through to the ATEM switcher and on to the Living

As One encoder. Meanwhile, Wilkes’ primary Apple Mac Pro workstation has migrated to his house. ‘I’m here at home and watching the encoder online,’ says Wilkes. ‘Because it’s all scheduled, it just automatically pops up on my screen when the encoder has started and it’s going live straightaway through to Facebook and our church online platform. I’m able to sit here and monitor the “health” of those as the service takes place. On Sunday, I’m literally just opening up my laptop and I’m monitoring everything from here.’ Yet, the situation is rapidly changing and there’s no guarantee that the lockdown won’t be extended further than the initial three weeks. Wilkes has enough footage in reserve for the anticipated period it is due to last, but no one knows whether it will need to be extended for longer. If so, the church still has a contingency plan.

One ethos of LINC Church is connections and, as such, it has instigated several new initiatives to allow people to connect during the lockdown and wanting to know more about the church and things such as this. Then, during the service, I take screenshots of the analytics that come through from the Living As One and send it to our online pastoral groups. It shows them where the viewership’s coming from in the world and helps keep them motivated as they see our numbers growing. Now, it’s risen to twice the size of the church. Last week, we reached nearly 2,300 viewers.’

The church has also begun to host Zoom Hangouts during the week While some of these new livestream viewers are undoubtedly congregants that would prefer to be witnessing the action in person, it will be interesting to see what happens to viewing figures when the lockdown has ended. ‘We’re looking to build on the momentum gathered recently, and we hope that when everything opens up again, the viewing figures remain high,’ furthers the technical director. ‘We’re also expecting to see some more attendance at the physical church location.’ One ethos of LINC Church is connections and, as such, it has instigated several new initiatives to allow people to connect during the lockdown. ‘We’re encouraging people on our church online platform to join a small group,’ says Wilkes. ‘They fill in a form and their details are distributed to people that host Zoom Hangout meetings during the week. This can be for anything from telling us that you need to still be at church while the lockdown is happening so that we can expect you, needing someone to talk to or liaising on other church activities.’ What’s most impressive about the operations at LINC Church is how flexible things have been without the need for any additional equipment investments, and a lot of that is down to the simplicity of the gear. When normal service resumes, Wilkes also now has a few new tricks up his sleeve to rely on in times of need. www.blackmagicdesign.com

The pastors continue to create footage using temporary setups

www.lincchurch.com

May–June 2020 PRO AVL MEA 35

BUSINESS: COMMENT

A letter from America

Looking for immersive music? Dan Daley suggests turning on the TV first IMMERSIVE SOUND HAS LOTS OF APPLICATIONS BUT, despite the fervent hopes of many in a recently resurgent industry, music doesn’t seem to be one of them. That’s not for lack of trying – Dolby Labs, the developer of Atmos, the company’s multichannel (anywhere from nine to 22, depending on the application) format, has been throwing money and credibility at the prospect of music mixed immersively. Its Dolby Atmos Music campaign features artists including Coldplay, Post Malone and Lizzo. However, immersive music as a standalone proposition simply hasn’t gained a lot of traction. In an industry that has transitioned largely to streaming, with the exception of high-quality niche services like Tidal, the bandwidth mostly isn’t there to support immersive recordings in their full 96kHz glory. It’s all reminiscent of the arc that surround music formats like SACD and DVD-A followed a decade or so ago – excellent technologies, especially the DSD format that powered Sony’s SACD, that nevertheless never found enough of an audience at a time when the disc-based physical formats needed to support the file sizes were falling out of favour. There’s plenty more bandwidth available now, but the door has largely closed on physical formats of all kind, save for vinyl-besotted

hipsters (who are in for a nasty surprise this year after a fire in February destroyed the California plant that makes an estimated 75% of blank lacquers for the entire world). And the virtual reality sector, which is a natural fit for immersive sound of any kind, is still spinning its economic wheels. The high cost of good kit; surprisingly poor UX designs of headmounted displays (despite the fact that headphone makers managed to convince consumers to walk around with a kilo’s worth of $1,000 plastic on their heads a decade ago); a lack of dedicated, compelling content; and competition from smartphones has led research firm Gartner to predict that VR may still be nearly a decade off as a viable business. There’s an argument to be made that Dolby’s efforts are not truly aimed at engendering a viable music market at all, but rather to further its fortunes in the cinema and broadcast markets, where it has already gained significant traction. On the home cinema side, Atmos-formatted music has been touted as the new Master and Commander or Apocalypse Now, two films that have been staples of home theatre marketing strategies for years. Now, instead of slipping in a Blu-ray of one of these bombastic blockbusters, astute home electronics gurus at KJ West One or Magnolia will go for an immersive remix of Dark Side of the Moon. And frankly,

Atmos could be a great loss leader for any number of other entertainment platforms. After all, Dolby gets a licence fee no matter what the content is used for. But broadcast sports could be the next big frontier for immersive sound, now that cinema has established the beachhead. It’s become an integrated element in a range of high-profile, proof-of-concept projects: NBC Sports this year provided Dolby Atmos immersive audio on all Notre Dame Football home games for DirecTV customers, part of a package with 4K video; the National Hot Rod Association continued a three-year trial of Atmos for regular season and finals races; and the first live-produced Dolby Atmos event in the US was the 2018 Winter Olympics, with more of the same expected when the Tokyo Olympics can go ahead. Sky Sports and BT Sport are also using Atmos in the UK for Premier League and Championship League football on their 4K channels. It was the professional end of broadcast that pushed surround sound through, and that same enthusiasm appears to be in place for immersive, and sports does use a ton of music (often automatically upmixed to 5.1 for broadcast). You might not be hearing your songs immersively on the radio or on your favourite streaming service anytime soon, but get ready to add a few more speakers for football.

Big Bond 1962–1969

cutting edge was only sharpened by Duran Duran and A-ha, so no skin was pierced. Why didn’t they phone The Eurythmics?

A letter from Europe

Phil Ward is shaken, not stirred SO, WE HAVE OUR FIRST BOND THEME WRITTEN AND recorded by an echo boomer. And only the seventh American, by the way. For a movie franchise that has threatened so many times to plummet into anachronism, this is remarkable. Billie Eilish, 18, herself cites Goldfinger and Live and Let Die as ‘iconic’ and considers it an honour to join the ranks of those serenading the myth of an indestructible, middle-aged misogynist who would fail any driving test. Well, her Dad did appear briefly in Iron Man. The production of Billie’s song No Time to Die follows the pattern of the last two recorded in her lifetime: Sam Smith’s Writing’s on the Wall and Adele’s Skyfall. Naked, lush piano chords; intimate vocals; menacing orchestral shadows. Touchingly, she adds Vic Flick’s anguished guitar chord at the end, the one that closes the original James Bond Theme from the very first film, Dr No. It’s the closure of a 58-year cycle. Bond music has always moved with the times, but several paces behind. When Eric Serra produced the score for 1995’s Goldeneye, it was the most electronic soundscape of any Bond movie and very nearly didn’t make the cut, being considered too experimental. The trend was quickly dropped, too, with a permanent return to traditional orchestra since then, as if the conservative heart of Bond needed a pacemaker. The songs follow a similar pattern of dipping a cautious toe in the shark-infested pool of change. Here’s my handy guide to the six ages of Bond-theme studio production.

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From the James Bond Theme to You Only Live Twice, de facto Bond MD John Barry fused a sassy, be-bop cool with West End dinner straitjackets into a huge sound, usually in the original CTS Studios complex in Bayswater, West London, formerly and fittingly a gentleman’s dining club called Whiteley’s. By the time of You Only Live Twice, Barry had invented an entirely new genre of film and television music and the 0.8s room reverberation at CTS had a lot to do with that achievement.

Aspen Martin 1971–1981 As more Americans gradually got involved, attempts were made to sneak in a hint of soul and a bit of baby boomer: from the Dad-dance shuffle of Diamonds are Forever (oops – careful with that wah-wah pedal, Vic, else they’ll think you’re Hendrix) to the arid velvet bow tie of Nobody Does it Better’s parched piano, the 1970s are beginning to spy on Bond. Don’t worry, by 1981 and For Your Eyes Only, it was all over and nobody’s 1950s’ cover was blown.

Bond Aid 1983–1987 For a brief moment, synth-pop infiltrated MI6 and threatened to bring the whole organisation up to date. Luckily, the

Cash & Barry 1989–1999 (+73) With the earlier Live and Let Die, Paul McCartney kickstarted a whole new tradition: how to produce a Bond theme if you’re not John Barry. Starting with Licence to Kill and as far as The World is not Enough, everyone had a go from Bono to Butch Vig. And now we have sampling: so Moby can reinvent the James Bond Theme and claw back some credibility. Until …

Die Another Way 2002–2008 Despite working with William Orbit, Madonna did not call him for the Die Another Day sessions. It took Jack White and Alicia Keys’ Another Way to Die before the whole system rebooted.

Waldorf Ballads 2012–2020 … leading the way to the aforementioned Millennial milestones, looped on a laptop and then orchestrated the old-fashioned way. Just how he likes them.

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BUSINESS: COMPANY PROFILE

Spatial awareness

In a time of renewed popularity, Simon Luckhurst discusses spatial audio developments with the Out Board duo responsible for quietly and consistently pushing the market forward

L–R: Dave Haydon and Robin Whittaker

Even Mozart was given an immersive update in Shanghai with the help of TiMax

Ctrl Fre@k called on Out Board to create an immersive soundscape for the Bicentennial Experience at Singapore’s Fort Canning

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SPATIAL AUDIO IS ALL THE RAGE RIGHT NOW, BUT THIS wasn’t always the case. Surround sound systems have frequented people’s living rooms for more than a decade but how many people ever used them to listen to music in surround sound? It’s a weird dichotomy – people have been content with stereo sound for far too long. But not ever yone. For Out Board’s original founder, Robin Whittaker, it was more than three decades ago when he had a realisation of the impor tance of spatial sound. ‘It was at a show in the West End; the second act star ted with a per formance from a couple doing a duet behind a closed cur tain,’ recalls Whittaker. ‘When the cur tain flew open, they weren’t where my ears told me they were going to be – they were on the opposite side of the stage. It was one of those moments of absolute disparity.’ Out Board as a company had already been in existence for some time, but its focus on spatial audio was still a way off. ‘I’d proved that I was fairly unemployable, so the only option for me was to star t my own business,’ Whittaker adds. ‘I met this mad Pole called Wladyslaw Wygnanski and we had an idea to develop a moving fader automation system for the live event business. It was the fairly early days of fader automation, with people like Flying Faders and Massenburg pretty much owning the studio business. Myself and Wladyslaw thought, you know, live sound, there’s a place for this.’ The show Whittaker refers to involved a helicopter moving around the room at the Royal Drur y Lane Theatre. With a background in retrofitting show automation systems to audio consoles, the problem fell into Whittaker’s lap. ‘I happened to come into contact with Andrew Bruce, the original founder of [theatrical sound company] Autograph, who was tr ying to solve this problem of audio following the helicopter around the theatre,’ he recalls. ‘He says, if you can produce a box that’ll do it, then I’ll buy it for Miss Saigon.’

Whittaker went on to develop that product – ‘a little box with knobs on it that would learn what you did,’ he says – and progressed to retrofitting its moving fader elements into Soundcraft, Amek and Midas consoles. Then came a kind of Eureka moment. ‘Putting two and two together, it became pretty obvious that if you don’t control the time domain in a distributed sound reinforcement system, you will never be able to control direction. And that meant we needed to go fully digital in the signal processing.’ But this was the late 1990s and digital processing was rudimentary at best. Practically no one that he was aware of except himself and his colleagues were paying the topic any attention. ‘We were totally unaware of any work that had gone before, so we set about developing this delay matrix thinking that it was a completely unique idea. We got a government Smart award to help with the R&D, developed the first prototype and took it to the PLASA show. Lots of people came around and said, “What’s that for? Why would you want to do that?”’ It was around this time that Whittaker’s business partner, and the other half of Out Board, came into the picture. ‘I’d been at BSS Audio for about 12 years,’ says Dave Haydon. ‘I was working on the Millennium Dome in 1999 and Robin was also working on it but, even before that, I’d thought what he’s doing was really interesting. It was different to the compressors, gates, crossovers and equalisers I’d worked with that subsequently evolved onto the BSS Soundweb generic DSP platform. So, I got into what Robin was up to. Although I hadn’t had much of a clue what he was talking about when we first met, I became a partner in early 2000.’ Following the upheavals of 9/11, the company was restructured and relaunched in late 2001 with Whittaker and Haydon at the helm as 50/50 partners. It was a couple of years prior to this that TiMax, a product that has since revolutionised the spatial audio market, first came onto the scene in its original guise.

BUSINESS: COMPANY PROFILE ‘One of the big proponents and one of the key shows that got revolutionised by this was the Albert Hall operas staged in-the-round every year by Raymond Gubbay,’ says Haydon. ‘It turns out that they’d been doing it for nine years with a conventional PA centre cluster. TiMax went in and they exploded this cluster and spread it out around the hall. It became the norm from that point on. ‘TiMax was driving all these speakers independently with separate outputs. The stage became divided into 20 zones and the matrix delays were managed in real time as people moved around the stage,’ adds Whittaker. ‘The localisation and resulting audience engagement this achieved revolutionised the show.’ TiMax evolved a step further with the introduction of a tracking system in 2008. ‘Prior to this, you had to cue the show manually anytime anybody moves,’ Haydon explains. ‘These cues would be plotted in rehearsal, there would be 100–120 cues and whenever one person moved the engineer had to remember it all. Half their brain would be focused on that at the same time as trying to mix a 60-piece orchestra and 15 actors onstage. What took a quantum step beyond that was the introduction of our TiMax Tracker performer tracking system.’ Following an early and partly successful foray with OEM’ing a European 2.4GHz tracking platform, the pair found a more ideal core technology that already existed local to them in Cambridge in the UK, developed for industrial applications. ‘Airbus, Aston Martin, DeWALT tools, people like this, were already tracking

Stage and object-based tracking for Cats, held at Switzerland’s Thunerseespiele in 2017, was handled with TiMax SoundHub cars on a production line and tracking tools and pallets in warehouses,’ says Haydon. ‘We discovered that the platform was actually ideal for us.’ When they first deployed it at the Royal Alber t Hall alongside TiMax in 2008, the audio engineer working on the show considered the new solution as the ‘Holy Grail’, allowing him to focus on what he was really there for. ‘The tracking system became kind of a ground-breaking development,’ notes Whittaker. With technology advancing rapidly through the early 2000s and digital signal processing offering greater possibilities, the next iteration of TiMax, the TiMax SoundHub, hit the market in 2010. ‘We kind of morphed it into a complete product over a period of time,’ says Haydon. ‘It had many more channels and a lot more facilities. It had 64 tracks of playback, EQ and ever ything that you’d normally have to pay extra for. We were able to tick more boxes in the spec and justify our place in the budget a lot more.’

TiMax immersive audio with VivaVision, the largest 4K video screen in the world, launched at Las Vegas Fremont Street’s New Year’s Eve party

Spatial rendering with TiMax PanSpace ‘The SoundHub was blowing people’s minds,’ adds Whittaker. ‘People were still putting a vocal system and music system on either side of the proscenium and assuming that that was all right. But TiMax SoundHub came along and it allowed us to hit different price points with a lower entry level and enabled us to spread our product out across more markets.’ TiMax SoundHub would go on to enjoy unbelievable success in the theatre market, as well as opening the company up to all-new sectors such as theme parks, museums and anything requiring spatial audio combined with automated show control.

TiMax TrackerD4 kept everything in sync during the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium ‘We were then able to address not just the performance market but what we call the presentation market, corporate events and retail,’ says Haydon. ‘Then there’s the experiential market, which is one that’s been growing rapidly more recently. We’re now used in museums, theme parks, even ride-cars, art galleries, expos, all these kinds of businesses.’ The Military Tattoo business, specifically, is one that Out Board has been very active in for many years. ‘Some of the very earliest shows that TiMax ever did were tattoos, because of the problem of extremely large outdoor arenas and the disparity in musical timing, particularly between loud acoustic instruments and the amplified result,’ explains Whittaker. ‘You have to be continuously varying delays to speakers in order to keep the particularly bangy instruments in time with what’s coming out of the loudspeaker wherever you’re sitting. I think it’s generally accepted that you just can’t do a show like that without TiMax.’ These days, Whittaker and Haydon are not pursuing developments in spatial sound alone. Several of the large

sound reinforcement manufacturers have thrown their weight and, crucially, resources, into the mix. ‘There are aspects of this that are of course frustrating and amusing,’ shares Whittaker. ‘For example, the countless discussions that we’ve had over the years with some sound designers, where we would say, “what you need to do is to rethink how you deploy your loudspeakers”, and they would answer, “we can’t possibly do that”. In this respect, the other manufacturers have done a huge service to us in showing sound designers what you can actually do with these systems if there’s a will. And, certainly, their multimillion-euro marketing budgets have done us no harm. Some of these companies have been doing great work in expanding the market and the knowledge base in a way that our resources couldn’t possibly.’ Unbelievably, as Out Board’s only two permanent staff members, everything the company has achieved is largely the work of Whittaker and Haydon, albeit with the aid of many more ‘virtual’ staff. It’s a model that has paid the company dividends, particularly in the current times of forced lockdowns and remote working. ‘We run sort of an interesting business model called a virtual corporation,’ explains Haydon. ‘There are lots of people involved in the development and manufacture of the product that don’t directly work for us, but there’s a profit share motive behind it all. It’s an interesting model and it’s worked very well for us since 2001.’ With 3D immersive audio undergoing somewhat of a renaissance at the moment, there is certainly no desire at Out Board for TiMax to rest on its laurels in the face of new competition. In fact, the company has a few new surprises up its sleeve. ‘We have a very ambitious R&D programme going on at the moment and we’re developing some really interesting reverberation techniques and technology. We’re pushing hard to be ready later this year with 96k, which has been a complex journey because of the challenges of getting in and out of a piece of equipment with more than 64 channels of 96k audio cost-effectively. ‘We have actually also got quite a long way down the line with evaluating lighting and video control with our all-new TiMax TrackerD4 system,’ shares Haydon. ‘Although the commercialisation of that is early days yet, we think it’s going to be quite a landmark for us to diverge into lighting and media control, with or without associated spatial audio management.’ One of Out Board’s biggest early achievements was the advances it’s made in immersive spatial audio but, in truth, it is its highly evolved integration with diverse show control capabilities that sets TiMax apart from the rest. Now set to move outside the bounds of sound, the field looks wide open for even greater expansion. www.outboard.co.uk

May–June 2020 PRO AVL MEA 39

BUSINESS: R&D

A new era

Forming part of the D Squared digital wireless microphone system, Lectrosonics describes the evolution behind its fourth-generation digital receiver IN TODAY’S DIGITAL ERA, THE DESIRE TO PRODUCE BETTER sound quality is ever-increasing. While analogue solutions still play an important role, Lectrosonics has taken an existing line of FM analogue receivers and, following several years of R&D and research from customer feedback, developed the DSQD, its first digital receiver that is backwards compatible with the digital hybrid technology of its predecessors. ‘It was a combination of knowing that we had to evolve and also customer requests,’ explains Karl Winkler, VP of sales and service at Lectrosonics. ‘People were asking for specific things. One of them is Dante outputs and so that’s in the DSQD receiver. Then there is the idea that you can do things with the digital algorithms that you could never do before with analogue systems.’ It’s been more than 16 years since the American manufacturer released its first multichannel receiver. First came the original Venue, then wide-band Venue, followed by the DR in 2014, the Venue 2 in 2016 and now the D Squared system. The DSQD is a four-channel, half-rack design with highresolution colour display, analogue or Dante digital outputs and rear BNC antenna ports with ‘loop-thru’ buffered BNC outputs to another receiver. ‘It’s an evolution in compactness,’ adds Winkler. ‘This unit is four channels and a half rack so you can get as many as eight channels in one rack space. It’s an evolution in technology that this is a digital receiver, where those prior units were digital hybrid receivers.’ One of the biggest challenges to face the Lectrosonics engineers during the R&D process was to get the right parts, design and layout of the circuit boards to fit into the half-rack size and still produce a superior-sounding product with a good operating range, a clean interface, clear menus and a user-friendly display. After the design stage comes alpha testing of the functionality internally. ‘Our president Gordon Moore’s church is not too far away,’ explains Winkler. ‘We’ll often take products like this up to his church, plug them in, turn them on, do some walk testing and, if

40 PRO AVL MEA May–June 2020

The half-rack DSQD receiver with its beltpack and handheld mic transmitters

there’s any major issues, we’ll bring it back to engineering and explain what we found.’ Beta-testing involves sending the product out to a select private group of users that know the company well and that it trusts. ‘They’re under NDAs and they play with the equipment and take it out on jobs and give us very detailed feedback, which really helps the product to be refined.’ Other than some minor adjustments, Winkler reports that the testing phase was a relatively smooth process. One element that required further investigation was the diversity modes, particularly the frequency diversity when two transmitters are in use. ‘We had to put in a calibration step so that the levels were set to match exactly between the

Karl Winkler with the latest addition to D Squared, the DBu-LEMO beltpack

BUSINESS: R&D BUSINESS: TECHNOLOGY two transmitters,’ Winkler. ‘That took a little refining Audio scenographyclarifies is the expert interplay of technology, and we got aacoustics bit of feedback from users that it needed to be architecture, and a content-driven musical or audioclearer. Beta-testingSpeakers, really is excellent because and we get too based environment. audio, computers acoustic close thethe product andiswe sightand of what it’s like to get designtoare tools. Air thelose medium the human body is it of the boxthrough for thewhich first time, plug it in, turn it on and theout instrument artistic, scientific or commercial see what it does.’ content can be metabolised into a collective experience. But Winkler is keen to point out that the D Squared system What does an audio do? the is a family of products, notscenographer just the DSQD. Alongside receiver, the system comprises the DBu digital beltpack The audio scenographer operates fluently betweenand art and transmitter, the DHu digital handheld transmitter the design, and technology capable of producing recentlyengineering added DBu-LEMO bodypack– transmitter. Compared to musical scores, on creating audio, the sound andDHu music in bigger systems the market, DBu, andconcepts, DBu-LEMO addition to handling drawings for acoustic impact, transmitters providearchitectural a low latency of 1.25ms. ‘Our first working within the iterative to processes the construction priority is not necessarily pack theused mostinchannels in a industry, andofproviding coordinated advice‘The to allemphasis partners to given piece spectrum,’ adds Winkler. is ensure the imagined listening experiences arepeople made real really on exceptional sound and we believe can as hear the project unfolds. An effective scenography is one it when they try these systems audio and generally they’re veryin which all these different surprised with how goodfields it is.’of expertise are understood asLectrosonics’ interdependent, audio, sound, and for music concepts traditional connector many years has are communicated and accessible ways to been the TA5 but, in actionable certain territories, it’s more common to all and globalincreative intent ismarket. impactfully seestakeholders the LEMO connector the theatrical With the manifested for the listening audience. new DBu-LEMO transmitter, launched at NAMM earlier this Audiousers scenography is a design system, not an aesthetic. year, will no longer have to re-terminate their lavalier There many possible toolkit drawing mics ifare they want to use approaches, the system. with ‘TheaTA5 is still our from art history to physics. By‘but leveraging this system, the right standard,’ explains Winkler, we’re putting the LEMO balance of acoustic, and over audiothe investments canlikely be on the new DBu and,creative gradually, years, it will made to as more yieldstandard the desired This means emerge theefficiently number one for result. small transmitters.’ that be unique enables and takes its 256-CTR own path toward Theeach pureproject digital will architecture AES success. encryption for high-level security applications. Three different key management modes can be employed, How could someone started including Universal – whereget all units in theworking D Squaredinfamily share the same key; Shared – where a unique key is created audio scenography? and can be shared between transmitters and between We invented the of and audio scenography in response transmitters anddiscipline receivers; Standard – where a unique to experiences in abe number overlapping fields. We or keyour is own created but cannot sharedofbetween transmitters would love to initiate programme ofincorporate study fusingCTR, necessary from transmitters to areceivers. ‘We which skills into an mode educational framework, but this would require an is a counter and another randomising step that makes

are making interesting things and helping to make them even more interesting! You will need to train yourself to listen also to technology, to understand what technology does that your imagination can’t, and vice versa. Technology, as an extension of the creative imagination and the natural world, can produce things that no one has ever experienced before. Invest yourself in things that sound weird, feel weird and are experimental in their very nature. Focus on the quality of the experimentation rather than the results for some time. When you’re doing client work, the results are extremely important but, to really be able to advise someone, and to really have expertise, requires years of experimentation and failure. An immersive soundscape guides visitors through the cave playground Image courtesy of Damian Schultz

How important are new technologies?

Both of us come from experimental areas of the field and DSQD receivers installed at the Royal Theater in Victoria, Canada have been working with immersive diffusion, generative and institution with the resources to support an interdisciplinary the system even invulnerable. It’s really clarifies Winkler. we’ve for the algorithmic – now‘That’s people something would call this AI –been audiodoing composition programme. Whatmore we see at present is that the encrypted current against anybodyfor just scanningcomposition the RF andand listening We’ve past or more. idea thatseen new the products will since15 theyears late 1990s. In It’s thatthe time, we’ve interests training models acoustics, soundin. design, done it before – our and olderaudio 700 system series from the early 2000s leaveusthe oldscientists products back behind. last generation that made mad thenThe become possible is intersensory design, or infrastructure design never and ourlacking DR system had more than encryption.’ always generations, we’re adding to applyconsidered. in more andWith morefuture contexts as the technology has are all the perspectives they one needlevel to doofeffective work The D towards Squaredthe system partcentury. of a growing family of products those products be part ofembedded this family.’ improved.and Speakers and ampswill areall increasingly with looking rest ofisthis digital products that are along with the Duet Plansofare afoot to promote the speakers new system the loads useful computing power, arethrough more efficient So, for the moment, it isinteroperable, by working across disciplines that and systems. ‘That means haveofdifferent manufacturer’s ‘We’ve got in most and distinct, anddealer spatialnetwork. control systems aredealers more advanced one DCHT can gain experience and begin you the can process becoming form factors for your transmitters,’ explains is Winkler. major countries and they have demo inventories, as do our and particular. an audio scenographer. Our recommendation to start‘We have handhelds and work beltpacks, we because also havewithout rack this representatives throughout the world,’space addsisWinkler. ‘We’ve What we’ve noticed in the immersive an increasing learning to think and like anbut artist, transmitters that can transmit stereolarger signals that the DSQD got somebody Europe, people Canada, the push to try andcovering define standards that cancovering make universal you can’t succeed. Dream up projects than you think receiver can off, pickand up.then We did with Venue whereby Venue Asia Pacific region andforLatin America well, and, of course, claims of applicability producing anyas type of sonic you can pull stopthat sleeping and pull them off! could listen on the IFB system, and that through kind of crossdomestic in the US. I just people to hearthis it and try environment, anywhere. Butwant in our experience, isn’ttoeven Working withinaudio, sound and music is it’s learned direct compatibility that we really try to build into all the products it. The proof how it sounds and howiswell it works in the what’s most is interesting. Our approach about bespoke experience. There is no shortcut. so that it widens the possibilities for what the products can real world. encourage to get of one and give it tailoring vs Iplug and play.people Acoustics is ahold totally non-linear force What are can available? be usedresources for and how they be used.’ aand spin because think bewhere impressed.’ most of our we work is inthey’ll spaces the architecture is In addition, it is this interoperability that can reassure With further plans arresting, to add to not the acoustically system in the future, made to be visually neutral. We’re The main to avail yourself of replaced is your own users thatresource their bigyou newneed investment won’t get customers caninrest that their investments, both not interested the assured neutral, we’re interested in the magical! creativity and how listen to the‘Itworld. Youabandon can train the by something elseyou in the future. doesn’t past future, are in safe hands. Everyand technology is particular and has an aesthetic range. yourself only going outso and listening interesting systems frombythe past, people thattohave alreadythings, made www.lectrosonics.com www.polytope.agency.com producing interesting things, with other peopleat who large investments don’t havetalking to replace everything once,’

1/2 PAGE

May–June 2020 PRO AVL MEA 51 41 March–April

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NEWPRODUCTS

INSTALLATION • AV • LIVE SOUND • BROADCAST • POSTPRODUCTION • RECORDING • LIGHTING A–ZCONTENTS

ETC keeps it real ETC has put over a decade of research into its fos/4 panels to provide more realistic environments and skin tones FOR THOSE looking to add some cinematic flair to their services, ETC’s fos/4 panel light is the result of the manufacturer’s efforts to develop the ‘best light for use on camera’. Available in three sizes – small, medium and large – there are two array options on offer: the Lustr X8, which adds a deep red LED to help enhance skin tones and provide added depth to blues, greens and ambers; and the Daylight HDR, a tuneable white light array that employs a calculated selection of LEDs from the X8 colour system to deliver a ‘natural warmth’ when rendering skin tones and is optimised for output in cooler temperatures. The soft lights offer a selectable CCT between 1,900K and 10,450K. fos/4 provides nuanced colour control from the full-spectrum colour picker within the UI, letting users choose how to mix each colour. After selecting the brightest, best spectral or a hybrid of the two, customised colour palettes can be saved to a programmable preset. The four backlit encoders change colour to correspond to the attributes they control on the screen. The panels incorporate

Griprail, a bracket that acts as a mounting location for the fixture, handles that double as safety cable locations, rounded corners and an industrial grey finish. Nearfield communication (NFC) enables users to push and pull information including fixture setup using ETC’s Set Light app from a mobile phone or tablet, even when the fixture isn’t powered. Alternatively, City Theatrical’s Multiverse wireless DMX control can be used with a console. Up to 10 universes of DMX can be broadcast from a single transmitter without excessive radio energy. In other news, ETC’s new Source 4WRD 230V white light LED luminaires have been developed in warm white 80CRI and 90CRI (Gallery) arrays and a cool white 90CRI (Daylight Gallery) array. Both array types are available in four different form factors, which include the Source 4WRD Spot, PAR, PARNel and, for owners of existing Source Four fixtures, a non-destructive LED retrofit option. The retrofit option, built for Source Four incandescent fixtures, reportedly reuses 89% of the existing fixture, reduces power

consumption and eliminates the need for re-lamping. In addition, all existing Source Four accessories can be used with the full Source 4WRD fixtures. With an L70 rating of 45,000 hours, ETC states that the Source 4WRD fixtures are ‘brighter than your long life HPL lamps but at a fraction of the power draw’. The PAR and PARNel fixtures deliver a modern upgrade for contemporary tungsten units with the added benefits of LEDs and more than 1,000 lumens of output. All existing Source Four PAR lenses and accessories are compatible with these LED fixtures, which also feature a proprietary wave-lens design and ‘easy focusing’ knob. The Source 4WRD PARNel allows access to a range between 25° and 45°, which the manufacturer describes as ‘a smooth, soft, symmetrical field that you can spot or flood as needed’. www.etcconnect.com

Absen VN Series/KL series Active Audio RAY-ON PoE series Adamson IS219 Alcons Audio CRMS-SRHV Allen & Heath AHM-64 Amate Audio DSPStudio3 Amphion Amp700 Analog Way LivePremier v2.0 Ashly Audio IS Series/AW Series AtlasIED ALA Series Atlona AT-OME-RX11 Audac ALTI series/Touch 2.0 Audient EVO Audinate Dante AV PDS Audio Performance KM15 Audio-Technica Third-generation 5000 Series Audiocenter Artist Series Audix A140/A145/A150/A152 Austrian Audio Hi-X Avolites/Pioneer Pro DJ Link Beyma 10MCB700/12MCB700/15MCB700 Biamp P30DT/TEC-X Bosch Dicentis Flush Bose Bose Work Burl Audio B22 Orca/B16-BMB6 Cadac CA124/CP124 Calrec Type R for TV Cameo Drop Series/Opus X Profile CEDAR Audio DNS 8D update Chiayo Apex Pro/Apex Evo/LECPRO City Theatrical Multiverse Receiver Cards Coda Audio N-Ray Crestron DMPS Lite/X Series d&b audiotechnik KSLi System DAS Audio E11EVEN Sound dBTechnologies VIO C DiGiCo A164D Wall/A168D Stage DirectOut RAV2 dnp denmark Supernova Infinity UST Drawmer 1970 Elation Magmatic/Onyx 4.4 Electro-Voice PXM-12MP EM Acoustics R10 ETC fos/4/Source 4WRD Fohhn Fohhn Designer Fulcrum Acoustic FL283T/EASE Focus 3 update Funktion-One F5/SB8 Genelec 4420 Harbinger Pro Audio Vari 4000 Series Heritage Audio HA-609A HK Audio SI Series (P10i/P10j) IK Multimedia Creator Series Just Add Power Warp Engine/VBIS-HDIP-707WP2/708POE Lavoce SAN215.30 LD Systems Zone X1208D Lectronsonics MTCR Magewell Pro Convert H.26x to HDMI Matrox D-Series/QuadHead2Go Q155 MC2 Audio Delta Series update Meyer Sound Ultra-X20/Spacemap Go Next-proaudio N-RAK 6/N-RAK 128 Outline Stadia 28/L3000 Peerless-AV UltraView UHD Outdoor TV PreSonus The StudioLive ARc series QSC Q-Sys Reflect Enterprise Manager RCF D3PTH/M 20X Series RF Venue Distro9 HDR RME AVB Tool Roland V-8HD RTS BTR-30N/VLink Sennheiser MobileConnect Shure IntelliMix Room Sound Devices 888 Portable Production Mixer-Recorder Sovico DS-26N/DS-48N/MNT 5 Symetrix T-5 Gen 2 TASCAM RC-W100/MX Connect/EZ Connect Tasker C722 TOA WG-D100 Universal Audio Luna Vitec EZ TV Player Lite Void Acoustics Bias Q1/Airten V3 XTA MX24-A/MX24-D

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Elation adds atmosphere with Magmatic ELATION PROFESSIONAL has launched a new brand of atmospheric effects machines: Magmatic. The range, designed to be easy to use, initially includes the Magma water-based and Thermatic oil-based haze and fog machines, Polar snow machines, Rocket CO2 cr yogenic-type simulated fog effects devices, the Prisma advanced UV LED lighting series and a line of specially formulated effects fluids to suppor t the line-up named Atmosity. ‘We have long had a vision that stems from a strong demand from our customers around the world to create more advanced atmospheric products designed for professional users, products

that are easy to use and hard to break, and that is exactly what we are doing with Magmatic,’ said sales and marketing director, Eric Loader. ‘Atmospheric effects are key to any stage per formance so it’s essential they be reliable and per form on demand.’ The first product to be launched is Magma Prime, a durable, waterbased hazer providing a dr y haze effect with low fluid consumption. A large fluid intake and advanced HPA (High Pressure Air) pump technology repor tedly reduce the risk of heater clogging, while automatic self-cleaning and energy-saving

auto shut-off (when no fluid is detected) are said to make operation even more effor tless and economical. Its thermally protected 700W heat exchanger produces a full-coverage output and, because the unit sips fluid at a low 3.4ml/min, its fine haze atmosphere can enhance lighting effects ‘for hours on end’. Meanwhile, Elation brand Obsidian Control Systems has announced the release of Onyx 4.4 lighting control software which integrates Obsidian’s Dylos pixel composer. www.elationlighting.com www.magmaticfx.com www.obsidiancontrol.com

May–June 2020 PRO AVL MEA 43

PRODUCTS

Cameo drops a range of new products CAMEO HAS just ‘dropped’ a new series of outdoor uplights designed for use in portable applications. Named the Drop Series, it comprises three models initially: the battery-powered Drop B1 (a single 15W RGBWA+UV LED fixture), Drop B4 (a quad 15W RGBWA+UV LED unit) and Drop P4 (a quad 15W RGBWA+UV LED model that differs from its siblings by offering a conventional mains power supply). The Drop Series presents several mounting options thanks to the mounting bracket supplied with each fixture or rubber feet, as well as an additional tilt foot for use without an attached bracket. The Drop B1 also comes with an integrated magnet that enables it to be attached to magnetic metal surfaces without the need for any additional equipment. The battery-powered Drop B1 and B4 models include an LG Chem lithium-ion

Opus X Profile

Drop B1

Drop B4

battery with a reported adjustable run time of up to 12 hours. To change the light output, all three Drop fixtures possess a pair of diffuser lenses for beam angle spread flexibility. They all feature a built-in 2.4GHz W-DMX receiver to facilitate wireless DMX and IR control. Control is also offered by four touch buttons.

Cameo has also released a new flagship fixture within its Opus Series with the Opus X Profile. With a 750W white light LED, the moving head fixture is said to generate a luminous flux of 33,000 lumens with 72,000 lux illuminance at a distance of 5m. In combination with a CMY colour mixing system,

Avolites pioneers new integration THE TITAN and Ai software platforms from Avolites have now been integrated with Pro DJ Link, the embedded protocol present in Pioneer DJ’s CDJ and XDJ players. This

integration will allow users to receive realtime feedback on the lighting consoles from the DJ. Avolites users can gain access to the Pioneer DJ Waveform Display, which gives a view of the live waveforms from a CDJ system in a workspace window and the Pioneer DJ BPM Trigger, which provides the ability to automatically trigger BPM masters directly from a chosen CDJ in the setup. The software is compatible with Pioneer’s CDJ-2000 NXS2, DJM-900 NXS2, DJMTOUR1 and CDJ-TOUR1 with Rekordbox DJ software. www.avolites.com www.pioneerdj.com

featuring a colour wheel with six dichroic filters and linear CTO correction ranging from 6,500–2,600K, as well as a zoom range of 6–48°, the Opus X Profile is designed to produce even projections without disturbing hotspots. It is also built to work flicker-free with selectable PWM frequencies up to 25kHz, making it suited to use in theatre and broadcast applications. www.cameolight.com

City Theatrical receives output from the Multiverse CITY THEATRICAL has developed its Multiverse Receiver Cards for lighting designers looking to integrate wireless DMX/RDM into their projects as part of a full Multiverse wireless DMX/RDM system, connecting up to 10 universes to a single Multiverse Transmitter, or with their lighting equipment, including props, costumes and fixtures. They are available in either the 2.4GHz or 900MHz band. The Multiverse Receiver Cards are described by the manufacturer as ‘full Multiverse wireless DMX/RDM receivers without the housing, XLR connectors and

user interface’ typically found in wireless DMX receiving products. They feature a built-in antenna and a connection for an optional external antenna. Configuration is done via RDM with City Theatrical’s DMXcat Multi Function Test Tool or the USB Configuration software for PC and Mac. As well as receiving wireless DMX and outputting wired DMX, the Multiverse Receiver Cards can deliver 0–10V output and have four PWM control outputs. www.citytheatrical.com

DirectOut raves about Ravenna THE RAV2 network audio module from DirectOut has been designed to integrate into third-par ty products and form the Ravenna AoIP network core of the newly released Prodigy Series of multifunction audio processors and conver ters. The RAV2 offers integration of Ravenna, AES67 and SMPTE ST 2110-30/31 with suppor t for all ST 2022-7 classes. It

provides 128x128 audio channels in up to 32 network streams and sample rates up to 192kHz. The module is described as equally suited to operate in synchronised WAN (wide area network) environments with greater than 500ms latency or on local networks with ultra-low latency down to one sample per packet (less than 1ms).

The RAV2 also incorporates built-in PTP Grandmaster capability (multicast and hybrid mode) and a customisable and scalable HTMLbased GUI with network traffic display, selection of PTP profiles, jitter monitoring, stream monitoring and configuration, and password protection. The device offers

MDNS and SAP stream announcement plus both automatic and full manual stream configuration as required. www.directout.eu

Bringing sound back E11EVEN GROUP and DAS Audio have announced a partnership that will ‘bring sound back to the forefront of the nightclub sensory experience’. The Miami-based corporation and the Spanish manufacturer have created E11EVEN Sound by DAS Audio, designed to cover all the needs of nightclub installations. ‘A considerable advance has been made in the use of video and lighting to generate special effects in clubs, but there is still a lot of work to do on the non-visual elements. Our intention is to elevate the audience’s experience and create lasting

44 PRO AVL MEA May–June 2020

memories,’ explained Gino LoPinto, operating partner at E11EVEN. The series launches with nine various models that range from a compact, full-range, dual 6-inch speaker to a dual 21-inch subwoofer,

and other models in-between. The series can be tailored for large or medium dance stacks in larger venues to smaller fills and compact subwoofers. Further models will be added, including weatherised options and additional choices for fills. Accompanying the new series will be a brand-new DSP: the IO-48 is a four-in/ eight-out digital sound processor capable of 96kHz, with connection via Ethernet, Wi-Fi or USB using flexible 11-Net software on PC and macOS platforms.

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Coda unveils ultra-compact N-Ray CODA AUDIO has launched N-Ray, an ultracompact, three-way line array that integrates the benefits of AiRay technology into a more shallow and lightweight enclosure. N-Ray is part of Coda’s latest N-Series, a range of lightweight, compact systems intended to rival much larger and heavier speaker systems. N-Ray reportedly incorporates the very latest in driver and system design technology, delivering twice the power handling and SPL, as well as significantly more low-frequency output, when compared to other systems. It delivers high-fidelity sound with a large dynamic range and extended low frequency with ‘unlimited

flexibility’, thanks to its variable horizontal dispersion. Key to N-Ray’s efficiency is its 6-inch double diaphragm planar (DDP) wave driver, dual 6.5-inch neodymium ultra-low distortion low-frequency cone drivers, N-Ray insta-fit magnetic coupler sums and Dynamic Airflow Cooling (DAC) technology. Together, they reportedly ensure exceptionally high sound pressure and low power compression. Offering a phase linearity similar to AiRay, a 60Hz – 22kHz (–6dB) frequency range and 1,000W power handling, N-Ray has a variable horizontal coverage of 90°, 120° or

Constant curvature STADIA 28 is the latest addition to Outline’s Stadia family of loudspeaker systems designed for large sports venues and arenas. It is a medium-throw, constant curvature array enclosure weighing 21kg and capable of a peak SPL of 139dB. It features the same weather protection and audio quality as the rest of the products in the range but is better suited for smaller venues and provides users with a more costeffective solution for locations that don’t require the power of its larger siblings. It can be arrayed in either vertical or horizontal orientation, with only six cabinets required to provide 150° coverage in both deployments. Meanwhile, the L3000 freestanding, highpowered, multi-mode power amplifier has also made its debut. It has been designed for applications where it’s not possible to use 19-inch racks; however, if rack mounting is required, two L3000s can be mounted using a dedicated Outline kit. The Class-D fixture includes two inputs and four outputs and is able to operate in single-channel mode (four 750W at 4Ω) and bridge mode (either two 1,500W at 8Ω or one 1,500W at 8Ω and two 750W at 4Ω). On-board DSP provides a range of amplifier controls and

its universal regulated switch mode power supply reportedly allows the amp to function on various input voltages and mains cycles globally. It is presented in the same wood finish as Outline’s touring speakers. www.outline.it

asymmetric 105°, a linear phase, variable vertical curving – 0°, 1°, 2°, 3° to 12° in 1° steps – and features an integrated three-point rigging system for flown or ground-stacked arrays, compatible to SCN-F 15-inch sensor-controlled, low-frequency extension. The line array facilitates systems integration with the manufacturer’s LINUS loudspeaker management amplifiers, while a hybrid multiplex/aluminium enclosure with polyurea coating provides durability and water protection. www.codaaudio.com

AtlasIED blends intelligibility with aesthetics ATLASIED IS targeting houses of worship, transportation hubs, retail spaces, conference rooms, museums, convention centres and other similar spaces with its new ALA Series of space-saving, passive, column line array loudspeakers. They have been designed to offer high speech intelligibility without compromising the aesthetic integrity of a room. The ‘ultra-compact’ speakers are built to be lightweight and are available in various sizes and configurations, that can be wall-mounted or attached to an optional pole-mount bracket, making them suited to both fixed and temporary setups. The models in the series include the ALA20T with 20 speakers, a full-range line array speaker system, the ALA15T 15-driver version, the ALA10T with 10 speakers and the ALA5T five-driver variant. Alternative models that include a B suffix, such as the ALA20T-B, provide a black finish as opposed to the white of the regular versions.

Stadia 28

The ALA Series

Active Audio catches some rays ACTIVE AUDIO has announced the launch of its new RAY-ON PoE powered loudspeaker column arrays. This series combines a PoE+ interface with a 60W internal power amplifier

and a Dante RJ45 digital input in a selfpowered column loudspeaker. Internal signal processing and optimisation using Active Audio’s patented DGRC steering technology creates defined coverage patterns with a mix of acoustics geometry and filtering. The new series includes the R70-PoE and R110-PoE vertical column arrays

as well as the B70-PoE sound bar which provides optimised horizontal directivity. The addition of PoE technology reportedly allows users to equip any wired building. www.activeaudio.fr

46 PRO AVL MEA May–June 2020

The GlobalCom 5400 Series The rear of each enclosure incorporates vertical channels that accept the included wall mount, allowing installers to slide the mount to the location that provides their desired vertical tilt. They are all developed to offer wide vertical and horizontal coverage and are IP32 weather rated. Also new is the GlobalCom 5400 Series, which is designed to meet the rigorous demands for mass notification and emergency communications applications. AtlasIED states that the 5400 portfolio is ideally suited for use in transportation facilities. The series includes announcement controllers, input and communication stations, amplifiers and zone managers, auxiliary I/O devices and the Director system

management software. Designed to initiate announcements, messages and pages with the GlobalCom Series Announcement Control Systems, the IED570C-H (CobraNet) and 570D-H (Dante) touchscreen mic stations eliminate the need for airline personnel to use physical buttons to unlock codes to start the boarding sequence. Each sequence can be pre-programmed to begin automatically and gate personnel can see a preview of the boarding process on the screen. Each IED570 station can obtain an IP address automatically or be assigned a unique IP address. In brief, the IPX Series of IP endpoints has been upgraded and now includes the ability to modify the colours of the IP endpoint flasher, as well as the text and background colours on the LCD screen. The brightness of the LCD screen can be adjusted and improvements to the Acoustic Echo Canceller reportedly provide greater intelligibility of SIP and intercom calls. www.atlasied.com

PRODUCTS

Audiocenter’s work of art THE ARTIST Series from Audiocenter has been created to provide a complete audio solution to a wide range of both touring and fixed applications. The T3 and T4 are wallmount speakers. The T3 comes with a 3-inch full-range driver and the T4 with a 4-inch fullrange driver and a soft-dome tweeter. Both support 70V/100V transformation and come with an additional transformer box attached to the speaker. The T6 and T8 are passive line arrays that can also be used as two-way, full-range, wall-mount speakers and feature a 6-inch and 8-inch LF driver, respectively, and four soft-dome tweeters. The Artist Series also includes three column speakers. The T43 comprises four 3-inch full-range speakers, the T83 comes with eight 3-inch speakers and the T65 consists of six 5-inch speakers. Each unit supports 70V/100V transformation, comes with eight soft-dome tweeters and reportedly offers consistent vertical coverage without the narrow vertical beaming and out-of-coverage lobbing that are typical of straight form factor passive column speakers. Three models of subwoofer are also available. The TW8 and TW28 are wall-mount and flyable subwoofers with a single 8-inch LF driver and dual 8-inch LF drivers, respectively. The TW118 is a single 18-inch LF driver woofer. To supplement the system, four Class-D four-

The K-LA12A and K-LA118A

The Artist T45-DSP with the T115S-DSP

and eight-channel amplifiers with BrainCore technology support 70V/100V transformer output, while the T88D audio matrix processor has eight channels of analogue I/O and further supports four channels of Dante I/O connectivity. The Artist T45-DSP is a compact, active line array system that consists of four 5-inch LF drivers and two 1-inch compression drivers. It features a two-way crossover design powered by an Audiocenter 1,600W Class-D amplifier module and also incorporates a BrainCore DSP processor with CORT correction technology and LIMITA processing. Finally, the Artist T115S-DSP bass-reflex subwoofer has been designed for LF support for the T45-DSP. It includes a single 15-inch/dual 4-inch voice-coil customised driver with an Audiocenter 1,600W Class-D amplifier.

Audiocenter has also unveiled its K-LA12A, designed specifically for medium-sized venues. It has been optimised for an array of two or up to 16 cabinets, with each cabinet comprising a Beyma single 12-inch (3-inch voice coil) customised LF driver plus two Beyma 1.75-inch composite membrane customised HF drivers. The speaker provides 100° horizontal and 15° vertical coverage depending on the length of the array. The K-LA118A has been designed to go alongside the K-LA12A and is a bass-reflex subwoofer with a single 18-inch/dual 4-inch outside voice coil with a long-excursion cone, driven by an Audiocenter 1,600W Class-D amplifier. www.audiocenter.net

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CMY

May–June 2020 PRO AVL MEA 47

PRODUCTS

Size matters

FL283T

Portable, yet permanent THE FL283T is a subcardioid line array module from Fulcrum Acoustic, designed for both portable or permanent installation applications. The compact enclosure features a pair of 8-inch horn-loaded woofers and three 1.4-inch compression drivers. The enclosure has also been shaped to accommodate splay of up to 20° between adjacent enclosures, facilitating the deployment of arrays with sharper curves. Each module is configured for full-range passive operation at 16Ω, which means up to eight FL283Ts can be driven from one channel of a power amplifier. With an operating range between 54Hz and 19.6kHz, the FL283T also includes an 8-inch ceramic magnet cone driver and 2-inch voice coil with an equalised maximum peak SPL of 128dB and 122dB

continuous for one module. It features Fulcrum’s patented Passive Cardioid Technology to negate excessive rear LF radiation and an acoustical circuit developed to balance the horn loading of the low-frequency drivers, the enclosure depth and the volume. The manufacturer’s TQ processing is also an integral part of the design. DSP can be provided by one of several supported platforms. In other news, Fulcrum Acoustic has expanded its library of EASE Focus 3 loudspeaker modelling data with GLLs supporting more than 50 point source loudspeakers. The GLL files are available for download on the EASE Data webpage of the Fulcrum Acoustic website. www.fulcrum-acoustic.com

Harbinger builds to 4000

THE NEW Vari 4000 Series, comprising the Vari 4112 and Vari 4115 loudspeakers, sees Harbinger Pro Audio build on the previous success of its Vari 2300 multipurpose powered loudspeakers. Designed for DJs and musicians, as well as presenters and MCs at events, the Vari 4000 two-way loudspeakers boast 2,000W peak power of Class-D amplification with the manufacturer’s XR speaker technology. The Vari 4112 is equipped with Harbinger’s custom XR 12-inch LF driver,

48 PRO AVL MEA May–June 2020

reportedly capable of up to 129dB SPL. The 4115, meanwhile, possesses an XR 15-inch LF driver, taking it up to an SPL of 130dB. Both models include an XR highfidelity compression tweeter for an overall frequency response between 35Hz and 22kHz. Features include a precision DSP crossover and full-bandwidth frequency management, such as seven-band EQ, treble and bass EQ with knob-control, and a low-cut filter. A colour LCD display on each speaker displays frequency response curves and the system can be customised via an iOS app using Bluetooth. The app facilitates the editing of 10 voicing presets, configuring DSP for common applications including standard use and playback in clubs, with live bands, vocal boost and as a monitor. Up to five custom presets can also be created and saved. The iOS app can also access various other parameters, such as the speaker outputs for left and right in a stereo pair. The Vari 4112 and 4115 each have three independent input channels as well as five simultaneous audio inputs. Channels 1 and 2 provide two mic/guitar/line combo inputs, while Channel 3 delivers left and right ¼-inch line inputs, a stereo 1⁄8-inch aux input and wireless Bluetooth audio input. www.harbingerproaudio.com

MEYER SOUND has released the Ultra-X20, a self-powered, full-range loudspeaker for installed and portable applications where size and weight are important factors. The speaker uses Ultra-X40 point source technology, measures 7.5 inches x 19.04 inches x 8.6 inches (WxHxD) and delivers a 123.5dB peak SPL measured using M-Noise. It features two 5-inch cone drivers, a 2-inch compression driver in concentric configuration and a 110° x 50° horn.

Ultra X20 The Ultra-X20 can be used as the foundation of a compact main system or to supplement a larger one. It is powered by a three-channel, 860W peak Class-D digital amplifier with a DSP package including electronic crossover, correction filters for phase and frequency response, and driver-protection circuitry. Phase-corrected electronics reportedly ensure flat acoustical amplitude and phase response.

The loudspeaker is compatible with Meyer Sound’s RMS platform, which lets the user monitor essential per formance parameters from a Mac or Windows PC running Compass control software. It also includes built-in IntelligentAC technology that autoselects the correct operating voltage, suppresses high-voltage transients, filters EMI and provides a soft-star t power-up. The Ultra-X20 can also be configured with any of the three connector panel options. Two ACpowered versions feature looping powerCon connectors with either three-pin or fivepin XLR audio I/O and RMS remote monitoring, while an IntelligentDC variant receives audio and DC power over a single cable via its five-pin Phoenix connector. The manufacturer has also presented preview demonstrations of its Spacemap Go iOS app, a new spatial sound design and mixing tool that leverages the processing power of the company’s Galaxy network platform. The app will repor tedly deliver a flexible and easy-to-use touchpad inter face for Spacemap multichannel panning. www.meyersound.com

HK Audio adds a new family HK AUDIO has launched the first products in its new System Integrator

(SI) Series speakers: the P10i and P10j column speakers. The P10i features 5° x 100° (VxH) directivity and the P10j has a 15° x 120° (VxH) directivity. The P10j’s directional characteristic is asymmetrical and its j-shaped pattern of throw is directed downwards, a function achieved by its mechanical design, negating the need for additional DSP. Both the i and j versions have drivers arranged in a line and tuned for tight ver tical directivity, making them suitable for large rooms with long reverberation times and outdoor long-throw applications. The models feature weather-resistant front fabric and speaker membranes and are repor ted to achieve protection class IP 66 according to EN 60529. They have been designed for use in voice alarm systems and are seeking cer tification to EN 54 24:2008 (type B outdoor use) by the end of 2020. The speakers provide three power taps (37.5W/75W/150W) via four-pole connectors, while the transformer is said to deliver high SPLs.

The P10i and P10j

pro.hkaudio.com

Instal

Ho W T heatre

Fest ival

Live

Rider Friendly . Affordable . Expandable Main Features: • 72 Input Channels (expandable to 96) • 36 Aux / Sub-Group Busses (expandable to 48) • 12 x 8 Full Processing Matrix • 119 Dynamic Equalisers / Multi-band Compressors • 12 Digital FX • LR/LCR Master Buss • 48/96 kHz Sample Rate

A compact, multi-application digital console benefiting from built in UB MADI, dual MADI, Optocore Option, Local I/O and dual DMI Slots, options include KLANG, Dante, Automatic Mic Mixing and Waves. MAXIMUM CONNECTIVITY AT EXCEPTIONAL VALUE

www.digico.biz

DiGiCo UK Ltd, Unit 10 Silverglade Business Park, Leatherhead Road, Chessington, Surrey KT9 2QL. Tel: +44 (0) 1372 845 600

PRODUCTS

Genelec makes smart loudspeakers

Alcons filters out noise THE CRMS-SRHV surround by Alcons Audio is a two-way, passive-filtered loudspeaker designed to meet the requirements of current and future immersive surround sound formats. Including Alcons’ pro-ribbon driver technology, the CRMS-SRHV is said to combine clarity and intelligibility with a high dynamic range, reportedly offering a realistic reproduction of sound. It can be used in performing arts theatres, screening rooms, postproduction facilities, dubbing stages and cinemas. The system uses the RBN401 pro-ribbon driver for HF and a vented 8-inch mid-bass for LF reproduction. The HF section has an 800W peak power input, reportedly enabling a 1:15 dynamic range with up to 90% less distortion from 1kHz to beyond 20kHz. The patented (90°) horizontal and patent-pending (90°) vertical dispersion is said to offer wide and consistent coverage up to the highest frequencies. By using identical MHF components, voice matching between screen and surround system is achieved, resulting in ‘an exceptionally wide and uniform sound stage throughout the entire listening area’. The trapezoidal enclosure, alongside the grille and ACO

colour option, provide for low-profile wall or ceiling mounting. The CRMS-SRHV needs to be driven by an ALC controller-amplifier and is available in 8Ω and 4Ω versions. The Signal Integrity Sensing pre-wiring reportedly ensures complete cable/connector compensation between the CRMS-SRHV and ALC to increase response accuracy, regardless of cable length and impedance. www.alconsaudio.com

Maximum HF control DBTECHNOLOGIES HAS designed the waveguide of its VIO C series of two-way active line source speakers for maximum HF directivity control. Suited for a range of venues and applications, from installed PA systems to sound reinforcement for touring, the series comprises three enclosures: the VIO C12 (one 12-inch/3.5-inch voice coil LF and one 1.4-inch exit, 3-inch voice coil HF), the VIO C15 (one 15-inch/3.5-inch voice coil LF and one 1.4-inch exit, 3-inch voice coil HF) and the VIO C212 (two 12-inch/3-inch voice coil LF and one 1.4-inch exit, 3-inch voice coil HF). The VIO C units feature a simple yet rapid rigging system, according to the manufacturer, along with a 1,600W RMS Class-D amp module Digipro G4 driving the DSP and allowing each system to deliver an SPL of 139dB for the VIO C12, 140dB for the VIO C15 and 141dB for the VIO C212. The VIO Cs are also equipped with dBTechnologies’ RDNet for real-time monitoring and remote control via Aurora Net software. The preamp is ready for future upgrades with an

50 PRO AVL MEA May–June 2020

Audinate Dante card. With an asymmetrical horn, any single VIO C enclosure provides a horizontal 22.5° angle coverage pattern. Users can set up scalable horizontal clusters so that the VIO C can be adapted to the venue. For example, a four-cabinet, side-by-side configuration delivers a 90° horizontal dispersion, an eight-cabinet cluster reaches a 180° horizontal angle and so on right up to a 360° coverage with a 16-cabinet setup. The VIO C12 and VIO C15 models can also be coupled vertically, allowing users to set up double-line clusters (up to 32 elements) and modify the vertical dispersion pattern via digital steering. The design of the VIO C12 and VIO C15 speakers allows for the creation of up to four-module constant curvature arrays. www.dbtechnologies.com

COMPATIBLE WITH both Dante and open IP standards including AES67 and ST2110-30, the 4420 loudspeaker can derive power via PoE and PoE+ formats and features a single rear panel Cat connector with access to Genelec’s Smart IP

Smart IP supports uncompressed low-latency audio streaming into each loudspeaker, with synchronisation to sub-microsecond level for acoustic imaging. This flexible connectivity allows both IP control of an analogue source or use of analogue audio as a failsafe backup.

Manager, a software tool that allows installers to configure a large number of rooms, zones, loudspeakers and audio channels. The software also includes device discovery, a versatile room equalisation toolset, system organisation and status monitoring to allow users to deploy Smart IP loudspeakers in challenging environments. The 4420 can be integrated into house automation systems using a public API command set to allow the end user access to volume, power, loudspeaker activity and a selection of pre-programmed audio settings.

The 4420 is 226mm tall with a frequency response of 55Hz – 39kHz (–6dB) via a 4-inch woofer and 3 ⁄4-inch metal dome tweeter, producing a max SPL of 100dB via on-board 50W Class-D amplifiers for each driver. The enclosures are available in black, white or 120 custom RAL colours, and are compatible with Genelec’s range of mounting accessories to allow the speaker to be floor-, ceiling-, wall- or trussmounted.

TRADITIONALLY KNOWN for its mixing consoles, British manufacturer Cadac has launched a new series of beam-steering loudspeakers under the tagline ‘One Brand, Two Divisions’. Comprising nine self-powered models, the series features full-range digital beam steering together with auto EQ functionality and Dante interfaces. The manufacturer states that the beamsteering systems provide ‘high-end audio performance, unmatched beam-forming precision, selective sound distribution’ and an all-in-one software solution. The interior electronics, meanwhile, offer reliable power of up to 2,700W (RMS), configured with up to 48 amplifier and 48 DSP channels per cabinet. Cadac’s low-latency DSP engines are said to ensure perfectly tuned sound results

with more than 20,000 FIR filter taps in one loudspeaker. The CA124 and CP124 are two-way powered speakers with 110° x up to 90° (HxV) directivity. The X606 and X310 are three-way powered speakers with 100° x up to 90° and 90° x up to 90° (HxV) directivity, respectively. In terms of subwoofers, the X606 cardioid and X310 cardioid are steerable powered subs with 1,200W and 1,500W (RMS), respectively. The final three products are the X115 cardioid, S215 and S218 steerable powered subs with 4,000W (RMS) and 2,048 FIR filter taps.

www.genelec.com

Cadac steers into the loudspeaker market

www.cadac-technologies.com

TEAMCONNECT CEILING 2

Raise your meetings to a higher level

Explore TeamConnect Ceiling 2, Sennheiserâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s new ceiling microphone for mid-sized to larger conference rooms. It doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t matter how meeting rooms are used or how meetings are designed. Thanks to the auto-adjusting, patented beamforming technology, it adapts to the respective conditions on-site, without reconfiguration. Focus on what is really important - your messages. sennheiser.com/tcc2

PRODUCTS

Chiayo unveils an Apex evolution TWO APEX models have been launched by Chiayo: the Apex Pro portable wireless mixer PA system and the Apex Evo portable mixer amplifier. Both models feature dual 250W Class-D power amplifiers and a built-in, twoway speaker system. The MIC1 and 2 inputs are XLR/6.3mm combo jack connectors for microphones and other line sources, each with individual volume control and a mic/line level switch. Line in is also an XLR/6.3mm combination with 3.5mm jacks and volume control. A scan and sync button reportedly allows for a quick and simple set up and there is also the option for up to four diversity receiver modules with 100 frequencies.

Other functionality includes reverb with bypass, volume control for wired and wireless microphones, voice priority for automatically lowering music volume during speech, a threeband EQ (bass/middle/treble) for all audio inputs and a digital limiter that prevents output distortion with a six-step LED audio meter. There is also a storage compartment for four transmitters and a switchable power supply. The system can be mounted on a tripod stand and reportedly offers up to 12 hours of operation per charge with a lithium battery and six hours with a lead-acid unit. In other news, the Taiwanese manufacturer has released the LECPRO, a multifunctional wireless lectern amplifier. It is a 225W

Lavoce pushes the boundaries THE SAN215.30 is a 21-inch neodymium magnet subwoofer using a 5.3-inch in/out copper clad aluminium voice coil, with a 2,000W AES power rating, 97dB sensitivity, 2.1-inch peak-to-peak maximum excursion and an aluminium demodulating ring to

reduce harmonic and intermodulation distortion. Employing a high strength neo motor and carefully optimised cooling system to aid high power handling and lower power compression, together with a double

FUNKTION-ONE HAS launched two compact loudspeaker models: the F5 speaker and the SB8 bass unit. The F5 is said to offer an extremely balanced and natural sound quality that’s not often found in loudspeakers of its size. Its ultra-compact dimensions and high output mean it is suited to a wide range of applications, including distributed public address systems, bars and restaurants. The F5 features a bespoke wide-range, highsensitivity 5-inch driver, an integrated high-pass filter for low-frequency protection, an angled

cabinet design for desktop use and a 3⁄8-inch microphone stand mount. The SB8 is described as a compact yet powerful bass unit. It has been designed for applications where a conventionally sized subwoofer is too large or obtrusive, such as in bars, restaurants, retail and galleries. It features a high-sensitivity 8-inch bass driver and requires no EQ or controller, only crossover filters. A selfpowered version will be available in the future.

Apex Pro Class-D amplifier for powering two-way speaker columns and comes with two XLR inputs for either gooseneck microphones or LED lamps. The LECPRO also features a 3.5mm line playback input with volume control, an XLR/6.3mm combo input and a mic/line output level switch. Along with

a built-in Bluetooth receiver, an XLR Active output for multi-unit audio linking and dual power modes, the LECPRO is said to provide more than 16 hours of operating time per charge. www.chiayo.com.tw

silicone suspension and triple roll surround to provide consistent linearity at high excursion, the SAN215.30 is described as a power ful and robust transducer for systems designers that want to push the boundaries of high-power subwoofer designs. www.lavocespeakers.com

Small is powerful for Funktion-One EM Acoustics sets new reference

www.funktion-one.com

THE R10 point source loudspeaker is the first in EM Acoustics’ new Reference Series, designed with theatrical environments in mind, built with a low profile and to deliver flat frequency and phase responses. The R10 is a three-way passive system featuring dual 10-inch LF drivers and a 4-inch/2.5-inch mid/high coaxial unit. With a weather-protected, polyurethane enclosure that mirrors the HALO Series, the R10 comes with two interchangeable dispersion waveguide options: a wide 110° x 50° guide for shor ter-throw applications and a narrower 80° x 50° option for controlled coverage over longer distances. Both are rotatable for added versatility and of fer pattern control to below 800Hz. EM Acoustics also notes that the R10 is ‘tour-optimised’ thanks to its

handling and rigging systems and that it features FIR processing. www.emacoustics.co.uk

Electro-Voice cuts through noise THE PXM-12MP marks Electro-Voice’s debut in the powered stage monitor market. Created for live per formances, the PXM-12MP is an acoustically optimised, high-output, two-way stage wedge featuring coaxially aligned 12-inch LF and 1.75-inch HF transducers. Its small footprint and light weight (13.5kg) make it particularly suited for applications where floor space is limited. The 55° monitor floor angle is said to allow per formers to stand as close or as far away from the system without sacrificing audio intelligibility. The 90° x 90° coverage pattern means that the

52 PRO AVL MEA May–June 2020

monitor can be used as a fill, delay or mounted on a pole for short-throw applications. It comes with several x-over settings, including settings for ELX200 and EKX subwoofers. The built-in, two-channel, Class-D, 700W amplifier has been developed in collaboration

PXM-12MP

with EV’s sibling brand, Dynacord, and reaches a maximum SPL of 129dB. The integrated digital three-band EQ features different factory presets for various application modes, as well as five individual user presets. A high-Q notch filter can eliminate feedback frequencies, while a delay function with 0.1m increments is said to provide precise adjustment when used as a delay speaker. The GuitarCab setting allows users to connect a guitar directly to the PXM-12MP via a DI box.

PRODUCTS

Vertical pattern control THE IS column speakers are described by Ashly Audio as a cost-ef fective way to provide ver tical pattern control and consistent sound levels from the front to the back of a venue, par ticularly when combined with the manufacturer’s amps and processors that incorporate Protēa or AquaControl software. Alongside an SP 12.1P sub, users can create a ‘system on a stick’ for HOWs, wedding receptions and corporate events. Two IS speakers can be joined with an optional bracket, while pole and tripod mounts are also available. The IS 2.8P, IS 3.8P and IS 12.1P have a power handling of 120W, 240W and 350W at 8Ω (32Ω if users change the impedance switch) and a frequency response of 115Hz – 20kHz, 105Hz – 19kHz and 39Hz – 180kHz, respectively. The IS 2.8P has eight 2-inch, full-range transducers, the IS 3.8P has eight 3-inch, fullrange transducers, both with a neodymium magnet, while the SP 12.1P has a 12-inch LF transducer with a ferrite magnet. All models are available in black and white. Meanwhile, the AW Series speakers have been designed for restaurant patios, balconies, poolside and other undereave applications, as well as indoors. They are said to deliver ‘robust bass, crisp treble and accurate midrange’ so that

sound can be heard over table conversation, traf fic or wind noise. Their sound can be fur ther enhanced with Ashly power amplifiers and processors that incorporate Protēa or AquaControl software. The AW 2.1P has a power handling of 15W and an impedance of 8Ω. The frequency response is 250Hz – 20kHz and it comes with a 2.675-inch full-range transducer. For the AW 3.2P, the

power handling is 30W, the frequency response is 150Hz – 20kHz and the speaker features 1.1-inch PEI HF and 3.5-inch LF transducers. The impedance for the AW 5.2T (50W) and AW 8.2T (70W) is 8Ω or constant voltage. The AW 5.2T comes with 0.75-inch silk dome HF and 5.25-inch LF transducers, while the AW 8.2T is manufactured with 1-inch silk dome HF and 8-inch LF transducers. The frequency response for the AW 5.2T is 130Hz – 20kHz, while for the AW 8.2T it’s 95Hz – 20kHz. The IS Series

www.ashly.com

3/4 PAGE MEDIA NETWORKS INTELLIGENT

FOR VIDEO, AUDIO, DATA AND COMMUNICATION The AW Series

The recessed connection panel is located on the side of the speaker and features two XLR/TRS combo mic/line inputs, an individual phantom power option, a stereo RCA aux input for playback music sources and an XLR thru input when used as part of a distributed sound system. An XLR mixout output allows the cabinet to act as a basic three-channel mixer that can send the mix to another loudspeaker. www.electrovoice.com

MEDIORNET

Real-Time Media Network

ARTIST

Digital Matrix Intercom

BOLERO

Wireless Intercom

www.riedel.net

May–June 2020 PRO AVL MEA 53

PRODUCTS

Audac swings in with new pendants AUDAC HAS released the ALTI series of two-way pendant loudspeakers, designed for background and foreground music in environments featuring open architecture and high ceilings, such as large retail outlets and warehouses. The two models available are the ALTI4 pendant, which includes a 4-inch driver combination and a coaxially mounted 1-inch soft-dome tweeter, as well as a fitted phase plug, and the ALTI4M, designed with a die-cast mounting bracket for both wall and ceiling mounting. The ALTI4M can therefore be installed throughout a room, covering both the ceilings and walls, to provide audio and aesthetic consistency. Both models include an internal 70V/100V transformer and a 16Ω bypass. The Belgian manufacturer has also released a 2.0 update for the Audac Touch app. The update introduces several new features, including an Automatic Device Discovery function. This allows the app to automatically recognise and name each Audac device on a system for inclusion on dashboards and widgets. Audac Touch 2.0 also allows users to mix and control the inputs of the M2 Multimedia digital audio mixer directly from the app, while the NMP40 audio streaming SourceCon module now supports Spotify and Soundtrack Your Brand integration via the application. Finally, the Audac Touch app can be combined with ARU multichannel digital relay units to add and toggle-control third-party devices such as projectors, lights or curtains. Finally, Audac has also unveiled its MFA2xx multi-functional amplifiers. Featuring compatibility with Audac Touch 2.0 and an integrated SourceCon input slot in the amplifier, the MFA series is available in

BIAMP’S P30DT two-way pendant loudspeaker shares the design of its larger sibling, the P60DT, and uses the same drivers as the CM30DTD in-ceiling loudspeaker – a 4.25-inch woofer and 1-inch tweeter – resulting in matched acoustic characteristics and performance. Its wide coverage area allows for fewer loudspeakers while maintaining speech intelligibility. The P30DT is equipped with a tuned bassreflex port for optimised low-frequency performance and an overload protection feature for 24/7 failsafe operation. Available in black or white, the P30DT uses a multiposition switchable transformer for constantvoltage operation, making it well-suited for a wide range of background and foreground audio applications.

54 PRO AVL MEA May–June 2020

P30DT

An ALTI pendant speaker output powers of 80W or 160W. With the same interface as the SMA, SMQ, PMQ and XMP series, users can access enhanced settings on the front of the amplifier through a 2.5-inch graphical display or import configuration files from a USB. In addition to RS232 and RS485 connection, the MFA also allows for optional Dante expansion, giving the device the ability to receive and send low-latency, high-quality audio over a standard Ethernet network. It features a balanced mic/line input through a three-pin terminal block, an unbalanced stereo line input and a SourceCon module slot. www.audac.eu

Power upgrade AUDIO PERFORMANCE has updated its KM15 loudspeaker with a power boost from 500W to 900W and an increase in SPLs to 138dB. The KM15 is a compact, two-way passive system that employs a new single 15-inch ND low-frequency driver mounted in a B-6-type vented enclosure. The high-frequency unit is a 1-inch ferro fluid cooled driver coupled to a 40°/90° x 60° AP asymmetrical horn. The system incorporates a low loss passive filter designed for a flat frequency response and optimal phase alignment.

Biamp gains a sibling

The cabinet is constructed of 15mm plywood, finished with black epoxy paint and the speaker comes with a 35mm tube adapter. The multi-angle design means that the KM15 can be used in a variety of applications, such as FOH, stage monitor or fixed install. www.audio-performance.com

TEC-X and integrators can easily connect and Catering to the conferencing and sound power via PoE+ both Dante and Biamp reinforcement markets, the American AVB devices in the same system with no manufacturer has introduced the TEC-X, a configuration required. The new device family of wall and table controllers enabling allows connected Dante devices to be the control of AV equipment using its Tesira managed using Dante Domain Manager platform. The TEC-X family includes two as well as configured in Dante Controller. models: the TEC-X 1000 and TEC-X 2000. Once installed, the TC-5D can be monitored The TEC-X 1000 combines a rotary and maintained using Biamp’s SageVue encoder and small touchscreen that can be management platform. programmed to display a variety of button In other news, following the acquisition layouts that can initiate ‘virtually’ any action of Huddle Room Technology (HRT) desired. The large, weighted rotary encoder based in Modena, Italy, a corporate is designed to be instantly recognisable cloud-based version of Biamp HRT’s to end users as a volume control but can collaboration technology, Huddle Hub be programmed for any purpose. The Enterprise (HH Enterprise), has been rotary can be pushed to select for one launched. HH Enterprise lets enterprise additional button to those displayed on the organisations create smart rooms that screen. For applications that require more exist as permanent virtual meeting places. buttons, the TEC-X 2000 features a larger Users can enter virtual rooms from touchscreen in anywhere reachable by the lieu of the rotary corporate network and encoder. begin collaborating Biamp’s with other visitors Tesira platform in the smart room. has also undergone It’s said to be the an expansion to include the ideal solution for TesiraCONNECT TC-5D, TesiraCONNECT TC-5D small groups that meet a new dual network around tables in lobbies, device that lets designers offices or in any other location not equipped incorporate both AVB and Dante into with AV equipment. A single HH Enterprise their AV solutions. TesiraCONNECT TC-5D device can host six simultaneous meetings features the same plug-and-play simplicity with up to 150 total participants. of the recently introduced TC-5 connectivity appliance and adds the interoperability www.biamp.com of Dante. With the TC-5D, designers

Power to the speaker. Power to the installer. Our Smart IP loudspeakers combine exceptional sound quality with single cable convenience. With PoE, AES67 and Dante compatibility plus sophisticated loudspeaker management all supported via a standard CAT cable, Smart IP enables you to deliver class-leading audio, while saving you time and money.

Learn more at genelec.com/smart-ip

PRODUCTS

Audient works harder

Drawmer moves to a new decade

AUDIENT HAS designed EVO with one aim in mind: to make recording easy. Leading the new range is EVO 4 with two mic preamps and a 58dB gain range, converters with a 113dB dynamic range alongside a JFET instrument input, Smartgain, Smart Touchpoints, one speaker output and one headphone output, ultra-low latency, monitor mix, a 24-bit/96kHz sample rate and loopback functionality. Soon to follow EVO 4 will be EVO 8 with four mic preamps and two speaker and two headphone outputs. Both units are

compliant with USB-C and feature +48V true phantom power over USB. ‘One of EVO’s most unique features is Smartgain, which automatically sets the gain levels when the user starts playing or singing,’ explained Andy Allen, Audient’s marketing director. ‘This is perfect for anyone who wants to focus on being creative, or perhaps is just starting out. Of course, pros can still dial in the gain manually, if they choose, as well as benefit from other features they’d expect from a professional audio interface.’

EXPANDING ON the feature set of the Drawmer 1960, the 1970 dual FET compressor and preamplifier has retained the layout of the controls but comes with a fine-tuned EQ that is said to be more accurate than its predecessor. The 1970 uses the latest THAT Corporation technology in the two mic preamps to repor tedly provide ultra clean, transparent and precise recordings that can be processed at a later stage using warming methods such as saturation, valve, transformer or tape. In addition, each channel is capable of 66dB of gain with phantom power, with switchable mic impedance for accurate mic matching. Phase reverse and separate line and mic input XLRs are also included.

FINNISH LOUDSPEAKER manufacturer Amphion has built on its existing amplifier technology and developed the Amp700, with additional headroom and tighter control over its predecessor, the Amp500. The heart of the Amp700 is its robust Class-D power section which provides 2x350W at 8Ω

and offers three step adjustments at 0dB, –12dB and –24dB for its input sensitivity to provide compatibility with all Amphion studio monitors as well as a wide variety of thirdparty speaker systems. In addition to this, Amphion has also developed a proprietary Class-A buffer for the Amp700 to bring a more ‘pleasing’ musical character to the sound without sacrificing the amplifier’s accuracy or headroom. This is said to translate to a more involving and fatiguefree listening experience for engineers working long hours in the studio, while still preserving the Amp700’s accuracy and power.

From tracking instruments via the dedicated DI input to recording vocals via the mic pres, recording a guitar cabinet with two microphones or a singer playing guitar, or even stereo bus compression using the linking and mix facilities, the 1970 has been designed to be a versatile tool for any studio or live event. Rear-panel, side-chain insert points are said to provide additional control, while Big and Air modes help to preserve the deep lows and enhance the highs. Variable Wet/Dry Mix plus Output Gain knobs on both channels give a Parallel Compression function without the need for external mixing devices, to provide ‘effortless’ control over the amount of compression used and output levels. www.drawmer.com

www.audient.com

Amphion improves accuracy

and 2x700W at 4Ω. The added power over the Amp500 reportedly gives the Amp700 improved accuracy and tonality across all frequency ranges and lower distortion at even its highest settings. The Amp700 has also been synergistically designed with Amphion’s existing studio monitor lines

www.amphion.fi

MC2 mixes and matches MC2’S DELTA Series DSP amplifiers have received an upgrade to the free preset library for a variety of speaker manufacturers. Every configuration has reportedly been verified by engineers and the data is compatible with all Delta DSP amplifiers as well as XTA’s DPA and APA ranges of amps. New presets are FIR based and are described as a ‘whole new way of working’ within AudioCore: Amped Edition, the manufacturer’s remote amplifier software application.

56 PRO AVL MEA May–June 2020

‘Now you can mix and match individual cabinet data and build configurations,’ explained Waring Hayes, technical brand manager for MC2. ‘It’s not a bank of presets that have to change all four amplifier channels. There’s now over 2,000 system configurations bundled in with the application. Four additional auxiliary outputs on the Delta DSP amps can be configured to run entirely independently.’ www.mc2-audio.co.uk

New additions to the Void family VOID ACOUSTICS’ Bias family of amplifiers has grown with the addition of the Bias Q1 four-channel DSP+Dante amplifier. Smaller in size and lighter than the Bias Q5, the Bias Q1 operates from the same amplifier platform and has been designed for applications where large amounts of smaller, lower-powered loudspeakers are being used. It has a microprocessorcontrolled power supply with built-in power factor correction for operation with any AC mains voltage in the 85–275 VAC range with a tolerance up to 400V. The Air Series also has a new member. The Airten V3 is an upgrade of the Airten V2 and includes a new crossover that is said to provide better frequency linearity, coherence and summation

between the drivers. An FEA-optimised rear port has been introduced to reduce noise and distortion and increase airflow to reduce power consumption. The diaphragm size within the compression driver has increased from 1 inch to 1.4 inches to allow each driver to operate at its optimal frequency band. The speaker has a high-output 10-inch loudspeaker and a small footprint, making it suitable for DJ monitoring. Other features include low enclosure resonance and a focused 80° x 80° (HxV) dispersion pattern. It has a frequency response of 60Hz – 20kHz (±3dB) and a maximum output of 125dB (continuous) or 128dB (peak). www.voidacoustics.com

The Bias family

BUSINESS: R&D BUSINESS: BUSINESS: R&D BUSINESS: TECHNOLOGY

TS &D

BUSINESS: R&D PRODUCTS BUSINESS: R&D

Sound management

political skills as well ascompanies technical ones. proud that Furthermore, third-party companies specialised in making Dante you split that off have into the Dante network different approach. tendbridge, toI am drive tothen market as works are invisible to each other,’ with contents from aUS central r different we have made something elegant and versatile, with anot new these hiding accessories and there the are FOH already some the available where that is then shared between console, fast as they can and they’ll fix the issues later. That is the ne is connected to a broadcast truck, applications really range from the o go aesthetic and simple accessories, manages toThat retain forwhich our new design.the was again one ofthe the OB things weand learnt recording console, broadcast console, truck way that Yamaha sells new products to its customers.’ invisible to the broadcast truck and mplex,’ clarifies Moreno. n. a connection to Nexo’s history. from the R&D team’s work.’ all of that audio is available to all the desks. It’s bi-directional While this first product has drawn deeply on the Yamaha n there is completely invisible to the ee,one field Holoplot hopes to XLR balanced input and attenuator control. one of the too, sofuture if you want toThis takehighlights audio back from the major broadcast truck, SOVICO HAS unveiled its DS-26N and quality process, Mr Reid that collaborations equivalent of a transformer seigital perhaps the clearest example of believes DS-48N speaker management system. It has a nominal impedance of 8Ω and a from that DPA Nexo achieved longevity with products as the audience micsadvantages or the ambience, wehas canseen ask the will seehas other elements come tosuch the fore. ‘We are getting no possible interaction between the enhance speech intelligibility and The two-in/six-out (DS-26N) and four-in/ voice coil diameter of 25mm. Manufactured taking this approach to the broadcast truck to send us an ambient feed back into the the best out of both companies. We have a Yamaha quality such as the Series, which has been around the most composite andPS hectic eight-out (DS-48N) products incorporate from medium-density fibreboard (12mm), R&D process. ‘Having the network and we can pick that up where ever we want. It gives control process that fits the broader Yamaha brand and two separate networks offers some for 25 years. Can you do it again? 32-bit DSP and a 24-bit AD/DA converter. the speaker includes a female XLR input R&D team you to a tremendous amount where theseeing audio we’re convinced working outthat how we use that be competitive in theof flexibility about equally eriday fromismuseums – to create ‘focused JC: Not just PS, we see many Alpha systems still on the Each input and output channel comes with and a 1.5mm metal grille backed with what our customers are doing was brilliant,’ goes to and it allows you to build up very large complex audio ever-growing UC market. Is everything you need to do for ive environment is a positive thing rsive soundscapes’ – to conferences, road today. But the market has what changed; we ‘That cannot aspire 10-band parametric EQ, while each input black acoustic foam. The speaker is fitted saysyou Mørch. way itawas not conveyed via networks quite simply and very inexpensively because it is a high-end piece of equipment need to do for ffers the example of a conventional eech intelligibility and more even will toUS$150 25 years of speakerphone? longevity now and, although we’d to, we Cat-5 several people, itlike was direct. They could see what they were using standard switches and cable.’ USB Probably not. That’s what we’re OH console and a monitor console, etail spaces and art exhibitions are here cannot remake success of the PS Series. designing because knew the pain was, was theyalways didn’t They are thrilled tothe see weforward. Expanding theManufacturers Livethey family intowhat different markets investigating now as we go We’re discussing what w on atechnology, separate console and athat feed r that. the in order to create are releasing products at angoing ever-faster rate and, atoption have to what they were designing for.’by embracing have used some ofit’s thenew input that to guess be the sensible for SSL. But really makes sense from a go-to-market perspective and have some conventional Madi g‘We experiences, and one area that the end ofEast. the market, thethe lifecycle of of professional The combined resultnetworking of the newfor capsules and accessories we gotisfrom the the world tour expectations potential audio the concert market, the establishing what customer are. which connected directly to the pitalise on inhigher theround Middle ‘So loudspeakers is shorter than before, despite rental values is something the manufacturer is clearly taking a lot of pride owork,’ make it better. manufacturer has shown that all that time in development has ‘This will be the first of many products on the collaborative he Middle begins. East ‘The that Madifollow I/O goes ed in the reducing. This scenario makeshe the versatility of the P12 tothat from. ‘It is a‘We’re very exclusive product,’ concludes Nielsen. ‘We get isinto that it fits perfectly and it can been well spent. side from theconsole two companies,’ continues. looking ectly the monitor to run There’s an innate passion shines through when Born t result in high reverberation times, DS-26N even more interesting when consider the for one know the combination of smaller‘I and is in high ontinues. ‘With the benefits from further leverage ourbetween products. Wediscusses havethat wireless microphones absolute minimum latency theROI product development. just better love making glass, concrete and the design of you thatback can fitDSPs every application. demand. I for think wevery are going to open some newatdoors that the clip on the of the www.solidstatelogic.com CEO Roman Sick collecting an award at SXSW and Yamaha-built and other systems mixing in I/O and the monitor board. Via the microphones,’ hethat smiles. ‘I think about microphones home, logy, withproduct its steering capabilities, THEintelligible INSTALLATION-SPECIFIC KSLi System in due tobreakfast. the geometry Image of frequencies, Katrina Barber at part Getty Images itcourtesy due tomicrophones the size mainly, and I also think that a number of those things where we wondered, Iwith think about when I’m eating I just ns to create speech in from d&bsee audiotechnik KSLi8/ ofcourse, twoswitch front-facing 10-inch andhard. two ofthe our customers will to that one. decisions Mydrivers gut feeling is that channel also features two-band dynamic EQ. with M5 suspension points, measures of this before?’ Do you astrong strongfeatures future for point love what I do. source Of some of those are Moreno. Other potentially cts particular ‘We needed getgoing away from fixed ‘But and output cards or 4-channel GPIO cards and for either input relation toneeds. its acoustic outline,’toit’s notes Oliver Thomas. KSLi12 loudspeakers, combined with the side-firing 8-inch drivers, which couple arerooms, included a varietyvaried. of SAC 170mm 170mm weighs to be good.’ heinclude only accessory to benefit from the You want170mm to go inxthere and xjust make a phone call or high-end audio higher-end youfor could technology? ‘The liberalthe use of thewith word “immersive” is whyapplications. it’s Then we For Presets We started project only one cable at 1.6mm. Europe and Asia. architecture and focus on creating a truly modular or output. The integrated 4x4 Dante card is something the best takeaway was looking at the type of engineering KSLi-SUB/KSLi-GSUB subwoofers, thetonew and cardioid techniques to cause speakers andmicrophone systems. With a balanced 2.6kg. 6060 lavalier, weWe made a new version you want to go in there and make a video call or you want to go us solution combining and wired becoming difficult to apply bringand a truly immersive to our spoke the theatre guys theyimagine said, “we really would likewireless he benefits it thinks its erent challenge. did an awful lot audio gh business render channel count immersive design DSP system. So Solaro, we took the approach of a bonus feature for the user, as assured flexibility is and design process for a company making products that with will low-frequency headroom. and JC: Intaking opinion, point source will increase inbecause popularity 40D high-performance installation amplifier directivity inputtechnology impedance 20KΩ the and output www.dpamicrophones.com at instead of the micwith out, in there and do nothing but put your slides up on the screen. technologies with some of their DSP to of address the market and get noticed all thetonoise Truly a 1mm cable it’s a with lot easier hide”.around. I said, “well, here are lots ofmy operational costinPlex and having the patience toyou to adopt a rotable modular I/O architecture in order toimmersive provided by www.sovico.co.kr the combination of any card type and any be used in a pretty harsh environment and going through cts. for two reasons. Firstly, the growing interest in plus avia catalogue ofdesign,’ system-specific The flown KSLi-SUB or wouldn’t ground-stacked impedance of 100KΩ, the systems provide rooms ferent position a Conference everywhere get used like that all the time, boardrooms the know where to those channels, they evenworld.’ knowand filtered that they’re not confused immersive sound, from our point of view, is anofexperience in alright. Let’s goput and do it”. The company understands that ystem –so less speakers and/or less nd bad, to make those changes that maximise the I/O requirements per project and card slot. the steps of validation and testing.’ he audio, which localising sound. accessories and customisation options. KSLi-GSUB been designed frequency response of 20Hz – 20kHz different positions sorequires you can clip it cabinets especially in companies where they’ve created a lot of these But product he quick to point aout that the collaboration what tofor with we them. hat arechallenging not applicable,’ he reasons. which a do person is able to feel dragged intoisaequally virtual spaceas they knew that needed tohave have this asfor perfect mersive setups because less or lots no both and rewarding. Butof reduce unnecessary spending.’ Making systems integrators’ lives easier, Xilica’s The PMC sales and marketing team has already set its Mario Rodriguez, Nexo’s director of manufacturing, with the first P12s to come off the production line ou Secondly, the dramatic improvements in networking, which The Moreno. KSLi8 and KSLi12 are acoustically applications where space or limits (–0.5dB) a signal-to-noise ratio of conference smaller rooms.’ could tackle conferencing of any and scale. ‘We ‘The barrier to business for most isstill theweight complexities can filter the database for just that from the physical one,people while being able to ofproducts it candiffers be.’ equired,’ adds ‘This solution ousers a launch like this with complete atelite signals can assist remote news teams programming software – Xilica Designer – Support for Audinate’s Dante technology, the sights on the broadcast sector in Asia and Australasia and hey enable users to deploy large of actions point source toon the mobile KSL numbers System and exist. The 40D installation amplifier isFor >118dB. There one USB port onImportantly, the ctical was aidentical key speaker part,’ he Mr Reid also believes that the mission-critical can go down up. They have power amps andis speech the design,’ continues. ‘Ihuman can do a design in aand minute-andom the various or projector perform that any will intuitively make. Despite theheimmense amount of planning and development acoustic performance, cross-talk we did our homework it.continues. We could introduction of programmable controls and develops into a universal control platform for is banking on the result6 to make an impact in the region. Are you going to build on the P12 and release een the electronics cabinets easily. Thisaudience for new sound are said to deliver the sameopportunities performance designed for fixed installations and is front panel and RJ45 andthat RS-485 ports onthese development come with more attachments nature of spaces meansteam that that therehas is adeveloped potentially the andyou all kinds audio equipment Anything that offers greater capacity provides opportunities for of high-end a-half. I could run five designs using different manufacturers, make itup acoverage much more professionally ent system, which allows users towould example, if you find yourself immersed in a the jungle, want that went into TwinPlex, it’s safe toreinforcement say that development uniform entire two years ago,’ heover adds, ‘but itcreates Solaro’s selectable multi-sampling ratesusing for described third-party products. QR1 connects to setups a wide ‘Weespecially will be entertainment looking at China quite aggressively, and I walls would a range of point source speakers? MK2 range of NXAMPs, working on the processing, design in the environment, floors, characteristics: full-range broadband by d&b as the most powerful the back panel. The input range is ≤±5dBu But we found in the film to wehear can leverage as we go improved video quality and performance. different loudspeaker different screens andarrived projectors ase.’ nt, monitor live feeds, route to be hasn’t able toground turn around when you an animal from theup. And going down we have our USB vibrant market. ‘People recognise that ease of use, time team tobrands, a halt now the product has on speech intelligibility. It’s notcontent a system probably wouldn’t have sounded as to enhanced usage continue to spearhead Xilica’s range of control inter faces including the optional expect the result6 to open a new market for us there,’ ereal and protection theseofnew controllers. and ceilings as four radiating directivity control, extended low-frequency four-channel Class-D in phones andsothe power ≤25W. The units measure pros who know they are start, and audioalgorithms and video in quality meetings are essential phones have USB there are is a lot of places Network offers a new ofinstallation reliability byamplifier and present those the client. Iflevel we get theand job, that’s brilliant, ble to handle the complexities ility and view performance data andsurfaces. back or toblending walk to to a waterfall that you hear in they the corner. the market. sic but it’s an added important audio e aon, cable this thin orwhat all colours. XTouch50 and XTouch80 programmable touch innovative DSP credentials. addition, says international sales director, Miles Roberts, adding e.’ JC: Actually, ourmultiple next product release is not a loudspeaker; response and enhanced itsthings catalogue. features ado 4.3-inch colour 482mm x 192.6mm x 44mm (WxDxH) ach them anything. We can give them a In automatically driversand of meeting effectiveness and productivity, and they will we cantoemotionally go together. USB phones, VoIP conferencing phones, combining cellular connectivity from and don’t I’ve only wasted 30 minutes.’ sign, MraSingleton is quick to point And, importantly, to physically and share ‘Doifmost Iwe have some that I Itstill want with it?’ environments, where clear audio ishigh-frequency n such good portfolio.’ controls. It can be managed via Solaro’s design specification adds ato dragthat unlike its European and American competitors, PMC JD: I think point source is the only way go for many parts this autumn, we will take the new signal processing Full technical details thealso P12can can be afound onEthernet p.58 ofthere resolution. With 80° and 120° horizontal display showing a range of speaker settings weigh 3.1kg. yPlex know how to hide it. Why try to give pay a premium to get of them. We see real market out peripherals that dowhich everything – audio, video, data – we could mobile network carriers with on-demand satellite connectivity, Thiswith has always been the key goalThis for TCD. Clients will makeis TCD can bring newmarket, marketplace, tecture should beadesigned so that that the person next to you. delivers that, concludes Born. ‘Of course, there are still some wish list being the to theatre and-drop design, with control via iOS, Android using the software GUI or indeed the GPIO card is in the process of obtaining China CCC Certification – a of the market. You have to think about cost. Small events will technology developed for the P12 and extend it to our other this issue. dispersion, respectively, the KSLi8 and and device status. The MNT 5, meanwhile, is a studio monitor yfied have to have from us and if it breaks for tools that improve their employees’ collaboration.’ cover the full spectrum of collaboration spaces.’ allowing broadcasters towith get high-quality video transmitted subjective choices but, tools like TCD, missing out onwith ain ngs. ‘Because I features haveupbeen doing thisin re sent over whatever data is one that key comes many times why weI think immersive sound has finally met its half-orange items. can already see great potential for more things several it bandwidth felt could and Xilica’s proprietary XTouch sur faces. The mandatory product certification system with the aim bigger of befor point source and, manufacturers progress loudspeaker heavily in software reportedly provide speaker with adefinite 50W Class-D amplifier. ports. Additionally, Xilica’s XTouchApp can be used itproblem out ofalways aKSLi12 then they have While that isranges. for the We’re future,investing Mr Reid can see a challenging network contract doesn’t haveconditions. to be so painful. atto itcostume was me,’ he reflects. whichever location or locations Moreno expresses concern over itstoifconsistent in the market.’ this portfolio.’ All of the aspects brought different current Solaro family consists of FR1 and QR1 modular protecting consumer security –even for result6. Notwww.dbaudio.com havingina www.nexo-sa.com point source designs, we might seeFitch a resurgence development will allow us to get the best out pattern control down to the The 5-inch full-range a to connect iOS and Android devices with any thirdThe things that they are using you can www.revolabs.com business casetoo, for which the CS-700 now. ‘We’ve brought thatdriver to of delivers or it’s easy. When you’re doing 32 As7.1 such, the system should be as se, at times being problematic for explains Born, ‘whether it’s the cable, Revolabs’ Phil Marechal andlowest Michael demonstrating I/O architecture processors, new XTouch50 and XTouch80 such as AMX and Crestron. CCC can reportedly create import restrictions but PMC www.proavl-asia.com/videos/trade-shows touring and live It’s question of cost vs efficiency. our loudspeaker Julienwhere has been a key player in response, 100Hz – 20kHz frequency anparty controller and pick up the you need. MNT 5 the CS-700 at InfoComm 2017www.dejero.com www.yamahacommercialaudio.com market for these products. smaller rooms the use cases are very www.thecinemadesigner.com ndered audio, most people wouldn’t gned tocontinents allow the ofavarious peripherals etween asconnection itbits is use. across town. www.shure.com www.holoplot.com .shop he feature set’. programmable touch controls addition to existing Mini Just as the Neutrino series was updated to claims to have the edge in the in country, having obtained the controls andfor theprevious Rio series of Dante I/O inter face devices. incorporate Dante networking, Mr Chow is keeping certification products. an eye on networking trends when it comes to other ‘China is working out for us quite well,’ continues Mr The rear panel of the QR1 protocols on the market. ‘Xilica has to remain openRoberts. ‘We are expecting some significant movement with minded if we are to maximise Solaro’s potential,’ he The design of the Solaro FR1 processor is based on the result6. We already have pretty large pre-orders from PMC’s international sales director Miles Roberts expects stresses. of theinfact that the new platform allows a Linux platform and utilises Xilica Designer universal DMT, our China and Hong Kong distributor, so we are just big things Mindful from result6 China Xilica to network with other manufacturers, the company configuration software. From the front, the 19-inch 1RU waiting for the CCC approval to come through to ship them.’ understands with other chassis simply incorporates a front panel OLED display demands fromthat hiscollaboration team. ‘We always strive manufacturers for accuracy and The big plans for Asia do not end there, with PMC also will be the key to future successes. ‘Collaboration with and rotary wheel. However, the full modularity of Solaro neutrality,’ he says. ‘That’s the goal with all of our products. using result6 to tap into education for radio and television similar-sized us to collectively compete becomes evident from the rear. Sixteen card slots can I suppose it iscompanies a little bit allows like high-resolution television. The production technologies and classical recording. ‘We were in the gets market,’ hewith adds. accept either 2-channel audio input and output cards or detail better the more money that is spent. If you already doing installations at around eight conservatoireJudging by the increased acceptance of Neutrino 4-channel GPIO cards for either input or output. Providing listen to the result6 and putmarket them against the twotwos, they type, educational establishments,’ continues Mr Roberts. ‘I A Universal Media Controller the heart during the very past similar decade, poised take this enhanced flexibility, further cards can be inserted for other will sound in Solaro balanceiswhen youtoswitch between see result6 as the point where lies the at students canofstep into a Solaro.like ‘We’ve an increasing adoption of relatively young company to stage ofwill development. I/O requirements including AES/EBU, USB audio and them, which is important, butthe thenext difference be that brand PMC.witnessed It is reachable and affordable as opposed low-cost universal controllers for any from any Xilica’s headquarters in theresolution, northern Toronto suburb of RS232/485. the twotwos will have more detail and be more to our other products. The result6 will device give students that going to be put to market are much smaller than with a manufacturer,’ furthers Mr face Chow. installation Stouffville in many symbolises both cost Mr Chow the Operating at a sample rate of 48kHz, QR1 analytical. And they ways should, because they a lot and more.’ quality experience they will in ‘A thetypical real world.’ product of result6’s price. Although the Solaro R&D cost is uses higher, integrates a digital active mixers, but, company he’shas created. Therehorizons may notfor bePMC a sign to promote same input, output and DSP processing architecture The result6 broadened with It has been a long processor, and rocky road forspeakers, PMC and result6 the amount per speaker isn’t.’ projectors and lighting. haveittherefore developed this the industrious activities that in liethe within, but the is as the larger Named for have its ¼-rack dimensions, QR1 imminent and similar projects pipeline set door to once for Peter Thomas and hisWe team, was worth the wait and Although theFR1. result6 will not the exact same sound controller‘In sobusiness, that it could everything on open thePeter atmosphere friendly. Ditto Solaro. is based on same Linux platform and incorporates a again and excite Thomas is and his team. struggle. youaccommodate allocate the R&D cost to each dynamics as the its predecessors, it will share the one common one single softwareout platform, together all the control dual that corePeter processor drive to provide I/O flexibility. product by working what the lifetimewith will be,’ explains trait Thomas – who startedmodular up the company www.xilica.com options.’ www.pmc-speakers.com Eight in card slots can either 2-channel input Peter Thomas. ‘With the twotwos, the numbers that are back 1991 with hisaccept partner Adrian Loader –audio always

d&b introduces the KSLi System

Three years of this development was spent ensuring that all the electronics worked perfectly, both separately and together

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PRODUCTS

Adamson delivers compact bass Beyma drives the midbass THE IS219 is the latest subwoofer from Adamson Systems Engineering. It is a dual 19-inch, front-loaded bass enclosure with a reported maximum SPL of 143dB and is designed with a compact form factor to fit beneath standard 60cm stages. The IS219 possesses both front and back grilles for cardioid applications without drawing the attention, visually, of the audience. It weighs in at 90kg and features removable handles, providing portability while ensuring it will fit in tight spaces. The sub is also said to be optimised for a wide range of install projects. ‘The new IS219 subwoofer

The Italian manufacturer states that it has paid particular attention to ‘practical speaker configurations’ with the development of D3PTH, and that a frontal system setup, with line arrays arranged above a performing stage, would be sufficient to create an immersive audio soundfield, allowing listeners to perceive an expanded stereo image, with increased transparency and intelligibility. RCF suggests configurations of between five and nine line array clusters above a stage for an ‘expanded stereo coverage of around 70% in a typical venue’. Providing all the necessary processing is the D3PTH E1 rackmount engine, while the D3PTH Control Software offers real-time control. Switching the D3PTH E1 to Full System mode allows it to handle fully immersive setups, as it

M 20X

58 PRO AVL MEA May–June 2020

bass applications in which high sensitivity, high linearity, low distortion and high SPLs are required with an optimised ferrite motor structure. The 10MCB700, 12MCB700 and 15MCB700 all feature a 3-inch coil, 96–99dB sensitivities, nominal power of 700W AES and weigh between 7.6kg and 8kg. All three also include Maltcross technology that facilitates efficient voice coil cooling, which reduces the losses by power compression and reportedly results in a more constant SPL, and is said to offer a performance that is ‘similar to models with larger motors and coils’.

10MCB700

www.beyma.com

offers outstanding audio performance and rider acceptance in a discreet package that keeps the focus on the venue’s aesthetics,’ commented Adamson CEO, Marc Bertrand. www.adamsonsystems.com

RCF adds D3PTH to immersive audio D3PTH IMMERSIVE Audio has been developed by RCF to improve the acoustic landscape and the intelligibility for audiences inside performance venues and to provide an ‘enhanced palette’ of mixing options for engineers.

BEYMA HAS launched three new midbass drivers – the 10MCB700, 12MCB700 and 15MCB700 – which are 10-, 12- and 15-inch models, respectively. They have each been developed for high-efficiency bass and mid/

Allen & Heath strikes a balance

can manage everything from generic speaker layouts to 360° installations. In terms of mixing options, an FOH engineer will reportedly have several options at their fingertips. They can track performers onstage or distribute source material to different

panning positions for enhancing the perceived separation of sources and improving the overall mix quality. D3PTH has also been designed so that backing sounds, such as secondary instruments and background vocals, can be perceived more clearly, and so that rendering of stereo signals is more precise with an overall width that can be adjusted. RCF has also introduced the M 20X Series, an extension of the M Series of digital mixers that comprises the M 20X, M 20R, M 20XD and M 20RD. These new mixers are DSP-rich and fully recallable, with 11 motorised faders and 16 remote controlled preamps. The new consoles feature 20 input channels with 16 mic preamps, with eight XLR and eight combo inputs, two TRS inputs and a stereo input on a mini jack. There are 10 routable output channels, formed from eight XLRs and two TRSs, as well as two main output XLRs. The rear panel comprises AES-EBU stereo output, a USB audio 24x24 multichannel interface and a LAN port, providing external access point for wireless remote control. A 5-inch capacitive touchscreen with five encoders offers control of all the mixer’s capabilities. www.rcf.it

SUPPORTED BY scalable I/O, control and Dante solutions, Allen & Heath has unveiled the AHM-64, a 64x64 audio matrix processor targeted at corporate, retail, leisure and education environments. Built around a 96kHz FPGA engine, the AHM-64 has 12 local inputs, 12 outputs and an SLink expansion port allowing plug-and-play connection to up to eight remote expanders from Allen & Heath’s Everything I/O family. An I/O port enables a 96kHz, 64x64 Dante option card to be added for connection to equipment on a Dante network, including the wall-mount DT164-W and portable DT168 Dante expanders.

A range of remote-control options support the AHM-64, including an array of PoE remote controllers and the BYOD-friendly Custom Control app, enabling tailored user interfaces for multiple user and device types. ‘The AHM-64 strikes a balance between the simplicity and set latency of fixed architecture and the flexibility normally reserved for open architecture platforms, allowing it to handle sound management, paging, audio distribution, conferencing and speaker processing roles,’ explained Nic Beretta, head of product at Allen & Heath. www.allen-heath.com

Heritage Audio finds the elite HERITAGE AUDIO has announced the release of the HA-609A, a modern, improved take on the classic tracking/mixing diode bridge compressor. Several improvements have been made to accommodate the modern workflow. While some classic iterations of the transformer used IC chips and a Class-A/B amplifier stage, the HA-609A compressor features a discreet, Class-A design and three Carnhill/St Ives transformers per channel. It also includes a fast attack mode for both the

compressor and limiter section to give the HA-609A the flexibility to manage individual tracks alongside groups and two-bus programme material. With its diode bridge matching, the compressor is said to have better channel matching than its predecessors, while the use of rotary switches and stepped pots reportedly allow for easy recall as well as maintaining a high-quality stereo image. www.heritageaudio.net

PRODUCTS

N-RAK gets new racks NEXT-PROAUDIO HAS added to its N-RAK unified rack solution with the N-RAK 6 and N-RAK 12. Both units come with Dante, AES3 and analogue inputs to reportedly simplify the setup process. With Powersoft amplifiers built in, the manufacturer believes the racks provide an easy-to-configure, all-in-one amplifier solution that eliminates the process of building amp racks. Along with its siblings, the N-RAK 6 and N-RAK 12 offer a solution for all of Next-proaudio’s systems covering signal and power distribution in a plug-and-play touring package. The new models comprise a compact 4U customised rack with one (N-RAK 6) or

two (N-RAK 12) Powersoft T604s, a 2U audio distribution panel on the front, a 2U power distribution panel on the back and Armonía software to simplify and standardise control. The digital audio signal management system is based on an ARM Cortex A-8 processor and TI C6000 DSP platform to provide non-boolean routing and mixing, multi-stage equalisation with raised-cosine, IIR and FIR filters, a delay of up to 4s in input processing and 200ms for time alignment, gain and polarity adjustment, crossover, peak limiters, TruePower limiters and Active DampingControl. www.next-proaudio.com

N-RAK 12

Lectrosonics records in miniature LECTROSONICS HAS designed its MTCR (Miniature Time Code Recorder) for when the distance is too great or it’s not practical to use a wireless microphone. With its small size and rounded shape, the MTCR can travel with the subject by being placed in garments and costumes or easily concealed if it’s being used as a ‘plant’ microphone to capture environmental or location sound. The MTCR records in 24-bit/48kHz digital onto a microSD card (HC type, Class 10) in the industry-standard .wav format. The unit can be jammed to external time code via the standard five-pin Lemo connector. A headphone output jack allows for monitoring the signal input or listening to previously recorded files but cannot be used to send live audio to another device while recording. The input connector is the TA5M jack that accepts any mic or line-level signal and provides bias voltage to power a wide variety of electret lavalier microphones. The input connection and wiring are compatible with microphones pre-wired for use with Lectrosonics professional wireless microphone transmitters with servo bias-type inputs. Setup and adjustment are made through an interface provided by the keypad and LCD. The housing is manufactured from tough

aluminium alloy then hard anodised for the ruggedness needed in field production. The MTCR reportedly runs for over six hours on a single lithium AAA battery. It provides a 20Hz – 20kHz frequency response, 105dB(A) signal-to-noise ratio (in HD mono mode) and <0.035% distortion. Time code is SMPTE 12M – 1999 compliant. The MTCR measures 60mm x 54mm x 17mm (HxWxD) and weighs 71g with the battery. It comes with an M152/5P low-noise omni lavalier microphone, microSD memory card, belt clip and AAA lithium battery. www.lectrosonics.com

Wall-mounted programming THE RC-W100 is a wall-mountable, programmable remote control for the TASCAM MX-8A matrix mixer or other compatible products. Four switch buttons and one encoder with push-button function allow users to select between four or eight audio sources, adjust volume levels and mute sound in a permanently installed audio system. The illuminated display provides information about the selected audio source and the current volume setting. Up to eight controllers can be used with one mixer by daisy-chaining the units via an RS-485 connection with a cable length of up to 200m. Using TASCAM MX Connect, mistakes can be avoided by assigning only necessary functions to the encoder and switches. MX Connect is a software application designed for SIs and systems managers which allows configuration of the MX-8A. For spaces where switching routes or changing audio levels is a regular occurrence, the

Staying with software, EZ Connect is an application for computers and mobile devices which allows users to control TASCAM’s Dante Compact Processor Series models (MM-2D, MM-4D/IN, ML-4D/OUT and AE-4D) and the MX-8A matrix mixer. Users can control the volume and input source of an area while being actually in that environment. It is also possible to collectively manage multiple areas at the same time by operating multiple EZ Connect instances on one computer. Faders and buttons are allocated on the interface, while control functions can be customised via DCP Connect or MX Connect control software. MX Connect and EZ Connect are available for Windows and macOS computers as well as iOS and Android devices and can be downloaded from the TASCAM website.

RC-W100 software allows for configuration changes as well as status monitoring of input and output signals via a wired connection with a LAN cable or the MX-8A and MX Connect can share the same network for a wireless connection.

EZ Connect

www.tascam.jp

XTA expands MX Series TWO FURTHER models have been added to XTA’s MX Series – the MX24-A and MX24-D. They have been designed to offer a simple solution to the problem of routing multiple mixing console outputs to a speaker system or system processor. Handling 16 inputs in 2U across analogue, AES and Dante networks, these are arranged in sets of four (to typically support L-R front-fill and sub feeds from an individual console). The MX24-A works with analogue and AES audio, while the MX24-D handles analogue

60 PRO AVL MEA May–June 2020

and Dante audio. All AES inputs have independent sample rate conversion. There is one set of four outputs, available simultaneously across analogue and AES (MX24-A) or analogue and Dante (MX24-D)

networks with Word Clock output sync available on AES (MX24-A). All switching takes place in the digital domain with soft cross-fades to switch between consoles. The models will

automatically select the secondary source should the primary fail. If failover is not required, the MX24 can handle up to four consoles – two each on analogue or digital feeds. Other features include a mono mic preamp with selectable routing, clarity filtering in DSP, switchable 48V phantom power, a stereo line input, balanced rear inputs, an unbalanced 3.5mm jack front panel input and full headphone monitoring. www.xta.co.uk

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PRODUCTS

FEATURES: ENTERTAINMENT

DiGiCo adds Dante

– with a further adjustment to the Speech Transmission Index made possible by adding 650 carpet tiles. In banquet mode, 570 guests can be seated for cabaret performances, corporate events and galas. BRINGING ALL the connectivity ofDesigned the from the 4REA4 controller software. The to accommodate a multitude of performance styles, original A164 Wall LCD and A168fully Stage racks can run at both 48k and 96k sample retractable seating for 880 provided by Belgian supplier but with the addition of Dante connectivity, rates banquets and are AES67 compatible. Jezet allows concerts, and cabaret-style theatre to be DiGiCo has unveiled two new I/Ohosted, racks –with theeach Primary andthe secondary Dante seat facing stage. When not ports in use,come these A164D Wall LCD and A168D Stage – for its withalocking EtherCON seats condense into 1.5m-wide space. connectors and can 4REA4 processing engine. run in both redundant A Riedel MediorNet fibre network is the and basisswitched for all AVmode. The A164D Wall LCD is a 16-in/four-out All LCD labelspanels are dimmable can bewill transportation, while AV facility installed and by Freedon I/O expander and the A168D Stage is aevery possible customised using Dante controller enable production scenario. Rather thansoftware. invest in portable 16-in/eight-out I/O expander, with large inventories of audio equipment, the Coliseum has opted for www.digico.biz both units using the Dante network protocol rider-friendly scaled-down, platforms to which incoming operators WITH DISTRO9 HDR, US manufacturer another Distro9 An HDR to create up fly to system 17 to provide fixed, additional I/O anywhere on can add further components if required. Accordingly, six channels 80-line manual caters for world-class set changes RF Venue has developed an antenna channels of wireless microphones. Multia network. They come with 16 mic preamps of Shure Axient Digital wireless were selected for their reliability distribution system that can accommodate zone installations benefit from two zone on XLR inputs with Phantom Power andstatus performance quality. ‘There’s little point amassing a huge up to nine wireless microphone systems antenna inputs that provide coverage for LEDs and four XLR line outputs (eight for the as most performers won’t require extensive mic inventory, with two separate antenna coverage large areas or multiple rooms, each with A168D Stage) with direct preampmiking,’ controlexplains Henderson. ‘I’m estimating that 12 shows a zones. With an increasing number of switchable DC power available for in-line year will require additional microphones and we possess a large wireless devices competing for less amplifiers or active antennas. enough stock of Shure SM75s and 58s for a 30-piece orchestra. available RF spectrum, the HDR solution Distro9 HDR can provide clean DC power We also provide Shure PSM1000 in-ear monitors.’ Lighting mirrors audio, with 16 Ayrton Mistral Profile and 10 provides a flexible platform for wireless to wireless microphone receivers with Ayrton Laverne wash moving heads controlled from a grandMA3 users operating in a range of frequency an optional DC cable kit and can also be Light console. In the absence of a dimmer room, the lighting bands and adverse RF spectrum powered directly from a DC battery source fixtures receive their direct power straight from the grid. ‘While conditions. for location sound cart applications. An the majority of other venues supply nothing, operators at the Designed to offer superior gain flatness internal I/O section provides a range Coliseum can build on this base should they require extended and a high dynamic range across VHF, of future module add-on capabilities lighting fixtures,’ explains Henderson. Although a projector T-Band and UHF, Distro9 HDR provides ranging from remote web-based spectrum screen was initially specified, there are currently no video multi-band wireless microphone operation monitoring to bandpass filtering. Acoustic consultant Marshall Day recommended provisions, although the venue is future-proofed with an SDIwithin a 1U chassis. The low-noise floor-to-ceiling timber panel strip absorbers and reflectors www.rfvenue.com HDMI integrated infrastructure. ‘Rental companies can bring diversity outputs can be cascaded to According to industry veteran Henderson, this well-researched their own video equipment in – we simply supply the nodes,’ he system makes L-Acoustics number one in the market today. adds. ‘We still don’t know what entertainment will work best of Added to this was the fact that systems integrator Jands Venue SD range of consoles course, as we are hosting ballets, operas, classical symphonies Engineering could provide local support and servicing. ‘This ‘The consultant countered that L-ISA is perhaps a little premature was also a critical aspect of the decision as they are based just and musicals,’ concludes Henderson as the clock ticks down FOLLOWING THE its Type R for Henderson. ‘We’re Soft Panel performances. (SSP) or banksThese of six include faders if for the market, andsuccess he has of a point,’ explains to the first run ofSmall already sold-out an hour away,’ he says. ‘In addition to rigging the loudspeaker Radio, Calrec has launchedinType R for TV, a physical surface preferred. pioneering L-ISA technology Australia, so ait’s our duty to Dame Edna, Keith Urban, Tina Arenaisand John Butler. ‘With the hangs, they have also installed the lighting bars and a fly bar new console for IP-based virtual Thetheatre Calrec undergoing Assist web renovations UI feature isfor said educate engineers who aren’t yetmixing. familiarThe with immersive audio Sydney Opera House thetonext system with poles that are just 125mm apart.’ In line with integrated native IP core station it simple formany userssymphony to accessorchestras.’ the virtual and highlight the fact thatintegrates the audience is part of the show.’ two years, we’re make filling the void for McMaster’s recommendations, this was increased to an 80-line automation andcan allows users tolive take deskdebut, on almost any device,pull regardless of the Although L-ISA be deployed onadvantage the spot, productions can the gravitational of Sydney’s manual counterweight system with two powered panorama bars. With the Coliseum’s of workflows. With a rising demandmaking for user’s At location. Assist over TCP/IP of bevirtual designed and programmed in advance, pre-production CBD has been broken. the same time,works the expectations Acoustic consultant Marshall Day recommended the interior automated audio consolesL-ISA in smaller news and has alike minimal lag, which said to a vital part of the process. Labs in London, Paris, Los operators and audiences will control surely soar to newislevels materials, which include timber panel strips that act as Type R has three different options, an introduction operations, for TV compatible with make minor adjustments straightforward for Angeles andType New RYork, as is well as rental company warehouses programming withabsorbers real-time adjustment of with floor-to-ceiling to L-ISA. and reflectors, acoustic panels onpanel following powered byaccording standardto POE well-known station automation systems,audio suchinfrastructure, customers. and other premises with the necessary can external unpredictable factors standard both sides ofvia theastage that can be adjusted theswitches. www.l-isa-immersive.com Broadcasters can add adaptable panels as Overdrive, ELC and Grass Valley be Ross transformed intoSony a pre-production studio, providedweb thebrowser. speaker Users can also add Type R’svenue flexibility, performance. Enhancing three modes have been soft 2 www.calrec.com concrete slab –including banquet, Calrec’s concert and theatre Large Soft Panelwww.sydneycoliseum.com.au (LSP) and Ignite. providesand fully automated systemThe hasconsole been designed optimised in Soundvision. adaptable and portable set on hardware the 620melements.

RF Venue extends the wireless network

Calrec switches to TV

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March–April 2020 PRO AVL ASIA 61

PRODUCTS

RTS tackles shrinking RF FOR USE in an already congested UHF spectrum, RTS has launched the BTR-30N UHF/VHF wireless intercom system with a hybrid, dual-band design. The two-channel, narrow-band system supports up to four TR-30N (dual-channel) or TR-32N (dual-channel stereo) frequencyagile beltpacks. Designed for high performance with minimum spectrum usage, the system is suited for broadcasting, connection using can be education, event production, hotels, houses a VPN, all without running any accessed efficiency and reduce time spent travelling of worship and theatres. additional cables or leasing extra phone lines. over the between locations. By taking advantage of the lower VHF The software provides users with full intercom internet from any on- or off-site frequencies, the BTR-30N gives users the linking via 3G, 4G or Wi-Fi on standard PCs. location, allowing users to manage multiple www.rtsintercoms.com ability to increase their wireless system Control and supervision of the VLink software systems from a single point to improve capacity beyond the more limited operating range of UHF alone. Two-way radio systems use one frequency for signals sent from the beltpack to the base station and another for signals sent from the base station to the beltpack. In most systems, these two frequencies belong to the same band and there is always some separation between them. With the BTR-30N, however, signals from the base station to the beltpack are sent in the VHF spectrum (174–216MHz) and signals from the beltpack to the base station use UHF (482–572MHz). Providing 25kHz of modulated bandwidth, the BTR-30N allows more users per channel in the VHF spectrum, along with a reduced footprint in the UHF band. The system allows the beltpack operator to choose between two separate audio channels of communication, with the base station tracking the beltpack selection. This allows the user the flexibility to create a party line and a private line within the same beltpack. The units perform at line-of-sight distances of 90m and the effective operating range can be extended further using an RTS antenna system. The BTR-30N provides all the standard features of the BTR-80N UHF system, such as DSP and Intelligent Power Control. Additional features include multiple selectable transmitter power outputs, selectable receiver squelch control, RF metering on base station and beltpack displays, remote battery indicators on the base station display, beltpack battery percentage display, low battery tone indicator on the Confidea FLEX instantly adapts to your meeting. Whether it’s small or large, simple or complex. Activate only what beltpack, AC or DC power input on you need with licenses: discussion, voting, interpretation, and more. And switch easily between chairperson and delethe base station, simultaneous twogate, or single and dual-use. All with a simple tap. On a bright, full-color touch screen. Only on Plixus®. Only with wire and four-wire operation, and the ability to expand a system for a large Televic. number of users in half-duplex mode with the First-On-Latch-Out feature. In other news, RTS has unveiled VLink, a fully interconnected software intercom solution for RTS matrix systems. VLink extends an RTS intercom to any location with internet www.televic-conference.com/confidea-flex access so that users, wherever they are in the world, can be tied into the main intercom over a dedicated network or via a standard internet

One FLEX. Many faces.

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PRODUCTS

Simplified recording and mixing THE STUDIOLIVE ARc series from PreSonus combines a multichannel, 24-bit/96kHz, USB-C-compatible, USB 2.0 audio inter face with an analogue mixer front end, to create a hybrid design that is said to simplify recording and mixing using a single console. The three models in the series feature newly designed, high-headroom analogue circuits, along with the company’s high-gain XMAX Class-A mic preamps. The StudioLive AR8c offers four mic preamps and six balanced line inputs for 8x4 recording/playback, while the StudioLive AR12c comes with eight mic preamps and 12 balanced line inputs for 14x4 recording/playback. The StudioLive AR16c delivers 12 mic preamps and 16 balanced line inputs for 18x4 recording/playback. All models support recording every channel plus the main mix over USB and feature a musical, three-band analogue EQ on every channel; mic/line boost for low-level vintage synths, broadcast microphones and consumer electronics; and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity. The on-board stereo SD recorder has been included for recording a rehearsal or a mobile podcast interview or quickly capturing songwriting ideas. An all-new digital effects processor with 16 presets is said to supply ‘rich reverbs, lush delays

and fat chorusing’ and includes a dedicated send and return, as well as an optional bypass footswitch jack. All of the mixers come with the manufacturer’s

AVB Tool

64 PRO AVL MEA May–June 2020

XMAX Class-A analogue microphone preamps, two instrument inputs to directly connect basses and guitars, and six balanced line level inputs for synths, all on front-mounted combo jacks. The first two inputs are equipped with direct outputs and dedicated returns to patch in outboard gear. An additional 18 inputs and outputs are available via ADAT/dual SMUX and S/PDIF. Also included are eight ¼-inch TRS outputs that are DC coupled for sending control voltages, plus two balanced main outputs, two high-volume headphone outs with dedicated volume controls and MIDI I/O. www.presonus.com

StudioLive AR8c Super Channel which can handle four stereo analogue and digital sources at once. The Super Channel combines wireless stereo Bluetooth 5.0 input, stereo input from the on-board SD recorder or from a USB-connected Mac or Windows PC, and RCA and 1⁄8-inch stereo inputs. In other news, PreSonus has added to its Quantum series of audio inter faces with the

RME opens its AVB Tool box THE AVB Tool from RME combines four microphone, instrument and linelevel inputs, headphone and separate line-level outputs, 128 channel AVB deterministic network audio and up to 128 channels of MADI I/O, in a half-rack 19-inch unit. An internal 260x260 channel router enables connection for individual analogue, MADI and AVB channels, offering simplified integration of MADI and AVB devices. RME states that it has designed the AVB Tool with ‘pristine analogue conver ters’ that inter face with common analogue signals. There are four XLR-TRS combo inputs with remotecontrollable 75dB gain in increments of 1dB, an input line-level sensitivity of +18dBu and switchable high impedance on each channel. A stereo headphone output and pair of analogue line-level outputs with switchable +4/+19dBu reference level are also featured.

Quantum 2626. Using a Thunderbolt 3 bus to reportedly achieve a roundtrip latency as low as <1ms, users can record and monitor with up to 24-bit/192kHz fidelity through their favourite plug-ins, without leaving the DAW. The inter face provides up to 26 inputs and 26 outputs, plus eight of PreSonus’

The AVB Tool presents a TFT display with an encoder and four buttons providing access to all features and functionality. It can be fully remote controlled via a web interface and powered with an external power supply. Seamless redundancy is available for MADI signals when the secondary MADI port receives the same signal as the coaxial MADI input. If redundancy is not required, an optional optical single- or multimode MADI module is treated as an individual MADI I/O with full bandwidth. The AVB Tool delivers eight AVB streams in AM824 (legacy AVB) or AAF (Milan compatible) format and features double the number of typical streams available in RME AVB core, with configurable size and format per stream. Up to 128 audio channels can be sent and received over AVB across all streams.

Quantum 2626

Universal Audio’s Luna mission UNIVERSAL AUDIO (UA) has introduced the Luna Recording System, an Apollo-powered music creation, recording and analogue-style production system that builds on 60 years of analogue audio recording. It includes accelerated real-time monitoring, built-in Neve Summing, multitrack tape emulation and new Luna Instruments from UA, Moog Music and Spitfire Audio, among others. Developed to convert UA’s Apollo interfaces into fully integrated recording systems,

as it is built to ensure music production feels more robust, dependable and intuitive, without latency or monitoring hassles. The built-in Neve Summing provides emulated audio summing circuitry from the Neve 80-Series audio mixing consoles of the 1960s and 1970s, including the Neve 1272 summing amplifier. Described as more than a ‘summing plug-in’, the Neve Summing functionality is a fully fledged Luna Extension built into the fabric of the Luna mixer.

Luna comprises a UA Thunderbolt-equipped audio interface, the Luna Application, Luna Extensions and Luna Instruments. Available as a free download on Mac computers for Apollo and Arrow Thunderbolt audio interface owners, the Luna Recording System features deep Apollo interface integration for the quick routing and recording of audio through DSP. Meanwhile, the accelerated real-time monitoring functionality will reportedly be of great benefit to users not working on a DSP-assisted recording system,

Luna also features integrated multitrack tape emulation via the Oxide Luna Extension. Users can choose between a range of magnetic tape sounds with an optional Studer A800 Tape Recorder Extension. As for the Luna Instruments, these bring UA’s acoustic modelling, sampling, synthesis and signal processing to virtual instruments for the first time. They include the Moog Minimoog, Ravel grand piano and Shape.

www.rme-audio.de

www.uaudio.com

PRODUCTS

Burl Audio enters the mothership BURL AUDIO has introduced the B22 Orca Control Room Monitor daughter card, which uses the same analogue circuit path as other Burl Audio products with an emphasis on sonic transparency and 3D stereo imaging. The monitor features Burl NextGen BOPA14 op-amps and reportedly delivers a tight bass and high definition throughout the audio spectrum. Instruments and mixes are said to have a more real 3D sound with wider stereo image and more depth, while preserving the original shape and harmonic balance of the source.

The B22 Orca employs four DAC channels. The first two are mix/mastering grade DAC channels with switchable BX5 output transformers and can be used to feed a separate headphone amp or a mix/mastering chain or send out tracks for analogue processing. The second two DAC

channels feed the main monitor section which features two stereo speaker outputs and one stereo headphone output. The card can be coupled with a B16 Mothership and a B4 mic/line input card to create a desktop recording rig. Alternatively, it can be combined with a B16 and a BAD4M for a four-in/four-out mastering solution. In other news, the manufacturer has released the B16-BMB6 motherboard, which features eight channels of AES/EBU I/O connectivity and reportedly provides an easy interface to any AES/EBU device.

With a BAD8 and a BDA8, the B16-BMB6 is an eight-channel I/O; with a BAD4M and a BDA4M with switchable input and output transformers, it becomes a four-channel I/O solution for mastering.

LD SYSTEMS has built the new Zone X1208 19-inch DSP matrix processor with a variety of remote-control options. Its hybrid architecture features a 40-bit floating point DSP engine that allows DSP templates to be loaded as installation requirements change. Users can set calendar-based workflow controls and perform automated preset changes using the Zone X1208’s event scheduler function, while a Remote bus facilitates integration with future LD Systems control panels and paging microphones. The unit also features 12 balanced mic/line inputs with microphone preamps and 48V phantom power selection per input, as well as eight balanced line outputs, eight GPI and eight GPO logic ports.

At a size of 1U, the Zone X1208 features a front panel design and an operating system based on the latest generation of Linux, enabling remote control via the Xilica Designer universal control software using the integrated Ethernet interface. In addition, dedicated remote control apps for iOS and Android allow users to customise the user interface to meet the needs of certain projects. A Zone X1208D version will also be available with an integrated Ethernet and Dante card for advanced AoIP applications, with 64x64 Dante audio-over-IP channels. The Ethernet and Dante card is also optionally available for subsequent upgrading of the Zone X1208. www.ld-systems.com

Sennheiser connects with students

www.burlaudio.com

Sound Devices mixes it up

SOUND DEVICES has released the 888 Portable Production Mixer-Recorder, the third mixer-recorder in the 8-Series. It is reportedly the smallest portable mixer-recorder available that offers Dante for sending and receiving audio over Ethernet. With the aid of eight low-noise 8-Series microphone preamplifiers, 16 channels, 20 tracks, multiple powering methods and support for multiple USB control surfaces, the 888 is similar in size to the 788T recorder. Suitable for either bag or mobile cart use, the 888 fits in-between the Scorpio and the 833 in terms of size, inputs and outputs. The 8-Series mixer-recorders feature trim and fader controls, dedicated returns and coms, an internal timecode generator, AES in/out, two SD card slots, an internal 256GB SSD, dual L-Mount battery powering and charging, and an updated processing architecture with multiple

LD Systems is in the zone

FPGAs. The architecture allows the mixerrecorder to be routable and physical input can be sent to any track, bus or output. Dugan Automixing and Sound Devices’ own MixAssist are integrated with the 8-Series mixer-recorders – both algorithms reduce unused microphones in multi-microphone applications to provide an additional tool to sound professionals. In brief, Sound Devices has announced firmware version 3.10 for the 8-Series which includes support for the XL-AES eight-channel AES3 input expander, USB audio input and output, graphical EQ screens, improvements to sound reports and a reduction in power consumption. All 8-Series mixer-recorders can now act as USB interfaces with two channels of audio in and out.

SENNHEISER HAS launched MobileConnect, a streaming solution that offers students an individual listening capability through their smartphone. The Wi-Fi-based system provides operators the possibility to implement complex architectures and manage them from a central location. MobileConnect consists of three components: the MobileConnect Station, MobileConnect Manager and MobileConnect App. The MobileConnect Station is considered to be the hardware of the system as it has the job of conver ting the audio signals into network-compatible, digital packets. A station has two audio channels and the software can control a multitude of stations. The audio data can be fed through either two analogue XLR inputs or through the station’s redundant Dante por ts. Two LAN por ts are

available for control, the audio stream and PoE so two separate networks can be used for the audio stream and administration. The audio data goes to the access points of the Wi-Fi system via the audio stream output. The MobileConnect Manager enables the system to be centrally controlled and the IT team can access and process all of the channel information, for example hiding channels, assigning channel numbers and switching between mono and stereo playback. The MobileConnect App for Android or iOS is able to turn a smar tphone into an audio receiver, which allows students to listen via hearing aids or headphones. The audio stream is accessed via Wi-Fi by entering the corresponding channel number or scanning a QR code. www.sennheiser.com

www.sounddevices.com

May–June 2020 PRO AVL ASIA 65

PRODUCTS NEWS: BUSINESS

Bosch deals a flush Prolyte Asia Pacific restructures, becoming Sixty82 Doughty Asia BOSCH HAS extended its interpretation product lineup of IP-based conferencing systemsAPAC with the new Dicentis Flush language selector system designed for Following recent financial issues that plagued multi-lingual meetings where simultaneous Prolyte Group and its subsequent acquisition interpretation is required. Developed to by Area Four Industries, the independently be user-friendly and intuitive, the language operated is Prolyte Asia Sdnlisteners, Bhd (PAP) selector for use byPacific passive has severed ties with its namesake and, in the such as meeting delegates in government process, has as Sixty82 Doughty meetings andrebranded at international conventions Asia events. (SDA). and As with Prolyte before,selector SDA willintegrates serve as an The Flush language extension of both Sixty82 and Conference Doughty in Asia. with the rest of the Dicentis ‘For theplatform, past 15 years, have operated System whichwe is based on Bosch’s under themedia name networking PAP; however, due to recent OMNEO architecture. events, PAP has decided to take a logical step Once connected, it will automatically forwardthe and start a new chapter with new adopt Dicentis system’s interpretation partners,’without explained Menze settings themanaging need for director, any further van der Sluis. In order to continue providing the service it has become widely known for in Asia, PAP and Doughty became SDA after choosing to work with Sixty82. ENCOMPASSING A Prolyte, range ofdesigns products and Sixty82, much like and solutions specifically to provide manufactures trussingdesigned and staging systems simplicity sound clarity in productive and is led and by Prolyte’s original founders Fokko workday Bose Professional Smedingenvironments, (CEO) and Marc Hendriks (CTO). has introduced Bose Work. portfolio ‘Sixty82 was the best and The only new choice includes thetoBose Videobar VB1 all-in-one for catering the high standards of the USB conference device, base,’ the 700 UC noise extensive PAP customer reasoned cancelling headphones and a selection of ControlSpace EX components. From desktop and mobile conferencing products to all-in-one huddle space devices and fully integrated meeting room systems, the underlying ethos WORLD of Bose Work is to deliver consistent, premium performances, making interactions more Baird and Capital, a private firm, has to natural productive whileequity helping people announced the acquisition of a large stake feel more connected and engaged. in theWork Vegaconferencing Global group.products This partnership Bose integrate willexisting reportedly positionenhancing the company for all with platforms, third-party growing facetsincluding of the AVMicrosoft market while meeting cloud services Teams, the requirements of clients seeking Google Hangouts Meet, Zoomthat andare others. global platforms. The Bosestandards Videobar and VB1delivery simplifies huddle spaces, making it easier for teams to work

configuration or system restart. Up to 100 interpreter-provided languages are supported and streamed from the Dicentis Interpreter desk over an IP network. With touch buttons and a black finish, Dicentis Flush comes with an invisible mounting system and shares an identical installation footprint to the DCN Flush range, meaning it can easily replace the DCN-FCS Flush channel selector. The language selection functionality – with language ISO abbreviations or descriptions in native characters – is only visible when a headphone is connected and when interpretation languages are available. The screen automatically switches off after use.

L–R: Marc Hendriks (CTO of Sixty82), Menze van der Sluis (MD at SDA) and Fokko Smeding (Sixty82 CEO)

noted that Sixty82 trusses are compatible with the Prolyte products previously supplied by PAP and that SDA guarantees distribution www.boschbuildingtechnologies.com across all APAC countries. L–R: Cor van der Sluis, Fokko Smeding, Menze van der Sluis, Jesper van der Sluis, Xavier ‘Our goal is to continuously improve every Drouet, Jerome Brehard and Rainier Smeding aspect of our customers’ experience,’ said Sixty82 CEO Smeding. ‘Expanding our sales van der Sluis, who also happens to be one Another reason the former PAP decided network, supporting personnel and being of the first people employed by Prolyte in its to align with SDA was reportedly due to theclose headphones an adaptive in proximityincorporate to our customers are key together effect that are working ultra-HD integrated into early dayswith andthe therefore has they an established its focuscamera on the is specific needs ofthe thechassis eight-microphone to transform any initiatives towardssystem achieving that. Having in the same with room. The Videobar VB1’s having to transmit clear transmission. relationship Smeding and Hendriks, Asian market andvideo its approach to product space into a meeting four of the the SDA team supportplace. us isUsing incredible and automatic beam-steering are The Bose 700 UC headphones are being played a significant role inmicrophones the development development. microphones actively identify reject ensures that that our customers in theand APAC said actively focus on voices in the space designed to enhance collaboration forinteract remote of thetocompany. ‘To continue to support our SDA notes that customers will still noise, important can be understood region will get thedetails best treatment possible.’as and reject noise, whilethat thewe Bose proprietary workers. With the ability toggleWhat between customers in the way have been doing with the same team as to before. has transducers produce full-range A 4K conversation, calls and for so many years now, this wasaudio. the only changed is thevoice/video company name andmusic, the brand the user’s voice has been isolated. www.sixty82-doughty.com For meeting rooms and conferencing possible way forward.’ of trussing solutions it provides. It is also applications, Bose is promoting the expandable ControlSpace EX conferencing processors and endpoints, together with PowerSpace amplifiers and directional EdgeMax in-ceiling loudspeakers. EX processors and endpoints can be configured to pair with standard analogue or Dante amicrophones. reputation forThe excellence in its offerings, ‘We are extremely excited to partner with market. Together with Baird, our potential ES1 ceiling audio solution people andoptimised growth plan, and we look Baird, a highly respected firm that is aligned to meet the needs of tomorrow’s enterprise has been for unified communication forward to in working alongside them in the with Vega’s vision of growth into the future,’ clients is limitless.’ platforms conferencing applications, while future.’ said Laurie Chow, Vega Global’s CEO and Andy Tse, partner at Baird Capital, added: FreeSpace FS series loudspeakers have been founder. ‘Vega continues to distinguish itself ‘We are proud to partner with Vega Global described as a natural evolution with the www.bairdcapital.com as a leader in the Asia Pacific region in the and its experienced management team. series. www.vega-global.com rapidly growing professional audiovisual Laurie has built a fantastic business with Bose Work pro.bose.com

Bose goes to Work

Baird Capital acquires large stake in Vega Global

MORE THAN YOU WISHED FOR!

PRODIGY.MP MULTIFUNCTION AUDIO PROCESSOR BOOSTED BY GLOBCON

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66 PRO PROAVL AVLASIA MEAMarch–April May–June 2020 8 2020

PRODUCTS

Shure gets intelligent Mackie extends SRM Series SHURE HAS launched what it is terming a game-changing product for the AV industr y. IntelliMix Room is an audio processing suite for Windows 10 that is optimised to work with Shure networked system microphones. IntelliMix Room is a software-based DSP that requires minimal set up or additional hardware. It can be deployed to in-room Windows 10 PCs and meeting control devices that are already in place to run popular software-based AV conferencing ser vices. This new software-based approach will repor tedly allow systems integrators to install more rooms, more consistently and more costef fectively than traditional, hardware-based DSP solutions. Providing up to 16 channels of audio processing, IntelliMix Room deploys the same algorithms as Shure’s P300 IntelliMix audio conferencing processor but is installed on the same in-room PC as the conferencing soft codec. IntelliMix algorithms are designed to optimise the per formance of Shure’s range of premium conferencing microphones, such as the MXA910 ceiling array, MXA310 table array and Microflex Wireless. IntelliMix Room aggregates and optimises the audio output of multiple microphone sources and scales up to suppor t more complex boardroom deployments. With echo cancellation, noise reduction, automatic mixing, automatic gain control and secure Dante routing, IntelliMix Room automatically produces a single channel of conferenceready audio. The microphone manufacturer has also announced compatibility with Dante Domain Manager for multiple products in its networked systems por tfolio. Achieved via firmware version 4.1, the update also includes compatibility enhancements with leading thirdpar ty software and hardware video conferencing codecs, and AES67 networking compatibility for products using the UltimoX chipset. The expanded suppor t for additional third-par ty video codecs includes Cisco, Zoom Rooms and Microsoft Teams, providing programming-free USB mute sync compatibility with the IntelliMix P300 and ANIUSBMATRIX. With Dante Domain Manager compatibility included in firmware release 4.1, Shure products including the Microflex Advance MXA910 and MXA310 array microphones, the IntelliMix P300 audio conferencing processor

nexo-sa.com

and the ANI audio network inter faces are now able to take advantage of Audinate’s network management. Lastly, Shure has joined the Logitech Collaboration Program. Customers who purchase Shure’s Microflex Advance ceiling array, table-top microphones, IntelliMix P300 audio conferencing processor and Microflex Wireless microphone products, will now receive a solution that is optimised for groups to collaborate while using Logitech Room Solutions. www.shure.com

THE POINT

SOURCE

LOUDSPEAKER

PERFECTED

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Building on NEXO’s acclaimed expertise in compact, high output, point source loudspeakers, the P+ Series delivers pristine, full-range sound at even greater Sound Pressure Levels, along with unparalleled versatility, thanks to an ingenious system for varying HF coverage patterns.

ACTIVE

VARIABLE COVERAGE

PASSIVE

Dispersion characteristics can be changed in seconds through the addition of optional magnetic flanges (P12) or horns (P8/P10) to optimise cabinets for a wide range of fixed installations and touring applications, including wedge monitor.

Thinking. Inside the box.

May–June 2020 PRO AVL MEA 67 59

PRODUCTS

IK Multimedia gets creative IK MULTIMEDIA has introduced the Creator Series, a set of mobile-friendly tools for video content creators, YouTubers, live streamers, musicians and anyone looking to capture audio and video with a mobile device. The series contains the iRig Mic Cast 2, iRig Mic Cast HD and iRig Mic Video, as well as other microphones, interfaces, accessories and bundles. The iRig Video Creator Bundle consists of the iRig Mic Lav lapel mic, iKlip Grip Pro combination desktop tripod/handgrip/ full-size tripod/selfie stick with Bluetooth shutter and a USB-powered 6-inch LED ring light with adjustable colour and brightness that mounts onto the top of the iKlip Grip Pro. The iRig Video Creator HD bundle includes a larger 10-inch LED ring light that offers a wider range of colour and brightness options, as well as the iRig Mic HD 2 digital condenser microphone, which features ‘radio-ready’ sound quality, USB connectivity and an iKlip Grip Pro. The Creator Series also contains the iRig Mic Cast 2 and iRig Mic Cast HD microphones for voice recording in any location with an iPad, iPhone or Android device. Both microphones feature a magnetic mounting design for quick and easy use. With selectable pickup patterns, headphone monitoring and an included windscreen for outdoor use, the microphones can be used for

inter views, live streams or creating YouTube videos without the need for additional batteries. IK Multimedia has also released the iRig Mic Video and iRig Mic Video Bundle. This lightweight, shotgun-style mic offers audio capture and production features that are reportedly suitable for a wide array of video shoots. iRig Mic Video includes the same magnetic mount as Mic Cast HD, plus a hot shoe adapter for mounting to DSLRs. The bundle provides a lightweight, portable video rig with the mic, plus IK’s iKlip Grip Pro multifunction stand that is said to transform from handgrip to monopod to tripod ‘in seconds’. A standard UNC ¼-inch thread lets users mount the iRig Mic Video, lights or other accessories on top and an adjustable clamp holds phones securely, even with a case. The series also contains the iRig Stream, a mobile audio interface that combines multiple audio sources down to one track for recording or streaming in mono or stereo, and is ideal for content creators and musicians who live stream using a mobile device and an app. www.ikmultimedia.com

TOA takes a tour TOA REPORTS that its WG-D100 digital wireless tour guide system combines ‘crystal-clear audio quality with secure and stable transmission’. The lightweight receivers and transmitters can be carried by hand or on a clip or lanyard. They can be charged individually via a micro USB port or through the WG-TC12A battery charger. With the WG-D100SK SyncKit, the receiver channels can be synchronised while the units are charging.

Users can record content by connecting the recorder to the aux output of the receiver and there is a choice of internal mic, external mic and aux input on the transmitter. The connection of multimedia devices such as MP3 players and smartphones to the aux input of the transmitter to transmit media content to the receivers is also supported. The receiver comes with a separate headphone output and aux level output on the receiver and it will power off when no input signal is detected for 20 minutes. The LCD display shows channel number, mic/earphone volume, battery status and receiver signal strength. www.toa.eu

68 PRO AVL MEA May–June 2020

A-T welcomes the next generation

The 5000 Series AUDIO-TECHNICA HAS created its thirdgeneration 5000 Series Frequency-agile True Diversity UHF Wireless System, designed for professional tours, stadiums, concert halls, festivals and houses of worship. It comes with dual-compander circuitry that processes high and low frequencies separately and True Diversity operation. The receiver features a tuning bandwidth of 144MHz: DF1 470–608MHz and 657–663MHz (duplex gap) with the option of selecting a standard receiver (ATW-R5220) with two balanced XLR outputs or a receiver (ATW-R5220DAN) that includes a Dante output. The antenna cascade output connects up to eight receivers so a single pair of

antennas can feed up to 16 channels, while an auto squelch feature automatically adjusts the squelch setting to maximise operating range and minimise potential interference. Users can swap the backup frequency by pressing the transmitter’s multifunction button in the event of unexpected interference. A-T’s Wireless Manager software allows remote monitoring and control of the wireless system. Two transmitters are available for use with the 5000 Series: the ATW-T5201 bodypack transmitter and ATW-T5202 handheld transmitter.

AUDIX HAS released 14 new products, including headphones, earphones and largediaphragm condenser mics. The new headphone lineup comprises four new models: the A140, A145, A150 and A152. Each pair of headphones is closedback with a dynamic driver for high fidelity and features detachable cable options. The A140, A145, A150 and A152 all possess unique sound profiles for various applications, including studio recording and broadcasting.

in-ear studio monitor, while the A10X offers an extended bass frequency. The large-diaphragm condensers released include the A131 and A133 fixed charge and A135 and A137 true condenser models. All four models are built with internally shock-mounted cardioid capsules. The A133 and A137 are additionally equipped with pad and roll-off switches. The remaining two new products are the A160, a transformer-based, passive,

The A10 and A10X, as well as the A10-BT and A10X-BT variants that feature Bluetooth 5.0-enabled cables with integrated microphones, form the new range of earphones. Featuring point source, phase-coherent 10mm drivers and audio cables with gold-plated MMCX connectors, the A10 ser ves as a detailed

bidirectional ribbon microphone with no active electronic components and based on a classic ribbon design that does not require phantom power, and the A127 type one reference microphone with a ½-inch metal film omnidirectional capsule.

www.audio-technica.com

Audix expands its catalogue

www.audixusa.com

PRODUCTS

Austrian headphones AUSTRIAN AUDIO has entered the headphone market with the debut of the Hi-X (High Excursion) headphones. The series is formed of the on-ear Hi-X50 and over-ear Hi-X55 versions. The manufacturer, which star ted its life in 2017 with a staff roster comprising 22 former AKG employees, is known for its microphones. Its first foray into the headphone space sees it put its exper tise in manufacturing drivers to use. ‘Much like our coveted OC818 and OC18 microphones, the core comes from a proven Viennese team,’ said Austrian Audio CEO, Mar tin Seidl. ‘We’ve designed a fresh take on an ultra-adjustable and wide-range head-bow for maximum comfor t during the longest sessions, for

the biggest engineers to the smallest bedroom producers.’ While both sets of Hi-X headphones are said to provide a 25Ω impedance and feature Austrian Audio’s proprietar y 44mm Hi-X driver, the supra-aural Hi-X50 on-ear variant is designed for users requiring perhaps a more por table and compact option. Meanwhile, the Hi-X55 circum-aural headphones are better suited to use over long periods

Hi-X55

of time inside a studio with an over-the-ear design intended for added comfor t. Speaking of the 44mm Hi-X driver, product manager Philipp Schuster explained: ‘It ensures optimal per formance in the Hi-X by moving a lot of air and eliminates “wobbling” of the diaphragm. It’s all about controlled sound.’ Austrian Audio’s ring magnet

system, which can be found in headphones from other brands, is present in the Hi-X models and has undergone a redesign. It now repor tedly offers improved air flow and the strongest magnetic field from the manufacturer to date. The ring magnet structure is paired with a copper-clad aluminium voice coil to decrease the moving mass. The manufacturer’s three-ply membrane is included to increase stiffness while reducing undesired resonances. A double acoustic wall is added for damping. A detachable cable is bundled with the Hi-X50 and Hi-X55, and each headphone comes with a 3.5–6.3mm adapter. www.austrian.audio

Tasker exceeds expectations

DSPStudio gets an upgrade

WITH REVISED CPR regulations coming into effect in 2017, Tasker offers over 60 models that comply with the new guidelines. Microphone, speaker, video and multi-conductor shielded cables were the first products to be adapted and gain certification for low-risk fire installations (Eca class) but the Italian manufacturer reports that requests for cables that can be used in higherrisk environments are constantly increasing because, for many

AMATE AUDIO has unveiled DSPStudio3, designed to maintain the same onscreen appearance as previous versions but incorporate several enhanced features such as auto-detection of connected components at start-up and a faster refresh rate. It has an optimised layout grid for any project size and can link two or more identical cabinets or groups of var ying models. The update also contains information about input and output levels, heat-sink temperature, clip and protection indicators and users can edit crossover frequencies, gain, limiters, polarity, delays, five custom parametric EQs or an array of filter shapes. The DSPStudio3 also has control protocols that support Wi-Fi connectivity (control-over-IP) when used with a CWK-D wireless communication kit. Users can reportedly edit processor values from anywhere in the venue.

installations, such as naval facilities, the CPR certification is no longer seen as sufficient. Tasker provides a range of CPRcertified products for medium-risk applications (Cca class) such as public buildings and high-risk areas (B2ca class) such as airports, hospitals and tunnels. In the Cca class, the manufacturer has added more 75Ω coaxial cables for HDI-SDI installations, one microphone cable and a new range of speaker cables. In the B2ca class, the C722 is a LAN SF/UTP Cat-6 cable suitable for various applications such as DMX lights and audiovisual signal transfer over IP through Dante and HDBaseT protocols. www.tasker.it

In addition, the latest edition of the DSPStudio enhances the remote control of Xcellence systems with the ACTIVE+ platform via Ethernet/Wi-Fi. Full ACTIVE+ support includes limiters with multichannel gain reduction indication, selectable ECO mode, tilt sensor indication and calibration, FIR/IIR all-pass filters, 200m delay, mains condition and amplifier channel temperature monitoring. www.amateaudio.com

Audinate synchronises its AV streams FOR MANUFACTURERS who want to develop their AV-over-IP products, Audinate has announced that its Dante AV Product Design Suite (Dante AV PDS) is now shipping. It allows OEMs to build a high-quality, AV-over-IP endpoint for visually lossless results with low latency over a 1Gbps network. It also provides interoperability for audio distribution and control with the more than 2,500 existing Dante products, delivering synchronised audio and video streams. Based around the Dante AV module, the Dante AV PDS can be modified, branded and differentiated by OEMs via software, control and integration with other members of their product lines. The Dante AV PDS has been designed to implement a codec, local HDMI and HDCP, ancillary data channels and control. The

on-board Dante AV module provides Dante clock synchronisation, control, discovery, transport, messaging, management and updates. It comes with a full set of hardware documents and design files, while a complete software SDK reportedly allows OEMs to create fully interoperable Dante AV products with end-toend HDCP support. The suite includes a complete implementation of

the intoPIX JPEG2000 codec supporting UHD and cinematic 4K resolution, up to

60fps, 4:4:4 chroma subsampling, 10-bit colour depth, up and down scaling and ultra-low latency dual block encoding and decoding. It uses a

software control stack accessed through the Dante API and Dante Controller. The software supports the routing of ancillary data channels for control over Dante, including USB HID, Infrared, Serial (RS422) and Consumer Electronic Control for HDMI devices. Signals are transported over Dante and appear as routable channels. The Dante AV PDS comes with a basic metal enclosure design, packaging design, preliminary EMI and thermal product scans, manufacturing instructions and test fixture design guidance. Each Dante AV PDS contains two pre-configured Dante AV endpoint design boards and five Dante AV modules. www.audinate.com

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PRODUCTS

QSC manages in real time QSC HAS created the Q-Sys Reflect Enterprise Manager, a cloud-based subscription service that allows real-time monitoring and management of the Q-Sys audio, video and control (AV&C) ecosystem, including third-party devices. As it can be installed on the Q-Sys Reflect Cloud platform, it will also bring data oversight and managed services to AV systems. Q-Sys Reflect Enterprise Manager can provide AV/IT systems administrators with advanced event log diagnostics, intelligent alerts and notifications, as well as real-time device and system monitoring. It is designed to help with the avoidance of reactionary maintenance and to reduce overall support costs associated with AV systems. Users can tweak Enterprise Manager’s capabilities by choosing to monitor sites, systems and peripherals from a single subscription. Different tiers can be chosen

based on the level of monitoring and management required for the organisation. The Q-Sys architecture facilitates the connection of an entire Q-Sys system to Enterprise Manager and only needs a secure internet connection for communication with the Q-Sys Reflect Cloud. End users can also use the Enterprise Manager API to extract a device’s status and event logs into the software application of their choice, allowing them to see all AV and IT assets in one place. Online training from QSC is also available for technicians and administrators who want to learn how to connect Q-Sys systems to the Enterprise Manager. In other news, QSC has partnered with Splunk as part of their Technology Alliance Programme and will develop a Splunk Add-On to further simplify integration for users of both solutions. www.qsc.com

Fohhn’s grand design IN DEVELOPMENT for over five years, Fohhn has released its new simulation software, Fohhn Designer. The browserbased application allows users to simulate speakers in a given space and evaluate the results using an integrated report generator and a PDF export function. The software is available for customers and AV planners and also for Fohhn project support. ‘A lot has happened in the last few months,’ said software developers, Benjamin Gutekunst and Samuel Maier. ‘We have optimised the performance and the user interface, developed a new material

editor and, above all, implemented the auralisation option.’ Fohhn’s Jochen Schwarz and Uli Haug are certain that Fohhn Designer is ‘an enormously important tool for the future of Fohhn as it delivers better simulations significantly faster than traditional software’. Fohhn customers and planning companies can get licences for Fohhn Designer but attendance at a Fohhn Designer training programme is compulsory. www.fohhn.com

Atlona adds to Omega Series

CEDAR updates its DNS 8D CEDAR AUDIO has responded to user requests with an update to its DNS 8D dialogue noise suppressor. The new firmware offers three significant upgrades: the storing and saving of noise profiles; the dumping and recalling of presets; and improved screen and button management.

While the DNS 8D’s software previously stored all processing parameters in the current setup as a preset without the invisible noise profiles calculated for the device’s eight channels by the Learn function, the firmware update ensures noise profiles can now be stored when a preset is saved. They can also be saved in the current setup when the unit is switched off, allowing users to continue where they left off when they switch it on again. The DNS 8D can store up to 100 presets and a new browser page within

the unit enables users to dump these to a Mac or PC and recall them later. This makes it possible to back up individual projects for use at a later date. CEDAR had received feedback that revealed some users found the brightness of the screens and buttons to be too high in low light. Acknowledging this, a

low/medium/high brightness function has been added, as well as the ability to switch off the screen saver. With the latter option selected, the screen will dim after three hours, extending the battery life while letting users know that the unit is still active and functioning correctly. ‘Owners of existing DNS 8Ds can download the new firmware directly from our website as well as the latest DNS 8D manual,’ confirmed CEDAR’s managing director, Gordon Reid.

AT-OME-RX11 THE AT-OME-RX11 4K/UHD HDBaseT receiver with audio de-embedding capabilities is the latest addition to Atlona’s Omega Series of switching, extension and video processing solutions. Paired with an Atlona HDBaseT transmitter or HDBaseT output switcher, the OME-RX11 enables the transport of HDMI video and embedded audio alongside Ethernet, power and control over distances up to 100m. The receiver is compliant with HDCP 2.2 and supports video up to 4K/UHD at 60Hz with 4:2:0 chroma subsampling at HDMI data rates up to 10Gbps. The locally powered OME-RX11 can deliver PoE via HDBaseT to an Omega Series, HDVS-200 Series or AT-UHD-EX-100CE-TX-PD transmitter, enabling installation at a remote location without the need for local AC power. Staying with the Omega Series, the AT-OME-MS52W 5x2 matrix switcher has been designed to simplify BYOD collaboration. Its wired connections include

AT-HDVS-150-WP-KIT In other news, the AT-HDVS-150-WP-KIT combines the AT-HDVS-150-TX-WP two-input wall plate switcher with the AT-HDVS-150-RX scaling receiver to provide HDMI and VGA auto-switching, integrated display control and HDBaseT signal transport to simplify ordering. Suited for corporate and educational environments, the HDVS-150-WP-KIT transports video signals up to 1080p or 1920x1200 alongside embedded audio, power and control across distances reaching 70m over standard category cable. The HDVS-150-TX-WP switcher/transmitter features one HDMI input and one VGA input with corresponding analogue audio, automatically selecting between the two interfaces and powering on or off compatible displays when a video source is connected or removed.

www.cedar-audio.com

AT-OME-MS52W

70 PRO AVL MEA May–June 2020

HDMI, DisplayPort and USB-C inputs alongside mirrored or matrixed HDBaseT and HDMI outputs. The USB-C interface combines with the switcher’s integrated USB 2.0 hub to provide data connectivity for two peripheral devices; simultaneous AV and USB switching for up to three host computers; and USB extension to a compatible Atlona HDBaseT receiver.

www.atlona.com

PRODUCTS FEATURES: LIVE EVENT

Next-generation graphics

90 Philips Vari-Lite SL Bar 720ZTs, 44 SGM Q7 RGBWs, 34 ETC SourceFour Zooms and 34 Arri 2,000W Fresnels. Lighting control was from two MA Lighting grandMA3 Full Size and MATROX HAS unveiled new seriesas of well as a two grandMA2 Full Sizeaconsoles, multi-display graphics cardsall designed to via 10 pair of grandMA2 Lights, networked power videowalls grandMA2 NPUs.in 24/7 environments. The single-slot graphics ‘In D-Series order to comprises achieve what was designed cards a custom-built NVIDIA by thethat Liveincorporate Legends team, we had to use a Quadro embedded GPU. Theadds cardsthe canproduction drive large number of fixtures,’ manager. ‘The precise spacing of the lighting

‘Our timeframe for rigging was four days,’ he continues. ‘Initially, rigging was proceeding ahead of schedule and, by the end of the second day, we had larger videowalls under anyofoperating system, already completed 70% the rigging plan. including Microsoft Windows 10points and Linux. Unfortunately, some rigging were On-device buttons enable users to cycle through interlinked with lighting fixtures that had been preset to select setwe thegot stuck configurations in customs and, by theand time display layout, well astwo access them out, weas had just daysa pre-saved to hand over. image display positions and fine-tune It wastoa set big up challenge for the rigging team to meet that deadline but, with a vigorous

D-Series up to four high-resolution HDMI or DisplayPort displays, while four cards can be combined via board-to-board framelock cables to drive up to 16 synchronised 4K displays. In addition, the D-Series offers HDCP support for playback of protected audio and video The contestants enter thecontent, ring as well as Microsoft DirectX 12, OpenGL 4.5 and OpenCL 1.2 The cardstoinclude Matrox’s fixtures wassupport. very important achieving the PowerDesk desktop management software where desired look and feel of the overall design.’ To support thisfrom mammoth lighting rig, SLStools users can select a variety of advanced used morestretched than 700m of Eurotrussdesktops, HD44 – including or independent and wellbezel as another 110m and of LITEC cloneHD34, mode,as pivot, management edge overlap –Intototal, configure customise multi-display 30x30. thereand were 192 electric hoists setups. MuraControl videowallincluding management of various brands deployed, Liftkets, software manage videowall sources CM, Loadhelps Star users and Chain Masters, along with and‘dead layouts eitherwhere locally the or remotely, and in real 21 hangs’ truss was directly time. to the hall ceiling. To help spectators in rigged Thearena QuadHead2Go Q155 multi-monitor the follow the action in real time, 280 controller is the latest 10 addition to thecreated Martin VDO Sceptron LED units QuadHead2Go series.away It captures a single large arrows pointing from the main video stage. ‘As the rooftodid not have the capability signal of up 4Kp60 and 8Kx8K for display to support design, the venue across up tothis fourmassive screens, at resolutions up to 1920x1200 output. The input content had to come upper with a solution and had an could be fromEurotruss any HDMITT source, while displays independent rectangular truss can be arranged in a variety of configurations. system constructed, configured as four massive Multiplebox units can structures be used together to build square truss which were used as mother grid with the ground support of 16 towers,’ recalls Du Toit. ‘It took a lot of pre-planning to pull off such a complicated rig. In total, there was approximately 32,000kg of load on this entire rig, which included the complete Leopard audio system, 800+ lighting fixtures and 81m of LED screens, in addition to the weight of the truss and hoists themselves. Lastly, products from Magic FX added intensity to the live arena action in the form of pyrotechnics, moving CO2 cannons, shooting flames and simulated fireworks, confetti cannons and haze effects.’ While the PMSC competition undoubtedly stretched the SLS team in terms of its complexity, the main challenge was the logistics of supplying such a large amount of equipment in a very tight timeframe. ‘Being in Saudi Arabia, we faced serious challenges with shipments being stuck at the border which caused a massive delay in delivering the final product in time,’ explains Du Toit. ‘Because of this, and with a “safety first” approach, two 12-hour days were implemented so we could work around the clock in order to get as much as possible QuadHead2Go done in time. Q155

bezel-displaced pixels. The controllers also include HDCP support for playback of protected audio and video content from HDCP-compliant devices. Finally, Matrox has announced the release of two APIs to provide enhanced customisation and control of Maevex 6020 Remote Recorder appliances. The Maevex 6020 Remote Recorder RS-232 API supports RS-232 to USB communication, giving users in-room control of the Maevex 6020 appliance via Crestron, Kramer, Extron or other tabletop touchscreen controllers. Users can program a variety of basic commands, including start, stop and resume. The Maevex 6020 Remote Recorder REST API enables programmers to code for retrieving status updates from Maevex 6020 devices. A complex rig was constructed to handle The REST API also supports the Panasonic approximately 32,000kg of weight Customer Assurance through the Remote monitoring Enhanced Service effort andand extra hours put in by(CARES) the team, solutions This integration facilitates we were platform. able to achieve all of the client’s remote monitoring maintenance of both requirements on and time. Maevex 6020 appliances andfor Panasonic ‘Thanks to the SLS team delivering products tothat minimise disruption. an output I consider to be at 99.99% accuracy in executing our live show,’ www.matrox.com commented Michiel Van Der Zide from international production company, Unlimited Productions. ‘It was great to have SLS on board; we definitely made the right decision.’ As a result of the success of recent PMSC competitions, PUBG maker Tencent has revealed grand plans for 2020 with the establishment of new leagues in Asia and the Americas. The competitive esports market is increasingly big business and offers a brand-new format for production companies to showcase their expertise. ‘The opening part of the show was really something special and, frankly, just spectacular,’ concludes Du Toit. ‘The broadcasted content was on point with the original concept renders. All credit to Live Legends, Unlimited Productions and, of course, our SLS team for turning their vision into reality. Because of the customs and logistical issues we faced, the only aspect that I would do differently is to employ a local person to handle those logistical aspects as language was the major barrier.’

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www.livelegends.com www.slspro.net unlimited-productions.com

March–April 27 May–June 2020 PRO AVL MEA 71

PRODUCTS

Absen goes on tour

Supernova rejects light

THE VENUS (VN) Series is described by Absen as a lightweight touring solution for rental stagers. It features an integrated ‘module-on-frame’ design and is reportedly 27% lighter than competing solutions thanks to the removal of the sub-frame (cabinet frame). The result, according to the manufacturer, gives creative teams the ability to build even bigger LED walls, up to 20m in height.

DNP HAS produced an ALR (Ambient Light Rejection) version of its Supernova Infinity Screen. The new model, the dnp Supernova Infinity UST (Ultra-Short Throw), is described by the Danish manufacturer as the ‘world’s biggest ALR screen for UST projectors’. The dnp Supernova Infinity UST was reportedly developed in response to the relatively low brightness of UST projectors, which require ALR screens to ensure content is clear in brightly lit environments. The Supernova Infinity UST is a modular system, meaning that it is constructed from tiled panels that are up to 1.5m high by themselves. dnp claims that before the release of its new screen, the largest size of ALR screens available for UST projectors was 3m. Using the dnp Supernova Infinity UST, several

The VN Series The VN Series comes in two standard sizes: 1,500mm x 1,000mm and 500mm x 1,000mm (WxH), in order to allow for customised options. It is available in 3.9mm, 4.8mm and 8.3mm pixel pitch versions, boasting up to 5,000 nits of brightness and a black face LED. The solution allows for concave and convex curving options and horizontal free-adjustable variances of –10° to +10°, enabling fixed positioning at –10°, –5°, 0°, +5° and +10°.

All the panels are fitted with carbonfibre pipes with anti-slip coatings, with additional safety hooks so riggers can secure themselves at ever y step of the building process. The VN’s locking system with large handles is said to be easy to use, even with thick gloves on. The product can be hung, stacked and transported thanks to a fivein-one dolly system, which has been calculated to allow two rows and three columns to fit in a 40HQ container, allowing for 315m2 of LED panels per truck. In other news, Absen has designed its KL series to provide a ‘per fect balance of visual per formance, ease of operation and price’. Available in five pixel pitches ranging from 1.6–3.9mm, the system incorporates ready-to-use LED displays instead of assembling components onsite and is said to offer a high level of brightness, grayscale, contrast ratio and refresh rate. The screens can be wall- or floor-mounted and come in a standard size of 640mm x 480mm, with an extra option of 320mm x 160mm for customers that need design flexibility. It is a front and rear installation and maintenance product with a depth of 70mm, with each panel weighing 7.8kg.

panels can be placed together to create larger screens with joint lines almost invisible at only 0.3mm. It is said that multiple projectors can be paired with the screen to create large images without visible overlap. As well as being optimised for UST projectors, the Supernova Infinity UST supports FHD, 4K and 8K resolutions. It can be obtained as either a frameless solution or mounted with a 50mm black velvet frame. ‘Paired with a UST projector, the dnp Supernova Infinity UST will provide a costeffective alternative to LED solutions that is very easy to access and service,’ said dnp’s Soeren Kraemmergaard. www.dnp-screens.com

www.absen.com

Screens for all seasons PEERLESS-AV DESCRIBES its UltraView UHD Outdoor TV as an all-season solution that makes outdoor enter tainment experiences a reality. The screens are rated for all weather and are suitable for temperatures ranging from –30°C to +50°C. High TNI panels mean that the TVs are readable in direct sunlight without the risk of isotropic blackout and the range is available in three sizes: 49 inches (UV492), 55 inches (UV552) and 65 inches (UV652). The aluminium

amplifier that outputs 200W total system power. The UltraView UHD Outdoor TVs are compatible with Peerless-AV’s EPT650 and ESA763PU wall mounts and HDS-OWRE-300, XACE-01 and XACE-02 electronic enclosures. An all-season cover is also included.

exterior is said to provide the ‘ultimate defense against weather and distor tion’. The lack of filters, vents and exhaust fans means there is no need for ser vice. By adding the Xtreme Outdoor Soundbar, users gain features such as Bluetooth connectivity, digital optical and standard analogue inputs, high-quality drivers that provide full-range audio (50Hz–20Hz) and a built-in Class-D

www.peerless-av.com

Crestron simplifies rooms

DMPS Lite

72 PRO AVL MEA May–June 2020

CRESTRON HAS developed its new DMPS Lite simple AV room solutions as part of its DigitalMedia range to provide a plug-and-play, flexible system for classrooms and smaller meeting spaces, such as huddle rooms and collaboration spaces. The DMPS Lite products include a 4K video scaler, standalone web configuration device with automatic routing and display control, and audio amplification. In addition, Crestron XiO Cloud provides the ability to remotely provision, monitor and manage an entire network of DMPS Lite solutions across a facility. The manufacturer notes that hundreds of devices can be deployed and managed ‘in the same amount of time it would ordinarily take to do so for just a single device’.

DMPS Lite solutions can also be combined with Crestron’s DM Lite transmitters, to meet the needs of source-to-display (DM Lite) or multisource-to-display (DMPS Lite) setups. Crestron has also released its new line of X Series modular audio amplifiers, designed as a cost-effective solution for meeting spaces and classrooms. ‘There’s two- and four-channel models,’ said Crestron’s Josh Stene. ‘They can be bridged for more power. They can drive 4Ω/8Ω and 70V/100V loads. That means just one of these amps will meet the requirements for the majority of situations. Better still, up to four of these amplifiers can be ganged together in a single rack space.’ www.crestron.com

Capture-KMC50 Incredibly thin 50-cm line array microphone | k-array.com

The Capture-KMC50 microphone with Pure Array Technology features 16 x 6 mm electrect condenser cardioid capsules in a line array configuration. Higher directivity and longer throw are achieved by linking up to 4 units to create an impressive continuous array that allows users to explore new microphone techniques and applications.

PRODUCTS

Vitec takes it EZ THE NEW EZ TV Player Lite from Vitec has been developed to enable the multicasting of live streams directly to the computers of multiple users without the need for multi-unicast distribution servers. It facilitates the scaling of live video services without onsite transcoding equipment, CDN subscriptions or seat licences, and is designed to simplify IPTV distribution with no plug-ins, while running on HTML5. The EZ TV Player Lite forms part of Vitec’s EZ TV IPTV and digital signage platform,

which has been developed to integrate with ‘any IT environment’ and ‘run on all types of networks’, including LAN, WAN and wireless. It is reportedly network-agnostic and features a modular architecture that facilitates simplified upgrades to legacy systems as well as the deployment of a turnkey IPTV and signage solution for an entirely new system. www.vitec.com

Magewell makes a conversion

BRINGING TOGETHER the worlds of for applications including multiIP-based streaming and baseband site video distribution AV presentation equipment, between church Magewell has launched its campuses. Pro Convert H.26x to This is Magewell’s HDMI multi-protocol, first product to support SRT-compatible the SRT (Secure Reliable streaming media Transport) open source protocol decoder. While and the manufacturer is a earlier Pro Convert member of the SRT Alliance. models transform Enabling low-latency video professional AV signals to and delivery over unpredictable from NewTek’s NDI AV-over-IP Pro Convert H.26x to HDMI networks, SRT reportedly technology, the new Pro Convert provides high-quality streaming H.26x to HDMI decodes a standard H.264 (AVC) experiences even over the public internet. Other or H.265 (HEVC) compressed video stream into supported protocols include RTSP, RTMP, UDP, a high-quality HDMI output for connection to RTP and HTTP streaming. baseband monitors, projectors and switchers. The Pro Convert H.26x to HDMI decodes Supporting a wide range of streaming streams up to 2160x1200 at 60fps for protocols for maximum source compatibility, output over its HDMI 2.0 interface. Built-in, the low-latency decoder has been designed FPGA-based video processing enables the

Warping videowalls JUST ADD Power’s (J+P) latest innovation is the Warp Engine, a transmitter/receiver that reportedly facilitates the deployment of videowalls mounted at any angle with a mix of display models. It allows integrators to rotate an HDMI source in a J+P matrix in 0.1° increments in real time with low latency. The rotated image can then be distributed to an ‘unlimited’ amount of receivers on the network, enabling huge videowalls using a single Warp Engine.

‘Our new Warp Engine allows installers to get creative with their videowalls by venturing beyond the traditional grid pattern,’ said Taft Stricklin, sales team manager at J+P. ‘Unlike other products on the market that are limited to custom graphics or static signage, the Warp Engine works with any HDMI source for the ultimate in flexibility.’ Also new is the VBIS-HDIP-707WP2 thin two-gang HDMI wall plate transmitter, which allows users to incorporate laptops and other HDMI devices as sources within UHDover-IP systems. At 1.5 inches deep, the unit is designed for installation within thin walls or mounting on a table or podium. Its ‘field-ser viceable modular design’ allows

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device to automatically up-convert HD or 2K source streams to 4K for viewing on Ultra HD displays. The plug-and-play decoder features DHCP-based network configuration and can detect the video and audio characteristics of the target display device via EDID metadata, automatically optimising output parameters or providing the user with a range of compatible choices.

The device can be powered via an external adapter or PoE. In other news, Magewell has released the Eco Capture SDI 4K Plus M.2 card which captures 4K video at 60fps over a single-link,

12G-SDI interface for use with popular AV software applications. Measuring 22mm x 80mm, the low-latency card has been developed for use in small and embedded systems where full-sized PCIe slots are not available.

Eco Capture SDI 4K Plus M.2

www.magewell.com

Analog Way updates LivePremier

users to ser vice it with a screwdriver in the event of any damage. Finally, J+P has upgraded its 707POE transmitter. The 708POE adds a stereo analogue audio output and, like its predecessor, the transmitter distributes video resolutions up to 4K Ultra HD with no latency over a single Cat-5e cable. The unit supports HDCP 2.2 and all lossless audio formats, including Dolby Atmos. Videowall functionality is built in for displays installed

VBIS-HDIP-707WP2 in portrait and flipped configurations, as well as image push, pull and pop features. www.justaddpower.com

ANALOG WAY has updated its LivePremier series of multi-screen live presentation systems with software upgrade v2.0. With the recent addition of Aquilon RS alpha, the LivePremier series now includes five pre-configured products and two fully customisable models. V2.0 provides a fully functional offline WebRCS and device simulator, full HDCP 2.2 support and output rotations, as well as an update to the processing engine, bringing compatibility with HDR formats (HDR10 and HLG). The update also supports new I/O cards for Aquilon systems equipped with four 12G-SFP ports and compatible with non-MSA video transmitters and receivers (fibre optic, HDMI, SMPTE 2022 or SMPTE 2110). Also joining the LivePremier series is the RC400T event controller, which has

been created to deliver instant access to the LivePremier image processor’s crucial functions, such as screens, layers, sources and presets. It is constructed with a rugged form factor to withstand life on the road when touring and includes 56 programmable buttons, a high-resolution T-bar and a threeaxis joystick for PIP sizing and programming. Finally, the DPH104 4K videowall processor has been added to the Picturall series and can convert, with no added latency, one 4K DisplayPort output from a Picturall media server to four independent 1080p HDMI outputs. The DPH104 does not require software or configuration and multiple devices can also be used to create larger display solutions. www.analogway.com

PRODUCTS

Gen 2 control

Roland offers eight-source portability ROLAND PROFESSIONAL A/V’s latest video switcher, the V-8HD, is described by the manufacturer as ‘the only compact and por table switcher that can accommodate up to eight HDMI audio/ video sources with resolutions up to 1080p’. Weighing 2kg, the V-8HD is built to fit inside backpacks when on the road and in the tightest of spaces when used as par t of a fixed setup. A five-layer ef fects engine and built-in 18-channel audio mixer, complete with ef fects, make the V-8HD an all-in-one system by removing the need for a computer. Roland states that the V-8HD can be used to mix eight HDMI sources with Full HD suppor t, even when the sources have mismatched frame rates and colour spaces. Built-in scalers are included on two of the HDMI inputs, which means users can connect the V-8HD to sources such as computers,

smar tphones and even legacy 4:3 devices when needed. Meanwhile, a 4.3-inch multi-viewer display negates the need for a standalone monitor, allowing users to see all video inputs, PGM and PVW plus menu overlay, as well as the status of a connected camera. Assignment buttons are used to send any connected input devices to a dedicated aux output without af fecting the main feed. It is also repor tedly possible to synchronise the aux output with the programme output to create a built-in 3x distribution amp. Fur ther features of the V-8HD include three automatic switching modes, the ability to trigger Atomos recorders to star t and stop recording via HDMI and a free remote-control iPad app that ser ves as a touch inter face.

SYMETRIX IS continuing to release IP remote controls with the addition of the T-5 Gen 2 touchscreen controller. The manufacturer has made some cosmetic changes to the T-5 and removed the external bezel, allowing the T-5 Gen 2 to be used in a wider variety of spaces. The original T-5 and T-5 Gen 2 have a 5-inch, capacitive-touch, LCD screen that can be mounted on the wall in restaurant, fitness centre, sports venue, hotel and house of worship applications, or in the optional desk stand in courtrooms or conference rooms. The screens are developed in Composer software, where the user will find a toolset for manipulating images, text and control

objects for a ‘convenient workflow’, as well as add logos, instructions and backgrounds, create custom buttons and link multiple pages. Completed screens are exported as SymVue files. The SymVue screen interacts with a Composer DSP via direct network configuration to allow for live metering of audio signals, live previews of network video content and real-time control of the AV system. Installing the finished screens into the T-5’s on-board storage is described as a simple process, while the batch function means that users can also export to a group of units. www.symetrix.co

proav.roland.com

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May–June 2020 PRO24/04/2020 AVL MEA17:22 75

BUSINESS: ANALYSIS

The path to perfection Sales director Dave Croxton talks about the evolution of KV2 Audio and why he believes point source will always remain the winner

Dave Croxton with KV2 co-founder George Krampera

consistent, high quality coverage our point source solutions deliver.

KV2 AUDIO IS A PARTICULARLY UNIQUE COMPANY AMONG the many manufacturers of black boxes that make up the pro audio industry, consistently bucking the trend, but not without sound logic and reason. Where others have been increasingly extolling the virtues of line array solutions and digital technologies, KV2 is a purist at heart. And while not a newcomer in the market, KV2 purist methodology is undergoing somewhat of renaissance in the saturated world of large-scale line arrays. Keen to dig under the surface and find out exactly what makes the company tick, Pro AVL Asia sat down with long-time employee and KV2 director of sales, Dave Croxton.

Where does the inspiration behind the KV2 philosophy come from?

For those not familiar with KV2, what differentiates the company from other pro audio manufacturers? There are a number of things that differentiate us but I guess the most important one is our no-compromise approach to sound quality. That may sound presumptuous given I am sure other manufacturers have similar ideals, but the reality is that if you are using DSP, you are compromising sound quality. Furthermore, during a period that has seen sound reinforcement move strongly towards line arrays, we have stayed with the point source format. In doing so, we have not struggled with the phase issues associated with combining multiple sources and hence have been able to deliver more consistent, intelligible sound over large areas. Generally, there is a misconception in the market that adding more boxes will increase output but, as the frequency range goes higher, the opposite is actually happening. If you have 10dB of cancellation happening at 10kHz (which is not uncommon in a line array system) then you will need 10 times the power to produce the same output as a single driver. Put simply, 10 drivers are putting out the same output as one. The company has continued to grow organically, primarily based on people’s listening experiences. I would say over 80% of the people using KV2 equipment have heard our systems somewhere and felt that was the sound they were looking for. The other 20% have come to our door, often sceptical, after they have done their research into sound quality and performance. This is true from small PA operators right through to Broadway sound designers.

Traditionally, in what sectors has KV2 performed best in? KV2 has grown strongly in certain market sectors, in particular the smaller production company market and the theatre market. In the small PA market, where bang for the buck and ease of setup are crucial, we offer solutions that cover more people with less equipment. This means savings in transport, labour and, most importantly, capital investment. The theatre market has also grown rapidly for us again for similar reasons, in that the capital investment is lower due to the lower equipment requirements for point source systems, but also because of the extremely

76 PRO AVL MEA May–June 2020

A specialist tool is used to tighten the speaker coils by hand

The driving force behind KV2 is George Krampera Senior. George has spent more than 50 years developing and engineering all aspects of sound system design, from electronics and amplification through to transducer development and acoustic design. George studied electronics in the Czech Republic as a young man and built amplifiers for his friends’ bands through the 1960s and 1970s. In the early 1980s, George and his family escaped from the Czech Republic, which was at the time under Russian control. The family got refugee status in Canada and George commenced work with Yorkville where he redesigned most of their MI amplifiers. He then started to develop PA systems for the company and, through this process, became involved with RCF. In 1991, George was offered the chief of engineering position at RCF, where he made big advances in transducer technology and developed a number of speaker systems including the extremely successful ART Series. The ART300A was heralded as one of the first plastic box systems that could be used in professional applications. Many of the engineers George trained at RCF are now leading the engineering efforts at other companies, such as Andrea Manzini at B&C. This connection gives George the unique position to discuss transducer development with B&C and 18 Sound at a special level. Another of the engineers George worked with at RCF was an American, Marcelo Vercelli. After leaving RCF to return to the Czech Republic once the Russian occupation ended, George teamed up with Marcelo to develop a large-scale active system called Fusion. This system pricked the interest of Greg Mackie, who had at the same time purchased RCF. Greg engaged Marcelo and George to release Fusion through Mackie and develop a complete range of sound reinforcement speakers for the Mackie brand. In 2001, George and Marcello parted ways with Mackie and established KV2 Audio – the ‘K’ being for Krampera, the ‘V’ for Vercelli and the ‘2’ representing the fact that it was their second company. Their focus was on building high-quality point source systems. George’s experience to that point in electronics, transducer development and acoustic design led to the holistic approach that goes into every KV2 system, ensuring that the signal path is not compromised at any stage.

Would you say it’s George’s technological experience that makes KV2 special or is it more than that? The fact that the company continues to grow organically makes it special. The people who support KV2 are not just customers, they are evangelists. They know they are using a system that truly connects the audience with the performer and that is a great feeling. They are astounded on an ongoing basis as to what these systems can do and the depth of

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BUSINESS: ANALYSIS detail they can produce. It’s like putting your favourite record on each night and hearing new parts in the mix. I joined the company 10 years ago as international sales manager after being involved as a distributor since the company’s inception, and really what I promote today is not speaker systems but the customer experience. If you want to deliver the best-possible experience to your audience, no matter what the application, KV2 can provide a solution that will do that.

the voltage being fed to the main coil and eliminates any inductance, dramatically reducing distortion. Secondly, as I have already mentioned, we stay completely in the analogue domain. All of our crossovers, filters, equalisation, limiting and protection is done with high-quality, discreet analogue circuits. The only digital format we use is a PDM (Pulse Density Modulation) delay to time align the components in certain boxes. We run this delay at 20MHz, as that was the speed our engineers felt was required to match analogue reproduction.

In what respects do you consider point source methodology to be superior to the deployment of line arrays?

Attention to detail is key; staff diligently inspect each and every cabinet

KV2 Audio has stuck to point source theories for one reason: multiple sources interact and create problems and inconsistency over the area they are covering. There is, in every line array system, a large amount of destructive interference going on, especially in the high frequencies (HFs), despite misconceptions they are limited in their capabilities to deliver HFs over distance. When the crowd arrives and the air heats and rises or the wind blows, this problem is only heightened. The other problem with multiple source systems is the multiple arrivals of the sound to the listener at different times, reducing the overall impulse response of the system. Any engineer worth their salt will tell you a good impulse response equals good intelligibility.

Nearing the end of the line, the cabinets are ready for final assembly

Line array manufacturers are focused on output and they can move a lot of air. In some cases, people are looking for that type of impact in a system but, when it comes to intelligibility, we feel point source will always remain the winner. With the new VHD5.0, we have been able to create that high impact level for large audiences in a point source system by combining a number of boxes to create a large point source system. The VHD5.0 runs 32 speakers for the low/mids, which certainly matches most line arrays for low/mid punch. The VHD5.0 is definitely a big step forward in large-scale sound reinforcement and a strong focus for the company over the coming years as we roll this new technology out.

What is the main focus for KV2 moving forward? The focus for KV2 in the future is to continue to refine the overall signal path to ensure we are raising the quality of the sound and the listener’s experience. Many of our systems are tuned by engineers using digital processors, which suck the life out of the sound. We are currently developing a digitally controlled analogue processor that will give engineers full control of the sound domain while still maintaining signal quality. Rest assured, whatever KV2 develops in the future, the focus will always be on sound quality. And by following this path, our growth and survival are somewhat assured, as whatever we deliver from a small cube speaker through to our flagship VHD5.0 system, the sound remains the same, true to the source. www.kv2audio.com

On the way to be tested

Why do you consider digital processing to be detrimental for live sound? Our biggest challenge today in delivering that customer experience is poor-quality source material. With the event of digital technology, the quality of sound reproduction has declined dramatically. This is mainly due to the fact that DSP simply can’t process sound fast enough to capture all of the harmonic information contained within a complex waveform. Hence, we are only getting a small portion of the original sound with limited harmonics, which reduces the overall sound stage making the reproduction flat and one-dimensional.

KV2 has developed several unique technologies. What are they and why are they important? Our systems are built holistically, ensuring that every part of the signal chain from amplifier input to the speaker output is optimised. In doing so, we use certain technologies that are not used by other manufacturers. For instance, many of our speaker components use what we call AIC (Active Impedance Control). We call these components Transcoil, as they have a secondary coil mounted in the magnet assembly that is wired out of phase with the connections to the main coil on the cone. This secondary coil provides a proportional resistance to

78 PRO AVL MEA May–June 2020

L–R: Alex Pagliani, George Krampera, George Krampera Jr, Andy Austin-Brown, Dave Croxton and Jan Jares