mondo*dr 30.1

NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2019 | 30.1

THE INTERNATIONAL PUBLICATION FOR TECHNOLOGY IN ENTERTAINMENT

VIDEO & VISUALS

Visually spectacular projects using a variety of different techniques.

AMPLIFIERS

The latest line-up of power racks for audio systems.

NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2019

MOUNTAIN PRODUCTIONS Founded in the USA, the family company celebrates 40 years.

THE INTERNATIONAL PUBLICATION FOR TECHNOLOGY IN ENTERTAINMENT

IT’S REAL. IT’S HYPERREAL. Aerosmith – Deuces Are Wild Las Vegas Residency • Adelaide Symphony Orchestra • alt-J • Angus & Julia Stone • BBC Proms • Ben Howard • Bon Iver • Childish Gambino – This Is America Tour • The Classic BRIT Awards • Coachella Antarctic Dome • deadmau5 • EartH – Evolutionary Arts Hackney • Ennio Morricone • Le Grand Bleu Ciné-Concert with Eric Serra • Jazz à la Villette • The Lab at Panorama Festival • Lorde Melodrama Tour • Matthäus-Passion – Hamburg • Mercury Space Moscow • ODESZA • Orchestre National de Lille • Philippe Parreno – Tate Modern Exhibition • Puy du Fou Theme Park • Renaud Phénix Tour • Rossiya Theater • SPYSCAPE • Tomorrowland • UAE 46th National Day • Urban Voices • Wonderfruit Festival • Zürich Openair...

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MONDO*DR 30.1 NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2019

of the Cannes / St Tropez trip that I took earlier in the summer also features, and I, too, have covered a venue close to home - Chinawhite in Manchester. We have a number of news features, too, all of which were attended by the extended team.

As ever, it always feels too soon to wish everyone well for the holidays that are upon us, but it’s my only opportunity… so happy holidays, hope you all enjoy a well deserved break and see you in 2020!

N EO &

For those with a regular subscription to mondo*dr, you may have noticed our new packaging - it’s plasticiser-free, thermoplastic material derived from potato starch, meaning that it’s completely biodegradable. Every little bit for the environment helps! If you don’t have a subscription, but would like one, feel free to drop me a line.

In this issue, we cover our travels from far and wide. Emma D reports on her trip to KV2 headquarters in Czech Republic, a visit to the largest shopping centre in Turku, Finland, as well as a short hop over to Liverpool to cover live music venue, Jimmy’s. The second instalment

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Mondo DR (ISSN 1476 4067) is published in January, March, May, July, September, November and December by Mondiale Publishing Ltd, Strawberry Studios, Watson Square, Stockport, SK1 3AZ, UK Subscription records are maintained at Mondiale Publishing Ltd, Strawberry Studios, Watson Square, Stockport, SK1 3AZ, UK

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9 CONT ENTS

CONTENTS 14 IN DISCUSSION 16 INSIDE VIEW

IN DEPTH 24 REPORT Video & Visuals

24

IN FOCUS

VIDEO & VISUALS A collection of case studies utilising lighting and video technology to create stunning results.

58 MINISTRY OF SOUND London 60 JIMMY’S Liverpool 70 LES CAVES DU ROY St Tropez 78 SOKOS WIKLUND Turku 84 CHINAWHITE Manchester

70 LES CAVES DU ROY The famous nightclub in St Tropez has been upgraded courtesy of TW AUDiO.

88 CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC Ljubljana 92 HUMBOLT AUDITORIUM Costa Rica 94 SONY HALL New York 100 CHIMELONG THEATRE Hengqin Island 102 THE QING AT ORIENTAL MOVIE METROPOLIS Shandong

IN BUSINESS 108 SHOW PREVIEW: NAMM Anaheim 112 PROLIGHT+SOUND MIDDLE EAST Dubai

94

116 NEW HEADQUARTERS ChamSys 118 OPEN DAYS Ayrton

SONY HALL d&b audiotechnik has kitted out New York’s premiere music venue.

122 EXPERIENCE DAYS Highlite 126 LAUNCH EVENT Avolites 128 DISTRIBUTOR MEETING NEXT-proaudio 130 ANNIVERSARY Mountain Productions

126 LAUNCH EVENT Avolites officially introduce Synergy via a global launch starting in the East and finishing in the West.

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134 IN DETAIL NovaStar, Allen & Heath, Turbosound 142 PRODUCT GUIDE Amplifiers 154 PRODUCT DIRECTORY 162 LAST PAGE INTERVIEW Martin Andersson - Ampsource

10 AD INDEX

HIGHEST PERFORMING POSTS

D.A.S. Audio installed in Papi steak, Miami Brown Sugar Kitchen sings with Meyer Sound @mondodr

Area Four Industries Acquires Prolyte

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Also find mondo*dr on

Advertising Index 5 Star Cases 98 Absen 99 AC Lighting 97 115 Adam Hall Adamson 145 ADJ 53 Allen & Heath 33 Amadeus 89 ASC 31 Antari 135 Astera 163 Avolites 69 Best Light 83 Bose 111 Celestion 7 Chauvet 65 Chromateq 153 Clear-Com 91 CLF 124 CODA Audio 151 disguise 137 D.A.S. Audio 139

Daslight 10 Dicolor 121 DiGiCo 141 Digital Projection 49 Doughty 131 Duratruss 153 Elation 35 ETC 25 FENIX Stage 12 & 13 Fine Art 5 Fohhn Audio 27 Funktion-One 51 Genelec 81 Global Truss 67 Gloshine 41 HARMAN 87 Harmonic Design 143 HOF 159 Hortus Audio 127 ISE 22 ISLE 131 KV2 147

Kvant 55 Kuzar 147 L-Acoustics 2 Laser Animation 117 Lawo 29 Le Maitre 85 Lectrosonics 19 LED China 106 Link 45 Look Solutions 61 MADRIX 131 MBN 37 Meyer Sound 125 Mountain Productions 119 Movecat 71 Prolights 39 & 143 NAMM 56 Neutrik 99 NOX Audio 69 PALM India 161 Pioneer DJ Europe 47 PowerLightsAugsburg 39

Powersoft BC PR-Lighting 129 Pro Tapes 63 Renkus-Heinz 137 RGBlink 73 ROBE 105 SAE 37 Starway 123 Steinigke 79 Sunlite 6 Syncronorm 46 TECH TEAM 103 The GET Show 4 The One Studio 8 TW AUDiO 77 Unilumin 75 VMB 121 Wireless Solution 3 Yestech 11

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13-15 NOVEMBER www.inter-bee.org

16-19 JANUARY www.namm.org

24-26 FEBRUARY www.ledchina-sh.com

13 FEBRUARY www.mondostadia-agora.com

19-22 FEBRUARY www.prolightsound-guangzhou.com

INTERBEE TOKYO, JAPAN

JTSE PARIS, FRANCE,

NAMM ANAHEIM, USA

CUE ROTTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS

26-27 NOVEMBER www.jtse.fr

AGORA AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS

ISE AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS

PROLIGHT+SOUND GUANGZHOU, CHINA

THE GET SHOW GUANGZHOU, CHINA

TPI AWARDS LONDON, UK

24 FEBRUARY www.tpiawards.com

11-14 FEBRUARY www.iseurope.org 13-15 JANUARY www.cue.nl/en

LED CHINA SHANGHAI, CHINA

16-19 FEBRUARY www.getshow.com.cn/en/

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BITAM SHOW No. 4 booth | November ‘19 | Madrid (Spain)

NAMM ANAHEIM 1229 booth | January ‘20 | Anaheim (USA)

ISE AMSTERDAM 7-W220 booth | February ‘20 | Amsterdam (Holland)

PROLIGHT+SOUND GUANGZHOU 11.2 C02 booth | February ‘20 | Beijing (China)

PROLIGHT+SOUND FRANKFURT TBC | March-April ‘20 | Frankfurt (Germany)

8-10 MARCH en.musicinsiderimini.it

25-26 MARCH www.citt.org/ExpoScene.html

31 MARCH mondodrawards.com

18-22 APRIL www.nabshow.com 1-4 APRIL www.usitt.org

MUSIC INSIDE RIMINI RIMINI, ITALY

AFIAL IBERICO LISBON, PORTUGAL

EXPO SCENE MONTREAL CANADA

CASBAT DUBAI UAE

MONDO*DR AWARDS FRANKFURT GERMANY

INFOCOMM BEIJING, CHINA

NAB LAS VEGAS USA

USITT LOUISVILLE USA

PROLIGHT+SOUND FRANKFURT, GERMANY

INFOCOMM SAO PAULO, BRAZIL

31 MARCH -3 APRIL pls.messefrankfurt.com/frankfurt/en.html

14-16 APRIL www.avixa.org

26-28 MARCH www.infocomm-china.com 3-5 MARCH iberico.afial.net

10-12 MARCH www.cabsat.com

14 IN DISCUSSION

ELEVATING AUDIO CONFERENCING WITH BEAMFORMING TECHNOLOGY

by Jens Werner, Portfolio Manager Professional System Department - Pro-Business Communication at Sennheiser As business becomes more globally interconnected, and as mobility and remote working become the new default, organisations have begun to increasingly rely on conferencing solutions to ensure their teams can collaborate effectively. With ‘good quality audio’ now a fundamental enabler of business, advancements in microphone technology are rapidly becoming a decisive factor in giving organisations a competitive edge.

It’s against this backdrop the trend towards beamforming technology is revolutionising the microphone market.

What makes this technology particularly attractive for meetings is that it localises and evaluates sound sources and suppresses interference. For installation, beamforming products perform better than conventional microphones. The benefits range from low installation costs, invisible cabling and a wide-ranging recording area, to freedom for the speaker to move around the room, and enhanced audio quality for listeners. And if you‘re planning a new meeting room, intelligent microphones make sense from a price point of view as well.

TWO APPROACHES TO BEAMFORMING Not all beamforming technology is the same. For ceiling microphone arrays used in meeting and conference rooms, there are different types of beamforming technology: static beamforming with fixed speaker zones and automatic, dynamic beamforming, which is more flexible. The former uses several static beams at the same time. For the latter, there is just one beam, which automatically aligns to the position of the person speaking.

STATIC AND INFLEXIBLE Ceiling microphone arrays with multiple beamforming zones use pre-configured, static and separate recording areas. The

• Above Jens Werner.

width and directivity of the beams must be pre-defined and fixed. For the initial alignment of the individual zones, set-up - often requiring manual fine tuning - is needed.

Speech recognition using an auto mixer allows multiple speaking zones to be activated simultaneously. As a combined signal from the static recording areas, the audio channels are bundled so that in the event of several attendees speaking simultaneously, everything that is said can be reproduced with consistent audio quality and volume. However, as it is impossible for a listener to follow several speeches simultaneously, a bundled signal offers no advantage if several people are speaking at once.

Furthermore, since in defined speaking zones there is no dynamic, automatic alignment of the microphone beam to the person speaking, audibility decreases as soon as the speaker leaves their preconfigured zone. This restricts speakers’ freedom if, for example, they want to leave their seat at the table to write something on a whiteboard.

Finally, because of the static nature of the system, and the fact that installation also requires configurations, the pre-sets for the static beams must be adjusted if the room layout changes or if the number of attendees is higher than planned. Each adjustment of the static beams involves a new configuration.

DYNAMIC BEAMFORMING TECHNOLOGY In this approach, an omnidirectional microphone array records all the audio signals in the meeting room. Then, by means of digital signal processing, the relevant speaking area is then selected in real-time. This means that the system can determine the position of the speaking person at any time, regardless of whether they are sitting, standing or moving

www.mondodr.com

around. The realignment of the beam’s directivity takes just milliseconds and as a result, the speaking zones no longer have to be configured manually.

As soon as another speaker takes the floor, the directivity is immediately adjusted to their position. For products with flexible beamforming technology, this eliminates the need to have pre-defined positions for persons speaking. And larger meeting rooms can be covered by installing additional ceiling microphones.

Even in the case of a quick-fire exchange between several people speaking, microphones with flexible beams can realign the directivity within milliseconds.

This ensures the best possible audibility at all times. In practice, meetings are not always perfectly audible. They are often characterised by lively discussions and several people speaking at once. When using products with a flexible beam, everyone in the room can be easily heard by every remote participant of the meeting.

Finally, unlike in the case of static beamforming, the automatic change in directivity afforded by dynamic beamforming systems eliminates the need to adjust microphone configuration when changing the room set-up or increasing the number of attendees.

TRUE FLEXIBILITY All these benefits of dynamic beamforming translate to a truly remarkable conferencing experience.

Because the microphone array can track the position of the person speaking, it gives the speaker maximum freedom of movement in the room. In workshops, this means that a wide range of techniques can be used by the speaker and they can freely choose where to stand or sit without compromising audibility. Coupled with the unobtrusive design of the array, this unrestricted movement radius of the

15 IN DISCUSSION

speaker ensures that they do not have to align physically with the microphone or think about where it is positioned.

The speaker can in fact forget about the microphone altogether. This creates a natural speech situation, which makes it very easy to follow the spoken word, especially for remote attendees of phone or video conferences. The speaker’s natural speech and free movement create an authentic experience that gives remote participants the feeling of being physically present at the meeting.

REALISING THE BENEFITS OF DYNAMIC BEAMFORMING All these advantages of dynamic beamforming are encapsulated in the Sennheiser TeamConnect Ceiling 2 the only ceiling microphone array with

a patented combination of real-time recognition of the person speaking and automatic, dynamic beamforming technology. This system features 28 KE-10 omnidirectional microphone capsules that ensure perfect audibility.

The system’s compatibility with the powerful Sennheiser Control Cockpit software eliminates the need for any technical knowledge for the configuration and operation of this microphone array.

Once installed, TeamConnect Ceiling 2 is always ready for use and it automatically adapts to any room layout without the need for reconfiguration. This means that the installation costs can be significantly lower than for other comparable ceiling microphone arrays.

The beamforming microphone that you select for your meeting should ultimately www.mondodr.com

• Above Beamforming technology is most commonly used for meeting and conference applications.

depend on how flexible it needs to be. The above comparison of the two beamforming technologies shows that, when compared to products that are limited to pre-defined speaking zones, products with automatic, dynamic beamforming technology with flexible alignment have numerous advantages in terms of installation and use.

As businesses embrace new ways of working, good sound quality is being understood as a way to make remote meetings and conversations as effective as being there in person. In short, for modern businesses, good audio matters so choose wisely!

The opinions expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and not necessarily of mondo*dr magazine.

16 INSIDE VIEW

KV2 Audio George Jr and George Krampera, the CEO and founder of KV2.

KV2 AUDIO Founded in 2002, KV2 Audio (KV2) is a company that is considered to be a dark horse in the audiovisual industry. Having sound at the heart of everything it does, KV2 continues to push boundaries with its innovative technologies that focus on the development of large-scale sound reinforcement across many fixed installations and live events worldwide. A company located in the also inconspicuous, small town of Milevsko, Czech Republic, it is starting to be recognised for its unique approach to loudspeaker design. www.kv2audio.com Founder of the company, George Krampera, originally started the KV2 business in a cottage no bigger than a school classroom. After a childhood immersed in the audio business, with his father starting the original Czech Republic radio, it was inevitable that George would find himself on the same path. “I was 10 years old when I first started experimenting with the valves and components my Dad had,” said George. “Yes, I got a few shocks, but I had built my very first radio amplifier when I was very young and that set the path for me.”

In his early days, George hung out with some of the most exciting new bands in Czech and soon began building power amplifiers and other equipment for their touring days. It was this strong connection with the local music scene that allowed him to develop his in-depth, practical knowledge and what got him to where he is today. George’s son, George Jr is also affiliated with the company, in the current position of CEO, and with a strong work ethic like his father, the KV2 business is developing vastly. “My father works seven days a week in his lab here at our headquarters,” said George Jr. “He is constantly redeveloping and pushing the company and I am always inspired by his drive, I think everyone

who works here is.”

Being hailed as an ‘audio pioneer of modern times’, even after 50 years in the industry, George’s vision has remained unchanged - to eliminate distortion and loss of information in the loudspeaker signal path, therefore providing sound reproduction that has true dynamic range and representation of the source. George’s drive and passion for his work has now been mirrored by the team at KV2 who are continuing his legacy and ensuring his vision will continue on into the future. “We do this because we have a passion and belief in what George does. I think it would be hard for any of us to work for another manufacturer in the industry because we follow such a truth here, and we love what we do,” said David Croxton, Director of Sales at KV2.

KV2’s facilities in Milevsko have come a long way from the small shed where it all began. The four-floor building is the heart of the company and every part of the manufacturing process is carried out from this quirky corner of Czech Republic. From the sturdy wooden frameworks that become the base of its products, to the final tests carried out in the incredible demonstration rooms and anechoic chamber, KV2 is at a huge advantage with its innovative space that allows www.mondodr.com

the company to grow, experiment and test its new ideas.

Across the years, KV2 has manufactured and created an array of state-of-the-art products.

Used across theatres, houses of worship, restaurants, hotels and bars, KV2 are well-known across the world in establishments that crave a quality sound system. One of the company’s more recent and exciting products is the VHD 5.0 point source loudspeaker array, which according to KV2 is something completely unique to the industry.

The VHD 5.0 took over five years to develop and brings the benefits of point source technology to large-scale sound reinforcements. The three-way enclosure handles low frequency, mid frequency and high frequency over a range from 45Hz through to 20kHz. It incorporates eight front loaded 10-inch low mid drivers, six horn loaded eight-inch mid-range drivers and three threeinch NVPD (nitrate vapour particle deposition) titanium compression drivers on a custom designed, manifold horn assembly with summing waveguide.

One of KV2’s more mammoth projects, The Brooklyn Mirage Club in New York, is equipped with the VHD 5.0s. The architecturally ambitious

17 INSIDE VIEW

KV2 Workshop Staff at KV2 assembling PCB boards for the company’s products. A lot of the work at KV2 is carried out impressively, by hand.

KV2 Transformer KV2 amplifier transformers that are manufactured in the headquarters in Milevsko. According to George Krampera, KV2 are one of the only manufacturers in the industry that do this in-house.

KV2 EPAK2500R A rack mount version of KV2’s popular EPAK2500 four-way, active control and amplification unit, specifically designed for the ES Series modular loudspeaker system.

18 INSIDE VIEW

Andy Austin-Brown and George Krampera Andy Austin-Brown is Technical Projects Director at KV2. He has been working closely with George Krampera since the very beginning and is responsible for technical implementations of KV2 products.

KV2 Headquarters A member of the KV2 team painting a loudspeaker. At its headquarters in Milevsko, KV2 design, manufacture and test all of its products to make sure they are of the highest quality for its customers, and the impressive installations in which they are used.

Anechoic Chamber KV2 has its very own anechoic chamber located on the top floor of its Milevsko facilities. This impressive room is the biggest in Europe and is used to demo new products, and allows the team to complete and perfect the loudspeaker systems in-house.

club needed a sound system that could handle the seven day a week tight schedule of big bass house and techno, and because of the massive 8,000 capacity KV2 managed to easily fulfil its needs. “We’re starting to sell the VHD 5.0s now for large scale venues and shows across Australia and the US. It is still early days, the product has only been around for two years, but as far as an alternative to what currently exists in large format sound reinforcement, it is the best thing that I have heard,” explained David.

Speaking of KV2 and the VHD 5.0, sound engineer Johannes Krämer said: “This product is completely game changing. It delivers by volume the same as a 6 - 9 top 12-inch based line array, but with the quality of point source sound. I didn’t expect something like that could be done

until I heard it with my own high resolution sound files and a live band on faders. That was simply amazing, I haven’t heard something better in that size!”

At KV2, sound quality is its number one mantra.

Even the company’s earlier products are still in production now, with older models still living up to their high expectations. “The first ES system is still in production today and that has been in the market since 2002. This shows the reliability and longevity of our products here at KV2. We are always looking to create new products with the same high quality, and we have a great starting point with George’s knowledge and expertise,” explained David.

The family at KV2 are constantly looking to push and redefine sound quality. Bringing in www.mondodr.com

knowledge and expertise from all areas of the business, KV2 are moving with the times and keeping one eye on the scope and future of the industry. Having a guide and mentor like George Krampera is certainly proving to be the glue that holds everything together. “We are still a privately-owned company and a family owned business, which is employing local people. There are a lot of really good ethical aspects to what we do here at KV2, we’re not just a faceless corporation that is funded by banks, we are truly a private family enterprise that works in that way too. We are proud of what we have achieved so far and look forward to developing even further into the future,” concluded David.

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IN DEPTH

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REPORT VIDEO & VISUALS

24 REP ORT: VIDEO & VISUALS

MA GI C C I N E M A COMPANY: CHRISTIE DIGITAL LOCATION: MOSCOW, RUSSIA Located in the futuristic Five Planets shopping centre, the four-theatre complex has two VIP theatres with 54 seats, while the other two house 78 seats each. All four Magic Cinema auditoriums are equipped with Christie projectors, with the VIP theatres boasting Christie CP4325-RGB 4K projectors and the others using Christie Solaria Series.

“From the very beginning, we set a high bar for every element of the experience, from the most modern projection equipment to the atmosphere in every area of the cinema,” said Olga Kochkina, Magic Cinema’s Director. “As far as equipment was concerned, we had a plan of action mapped out as far back as KinoExpo in St. Petersburg, where, thanks to Asia Cinema, we were introduced to Christie’s latest products.”

As cinema goers note, customers won’t find this level of comfort anywhere else within 50km of Magic Cinema: “Which means that people come to us and keep coming, for a truly comfortable and

high-quality cinematic experience - and that’s not just people from the nearby towns and villages,” added Olga.

“Christie RealLaser projectors with a solid-state light source are what’s needed to take film screenings to the next level. These models stand out for their Rec. 2020-standard expanded colour gamut and their operational lifetime of more than 30,000 hours. This is the only laser technology currently available that is capable of producing brightness that exceeds DCI specifications for the entirety of the projector’s lifetime, so we naturally suggest that the cinemas we work with give it serious consideration,” said Anna Miroshnichenko, Asia Cinema’s Project Manager for the Magic Cinema project.

Since it opened in early 2019, Magic Cinema has put itself on the entertainment map of the Moscow region. The building’s distinctive silhouette may be what initially catches the eye, but the building is also a draw for people who enjoy watching films in www.mondodr.com

total comfort.

“For me as an engineer, working on this project at Magic Cinema and getting involved in installing the RGB laser projector was extremely interesting. After all, this is one of the first new-generation cinemas we’ve seen,” Asia Cinema Engineer, Vladimir Goshenko said. “But we’re convinced that Christie RGB pure laser projectors are the future. They’re exactly what cinemas need to take things to the next level and give audiences new and exciting experiences. We are sure that we’ll be seeing more cinemas like this.”

Anna Vostretsova, Business Development Manager for Russia and the CIS at Christie concluded: “We’re glad to see more and more cinemas choosing Christie projectors with RealLaser technology. This year, we’ve expanded our range of RGB projectors and can now offer solutions for any cinema, from the very smallest to premium-level.” www.christiedigital.com

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At the Global Lighting Brand Center & International LED Light Effect Experience Hall, Star Alliance, surprised and welcomed guest at the opening ceremony. The 3,334 sq metres LED screens provided by Shenzhen CreateLED Electronics for the event was a dream-like world of light and shadow. A second screen measuring 1,400 sq metres covered the interior ceiling, to create an immersive effect. Three fish-tank screens, which were more than 150 sq metres sat beside the escalators, offering visitors vivid views of water flowing and jumping fish effects. www.createled.com

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26 REP ORT: VIDEO & VISUALS

LUMINA LI GH T F EST IVA L COMPANY: AV STUMPFL LOCATION: CASCAIS, PORTUGAL

Following the success of OCUBO’s Lisbon Under Stars immersive spectacle, the creative studio has returned to produce another ambitious project - LUMINA Light Festival. Held annually in the Portuguese coastal town of Cascais, LUMINA Light Festival is an international event, showcasing light art, video-mapping, multimedia and interactive projects, in both urban and natural environments.

The first edition of LUMINA Light Festival took place in Sintra, Portugal, in 2011. In the year 2013, the festival moved to Cascais, and has been the setting for LUMINA ever since. Each year, the festival brings around 400,000 visitors to Cascais, according to the data received from Cascais Civil Protection.

CEO, Artistic Director and Co-founder of OCUBO, Nuno Maya, explained: “Targeting the general public, LUMINA is a free, open and plural event, created for a wide audience, to be enjoyed by every member of the family, taking them on a sensory journey full of light, sounds, and movement. With the investment of the

Municipality of Cascais, embassies, institutes, brands and other companies, LUMINA is a unique event that gives Cascais its own special identity. It reflects the support and commitment of the municipality that we can offer a diverse cultural event to the citizens of the region.”

Each year LUMINA has a clear artistic and curatorial approach, which has always evolved based on experience acquired from past editions of the festival. In this year’s edition, LUMINA focussed more on interactive multimedia installations and performance-based works, given the rising prominence of interactivity in installations at light festivals.

The 2018 incarnation of LUMINA Light Festival consisted of 17 works of art; namely seven light installations, an interactive light installation, a performance light installation, and eight mapping / projection-related works. Two of these installations - Colours and Forms by OCUBO, The BLKBRDS & JUKEBOX crew, in the Citadel of Cascais, and Of Dreams and Life by

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Robert Sochacki, in the prominent Casa das Histórias Paula Rego, were realised using technology from AV Stumpfl.

The most notable pieces of kit in this inventory were a pair of AV Stumpfl’s new PIXERA two media servers.

These compact, 2U systems can play back uncompressed 4K content at 60fps and comes complete with a redundant power supply. As well as the PIXERA two systems, the team made use of AV Stumpfl Wings Engine Raw and Stage systems.

Nuno commented: “AV Stumpfl products are the best in the market for video mapping synchronisation with DMX light. This had been responsible for the success of one of the greatest multimedia works of the light path, Colours and Forms, a 360° installation with video mapping, dancers and live music.”

Cooperation is at the core of LUMINA Light Festival.

OCUBO sometimes partners with other artists to co-produce artworks. As well as collaboration with these artists, there is a strong relationship with the

THE FUTURE OF THE LINE ARRAY IS STRAIGHT

Photo: Ocubo

ETIC (School of Innovation and Creation Technologies) and an array of technical partners such as shipping company MSC (which has provided LUMINA with its shipping containers) car manufacturer Renault, Portuguese train company CP (Comboios de Portugal), Airstar, Futurdata, and of course, AV Stumpfl.

Nuno said: “AV Stumpfl was undoubtedly essential to the success of this festival. We have been working with their products for some time, and we recognise their excellence, especially their screens and the new PIXERA servers, which we used for the first time. The materials and software were undoubtedly a great solution for this festival.”

To conclude, the CEO also paid tribute to the event’s latest home: “Cascais provides a beautiful backdrop for the festival, and leads the audience on a beautiful luminous path, not only to discover the artworks showcased at the festival, but also routes that people don’t take every day and interesting corners of the city that they see in a new way. That said, LUMINA can of course adapt, from towns to cities, and is always willing to illuminate new places.” www.avstumpfl.com

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28 REP ORT: VIDEO & VISUALS

E XPE R I ME N TA COMPANY: BARCO LOCATION: HEILBRONN, GERMANY

Germanyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest science centre - experimenta, underwent a complete restructuring, including the realisation of an entirely new building. Part of this new iconic structure is the Science Dome, a unique hybrid multi-purpose space, which was developed and implemented by Austrian audiovisual specialist Kraftwerk Living Technologies. The space incorporates the highest quality and best technology into its intelligent design. The goal was to have a multipurpose facility that would allow for different types of shows, including more experimental, artistic and cutting-edge cultural experiences. experimenta wanted to incorporate the best quality shows, movies and special effects into its dome production. The end result is a 150-seat audito-

rium, which can be rotated and is located underneath an enormous 700-metre sq dome screen displaying bright, clear, colourful images, complete with 3D audio technology and special effects such as fog and wind.

As a science centre that appeals to people from ages four to 99, Kraftwerk LT used Barco components to create a dome that is experience-driven. By fostering an interest in science, technology and research in visitors of all ages and as an immersive and educational destination, especially for school groups, experimenta uses technology to spread a love of science and instil and reinvigorate a natural curiosity for the wonders that exist in the world today - with the Science Dome fitting right in.

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The challenge was setting up the entire dome with a rotating platform, for the underlying end goal of being a multi-purpose facility. This globally unique space is able to offer planetarium and theatre experiences in one spectacular show. These two modes are event and dome mode. Event mode has a stage area of 100-metre sq, and supports lectures, art shows, music or theatre productions and digital cinema. Dome operation transitions the audience, while seated underneath the large projection area of 700-metre sq for 3D full dome and planetarium shows.

This multi-purpose facility requires the best of both digital and analogue to allow for different types of shows. Barco supplied six XDL 4K-60L projectors

Philharmonie de Paris

Clear as a bell.

Watch it on YouTube. http://bit.ly/PhildeParis Photos: experimenta

for the dome in 2D, as well as the 3D in 4K resolution at 120 fps. An opto-mechanical star projector for the planetarium element was needed and integrated into the dome set-up, as was a cinema projector, for which a Barco DP4K-30LRGB laser projector was installed.

These all work together to create very bright, colourful and intense image projections.

The dome itself has a resolution of 8K by 8K resulting in razor sharp images, and thanks to Barco true RGB laser light sources, they’re exceptionally bright and intense as well. Integrating this spectacular technology around video and audio as invisible as possible was

the challenge the Austrian audiovisual specialists from Kraftwerk LT faced and overcame.

“What the technology does with the guests is important, not the technology itself,” said Jennifer Zika, Corporate Communications, Kraftwerk. “We wanted technology that was essentially invisible, which requires an enormous amount of reliability and trust. For the best possible outcome, we chose highly reliable, high-quality components, which all play together to create a unique installation and great guest experience.” www.barco.com

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30 REP ORT: VIDEO & VISUALS

CH R I ST I AN R E VI VA L C HU R C H COMPANY: BLACKMAGIC DESIGN LOCATION: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA

The newest branch of South Africa’s Christian Revival Church (CRC) has installed a multi purpose audiovisual solution based on the ATEM 4 M/E Broadcast Studio 4K and ATEM 1 M/E Advanced Panel.

With more than 90 congregations throughout South Africa, and more than 15 globally, including London, Amsterdam and Perth, CRC was established in 1994 by senior pastors, At Boshoff and his wife Nyretta Boshoff, in Bloemfontein.

CRC uses technology to link multiple venues during live services, with video playing a crucial role in the church’s ability to connect with a bigger world and reach beyond its borders.

The new auditorium in Johannesburg, which holds upwards of 5,500 people, required a dual purpose solution. “The system not only needed to be able to broadcast a live stream but also handle our in-house audiovisual needs,” said Francois Griesel, the Chief Broadcast Engineer for CRC. “Whatever we implemented had to be cutting edge technology, mirroring our mandate to cater to the modern person.”

The complex set up relies on a workflow featuring three Blackmagic URSA Broadcast for acqui-

sition and an ATEM 4 M/E Broadcast Studio 4K switcher for vision mixing. “We initially rented the equipment to test it on a live event in Pretoria,” revealed Francois. “The production capabilities and quality exceeded all of our expectations, and when you factor in the price point, it cemented our belief that Blackmagic Design was the path to follow and invest in.”

The production team comprises of two full time staff, and around 12-14 volunteers. “The system, therefore, needed to be highly capable but easy enough for less experienced operators to get to grips with,” said Francois. “We rely on two ATEM 1 M/E hardware panels to create separate program mixes; one for the internal audiovisual including IMAG projection and a second for streaming the services to other CRC campuses.”

Additionally, the team relies on the Blackmagic SmartScope Duo 4K waveform to help colour match the incoming camera signals using the ATEM Camera Control Panel, which provides independent remote controls for up to four URSA Broadcast. A HyperDeck Studio Pro records the master TX, while three HyperDeck Minis provide the ability to record each camera

ISO separately.

“Using the Blackmagic SDK, we were also able to develop a custom graphics solution, based on two high spec PCs equipped with DeckLink Duo I/O cards. This allows us to overlay graphics such as hymn lyrics and messages for the congregation as part of the program mix,” explained Francois.

For the live streams, CRC uses Teradek encoders and decoders in tandem with the Blackmagic Teranex Mini Audio to SDI and SDI to Audio converters for the embedding and de-embedding of audio.

“With such huge auditorium spaces, the immersive nature of video makes each person feel part of the CRC community, and the live streaming augments this even further to bring congregations together across continents,” concluded Francois. “Owing to the success of this new installation, we have now also upgraded the production capabilities at our main campus, CRC Pretoria, with Blackmagic URSA Broadcast and ATEM switching.” www.blackmagicdesign.com

31 REP ORT: VIDEO & VISUALS

QASR AL WATA N COMPANY: CREATIVE TECHNOLOGY LOCATION: ABU DHABI, UAE

Qasr Al Watan ‘Palace of the Nation’ is the UAE’s newest cultural landmark, situated in the presidential palace compound in Abu Dhabi. It was opened to the public in March this year, with the aim to give visitors a deeper understanding of the UAE’s values and traditions, while preserving the heritage of the country. The opening of Qasr Al Watan is aligned with the UAE’s Vision 2021 to become a knowledge-based economy.

The palace runs a spectacular light and sound show daily as part of its efforts to showcase the UAE’s culture and history. The story, which is projected onto the façade of the iconic building, is told in three acts: the past, present, and the future vision of the nation.

Creative Technology (CT) was contracted to provide technical design, installation and integration of the AVIT systems for the Palace in Motion show.

Damian Rowe, CT’s Director of Special Projects, ex-

plained: “CT was given an original design for the Palace in Motion show, which we expanded on to produce a working solution that fit our clients brief.”

The Palace in Motion is one of the largest projection installs in the region. CT was responsible for the design and installation of 52 by 31K Panasonic projectors and six disguise 4x4 Pro media servers. The extensive audio solution comprised of a full d&b audiotechnik system and the integrated lighting system consisted of an MA Lighting, Grand MA3 lighting control, 36 GSM fixtures and 100 Philips fixtures, which added to the overall show experience.

The venue production communications are managed with Riedel Artist 32 communications matrix, smart panels located within the two primary control rooms and a distributed Bolero solution.

Damian stated: “The equipment was specified by

the consultant, during the early design stages. It was CT’s responsibility to confirm the design meets the technical specifications and provide changes to scope as required to validate the system. We were asked to design the PA systems and lighting systems to be fully removable, with this in mind, CT provided an integrated design approach, which allows full flexibility within the design, while still maintaining the system integrity.”

Andy Reardon, Managing Director of CT Middle East said: “We are incredibly proud to have been part of this project and what our team has achieved. Damian Rowe and the systems integration team have been committed to this project for 12 months and have done a fantastic job of bringing the clients vision to life. The Palace in Motion show looks incredible, and I would highly recommend everyone to go see it.” www.ct-group.com

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32 REP ORT: VIDEO & VISUALS

A D IYOGI STAT U E COMPANY: DATATON LOCATION: TAMIL NADU, INDIA

Standing at 112ft tall, the statue of Adiyogi rises majestically above the Isha Yoga Center in the beautiful foothills at Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. And every weekend, the world-record breaking bust comes to life in a stunning projection-mapped interpretation of the story of the Adiyogi’s divine appearance.

Dataton WATCHOUT mapping software, WATCHMAX media servers, surround sound and Epson projectors help deliver the awe-inspiring production

by Axis Three Dee Studios.

The premiere of Adiyogi Divya Darshanam (roughly translated, Adiyogi’s Divine Appearance) was one of the main highlights for this year’s Mahashivratri event at the Isha Yoga Center, near the Velliangiri Mountains in Southern India. The show, produced and played back with the Dataton WATCHOUT system is a unique 14 minutes, 10 second long projection-mapped chronicle, depicting the timeless story of how Adiyogi transmitted the ancient science of Yoga to his seven disciples - the Saptrarishis, to his beloved, Devi Parvati and to his constant companions, the formless Ganas.

In the show, vivid 4K content is complemented with a background narrative by the visionary founder of Isha himself, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev.

The interpretation was commissioned by the Isha Yoga Center to reach out to visitors and devotees in a visually immersive manner, the likes of which had never been seen before. The centre appointed Axis Three Dee Studios to execute the entire project from start to finish, including the complete production of the visuals with CEO Avijit Samajdar taking the role of producer and director.

The technical team also included experts from Data-

ton and projector manufacturer Epson to ensure that the spectacular show performed flawlessly and with maximum impact. The undertaking resulted in several firsts - and presented a number of challenges.

The holder of the Guinness World Record for the World’s Largest Bust, the Adiyogi statue is built of steel and painted black. The satin finish and highly uneven topography called for some creative thinking by the team at Axis Three Dee Studios.

“Projection mappings are usually attempted on lighter coloured surfaces that evenly reflect light, unlike in this case, black, which greatly absorbed it,” said Avijit Samajdar, CEO, Axis Three Dee Studios.

“What’s more, the sheen on the surface meant that the proper colours did not appear and the team devised a unique colour palette (Real Time Colour Cancellation process) to counter the interference hues from the shiny surface. Therefore, the final amalgam of colours using this process, came out vivid and rich during projection, with unwanted reflective hues cancelled out in real time.”

Another challenge was the sheer scale of the project.

The entire surface area to be projected upon was over 8,000ft sq - the statue is, after all, the largest bust in the world. To achieve full image coverage with crisp and vibrant imagery, 24 high-tech 15,000 lumens laser projectors from Epson, running under Dataton WATCHOUT, were used in a unique stacking configuration.

“Due to certain inherent constraints to the locations for the permanent setup of the two projection towers at the site, the projectors were arranged in four stacked sets by the technical team, to ensure maximum optimisation of lumens and angle of incidence

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of the projected light,” explained Avijit.

Ashok Sharma, Dataton, elaborated: “Naturally, the centre did not want to have a projection tower built in front of the Adiyogi statue as this could obstruct viewing and visitors. The solution was to build two towers, of limited height, at 45° angles. The left tower covers the entire left side of the statue and the right tower covers the whole right side of the statue. The mapped show was programmed in WATCHOUT production software by Manesh ‘Manu’ Kadam and we then deployed two WATCHMAX media servers to ensure flawless mapping of the content on the surface of the Adiyogi from both left and right sides.

The Dataton WATCHMAX servers are also integrated with the 5.1 channel sound of the show with Sirvinder ‘Lucky’ Singh from Purple Vector responsible for overall audiovisual system integration.”

The WATCHOUT system was chosen due to its strong track record in the industry as a reliable and versatile tool for cutting-edge mapping applications.

As the first performance of the show was in front of a VIP audience, headed by the Honourable President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, there was absolutely no room for anything less than perfection.

Ashok Sharma concluded: “The show creators appreciated the easy-to-navigate interface in WATCHOUT and how smoothly changes could be implemented - even on the day of the launch. On the big day, the mapped content played back flawlessly on the surface of the Adiyogi, creating a truly magnificent experience for over 350,000 spectators.” www.dataton.com

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34 REP ORT: VIDEO & VISUALS

STATU E OF LI B E RTY M U SE U M COMPANY: UNILUMIN LOCATION: NEW YORK, USA

Lady Liberty has embodied timeless concepts and served as a beacon of hope to countless immigrants arriving on the shores of New York City.

To provide inspiration to millions of annual monument visitors, The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation spent five years and $100m on making the new 26,000-sq ft Statue of Liberty Museum.

The centerpiece of the new museum is an immersive theatre made by Unilumin’s 1.5mm fine pixel pitch seamless LED wall, 40ft tall and 10ft wide.

What makes this tailored large video wall more

special than others is that it tells people a uniquely, singularly American story- everyone here could trace their family back to a generation that sailed past Liberty Island, and likely even stopped at the nearby Ellis Island immigration-processing centre.

This LED video wall was specially tailored for the uniqueness of the museum environment where it is able to perform at its utmost image quality under the ambiguity of light in the museum.

Double back-up systems ensure mission-critical reliability that would keep the museum’s exhibit

content streams flowing in the case of any sort of disruption. Also, it has long-lasting life span as expected and it supports 24/7 operation.

“Everyday people line up in front of the huge Unilumin fine pixel pitch video wall, excited to see their pictures appear and become part of the Statue of Liberty,” Lawrence Estevez-Smith IT Director of Ellis Island foundation concluded. www.unilumin.com

mapping displays.

The installation - the largest of its kind for any hotel in the world - would also help Melody Maker stand-out from its competitors, while also providing a nightly visual spectacle attraction for onlookers, both on and off shore.

Tasked with delivering on Melody Makers’ ambitions, were Madrid-based New Media Creative Technology Studio and Kyiv-based Front Pictures - two projection mapping specialists with more than 30 years’ experience between them - which provided the projection system used to illuminate the hotel.

The Front Pictures team, was responsible for system engineering and integration.

Using its vast knowledge and experience in delivering on such high-profile projects, the team decided to use four next-generation Datapath Fx4/H display wall controllers to distribute 32MP video signal, driven by a single powerful Screenberry media server to 16 Barco UDX-W32 projectors

strategically positioned outside the hotel.

In total, 3km of optical fibre-cables were used to connect all the components together, creating the first permanent 3D mapping installation for a hotel.

“Datapath Fx4 display controllers are an ideal solution to increase the number of displays that can be connected to one media server,” commented Vitaliy Slyusarenko, Front Pictures CTO. “Combined with the unique features of our Screenberry media server, they allowed us to greatly reduce the overall system complexity.”

He concluded: ‘Keeping it simple’ is our philosophy in systems design, which has proven to be a successful strategy and is appreciated by our customers. That is what makes our solutions more affordable without compromising quality and reliability.” www.datapath.co.uk

ME LODY M AKE R COMPANY: DATAPATH LOCATION: CANCUN, MEXICO

Located on the beach and just a stone’s throw from the city centre, Melody Maker - named after the British music magazine of the same title describes itself as the world’s biggest party hotel, pairing the lifestyle and excitement of a beachfront hotel with the amenities of a luxury resort.

With more than 400 rooms over 16 floors, and an outdoor club that has played host to leading celebrity DJs and artists such as Paris Hilton, David Guetta and Armin Van Buuren, Melody Maker prides itself on staying ahead of the competition and delivering world-class entertainment experiences to its guests.

As part of a recent upgrade to the hotel’s facilities, Melody Maker decided to raise the bar.

With a desire to create a more immersive, more spectacular and more memorable experience for guests attending its events, Melody Maker took the decision to utilise the hotel’s exterior, transforming it into a giant 7,000 sq metre canvas, creating one of the world’s biggest permanent 3D

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36 REP ORT: VIDEO & VISUALS

T H E AT E R R E GE N SB U R G COMPANY: DIGITAL PROJECTION LOCATION: REGENSBURG, GERMANY

Photos: Christina Iberl

Following on from the resounding success of its production of The Flying Dutchman in summer of 2017, Theater Regensburg has once again pushed the boundaries of open-air opera with its latest offering - a version of Puccini’s semi-staged concert performance in three acts, Tosca.

Like its predecessor, the event was held at the West Port of the Bayernhafen Business Park; a huge freight traffic hub in the East Bavarian town of Regensburg. The stage was situated on the historical Municipal Warehouse side, while the audience of nearly 3,000 was seated opposite on the North Quay. The side of the warehouse itself served as a gigantic projection surface, upon which a variety of striking visuals were beamed, courtesy of Digital Projection TITAN Laser projectors.

“The video aspect was the main part of the show,” said Video Operator Wolfgang Frauendienst.

“The actors and their audience were around 100-metres apart, so we needed a projector that could provide as much brightness as possible over a long distance. We decided to use four TITAN Laser projectors arranged in two stacks of two, with each stack covering one half of the

building.”

The Titan Laser 37000 delivers up to 37,000 (WUXGA) or up to 31,000 (4K-UHD) lumens from a relatively compact chassis, making it the ideal projector for the most demanding of large-venue applications.

“Where bright, pin sharp images are required there should be no compromise,” said Digital Projection’s Vice President of Global Marketing, Mark Wadsworth.

“The TITAN Laser utilises the very latest in connectivity, including DisplayPort, HDMI 2.0 and HDBaseT. The advanced electronics also bring HDR processing to the large venue class of projectors, and features such as Constant Brightness Control and DMX Art-Net compatibility make it the ideal solution for high profile events such as this.”

Digital Projection distributor Etha provided the projectors, while the rest of the video equipment came from local company, fingerprint production. Etha’s video expert Heiko Hoffman was on hand to help Wolfgang Frauendienst deploy the TITAN Laser projectors.

Wolfgang added: “The content was played out

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with MadMapper software, going over two HDBaseT links to the two projector stacks. The live content was cut using a Blackmagic Design switcher and routed to the content PC over SDI. The whole network was consolidated into 10 lines of fibre, measuring over a kilometre, to allow the sound, lighting, video and five cameras to talk to one another.”

Clemens Rudolph handled the video content, which included three-dimensional interiors of cathedrals and torture chambers, while Matthias Beck was in charge of cutting the live cameras.

This footage was then mapped into Rudolph’s pre-rendered content.

As with any project of this scale, the video team encountered a handful of challenges during pre-production, though none of them were substantial enough to derail what turned out to be a stellar evening’s entertainment.

“The show was a great success,” Wolfgang concluded. “The feedback from the press and the audience has been great, and I think the crew enjoyed working on it because it was such an unusual event.” www.digitalprojection.com

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38 REP ORT: VIDEO & VISUALS

LOUIS VU I T TON COMPANY: DISGUISE LOCATION: WORLDWIDE

As one of the most renowned fashion brands in the world, Louis Vuitton (LV) was established in 1854 and quickly rose to become one of the world’s most iconic luxury brands. After many recent collaborations with a variety of well known upcoming artists and designers for its window displays and runway shows, Louis Vuitton partnered with a number of designers and companies to create one of its most technologically advanced displays ever.

For the launch of the Spring/Summer 2019 collection, Louis Vuitton utilised video projection mapping to transform its global flagship storefronts using mannequins and LED, giving shoppers a glimpse into futuristic illusions of twelve international cities including London, Paris, New York, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Shanghai, Tokyo, Beijing and Milan. Using mind-altering projection mapping, the mannequins acted as ‘Postcards from the Future’, altering windows as small glimpses into the future, imagining moments which are potentially yet to happen.

To create these illustrative window installations, an LED video wall was fitted behind each mannequin, which displayed cityscapes, while projection content was morphed onto the mannequins, creating a truly dystopian canvas in storefronts across the globe. BEEPLE, aka American graphic designer Mike Winkelmann, created the artistry of the futuristic cityscapes.

Having previously worked with disguise on multiple projects, video and projection designer Luke Halls curated the projection content for the mannequins at his

studio in London. “Our brief was to design video to project onto the mannequins’ faces as they travelled on runways through landscapes filled with flying vehicles and giant poster boards,” Luke recalled. “To do this we reflected the corresponding scenes into the mannequins’ faces creating HDRI maps of the scenes rotating over the metallic material comprising the mannequins. In addition, the content evolved over a 24-hour period following the clock of each city from morning to night.”

The entire scene features mannequins posed in action, walking toward onlookers, within a re-imagined version of each of the 12 store locations. To top it all off, each of the installations continue to transform in real-time from day to night in a 24-hour sequence.

“We also used disguise to map the content onto all variations of the window setups in one location creating ‘dummy’ windows using the exact positions of the mannequins in relation to the projectors,” Luke said.

British Set Designer Es Devlin, and Louis Vuitton’s Creative Director, Nicolas Ghesquiere, wanted to represent models from runway shows within the projection content, as well as exploring futuristic takes of the future. To bring these ideas to life, Luke also created content that morphed the mannequins into a variety of different runway models. He visually interpreted digital DNA using street maps and binary code to help reveal each model’s heritage and explore how people’s surroundings affected their personalities.

Luke also worked closely with Julien Colet, Chief

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Executive Officer of Image Video Services (IVS) in St. Denis, France. Well known for the masterful audiovisual projects that he creates across a variety of boutique, fashion, and luxury brands, IVS was supported by Stan Walbert from Stello Productions, to manage and perfect the LV project workflow.

Working together with the teams at LV and the various people involved in the project, IVS and Stello finalised the video integration and programming to ensure that the projection mapping would be as accurate as possible from store to store across the world.

As one of the key components of the entire workflow, disguise was used heavily in the pre-visualisation stages of projection mapping. Utilising the technology so early on in the process also allowed full flexibility when on-site at the window displays throughout the global flagship stores.

Stan Walbert explained: “Once we were all happy with the mapping, I rendered the video feed outputs out of disguise, then we were able to load a smaller playback system that could fit in the windows and loop, and sequence the mapped content around the clock.”

‘Postcards from the Future’ was a great success for Louis Vuitton, and the various technical teams involved. Utilising the latest technology, transporting onlookers to a dystopian future enhanced the eclectic futurism of the Spring/Summer 2019 launch, exploring beauty and inspiration from the future on a global scale. www.disguise.one

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40 REP ORT: VIDEO & VISUALS

AS IA N C U LT U R E CA R N IVA L COMPANY: GLOSHINE LOCATION: BEIJING, CHINA

In May 2019, the Asian Culture Carnival held by CCTV opened at the National Stadium (Bird’s Nest) in Beijing, China. As an important carrier of dialogue among Asian civilisations, the evening party aims to deepen the cultural exchanges between China and the other Asian countries and spread the beauty of oriental arts and humanities. For the first time in history, the Evening Party used over 10,000 metres sq LED screens as a stage, all manufactured by Gloshine.

The stage was designed to be a giant peony with 18 petals which were made by 5,000 sq metres of Gloshine LC black, transparent screen, blooming in the centre of the Stadium.

The petals symbolise the Asian countries hand-inhand to achieve harmony and common prosperity.

The LED screens are light and thin, with high transparency and high wind resistance, supporting positive and negative 5° angle, with different shapes and

GLOBAL B OXI N G FORUM COMPANY: YESTECH LOCATION: YEKATERINBURG, RUSSIA

LED display manufacturer YESTECH, designed and manufactured the display screens that took centre stage, in a triangular, folding surface for this year’s Global Boxing Forum, held in Yekaterinburg, Russia.

A versatile structure that can also form a cube, it is composed of eight isosceles triangle screens, which can also be used independently.

The Magic Stage Series adopts a modularised, cable-less design; with the power, driver board and receiving card all connected by pins.

A total of 1818 black LEDs with selected chips, process gray scale meticulously and accurately, ensuring the brightness, contrast ratio and gray scale of MG7 to maintain the best picture.

Magic Stage Series can be used as a dancefloor, an interactive screen, a screen for both outdoor and indoor, a stadium screen, a sky curtain, a showcase screen and a variety of creative screens. www.yes-led.com www.mondodr.com

bending degrees.

The central stage is composed of nearly 3,000-metre sq black dance floor screens. The unique chamfered industrial design makes the bud appear to rise, while, its bright black glass makes each pixel of the AR display twinkle. www.gloshine.com

42 REP ORT: VIDEO & VISUALS

ALTON TOW E R S COMPANY: PROLIGHTS & AC-ET LOCATION: STOKE-ON-TRENT, UK Alton Towers Resort has turned up the heat for the theme park season with its £16m thrill attraction, the Wicker Man, featuring real fire and stunning ‘fire’ effects created using a PROLIGHTS AlphaPIX video system, plus various lighting, supplied by A.C. Entertainment Technologies Ltd. (AC-ET).Wicker Man is the first wooden rollercoaster to be built in the UK for 21 years, with the unique thrill of fire. Burning embers light the ride’s path as it speeds towards a six-storey (17.55-metre) Wicker Man structure, which spectacularly bursts into flames as the coaster races through its chest three times.

To complement real flames on the structure and get flame-like effects even closer to the riders, the resort’s Entertainments Technical Manager, Alex Tweedie approached longstanding technology vendor, AC-ET to assist with specifying and supplying a solution. After discussing the details of the project

with Chris Beardwell from AC-ET’s specialist video sales division, projection was discounted, as it would not be bright enough during daylight.

Chris recommended the PROLIGHTS AlphaPIX 6T LED display, featuring 5,500 nits brightness level to be effective in daylight, IP65 rating, and with the 6.6mm pitch option offering the best balance between a convincing fire effect and meeting the tight budget.

Based on the specification, Alex initially ordered 20 of the 640mm by 720mm modular panels, which were configured in various ‘Tetris-like’ clusters of different shapes and sizes around the Wicker Man structure - including overhead when the ride passes through its chest. Alton Towers Resort was so impressed with the spectacular flame effect that it ordered another 20 panels for the ride. AC-ET supplied the complete video system, which also included two NovaStar VX4S controllers linking the video panels to a Green Hippo Hippotizer V4 Amba media server running the flame effect content; all power and EtherCon Ethernet control cabling, which was assembled to specification and custom lengths

by AC-ET’s in-house Tourflex Cabling service; as well as a second Amba server to run content in the

BEIJING DAXI N G AI R PORT COMPANY: LIANTRONICS LOCATION: BEIJING, CHINA

www.mondodr.com

ride pre-show area.

Working alongside Chris, Peter Nesbitt in AC-ET’s specialist lighting sales division specified various luminaires to help create the right atmosphere for sales opportunities when passengers exited the Wicker Man ride through a gift shop featuring branded merchandise.

The lighting package included PROLIGHTS Eclipse HD LED Ellipsoidal’s, PROLIGHTS Accent 1Q LED wash lights, City Theatrical Qolor FLEX RGBA LED light strips and PROLIGHTS Panorama IP Beam moving lights to provide effects during a media launch event.

Alton Towers Resort’s Entertainments Technical Manager, Alex concluded: “Everyone involved with the ride is really pleased with the technology solutions provided by AC-ET The PROLIGHTS panels do a fantastic job of convincing visitors that the Wicker Man structure is really on fire. Along with the excellent lighting recommendations, AC-ET product specialists have once again delivered a first class service which met our project needs perfectly.” www.ac-et.com www.prolights.it

43 REP ORT: VIDEO & VISUALS

C HA RTR ES EN LU M IÈ R ES COMPANY: MODULO PI LOCATION: CHARTRES, FRANCE Design: Spectaculaires, Allumeurs d’Images

From April 27 to October 12, 2019, the Chartres en Lumières festival (Chartres in lights) returned for its 15th edition. With a route going through 24 illuminated sites all around the city, Chartres en Lumières is the biggest architectural heritage light enhancement operation in the world, powered by 24 Modulo Pi media servers.

Following the tremendous success of the first Light Celebration in 2003, the city perpetuated the event and created Chartres en Lumières, a free event with several illuminated sites from nightfall to 1am every evening for six months.

Entirely produced by the city, the festival enhances Chartres city’s heritage with sound and light shows projected on iconic buildings such as the cathedral, the Fine arts museum, the city’s theatre, or the ancient bridges and old washing places along the Eure river.

For the 2019 edition, 24 sites were illuminated every evening with shows created by graphic studios that were awarded tenders.

Powering all these sites required an important technical system: 29 Christie projectors, 18 Barco projectors, and 24 Modulo Pi media servers were used, along with 23 Modulo Player Ultra and one

Beijing Daxing International Airport’s construction has lasted for more than four years, and opened on 25 September, 2019. Besides the honour of having the world’s largest terminal, Beijing Daxing International Airport also has the largest integrated transportation hub worldwide and the world’s first terminal with underground high-speed rail.

As a gigantic international hub, Beijing International Daxing Airport adhered to the spirit of craftsmanship, which complied with the requirements of the clients high standards. With this in mind LianTronics designed and manufactured 30 sets of LED display screens for Daxing Airport, with a total

Modulo Kinetic. It also required a dedicated team of seven, working full-time with complete autonomy on the festival production, managing the equipment and the event.

Fabien Lemoigne, Event Technical Manager of Chartres en Lumières, explained why the Modulo Pi systems were chosen: “All the equipment has to operate during six months with minimum maintenance, meaning it has to be extremely reliable at all times.

That’s why we acquired Modulo Pi media servers. On top of that, I find Modulo Player interface very easy and fun to use.”

Dispatched on all the different sites, the 23 Modulo Player Ultra play media in TGA or HAP and allow for easy mapping on buildings: “With Modulo Player Ultra, we can map on buildings in a very meticulous way, without needing extra equipment, and with real quality at the end.”

To ease the management of each different system spread out around the city, the Chartres en Lumières team also relied on the show control functionalities of Modulo Pi’s media servers: “All sites have been automated and automations on Modulo Player are a real joy to work with,” added Fabien Lemoigne.

Among the other iconic buildings in the city, the

screen area of nearly 1,000 metre sq.

Two large, creatively curved LED video walls give a warm welcome to visitors entering security. These two LED walls have compound-eye-like 8K high definition with a total area up to 180 metre sq. Embedded overhead, these screens perfectly match the building exterior with their bright colours, excellent visual presentation and unique shapes, becoming a vivid business card of the Daxing Airport.

Seamless splicing of each corner, two rectangular pillars encircled by fine-pitch LED are located on the main road of baggage claim. With 360° content demonstration, these LED-wrapped pillars catch the

www.mondodr.com

cathedral and its south doorway offer a brand new show this year, produced and created by Spectaculaires Allumeurs d’Images. For this new light and sound show, three Modulo Player Ultra are used, two of which have a 4K output.

The Modulo Kinetic system is powering an interactive installation designed by Pixel n Pepper studio on the Chartres Galleries site, at the Chapelle Sainte Foy. Using a touch screen of 42-inches, visitors can choose four different themes in which they can select different animations to be applied on the surface of the Chapel. The visitors can also play with a 3D object such as a planet, a giant squid or a lion, move them in real time, or change their textures and colours, thanks to Adobe Substance materials.

“Light is a real vector of dynamism and communication for a city. Chartres is now very involved in this field as proven by the enhancement of its wonderful heritage, which now makes Chartres one of the most visited city in France,” said Laurent Lhuillery, a member of the city council in charge of highlighting the city’s heritage. “Chartres en Lumières is now renowned beyond French borders. We strive to further extend its scope and influence every year.” www.modulo-pi.com

eye and impress passers-by.

There are eight, two-sided LED signs located in the international luggage belt area, these screens are all made of LianTronics VA1.5 products. Their high contrast ratio, comfortable brightness and super wide viewing angle make an adverting matrix to fit in different needs of advertisers. Each year, the international throughput capacity will be over five million, which can bring immeasurable commercial value for the advertisers. www.liantronics.com

44 REP ORT: VIDEO & VISUALS

PHILAR M ON I E DE PA R IS COMPANY: SMODE LOCATION: PARIS, FRANCE

A pioneer of the French Touch and a key player on the international electronic music scene, DJ Étienne de Crécy is renowned for the eclecticism and efficiency of his productions. His latest tour, Space Echo, came to a packed Philharmonie earlier this year, with a striking show design that featured Smode’s ground-breaking technology at its heart.

In a video produced by Smode and shot during rehearsals in Bry-sur-Marne cinema studios in France, he takes viewers through the creative process of his new visually striking show where sound and video are intertwined. “Music is no longer my only means of expression,” said Étienne de Crécy ahead of the tour. “I work as much in the staging of my concerts as in their setting to music.”

The staging for Space Echo was conceived by LightLab’s Alexandre Lebrun and was centred around an equilateral triangle made up of 13 Pure10 LED screens, which are 70% transparent. Each of the screens could be rotated using a PRG SpinIt motor, enabling the whole

setup to be spatially reconfigured as the show dictated.

“This enables us to create complex architectures, or no architecture at all,” explained Étienne. “It creates confusion. And the transparency of the screens makes it even harder to figure out on which layer the content appears.”

The content itself was drawn from a full range of effects, from highly structured geometry to confusing and blurry masses, and everything in between.

Artistic Director, Armand Beraud, gave an insight into the show’s origins: “I have worked several times with Étienne de Crécy on his previous shows, and he has always been attracted to video mapping. For this new show, Étienne told me about his concept of transparent screens arranged so that images could be built with real depth.”

The movement, optical effects, and general confusion that could be created by the interaction of the screens and media content meant that it was vital to find the right tool to get a grip on the images in their 3D

www.mondodr.com

environment.

Armand continued: “The first meeting allowed us to see the screens in action and what Smode could do as well. The few loops I had prepared were broadcasted by the ‘Smoders’, who were also at the meeting, and they highlighted the creative tools that immediately appealed to me.”

The software allowed Armand and his team to render and manipulate the visuals in real time - a priceless advantage when working on such an intricate live performance.

As production and technical director, Julien Bedane, explained, this was also well within the realms of possibility where Smode was involved. Of the software, he said: “It can only be described as an excellent Swiss army knife that helps you get out of any possible situation, as well as allowing the creatives to go the extra mile.” www.smode.fr

UNIVER S E COMPANY: KINETIC LIGHTS LOCATION: BEIJING, CHINA

Universe is a stage performance and kinetic video installation created by the Berlin-based art and design studio, WHITEvoid for the third edition of Apologue 2047 at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Beijing. Directed by Chinese Director, Zhang Yimou, Apologue 2047 is a seven-part concept performance that explores the future of science and technology and its connection to the Chinese cultural heritage.

“Through movement and change, new replacing old is the immutable law of the universe,” Zhang Yimou said. “If you were to view the advance of civilisation from a linear perspective, in one direction, you will see 5,000 years of civilisation. Towards the other direction a future of science and technology, rapid and iterative. Here we are standing at this moment, a moment in which we take from our forebears but depart towards the new creation, a moment in which we cross over from the protracted past and draw boundlessly toward the future.”

Each of the Apologue 204’s seven parts introduces a performative piece that fuses traditional Chinese folklore, contemporary art, and forward-looking technological innovation. The practitioners of traditional Northern Shaanxi storytelling appear on stage together with

modern dance performers and a drone show.

A renowned Chinese sheng player improvised with his ancient instrument, accompanied by the French electronic musician Kangding Ray. Hua’er performers interacted with video and industrial robots. Dong Chorus of Dimen Village chanted folk songs of Dong minority under the LED Triangle Performance. A laser show surrounded Peking Opera percussionists and performers.

For the third year, Zhang Yimou invited WHITEvoid to take part in this large-scale production. Art directed by Christopher Bauder, WHITEvoid designed and realised the dynamic LED installation featuring the newest innovation of WHITEvoid’s in-house brand Kinetic Lights - the video triangles with HD real-time streaming. The precise kinetic movements of different shapes and forms played the role of an actor or performer instead of being just a backdrop (as is usually the case with video walls or video projections). Combined with the performance of a folk choir, this multi-dimensional video installation allowed performers to interact with the universe in real-time on stage.

The local L!VE Kingway team supported the production of the whole project in Beijing. www.kinetic-lights.com

46 REP ORT: VIDEO & VISUALS

PRODUCT EXPERIENCE EVENT COMPANY: GREEN HIPPO LOCATION: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA Photos: ©battleROYAL / Brendan Shelper

Berlin-based creative studio battleROYAL recently drew on the power of Green Hippo’s Hippotizer media s`ervers to provide a dazzling ‘product experience’ at a corporate event devised for a leading financial services provider. The new Platinum Corporate card by American Express was a strong motivation for this unique creation, directed by battleROYAL’s Brendan Shelper and conceived and produced with Ogilvy Argentina and NA Producionnes.

Discovering new ways to interpret ‘assisted success’ was a core focus. Blending expressive physical movement with Notch and Hippotizer’s ability to integrate video tracking and light play, the performance extended each character’s ability to physically communicate, live on stage.

The show, part entertainment and part art installation, was played to 200 guests facing the open sides of a seven-metre by 11-metre stage. Upstage, projection surfaces covered the rear two sides of the performance area, forming the setting for a story told through the interplay of human movement, tracking projections and light. “battleROYAL continually create new ways to integrate technology into their performances,” said UK-based Video Engineer Steve Jackson, a trusted technical partner for battleROYAL’s productions for the past five years, and a Hippotizer specialist for the past seven.

For this show, Steve used Hippotizer Karst+ media servers with HD SDI outputs and capture card, to play media through multiple projectors, including Barco HDX and Epson 15K units, covering the walls and floor

of the stage, and a performer’s dress, which becomes its own projection surface. With limited time on-site, the precise technical layout was completed in advance using CAD and Cinema 4D. The system design was then completed in Cinema 4D and SHAPE, Hippotizer’s 3D toolkit, where projection angles throw distances and required lenses were calculated and defined.

Steve found SHAPE to be a particularly useful feature on this project: “Hippotizer enabled me to use both SHAPE for the tailor-made set, and a normal Viewport for the dress element, which was a slight unknown and didn’t require full 3D modelling. This combination is very powerful, as to be confined purely to 3D would have been very challenging,” he said.

“Working within SHAPE also enabled the video content designers to work within Cinema 4D, their preferred software. They could visualise the show both during the creative process and via Hippotizer’s Object to Output feature, on a machine that I sent to their office. They were able to pre-visualise elements of the show and the performance of the Notch blocks, prior to arriving on-site.”

SHAPE’s ability to import an entire CAD file and take the 3D positioning data was key for last-minute edits of camera positions, finding the ‘sweet spot’ to allow the broadcast feed to take full advantage of 3D objects ‘appearing’ from the static set.

Steve used MultiController, the Hippotizer V4 tool, which manages various control protocols including MIDI and OSC. “MultiController also enabled the integration of a Wacom tablet to control parameters of

the Notch block,” he said.

Richard Gilbert, onsite programmer on behalf of Stage Sound Services, commented: “The native control of the stream deck hardware from within Hippotizer’s MultiController was a very handy feature, speeding up the programming, enabling the servers to be unlocked from incoming Art-Net and timecode, to make edits and preview changes without having to wait for other departments, at the touch of a button.”

Notch became the universal tool to realise this artistic vision and to create dynamic video content. The live setup enabled the designer to test new content during the intense production period within seconds of creating it, giving the team precious time to focus on the creation of the whole show.

“Cameras were also used to track performers’ movements and work as an effector for the Notch elements,” said Steve. “The fact the show could be programmed in timeline and triggered via the lighting desk made show control very straightforward. The show was also locked to timecode to sync with audio files.”

In addition to SHAPE, MultiController and timeline programming Steve also cited Green Hippo’s proprietary FlexRes codec as a big advantage, speeding up file imports and saving valuable time. And, of course, the support of the Green Hippo team. He said: “The continued support from the staff in realising the projects and challenges I give them is a great help. If something is not currently possible within the software, they are always keen to find ways to make it work.” www.green-hippo.com

48 REP ORT: VIDEO & VISUALS

BIOM U S EO COMPANY: VISIONARY SOLUTIONS LOCATION: PANAMA CITY, PANAMA

The Biomuseo is a jewel in Panama’s crown.

Housed in a spectacular building created by famed architect, Frank Gehry and located on the Armador Causeway at the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal, the Biomuseo hosts a permanent exhibition entitled ‘Panama: Bridge Of Life’.

In eight galleries, conceived by Bruce Mau, Founder of the Institute Without Boundaries, the museum explores the world-changing impact of the creation of Panama three million years ago. The rising of this natural land bridge from the ocean simultaneously connected North and South America, while dividing the Pacific Ocean from the Caribbean Sea, letting land mammals cross between the continents while dividing the ocean ecosystems forever.

The museum opened in 2014 with five of its eight galleries completed and has enjoyed tremendous success since then. For the creation of the three remaining galleries, which are considerably more complex than the first five, the Biomuseo turned to Tellart, a design firm with offices in San Francisco, Amsterdam, and Providence, Rhode Island. Jack Lenk, Production Director at Tellart and adjunct faculty at the Rhode Island School of Design, explained: “The Biomuseo already had content for the first two new galleries, Oceans Divided and The Living Web, and were looking for exhibits to help tell their stories. There was also a need for interactive kiosks in the final gallery, the culminating showpiece Panama Is The Museum.”

Oceans Divided, features two enormous aquarium tanks that show visitors the differences in plants and animals between the Pacific and

Caribbean ecosystems, and The Living Web takes visitors up into the rainforest canopy with interactive displays under a huge stylised sculpture of rainforest life. In each of these exhibits, visitors learn more via a number of high-definition video displays, the vast majority of them interactive. In ‘Panama Is The Museum’ visitors walk through an immersive experience that triggers different projections on a large central sculpture based on where they step; this experience must be augmented by kiosks around the room that allow for direct interaction and information recall. For all of these kiosks and information displays, Tellart relied on Visionary Solutions, to bring everything together.

“One of the Biomuseo’s technical requirements was that they wanted to control everything from a server room in the basement, with all the computers and power control,” Jack related. “The distances from there to the galleries were such that we had to come up with transmission technologies to handle HDMI 4K screens, as well as USB Touch for the interactive display touchscreens.

That’s where VSI came into play. We didn’t use fibre optic cable; we did everything over CAT6A cable, running hundreds of feet from the server room - sometimes as much as 80% of the rated distance spec. The server room had to feed 23 displays, all but three of them touch-interactive, with rock-solid reliability and the lowest possible latency.”

The list of displays in the exhibits is impressive.

Between them, Oceans Divided and The Living Web feature 19 displays, all planar LED systems:

two 65-inch displays in custom touch table furniture, two more 65-inch touchscreens on wall mounts, two 50-inch wall-mounted touchscreens, nine free-standing 27-inch kiosk touchscreens, one 27-inch wall-mounted touchscreen, and two 65-inch and one 50-inch wall-mounted, non-interactive displays. In addition, Panama Is The Museum features four freestanding kiosks with 24-inch touchscreens, for a total of 23 displays.

“This was our first project working with VSI,” Jack noted. “We reached out to an integrator near our San Francisco office, David Carroll & Associates, and they worked with our lead technical designer to help configure the system architecture and to help us get the best equipment for the job - in this case, 23 Visionary Solutions E4100 encoders for the server room and another 23 Visionary Solutions D4100 decoders, one per display. The Visionary Solutions gear fit the bill exactly for what we needed.”

“The guys at Visionary Solutions were really helpful,” Jack added. “They got on the phone with us while we were in Panama and gave us technical advice and suggestions for tackling issues as they came up when installing the system. The remote support they offered was great.”

The new galleries opened in mid-March, and thousands of visitors have been enjoying the exhibits since then. “We’re quite satisfied with the VSI gear,” Jack concluded. “The company has been really supportive, and the gear itself has been really cool. We’d not hesitate to use it again in a future build.” www.vsicam.com

(r)evolution Every once in a while, something comes along that tears up the rulebook and revolutionises an industry. This is one of those moments: the Satellite Modular Laser System from the Visionaries of the display industry – Digital Projection.

1996

3,000 lumens 60 kg

2003

16,000 lumens 113 kg

2016

27,000 lumens 132 kg

2020

> 40,000 lumens < 40 kg

SATELLITE MODULAR LASER SYSTEM

See it at ISE Hall 1 - F90

Satellite Projection Heads and RGB Laser Sources Simple building blocks for complex installations

www.digitalprojection.com

SATELLITE The Visionaries’ MODULAR LASERChoice SYSTEM Mondo-Full-Page-ISE-2020.indd 1

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50 REP ORT: VIDEO & VISUALS

LUCAS OI L STADIU M COMPANY: ATLONA LOCATION: INDIANAPOLIS, USA

Lucas Oil Stadium is a state-of-the-art multi-purpose facility seating over 67,000 fans with a retractable roof. Opened in 2008 as the new home of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts, its flexible design can also accommodate NCAA basketball, and concerts among other national and local events.

The seven-level stadium design has embraced audiovisual and digital signage technology since opening its doors. Located on the north street level of Lucas Oil Stadium lies Lucas Oil Plaza, a public congregation area for events and concessions featuring a multitude of performance motor vehicle exhibits. The plaza’s original digital signage network included 13 single displays and a 16-screen, four by four video wall, blending Lucas Oil promotional content with entertainment.

In operation for 10 years, the original audiovisual digital signage system was implemented in an archaic manner. “Much of the operation was manual and de-centralised, using a rack-mounted touch panel to power certain systems on and off, switch video sources and manage other control elements. Meanwhile, we had to go directly to DVD players and certain displays to turn them on. A cluster of noisy, power-hungry and heat-producing 4RU servers that fed digital content increasingly began to fail,” James Crain, Facilities Manager at Lucas Oil Products said.

The four by four video wall also began to prove problematic. As years progressed, displays began to fail and became increasingly more difficult to source identical replacements. The original NEC 52-inch displays also each featured a three quarter-inch bezel, which equated to a one and a half-inch gap between displays. Increasingly, the wall resembled a checkerboard. As display technology has matured, bezels have grown much less noticeable.

With centralised control, system reliability, and the fan experience all lacking, the decision was made to substantially update the Lucas Oil Stadium network in two phases: First, a new digital signage network deployment; and second, an

engaging video wall that would breathe new life into our overall audiovisual operation. In both cases, the new network, comprised of seven motor sports themed displays and a more dynamic 16-screen video wall would be more automated, visible, energy-efficient, scalable, and pleasing to the eye.

While the Lucas Oil Plaza signage network has always had a broad footprint, the content has been fairly simple. The previous Dell servers fed PowerPoint slides and content from DVD players and laptops to the various end points. However, the expense of maintaining the original system coupled with its fading reliability clearly pointed to a new strategy.

“The Plaza’s existing wired infrastructure was repurposed and provided plenty of bandwidth to distribute and control content over IP. This steered us toward an audiovisual over IP architecture to support our second-generation digital signage network, leading us to Atlona for networked distribution and control; and BrightSign for digital signage content management and playout.

Furthermore, OmniStream could operate with multicast Integration of the exhibit displays and video wall first required a significant teardown phase,” said Cory Poore, Lucas Oil Stadium’s IT and Network Technician.

Removal of the video wall was itself an enormous task: each display and mount had a combined weight of roughly 150 pounds, equalling roughly a literal ton of total weight removed. The fact that video wall was suspended 20 to 30ft in the air only exasperated the situation.

The outer panels of the existing video wall enclosure were stripped down to its frame, and a total of (eight) 16ft sections of horizontal channel strut were added for the new display mounts to attach to. New CAT6A UTP cabling was also pulled to the video wall to provide plenty of bandwidth for multiple simultaneous video sources to be displayed if desired.

“Once the exhibits were prepared, we began

the process of installing the new screens. The new video wall is comprised of 16 LG 55VX1D landscape screens, with Chief ConnexSys mounts supporting the displays. These are precision mounts offering six points of adjustment across height, tilt, depth and lateral movement,” Corey said.

The digital signage displays are fashioned as creative kiosks, with positioning in key traffic areas - some of which were repositioned for more visibility to fans. Two 86-inch LG landscape displays were added to the Restrooms, dual LG 42-inch landscape displays were added to two Oil Bottle exhibits, dual Elo 17-inch portrait displays were added to two antique Gas Pump exhibits, and a single LG 49-inch landscape display was added to a performance motor teardown exhibit.

On the source end of the digital signage system, the latest technology was utilised to improve overall playout. “BrightSign digital signage has greatly simplified how we manage our digital signage content,” Corey continued. “Previously the original integrator had to be involved to facilitate all content changes. BrightSign’s BrightAuthor software now makes it simple to accommodate changes in house with one person, intuitively and on short notice. Importantly, the system wakes up when plaza power is turned on for the day, with content playout resuming where it left off. This is both a convenience benefit as well as an efficiency improvement that preserves stadium energy.

“The BrightSign XT1144 players we used, bring similar operational benefits. The players are solid-state, which means we no longer have to deal with computers and an operating system to support playout. The standard player configuration loads and loops the content from an SD card, with no concern about computer security, failing hard drives or maintaining the OS. The digital signage players are modestly priced enough to allow quick and simple swap out at the connection point in the event of a failure.” www. atlona.com

F1_VEROVXMondo ad_MAY_2019.pdf

1

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Next level performance in a versatile format

Vero VX’s more compact format brings Vero sound to a wider range of venues.

Funktion-One’s unique driver and waveguide technology ensures vocals and musical harmonics are coherent in time and space, providing benefits in clarity, intelligibility and immersive stereo imaging.

The high crossover point to the compression driver means increased headroom and reduced harmonic and modulation distortion. The very high electroacoustic efficiency of the horn-loaded mid/high section is supplemented by new bass driver technology up to eight Vero VX cabinets can be powered by a single amplifier.

Vero VX’s patented Lambda rigging system ensures accurate array alignment.The naturally flat response does not require corrective EQ, thus preserving headroom and phase coherency, resulting in very clean output, even at maximum power.

www.vero-system.com

52 REP ORT: VIDEO & VISUALS

BA L E N C I AGA , S P R I N G / S UMMER S H OW 2 0 1 9 COMPANY: INFILED LOCATION: PARIS, FRANCE

INFiLED worked with Balenciaga, one of the top fashion houses in the world, for the iconic brand’s Spring/ Summer 2019 show.

Aiming to draw influence from and attention to modern technology and digital media, the fashion show presented a futuristic theme. To create the theme, designer Jon Rafman used over 7,000 pieces of LED panels.

X panels, ER panels and SF panels from INFiLED created a psychedelic tunnel of kaleidoscopic light.

Jon wanted an experience, which was like being inside someone’s digital mind.

“It’s been a great honour for INFiLED and Image Video Services (IVS) that we could provide the right panels to the show to achieve the computerised visuals for the LED screens that surrounded the whole site, the floors, the walls, and even the ceilings,” a representative from INFiLED said.

The curved walls and ceiling were all shaped by wave solutions X Series and soft flexible solutions SF Series,

PUBG AS I A I N VI TATIO N A L COMPANY: LIGHTLINK LOCATION: MACAU, CHINA

LIGHTLINK supported more than 1,800 metre sq of LED displays for the first major official e-Sports tournament organised by the PUBG Corporation, PUBG Asia Invitational.

The competition area was designed to look like a three-dimensional space, consisting of several huge LIGHTLINK’s Carbon Fibre Series LED screens, a multi-function mesh LED wall screen for indoor and outdoor use. The LED displays feature 45° bevel edge design for 90° cube application, anti-collision PCB technology to improve its durability, as well as an adjustable single pixel hollowing module for creative design and applications.

A cubed box was constructed for the start of the competition, comprised of the LED cabinets, the box was positioned in the centre of the hall and slowly opened to broadcast the competition for the live audience.

Each Player’s status was displayed on the LED screens in real-time, while the mainstage LED screen, added a dramatic impact, serving as the main screen for the live games, combined with the cube screen it offered an all-round viewing angle. www.szlightlink.com www.mondodr.com

easy rental solution ER Series was used for the floor and covered in glass.

As was reported by Dezeen, throughout the show, the images illuminated on the tunnel walls cast a series of different scenes, ranging from a multi-coloured periodic table to towering metal structures, with a recorded voice on loop repeating the words, “Presence is the key, now is the answer, ego is not who you are.” www.infiled.com

54 REP ORT: VIDEO & VISUALS

A NNUA L S UMMI T OF EXP E RTS COMPANY: ANALOG WAY LOCATION: PARIS, FRANCE

Budapest-based Brill AV, provided Analog Way’s new Aquilon RS2 LivePremier image processor and presentation system with a Shot Box² controller and Picturall Pro media server for a major corporate event in Paris.

The audiovisual rental company delivered the Analog Way solution to a medical firm’s annual summit of experts. The event featured an LED videowall measuring 30-metres by four-metres with a total resolution of more than 17 million pixels. Equivalent to slightly more than twice the bandwidth of 4K, the videowall required stable processing and playback of content. The Analog Way solution offered pixel-precise processing of the LED videowall with eight scalable 4K layers spread across the wall and downstage monitors.

“We wanted to go big. The visual impact and the message at this event were key,” said Aric Resnick of Brill AV. “The stage design was clean and simple

with a custom-built desk with monitors and custom lecterns. “We decided to go with a large 2.6mm LED videowall with a total resolution of 1,1520 by 1,536 pixels. The wall sat on top of a one-metre structure to achieve a total height of five metres, which ended up fitting the room really nicely.”

Aric noted that Brill AV has been using Analog Way equipment on projects for quite a while now.

“We can always rely on the equipment’s stability and performance,” he said.

“For the Paris summit we used Aquilon as our switcher to send the content to the LED controllers then on to the wall, with splits to the desk monitors and confidence monitors. Plus, there were camera feeds for a full program record,” he explained.

Aquilon RS2 enabled native live backgrounds with scalable seamless mixing of 4K layers on top, while providing feeds for the downstage monitors and multi-viewer outputs. The show’s audio console was

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also connected to Aquilon via Dante.

The Picturall Pro fed the native live backgrounds to the videowall and additional standard media. Aquilon was easily controlled by the Shot Box. “Aquilon enabled us to have one operator control the switching and media servers,” Aric pointed out.

“Both units worked seamlessly and flawlessly. All involved were very happy. We couldn’t have done this event without the support of Analog Way.” Lukas Falgenhauer, Analog Way’s Regional Sales Manager for Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Eastern Europe, commented: “An Aquilon LivePremier presentation system and a Picturall media server are the best combination for driving all kind of events, especially when you need high reliability and performance.” www.analogway.com

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IN FOCUS

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EMEA MINISTRY OF SOUND LONDON

JIMMY’S LIVERPOOL

LES CAVES DU ROY ST TROPEZ

SOKOS WIKLUND TURKU

CHINAWHITE MANCHESTER

CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC LJUBLJANA

THE AMERICAS • Page 78

• Page 70

HUMBOLT AUDITORIUM COSTA RICA

• Page 94

SONY HALL NEW YORK

APAC CHIMELONG THEATRE HENGQIN ISLAND

THE QING AT ORIENTAL MOVIE METROPOLIS SHANDONG

58 IN BRIEF - EMEA

Photo by: Paul Marc Mitchell

Iconic club, Ministry of Sound in London powers up with XTA.

After 18 years of success establishing itself as ‘The Box’, London’s Ministry of Sound recently approached XTA to be part of a full overhaul of the mega-system that powers ‘The Box’. This system includes six loudspeaker stacks comprising Martin Audio ASX21 active subwoofers, AS118 passive bass and W8C three-way full range loudspeaker cabinets. The top cabinets were driven via a combination of original BSS Soundweb London BLU processors feeding a mixture of Martin Audio branded and Crown amplification.

Nodd McDonagh, Consultant Operations Director, explained how the update came about: “The system in ‘The Box’ takes such a pounding and is famous for delivering exceptional quality each and every night the club is open - this room is never closed. We realised that to maintain this reputation, something had to change and that was the amplification and processing. Austin Derek, who’s been responsible for all of the club’s audio throughout the years, flew over from New York especially to advise, oversee and overhear the proposed changes. We would keep the fantastic

Martin Audio loudspeaker system and choose the best amplifiers and processing available, period.”

As is often the case, with long-term installations, this system had been adapted, added to and modified since the original specification, resulting in some very interesting signal paths and unnecessary processing. Jason Kelly, Technical Sales Manager for XTA, commented on the original installation during the first phase of the refit: “The message from Nodd and the technical team at Ministry of Sound during our early discussions was a desire to return to a ‘purer’ signal path, from the artist to the audience.”

The initial plan was to upgrade the amplifiers and processing for the two front stacks of the system, as this would allow comparisons to be made over a few weeks to the rest of current system. The subwoofers would remain active and the XTA amplification would drive the full range stacks. “We left two APAs for evaluation and these met with such an enthusiastic approval that something quite unexpected happened,” continued Jason. “Even given the immense power amplification built into the ASX subwoofers,

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59 IN BRIEF - EMEA

the decision was made to ‘de-activate’ them and replace the drivers and processing with passive drivers so they could be driven from APAs as well as the rest of the system.”

This was not a decision taken lightly - the ASX’s integral power amplifier is capable of 8.5kW peak, and the DSP has a feedback loop including a pressure sensor to reduce non-linearity and get the best out of the driver and amplifier. Converting to external processing and amplification meant removal of this driver and replacement with a new 21-inch driver that would still match the cabinet’s characteristics. Jason Beard, R&D Manager at Martin Audio was brought in to advise on this adaptation and specify a new Martin Audio driver to fulfil the job.

“To maintain the highest audio quality, and prevent multiple conversions from the analogue to digital and back again, the entire signal path is now networked audio via Dante, and a DPA100 heads up the system as both the bridge from analogue to Dante, and the front of house processing,” explained Jason Kelly.

Austin commented with just two APA in place: “You’ve smashed it out of the park with those amplifiers!”

Jason Kelly continued: “With that sort of response to the initial APA update to just two of the six stacks, the choice of using them for the subwoofers as well is great. The DPA ahead of the APAs also allows for wireless FOH control via an iPad for EQ tweaks.”

In total, eight APA-4E8 amplifiers now drive the entire system, capable of a total peak output power of well over 150,000W. In this configuration, they will be responsible for all loudspeaker processing and stack alignments, receiving Dante from the network with the DPA100 as the bridge from the DJ mixers.

Nodd said of the system: “The aims were decreased complexity, the ability to monitor remotely, and of course it had to sound better… I can safely say that all three were met in spades - it sounds incredible!” www.xta.co.uk

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Jimmyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s has already made a name for itself in the city of Manchester, UK. Red lit and plastered with post punk poster boys, the interior is similar to that of a nostalgic teenage bedroom, but this intimate venue has hosted some of the most exciting gigs the city has to offer.

Earlier this year, owners George and Jimmy Craig announced plans to branch out into the former Cabin Club premises in Liverpool.

With an already tight live schedule in their Manchester venue, Liverpool had to incorporate the same events, while also honing in on the cities iconic culture.

With a total refit of the former Cabin Club, the place where George Harrison is said to

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• Above The symbolic neon wall in Jimmy’s Liverpool that has given the venue its unique identity

have written ‘Don’t Bother Me’ for The Beatles after glugging back a post work pint, Adlib Audio was recruited to install a full system that packed a punch just like a 1960’s Beatles gig.

“When I met George (Craig), we got on with each other straight away and I knew I could tell him honestly my feel for the place,” explained Richard Murphy, Installations Manager at Adlib. “I gave him advice about not going all-in straight away, I told him to build the place first, but I also made sure to mention that the sound system needed to be perfect as that’s the thing you will most definitely get judged on.”

George furthered: “We knew that we wanted Jimmy’s Liverpool to be a seven-nights-a-week live venue with a PA system that could blow the roof off. With the help from the team at Adlib we have managed to achieve that. We’ve designed a really top-end venue for its capacity level.”

The three-floor space mirrors iconic venues such as London’s 100 Club and New York’s CBGB’s. Jimmy’s is a real glam-rock boozer that

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has the playlist to match. From Blondie and Talking Heads, to the fitting tones of local Merseybeat legends, the eclectic jukebox choices needed a complementary system that immediately filled the dancefloor.

Before starting the work in Jimmy’s, the team at Adlib conducted several site visits to what was essentially a blank canvas.

The venue had been empty for around 30 years, so there was a lot of work for the team to do but, being so close to home, Adlib was keen to jump straight into the project. “The main focus for us was the basement, because we knew that was where the live music would be. We invited George and Jimmy to the Adlib offices, and we demonstrated one of our own rigs, and next to that, we had a QSC ILA system. Both were suitable for the venue, but we ended up going with QSC,” explained Richard. “We always saw this venue as an upgrade from Manchester.

We had the equally fantastic Adlib PA,

that was a little smaller and then this fantastic QSC monster!” furthered George.

The brief Adlib received for the venue was simple: beefed up and loud. The Liverpool venue is an upgraded version of the already popular Manchester site, so it was important to both George and Richard that the system sounded amazing, and was uniquely different to what they had previously achieved. “Not many venues like Jimmy’s would have such a big PA system. This will be a huge upgrade for anyone looking at the technical specification of this venue. That was why it ticked all the right boxes for what George wanted to do,” said Richard.

The first floor, which houses the bar and an array of exquisite lighting fixtures, including a wall of around 50 neon lava lamps, needed a background system that was quickly able to adapt to the unperturbed environment of an after-work gossip and a mischievous

“We knew that we wanted Jimmy’s Liverpool to be a seven-nights-a-week live venue with a PA system that could blow the roof off. With the help from the team at Adlib we have managed to achieve that.

We’ve designed a really top end venue for its capacity level.”

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• Above The basement room in Jimmy’s used for live events and DJ nights

Friday night pre-party. The sound system comprises 18 Adlib AA81 loudspeakers, four Martin Audio CXS112 subwoofers, cleverly hidden in the elevated DJ booth, powered by nine Crown XLi amplifiers.

“Instead of having a pile of loudspeakers at one end of the room, trying to fill the whole space, we have got an even coverage right the way around by using a distributed point source system following the shape of the bar, so the levels aren’t too high in any particular area,” explained Richard.

The same layout is replicated upstairs in the yet to open restaurant area but using Apart Audio loudspeakers. The new dining area is something the team

at Jimmy’s are keen to get moving. “We will be launching this floor at the end of November and it is something we have never done before. We have an amazing chef onboard with us that has an exciting vision and wealth of experience to bring the Jimmy’s food part of the business to life. We wanted a good system with good volume up here, so that you can enjoy the music while still holding a conversation,” furthered George.

In the basement, where a flurry of bands have already graced the intimate stage, Adlib installed a QSC ILA FOH system - supplied by Audiologic - comprising two flown hangs of three WL2082 cabinets with groundstacked pairs of

WL118 subwoofers directly underneath.

As the basement room is L-shaped, Adlib also installed a QSC AD-S282H delay loudspeaker making sure that intelligibility was maintained even at the furthest point from which the stage can be seen. QSC CXD4.5Q network power amplifiers were also supplied to give the basement room that incomparable, full sound. A Midas M32 mixing console was specified by the client. “The Midas mixer has been a huge benefit for us, we’ve always kept an eye on budget but with this venue we had to get something that every sound technician would know and want to use,” said George.

A QSC Q-SYS Core 110f system looks

TECHNICAL INFORMATION SOUND MAIN LIVE MUSIC ROOM: 6 x QSC WL2082 line array cabinet; 4 x QSC WL118-sw subwoofer; 1 x QSC AD-S282H loudspeaker; QSC CXD4.5Q amplifiers; 6 x Adlib Audio AA1214e wedge; QSC Q-SYS Core 110f system processor; 1 x Midas M32 mixing console; 1 x Pioneer XDJ-RX2 controller GROUND FLOOR AND FIRST FLOOR: 18 x Adlib Audio AA81 loudspeaker; 4 x Martin Audio CXS112 subwoofer; 9 x Crown XLi amplifier; 1 x Pioneer XDJ-RX2 controller LIGHTING MAIN LIVE MUSIC ROOM: 12 x Chauvet COLORband PIX battens; 6 x Chauvet Intimidator 355IRC moving head; 4 x Chauvet EVE-P 130RGB; 2 x Chauvet EVE-P 100VW wash light; Avolites Titan software www.jimmys.live

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“When we first showed the guys at Jimmy’s the battens, they weren’t too sure about them but, after giving them a demonstration and showing them how they performed with the pixel mapping, they agreed that it was exactly what they were looking for. It has given the place an identity.”

after loudspeaker management. The user interface can be accessed remotely from an iPad, which allows the team at Jimmy’s to control the sound from anywhere in the venue and even remotely from home. The software has also been Jimmy’s branded and fits perfectly into the downtown New York aesthetic.

For the opening night fellow scousers, The Coral, played to a packed-in, soldout crowd and for George, this was the biggest first test the venue could have faced. “We wanted them to be happy with the system,” he said. “During the show their engineer came to us at and said: ‘it sounds amazing in here!’ that was such a big compliment. The response from visiting engineers from that point onwards has been really strong.”

Downstairs in the gig room Adlib also installed the lighting fixtures, comprising six Chauvet Intimidator 355 IRC moving heads, four Chauvet EVE-P 130RGBs and two Chauvet EVE-P 100VWs. “We left all of the lighting until last minute, mainly www.mondodr.com

because of the dust. However, the main attraction is the 12 Chauvet COLORband PIX battens which were placed across the stage wall to give a fantastic full colour wash across the front. “When we first showed the guys at Jimmy’s the battens, they weren’t too sure about them but, after giving them a demonstration and showing them how they performed with the pixel mapping, they agreed that it was exactly what they were looking for. It has given the place an identity,” said Richard.

Controlling the lighting system is Avolites Titan software. Running from a laptop, the programme allows the user to have fast and intuitive control of venue lighting and includes powerful features such as pixel mapping, Quicksketch and Synergy. Lighting Designer, Subul Lodi programmed a number of unique looks for gig set-ups that give those performing an enhanced show. “The movements that Subul incorporated can be tailored to the track that is being played and it just makes the space that little bit

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• Above A space in the main ground floor bar area of Jimmy’s Liverpool with the iconic neon signage

more distinctive and exciting to play in,” Richard said.

The Jimmy’s brand has not only become symbolic from the lightning bolt logo that has taken over t-shirts, back drops and even its own lager, the venue’s illumination is now just as iconic.

Stepping foot in the Manchester space, you are greeted with a wall of exquisite neon signs depicting brands of beer and David Bowie, and in the ground-floor bar area of the Liverpool venue, you are not disappointed. “As soon as you see that lighting you know where you are.

We wanted to continue the theme with the neon lights on the back wall but this

time it was completely custom made.

We then added the lava lamps too. But we still wanted to keep that Jimmy’s vibe that if someone from Manchester came over, they would feel at home,” explained George.

Jimmy’s Liverpool has already established itself as an integral part of Liverpool’s cult creative scene. The bar is a central hub for musicians, bands and music lovers to explore every corner of the ever-changing musical landscape joined by a stand-out sound and lighting system that has given the brand a memorable identity. “Every time a band plays here, it means that they are going away and talking about our PA

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system and how great it is and that will get people interested and boost the gigs even more,” furthered George.

“Because we’re a Liverpool company, Jimmy’s was a project that was extremely close to our hearts. It was on our doorstep and we had already established great relationships with George and the team here so if we needed anything, they would help us out and vice versa. There were things that we could really get ahead of the game on, we were waiting on power in the end! We did a lot of good planning with this venue and we are so proud of the end result and everyone who has been involved,” concluded Richard.

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LES CAVES DU ROY

Despite being located in the heart of the village of St Tropez, France, The Byblos-Palace hotel is inconspicuous from the roadside, as it lies nestled between the Citadel and the Place des Lices. The hotel describes itself as a temple and magical enclave that is both timeless and mystical, which certainly provokes an air of intrigue. The five star hotel, open from April to October - the usual season for hotels in St Tropez - offers sumptuous luxury throughout the entire complex from the spa and fitness centre to the pool and adjacent bar, the restaurant by Alain Ducasse, and the onsite nightclub, Les Caves du Roy, located directly beneath the swimming pool!

The hotel and the nightclub are owned by

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• Above The iconic dancefloor at the club has been enhanced by the new TW AUDiO PA system.

Groupe Floirat, an entrepreneurial company with success stories dating back more than 50 years. Its long heritage is thanks to its commitment to providing the best possible service and delivering the true essence of French luxury. In the case of Les Caves du Roy, high-end luxury comes in many forms, from the drinks collection to the in-house DJ with more than 20 years experience, the subtle oriental décor - with the central focal point being the illuminated palm tree - to upgrading the audiovisual experience year-on-year to make every season at the nightclub better than the previous.

It’ll come as no surprise that the clientele Les Caves du Roy attracts is the rich and famous.

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During open season, all tables in the club - in the bar area, surrounding the dancefloor and in the VIP area - are prebooked night after night, and the club mainly operates on a guestlist policy, with patrons primarily being locals or guests at the hotel, rather than tourists. Over the years, Les Caves du Roy has welcomed David and Victoria Beckham, Cher, Jack Nicholson, Bruce Willis, Mike Tyson and Grace Jones, while more recently the likes of P.Diddy, Naomi Campbell, Sylvester Stallone, and Lewis Hamilton have walked through its doors, too. With such an impressive guestlist, it’s easy to see where the passion for perfection stems from.

To assist with perfection from an audiovisual perspective, distributor and installer, Colorsonic has been working with the club owners and resident DJ Jack.E, for a number of years and true to form, an upgrade package was delivered for the 2019 season. Managing Director of Colorsonic, Gerard Giraudon and DJ Jack.E worked together with famous French architect, Francois Frossard who lives in Miami - on the latest refurbishment.

DJ Jack.E takes up the story: “I have been a DJ here for 23 years and I play 65 nights in a row for the season, followed by another 80 days of DJ’ing

around the world. We have made changes for this season but it’s always difficult because the owners want very little change. So, we have to upgrade the sound and the lighting in keeping with the spirit of the club. Gerard and I worked hand-inhand with the architect and the owner and we have arrived at a wonderful design that everyone is now in love with.”

As mentioned, the central palm tree is the focal point for the club, housed directly above the dancefloor, it is motorised, so can move up and down to make it even more iconic and eye-catching. Alongside the majestic palm tree were a further six others - smaller in size - that surrounded the dancefloor, however, with the latest redesign, the tree décor was temporarily removed, which revealed two of the trees were fake. Four are supporting columns that are disguised as palm trees, but the two that were simply in place for decoration have now been removed to create more space within the club.

The club space itself does have separate areas, but at the same time is an all encompassing space.

Guests enter and are immediately greeted by the bar, which then leads into the VIP area, and from there it’s down two steps onto the dancefloor that

has booth seating around the edges. There is also a second bar in far corner. The DJ booth - where the magic happens - is located adjacent to the VIP area, just offset from the dancefloor. A slightly unusual position, but DJ Jack.E said it works well: “We did look at moving the DJ booth but it would have meant getting rid of tables, and that just wouldn’t have been allowed due to the price of hiring one. From the current position though, I can see everywhere, the dancefloor, the VIP area and the bar, so I’m happy. Inside the DJ booth is a party area too, we have a fridge and seating for guests… I don’t like an empty booth!”

The new PA setup covers all areas of the club, so it’s one continuous party. Naturally, there is more energy on the dancefloor, which is primarily down to the eight TW AUDiO B18 subwoofers located on and around the dancefloor. The bass units feature a symmetrical band pass design that delivers a consistent performance in the low-end frequency range. Working in conjunction with the B18’s, are TW AUDiO’s T20i loudspeakers and its T24N-60 loudspeaker, which again sit in and around the circular dancefloor. The compact footprint of the T20i loudspeakers made them ideal for installing at Les Caves du Roy due

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• Above The central focal point is interspersed with lighting and audio fixtures to make the structure come to life.

to the low ceiling height, yet they don’t comprise on output. The T24N cabinets need little explanation, given that they have become a go-to product from TW AUDiO. “Gerard did a great job with the sound, because it’s not straightforward with it having multiple levels. The venue demands a complicated solution to satisfy everyone,” DJ Jack.E continued. “As a DJ, working with a TW AUDiO system now, I feel like I have been upgraded.

TW AUDiO makes great products, and after making so many changes on the

audio side this time around, I can really notice the difference. The old system was too metallic for my liking and I felt the customers shared that feeling with me, but now the sound is warm and natural. I like it… bravo!

“As you can imagine, noise pollution from the club has long been an issue, being in a basement below a hotel. We’ve had to create a box within a box to try and limit the sound leakage, and we are constantly working on more sound proofing solutions. Even changing the PA and working with a warmer sound rather than

a metallic sound, goes some way to help towards preventing noise pollution.”

In addition to the main TW AUDiO PA, there are two M10 loudspeakers inside the DJ booth for monitoring. Power for the TW AUDiO cabinets is provided by its recommended partner, Powersoft, as its amplifiers feature built-in presets specifically tailored for the TW AUDiO products. Les Caves du Roys features three Powersoft M50Qs, four M28Q and one X4 with built in DSP capabilities.

For the lighting side of the installation, the new fixtures added this year were

TECHNICAL INFORMATION SOUND 4 x TW AUDiO T20i loudspeaker; 4 x TW AUDiO T24N-60 loudspeaker; 8 x TW AUDiO B18 subwoofer; 2 x TW AUDiO M10 loudspeaker; 3 x Powersoft M50Q amplifier; 4 x Powersoft M28Q amplifier; 1 x Powersoft X4 amplifier LIGHTING 5 x Clay Paky Sharpy Plus hybrid moving head; 66 x Starway F1 Kolor LED pin spot; 20 x Starway Servo Spot DART90 moving head; 22 x Starway Servo Spot Kolor DART60 moving head; 4 x Tronios Tiger 7R moving head; 16 x Dune Lighting LED blinder; 1 x MDG ATMe fog machine; Magic:FX CO2 jets www.lescavesduroy.com

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“As a DJ, working with a TW AUDiO system now, I feel I have been upgraded.

TW AUDiO makes great products, and after making so many changes on the audio side this time around, I can really notice the difference. I like it… bravo!”

Clay Paky’s Sharpy Plus. The Italian manufacturer is marketing this moving head as the ‘first true 100% hybrid unit’, that is capable of morphing between a beam light and a spot light. The Sharpy Plus has two independent operating modes. In beam mode, the aerial effects are enhanced by the way the Osram Sirius HRI 330W X8 lamp is made. In spot mode, the light is diffused in a more even way, which means visual effects can be projected with excellent uniformity.

Adding five of these to the lighting inventory at Les Caves du Roy has truly enhancing the overall package.

The remainder of the intelligent lighting rig includes Starway F1 Kolor LED pin spots, Starway Servo Spot DART90’s, Starway Servo Spot Kolor DART60’s, as well as Tronios Tiger 7R moving heads and Dune Lighting LED blinders. For added effects the club also has a MDG ATMe fog machine and CO2 jets from Magic:FX. The full lighting and effects www.mondodr.com

line-up is controlled via a Sunlite software package running on a PC. The final word goes to DJ Jack.E, he concluded: “There is so much energy at Les Caves du Roy, and the quality of customers here is unbelievable, I have never found anywhere else like this in the world. It’s a very unique place, and I am privileged to have played here for so many years.”

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SOKOS WIKLUND

Sokos Wiklund, located in the in the city of Turku alongside the serene banks of the Aura river, has recently been kitted out with a unique sound system, supplied by Aura Audio.

Getting its name from the iconic stream that cuts through this cultural city that was once at the heart of the Swedish kingdom, Aura Audio is positioning itself at the heart of many Finnish sound system installations and Sokos Wiklund was one of its biggest projects to date.

The brand-new hotel complex, which houses a coffee shop, auditorium and a shopping mall, as well as a roof top bar with spectacular views of the historical city, opened earlier this year and has already established itself as Turkuâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s newest cultural hub. The eleven-floor building

TURKU, FINLAND EMEA

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• Above The Wauditorio in Sokos Wiklund that is used for business meetings and conferences

hosts the highest restaurant/bar in Turku, and has a distinctive aesthetic with a chic, millenial Instagram friendly feel. Each floor has a different vibe, so it was important for the team at Aura Audio to match the sound system with each particular area.

“We found out that the managers wanted Sokos Wiklund to have something distinctive. They didn’t just want a basic sound system, they really wanted something more, more bass mainly. The basic idea was to make our sound system better than any of the other offers on the table. We put a lot of thought into the whole process as we wanted to fulfil the brief perfectly for our customers,” explained Mika Isotalo, Managing Director at Aura Audio.

Sokos Wiklund needed a sound system that could adapt to the differentiating environments across the complex. Housing meeting rooms, as well as an established bar used for DJ nights, the diversity of this project had to be tackled head on and Aura Audio needed to design a system that was suitable for a wide range of rooms. “We

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started with the ground floor coffee house and then the specifications for the other areas were introduced, from then on, it mainly involved focussing on a high level of sound quality. The management team wanted fatter sound and bass.

If you listen closely to the background music, even in the coffee house, you can really hear the low-end of the bass, which is something that isn’t necessarily at the front of people’s minds when designing a café or hotel suite,” furthered Mika.

With this particular installation being located in Mika and Aura Audio’s hometown, the project was an exciting venture for the company. “The sound system we have installed is pretty unique as it makes the place that little bit fancier and more relaxed. You don’t usually pay attention to the smaller details but here, the audio creates the same effect as the furniture, it’s the smaller things that create the bigger, overall effect,” said Mika.

Sokos Wiklund is a diverse complex and the third level of the building is where the meeting rooms are housed. Each room has its own theme, one with sprouting plants and trees with retro, snackconcealing school desks and another with a more nautical interior, including rowing boats used as chairs and sails covering ceiling lights creating a serene ‘floating down stream’ atmosphere. Each room is configured individually, mainly due to the fact that during the design process, the ideas for these rooms changed and they became smaller, individual projects that Aura Audio had to rework. Each of the six meeting rooms feature multiple i3 loudspeakers complemented by an eight-inch band-pass subwoofer, i8Sub. The auditorium in Sokos Wiklund is housed on the same level and is an escapist, Great Gatsby

dream. Filled with golden lampshades and deep blues, it’s like stepping into a 1970’s cocktail lounge except this time, Martinis aren’t on the menu. The cleverly named Wauditorio includes six Aura Audio A6 line arrays, two Aura Audio i5 centre loudspeakers, one custom three-inch by 10-inch infra subwoofer and 12 Aura Audio i3 surround loudspeakers, positioned perfectly to allow even audio coverage across the room.

This setup required a system that was ideal for presentations and meetings, where the audio could adapt to spoken word and quieter sound environments, as well as play out high quality video sound that was incorporated into the meetings. “It is a fine line between volume and balance, we did a lot of tuning at first, and then when we got the concept together, it became easier for me to get my head around what it was they wanted. This concept has then gone on to be duplicated across many other projects we have done, so even now, after 20 years in the industry, we are still learning and incorporating new elements into our installations,” explained Mika.

Another area of the complex that had a different, enhanced sound system was the stage next to the mall that is used for catwalk shows and private events. The large space can be easily adapted to cater for crowds and exhibits, everything from art to music. Here, Aura Audio installed its own A1 point source loudspeakers, C10 stage monitors, Aura Audio i3 loudspeakers and Aura Audio A22Ci cardioid subwoofers. A22Ci is a passive cardioid subwoofer that reduces a lot of noise behind the stage, and that was a crucial design point as the hotel rooms are located right behind and above the stage. The purpose of this www.mondodr.com

sound system was to enhance the sound system to enhance live shows and portray the creative quirks through fashion and discussion in Turku.

“The main focus with Aura Audio has been to create something a little different because that then creates a market of its own. With Sokos Wiklund, we were always given the chance to further our knowledge and create something unique and new for the city,” furthered Mika.

Across the other floors of Sokos Wiklund including the first-floor coffee house, the multiple restaurants, bars and the hotel, Aura Audio have installed around 200 Aura Audio i3 point source loudspeakers and 40 Aura Audio i8Sub subwoofers to create the dynamic sound. “We wanted the audio to be able to withstand big DJ nights, whilst also sounding very clear and relaxed during the day. These were the different requirements that had to be met, and on the bigger DJ systems we needed to see what would work best,” said Mika. Across each floor Aura Audio has also installed amplifier racks so the music can be spread evenly across the building and emergency calls can be heard clearly.

Controlling the entire system is a Symetrix processing system with an audiovisual matrix and remote control capabilities. All floors and amplifier racks are tied together, control and signal routing-wise, using Symetrix Prism processors and ARC3 remote controllers, all in one 64-channel in and out network, including video and lighting control, as well. Mika decided to go with Symetrix software because it was simple enough to use, even without technical knowledge or training. “The Symetrix system has good features, we can use it to control a

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range of components including lighting, video and emergency calls. We have a user interface that is freely configurable and people who are working here don’t have to be experts. We don’t have any mixing consoles in Sokos Wiklund just touchscreen, small control systems that are easy to use, simplicity was also high on the list for our clients. All of the beyerdynamic microphones are wireless too and they are controlled in one control panel. They wanted all the audiovisual technology to be simple enough for anyone to be able to use it with ease,” said Mika.

Aura Audio was also responsible for the lighting installation in Sokos Wiklund. Controlled again

by Symetrix and ChamSys, the main thing the clients wanted from the lighting was the ability to do vibrant colour washes and spotlight individual

loudspeakers in the auditorium. “In regard to the lighting, we had sub-contractors who we consulted with and in this case, we have sold and supplied all of the audiovisual gear in Sokos Wiklund. This time we have been responsible for the whole thing, but this is not always the case with Aura Audio,” explained Mika. “They wanted to be able to do colour washes in areas including the stage, and also have a few spots moving in-line with the person speaking. The lighting is based on LED bars that colour the ceiling, and a couple of moving heads. There is also a projection screen in the auditorium which is 11-metres wide and there are three Panasonic projectors,” said Mika.

Sokos Wiklund was a new challenge for Aura Audio. The large-scale project that craved a

diversely unique sound system has created a hotel complex like no other. It’s rare to notice the low bass of a Jessie-J track whilst enjoying an afternoon coffee, but it is this attention to detail that has transformed the typical, passive hotel experience into a totally immersive environment, incorporating audiovisual technology with an impressive interior design, catapulting this small Finnish town into a newer age.

Mika concluded: “This project was pretty versatile and for us at Aura Audio, it was different to what we are used to working on. We needed to be more at the forefront and in charge of the whole thing.

We have had similar situations, but this project is unique for us. We were very pleased with the end result and the customers were also extremely happy with what we had supplied them with.”

TECHNICAL INFORMATION SOUND BARS/RESTAURANTS/HOTEL: 200 x Aura Audio i3 loudspeaker; 40 x Aura Audio i8Sub subwoofer; 16 x Aura Audio XD10 subwoofer; 20 x Aura Audio D2Q amplifier; Symetrix processing, audiovisual matrix and remote control WAUDITORIO: 6 x Aura Audio A6 line array cabinet; 2 x Aura Audio i5 loudspeaker; 12 x Aura Audio i3 loudspeaker; 1 x Aura Audio D80DSP amplifier; 1 x Aura Audio D2Q amplifier STAGE: 6 x Aura Audio A1 loudspeaker; 5 x Aura Audio C10 loudspeaker; 8 x Aura Audio i3 loudspeaker; 2 x Aura Audio A22Ci subwoofer; 1 x Aura Audio D80DSP amplifier; 4 x Aura Audio D2Q amplifier www.auraaudio.fi

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CHINAWHITE MANCHESTER, UK EMEA

The well known, luxury nightlife brand has expanded with a second outlet by the same name, With the original in London having been established for almost two decades, the owners decided it was time to let another city, Manchester, in on the action.

Pioneer Professional Audio was awarded the sound gig. www.mondodr.com

In its heyday of the early noughties, A-list celebrity hotspot, Chinawhite was welcoming the likes of Liza Minnelli, Chelsea Clinton and George Clooney. This was, of course, in the original venue between Piccadilly and Soho in London, UK. Since moving to a new home in Londonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Fitzrovia in 2009, the brand has retained its high-class celebrity clientele by combining its formidable heritage with a modern twist. Further forward thinking led the owners to expand the business into the capital of the North - Manchester, UK - where Chinawhite has recently opened its doors on Deansgate.

An intimate space, inconspicuously located in a bustling area of the city, can welcome up to 400 guests per night, who will party the weekend away to an urban, hip hop playlist mixed live by DJ MDKibiza aka Steeve Valverde (DJ, sound and lighting engineer).

As manager at famous San Antonio outdoor club, Es Paradis, Steeve travels to and from Manchester during the Ibiza season, and since he made the clubbing capital of Europe his home, 20 years ago - he certainly knows his sound systems.

Steeve was brought onboard by General Manager, Charles Herbert. The pair had previously worked together at another venue in the city, Lazy Lizard, and by coincidence, the same audio manufacturer has been utilised at both venues, so it was very familiar territory for the duo.

Charles outlined the brief for the audio setup at Chinawhite: â&#x20AC;&#x153;We wanted to provide the customers with the best experience and best audio in Manchester. Chinawhite prides itself on its sound system in London and at its other venues and we wanted to bring this world-class experience to Manchester. Due to the nature of the music we play, the low-end is vital, so we concentrated on

• Above Both the striking LED ceiling and the dancefloor PA get clubbers up on their feet at Chinawhite.

having a system that allows guests to feel the kick from the low-end.”

Although Charles wasn’t directly involved with the design of the sound system, he is experienced and knowledgeable in high quality audio, having worked in the business for a number of years. With that in mind, he is extremely pleased and proud to be the manager at Chinawhite, which is home to a new Pioneer Professional Audio PA. “The output and quality of output for the size of the loudspeaker cabinets is very impressive, and made it possible for us to achieve the required volumes and quality to give the customers the best experience,” he continued.

The system was installed by locally based, Paul Adamson of The Audio Group - another member of the team who also worked on the previous Pioneer Professional Audio project at Lazy Lizard. Paul was behind the design of the sound system, which is modest in size, but is perfect for the capacity and shape of the venue. Steeve furthered: “It’s a small place and the ceiling is low, which would ordinarily create some issues, but by selecting the right products, any issues became redundant. The subwoofers, I absolutely love because they give a really clear sound. It’s also rare to see the horn extensions separate in a venue like this, but again, it works.”

The main PA is flown left and right of the DJ

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TECHNICAL INFORMATION SOUND Pioneer Professional Audio XY-3B loudspeakers; Pioneer Professional Audio XY-2 horn extension; Pioneer Professional Audio XY-218S subwoofers; Pioneer Professional Audio XY-115S subwoofers; 4 x Powersoft Quattrocanali 4804 amplifier; 2 x Powersoft Quattrocanali 2404 amplifier; 1 x Powersoft K10 amplifier; 1 x Cloud CX263 zone mixer LIGHTING & VISUALS 1 x ChamSys MagicQ Mini Wing console; ADJ moving heads; LED screens www.chinawhite.com

•Above The VIP area.

booth and comprises one Pioneer Pro Audio XY-3B per side. These cabinets feature a one-inch compression driver producing crystal-clear highs, an eightinch cone driver, which delivers clean and precise mid-range frequencies using Pioneer Pro Audio’s X-Phase and two 12-inch drivers for chest-pumping mid-lows.. These fire outwards onto the dancefloor and towards the bar area.

In addition, there are two Pioneer Professional Audio XY-2 horn extensions opposite, which on first inspection look as though they have potential to interfere with the output from the XY-3Bs, but Steeve advised it’s in fact the complete opposite, as the two elements work in perfect harmony with one another, without the need for any delay setup.

The position of the Pioneer Professional Audio XY-218S subwoofers further assist with the harmonious output of the system. Located next to the stage, the subwoofers are capable of delivering deep bass as low as 32Hz producing a tight and punchy kick - one of the key design requirements. Additional Pioneer Professional Audio XY-115S subwoofers are dotted around the venue to provide low-end throughout.

Around the perimeter of the room are Pioneer Professional Audio XY-81 cabinets, one flown in each corner, as well as two in the VIP area behind the DJ booth, all of which have been customised with gold grills in keeping with the opulent and luxurious ambience of the venue. To complete the Pioneer

Professional Audio line-up, two Pioneer Professional Audio XY-101 are used for DJ monitoring and another pair have been installed in a private room, available to hire for guests wanting extra exclusivity.

Steeve was complimentary of the new sound system, he said: “I didn’t know Pioneer Professional Audio before I started working in Manchester, but I am very happy with this setup at Chinawhite.

I’m a fan of clear sound, and we definitely have that here.”

Paul paired the Pioneer Professional Audio PA with Powersoft amplification - the brand’s go-to partner for power distribution. He specified four Quattrocanali 4804 and two Quattrocanali 2404 amplifiers to cater the top cabinets, alongside one Powersoft K10 is DSP for the bass section of the system. Control for VIP and private rooms is taken care of by a Cloud CX263 zone mixer.

In order to create the full nightlife experience, lighting and visual technology was also a must for the opening of Chinawhite Manchester.

For this element of the installation, the owners turned to another local company, Unique Technical Services. Charles picked up the story again: “We wanted to provide a fully immersive experience, from the screens on the walls of our VIP seating, to the tiled LED ceiling effect, moving heads and lasers - we wanted the customer to have the very best experience. I feel what we have achieved

has set a new benchmark in the North West and certainly matches our sister club in London.”

Movers at Chinawhite are from ADJ, which were chosen for their wide variety of effects, as well as their excellent price to performance ratio. The LED screens were custom built to the sizes required, while brackets for the ceiling LED screen also had to be fabricated to allow each LED tile to be positioned at different heights and angles, in order to create the bespoke design that had been briefed by the owner.

For control, Chinawhite uses a ChamSys MagicQ Mini Wing with a separate touchscreen. Charles furthered: “The software works perfect for the venue, allowing simple operation but with the depth of programming features available from MagicQ. The screen visuals run from MagicHD, which is included in the ChamSys MagicQ software, we use different layers to split up the walls and ceilings. The impact from the screens and video content give a very dynamic and energetic vibe to the venue, allowing the lighting operator lots of high impact strobe effects, as well as the video content.”

Steeped in history, courtesy of its older sibling in London, the Manchester venue is already on the front foot thanks to the iconic brand that has been established.

Located in a city full of social culture, Chinawhite has all the ingredients for setting down its roots for a long time to come.

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CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA EMEA

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Established in 1953, the Conservatory of Music and Ballet (KGBL), Ljubljana, Slovenia offers specialised education in music and ballet at varying levels.

Regarded as being instrumental to the development of the Slovenian music and ballet profession, KGBLâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s basic music education, secondary music and ballet education, and higher ballet education programs have earned it numerous awards and recognition on the international stage.

As part of an upgrade to KGBLâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main performance auditorium, the project brief was to source a multipurpose lighting fixture that could be used as a high-quality working light for musicians, a show light for performers, and a house light for the overall room. Therefore, the venue was equipped with over 30 Chroma-Q Inspire XT LED house lights to provide high quality lighting with minimal noise.

Professional equipment provider, KSL Sound and Light Studio specified the award-winning Chroma-Q Inspire XT due to its high-quality white light and colour-mixing abilities. Despite delivering up to 9,500

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•Above The visible Chroma-Q Inspire XT fixtures in the main room at Conservatory of Music

lumens, the fixture is convection cooled and has additional protection as standard against electrical and audible noise.

Bostjan Konic, CEO of KSL commented: “KGBL’s investor was looking for a company that could setup a lighting system that would cater for all lighting purposes, including white light for daily use, and concert lighting. We suggested Chroma-Q mainly because it could cater for a range of environments.”

In addition, the requirement was for a very powerful solution which could illuminate the large 16-metres by 16-metres space using as few fixtures as possible. However, owing to the room doubling as a recording studio, the chosen product needed to be fanless and virtually silent in operation to meet strict acoustic requirements.

Bostjan said: “For the prestigious KGBL, we needed light of a really premium quality to meet the high technical specification. With its homogenised RGBW optics, the Inspire XT produces an exceptional quality of light, which is clean and pure, with no shadows. Being fanless it’s also extremely quiet, yet very powerful too.”

The Conservatory of Music and Ballet Ljubljana’s Managing Director, Polona Cesarek commented: “We didn’t expect the amazing lighting the fixtures produce, including the very high quality of white light on-stage. It makes the musicians’ sheet music very easy to read, with no reflections that can cause eye strain. They have truly exceeded our expectations.”

Moving onto the visual setup in the venue, the brief specified a demand for high quality video and recording cameras with 360º turn. There was also a need for projection screens that could be incorporated into the backdrop aesthetics of performances, so KSL needed to make

sure that the products installed met the historic prestige of the venue.

KGBL’s visual setup comprises a Barco laser projector that casts onto a 4.5-metre projection screen. Also installed are five Sony BRC H-800 cameras that combine high quality broadcast picture quality with smooth, versatile operation. “The video system we installed, including the cameras we used, had to be of an extremely high quality so they could be used confidently for national TV production and live broadcasts,” explained Bostjan.

The audio in KGBL needed to be as graceful and adaptive as the performers gliding across its many stages. Before designing anything, the venue’s acoustic designer, Neven Smolcic, specified that the audio must not reach a volume of over 25dB to make sure there would be no interference with live recordings carried out in the same room. The venue also needed a system that was able to perform well under a range of different applications, including spoken word presentations and live recording. With a schedule incorporating ballet and theatre and incredible acoustics, it had to be at the heart of KGBL and enhance the already stunning performances.

Therefore, KSL chose d&b audiotechnik to provide the 5.1 surround audio system for the venue. Included are five d&b audiotechnik 24S-D loudspeakers, two d&b audiotechnik D20 amplifiers and a d&b audiotechnik M6 stage monitor.

“Customer demand was to install a sound system with a reliable, high-quality system that was going to enhance KGBL and bring a new feel to the venue. We were inspired by the knock-out sound at Sydney Opera House,” explained Bostjan.

Also installed in the hall is a Yamaha QL1 mixing console with a stage box and Dante communication between. This allowed a diverse range of inputs and, most importantly, five-channel master surround outputs therefore creating an immersive, emotional experience through the performances at KGBL. KGBL is a unique venue that incorporates some exquisite lighting and audio-visual products to create an environment exclusive to Slovenia. The multi-purpose room is now fully able to adapt to the wide range of performers that pass through, incorporating all kinds of entertainment with a sound and lighting system capable of carrying a range of moods and genres, captivating audiences from far and wide.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION SOUND 5 x d&b audiotechnik 24S-D loudspeaker; 2 x d&b audiotechnik D20 amplifier; 1 x d&b audiotechnik M6 monitor; 1 x Yamaha QL1 mixing desk LIGHTING & VISUALS 33 x Chroma-Q Inspire XT lighting fixture; 1 x Barco F90 4K13 projector; 4 x Sony BRC-H800 camera www.kgbl.si

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Elation lighting for new Humbolt School Auditorium.

Colegio Humboldt is an international school in San José, Costa Rica, that serves pre-school through to secondary school students. The school was founded in 1912 by Germans and emphasises a German-based education, Colegio Humboldt is also known for its profusion of extra-curricular activities. The school recently built a new performing arts space to further its program, Auditorio Humboldt, a multi-purpose auditorium outfitted with Elation Professional luminaires.

Auditorio Humboldt is a modern, 238-capacity space where students conduct recitals and perform all manner of dance, music, theatre and debate. It houses top-of-the-line audiovisual equipment with specialised

technical personnel to provide support. Elation dealer and distributor for Costa Rica, Darko Lighting of San José, completed the lighting project.

It supplied, designed and installed new stage and architectural lighting systems for the auditorium, along with a decorative stretched ceiling, working in cooperation with architectural company, Rojas Arquitectos.

The auditorium’s new stage lighting system includes 16 Fuze PAR Z175 fixtures, a modern PAR light with 175W RGBW COB LED engine that projects a high-quality flat field of light yet emulates the classic lens look of a traditional fresnel. The Fuze fixtures work with 16 Colour 5 Profiles, a high-quality ellipsoidal spot with 180W RGBAM LED engine and CRI

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over 94. For flexibility of positioning, the system also includes four moving heads, Fuze Wash Z350s, a single-source PAR automated yoke wash luminaire with 120W RGBW COB LEDs and 7° to 55° zoom.

Associate Director of Darko Lighting, Gabriel Zalkindas Jarovisky, specified the lighting system for the auditorium. “Quality, performance and price were all determining factors in the choice to go with these products,” he stated. “The lighting system is also quite flexible as it is used for a variety of purposes, both by the school and also outside artists that come in and use the auditorium, so it is both an educational and public space.”

The all LED lighting system is not only highly efficient, reliable and requires

little maintenance, it also operates silently for ‘you could have heard a pin drop’ performances. Using Elation’s E-FLY wireless DMX transceiver, not only was setup and programming quick with instant control of the fixtures, they saved having to run metres of DMX to the stage for a cleaner looking install. Lighting control is from a tabletop Elation Show Designer 2CF stage lighting controller, an ideal choice for smaller stage lighting setups.

Besides serving as a performing arts platform for students, the Humbolt School Auditorium also hosts cultural events and is available for commercial use. www.elationlighting.com

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SONY HALL

Sony Hall is a premiere music venue located in the iconic Times Square, New York. Nestled in the hustle and bustle of one of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most recognised neighbourhoods, Sony Hall incorporates an array of exciting events into its hectic schedule. From large-scale theatre productions, to concerts from established artists including MGMT, Sony Hall is central to New Yorkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s famous, ever-revoltionary music scene. As well as accommodating a wealth of fame from the modern-day music world, Sony Hall also holds DJ nights and transforms itself into a prestigious place to play after dark with

NEW YORK, AMERICA THE AMERICAS

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• Above The iconic Sony Hall which has played host to world famous acts including Cardi B

a fully working bar and restaurant, too.

A vintage venue like Sony Hall needed a stunning, immersive sound system that made sure anyone gracing the stage could get the upmost from their performance.

Taking on this project was New York based installation company, Peltrix, and it was apparent that it wanted to do something special with Sony Hall. “Our scope was to build an audio and video system that would facilitate two modes of operation. Live music, which includes live performances of world-renowned acts,

as well as corporate and nightclub events, and Sony mode which would allow Sony to showcase their upcoming 360 Reality Audio,” explained Amit Peleg, owner of Peltrix.

In the early stages of the extensive design phase, Peltrix took into account a number of design issues with the scope of the venues interior, including the low ceiling which could have proved to be a problem with the sound system. “This could’ve proved difficult, but we found a configuration that would work using www.mondodr.com

d&b audiotechnik V Series loudspeakers.

Then Sony came to us and asked to help them to showcase their up and coming immersive technology, which would require a distributed configuration of loudspeakers so we had to adapt to include that too,” said Amit.

At the same time, d&b audiotechnik was about to release its DS100 Soundscape processor, and Amit worked extremely closely with the team at d&b audiotechnik to design an optimal Soundscape layout for the venue, whilst also keeping in

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TECHNICAL INFORMATION SOUND 5 x d&b audiotechnik 24S-D loudspeaker; 5 x d&b audiotechnik 10S-D loudspeaker; 26 x 12S-D d&b audiotechnik loudspeaker; 6 x d&b audiotechnik 8S loudspeaker; 4 x d&b audiotechnik J-SUB subwoofer; 2 x Yamaha Rivage PM7 mixing desk www.sonyhall.com

close contact with Sony, making sure it would work with its application. “Being that the live performances would benefit from a Soundscape configuration, and the fact that we already had to install a large number of loudspeakers around the room for Sony to showcase their technology, it made sense both technically and financially to install a single set of loudspeakers, distributed around the room that could be used by both applications in almost an identical layout,” explained Amit.

Placed in the venue are five d&b audiotechnik 24S-D front fill loudspeakers and five d&b audiotechnik 10S-D loudspeakers for delay. At the left and right sides of the room, Peltrix installed 18 d&b audiotechnik 12S-D loudspeakers with four at the rear and six overhead, accompanied by six d&b audiotechnik 8S loudspeakers. “We elected to go with d&b audiotechnik for a few reasons. It is a rider-friendly brand. Being that Sony Hall must accommodate a wide range of performances, and since there is no space to augment the house system with an outside one, we had to make sure that no one would reject booking due to the type of sound system installed at the venue,” said Amit. “We also selected d&b

audiotechnik for the unique setup possible with Soundscape. With the Sony requirements for showcasing their 360 Reality Audio, a Soundscape type loudspeaker distribution layout was tailor made for the venue.” There are also three models of d&b amplifiers used in the setup - D80 to power J-Infra subwoofers, 30D and 10D for the soundscape loudspeakers and monitors.

Mixing on a Soundscape system requires a different approach than a conventional L-C-R system. Soundscape allows users to mix with ease as it does all calculations of levels and delays between the loudspeakers meaning mixing is no longer directed to loudspeakers, it is directed to location. Soundscape’s En-Space also lets the engineer employ emulation of different room acoustic signatures, therefore, it is not just a reverberation effect being played through the loudspeakers, it is an emulation being played with all channels using Soundscape’s positioning and delay capabilities.

Soundscape is not the only mode of audio configuration, Peltrix also included Sony 360 Reality Audio, as well as a conventional L-C-R and DJ mode. “Soundscape mode is available for any engineer that wishes to take advantage www.mondodr.com

of it. It was setup and configured in a way that any guest engineer can start using it without having to extensively learn signal routing. It’s very easy to operate and we found that the vast majority of engineers are receptive to using it,” explained Amit. “Should somebody not want to use Soundscape and prefers a more conventional setup, they can select the L-C-R mode which makes the system works as a simple L-C-R with a set of delay loudspeakers for the deeper part of the room. DJ mode sets the system’s signal distribution in what would be expected in a nightclub with a four-point system.”

As Sony Hall is a Sony venue, it was no surprise that it wanted to showcase its newest technology somewhere so close to its heart. The ‘Sony mode’, 360 Reality Audio, uses Sony’s object based spatial audio technology and works by placing individual sounds such as vocal, guitar, piano in a 360º spherical sound field, giving artists and creators a new way to express their creativity and create breath-taking sound.

Sony Hall also houses two Yamaha Rivage PM7s and was one of the first ever venues to use this mixing desk. “The brand and model was elected for its ease of use since there are many engineers

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that pass through Sony Hall. Just about everybody is familiar with the Yamaha user interface, which makes for less stressful load-in/soundcheck under restrictive time pressure. It is also rider-friendly, and it meets the 96kHz requirement set forth

by Sony. It is also a very reliable console which makes it easier for me to have a good night sleep!” explained Amit.

There are two levels of DSP processing in the system at Sony Hall. The first level is a set of four BSS Soundweb London Dante-based processors with custom-configured AES output cards. This allows for both system tuning/processing and for signal distribution. Ordinarily, with a Dante based d&b audiotechnik configured system there would be a need for a set of DS10 units, which distribute Dante into the amplifiers’ AES inputs. Since DSP was needed anyway the project saved on the

need for DS10 units by having the DSPs already configured with AES outputs. A second level of processing is for the d&b audiotechnik amplifiers themselves - which is usual for d&b audiotechnik systems - where there are specific processing setups, required to optimise the performance of the loudspeakers.

For Amit and the team at Peltrix, Sony Hall was a problematic project that took a lot of perseverance, and with only 40 days to complete the project the team were working to a strict deadline. However, even with some difficulties, Peltrix completed to installation in time and to a high standard. “We had limited time, from the design phase to the first show that was fully booked. Fortunately, near the end of the project d&b audiotechnik sent in their Soundscape expert, Felix Einsiedel to participate

in the commissioning of this first Soundscape installation,” said Amit. “The time we spent together not only helped us, but it also revealed a few real-world quirks in the system that d&b audiotechnik could then immediately address.”

Sony Hall is a striking venue set in the iconic banks of New York’s famous Broadway. Peltrix have provided Sony Hall with a unique sound system that is one of the first tried and tested by the company in its own venue. It has provided some of the world’s most important artists with an enhanced audio performance and Peltrix has carried out an installation it is immensely proud of. “Sony Hall is a great new venue in a prime location offering a new set of technologies making it a totally unique venue in which to perform - or attend - a show,” concluded Amit.

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100 IN BRIEF - APAC

L-Acoustics provides extraordinary audio experience at Chimelong Theatre.

The spectacular 6,700 seat Chimelong Theatre is the most recent addition to the Zhuhai Changlong Resort on Hengqin Island, joining Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, Changlong Hengqin International Circus City, and a spread of luxury hotels and park facilities. The theatre was designed by entertainment architecture studio Stufish, and opened after two years of construction and preparation. The production inside is as epic as the architecture. The ‘Dragon Show’ brings together more than 300 performance artists from over 20 countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa.

It combines cutting edge technology and traditional circus performance on a 270º panoramic ring stage to tell the mythological stories of Zhuhai fishermen - a fully immersive re-interpretation of the feast of water, land, and air, with the action taking place both on stage and over the audience.

To match this ambition, L-Acoustics’ certified provider and distributor,

Rightway Audio Consultants worked with the theatre to design a powerful sound system with full, even coverage across the large audience area, and accurate control over every element of the performance.

“Early in the process, the theatre’s production and sound design crew had a good idea of what they wanted to achieve,” said Rightway’s WenZhen Zhan.

“First, they wanted to enhance the audience experience by providing audio that tracks with the moving stage positions of the performers and also they wanted the ability to move sound objects across the comprehensive overheads and surround system. Second, they wanted exceptional clarity and intelligibility.”

On first inspection of the facility, Rightway also realised that the significant water-based elements of the show and the high humidity in the venue needed consideration - one of the reasons why L-Acoustics K2, with its

www.mondodr.com

101 IN BRIEF - APAC

IP45 rating, was chosen as the primary element.

The full system consists of 48 K2 in four hangs across the stage front, with 12 KS28 subwoofers flown centrally. A total of 55 X12 account for monitoring, and the entire system is powered by LAX12 amplified controllers. The system makes uses of the L-ISA multichannel audio processor which provides spatial audio processing and object-based mixing facilities for the system. DiGiCo SD10 consoles were chosen for FOH and monitor duties, the console’s native L-ISA Source Control allowing the system to be controlled directly from the console’s surface.

With assistance from L-Acoustics Alvin Koh, Rightway used L-Acoustics Soundvision software to design the system. “We had a lot of help from L-Acoustics,” said Chimelong’s audiovisual team. “L-Acoustics was very hands-on, with detailed training and support at the theatre, which really

impressed the theatre’s staff.”

YuLong He, Sound Supervisor at the Chimelong Hengqin Theatre, added his own compliment: “It is the first time that we have used L-Acoustics products, but they provided excellent system training, which helps us to be even more professional. It is the dream of every sound engineer to own and use the world’s cutting-edge audio system and L-Acoustic is indeed the world’s top professional audio system manufacturer.

“The Zhuhai Changlong Resort is a very special place,” concluded He. “In its first nine months it attracted over eight million visitors and the Dragon Show at the new Chimelong Theatre will surely keep them coming back for more.” www.l-acoustics.com

www.mondodr.com

102 VENUE - APAC

THE QING AT ORIENTAL MOVIE METROPOLIS SHANDONG, CHINA APAC

www.mondodr.com

The Qing show is a high tech, permanently installed stage show produced by the Sunac Group in a purpose-built, 1,600-capacity venue at the Oriental Movie Metropolis complex at Qingdao in the Shandong province of China.

The venue’s architecture has a number of marine elements and is designed to represent a conch, giving it a truly unique appearance.

Based on the Chinese legend of ‘Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea’, the show was conceived, designed and created by Artistic Director Luke Petit through Art Team Group Asia, his world-class international team with members from China, the USA, Canada, Switzerland and Belgium. Luke and his team are responsible for developing some of the

â&#x20AC;˘ Above The Qing show stage at Oriental Movie Metropolis

most stunning, extravagant shows on the planet and this is no exception.

Four years in the making, the show, which covers a floor area of 21,500 sq metres, has a cast of 63 performers, features a lifting stage, acrobatics, dance, classic Kung Fu moves, 3D holographic projections and a water curtain fountain to create the perfect fusion of traditional culture and modern stage art. The cast which features 12 main roles, was selected from more than 10,000 dance and drama actors across China and took two years to assemble. The scene fluctuates between land and sea throughout the performance and delivers a rich and vivid background to a spellbinding story. Rave reviews greeted the opening night which took place earlier this year.

104 VENUE - APAC

TECHNICAL INFORMATION SOUND 48 x CODA Audio AiRay cabinet; 12 x CODA Audio SC2-F loudspeaker; 16 x CODA Audio SC8 subwoofer; 12 x CODA Audio ViRay cabinet; 48 x CODA Audio G715-96 cabinet; 24 x CODA Audio LINUS14D amplifier; 24 x CODA Audio LINUS10C amplifier; 6 x CODA Audio LINUS CON management system; CODA Audio LINUS software www.codaaudio.com

Production Director, Philip Alexi, engaged experienced Belgian Sound Designer, Erik Loots for the show and he in turn recommended a CODA Audio sound system for the project. The technology required to support a performance on this scale must meet the highest standards of quality and reliability and a stringent criteria.

Leading Chinese integrator - and CODA distributor - Tempo, was tasked with installing an expertly designed system.

Erik takes up the story: “I became familiar with CODA Audio when my old friend, Hans Engelen at Viladco became a distributor. We go way back, and he’s always been someone I’ve held in high regard. He introduced me to the brand and I quickly became a fan, both as a FOH engineer and from the design perspective. When this project was in its early stages I consulted with Hans and he offered invaluable assistance throughout, including introducing me to the CODA Audio team in Hannover from whom I also received fantastic technical support.”

The CODA Audio system was chosen first and foremost for its excellent sonic qualities and huge dynamic range but its compact size added significant further value to the project. The spectacular aerial displays and video projections required the sound system to be as unobtrusive as possible - the positioning of the loudspeakers was a challenge in itself - so the comparatively small

size of the CODA Audio boxes was a big bonus in this setting.

The main flown system comprises a total of 48 AiRay cabinets in a four-hang/12 element-deep configuration. This setup enables the creation of three different audio images, ranging from a narrow L-R configuration, using mainly the C-L-R arrays, over a wide-L-R image, by using mainly the outer L-R arrays, to a complete wall of sound using all four arrays at the same time.

A total of 12 SC2F in two arrays of six cabinets were flown behind the centre main L-R, arrays as a spectral low frequency extension of the main L-R arrays, while a central flown array of 16 SC8 subwoofers, two hangs of eight cabinets, flown side by side in a cardioid configuration, served as the LFE channel of the system.

A further 12 ViRay cabinets, two arrays of six cabinets, were built into the scenic assets and served the dual purpose of infill arrays for the main flown AiRAY system, and bringing down the audio image from the high-flown main arrays.

To achieve the cinematic soundscape desired by the show’s director, the system was completed by the addition of 48 wall-mounted G715-96 cabinets in an Auro-3D immersive layout, using three layers of sound, namely ear-surround, height surround and a ‘voice of god’ layer.

The system is driven by 24 LINUS14 amplifiers, 24 LINUS10C amplifiers and six LINUS CON

management system units and controlled via CODA Audio LINUS software.

Erik reflected on the challenges: “The main issue with the installation was finding loudspeaker positions that enabled complete coverage of the audience area and allowed for realistic audioimaging, without interfering with the visual aspects of the show - the flight paths of 2D and 3D flights and video projection. The main system had to be flown very high above the performance area with the result that the bottom of the arrays is 19-metres from the floor. Through Tempo’s hard work and the support I received from Hans and the CODA Audio team, we achieved great success. Now that the show is up and running, everyone involved with the project is very happy with the system and its performance. Pierre Mush, the music composer for the project told me how impressed he was with the clarity and punch that the system delivers. I certainly agree you can hear every detail of the music and sound effects.”

This major installation of CODA Audio by Tempo is further evidence to the Chinese market of how the quality, power and flexibility available from such compact enclosures can be harnessed to a great advantage on the most demanding of projects. The ambitious aims of the Qing show have been entirely fulfilled and CODA Audio has played a significant part in delivering its success.

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• Page 116

IN BUSINESS

• Page 112

• Page 118

SHOW PREVIEW: NAMM ANAHEIM

EXPO PROLIGHT+SOUND MIDDLE EAST DUBAI

NEW HEADQUARTERS CHAMSYS

OPEN DAYS AYRTON

EXPERIENCE DAYS HIGHLITE

LAUNCH EVENT AVOLITES

DISTRIBUTOR MEETING • Page 126

• Page 142

NEXT-PROAUDIO

ANNIVERSARY • Page 134

• Page 162

MOUNTAIN PRODUCTIONS

IN DETAIL TURBOSOUND ALLEN & HEATH NOVASTAR

PRODUCT GUIDE AMPLIFIERS

PRODUCT DIRECTORY LAST PAGE INTERVIEW MARTIN ANDERSSON AMPSOURCE

108 SH OW P REVIEW - NAMM

Adam Hall Palmer MONICON XL

NAMM

16-19 January 2020 Anaheim Convention Center

Stand No.: 11514 www.palmer-germany.com

The NAMM Show is the definitive platform for the music, sound and event technology communities to unite with the mission of strengthening the music products industry and promoting the pleasures and benefits of making music.

Held in Southern California every January, The NAMM Show offers the latest products from more than 7,000 brands, cutting edge industry education sessions, as well as exclusive special events, concerts and experiences. www.namm.org

→ Latency-free analogue signal path. → Level indicator L/R with +4, +10 and +18 dBu calibration options. → Correlation metre for verifying mono-compatibility. → Three analogue inputs, one S/PDIF input. → Three loudspeaker outputs with volume controllers for level calibration.

Allen & Heath Avantis Stand No.: 18219 www.allen-heath.com → Next-generation 64-channel /42 bus digital mixer. → XCVI Core - 96kHz FPGA processing with 96-bit mix bus and 0.7 milliseconds latency. → Connectivity with Allen & Heath’s everything I/O ecosystem of remote expanders.

→ dPack option adds dLive processing including 16 Dyn8 engines, plus per-channel zero-latency DEEP compressors and preamps. → Dual full HD 15.6-inch touchscreens.

ADJ Lighting Focus Spot 5Z Stand No.: 11438 www.adj.com

beyma Stand No.: 17722, Level 2, ACC North

→ Moving head with 200W cool white (9,000K) LED engine. → Motorised focus and zoom. → Zoom range: 11-22˚. → Two prism effects: Rotating five-facet linear and rotating six-facet circular. → Two independent colour wheels.

www.beyma.com → Exceptionally light loudspeaker at 7.3kg. → Maltcross technology–proprietary cooling system. → 1,000W AES. → Best performance to price ratio. www.mondodr.com

109 SH OW P REVIEW - NAMM

Avolites www.avolites.com Stand No.: 11245 www.avolites.com → Avolites will be showcasing its full range of products to help users build their perfect control setup, including the highly anticipated Synergy feature set. → x Synergy is a groundbreaking feature of the Titan and Ai v12 software that integrates lighting and video control together into a single, unique UI, providing maximum visual impact for everything from rock shows to corporate presentations → Save time and eliminate complexity. Direct communication between lighting console and media server means the server no longer needs to be patched into the desk and content can be sent to the server and managed directly via the console interface.

→ Unleash creative potential. Key Synergy features include Lightmap, which allows video content to be mapped directly onto any colour mixing fixtures with just a few clicks. → Take control. Live video previews of up to six simultaneous streams from the media server inside the Titan interface give users full control wherever the servers are located, FOH or elsewhere.

CODA Audio N-APS Stand No.: 17600 codaaudio.com → The N-APS is an ultra-compact two x 6.5-inch / twoway arrayable point source that combines the versatility of a point source with the perfect arrayability of a line array, creating a unique category of sound reinforcement system for small to medium size venues. → With the latest in driver and system design technology, N-APS delivers twice the power handling as well as significantly more low-end compared to other systems. → Created to be a sound designers dream problem solver.

The ultra hi-fidelity N-APS delivers large dynamic range, incredible flexibility and variable horizontal directivity.

→ N-APS Instafit Magnetic Coupler - Solves a common problem for a line array or arrayable box by summing the energy from all transducers to perform as a single source, without any phase destruction, which allows for a perfectly coherent and uniform wavefront. → N-APS features DAC technology which dramatically improves heat dispersion, doubling the power handling and maximum SPL capability compared to a conventionally cooled system. N-SUB also benefits from DAC technology that allows it to reach high SPLs whilst staying completely cool.

Lectrosonics M2 Duet System Stand No.: 17213 www.lectrosonics.com/M2-Duet-System/ category.hml → Dante digital and analogue line-level inputs. → Digital transmission and 24-bit digital audio. → Two stereo transmissions in a half rack unit. → Phenomenal operating range. → 470-608MHz tuning range. www.mondodr.com

110 SH OW P REVIEW - NAMM

NOX Audio Stand No.: 11931 www.noxaudio.com

→ NOX Audio offers seven different in-ceiling loudspeaker series covering almost all applications in commercial, architecture and /or Hi-Fi markets, top-of-the-line models CL6-AL and CL8-AL have extreme high power 60W at 70V/100V with a wide frequency response 60Hz-20KHz, goldplated terminals, aluminum enclosure. → MX125 and MX250 mixing amplifiers offers 125W, 250W at 70V, 100V and eight ohms, wide frequency response 50HZ-20KHz, three level priority, 24V operations, four microphone plus three line inputs, very high efficiency amplifier system 90%, bass and treble controls and high fidelity style volume control. → PA240, PA480, and PA800 power amplifiers offers 240W, 480W and 800W at 70V, 100V, eight ohms, wide frequency response 50HZ-20KHz, built-in stereo to mono circuit, Operates with 24V DC ( PA 240 only), combo XLR / 0.25-inch jack balanced input and link, very high efficiency amplifier system, with 90%, bass and treble controls and HiFI style volume control. → MTX106 a simple easy-to-use analogue matrix with 10 inputs (six mic/ line inputs plus one stereo line channel with four-way input selector) freely assigned to each of six outputs zones, offers great sound quality, bass and treble controls on each input, wide frequency response 20Hz-20KHz.

Waveburg LA8, HL-118, MCX15, i12 Stand No.: 11931 www.waveburg.com → A full line of professional PA equipment, ranging from coaxial ceiling loudspeakers to a full-on tour/install ready line array rig and custom boutique lines will be available. → LA8 line array is a vailable with has a unique 120º dispersion wooden waveguide with two one-inch exit compression drivers and two high-efficiency eight-inch subwoofers in a compact 55lbs, birch-ply enclosure. → A wide range of complementary subwoofers are available, including HL-118’s extreme high efficiency subwoofer SPL 105dB at 1W and 1M plus, and compact subwoofers WS-115’s and WS-118’s. → A one-of-a-kind MCX15 coaxial stage monitor with widest frequency response 45Hz-20KHz, 850W low frequency - 100 high frequency AES Power handling, and 70º conical coverage is available. → The unique i12 a workhorse two-way loudspeaker system with the highest SPL (99.5dB) offering decent high and low frequency will also be on show. It covers a wide range of applications, including house of worships, corporate, audiovisual, mobile DJ, and nightclubs.

www.mondodr.com

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Now system designers and installers can deliver better sound systems in more spaces than ever.

To learn more about our new DesignMax loudspeakers, PowerSpace amplifiers, and Bose CSP processors, contact your local Bose dealer or visit PRO.BOSE.COM/installedSoundExpansion

© 2019 Bose Corporation. DesignMax, PowerSpace, and BOSE CSP are trademarks of Bose Corporation.

112 EX P O

• Roberto and Luigi of FBT

• Products on display at the ODB Projektionstechnik stand

• Mika and Jan from Aura Audio

• The guys from Tecs Event Services

PROLIGHT+SOUND MIDDLE EAST DUBAI, UAE / 15-17 OCTOBER The fourth edition of Prolight+Sound Middle East returned to the World Trade Centre in Dubai, UAE, however, the date line shifted by almost a month, with this year’s event taking place in mid-October. The three-day event featured more than 55 exhibitors from 14 countries, which showcased over 180 industry brands.

Among the booths were a number of first time

• The team representing Astera

exhibitors including Aura Audio and POPE Professional from the audio sector, Turkish company Yildirim and Infinity Intelligent Light adding to the lighting line-up, and Kvant and Butterfly LED boosting the special effects and display representation. The usual suspects were also on the show floor with the likes of Robe, ADJ, HARMAN, Clay Paky and Sennheiser occupying space, alongside

• The Shoxtex Middle East duo

www.mondodr.com

regional distributors such as Venuetech, Provision AVL and Procom.

There were some products making their regional debut during the show, first up was MA Lighting’s grandMA3, the brand’s flagship console released earlier this year, which features ground-breaking concepts, presented within a refined user interface, and is designed to make practical tasks more intuitive.

• Marina of ROE Visual and colleagues

113 EX P O

• The Yildirim team line up on the booth

• Andre (right) and colleague on the ASM Steuerungstechnik stand

Next, was Robe’s Esprite. It’s the first in a new series of Robe luminaires to feature fully replaceable/transferable white source LED engines. Thanks to this powerful LED light source and a highly efficient optical system, the fixture is outputting 27,000 lumens. TECS Event Services also introduced Broadweigh bluetooth, a game-changing solution for riggers who want to monitor the loads on small-scale applications and have the data sent straight to their mobile phone or tablet.

Other highlights at the exhibition included

• The Kvant team

• The Even2 team

the Area Four Industries stand populated with all eight of the company brands - MILOS, LITEC, JTE, TOMCAT, EXE Technology, Mobiltechlifts, Xstage and Xtruss.

ROE Visual attended the show with the aim of raising more interest in the Middle East market for its innovative LED products. “Apart from presenting our latest LED products, our presence at the show aimed to play into the growing demand for audiovisual technology in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia specifically,” stated Glory Gao, Deputy Sales Director for • The team on the SIXTY82 booth

ROE Visual. “The region is witnessing more demand for immersive environments and experiential branding, which calls for highquality, innovative LED products, like our fine pitch LED solutions and 4K platforms.”

Long-term supporter, Unusual Rigging was back this year, but co-exhibited with Doughty Engineering and SIXTY82 for the first time.

Speaking ahead of the show, Denis Bramhall, Managing Partner at Unusual Rigging and Engineering said: “From experience PLSME is a well organised show and attracts the

• Highlite’s Raymond (right) and colleague

114 EX P O

• Lars of Prolyte

• The Lavoce team

• The HARMAN team

• Safwan of Venuetech with Frederik of Elation

right people. We look forward to meeting up with new and familiar faces, making the most of the networking opportunities that the show provides and of course demonstrating a selection of products on the stand.” Julian Chiverton, Sales Director for Doughty added: “This is the first time we’ll be showing the Fifty Clamp and Scaff Boom Arm in the region so we are looking forward to hearing what visitors to the show have to say about these new items. They’ve been big hits in the UK and Europe but PLSME puts us in front of a very different audience and it’s great to really understand what’s important to our customers in this part of the world.”

The customary seminar programme took place again this year, with one of the headline sessions delivered by Shaun Vorster, Vice President Programming, Expo 2020 Dubai. He discussed what is required to produce ‘the world’s greatest show’, as well as how the expo will impact local businesses and the entertainment industry and what opportunities the event will bring.

Prolight+Sound Middle East also offered free-toattend certified workshops by reputed institutions Audinate and HARMAN Professional, and the

• SSL’s Philippe with Provision AVL’s Kevin - a new distribution parntership in the region

•• Clay Paky’s Igor

inaugural Sample Music Festival - a dedicated event for DJ’ing, turntables, controllers and live sampling. Guests were able to get a first look at the latest gear, attend showcase presentations, meet international artists, and participate in workshops.

As the exhibition was drawing to a close, show organiser, Messe Frankfurt announced that the show would be taking a break in 2020, and returning in January 2021 - at the same time as the NAMM tradeshow in Anaheim. Speculation over whether Expo 2020 was the reason for the date chance was rife, but nothing was officially confirmed. A January dateline, just weeks away from three of the largest tradeshows in the calendar these days - NAMM, ISE and Frankfurt might not be the best move for the show in terms of attracting international visitors and exhibitors, but only time will tell.

Prolight+Sound Middle East will take a break in 2020, but will return to the Dubai World Trade Centre in 2021, and will move the dateline to 24-26 January.

For more information go to: pls.ae.messefrankfurt. com/dubai/en.html

• The ADJ team

• George of Procom

www.mondodr.com

• Elie of Robe Middle East

116 NEW UK H EAD OFFICE

CHAMSYS | UK HEAD OFFICE GRAND OPENING Good times were mixed with valuable insights at the grand opening of the ChamSys UK Head Office on 2 September, as more than 150 lighting programmers and designers from throughout Europe helped the company inaugurate its new office, training facility, and product development centre.

As well as mingling while enjoying food, drink and entertainment, visitors participated in informative classes, think tanks, and training sessions focused on the new MagicQ and QuickQ software from ChamSys. Adding a light-hearted touch of drama to proceedings was a short skit presented by company team members on the history of ChamSys. The

piece recounted how company cofounder Chris Kennedy developed his first console at the age of 10.

Telling the story of a young man with big dreams, the skit showed how Chris achieved something beyond even his wildest imagination years later when an award-winning ChamSys console was used by Art & Yes to control a record-breaking 64,000 parameters over 186 universes directly without processing nodes. Also starring in the drama was the MagicQ MQ500 Stadium Console, which was featured in live demonstrations that highlighted its wide range of impressive features, including Focus Hold and Focus Line. www.mondodr.com

Following his performance, Chris treated guests to a preview of the new MagicQ MQ70 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; an extremely compact and aerodynamic console with big-time scalability. Animated light shows controlled by the MagicQ MQ500 followed this introduction.

At the conclusion of the evening, Chris invited guests to return to the new ChamSys facility, reminding them that it would be holding multiple training sessions every month. Based on the enthusiastic response to the innovations on display at the grand opening, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s safe to assume that they will be taking him up on this offer. www.chamsyslighting.com

TWO STEPS AHEAD – ALWAYS! Laser projectors and laser show controllers manufactured in Berlin

LaserAnimation Sollinger GmbH Crellestraße 19/20 10827 Berlin Phone +49 (30) 780 963 00 Fax +49 (30) 780 963 25 Mail info@laseranimation.com Photos © Ralph Larmann (right), © Liam Tarnish (left)

118 OP EN DAY

AYRTON | OPEN DAY It’s been more than two years since news came through of Ayrton’s acquisition by Chinese Lighting manufacturer, Golden Sea. Since then, the company has seen some large developments in both its product line and European staff base.

Greeting mondo*dr and other members of the press at Ayrton’s French base, just South of Paris, was CEO Christopher Agius Ferrante, who discussed what lay in store for the company.

“Following Golden Sea’s acquisition back in January 2017, several strategic decisions were made,” began Christopher, standing outside the Ayrton facility, which opened officially in March last year. “One of these key decisions was that the company should remain in Paris. This facility is only down the road from our original office.”

This bigger space - which includes a lobby, more office space, a warehouse, meeting rooms and a permanent 220 sq metre showroom - was specified to make way for the investment in a new staff base. The company has grown from six in-house

employees to 23 employees in two-and-a-half years. “Our vision was clear,” stated the CEO. “Retain the original team, drive new investments, move into a new building, add team members, and drive a shift in product focus, all while never losing sight of Ayrton’s DNA – the incredible innovation and attention to detail driven by our founder and CTO, Yvan Peard.”

Christopher spoke candidly about Ayrton’s past that had its own place in the market. “Historically, Ayrton produced products that were incredibly niche, specialist and ahead of their time,” he began. “They were very cool and found themselves on some of the largest shows in the world, but due to their nature, they had shorter lifecycles than Ayrton may have liked.

“Since 2017 we have shifted our focus to more ‘bread and butter’ products. This brings its own challenges such as competition, but it’s also a much larger market for us to work in.

“We also have an incredibly clear roadmap, called www.mondodr.com

Multi 21. It outlines our development cycle up until the end of 2021, ensuring clarity among our partners and is backed by a clear strategy where we will not replace any of our existing product in the roadmap. In a world where product comes and goes, almost without thought, we are keen to ensure our partners get the best utilisation and ROI on their investments with us.”

And this move to a bigger market has clearly been a good one - the CEO stated proudly that Ayrton doubled its business last year and that 2019 is seeing similarly aggressive levels of growth.

Walking around the various sectors of the building, from the warehouse, repairs department to the office space upstairs, Christopher described the framework of the company.

“What’s important to remember is that this base is not for manufacturing – its distribution,” he began. “Even though we develop new products from here, we do not build any of the fixtures.”

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120 OP EN DAY

In fact, since the acquisition, the CEO explained that 75% of the Ayrton stock is shipped directly from China, cutting out the need for products to be sent to France and then on to another destination. “The quality control taking place in China is incredibly advanced, allowing us to drive efficiencies we would otherwise miss. We carry a selection of stock for certain European clients who would rather not deal with international shipping but, on the whole, most of it is sent out from China.”

What became clear was that the Paris base was very much a site for research and development, along with all the customer-facing elements of the operation. “As part of our programme of continuous improvement, we will be installing, in February 2020, a new automated system to store, manage and pick spare parts,” Christopher explained. “In the past year, the company has also increased the service department from two to five staff, with the aims of expanding its service centre and providing training, sales support and its overall ability to support its global network of clients.”

Moving on, the CEO spoke of some of the latest innovations that have happened at the company, with the release of fixtures including the Ghibli, Khamsin-S and Bora-S. “The process for each

new fixture begins here in France, where Yvan and his team develop the concepts surrounding a product,” he explained.

“We then leverage the incredible team of discipline specialists at Golden Sea, optical engineers, thermal engineers, mechanical engineers, software developers and industrial design engineers to bring the product to life. Once created, we then receive a number of prototypes, which we give the green light to or work on with the engineering office to improve the product. We also conduct our own long-term quality control alongside the tests that take place at the factory.”

According to the CEO, one of the main driving forces behind the latest line of fixtures have been three elements: smaller, lighter and brighter. “Or, in a nutshell, efficiency!” he stated, turning the group’s attention to the inner workings of the Khamsin-S. “To see the innovation that is taking place, you really need to look inside the fixtures.

For example, one of the ways we were able to keep the weight and size of the Khamsin down was thanks to the innovative cooling system, (half the size of Ghibli’s even though the fixture is delivering almost twice as much output), which is used for cooling both the LED engine and the LED drivers.”

Concluding the tour, we visited the company’s www.mondodr.com

demo room to see some products that, in a few days, were to be showcased at PLASA London – namely the Perseo and Huracán-X. Perseo is Ayrton’s first multi-function, compact, powerful, IP65-rated fixture developed for intensive outdoor use. With features such as 100% framing shutters, the Perseo produces 27,000 lumens from its 500W LED source with a fully weatherproof housing, with a new water-resistant menu navigation system.

The Huracán-X profile light was also on display.

This particular fixture has been created to deliver exceptional light output along with a formidable new graphical tool possessing a wealth of features and an entirely new complex colour mixing system. But it was its new advanced colour mixing system (patent pending), which Christopher was keen to outline to the group. With a CMY, CTO, CTP, CTB subtractive system, LDs are given complete control over the colour palette.

With the demo concluded, the day’s event concluded with a rooftop drinks reception in the centre of Paris attended by Ayrton’s global distribution network. With its wide-ranging product range now on offer, and with an extensive distribution network, Ayrton seems set to continue its notable growth. www.ayrton.eu

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122 EX P ERIENCE DAY

HIGHLITE | EXPERIENCE DAY At the end of September Highlite International open the doors of its headquarter facilities in Kerkrade, The Netherlands for a unique Experience Day, transforming, once again, into a real entertainment knowledge and experience centre for a wealth of industry professionals. The day included various product demonstrations, workshops and training sessions that displayed new Highlite products and allowed attendees to engage in the company’s growth.

Throughout the day, product specialists from brands including Showtec and Wentex International, showcased their products, discussing and informing press and potential customers about what they could offer. Outside in the area

surrounding the company’s base, the complete Odin audio system from DAP Audio was on show, pumping out discreet vocal performances to intense EDM, causing the air to vibrate with its sheer power.

In the main show room, Highlite constructed a theatrical lighting show that took viewers on an immersive picturesque journey. Illustrated by the many moving heads in the room that filled the space with firey red tones and deep blues, they became the perfect accompaniment to the flying jellyfish that fell from the ceiling and transported those watching to the set of Guillermo del Toro’s ‘The Shape of Water’.

“The main reason we organise the Experience www.mondodr.com

Day is to have a meet and greet with our customers,” explained Huub de la Haije, President and founder of Highlite. “We also get the chance to learn from each other and build on our relationships. That, to me, is the most important thing about the Experience Days” Highlite has just recently celebrated its 25th anniversary and it’s clear to see how far it has come since then. Even the café in the headquarters is kitted out in vintage gear that the company has continued to pioneer. The workshop tours, led by both Huub and Patrick Herveille, Vice President at Highlite, also explored the history and allowed groups to venture into every corner of the place they call home, looking at the workspaces where

Pub_Mondo_236x333_1119.qxp_Mise en page 1 31/10/2019 16:05 Page1 Visit us at the JTSE booth 168-171 and JTSE lighting

Paris, November 26-27 online registration www.jtse.fr

DINO & APERTA are the new generation of automatic LED moving heads. Twenty years after the introduction of Starway’s cult range Servo 250, they inaugurate our new range of ultra compact and powerful projectors.

DINO reinvents the LED Spot: 8000 lumens, 9.4 kg for a height of 47 cm, linear zoom of 10 to 25°, wheel of 8 colors, wheel of 6 rotating and indexable gobos, wheel of 6 fixed gobos, 5-facet linear and 6-facet circular prism, frost.

www.star-way.com

APERTA revolutionizes the LED Beam: opening angle of 2.65°, 60,000 lux at 5 m, 11.5 kg for a height of 45 cm, infinite Pan / Tilt, ArtNet and KlingNet compatible, progressive frost, 14 fixed gobos, 6-facet linear rotating and indexable prism, 8-facet circular rotating and indexable prism.

124 EX P ERIENCE DAY

products are made and developed to the offices where the marketing team reside.

As well as press and Highlite’s customers, students from a nearby college attended the event and were encouraged to join experts Angelo van der Weerden and Harald Wolf in learning more about the newest lighting control desk, with in-house designed Chimp software that caters for a range of applications including touring, rental, theatres and houses of worship. The moving light

controllers enable the user to program their best show in a matter of minutes.

Another workshop was led by Tom Quicken and Eric Piefer, Dutch Media Tools (DMT) product specialists, where they discussed the technical aspects of all that DMT can offer. The company provide solutions for visual entertainment needs including quality in and outdoor LED pixel screens, LED processors and even media server software. The workshop looked in-depth at how

LED screens work and what makes DMT deliver.

“A lot of people who attended told me that they could see how far Highlite have come and the growth it is constantly experiencing. The quality of our products and the facilities we have to offer made the day extremely rewarding and we look forward to sharing this with more people in the future,” concluded Huub. www.highlite.com

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outdoor rgbwauV lighting essential

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UNIQUE BRACKET DESIGN TOURING-READY HOUSING RGBWAUV COLOR MIXING IP65 RATING ULTRA-SILENT RDM READY 30° BEAM ANGLE

UNIQUE BRACKET DESIGN TOURING-READY HOUSING VARI-WHITE (2700K - 6500K) IP65 RATING ULTRA-SILENT RDM READY 15° BEAM ANGLE CLFLIGHTING

WWW.CLF-LIGHTING.COM

126 P RODUCT LAUNCH

AVOLITES | SYNERGY LAUNCH Having already won industry awards and being used on some extremely high-profile projects in its beta stage, Avolites officially announced the worldwide release of itsradical new software control system, Synergy. With a number of celebrations on 16 October - a day the company coined Synergy Day - to mark the occasion around the globe, mondo*dr attended the global launch at the company’s headquarters in London, UK. Effectively a free V12 software upgrade to both its lighting console and media server ranges, Synergy unites them like never before, allowing lighting designers full visibility and fine control over both the lighting and video components of a truly multi-media performance.

Synergy allows users to quickly and simply pull control of pre-created screen surfaces and layers into a Titan-based lighting console at the touch of a button, or, vice versa, create surfaces

in an Ai media server from within the console interface. All operations occur seamlessly using Avolites’ proprietary Titan Net protocol and take place on whatever hardware the user is running, from Titan USB interfaces all the way up to the Sapphire Touch console, and from Ai software licences all the way up to the super-powerful Q4 media server.

The creative possibilities for lighting design that are unleashed as a result are endless. The software’s new Lightmap feature allows users to stream Ai video colour data through any colour-mixing fixture group, to instantly integrate them into a larger video canvas. As a result, everything from high-res LED screens to LED fixture groups can be controlled from a single intuitive user interface without the requirement to create and arrange fixtures in the media server or create Art-Net merges. Users can simply select www.mondodr.com

the group and choose Ai in the pixel mapper.

Synergy also allows for live video previews of up to six simultaneous streams from the media server, inside the Titan interface, giving users full control, whether the servers are located FOH or elsewhere. These can be either layer previews or screen outputs. And Synergy’s media browser allows content to be selected and uploaded to specific locations on connected servers from the console interface. This content then appears on the bank with a thumbnail ready to play as soon as it’s uploaded and/or converted to AiM. “From high profile rock shows to corporate presentations, lighting designers are being asked to increasingly combine lighting and video elements together for maximum impact,” commented Stephen Baird-Smith, Sales Manager, Avolites.

“As the only company in the industry that has both a lighting console platform and a media

127 P RODUCT LAUNCH

server range, we are ideally placed to bring them together into the same interface and are delighted with the new creative possibilities we have already seen realised from the beta program.”

A new showroom at Avolites HQ has been equipped with the latest equipment for potential customers to see hands on, just what can be achieved with the new software. Avolites hosted guests at the London event, and by all accounts the team was extremely pleased with the response to the launch, as Sales Director,

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Koy Neminathan explained: “Synergy Day was a unique event where, for the very first time, we involved some of our international distributors to host an event that would start in the East and finish in the West. Starting at 4pm in Tokyo we ensured that our distributors would host an event where their customers would witness and learn more about how Synergy works and understand how it would fit into their future projects. As the world spun, customers in Dubai UAE, Capetown South Africa, Bemmel The Netherlands, London

UK, New York USA, Santiago Chile and finally ending in Las Vegas USA saw the capabilities of Synergy.

“We had over 200 people attend worldwide and the feedback was very positive, with a number of clients already starting to specify Synergy on their next project. The next step is to get all of our international distribution partners to deliver Synergy workshops and educate their markets to the power of Synergy, Ai and Titan. This is just the beginning of a new era!” www.avolites.com

128 DIST RIBUTOR MEET ING

NEXT-PROAUDIO | DISTRIBUTOR MEETING For the 2019 International Distribution Meeting in Porto, Portugal, NEXT-proaudio welcomed over 70 international distribution partners, dealers, customers and designers from 18 countries.

Members of the press were also invited along, and mondo*dr was in attendance.

This event started with a dinner, followed by a factory tour, demo presentation in the demo room and the official presentation of the LA26.

During the factory tour, guests heard about the vision of the company, the production processes and the organisation in general, including the most recent expansion of the headquarters.

During the event, NEXT-proaudio also demo’ed the LA212x, LA122.v2, LA122A and LAm114xA at Multiusos de Guimaraes, one of the most icon-

ic arenas for international concerts in the North of Portugal. There, the NEXT-proaudio family listened to the prepared demos, and tested some of their own songs on systems.

Back at the NEXT-proaudio facilities the Powersoft team started the second day off with an Armonia presentation based on N-RAK (the manufacturer’s power rack solution using Powersoft X8 amplifiers). Antonio Correia, the R&D Director and NEXT-proaudio owner followed with a second presentation, which included a rundown of NEXT-proaudio’s software - Soundware, Audio Tool and AST. “We welcomed our distribution network, and it was a great opportunity for us to show them the improvements to the facilities, the products and www.mondodr.com

the team. We were more than happy to receive all these people from different parts of the world, all with the same ambition, to grow NEXT-proaudio worldwide,” said Andre Correia, NEXT-proaudio’s Manager.

“It was exciting to see the passion, the enthusiasm of everybody on these two days. We´re proud of our team and the distribution network.

We anticipated our recent LA26 to be one of the highlights at the event, and we were right, having more than 200 orders for it after the meeting.

We couldn’t be more satisfied,” concluded Sergio Pinto, NEXT-proaudio Sales Manager.

www.next-proaudio.com

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130 ISLE 2020 - NEW LOCAT ION

ISLE 2020 | NEW LOCATION - SHENZHEN NEW EXHIBITION CENTER ISLE 2020, Asia’s largest International LED & Signage trade event is set to be held between 24-27 February 2020, in Shenzhen, China’s LED production base and one of the world’s tech innovation hubs. Taking place at Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center (Shenzhen World), the city’s new exhibition complex located within 30 minutes drive to most of China’s major LED factories. ISLE 2020 will allow global buyers to achieve efficient buying by easy factory research at the one-stop platform.

“ISLE 2019 saw huge success in terms of scale and the number of participants. In total, more than 250,000 visitors and 1,365 exhibitors took part, discovering business opportunities and sharing industry knowledge. The increase in international buyers, which rose by 10% in 2019, is representative of the growth of the industry as a whole,” said Li Ying Jie, CEO of ISLE. “We have

witnessed the tremendous success of ISLE 2019, and holding ISLE 2020 in the new Shenzhen World means a bigger exhibition area, and it’s within close reach of many factories. The 160,000 sq metre exhibition area will allow us to bring in more exhibits and greater insight to the industry, and we look forward to attracting more professional visitors in ISLE 2020.”

The four-day event will demonstrate screen display technology, audiovisual integrated systems, as well as LED and signage solutions, totaling more than 2,000 exhibitors, aiming to create an immersive experience for global buyers.

The highlight of 2020’s exhibition will be the introduction of six segmented exhibition areas, each providing a display solution for various business scenarios: smart city; new retail; smart campus; pan entertainment; museum and digital cinema; and security and information flow. www.mondodr.com

ISLE 2020 addresses the complete industrial chain, covers both upstream and downstream supply chains of commercial display, audiovisual integrated systems, and the LED and signage industries. Industry leaders like Absen, Unilumin, Hikvision, Aoto Electronics and Ledman have already booked large booths in ISLE 2020, thanks to the bigger exhibition area provided by the newly built Shenzhen World.

ISLE 2020 will also host more than 30 conferences and forums in cooperation with partners, which include the LED Application Branch of China Optics and Optoelectronics Manufactures Association, China Institute of Stage Design, and Electronic Government Association of Guangdong Province. Together the conference programme will gather 110+ industry professionals to share insights on 11 hot industry topics. en.isle.org.cn

132 ANNIVERSARY

MOUNTAIN PRODUCTIONS | TURNS 40 With a name like Mountain Productions, it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what the company does. On the surface, yes, it is considered the largest staging company in North America and is involved with large-scale events, but there is so much more to the Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, USA-based company that bills itself as ‘a vertically integrated product driven organisation’.

Mountain Productions is, in fact, divided up into five core verticals: staging and structural design; rigging distribution; e-commerce; permanent installations; and AR/VR services. It has come a long way since the early days, which began 40 years, and steering the ship in its 40th year is the third generation of the Simms and Rose family.

To mark the anniversary, Mountain Productions has been busy and kicked off 2019 by welcoming a new company to the family, with the acquisition of ROC-OFF Productions - a leader in staging and production in the Florida and South East market. “The integration of the talented ROCOFF team signifies all of the hard work over 40 years that has allowed for this expansion and is a natural extension of our already strong presence in Florida,” said CEO, Ricky Rose. “It is exciting to see the ROC-OFF and Mountain Productions

team utilise our new 17 acre facility in Palm Beach, that includes a full hoist service-centre and a distribution hub.”

The company has also launched a new range of proprietary products including a high-end ballast called the MTN Cube, a new chain slider design with customisable inserts, and the MTN T-Tower, a delay tower design with more height and less footprint than anything in it’s class. The company is marking the end of its anniversary year by launching MTN Activation Structures, which focusses on architecturally striking temporary and permanent promotional/VIP structures and living spaces for all types of applications.

But before we learn about the future, let’s take a look back on the history…

Established in 1979 the company developed under the ownership of Ronald W. Simms, his leadership resonated in a commitment to reinvestment in new technologies, quality, safety, and top talent, which made Mountain Productions what it is today. Ronald’s vision and involvement has been steadfast and he serves as Chairman of the Board to this day. Richard A. Rose Jr - the second generation - became involved in the late ‘80s and has been providing daily counsel on opwww.mondodr.com

erational initiatives, and strategy as an officer and board member, outside of his role as President and CEO of Petroleum Service Company. Next came the present day owners, brothers Ricky Rose, the company CEO and Ron Rose, the Managing Director of the international division. Still to this day, the pair continue with the progressive traditions set out by their family, leading to a rapid expansion over the last four years.

Both Ricky and Ron worked at the company on and off the road from their early teens and that experience was vital to preparing them for their current positions, and shaped their passion for the entertainment industry. Alongside them are a team of talented staff, most of which are from the local surrounding area. And it is that community spirit - present at Mountain Productions for decades - which the brothers believe has been one of the driving forces that has contributed to the success the company celebrates today. Among the devoted staff there are siblings, spouses, mothers and fathers all working together to continue the expansion of the business, which has now spread across North America and into international waters, too.

Following his work at Live Nation in concert pro-

133 ANNIVERSARY

motion, Ron spearheaded the company’s growth into the global market and cultivated Mountain Productions’ EMEA base in Dublin, Ireland.

Both brothers received Masters Degrees at Trinity College, Dublin and from these experiences they realised the international need for Mountain Productions’ services. Since opening the doors to new markets, the EMEA team has grown swiftly, now having sold into 35 countries across four continents in just two years. Ron remains dedicated in Mountain Production’s commitment to further expansion into new markets and is still currently based in Ireland.

Having operations in Europe has allowed Mountain Productions to significantly expand its expertise on a global level. However, the company actually played a part in the history of its expertise. Fixed venues have existed for centuries in the form of traditional theatre and early amphitheatres that originated in ancient Greece, but large-scale temporary structures, as well as technical advancements in audio, lighting and video are a new phenomenon that only began

with the introduction of outdoor global touring in the middle of the 20th Century.

“To be a fixture in that history, as one of the companies globally that was the first to develop and provide large-scale stages, and support structures during this tidal shift, is something we are proud of and it’s a meaningful part of our culture,” explained Ricky. “The idea of expanding production beyond a small platform with basic lighting came from visionaries, like Bill Graham and his peers in the early ‘60s, who began using simple projectors for effects and light manipulation. Fast-forward a mere 60 years and you can see how the industry has changed.” In order to stay ahead of the curve, Mountain Productions has always brought as many capabilities in-house from welding, carpentry, cable manufacturing to hoist service, and soft goods manufacturing.

Ricky continued: “The expansion of events led to the growth of our staging business, but since that genesis, our focus has been on product development that has helped to support the evolution of what is possible in the industry. Many of our www.mondodr.com

products were a consequence of in-house needsbased solutions, there simply were not products out there that were up to our standards, so we made our own. For example, we were one of the first companies to develop and manufacture chain bags in the ‘80s, and today we are the leading provider across North America. These early creations jumpstarted our manufacturing and rigging distribution business.”

In-house manufacturing has been vital to company growth over the years, this is evident through the company’s flagship staging system, the MTN Truss HD+, which is the highest capacity system on the market and can accommodate 450,000lbs and allows for larger-scale production capabilities for talent and pre-rigging for multiple acts streamlining changeovers and minimising labour.

Like all MTN products, the newest staging system, MTN SP-1 was designed with efficiency and safety in mind. Featuring automated towers and sidewalls, the SP-1 filled a gap in the market for a robust B-stage for large-scale events and a starter main stage for new festivals with

134 ANNIVERSARY

capacity options. “If companies are not focussed on automation and new technologies across all industries they run the risk of becoming irrelevant,” said Ricky. “By removing the need for cranes and other heavy equipment, the onsite footprint is minimised, while facilitating the production vision with the most secure and efficient technologies.”

Alongside building bespoke and large-scale structures and products for both fixed installation and live production, Mountain Productions saw the need for a solution to create immersive modelling using the latest technologies.

The company had been utilising 3D mapping coupled with AR/VR technology and from that has launched a new standalone business unit called MTN BuildMap. The interactive digitally generated experience uses 3D scanning and proprietary algorithms to create virtual environments with exact measurements. These simulated 3D models provide users with the ability to pre-visualise architectural elements, production design, sight lines, camera placements, and structural and scenic locations for pre-production and applications in the industrial space. It allows customers to experience equipment and construction elements virtually, prior to the build date, and update drawings and specs on old buildings.

This service is, in effect, offering companies an internal five-man engineering department.

Having put all the pieces in place over the decades, it’ll come as no surprise that Mountain

Productions has a number of milestone projects under its belt. A particular one that stands out is Pier 17, during which Mountain Productions was approached by the Howard Hughes Corporation and Live Nation to provide a one-of-a-kind stage for its rooftop concert venue in the heart of New York City. This award-winning project was carried out in just eight weeks, during which Mountain Productions had to design, engineer, fabricate, deliver and install the entire project.

There were a number of obstacles including adverse weather conditions and high winds, as well as the need to have uninterrupted views of the Brooklyn Bridge. To fulfil the brief, Mountain Productions attached the stage to structural davits that the roof already had in place, the roof truss was also built with thicker roof cords than any traditional truss and had a 60ft high profile.

Furthermore, the stage wind protection was constructed of an incredibly high tensile strength, clear material that offered a unique, see-through stage that allows fans to see the Brooklyn Bridge behind the performers no matter what the weather.

Other recent milestones include launch of its rigging e-commerce site, MTN SHOP and the expansion into the West Coast with a new 10,000 sq ft Los Angeles facility in Sun Valley that includes rigging distribution, studio dry hire, and a hoist service centre. These moves mark entrances into new territories, such as film and TV, with the availability of temporary sound stages and www.mondodr.com

sub grids, as well as ground support and streamline studios. Worldwide, the company is now well equipped in the realms of distribution solutions through the MTN SHOP, original manufactured products and teams focussed on providing the best solutions for the industry. Ron contributed: “Simply opening a new branch is not enough, you must adapt and expand your service to the needs of the local market. Our EMEA office includes team members from four continents with a knowledge base of seven combined languages, which allows us to provide effective support wherever our customers may be.”

The final word goes to Ricky, he said: “We have a world-class team that can integrate a full service offering across all that we develop. We view a stage or bespoke structure as a vital set piece for a festival or installation and canvas for production. Even though a stage may be viewed as a utilitarian product, we don’t share that view.

Instead, I feel aesthetics should be infused into all of our offerings and it’s my belief that great design requires form and function. With whatever we do it needs to look good, function with the newest technology, and most of all be at the highest level of safety. Ultimately, it’s our devoted and experienced team that is our greatest differentiator. They make it happen.” www.mountainproductions.com www.shopmtn.com www.shopmtn.eu

136 IN DETAIL

NOVASTAR | MCTRL660 PRO

Building on the success of the original MCTRL660, the MCTRL660 Pro has a tonne of new features that are sure to be welcomed by those looking for a zerolatency controller.

One of the most noticeable improvements is that the resolution is improved for 10-bit input, now reaching 1,600 by 1,200 @60Hz. Additionally, 12bit input source video is now supported.

The 660 Pro also has two additional optical outputs that come in handy for fine-pitch large cabinet mapping. The Pro version is able to handle some mapping configurations that its predecessor would have struggled with.

The additions of support for mirror image, TCP and Art-Net also make the Pro version more powerful than ever before. Finally, the wealth of input options - 3G-SDI, HDMI, DVI, HDBaseT - give the Pro version unrivaled flexibility.

Higher resolution, zero delay, tonnes of input choices, and more optical outputs all serve to make the MCTRL660 Pro an excellent choice for meeting the requirements of a large variety of applications.

The most recent installation of NovaStar’s MCTRL660 Pro controller is at Paradise City located in Incheon, and is the largest entertainment complex in South Korea, combining high-end hospitality with entertainment facilities, such as a hotel, casino, convention centre, shopping, spa, nightclub, shopping, carnival and performances. C2 Artechnolozy (C2) was at the forefront of the design for the newly-opened Paradise City and the installer specified a large number of MCTRL660 Pros to take care of visual content management throughout the complex. www.novastar.tech www.mondodr.com

MCTRL660 PRO Specifications

• Input of ultra-high colour depths: 10-bit / 12-bit RGB 4:4:4/ YCbCr 4:4:4, with input resolutions up to 1,920 by 1,080 @60Hz, increasing colour expression capabilities by 4,096 times compared to 8-bit inputs, and presenting images with rich and delicate colours, smoother transitions, as well as clearer details.

• Supports individual Gamma adjustment for RGB when the colour depth of input source is 10-bit or 12-bit, which effectively controls image non-uniformity under low grayscale and white balance offset to improve image quality.

• Low latency: Less than one millisecond (when the start position of image is 0).

• Dual working modes: working as sending card and fibre converter.

• One-click backup and recovery, quickly recovering previous screen configurations to deal with sudden on-site failure.

• Image mirroring, allowing for more cool and dazzling stage effects.

• Auto LED screen configuration.

• Web control.

• Pixel level brightness and chroma calibration.

• Monitoring of inputs.

• Multiple MCTRL660 PRO units can be cascaded.

Big Shoes.

Small Footprint.

We posed a question.

Could we bring the focus, clarity and control of our industry-leading ICONYX series Digitally Steered Speaker Arrays to more intimate environments? Could we translate our cathedral-filling, airport-taming designs into solutions for corporate offices, mid size industrial locations, restaurants, health clubs, universities and civic facilities?

The answer is: Yes. Introducing the ICONYX IC 12/3 and DC 12/2 Directivity Controlled vertical column speakers from Renkus-Heinz.

Delivering the ICONYX experience to smaller venues, the revolutionary DC12/2 is a ready-to-roll solution featuring predefined, user-selectable presets and control via smartphone or tablet. And the IC12/3 delivers a modular, stackable system which can be easily customized for any location.

Take a walk to www.Renkus-Heinz.com and take your first step towards incredible audio.

ICONYX DC 12/2

ICONYX IC 12/3

138 IN DETAIL

ALLEN & HEATH | AVANTIS

Allen & Heath has revealed its new 96kHz digital mixer, Avantis, the third to be based on the company’s XCVI FPGA engine. Avantis puts Allen & Heath’s next-generation technology in a 64-channel / 42 configurable bus console, with twin full HD touchscreens, extensive I/O options and processing from the company’s flagship dLive mixing system.

“Joining dLive and SQ, Avantis completes our trilogy of next-gen 96kHz consoles,” said Rob Clark, Allen & Heath’s Managing Director. “Avantis takes many of the features that have made SQ and dLive so popular, putting them in a standalone 64-channel mixer that offers a new UI experience, connectivity with our Everything I/O ecosystem, and the dPack option, which gives you access to our advanced dLive processing options if and when you need them.

“On top of that,” added Rob. “We’ve taken a new approach with the industrial design, coming up with a full metal chassis that’s super-strong, lightweight and looks fantastic.”

Encased in its alloy shell and tubular frame, the Avantis control surface is centered on the two full HD touchscreens and their corresponding rotary controls.

“Having two touchscreens isn’t a new concept, but we realised we could use it to unlock exciting new possibilities, which led us to develop Continuity UI,” said Andy Bell, Allen & Heath’s R&D

Director.

“Within seconds of getting hands-on with Avantis, engineers are going to appreciate the seamless flow between the physical controls and the on-screen software. You can work gains and pans on the rotaries, then at the touch of a soft key switch to EQ or dynamics across the whole strip. The console also provides a highly configurable FastGrab tab on the right-hand side of each screen, offering another way to quickly and easily access control of aux sends, EQ, compressor and effects on the currently selected channel or spot channel.

“Ultimately, with Continuity UI, the engineer decides how they’d like to work, not the mixer.”

While many users will choose to pair Avantis with the 48-in / 16-out GX4816 audio expander, Avantis is part of Allen & Heath’s Everything I/O ecosystem, which means whether you’re an owner/ operator looking to build a compact system, or a rental company with existing Allen & Heath stock, Avantis allows true flexibility by connecting to a huge range of audio expander hardware. Avantis is also compatible with Allen & Heath’s range of ME Personal Mixers and IP hardware remote controllers.

For local I/O, Avantis is well equipped with 12 XLR analogue inputs, 12 XLR analogue outputs, plus AES (stereo in, two stereo out). Two additional I/O www.mondodr.com

•Above The new Avantis console with the GX4816, a 96kHz audio expander that provides high-inputcount remote expansion.

Ports allow Avantis to benefit from the full range of current dLive option cards, including Dante (64x64 and 128x128), Waves, gigaACE, MADI and more, expanding the scope for system integration, FOH / monitor splits and multitrack recording.

Right out of the box, Avantis is loaded with processing tools designed to meet the demands of most users and applications, including compressors, EQs and Allen & Heath’s acclaimed RackExtra effects units (12 slots). Upgrading to dPack expands Avantis further with additional dLive processing including the Dyn8 dynamics engine (up to 16 instances), DEEP Compressors, and the Dual-Stage Valve preamp. dPack purchasers will automatically receive all future DEEP and effects updates free of charge, future-proofing their investment.

“In the gap between SQ and dLive, the mixer market is littered with 48kHz DSP-based old-school consoles,” said Nic Beretta, Allen & Heath’s Head of Product. “Avantis brings next-generation performance across the board. Customers in venues, houses of worship, touring and the rental market are going to be seriously impressed by how well this ticks the boxes. It’s a really exciting mixer at a compelling price.” www.allen-heath.com/avantis

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140 IN DETAIL

TURBOSOUND | MANCHESTER SERIES

Turbosound has announced the launch of the MANCHESTER Series line array system with the aim of bringing the brand back into the fold for premier live sound reinforcement. Its tagline is ‘Hear it, Live it’.

The MANCHESTER Series is the culmination of listening intently to customer’s requirements, obsessing over their needs and chasing down the relentless quest for sonic accuracy, clarity and detail in providing the best sound reinforcement available.

Designed in the UK, the MANCHESTER Series will bring Turbosound into a new era regardless of application or environment.

A price point that belies its feature set, the MANCHESTER Series provides an uncompromising audible range, exceptional dispersion, detail and clarity.

The MANCHESTER Series system is designed for large-scale install and touring PA applications, and comprises: the MV 212 and MV 212-XV, dual 12inch full size variable curvature line array elements; the MS215 dual 15-inch vented bandpass subwoofer; the MS218 dual 18-inch front loaded subwoofer; as well as the MAN-FG universal fly grid for the MANCHESTER MV line array elements and MS215 subwoofer.

The series has been tested to withstand the extremes of any given application and can be deployed in virtually any environment. Turbosound is confident that no matter the environment or situation

the MANCHESTER Series will perform - the uncompromising build and R&D pertinence will provide a continuity not yet sustained.

Chris Hinds, Turbosound Brand Leader, said of the MANCHESTER Series: “This is Turbosound pushing back with an exceptionally strong product to cater to all aspects of professional audio installation and touring applications. I’m inherently proud to present the MANCHESTER Series by Turbosound to the industry. It is testament to the vision, the ethos and the hard work of our design and development teams, whose role in interpreting what exactly it is that the customer needs, has been nothing short of exemplary. We want the MANCHESTER Series to become a mainstay on technical riders and installation projects throughout the world, for years to come.

“We knew that sound became critically advanced. So we knew we had to become better. What has been asked of this system is what has been manufactured.

To coincide with new product launches from sister companies Midas with the flagship Heritage D-96 console and Lab.gruppen with the new software implementations of the PLM range of amplifiers, the launch of the MANCHESTER Series now means we are in the privileged position of being able to provide the complete solution. A one-stop-shop of a suite of complimentary products designed for high end touring and installed sound applications.” www.turbosound.com

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MV212 Specifications • 53kg • 149dB maximum SPL • 100º H by 5º V • Three-way bi-amp • Dual coaxial neodymium mid-high compression drivers • Two Integral Dendritic Plane Wave Transformer (DPWT) waveguides for perfect line source coupling in the vertical plane • Dual 12-inch low frequency transducers with lightweight neodymium motors and A.F.C. waveguides • Advance FIR Lake presets • 10:1 WWL on 16 x MV212

Affordability. Expandability.

0% Finance Available* Limited time only Please contact DiGiCo Tel: +44 (0) 1372 845600 *Subject to Credit Approval.

Businesses only.

Maximum connectivity at exceptional value

72 Input Channels (expandable to 96)

A compact, affordable, multi-application digital console benefiting from built in UB MADI, dual MADI, Optocore Option, Local I/O and dual DMI Slots, options include Dante, Automatic Mic Mixing and Waves

12 x 8 Full Processing Matrix

36 Aux / Sub-Group Busses (expandable to 48) LR/LCR Master Buss 119 Dynamic Equalisers / Multi-band Compressors 12 Digital FX 48/96 kHz Sample Rate

www.digico.biz DiGiCo UK Ltd. Unit 10 Silverglade Business Park, Leatherhead Road Chessington, Surrey KT9 2QL. Tel: +44 (0) 1372 845600

SD12 Advert August 2019 - MONDO.indd 1

29/10/2019 12:57:10

142 P RODUCT GUIDE

am•pli•fi•er

[am-pluh-fahy-er] n.

An amplifier is a product that amplifies audio signals to a level that makes them suitable for driving loudspeakers - it is the final electronic stage in a typical audio playback chain. Amplifiers take a signal output - from a mixing desk, for example - and make it strong enough to be audible through a loudspeaker by substantially increasing the voltage of the input signal.

PRODUCT GUIDE

AMPLIFIERS SPONSORED BY

Founded in 1934 in Japan, TOA draws upon 85 years of knowledge to create the perfect audio experience for our clients - we have made it our mission to supply high-quality equipment with first-class sound. One of our key focal areas in our product development is in safety-relevant technology.

Our technologically advanced state-of the-art amplifiers are designed to provide our customers with the peace of mind that our products are reliable, have longevity and are the right device for any application, whether they require high-powered or super compact half-size amplifiers. Whether you need a standalone unit or an amplifier for a larger fixed installation, TOA products have the features you need. Our amplification systems allow you to provide BGM without the need to focus on complex technical devices whilst having confidence in our product quality, reliability and performance. Ideal for houses of worship, schools, retail outlets and stadiums our multi-purpose, multi-function mixer / power amplifiers are specifically designed for maximum versatility. Our products are cost-effective with high performance and are ideal for any PA system providing paging functions and multi-zone coverage. In addition to our extensive product range, we have a range of exceptional accessories, such as wall control panels and other system modules that enhance and compliment your system. Our products, coupled with the excellent global service that TOA provides from planning to after sales, makes our PA solutions ideal for any application. www.toa.de

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The HybridLineSource is a new and worldwide unique loudspeaker system invented by Harmonic Design. It dramatically reduces the space, required for a conventional system, and improves the quality of a PA-system to a new level.

Coverage 100° x 40° Undistorted sound up to 144 dB 2 x LF Neodymium + LineArray Waveguide integrated 3-Point FastRig - Rigging Standalone and array usage Transducers

Sensitivity

SPLmax*

hd HLS20 hd HLS24 *

Freq. Range

Weight

(-6dB)

(1W / 1m)

Dimensions W x H x D (mm)

2x 10" + 3x 1.4"

107 dB

143 dB

70 Hz - 20 kHz

34 kg

400 x 520 x 540

2x 12" + 4x 1.4"

108 dB

144 dB

60 Hz - 20 kHz

45 kg

480 x 675 x 560

SPLmax Peak level measured at 1m under free-field conditions using pink noise with crest factor 4

Harmonic Design is a German manufacturer of high-quality loudspeaker systems and stands for research, development and engineering of cutting-edge technology since more than 39 years!

Harmonic Design Audiotechnik GmbH Rudolf-Diesel-Straße 11, DE-74382 Neckarwestheim info@harmonic-design.com harmonic-design.com

MORE INFORMATION: harmonic-design.com/hls24

photo credit: Stadium Wrocław

outdoor projection on any scale

22 - 24 NOVEMBER 2019 LAS VEGAS CONVENTION CENTER LAS VEGAS - NV

STAND 2953

144 P RODUCT GUIDE - AMP LIFIERS

Alcons Audio Sentinel

Amate Audio TPD 2.1

The proprietary designed Sentinel Amplified Loudspeaker Controllers (ALC) feature a powerful four-channel DSP-based controller with Class-D amplifier stages.

The four-in/four-out matrix accepts analogue or up to 192kHz digital AES3 signals, sampled to 96kHz by high-end sample rate converters.

The future-upgradable powerful DSP engine enables processing of even the most complex (IIR, FIR) algorithms. Features include shelf/pass/parametric/allpass equalising per channel, delay, factory presets for all system configurations, user-presets, event-logging and system feedback.

The full-colour TFT touch screen and the multi-colour LED illuminated encoder in combination with tab-based menu structure offers intuitive control. Remote control can be done through a VNC app. on any mobile device; multiple sentinels can be controlled via the ALControl remotecontrol.

The Signal Integrity Sensing circuit dynamically compensates the effects of long loudspeaker cables - this results in a tight subwoofer and bass response regardless of cable length or impedance (system damping factor of 10,000) and without the need for manually entering cable parameters.

The four patent-pending Class-D amplifier stages offer one of the lowest THD in the industry. Together with the two (redundant) switch-mode power supplies, the Sentinel10 delivers a total of 10,000W at just 11.6kg.

The modular design makes for easy future upgrades and in-the-field servicing. www.alconsaudio.com

Amate Audio introduced its original TriPhonic amplifier 30 years ago. A onestop solution for L-R and subwoofer loudspeaker systems, with on-board signal processing. The TDP 2.1 (TriPhonic Digital) reintroduces the concept in a high performance new digital design: with latest third generation Class-D amplifier circuitry and extensive on-board DSP loudspeaker system management. Universal switched-mode power supply with Active Power Factor Correction enables operation with any mains condition between 85V and 240V AC, and Amate Audio’s EcoMode automatically puts the amplifier into standby in the absence of an audio signal.

The TPD’s power channels provide 500W each for L-R stereo and 1,000W for the subwoofer; all at four ohms. Despite the impressive power ratings, the unit weighs just 8kg. DSP system management includes highly accurate filters, parametric EQs, peak / RMS limiters and delays enabling timealignment of the amplifier channels. The six DSP channels include three fully configurable outputs for processing additional external amplifier racks. A USB connection enables control- and password-lock- of the TPD from a PC with the intuitive DSPLink software.

The TDP 2.1 offers simplicity of installation and operation, a unique space saving high power / low form factor design, and straightforward control interface. www.amateaudio.com

Ashly Audio mXa-1502 Ashly Audio’s new mXa-1502 is a completely integrated product bringing four zones of mixing and DSP, plus two 150W of power, programmable microphone preamplifier and a complete DSP suite- all made simple in a single, compact, elegant rack-mountable unit.

Integrators can easily perform system configuration and deliver long-term service thanks to the mXa-1502’s built-in web server, which offers a web-based control platform, AquaControl. If an end user requires assistance, an integrator could first login to the controls remotely online before rolling a truck out to the site.

Further, the software system, AquaControl, doesn’t require extensive tutorials or workshops to master, no need to spend a week in class in order to certify a system, Ashly has put a focus on ensuring the most intuitive interface ever, with different levels of control for both the beginner user and the integrator. www.ashly.com

Audac PMQ Series The AUDAC PMQ Series with WaveDynamics audio processing technology is built for applications that require a high output. Available in three different, four-channel configurations with output powers of 240W, 480W and 600W for each channel.

The PMQ comes with exactly the same user-friendly interface for which the SMA and SMQ series were commended. It enables users to do enhanced setting on the front side of the amplifier through a 2.5-inch graphical display or to load in configuration files from a USB with ease.

The PMQ Series is fitted with Class-D amplifier technology, which has a very clean and wide high fidelity sound quality. Due to its green power auto standby feature is the amplifier also a great fit for energy conscious customers.

But not only the controllability of the amplifier on the front side is what makes these 100V amplifiers special. Besides RS232 connection PMQ also enables for an optional Dante expansion. Allowing the installation of a network interface making the device able to receive and send low latency, high quality audio over a standard Ethernet network. Users can even connect an additional APC100 unit which enables web controllability. www.audac.eu

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YOU DON’T NEED KEVLAR. But... when the rain is pouring in sideways you’ll be happy they’re not paper.

We manufacture our transducers using Kevlar because we believe that superior audio begins with superior material. Our treated Kevlar retains it’s form even when being pushed to it’s physical limit, virtually eliminating destructive modal behaviour while easily handling demanding environmental conditions.

An Adamson systems sounds the same from the first to the last note.

WWW.ADAMSONSYSTEMS.COM

146 P RODUCT GUIDE - AMP LIFIERS

Aura Audio D120 D120 is the most powerful high power amplifier in the Aura Audio D-series amplifier range, which complements the D80DSP and the D100DSP processing amplifiers for most power hungry subwoofers such as the quad driver XQ-series. The Class-D output stage and switch mode power supply in D120 is optimised for low impedances (two ohm loads) with very high current capability and still high voltage swing as well. A rear panel switch allows the amplifier to accept either two channels of analogue or digital (AES3) audio or pick up channels of networked audio, via Dante, which is then converted using 24-bit 96kHz DACs. www.auraaudio.fi

Bose Professional PowerSpace Bose PowerSpace amplifiers, a new line of five cost-effective power amplifiers offer the right power levels and DSP options for premium commercial applications. PowerSpace amplifiers integrate seamlessly with the expanding line of Bose Professional loudspeakers, processors and control devices. The line includes three models with Bose AmpLink connectivity and two models featuring an integrated DSP. Ideal for zone-expansion applications, the P21000A, P2600A, and P4300A models (two x 1,000, two x 600W, and two x 300W respectively) enhance any commercial installation with clean, reliable power and digital connectivity. A Bose AmpLink input allows for multiple channels of uncompressed, low-latency digital audio from Bose digital sound processors via a single Cat 5 cable. Versatile outputs give users the flexibility to deliver full channel power to either lowor high-impedance loads - without bridging - and even send double power to a single zone. For premium commercial applications, Bose PowerSpace amplifiers provide the power, performance and flexibility to get the job done. pro.bose.com

Cloud Electronics CV8125 Cloud Electronics has announced its new range of energy efficient, amplifiers with the introduction of its new CV-Series of digital multi-channel digital 70V/100V amplifiers. There are three models in the new CV-Series including two, four and eight-channel variants. The first model to launch is the new CV8125 eight-channel digital amplifier, offering up to 125W output per channel at 70V/100V. The new CV-Digital amplifier series is designed to drive 70V/100V loudspeaker systems directly. Particular attention has been paid to the new CV-Digital series amplifiers energy efficiency to meet Energy Star compliancy ratings. Automatic Power Down (APD) is triggered if an input signal is not detected for 30 minutes, reducing power consumption to just 2.5W. A remote standby/wake function triggered by an external contact closure enables the amplifiers to be placed in standby mode and subsequently powered up again, saving energy.

A full suite of user configurable DSP functionality is on-board the CV-Digital Series, which includes input routing, input level, input limiting, seven-band room EQ, hi-pass filtering, up to 1.5 seconds of delay and five-band loudspeaker optimisation EQ. Two auxiliary outputs on the new CV-Series offer full on-board DSP functionality for both auxiliary outputs. www.cloud.co.uk

Community ALC Series Chosen to precisely match the needs of all Community loudspeakers, three ALC models are available: ALC-404D (four channels, 400W), ALC-1604D (four channels, 1600W), and ALC-3202D (two channels, 3200W). Bridged channel pairs support driving loads down to four ohms at double the power of a single channel.

Loudspeaker pre-sets include equalisation, high pass filters, and multi-stage limiters tailored to each model, ensuring sound quality and protection. Each channel is capable of directly driving 70V/100V distributed loudspeakers, low impedance loudspeakers from two ohms, or any mixed configuration of low and high impedance output loads.

Control and monitoring are accomplished via ArmonĂ­aPlus system manager software. Assigning loudspeakers to ALC output channels is a simple, visual, drag and drop process. Loudspeaker groups and zones can also be created quickly. www.communitypro.com

Crown by HARMAN DA Series For applications that require Dante or AES67 networked audio, the Crown DriveCore Install DA Series provides a balanced combination of output power, channel count and loudspeaker load flexibility along with proprietary DriveCore technology for superb efficiency and exemplary audio quality. The DCi DA Series includes a high-powered DSP with JBL loudspeaker tunings, network control/ monitoring, and the ability to drive two, four, eight and 16 ohms, 70V and 100V loudspeaker loads. The amplifiers advanced capabilities and support for Dante Domain Manager makes it perfect for installations that have standardised on Dante for networked audio transport. www.crownaudio.com

148 P RODUCT GUIDE - AMP LIFIERS

d&b audiotechnik 10D and 30D The 10D and 30D are the first d&b audiotechnik amplifiers tailored for permanent integration.

They offer the predictable results and rider-friendliness of d&b audiotechnik products, with features and costs tailored for installation applications.

The four-channel amplifier models, 10D and 30D, provide comprehensive DSP power to deliver the appropriate acoustical performance and feature settings for every installation.

The systematic, but targeted approach means that the installation amplifiers share the same DSP power and differ only in output power. With the d&b audiotechnik software toolkit, they’re also easy to setup and operate, as well as implementing new feature developments to stay up to date and future ready.

Besides comprehensive loudspeaker settings, 10D and 30D are equipped to meet the highest demands for flexibility and integration in a broad variety of installation environments. www.dbaudio.com

EAW UXA Series The UXA Series of greybox-enabled amplifiers is the perfect match for any externally-powered EAW loudspeaker. Engineered specifically to load EAW greyboxes, the UXA Series incorporates high performance amplification, DSP (including Focussing and DynO) and Dante networking into a compact rackmount electronics package. Multiple power levels and channel counts are available depending on the product and application. The front panel offers access to quick setup functions, with advanced control via EAW Resolution, integrating prediction, control and monitoring in one platform.

The series features the UXA4406, 500W x four channels, UXA4410, 2,500W x four channels, UXA4810, 1,250W x eight channels.

The UXA Series packs four channels or eight channels and 10kW into just 2U of rack space. Packed with robust protection and monitoring systems to keep the show going, external breaker protection (EBP) limits the current draw to prevent breakers opening.

With 48kHz sampling frequency - rotary encoders, illuminated buttons and graphical display provide a rapid, intuitive and user-friendly control interface.

High speed Ethernet communications support DHCP, static-IP and auto-IP and direct connection to a computer linear phase high frequency system EQ profiling, which provides perfect integration between enclosures. www.eaw.com

Dynacord IPX Series Dynacord IPX Series multichannel amplifiers for fixed installation comprise four powerful, four and eight channel amplifier models ranging from 5,000W to market leading 20,000W of total output power. These highperformance power amplifiers can cover a wide range of demanding fixed installation venues, from concert halls, art centres, theatres and houses of worship to distributed sound systems in stadiums and entertainment centres.

IPX amplifiers offer highest flexibility both for low and high impedance applications with various power drive modes. Dynacord’s new Eco Rail technology can significantly reduce overall power consumption, both protecting the environment and significantly lowering the total cost of ownership, while maintaining outstanding audio and operational safety at all times.

IPX feature the most advanced DSP with FIR-Drive processing and fully support Dante audio networking and OCA thanks to OMNEO IP technology.

The flagship model IPX 20:4 features four x 5,000W, high-resolution 96kHz processing and comprehensive fallback options for redundant scenarios. www.dynacord.com

Full Fat Audio FFA-2004, FFA-4004, FFA-6004 & FFA-8004 Full Fat Audio’s (FFA) range of premium audio quality four-channel amplifiers and digital signal processors are designed and made in England with a five year warranty.

These amplifiers are installed in numerous venues, used for temporary sound for concerts or large format sound systems at summer music festivals.

Models included in the range are: the FFA-2004 with either four x 250W into eight ohms, or four x 500W into four ohms; the FFA-4004 has a four x 600W into eight ohms version, or four x 1,000W into four ohms; the FFA-6004 with four x 900W into eight ohms or four x 1,500W; as well as the FFA-8004 with the four x 1,000W into eight ohms, or four x 2,000W version.

All models are power efficient and have high thermal capacity to operate at continuous high output power with excellent audio quality.

The electronics have a rugged chassis to ensure reliable service.

Available with built in four input, six output DSP for precise system control with dynamic EQ and broad band input limiting as standard.

The F48 Matrix DSP is a high specification, four input, eight output digital signal processor with excellent sound quality, which runs on the same DSP software as the amplifier range.

Systems can be configured conveniently using FATWARE software Mac, PC or iPad app. www.fullfataudio.com

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INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF SCENIC EQUIPMENT

23rd edition Dock Haussmann

Dock Pullman

Dock Eiffel

audio training

fair

lighting

PARIS 26 & 27 NOVEMBER

2019

150 P RODUCT GUIDE - AMP LIFIERS

Hortus Audio HO-LVT-AMP01 Following innovative research and development, Hortus Audio has unveiled a versatile amplifier dedicated to its line array (LVT) series. The amplifier consists of 12-channels, 10 of which are amplified. Each channel encompasses a digital processor signal (DSP). The amplification resonates via multiple loudspeakers: two x 1,500W at eight ohms; four x 1,000W at eight ohms; four x 250W at eight ohms.

With a maximum power of 8,000W RMS, configured in either mono or stereo, the HO-LVTAMP01 amplifies up to eight of Hortus Audio’s two-way passive six-inch 480W line arrays (LVT-6) and up to two of the Hortus Audio’s 15-inch bass cabinets (LVT-15). In addition, the amplifier’s output features two supplementary XLR OUT. These can ideally link to an additional DSP-powered subwoofer.

The DSP connection features Wi-Fi and a wired USB + RJ45 ethernet connection. The HO-LVT-AMP01 is made in France by Hortus Audio using baltic beach wood and finished polyurethane painting. www.hortusaudio.eu

KV2 Audio ESP1000 The ESP1000 is a four-channel rack mountable power amplifier specifically designed for optimised performance with KV2 Audio’s ESD Cube / ESD1.10 subwoofer system. The unit contains four separate 250W amplifiers, two independent power supplies (two channels running off each power supply), four signal paths, inputs and outputs, as well as limiting and equalisation for given passive loudspeaker / subwoofers.

Six independent configurations are selectable and it can be used to power any ESD units and other ranges of passive loudspeakers. The ESP1000 will mount in a standard 19-inch rack system. Integral rear mounting rack ears are also provided for additional support. www.kv2audio.com

Innosonix MAXX Series Innosonix MAXX Series amplifier range features two models combining FPGA-based digital processing with advanced Class-D power stages and universal power supplies: the MA-32LP delivering 640W total output power across 32 channels in a 1U 19-inch rack housing; and the MA32D providing 8,960W total output power across 32 outputs in a 2U 19inch rack housing. Both models provide AES3, MADI, Dante, and AES67 audio inputs, assignable to any of the 32 output channels, while the fully comprehensive DSP offers clip and RMS limiters, over one second of delay, FIR filters supporting a large library of coefficients, and IIR filters for building crossover and equalisation functions. MAXX Series amplifiers are easily configured and controlled via intuitive web-based software over widely used industry standard Ethernet. The MAXX Series offers a unique market leading, cost and space-saving solution for any multi-zoned office, commercial, entertainment, leisure, mass transport, sports, residential, or immersive audio installation, based on top quality performance and proven reliability. www.innosonix.de

Linea Research 48M20 Linea Research’s 48M20, eight channel 20kW networked DSP amplifier optimised to deliver 2,500W per channel into four ohms with all eight channels driven simultaneously.

It features networked control, 96kHz DSP signal processing and user FIR filters on every output along with analogue and AES3 inputs as standard and optional Dante/AES67.

Flexibility in one 2ru amplifier with four inputs, eight outputs, and full front panel control, from a bridged pair giving 5kW at eight ohms, to single channels of 2,500W at four ohms, or drive 2,500W into a 100V line the 48M20 is designed for portable and touring applications. www.linea-research.co.uk

Lab.gruppen PDX3000 The new Lab.gruppen PDX3000 amplifier delivers two x 1,500W of ClassD power and is designed to provide superb audio performance in both background and foreground sound systems. It is ideal for a wide variety of applications ranging from touring, live portable sound, restaurants and bars to houses of worship as well as other performance spaces.

The PDX3000 has a comprehensive DSP feature set for loudspeaker processing and includes crossover, delay, an eight band parametric EQ, limiter and a two band dynamic EQ. Monitoring and control is provided through USB connection and PDX controller software, as well as an intuitive front panel user interface.

This amplifier is equipped with balanced XLR and TRS input connectors with optimised sensitivities and professional SpeakOn output connectors.

Precise power management assures power output under all conditions, while comprehensive circuit protection guards against short circuits, DC and thermal overload, while a front panel locking feature protects against accidental setting changes. A rugged but lightweight rack mount chassis for maximum durability, temperature-controlled fans and preset library for quick setup are features designed for touring applications. www.labgruppen.com

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Hearing is Believing

N-APS

Ring Diaphragm Curved wave driver Dynamic Air Cooling Quick Release Grille Instafit Magnetic Couplers for dispersion characteristics Size - 518 x 200 x 358 mm Weight - 11.2 kg Power - 1000 W / 4000 W

CODA Thinking Inside Advert AUG 19 - MONDO.indd 1

www.codaaudio.com

22/08/2019 13:40

152 P RODUCT GUIDE - AMP LIFIERS

Lynx Pro Audio HPX-12000 The HPX-12000 is a low weight, high power, high efficiency four-channel touring amplifier with four step, class-H topology and high bandwidth power transistors attached directly to oversized massive aluminium heat sinks. With full digital control from the front panel’s LCD, detachable air filters and upside down construction to avoid the typical problems found in live touring applications, this amplifier has been designed to be as user friendly and reliable as possible in the field.

It has a regulated universal power supply for rated power between 90Vac to 265Vac mains voltage and ultra-efficient cooling incorporating tunnelled front to rear flow fans with power supply cooling as well. An oversized high efficiency power supply with front end PFC and regulated voltage rails deliver maximum performance independently of music signal or mains status and at the same time reduces voltage line drop and current consumption.

Weighing in at just 12kg the HPX-12000 delivers high class sound quality from a very low weight and comes with extensive protection systems for both the audio circuitry and the power supply. www.lynxproaudio.com

Martin Audio VIA Martin Audio’s four-member VIA family of two-channel and four-channel Class-D amplifiers has been developed to power a variety of loudspeakers across a range of installed and live applications.

The four-channel VIA2004 delivers superb audio performance in a lightweight, cost-effective package. Delivering four × 500W into four ohms, it is ideal for powering O-Line, ADORN and CDD Series installations in bars, auditoriums and houses of worship, as well as small-medium scale portable sound reinforcement.

The two-channel VIA2502 combines high power density with superb audio performance to deliver two by one one, 250W into two ohms, or one by two 2,500W into four ohms bridged, it is ideal for powering BlacklineX, CDD and V Series systems in small to medium-scale installations and portable sound applications.

The VIA5002 two-channel power amplifier offers two by two, 500W into four ohms or two by one, 500W into eight ohms. It is ideal for powering subwoofers in installations and portable sound systems.

Finally, the VIA5004 advanced four-channel power amplifier delivers four by one, 250W into two ohms, or two by two, 500W into four ohms bridged, it is ideal for powering Blackline X CDD and V Series systems in small to medium-scale installations and portable sound applications. It can also be configured for threechannel operation, for TH Series three-way systems. www.martin-audio.com

NEXO NXAMP4x4mk2 With the announcement of the new NXAMP4x4mk2 controller/amplifier, NEXO completes its new mk2 Series of power and processing solutions.

These ultra-low distortion Class-D amplifiers combine 32-bit/96KHz converters and 64-bit signal processing, which deliver significant advances in sound quality over the highly-regarded mk1 NXAMPs, which have been a core component of NEXO sound systems since 2007.

The NXAMP4x4mk2 is the most powerful amplifier in the range, offering 3,300W per channel in four ohms and 4,500W per channel in two ohms.

Weighing 24.9kg in a sleek 3U package, the 4x4mk2 is smaller and more than 12% more powerful than its predecessor. www.nexo-sa.com

Powersoft X4L The X4L has been designed to deliver the output voltage required by the latest generation of high performance loudspeakers.

Powersoft’s legendary power supply is suitable to single phase, bi-phase or three phase operation from 85 VAC up to 460 VAC without need of selection. True three phase load balancing is directly achievable without any complex load assignment in the power distribution system. Powersoft X4L provides four fully processable channels and selectable inputs from analogue sources, as well as digital AES3 and two redundant Dante streams.

Channel mixing and routing can be easily performed thanks to the integrated low latency DSP, providing the highest degree of freedom in sound shaping and speaker management. Full support of 100 Mbps and Gigabit Ethernet makes it easy to integrate Powersoft X4L into any existing infrastructure. Completely integrated into ArmoníaPlus, the Powersoft X4L interface is also available for smartphone and tablet, providing a new experience in power management. www.powersoft-audio.com

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257mm

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DuraTruss B.V. Junostraat 2 6468 EW Kerkrade The Netherlands Tel. +31 45 546 85 81 info@duratruss.com

W

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290mm

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257mm 290mm

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257mm

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290mm

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353mm

257mm

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154 P RODUCT GUIDE - AMP LIFIERS

Prolight Concepts Zenith K Series The Zenith K Series 2U amplifiers have been designed and engineered to work in the most demanding environments including installation and touring with military endurance.

Oversized multi-speed fans and large heat sinks improve heat dissipation, while the SMPSU optimises the amplifiers efficiency, while reducing the weight.

The 13K2 two x 6,500W amplifier features two channels, while the 10K4 four x 2,500W version has four channels with hot swappable output modules allowing the user to change the amplifiers output stage modules while in use in the unlikely event of a fault.

Both the 10K4 and 13K2 power amplifiers feature high efficiency Class-TD technology for high power output to weight ratio, and with up to 6,500W per channel they are equipped with an extensive set of protection circuits for reliable operation. www.prolight.co.uk

RAM Audio XTR Series XTR Series has been designed with the aim of offering the proper and more reliable amp to users of very big subwoofers with no concessions. Their output performances (270V/70A) are more than needed to push users subwoofers as far as their maximum limits accept.

These two-channel devices are based on the field proven Quanta Pulse Technology with an oversized dual high capacity regulated power supply with PFC to deliver their full performances independently of mains status.

Available in a four ohm version offering either two x 6,000W or two x 9,000W, and an eight ohm version with options of two x 3,000W or two x 4,500W. www.ramaudio.com

Renkus Heinz SA2000 The built-in SA2000 power amplifier precisely matches the power needs of the ICLX-118S, provides optimal damping of the subwoofer and has factory optimised, multi-band limiting. The built-in amplifier eliminates the need for additional rack space and loudspeaker cable runs, making adding a subwoofer to existing installs as simple as plugging it into power and running a signal to it.

Controlled via RHAON II, the SA2000â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s built-in DSP has eight, fully parametric EQ filters, high and low shelf and high and low pass filters and up to 340 milliseconds of delay. All easily accessed via a Windows computer running RHAON II. The ICLX118S-RD adds Dante digital signal distribution capability including network redundancy and AES67 compatibility. www.renkus-heinz.com

TOA Electronics A-2000D Series The A-2000D Series is a range of high-performance mixer power amplifiers that provide an optimal price to performance ratio.

The A-2000D Series is ideal for broadcast paging and background music in any given application: schools, offices, shops, or factories. It combines crystal clear announcements with impressive sound quality. The A-2000D Series is simple to set up and use and, has four power outputs from 30W to 240W. Users can also choose a mic input version: three microphone inputs, two aux input and one recording output. Due to its digital technology the A-2000D Series is energy efficient and eco-friendly, which leads to cost savings at an optimal price/performance ratio. With 80% power saving at the highest performance level and 70% weight reduction the A-2000D saves on cost and reduces CO² emissions. The amplifiers come with a constant 100V loudspeaker output and they are finished with a scratch and fingerprint-resistant surface.

A current limiter prevents damage due to current overload and the excess heat limiter protects the transistor and power transformer. www.toaelectronics.com

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156 DIRECTORY

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1. ADJ Allegro Z6

3. Altman Lighting AFS-500

The Allegro Z6 features six individually controllable 30W quad colour four-in-one LEDs. The unit also features a motorised zoom function and the bar on which the LED apertures are mounted is fitted with motorised tilt movement.

The unit also offers variable speed strobe and pulse effects, flicker free LEDs suitable for filming and ultra-smooth 16-bit dimming. In addition, the unit features six preset dimming curves as well as variable speed dimming control.

Professional calibre locking input and output sockets allow the power supply for up to six fixtures to be daisy-chained together. For control, the unit is fitted with five-pin DMX input and output sockets and offers the choice of two DMX channel modes as well as RDM compatibility. The Allegro Z6 is also compatible with Art-Net and Kling-Net for pixel-mapping and features in-built chase effect macros that can be customised.

A variable white mode makes it easy to select white output with a colour temperature between 2,700K and 7,000K. www.adj.com

The AFS-500 is a lightweight, 490W, colour-changing followspot. Using the on-board controller, the luminaire’s dimming, colour wheel, iris and CTO features can all be controlled manually or via DMX. Combined with an available colour boomerang and a manual zoom range from 7-13º, it produces over 10,000 lumens of output for industryleading power and flexibility in an affordable lighting solution. www.altmanlighting.com

2. AKG Lyra The AKG Lyra is acoustically transparent and 4K-compatible with ultra HD-grade 24-bit/192kHz audio resolution. Lyra features the innovative AKG adaptive capsule array, which provides user-selectable capture modes. Plug-and-play operation allows creators to set up and start recording quickly. An internal self-adjusting shock mount minimises contact noise, while a built-in sound diffuser and AKG’s proprietary internal element overload prevention reduces noise and improves signal levels.

Front mode isolates the target sound from background noise by rejecting unwanted sounds at the microphone back and sides. Front & Back mode captures and blends together sound equally on all sides. Tight Stereo mode captures audio in true stereo with discrete left and right audio. Wide stereo mode captures audio with greater stereo separation, room ambience, and depth.

Lyra enables creators to set up and start recording quickly, regardless of experience level and is compatible with Windows, Mac, iOS and Android devices, so users can quickly record ideas in the studio or on the go. Lyra features a sleek design that combines fast and easy control with timeless aesthetics. Essential functions like capture modes, volume levels and mute are ergonomically placed and easily accessed right on the mic, so users can stay in the moment while always being in control. www.akg.com

4. Atterotech D32Mi This newest model in the Synapse Series of 1U rack-mount network audio interfaces provides 32 mic/line analogue inputs with studio-grade microphone preamps and Dante/ AES67 connectivity, including up to 24-bit, 96kHz analogue-to-Dante conversion. The inputs are available as either terminal blocks or DB25 connections.

The D32Mi’s combination of exceptional performance, high channel density, flexible control capabilities, and simple integration with the Q-SYS Ecosystem makes it an excellent choice for studio, live event, and fixed installation applications. The newest Synapse model offers front panel and network control of mic preamp gain, phantom power, and muting. Easily-assignable front panel headphone volume control and source selection enable local input and Dante confidence monitoring at the rack position.

Redundant SFP expansion ports enable fibre connectivity for long-range signal extension, eliminating the need for media converters or switches in some applications.

The redundant SFP expansion combines with a fully redundant Dante interface to enable simplified networking infrastructure. In addition, the DM32Mi can also be interfaced to an additional Synapse family I/O device creating a complete digital snake solution and eliminating the need for additional switches. www.atterotech.com

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158 DIRECTORY

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1. B&C Speakers DCM414

3. Coherent Monaco HE

The DCM414 midrange compression driver has been designed by building on the DNA of the DCX464 coaxial compression driver. The DCM414â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s high temperature polymer ring radiator diaphragm covers 300Hz - 6kHz with unheard of 113.7dB sensitivity. Its 100mm voice coil handles 220W thanks to an aluminium body optimised to remove heat. All this energy emerges from a 1.4-inch exit (or two-inch exit DCM420) and the most compact form factor available. Brand new materials and thousands of hours of modelling and testing result in lower distortion at higher SPL than has ever been possible before. www.bcspeakers.com

The new Monaco HE is an ultrafast amplifier that delivers higher pulse energy over a wider operating range. Specifically, it delivers pulse energies of up to two mJ at repetition rates as high as 10kHz and provides up to 25W of average power at repetition rates as high as 250kHz, with independent adjustment of both the pulse repetition rate and the pulse energy.

By combining several innovations in ytterbium laser technology, the all-new Monaco HE delivers both high pulse energy and high pulse repetition rates providing access to the performance gap that previously existed between these two technologies. The Monaco HE was also designed and manufactured from inception using rigorous HALT/HASS protocols.

The combination of high pulse energy and high repetition rate makes the Monaco HE well-suited for applications such as multidimensional spectroscopy and time-resolved spectroscopy, where it can also be used to pump tunable optical parametric devices such as an OPA or OPCPA. The high peak power also enables efficient THz generation, providing easier access to this spectral region of increasing interest and research activity. www.coherent.com

2. City Theatrical Pathport City Theatrical has expanded its Pathway Connectivity product offering in Europe with five products now offering SixEye cloud-based remote management.

The Pathport QUATTRO is a four-port DMX-over-Ethernet management gateway. It is ideal for truss-mounted locations, while its fanless operation allows it to be placed next to the lighting console. The encoder LCD screen interface provides front panel access to all configuration parameters.

The Pathport OCTO is an eight-port, rack-mountable gateway, providing compact installation. Status LEDs provide instant confirmation of port direction and activity, and the LCD display and encoder knob allow for front panel configuration and reporting of the most commonly used features.

The Pathport 4-Port gateway, eDIN is a four-port, DIN-mountable Pathport gateway for encoding, routing and decoding DMX512 data over a standard Ethernet network.

The Pathport 4-Port gateway supports DMX and RDM discovery and configuration data transport. It is also DIN-rail mountable for fast installation in existing cabinets, or available as part of a complete ETL-listed assembly.

The VIA16 PoE Ethernet Switch is a 10/100 Ethernet switch with 16 copper ports and two gigabit mini-GBIC ports for SFP modules. Designed to mount to 35mm DIN rail, it is engineered for sACN data distribution using Pathport gateways, Choreo lighting controllers, Cognito2 lighting control consoles and NSBTM or Vignette architectural wall stations. www.citytheatrical.com

4. Elation NX 4 The NX 4 has a combination of motorised and manual faders, along with playback buttons whilst offering 44 total playbacks in a compact, powerful package The NX 4 includes a high-brightness, full-HD multi-touch screen with support for two external 4K touch displays. It also includes eight assignable parameter encoders, an intensity encoder, a mini-touch screen, full keypad and command section, and a grand master. The main playback with 10 motorised faders plus 10 play-pairs allows quick page changes with 12 faders and 12 button playbacks meaning important cues are always at your fingertips.

The console houses a powerful new Intel Hexa-Core processor, high-speed NVMe SSD drive and 16GB of DDR4 RAM. The NX 4 also has motorised playback faders, short depth, easy screen acces and full ONYX command and keypad section. NX 4 also has four DMX ports, timecode, MIDI and dual gigabit ports for up to 64 universes of Art-Net, sACN plus the ONYX X-Net protocol.

Obsidian Control Systems will offer DYLOS in each NX 4 console. The DYLOS engine has been designed from the ground up for power and performance. www.elationlighting.com

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(B)RIGHT

THE NEW XOOP EL151.TW WITH DMX 5-POL AND TR1 IN/OUT: ORDER YOUR DEMO VERSION NOW.

Stand alone by knob or DMX Controlling manually by knob or per DMX. Master Slave Option Master device can be changed at any time during the show / exhibition.

Compact housing Only 34cm long.

www.xoop-lighting.com

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1. GUIL ELC

3. MILOS Steel PA Towers

Spanish tower manufacturer GUIL, has just launched nine new lifting towers. The ELC700, ELC-710, ELC-720, ELC-730, ELC-740, ELC-750, ELC-760, ELC-770 and ELC-780 all feature the quality that GUIL is renowned for. Safety continues to be a priority, using the best components to achieve this.

All ELC towers are equipped with the Austrian manufacturer AL-KO’s autobrake hand winches, an automatic safety blocking system: a safety bolt system blocking the load in case of cable breakage, welded reinforcements on the tops of the masts which have double resend pulleys to better guide the cable, and Neodymium magnetic locking bolts, developed and provided with GUIL products over the past five years. www.guil.es

MILOS Steel PA Towers provide unbelievably large loading capacities for flying PA Systems. Special ultra high-strength steel alloys allow truss sections to handle an average of 2.5 times more loading at just double the weight compared to aluminium systems with the same dimensions and under the same deflection.

A single tower can safely fly up to 2,500kg without the need for guy wires and little to no ballast (up to two tonnes) due to the self-weight of the tower (70kg/metre). And thanks to its extreme stability, secured structures can withstand wind loadings of up to 28-metres per second. Some benefits include 20+ metres in height, integrated forklift pickup points, pinned connectors for increased safety and strength and optimised dimensions for packaging and/or nesting in truck. www.milossystems.com

2. High End Systems SolaPix The SolaPix family takes the traditional concept of a pixel wash and pushes it to its maximum potential. SolaPix features an additive LED, RGBW colour mixing system for extremely powerful saturated colours and tunable white control, a versatile 4.5° - 60° zoom range, FleX Effects Engine and Pixel mapping on all models. www.highend.com

4. Tasker TP Connectors The new range of connectors and panel adaptors from Tasker are made of metal, with standard ‘D’ shape and gold plated contacts 24K-1,0. The metallic structure guarantees a shielding even in case of frequent applications. The TP01 allows connection to a USB B type to an USB A type and the Tasker TP02 allows exactly the contrary, going from a USB type B to a USB type A. The TP40 is a panel adapter for the LAN Cat.6A cable for RJ45 connections. It is an easy installation product that makes patch cords versatile.

Tasker TP11 is a soldering BNC connector with a socket on the front and a soldering spoon that makes the junction operation easier. The TP10 is a BNC adapter with a BNC connector on both sides. Lastly, the Tasker TP30 is a panel adapter from HDMI type A to HDMI type B, a very common product among the newest market technologies.

The last model, the TP20, is advised for the audio sector; it is a soldering RCA connector with a socket available in four different colours.

All these products are suitable for many different installations such as recording/ broadcast studio, mixer console and control rooms. www.tasker.it

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6 HALLS

7 DEMO QUBES

2 CONFERENCES

2 AWARDS

LIVE ARENA

OPEN LINE ARRAY DEMO

DJ CHAMPIONSHIP

LIGHTING DESIGN SHOWCASE AV PROJECTION DEMO CAVS COURSE EDUCATION & TRAINING

RIGGING & TRUSSING PROJECTION & MAPPING

AV WALK OF FAME

162 LAST PAGE

“It is great to finally be on a roll. We can slowly start the process of scaling up the company, and the product portfolio, one targeted step at a time.”

MARTIN ANDERSSON CEO, Ampsource • Left to right: Kenneth Andersson, Martin Andersson, Stefan Toftevall

How did you get involved in the audio industry?

I guess you could say I was born in to the audio industry as my father, Kenneth Andersson cofounded Lab.gruppen together with Dan Bävholm back in 1979.

I graduated as a Technical Sales Engineer at the Sales Academy in Gothenburg, back then my only goal was to not end up at Lab.gruppen, I wanted to stand on my own two feet. However as it came about, Lab. gruppen was sold to TC Group and Thomas Lilja became Managing Director and when he asked me - a recently graduated Sales Engineer without a job - if I wanted to come join them, heading up Swedish sales, I couldn’t resist and it was a great place to work. I went from Swedish Sales Manager to Scandinavian Sales Manager, and then over to the TC Group of sales companies as European Sales Manager for Touring Products. Then back to Lab. gruppen as Product Manager where I worked up until a few months after the Music Group (as the company was then called) acquisition in 2016, when I felt it was time to move on.

How did Ampsource begin?

Making amplifier modules is something I have been interested in doing for a long time, and after I decided to leave Lab.gruppen it felt natural to start pursuing that dream and start making it into reality.

To do that I needed the best power electronics engineer I could find and I knew who to call - Stefan Toftevall. We have worked together at Lab.gruppen for over a decade, and I could not think of a better suited, in depth, all round engineer than him to have by my side for such an adventure. He really has all the knowledge needed to conceive and produce a product from start to finish. We met in a restaurant in Kungsbacka, Sweden, where I laid out my plans for him and since that day Ampsource has been on a steady path towards releasing its first amplifier module on the market.

W  here are you based and why?

Ampsource is based in Hong Kong. This serves as

a good base for reaching all corners of the world and being close to our manufacturing partner in Shenzhen, China. Our engineering headquarters is based in Kungsbacka, Sweden.

A  mpsource is the first company to fully integrate DSP with the power electronics on the same circuit board, why hasn’t this been done before?

The advantages of actually integrating the DSP fully with the power electronics in our opinion greatly outweigh´s the disadvantages.

I think the reason our competition isn’t doing this is that they prefer to have the DSP on a separate board as this enables different DSP manufacturers to be connected to their power module. We’ve chosen to live with the restriction to serve only one DSP option on our first product series as we believe the choice of DSP is not that important on this market segment and because it is more robust, with more interlinking possibilities at a lower cost.

Where are you in the process of this new company and products?

The company on paper is actually already in its third year, but it is not until now we have started to talk about it. After a lot of hard work our first product is finally shipping and the response has been overwhelming. It is great to finally be on a roll and we can slowly start the process of scaling up the company, and the product portfolio, one targeted step at a time.

G  ive us the highlights of the Integra No.1 module.

Our goal when developing the concept was that it should be powerful enough for the biggest loudspeaker, and cost effective enough for the smallest one. It is thought to be the ultimate one-fitsall power and processing platform.

Instead of buying different size modules in smaller quantities we want to prove to loudspeaker manufacturers that it will be a lot more cost effective

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and flexible to buy one that fits all. By creating flash images containing all of the power and characteristics for each loudspeaker cabinet, the manufacturer can then put the same power module in all loudspeakers and then at the final stage in production, program the module for just that loudspeaker.

Integra No.1 is a solid driving force for any one, two, or three-way loudspeaker, or 2.1 loudspeaker system.

It delivers a total of 1,200W power output across one, two or three output channels. To summarise - Integra No.1 is carefully engineered to offer a reliable, customisable and cost-effective solution for loudspeaker manufacturers looking for power and DSP integration.

W  hat are your hopes for the coming year of the company?

This year will be the year that money starts flowing in faster than out, I hope. We are planning for large quantity orders this year, and look forward to seeing more completed integrations from loudspeaker manufacturers and get some momentum on the production side.

W  hat has been your favourite project to work on to date and why?

Without a doubt, the Integra No.1 project. All my previous experiences of forming a product I have been restricted to reusing existing technology. For the first time I could start to design this product on a white piece of paper, and carefully weigh every decision, to form this great performing yet cost effective product. It has been a very delicate process and has taken a longer time than anticipated, but I am very satisfied with the result.

What do you like to do in your free time?

Doing hands-on projects, big and small. I always have some kind of engine project going on for renovation and rebuild. That is 100% mindfulness to me. In the summer time I love spending time on our boat with the family in the Swedish west coast of archipelago.

DRIVING HUMAN AUDIO EXPERIENCE

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