PSNE February 2015 digital edition

PSNEUROPE FEBRUARY 2015

www.psneurope.com

THE BUSINESS OF PROFESSIONAL AUDIO

Lady Dada

Stefano Bollani embraces the surreal with d&b, DPA and Yamaha p44

UK sound archive eyes digital future

p23

BVE preview ISE preview p32

p4 & 47

NAMM news Can cinema sound avoid p14 another format war? p52

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welcome DEPUTY EDITOR’S COMMENT

“It’s been a slightly manic start to 2015 at PSN towers – one that, aside from a trip to the Barbican to listen to the mightily impressive K-array Firenze series in action, has been spent mostly in the office...”

Front cover image: Margherita Cenni

AS THE USUAL writer of this column is sunning himself (“working”) at the NAMM Show in California, it’s fallen to his trusty deputy – last seen on page three (not like that) back in June 2014 – to compose the editor’s comment, cunningly renamed “deputy editor’s comment” for one month only.

It’s been a slightly manic January at PSN towers – one that, aside from a short tube journey to the Barbican Centre to listen to the mightily impressive K-array Firenze series in action (p42), has been spent mostly in the office – so you’ll forgive me if, brain fried post-Christmas, I don’t try to come up with anything too profound and instead walk you through the issue you’re about to read. It’s a cracker. I promise.

There’s news from NAMM, of course (p14), and a look behind the curtain at PreSonus Europe in County Cavan, Ireland, in which we get to know the US manufacturer’s close-knit EMEA operation (P24).

Elsewhere, we’ve two show previews, for BVE (p32) and ISE (p48); interviews with ISE MD Mike Blackman (p4), new Nexo CEO Jean Mullor (p5) and Fairlight CTO Tino Fibaek (p58); and a report from jazz pianist Stefano Bollani’s slightly bonkers Dada-inspired new stage show, whose sound design features innovative live sound processing and spatialisation (p44).

Plus, in our two features, Erica Basnicki examines how pro-audio companies are making marketing inroads in an increasingly digitally minded industry (p18) and the trans-Channel tag team of Kevin Hilton and Marc Maes tackle the looming battle for supremacy in immersive cinema sound (p52).

Enjoy!

Jon Chapple @PSNEurope

IN THIS ISSUE...

BUSINESS 4 ISE boosts pro-audio presence 5 Interview: Jean Mullor, CEO, Nexo 6 The end of The War of the Worlds live 8 Industry appointments 10 Events and expos 12 PSNTraining 14 News from NAMM 16 New products 18 Feature: Making the most of online marketing STUDIO 22 New ownership at Audio Precision as

Juke Box Limited closes 23 BL seeks £40m to save sound archive 24 Inside PreSonus Europe’s Irish HQ BROADCAST 28 R128 tackles short-term loudness 30 EBU deploys Digital Radio Toolkit 32 Show preview: BVE LIVE 36 38 42 44

AC-ET’s Dynamic Audio Device targets the UK PSNEurope reports from the BBC Music Awards Florence meets London at K-array Firenze launch Stefano Bollani goes Dada with theatre debut

INSTALL 46 48 50 52

First AVnu-certified AVB loudspeaker Show preview: Integrated Systems Europe The Barbican Centre gets connected Feature: A universal standard for cinema sound?

BACK PAGES 57 Hither & Dither 58 Industry talk: Tino Fibaek, Fairlight

4 l February 2015

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“More and more people from an audio background are attending the show, so [our audio] sessions form part of our efforts to provide them with more content”

business

Mike Blackman, MD, ISE

NETHERLANDS

ISE boosts pro-audio presence ahead of 2015 show A flurry of new exhibitors and some dynamic-sounding seminar sessions – including an automixing exclusive from Roland Hemming – will greet pro-audio visitors to ISE 2015. David Davies found out more from ISE MD Mike Blackman LAUNCHED IN 2004, the annual Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) trade show has gradually evolved to become a must-visit for the professionalAV and systems-integration communities. Its growth in the last few years, in particular, has been phenomenal, with more than 51,000 attending in 2014 – representing a 15 per cent increase on 2013 alone.

Steering the development of the show throughout its history has been Integrated Systems Events managing director Mike Blackman. A few weeks before the 2015 edition, he sat down with PSNEurope to discuss the gradual broadening of the visitor base, new features for pro-audio visitors and the likely implications of moving to a fourday format from 2016.

PSN: In terms of the attendee mix, what has been the greatest single change you have witnessed in recent times?

MB: We’re increasingly seeing more and more end-customers coming to the show.It’s very powerful for integrators to bring their customers to a show like ISE and see solutions in situ; in just a few days, they can really obtain a great overview of what is possible.

The result is that we work very closely with integrators and manufacturers to actually speak to their customers or potential customers and encourage them to attend the show. One way in which we do this is to operate several hosted buyer programmes to highlight customers who may not be able to afford to attend the show, and then sponsor them to come.

What are the main differences attendees will observe between the 2014 and 2015 events?

Mike Blackman RAI entrance K: better than J

They will notice the continuing evolution of the on-floor theatres that we started in 2014.

The aim with these is to give some real enhanced content to the exhibition. I like to use the analogy of the exhibition resembling a magazine. You might say that the exhibits are like the advertising, and we as the organiser need to deliver the editorial. So the objective with the theatres is to deliver even more content free of charge.

Last year we had two of these spaces, but for 2015 we have three: Commercial Solutions, Residential Solutions and Unified Communications. In each space, visitors will be able to benefit from a wide variety of interesting presentations, unbiased information and balanced case studies.

What should attendees from the world of pro audio look out for?

First of all, there are a number of new or returning exhibitors with audio product ranges this year, including Autonomic, AEQ, Frank Audio, RCS Audio Systems and Apex. Show visitors will also notice a much bigger presence from Harman following on from its acquisition of AMX; its stand will now be the first one you see in hall 1.

In addition, there are some great audio-related sessions taking place in the Commercial Theatre. At 16.00 on the Tuesday (10 February), Thomas Kraupe, director of the Hamburg Planetarium, will discuss the recent deployment of Shure Atmosphea 3D sound technology at this very popular visitor attraction. Also in the Commercial Theatre, CIEGroup field sales director Kevin Sherwood will explore the extent to which the market is ready for audio-over-IP in a session scheduled for Thursday (12 February) at 15.00.

Turning to the InfoComm training programme, I would draw attention to a session by Lectrosonics’ vice-president of sales, Gordon Moore, examining different options for digital audio protocols (10 February, 16.00). Then there is RH Consulting founder Roland Hemming’s ISE exclusive session, entitled Better than human music mixing – live music auto-mixed for the 21st century, to be presented in association with Korean Advanced Technology Research Group.

The session will comprise an introduction to the automixing technologies involved, a demonstration of the system

mixing music and a discussion segment on how this technology will be used and how it will impact the audio market.

More and more people from an audio background are attending the show, so the above sessions form part of our efforts to provide them with more content.

From 2016, the show will run for four days rather than the current three. What do you think will be the impact of this change?

There has been a lot of pressure over time to extend the show, and for a long time we felt that we did not require it. But the fact is that the show has grown dramatically during recent years; on the final day last year we had more people than

attended the entire 2008 show.

There were really only two options for dealing with the growth of ISE. One was for companies to take larger booths in order to deal with the demand, but although that might be OK for the larger firms, a lot of the middle-sized companies were already maxed out in terms of personnel so taking more space would not have helped them.

Adding an extra day started to look like an option when the operators of the RAI did some juggling around with the schedules. We approached exhibitors about the possibility and it was clear that most of them wanted it – so that’s what we will do from 2016. Q www.iseurope.org

Yamaha’s CL5 desk at ISE 2014

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business

“The market expects more collaboration between Nexo and Yamaha in terms of both technological integration and co-marketing” Jean Mullor, CEO, Nexo

FRANCE

Making plans for Nexo With Yoshi Tsugawa returning to Japan after three-and-a-half years at the helm of Nexo, the French loudspeaker manufacturer has a new CEO in the form of Jean Mullor. David Davies found out more about Mullor’s plans to plug gaps in the Nexo product range and expand its global training programme IN PRODUCT terms alone, 2014 may be regarded as a landmark year for French loudspeaker manufacturer Nexo, with the latest addition to the Scale Through Modularity (STM) series – the M28 omni module – and the GEO M6 compact arrayable cabinet reaching the market to an enthusiastic response. But it was significant on an organisational level, too, with December bringing the news that CEO Yoshi Tsugawa was leaving the role after three-and-a-half years to return to parent company Yamaha Corporation as head of the band and orchestra product departments.

Stepping into his place at Nexo is another Yamaha stalwart, French-born Jean Mullor. Trained as a lawyer and spending the first few years of his career at oil giant Mobil, Mullor soon opted to pursue his keen interest in MI (he’s played guitar since his early teens), joining Yamaha in 1992. He’s been there ever since and, for the last four years, has served as MD of Yamaha Music Europe, overseeing the domestic distribution of instruments,

commercial audio products, audio video products and music schools network development.

Then, in December, he got the “surprising but exciting” call about the leadership role at Nexo…

How closely had you tracked the development of Nexo since Yamaha acquired the company in 2008, and what do you think you can bring to the role of CEO? I can well remember the positive response to Yamaha’s purchase of a 100 per cent share as there had long been good communication and cooperation between the two companies, as well as a history of some Yamaha people becoming Nexo employees. With Yamaha assuming full control of Nexo, there was the opportunity to build on this creative synergy.

Taking on the role of CEO, I can see that the market expects more collaboration between Nexo and Yamaha in terms of both technological integration and co-marketing. In particular, I think I can look to establish a stronger structure like that in place at Yamaha. Nexo has grown very quickly over the

represent in our product offer.

One of the things that people should look out for this year is more smart, market-led solutions that I believe will attract many fresh users to the Nexo brand, especially installers and integrators.

Jean Mullor

last 30 years and it seems to me there is space for improving the connections between R&D and production, and between administration and quality management through the use of my Yamaha know-how.

Product-wise, how is this increased cooperation likely to manifest itself?

We have been talking about whether Nexo should conceptualise a very nice speaker to be distributed by Yamaha, and that has already been a topic of discussion since

I came onboard at the start of January.

More generally, I feel that the Nexo catalogue is currently rather limited compared to that of some of its competitors, so I plan to address that in the coming months. Our range for the live sound market is very strong, but there are gaps in the installation market. It’s my observation that although some people are very happy with the existing products, some are approaching us with special requirements that we are currently not able to fulfil or

In your initial remarks about the role you’ve highlighted the importance of education, so what developments can we expect to see in 2015?

Nexo runs a very extensive training course, ETC (Education, Training, Certification), which is designed to offer training and certification in general electroacoustic principles and the practical operation of Nexo line array and point source systems.

I am aware that they have had excellent feedback from customers, so I am hoping to attend one of the courses soon.

In 2015, I hope that we can look to accelerate and extend the programme in markets throughout the world, making it possible for all of our customers to join in on a regular basis. Q www.nexo-sa.com

6 l February 2015

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business UNITED KINGDOM

Brave new world No one would have believed in the first years of the 21st century that Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds would, after eight years of touring – and 36 years on from the release of the seminal album – be undertaking its final arena tour. Paddy Baker and Jon Chapple caught up with sound engineer James ‘Brew’ Breward JEFF WAYNE’S Musical Version of The War of the Worlds – the concept-album adaptation of HG Wells’s science-fiction classic by the titular composer, producer and conductor – has, since its release in 1978, spawned a slew of spinoffs, including remix albums, video games, an animated movie and a series of live concerts.

Wayne first took The War of the Worlds on the road in 2006, and recently completed the show’s seventh and final tour. The 17 dates in the UK and continental Europe saw Wayne, the performers (which included Jason Donovan as Parson Nathaniel, Westlife’s Brian McFadden as ‘the sung thoughts of the Journalist’ and The X Factor winner Shayne Ward as the Artilleryman), the 36-piece ULLAdubULLA Strings and the nine-piece Black Smoke Band mixed live in surround sound, and a host of groundbreaking special effects – including a 35’-tall Martian ‘fighting-machine’ shooting real flames into the arena.

From a technical standpoint, the tour marked the first time War of the Worlds production sound engineer James ‘Brew’ Breward has made use of Clear-Com’s new FreeSpeak II wireless intercom system. On 14 December, PSNEurope jumped aboard the Thunder Child (RIP) and set a course for the south coast of England to catch up with Brew at that night’s show in Brighton…

PSN: Tell us a bit about your history with this project…

JB: My original remit was to do the keyboard tech and look after the playback. Having come from a theatre background, where we did comms in a more involved way than in the rock and roll environment, it became apparent that there was a need to tie all the different departments together. When we were first here [in 2006], the production manager started the show by flashing his Maglite at me! Things have moved on

somewhat now: we’ve got a full comms matrix, a load of people on in-ears, a load of RF radio talkback stuff and a load of in-place Motorolas – and we now click on FreeSpeak II as the full duplex solution. So far, it’s been the best digital system we’ve had on any incarnation of the tour.

Did everything get ripped out of The O2 last night and put in today?

Yes, it’s fairly involved – there are 60-odd people working on the show. We did two shows at The O2 yesterday, so the first taxis out of the hotel were at 2am […] the PA guys went in at 4am, backline was in at 7am, two shows a day, then all away by 2am, so it makes it an absolute roast of a day… not to be encouraged by any stretch!

But normally, when it’s a rolling tour, the riggers will be off at seven, 7.30ish, first truck tips at eight, backline’s tipped by 10… the stage is built in the middle of the arena and then rolls downwards – all the lights and projection are complete at the stage end – so you can only do it in an arena where you can clear all the floor out. Sound check at two, by which point all the guys that were in first thing are back in the bus, getting another couple of hours’ kip – and then the show.

It’s a big show, an involved show – much more so than other, simpler rock and roll, band-orientated tours [I’ve worked on]… it’s a spectacle.

What are the vital statistics of the system?

We’re running six FreeSpeak beltpacks connected to three transceivers – it’s the standalone system that’s on the market now. In Glasgow, I was lucky enough to have a trial of the fully blown matrix incarnation of it, and we had 16 beltpacks in that environment with 13 transceivers. Again, that worked very well there. For a rock and roll touring show, it’s a fairly involved experience.

Photo: Roy Smiljanic/Roy Smiljanic Photography (royspix@aol.com)

Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds at the NEC, Birmingham, on its second UK tour in 2007 Is there a point in the show where the Clear-Com kit is tested to the max?

There’s no pivotal moment – but, basically, the guys working round the stage couldn’t do what they have to do if they were tethered: it has to be a wireless solution.

Historically, that would be Telex BTR kit – obviously that sounds great, but you get the problem that it’s frequencyintensive for eight users, so there’s a cost associated with that. [Also,] virtually any hire company that owns the Telex BTRs now, they’re tired: you’ve nearly got to tour 50 per cent spares, and on a daily touring show you just don’t have the time to be fixing those faults daily, so you’ve got to turn to more modern solutions.

There are a lot of really poor digital solutions on the market, but the FreeSpeak II is the latest offering into that space and it’s fantastic – the fidelity of it, the feature set of it and, for the most part, the RF coverage of it: I mean, it’s difficult to take something on a daily touring basis into a completely different environment and only really have the time to take it out of the box, quickly check it, and then on it goes. There’s not a

Soundchecking at the Brighton Centre

Hear every terrifying “Ulla” in crystal clarity with Clear-Com’s FreeSpeak II lot of time for finessing antenna positions or any of that kind of nonsense.

The Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds 2014 UK and Europe tour ran from 27 November to 15 December, culminating with two farewell shows at the

Brighton Centre on the 14th and 15th. (Although if Wayne does change his mind and decide to return for tour number eight, he’ll surely only need a handful of men to start all over agaiiiiiiiin…) Q www.clearcom.com www.jamesbreward.co.uk

8 l February 2015

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industrymovers

Ron reinforces Roland’s resources

RH Consulting boosted by addition of IOSH member, BEIRG supporter and presumable lover of acronyms Bonner Ron Bonner, PLASA technical resources manager, has joined Roland Hemming’s leading London-based audio consulting firm, RH Consulting.

Bonner has spent 13 years with PLASA, offering health and safety advice, regulatory compliance information, technical advice and support in product compliance and environmental regulations Bonner is also a chartered health and safety (H&S) practitioner – one of the first in the UK to gain chartered status – and an 18-year member of the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH).

In the last few years, he

has been an active and vocal member of the award-winning British Entertainment Industry Radio Group (BEIRG) in its efforts to protect access to radio spectrum. Bonner is also a UK representative of the newly formed Entertainment Technical Committee in Europe.

“Offering standards advice to clients is a key part of our business,” says Hemming. “The addition of Ron’s enormous experience [...] will enable us to be even more detailed and comprehensive. His wideranging H&S experience will assist us with the many projects that we manage for installers.” www.rhconsulting.eu

Community Professional Loudspeakers has announced the appointment of David Prince as director of development engineering.

Prince, who has over two decades’ experience designing, modelling and measuring pro-audio loudspeakers and developing them for manufacturing, joins Community from Knowles, where he was product development manager.

He is a past chairman of the AES Standards Committee on Loudspeaker Modeling and Measurement, serves on technical committees of the Acoustical Society of America and is a board of directors emeritus of industry association ALMA. “I am delighted to join Community at this important time in its history,” Prince says. “I look forward to working with the Community team as we develop new loudspeakers and continue to advance our modelling and measurement programmes.” www.communitypro.com

Netia has appointed Séverine Olivier as sales manager for western Europe.

Olivier joined the radio and AV software company in 2012 and was most recently head of project management in its operations division, where she handled deployment of the company’s solutions throughout Europe.

“Given her success working with our European clients and her impressive technical expertise, we are confident that Séverine will transition smoothly into her new position as sales manager for western Europe,” says general manager Thierry Gandilhon. www.netia.com

Gerald Newson has been reelected to both the performer and main boards of British music licensing company PPL as a performer director.

As the longest serving elected performer director, Newson (centre) was due to step down from his position but fought off competition from performer Ashley Mason to win reelection. www.ppluk.com

Source Distribution has welcomed new recruit Alex Warren to the company as junior sales

administrator.

The new role was created in response to what Source describes as “another year of impressive growth”, and will see Warren handle “an increasing number of phone enquiries and orders dealers”, advising on price, availability, shipping and the status of orders.

Warren is a music and audio technology graduate of Bournemouth University and previous worked in pro-audio sales at Bournemouth retailer Absolute Music.

“Howard Jones, Source’s director of distributed brands, says: “We always look to recruit staff that are professional, really know the products and have a real grasp of the industry. Alex ticked all of the boxes, and we know he’s going to be a real asset to the company.” www.sourcedistribution.co.uk

Theatre consultancy Theatreplan LLP has announced the appointment of two new partners.

Michael Atkinson (left), a renowned lighting technology expert whose career has taken him from major West End shows to New York and back, joins the consultancy alongside experienced business manager Paul Connolly. www.theatreplan.co.uk

10 l February 2015

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expos&events

For the latest events news www.psneurope.com/events

EDITORIAL PLANNER

SPOTLIGHT PSNPRESENTS… 12 March London, UK www.psneurope.com

MARCH Amplifiers Feel the power Radio accessories Broadcast bits and bobs Prolight + Sound preview All the juiciest Frankfurters

Following the runaway success of The Pre-Roll at this year’s Pro Sound Awards in September (pictured), PSNEurope is launching ‘PSNPresents…’, the first of a series of networking events centred around a sequence of onstage interviews and panels with leading lights from the pro-audio spectrum.

The event will attract an audience of around 120 delegates to the Ham Yard Hotel in Soho, London, on Thursday 12 March to enjoy an evening of lively discourse between PSNEurope editor Dave Robinson and a number of guests from the worlds of live sound, studio and broadcast. There will be Q&A sessions to follow – before everyone retires to the bar!

“We had such a good time at The Pre-Roll part of the Pro Sound Awards – first with Phil Ward’s interviews with producers Andre Jacquemin, Ben Hillier and Stephen Street, then with my somewhat raucous panel of live sound engineers – that we thought we should spin the idea out into something equally as fun for the new year,” says Dave Robinson. “Watch this space to see who will be appearing in the line-up!”

PSNPresents… will take place at the Ham Yard Hotel on Thursday 12 March from 6.45pm, with a 7.30pm start. Tickets are £35 and can be purchased from the PSNEurope website (hover over ‘Events’ and click on ‘PSNPresents…’) or www.intent-events.com/events/event_details/49.

A variety of sponsorship packages are available for the event – contact Ryan O’Donnell (rodonnell@nbmedia.com) for more info. For additional event information, contact event manager Debbie Opeyokun (dopeyokun@nbmedia.com or 020 7354 6001). www.psneurope.com

APRIL Training Networking update Prolight + Sound review

MAY Focus on Germany Drivers AES preview

EVENTS

Your complete calendar of expos and conferences for the months ahead

Grammy Awards 5 February Los Angeles, US www.grammy.com

PSNPresents…

12 March London, UK www.psneurope.com

Integrated Systems Europe 10–12 February Amsterdam, Netherlands www.iseurope.org

LLB 17–19 March Stockholm, Sweden www.llb.se

Music Producers Guild Awards 12 February London, UK www.mpgawards.com

NAB Show 11–16 April Las Vegas, US www.nabshow.com

BVE 24–26 February London, UK www.bvexpo.com Brit Awards 25 February London, UK www.brits.co.uk ISCE 3–4 March Binley, UK www.isce.org.uk Event Buyers Live 4–5 March Luton, UK www.eventbuyerslive.com

Prolight + Sound 15–18 April Frankfurt, Germany www.pls.messefrankfurt.com

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PSNTraining Sennheiser UK, Warp support Oxford/ Sennheiser Electronic Music Prize

By Jon Chapple IN PARTNERSHIP WITH Sennheiser UK, the Faculty of Music at the University of Oxford in November held the final of the Oxford/Sennheiser Electronic Music Prize (OSEMP) for original composition.

Sennheiser UK, which supplied prizes for the OSEMP winners, has a long relationship with the Faculty of Music. Its work with the university includes supporting the Oxford Surround Composition and Research studio (OSCaR), a bespoke, state-of-the-art electronic music studio which opened last year.

The OSEMP was set up by Oxford to highlight the increasing importance of electronic music in its teaching and research programmes. The aim of the competition, also supported by Warp Records, was to find “the most innovative new works in electronic music” by composers aged 35 or under nationwide.

The 10 competition finalists performed a variety of pieces, which ranged from stereo to eight-channel surround sound, through an eight-position K-array setup.

The judging panel comprised noted electroacoustic composers Natasha Barrett and Trevor Wishart and

Daniel Cioccoloni performing Deep Time

The winners! Samuel Barnes, Sam Kendall, Daniel Cioccoloni (L–R)

the faculty’s own professor of composition, Martyn Harry.

The panel chose Samuel Barnes, and his

InfoComm announces University line-up for ISE

The Essentials: Understanding SPL

By Jon Chapple

Signals manufacturer E2S has added Sound Basics, a guide to measuring sound levels, to NewBay Connect, the pro-audio, AV and broadcast white paper library Photo: Iain Fergusson

The dB (decibel) is the standard measurement unit in acoustics, yet it can be confusing to understand. The main difficulty in relating to a dB scale is visualising that large differences in sound levels are represented by relatively small increases in the dB level.

Using examples and charts, the Sound Basics white paper relates sound pressure levels (SPL) to everyday objects, describes how sound behaves in both open and enclosed spaces and determines the optimum area for sound devices in different acoustic environments. Q Read the full article at www.psneurope.com/understanding-spl

A range of commercial packages are available Contact advertising manager Ryan O’Donnell on +44 (0) 20 7354 6000 or rodonnell@nbmedia.com

composition The Nature in Devices, as the winner, with Sam Kendall’s One Fast Move or I’m Gone and Daniel Cioccoloni’s Deep Time in second and third places, respectively. Sennheiser provided prizes, including headphones and microphones, for all three.

“It was a fantastic opportunity for us to team up with a company with the international reputation of Sennheiser to support our activities in sound recording and studio composition,” says Eric Clarke, heather professor of music at the Faculty of Music. “We’ve already benefitted hugely from both the expertise of the people who work for this renowned company and from their outstanding audio equipment. We hope to continue to develop the relationship long into the future.

“OSEMP attracted a huge field of entries, 10 outstanding finalists and three extremely talented winners. In many ways, though, it was the audience in the packed Jacqueline du Pré music building who were the real winners. They were fortunate to be present at a memorable evening of terrific music. We’re already looking forward to next year!” Q www.music.ox.ac.uk en-uk.sennheiser.com

INFOCOMM INTERNATIONAL, the co-owner of the Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) trade show, has announced its “most comprehensive InfoComm University training to date” for the 2015 show.

As in previous years, all InfoComm members and guest members will receive unlimited free access to InfoComm University training sessions at the show. Members and guests who pre-register for ISE 2015 using an invitation code will receive complimentary access to seminars of their choice on a first come, first serve basis (with the exception of the CTS Study Session and the new Master Class, which focuses on “Displays for Today and Tomorrow”). Non-InfoComm members must purchase vouchers during ISE registration and then register for specific classes.

Courses that attendees may take for free include Digital Audio Protocols – What are Your Options?, 4K and Streaming and Needs Analysis for EndUser Requirements – What are They Really Saying?.

DIARY 6–8 February IPS: Audio Knowledge Base 2015 Where: Leamington Spa, UK www.ips.org.uk

4 March Stagetec: HighTecDay Where: Buttenheim, Germany www.stagetec.com

15 March Sennheiser UK: Wireless Mics and Monitoring – The Master Class Where: Marlow, UK en-uk.sennheiser.com/aboutsennheiser-press-shows-eventssound-academy

7–10 April Orbital Sound: Sound Fundamentals for Theatre Where: London, UK www.orbitalsound.com

Sound Training Online launches Pro Tools course

By Jon Chapple

“Our comprehensive training and development programme encourages ISE attendees to take advantage of the show’s excellent education opportunities,” comments Terry Friesenborg, chief global officer at InfoComm International.

All InfoComm University educational sessions will be held in the Elicium building. Q www.iseurope.org

SOUND TRAINING ONLINE rung in the new year with the launch of a brand-new six-week Pro Tools course, Pro Tools 101.

Taught by Aidan Cunningham, a certified Pro Tools instructor and owner of The Forbidden Zone recording studio in Tullamore, Republic of Ireland, Pro Tools 101 is tailored for those “who wish to embark on a career in sound engineering” and “who are looking to learn Pro Tools for professional purposes”.

“The aim of this course is to quickly familiarise students with the many features available within the software,” explains Sound Training Online. “By the end, students will be able to set up and navigate Pro Tools sessions with ease, allowing them to record, edit and mix any type of track consisting of recorded audio or virtual MIDI instruments.”

Sound Training Online is a sister organisation of the renowned Sound Training College in Temple Bar, Dublin, and also offers introductions to Ableton Live, Logic Pro X and Native Instruments Maschine. Q www.soundtrainingonline.com

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NAMMreview SOUNDBITES

Solid State Logic launched the VHD Pre Module for its 500-format modular rack platform. The release makes the versatile VHD-based preamp technology from Duality, SSL’s large-format studio console, available for studios of all sizes.

VHD Pre Modules will be available from SSL resellers worldwide from March. www.solid-state-logic.com

Allen & Heath minds Focusrite celebrates with a good Clarett its ZEDs and Qus

By Dave Robinson

Avid announced Pro Tools 12, the next generation of its marketleading digital audio software, which features flexible new licensing options. The company will also introduce new ways for audio professionals and artists to work together more closely through Avid Cloud Collaboration and new services in the Avid Marketplace. www.avid.com Building upon its well-received Fader Series of studio monitors, Fluid Audio unveiled its newest monitor line, FPX (Fader Pro Coax), beginning with the FPX7. Featuring optimised class AB-amplifiers, shorting-ring magnet woofers and ribbon tweeters, Fluid describes the FPX7 as offering “a truer, more accurate monitoring experience”.

The FPX Series will include two models: the FPX7 DSP, and a “more feature-rich version” to follow later, both with a 7” woofer and AMT ribbon tweeter. www.fluidaudio.net Harman on 22 January announced the acquisition of Melbourne, Australia-based SM Pro Audio and its incorporation into the Harman Professional Division as an “innovation hub” for a range of proaudio and MI technologies. Blake Augsburger, Harman Pro president, said the company has “already envisioned ideas and concepts where SM Pro Audio products and technologies could benefit Soundcraft and Studer mixers, dbx signal processing, AKG transducers and more”. www.smproaudio.com

ALLEN & HEATH added to both its Qu and ZED ranges with two new product launches.

The Qu-Pac is an ultra-compact digital mixer with built-in touchscreen and iPad control app. Designed for live music and installed sound, Qu-Pac is a freestanding or rackmount mixer that proves a flexible solution for bands and in multi-purpose environments such as schools, hotels and bars. Qu-Pac connectivity offers 16 mono, three stereo inputs and 12 mix outputs on the rear panel but can be expanded up to 38 in/28 out by connecting to Allen & Heath’s

family of remote AudioRacks over Cat5.

The ZED Power 1000 (top) is a compact 2 x 500W powered mixer with onboard FX, nine-band graphic EQ and USB recording and playback.

Allen & Heath’s senior product manager, Nicola Bere tta, commented: “There are so many […] who rely on powered mixers night after night.

ZED Power 1000 offers them a great solution: it’s lightweight, it delivers the proven audio quality that our ZED series is renowned for and it’s built to last, with individual circuit boards, nutted pots and a rugged linear power supply.” n www.allen-heath.com

JBL Crowns new SRX800 portable PA

By Jon Chapple JBL Professional announced the introduction of the SRX800 Series portable powered loudspeakers.

The SRX8000 Series incorporates JBL transducers and built-in Crown DriveCore amplifiers to deliver highquality sound with user-configurable DSP speaker-tuning capability.

Models include the 12” two-way SRX812P, 15” two-way SRX812P, dual 15” three-way SRX835P, 18” SRX818SP subwoofer and the

SRX828SP, which, according to JBL, is world’s only dual 18” powered subwoofer at its price point.

“The portable PA market has been moving more and more towards powered loudspeakers, and our new SRX800 Series was created to do nothing less than redefine the performance standards in the category,” said Andy Flint, senior manager, portable PA marketing, at JBL Professional. n www.jblpro.com

– analogue input through a DAW, through a Core Audio/ASIO plug-in, back through the DAW and to an analogue output – might be 4.5 to 6ms. The Clarett range does it “in 2.5ms”, he says, effectively halving the latency.

“Practically, we wanted to produce something where you could use your plug-ins while you are recording,” reinforces Jenkins. “We did that with RedNet, and we wanted it to do it with a standard computer interface, and we were only happy [to launch Clarett] once we’d achieved it.”

The Clarett Range, available in spring/summer 2015, is made up of four devices: the 2Pre (10 in/4 out), 4Pre (18 in/8 out), 8Pre (18 in/20 out) and flagship 8Pre X (26 in/28 out).

The 8Pre X has been designed with the permanent racked studio install in mind, featuring extended ADAT I/O and separate rear panel inputs for mic, line and instrument, as well as phantom power, phase reverse and high-pass filters on every channel. n www.focusrite.com

New Sennheiser mics want to be your D1 and only

By Jon Chapple SENNHEISER HAS launched the Evolution Wireless D1, a range of digital wireless microphone systems designed to easily allow musicians to go wireless.

With systems for vocals and instruments, transmitters and receivers automatically pair and select suitable transmission frequencies, while multiple D1 systems can automatically coordinate themselves.

The D1, which uses the aptX Live codec, operates in the licence-free 2.4 GHz range.

“D1 instantly readies you for making music and takes the complexity out of wireless,” commented Martin Fischer, product manager at Sennheiser.

Chesney Hawkes was at Sennheiser’s stand for the launch, which also saw the company launch a contest to find the ultimate cover of The One and Only. Are you The D1 and Only? n www.sennheiser-d1.com Photo credit: Steve Harvey

JHS was honoured with the NAMM Milestone Award for 50 years’ service to the pro-audio and MI industries. “2015 sees a very different commercial landscape to when John Skewes and his wife Madge started the business from a standing start in 1965,” commented the distributor’s MD, Dennis Drumm, “but the basics remain constant: provide great customer service; offer saleable, well-designed, profitable products; be prudent; follow through on promises; and be reliable, honest and trustworthy”. www.jhs.co.uk

By Jon Chapple

FOCUSRITE MADE TWO major product announcements at the NAMM Show.

The first, the Clarett Range, is a line of audio interfaces that combine a new preamp design with the latest in Thunderbolt technology, offering an unparalleled interface latency of under 1ms.

Also making their debut are the Red 2 and Red 3 Plug-in Suites, featuring 64-bit AAX, AU and VST compatibility. The plug-ins are the first from Focusrite to include AAX support, making them compatible with Pro Tools 10 and above. Red and 3 will be bundled free with all Focusrite Scarlett, Saffire, Forte and Clarett audio interfaces, but will also retail separately for $299.99.

“Thunderbolt is the new protocol that everyone is excited about because, with latencies that are below 2ms – in terms of monitoring or recording – you can utilise the power of all the plug-ins that you want and hear them without any concern over latency,” Focusrite marketing director Giles Orford told PSNEurope. “As the number one interface manufacturer in the world, people were wondering, ‘Where’s Focusrite’s Thunderbolt interface?’, which is a reasonable question to ask.”

“It’s taken us a while to make sure that when we came in, our interfaces really were the best sounding and fastest available.”

Technical director Rob Jenkins suggests that, in a typical system, at 48kHz, the total roundtrip time

Rob Jenkins with the Clarett 2Pre

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16 l February 2015

www.psneurope.com

technologynew products Jon Chapple compiles this month’s list of hot new products AUDINATE

DANTE ULTIMO What is it? New enhancements to the Dante Ultimo low-channel chipsets.

Details: The new revision of Dante Ultimo incorporates support for the Marvell 88E6320 gigabit switch, enabling daisychaining of Dante devices with multicast filtering capability.

And another thing: David Myers, COO of Audinate, comments: “The new capabilities make daisychaining easier and better exactly where it is needed – at network edges – and provide manufacturers with advanced capabilities for automation and display […] at an incredible price point.” www.audinate.com

DBX

PORTER & DAVIES

AFS2 What is it? An ‘Advanced Feedback Suppression Processor’ from dbx designed to completely eliminate feedback from a PA system.

KT PLATFORM And another thing: The AFS2 offers selectable live and fixed (installation) filter modes, selectable filter lift times and live filter lift. www.soundtech.co.uk/dbx

Details: The AFS2, the successor to the AFS224, features a one-button wizard function, which automates key setup parameters and guides the user through the configuration process.

What is it? A stage monitor which transmits sound using ‘kinetic transfer’ (KT) – or bone conduction.

Details: The KT Platform enables users “to feel and hear their playing internally, instead of relying on conventional audio methods […] for musicians who want to sound and feel like [they] have a huge amp stack behind [them], but no-one else needs to hear it”.

And another thing: Jools Holland bassist Dave Swift is a user of the KT Platform. www.porteranddavies.co.uk

KALTMAN CREATIONS

CPARRAY What is it? A new antenna for wireless microphones which the Georgia, US-based company says “offers better reception than its larger paddle-and-beam-style antenna counterparts”.

PALMER

Details: Because of its circular polarised pickup pattern and multidirectional focusing ability, Kaltman guarantees that CPArray antennae will reduce interference, reduce dropouts, help improve RF signalto-noise and enhance reception of signals propagated through and around objects.

And another thing: The tiny CPArray measures 6.7” x 6.2” x 1.6” (17cm x 15.7cm x 4cm) and weighs 1.2lb (544g). www.kaltmancreationsllc.com

PAN 16 What is it? A passive eight-channel DI box.

Details: In its 19” rack format on 1U, the PAN 16 offers a maximum of 16 input terminals, made possible by its MERGE function. MERGE switches the parallel output of a channel as additional input and merges both signals to a mono sum.

And another thing: With two PAD switches, users can can choose a 10, 20 or 30 dB attenuation; the ground lift switch disconnects the ground connection, preventing ground loops. www.palmer-germany.com

18 l February 2015

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businessfeature Shure’s Pro Sound Award-winning Call for Legends campaign, won last year by Welsh band Fingertrap, forms part of its ‘user engagement campaigns’ targeted at musicians

Going #online Online efforts are fast becoming the pillar of pro-audio marketing plans. Erica Basnicki crunches the numbers to find out more…

ACCORDING to the most recent study by global advertising trade organisation Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), European companies are spending €24.3bn to try and catch the eye of the nearly 427 million users who spend an average of 14.8 hours a week online.

According to my watch, finding out this information took less than five seconds via a Google search, and doesn’t really provide any insight into how the pro-audio is using online marketing to its advantage. Time, then, to ask companies within the industry to share with PSNEurope their secrets to online marketing success, and take in some numbers that really matter…

MARKETING A PRODUCT “We say a lot [in the video], but to be honest we don’t say anything. We wanted people to imagine what Powersoft could be launching at Prolight + Sound,” explains marketing and communication manager Francesco Fanicchi.

As it turns out, after four years in development and promising “unmatched levels of versatility, flexibility and power”, Powersoft was launching its new X Series amps.

Fanicchi is right, though:

the video the company created to promote the launch gave nothing away. Based on the key concept that “everything evolves from the source”, the beautifully animated teaser dances around the idea that something is coming, but ultimately begs the question “What?”.

It was the only clue Powersoft gave anyone in the months prior to the Frankfurt announcement.

A heavy investment in online advertising pointed roughly 4,000 visitors to a landing page featuring the video and the opportunity to register for the launch itself.

According to Fanicchi, the approach worked. “I think it was the most massive presentation at Prolight + Sound. There were more than 150 people in the booth for 30-45 minutes while we unveiled and presented the product to the industry.”

Those kinds of numbers are why Powersoft currently dedicates about 75% of its overall marketing budget to online activity, and plans on increasing that number in the years to come. “We want to be different,” says Fanicchi.

“I know this market is very conservative and a lot of companies usually do the same things in terms of marketing – they explain their products using just data sheets, features

and technical specs – [but] what we are trying to do is create value around the product.”

Like anybody, Fanicchi is also looking for value for money spent: “The web allows us and other manufacturers to have feedback on our investment. If I invest, say, €5,000 in banners and I get just 10 visits, then it doesn’t make sense as an investment. On the other hand, I can’t get that feedback if I invest in print.”

Several months later, Lab. gruppen would also rely heavily on online marketing to create the right amount of hype for the company’s recently-launched PLM+ series of amplifiers.

For that campaign, media and PR manager Mark Millar and creative manager Scott Boyd found success in simplicity.

“The basic premise for

the campaign was the use of the plus sign (+) as a design statement for all the great things the amp offers over the original PLM,” explains Millar. “As soon as every one of our social media profile pictures changed to that symbol, people knew that we had something huge on our hands.”

Prior to its PLASA launch, the company began dropping ‘+’-branded posts on Facebook (including on the PSNEurope page), Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+. “These days, with the prevalence of smart phones, iPads and tablets, more and more people are consuming and finding data on the web, so it’s an essential part of any campaign to try and engage that online audience,” explains Millar. “From start to launch, our digital marketing

strategy was hugely driven by our social media engagement, with the posts overall being seen by over 35,000 key industry personnel and social media followers. All in all, it was a great success in generating a huge amount of interest in the new PLM+ platform across the world.

“Having said that, I don’t think it will, or should, ever completely replace ‘analogue’ marketing such as print advertising.”

MARKETING A RELATIONSHIP For Nils Proesser, marketing director, EMEA, at Shure, “how much of a percentage is taken up by online and social media in Shure’s marketing mix is not really significant…

Our task is to become part

“We are not going to be outspending our competitors, so we need to outthink them…

Viewing this as a marathon rather than a sprint has allowed us to develop, build and evolve a really strong platform” James King, marketing director, Martin Audio

February 2015 l 19

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businessfeature PreSonus admits that its tech support might be “a bit slow during zombie apocalypses”

Zombie-mania

Prior to the launch of the PLM+ amplifiers at PLASA London, Lab.gruppen began dropping ‘+’-branded posts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ of their peer groups, supported by social media channels. But not as a company advertising itself and its products; rather as a partner, one they consult when they have questions about products and their applications.”

Driving this task is a series of ‘user engagement campaigns’ targeted at musicians: the Shure Drum and Vocal Mastery competitions, and the Call for Legends campaign (for which Shure won Marketing Initiative of the Year at the 2014 Pro Sound Awards). 2014’s Call for Legends winners, Welsh band Fingertrap, were awarded studio time to record a three-track EP with producer/engineer Chris Kimsey, and a 45-minute live

gig at the legendary Montreux Jazz Festival.

Competitions like this are about having fun and supporting musicians, though Proesser quips that “if one of the musicians needs to buy a wireless system, say, three years down the line, and thinks of Shure first, that would be great!

“We swapped short-term sales goals for the longer-term aim of building relationships.

That’s created situations where we’re now regarded as proper partners. We help users of our products to improve in areas that mean a lot to them; in this way, we develop a relationship based on trust that goes far beyond the simple level of the particular product that’s

You know an obsession has grown beyond reason when it becomes the subject of serious academic research. Or, when at least three proaudio companies use the same theme for online videos.

Yes, our collective fascination with the zombie apocalypse recently came under intense scrutiny

by Stanford University literary scholar Angela Becerra Vidergar, who made it the subject of her doctoral dissertation in 2013.

As noted in the Stanford Report, our attraction to the undead stems from “the advent of nuclear warfare during world war II. Our collective visions of the future changed drastically after the horrific events of Hiroshima and Nagasaki […] Mass destruction became a reality and the terrible violence of the Holocaust and other WWII events brought up disturbing realizations about the human capacity for violence.”

At PreSonus headquarters in southern Louisiana, “dealing with zombies is a way of life – voodoo is very strong down here,” says vice-president of marketing Ron Koliha. “For example, we built our new headquarters so that we had a clear field of fire when mounting a defence against marauding walking dead. Also, our StudioLive digital mixer box copy references

involved.”

MARKETING AN IDEA When marketing director James King joined Martin Audio in April 2013, his first big task was to “set the agenda for the brand, what we stood for, how we are different to competition, and how that was going to be communicated”.

What emerged was the company’s Unite Your Audience concept; a big idea that is the foundation for the company’s overall marketing activity.

Whereas many companies would measure their success through the ‘virality’ of their online marketing efforts, Martin Audio is happy taking the longview approach.

Martin Audio’s Unite Your Audience concept is the foundation for the company’s overall marketing efforts

the fact that our tech support may be a bit slow during zombie apocalypses.”

According to Koliha, in 2011 the company released the industry’s first zombie-themed YouTube videos in support of its Studio One 2 DAW (Mackie and Audio-Technica are among those who have also created videos featuring the walking undead in years since).

The video was no trivial matter for PreSonus, clocking in over 5,000 views and counting. It also taught Koliha two very valuable marketing lessons: “Humour is a perfectly acceptable way to reach serious pro-audio users,” he says.

More importantly: “You have to stay current. A zombie video now would be passé.” www.presonus.com

“We are not going to be outspending our competitors, so we need to outthink them,” explains King. “Viewing this as a marathon rather than a sprint has allowed us to develop, build and evolve a really strong platform [as opposed to] simply a ‘flashin-the-pan’ approach.

“We do all our social media internally, so that’s Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube. We develop a monthly social media calendar that details the themes, content and posts based on business priorities, latest news and engaging our communities whilst being true and relevant to the brand. We have had tremendous success in this

regard having grown our Facebook community to over 20,000 and achieved nearly 500,000 video views on our YouTube channel. Our website traffic has also grown by over 50 per cent in the same amount of time.

“The business as a whole has seen significant growth in that time, largely driven by MLA, so this can’t all be attributed to marketing, but we know its having an impact because all of our customers – and indeed a few competitors – continue to tell us how much they have witnessed [our] marketing efforts.”

MOVING PAST PRINT? It’s difficult to argue with

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businessfeature cold, hard figures: immutable feedback on how well a campaign has performed (or not). Numbers of views, number of fans, number of downloads… online marketing efforts can provide these at the click of a mouse. Print? Not so straightforward.

It’s equally difficult to argue with the tangible quality of printed material. If you happen to be holding a paper copy of PSNEurope, it will likely stay in your office/living room/bathroom for at least a month or two, if not longer.

For most people, it’s also a more comfortable reading experience, which makes for a more memorable read. Does that make printed material the publishing equivalent of a vinyl record?

Reflecting on his start with Martin Audio, King summarises what seems to be a general sentiment throughout the industry: “I was completely new to the pro-audio industry,

having coming from the fastpaced mobile phone industry.

Clearly, that industry is very digitally minded so, initially, I had to reset my head when coming into pro audio. There was clearly still a love and appreciation of print and, on a personal level, that’s actually something I embrace. Like a love for the physical album, digital has its clear benefits but it does lose some soul.

“In the last two years, however, I have seen the industry grow in its appreciation of digital, with social media take-up growing significantly and key websites and community blogs gaining a stronghold […] but, hopefully, so long as print maintains its quality and integrity it will still have a place in the overall marketing mix.” Q www.labgruppen.com www.martin-audio.com www.powersoft-audio.com www.shure.co.uk

Not to be missed

Not even weirdest thing in the video There are plenty more great examples of online marketing done well to look at. Not to be missed is Mackie’s totally bizarre, mindaltering and unforgettable Mix on the Fly spot for the DL1608 16-channel live mixer. Chances are we’ve all had a similar gig experience at some point in our lives (right? I mean, it’s not just me, is it?). This video (www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ACo3VgXijlU) brings it all back in

horrifyingly vivid detail.

Also worth a watch is Focusrite’s online support of indie artist Mackenzie Johnson.

Using an iTrack Pocket, the singer-songwriter was able to record and perform her music for over a million viewers on YouTube. See it at www.youtube.com/watch?v=5p6-qoFtH_A. www.focusrite.com www.mackie.com

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studio SOUNDBITES

West London studio Metropolis, the most successful independent recording facility in Europe, last month announced the launch of Metropolis Music Publishing, the latest addition to the Metropolis Group of studio, mastering, production and artist services. Led by former Imagem executive Rupert Hollier, the new publishing division – comprising “the core disciplines of administration, A&R, sync and supervision” – says it already has “several film and TV projects in the pipeline for the next year”, including supervising the music for forthcoming Martin Scorsese film Tomorrow. www.thisismetropolis.com Three new studios joined the Miloco roster in January. Grand Street Recording, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and The End, in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, are described as “New York recording studios in a class of their own”, while the Jazzanova Recording Studio (JRS) in Berlin, which features a rare 32-channel Neumann console custom-built for the Berlin Concert House, has four separate recording rooms, making it an “ideal studio for recording bands”. www.miloco.co.uk Istanbul studio Studio Marsandiz has upgraded to a new Avid Pro Tools 11-based system with Waves Mercury AAX plug-ins. Marsandiz, which has been at the centre of the Turkish music industry for almost 40 years, is one of the country’s most advanced recording and mixing facilities. It also recently installed the new Mac Pro in its studio B, which is built around SSL 4040G+ and 4048G+ consoles. Studio C includes Digidesign ICON D-Command dubbing and 5.1 surround mixing. www.marsandiz.com

LipSync Post provided full postproduction services for the recent Company Pictures/Playground Entertainment BBC Two adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. LipSync previously worked with Company Pictures on the second series of The Village and with Playground Entertainment on the Bafta-winning Dancing on the Edge. The Soho post facility provided audio, VFX, grading, titles and all deliverables for Wolf Hall. www.lipsyncpost.co.uk

For the latest studio news www.psneurope.com/studio

FRANCE

Juke Box ceases trading Jean-Baptiste Lierre’s Parisian distributor was declared bankrupt in mid-January, reports Phil Ward RESPECTED HIGH-END pro-audio distributor Juke Box Limited, founded in Paris by recording engineer and entrepreneur Jean-Baptiste Lierre almost exactly 20 years ago, was declared bankrupt by the Tribunal of Commerce of Bobigny at 2pm on 14 January.

Despite agile commercial evolution and diversification – while maintaining a core of admired brands dominated by signal processing and software – the company has reported that increasing economic exposure had been brought about by the persistent difficulties in meeting the “break-even point” required to continue.

In a dignified communiqué to his loyal clients and suppliers, Lierre outlined the situation with typical forthrightness.

“Since 2009, business has become increasingly difficult,” he says. “During this time, Juke Box continually re-invented itself, adapting to an everchanging world. We managed to counteract the effects of

the recent economic crisis and even increase our turnover during this time while keeping a respectable gross margin by today’s standards. However, we increasingly failed to meet the break-even point and, slowly but surely, this put a dent in our financial resources and certainly made us fragile as an entity.”

Despite some recent staff cuts and voluntary resignations, a dramatic loss of turnover – proving to be the catalyst for bankruptcy proceedings – followed the decision by specific suppliers to go direct to dealers in Europe, and to remove the traditional distribution layer from their business model.

Lierre, who will be attending the NAMM Show in California this month, paid tribute to his colleagues and partners.

“Starting with Avalon Design and helping make this brand what it is today, many more great manufacturers followed.

At one point, Juke Box Limited had over 30 brands, all representing the best of high-end

Jean-Baptiste Lierre audio. I have nothing but fond memories of this venture: I have had the pleasure of working with great team members, many of whom joined Juke Box and stayed for well over 10 years – a rare sign of stability in a world of high staff turnover.

“I have worked with dozens of fantastic suppliers who contributed to Juke Box’s reputation, many of whom I count among my friends today, and, last but not least, I’ve had the honour of working with a long list of clients who […]

repeatedly returned to Juke Box for not only our range of products, but for our ability to sell and service them with professionalism.

“We sincerely hope that our manufacturers will find another way to sell their products in France and that this disruption of service doesn’t affect them unduly. In the meantime, I would like to say thank you for nearly 20 years of support, without which Juke Box would not have become what it was.” Q www.jukeboxltd.com

UNITED STATES

New ownership measures for Audio Precision

By Dave Robinson AUDIO PRECISION (AP), the Oregon-based developer of test and measurement equipment for the pro-audio industry, ended 2014 with a change of ownership.

As of 16 December 2014, company ownership has been transferred from majority shareholder Bruce Hofer to AP’s management team. Hofer remains “a very active member of the AP team,” the company tells PSNEurope, “serving both as our principal hardware engineer and chairman of AP’s board”. The reshuffle

does, however, “reflect Bruce’s desire to focus on product development”. Dave Schmoldt, AP president, becomes CEO. “Since helping to establish AP thirty years ago, one of my primary goals has been for the company to be the performance leader in our industry,” says AP co-founder and chief analogue designer Hofer (pictured). “I have the utmost confidence in AP’s strategy and leadership team going forward, so this evolution of our organisation will allow me to concentrate on pushing the boundaries of performance in audio measurement.”

“The leadership team is grateful for this vote of confidence from Bruce and the board,” adds Dave Schmoldt, AP president and CEO. “Our entire organisation appreciates Bruce’s continued contributions, and strives to emulate his long-standing commitment to our customers and to the advancement of audio test.”

Earlier this year, AP launched the APx555, “the culmination of 30 years of experience” that represents “the most powerful and capable audio test instrument ever developed”. Q

www.ap.com

February 2015 l 23

www.psneurope.com

studio Edison concert cylinders containing recordings of aboriginal languages made

by Sir Baldwin Spencer in south Australia in 1901

UNITED KINGDOM

15 years to Save Our Sounds The British Library seeks £40m to digitise its audio archive, which contains recordings dating from the birth of recorded sound, including the voices of Florence Nightingale, George V and David Lloyd George. Jon Chapple reports THE BRITISH LIBRARY (BL), the national library of the United Kingdom, has launched a campaign to raise £40million (€52m) to digitise the UK’s sound archive of more than six million recordings.

The library says the UK Sound Archive, which contains recordings dating from the birth of recorded sound in the 19th century, is under threat from both obsolescence (as the equipment to play them becomes more difficult and expensive to repair and replace) and physical degradation. The archive is stored on over 40 formats, ranging from wax cylinders and reel-to-reel tape to audio cassettes and MiniDiscs.

Save Our Sounds’ goal is to “preserve as much as possible of the nation’s rare and unique sound recordings over the next 15 years” through digitisation, starting with the “rare or fragile sounds which are most at risk” – about two million, or a third of the collection. Archival consensus internationally is that by 2030 the majority of the UK Sound Archive’s collection will become unreadable.

Some of the archive’s

The archival consensus is that by 2030 the majority of the collection will become unreadable irreplaceable sound recordings include Britain’s national collection of music, including samples of British jazz, skiffle, pop and classical music, radio studio sessions and pirate radio broadcasts; recordings of local accents and dialects used to monitor the evolution of the English language; life stories of first world war prisoners of war, scientists and secondwave feminist activists; and full recordings of theatre productions, including the opening night of Hamlet at The Old Vic, starring Peter O’Toole and directed by Laurence Olivier.

Also present are recordings of rare and extinct wildlife species, used by biologists and conservationists, and steam engines, factories, weather and other environmental soundscapes.

“We’re not just looking backwards: we want to

preserve the future of the sound collections, too,” the BL explained in a statement.

“Ninety-two per cent of the UK’s radio output, and 65 to 70 per cent of the its published music output, is not being fully archived. We will work with industry partners to streamline the way in which the library collects this material digitally, ensuring an effective and comprehensive sound archive for future generations.

“Once these sounds are digitised, they will be safe indefinitely. We have 15 years to save the nation’s sound collections.”

The library also plans to create a “national sound directory” by undertaking a UK-wide audit to map the condition of sound archives around the country and identify other threatened collections. Q www.bl.uk/save-our-sounds #saveoursounds

A unplayably damaged acetate disc featuring a July 1950 jazz radio broadcast

Digitising a wire recording from the 1940s

24 l February 2015

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studio

IRELAND

Green fingers Innovative US manufacturer PreSonus has established a tight-knit EMEA team based in Ireland to grow the brand. Phil Ward cultivates an interest WHEN PRESONUS Europe Ltd (PEL) was established in 2012, the brand was already selling well over here. But when key software expertise was acquired, based very significantly in Hamburg, PreSonus’s centre of gravity received an encouraging tug towards the east. Six years on, and everything now seems in place for a concerted march upon the EMEA region by a company that keeps getting it right: breaking price barriers without an atom of quality degradation; carefully adding complementary product categories into the fold; and doing all this while maintaining the unique human spirit that the music business must not lose. If it ever does, it won’t be because PreSonus let the side down.

The choice of the Republic of Ireland – specifically Count Cavan – as the EMEA base owes much to the reputation and achievements of the country’s Industrial Development Authority (IDA).

It exists to support overseas investment in the republic, and proof of its robustness can be found in its steady, flatline performance throughout the Irish recession as investors, like

PreSonus, used profits from elsewhere to ride out the crisis.

The benefits to a manufacturer like PreSonus are many, as we shall see.

All of which is very much the aegis of Eugene Greenan, PreSonus’s head of group finance, EMEA. He also sits on Cavan County Council and the Cavan and Monaghan Education and Training Board, and was educated as a chartered tax consultant. Like managing director Michelle Lynch, Greenan was drawn into the PreSonus fold after supplying professional services to the nascent European operation as an outsider. As the only musician in the accounting practice that helped set up PreSonus Software in Hamburg in 2008 (he plays guitar), he was handed the account on the assumption of a natural affinity.

So natural was that affinity that three years later he secured his current position.

“I was working in Dublin at the time,” he recounts, “but when I heard that PreSonus was locating a European business in Cavan I was immediately attracted. Cavan is my home town.” Apart from the support provided by the IDA, Greenan

The PreSonus Europe team: (L–R) Eugene Greenan, Paul Mason, Michelle Lynch, Lee Boylan

“If I was to sum up PreSonus’s presence in Europe, I’d say it was about communication: it’s about us communicating with our end-users and understanding what they need [and] what the market requires from an EU and EMEA perspective, as opposed to a US-centric view” Michelle Lynch, managing director, PreSonus Europe

notes that the Irish Republic will have been a natural choice for Louisiana-based chairman of the board Kevin Couhig who, with family here, is a frequent visitor. Lynch herself was the main hook: an export compliance specialist based in Ireland, she guided PreSonus through its early European footing and from its inception was a trusted connection on the ground here.

Noting the number of successful multinational companies based in the Cavan area, not to mention a greater rural charm than Dublin’s industrial hinterland, Lynch pushed through the choice of location and met no resistance.

The Cavan Institute even has music technology and sound

engineering courses, offering a potential supply of talent. But most of all, says Greenan, the Republic of Ireland is a fertile pitch for those experiencing rapid expansion.

“PreSonus has been going through some years of huge growth,” he says, “sometimes 50 per cent growth year on year, and our CEO Jim Mack – whom people will know from a series of pro-audio enterprises – quickly realised after he joined in 2008 that the organisation could not manage the world from a single office in Baton Rouge. He began the initiative to get closer to the European market.

“Ireland has an attractive corporation tax rate and, through the further auspices

of the IDA, offers very good R&D tax credits. The IDA also subsidises employees, and I’ve calculated that, if we employ someone to do R&D here in Cavan, we’d get salary support of up to 55per cent.

That’s a very cost-effective way of growing your R&D, as well growing your business as a whole.

“There has been adverse press about companies such as Google and Apple using what’s been called the ‘double Irish’ system of moving profits around, but we’re simply not big enough to do anything like that.

We’re two separate entities, in EMEA and in the US. But the tax breaks here do leave enough to fund growth.”

The picture is made slightly

26 l February 2015

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studio more complex by the presence of employees in the UK, Italy and Germany and a warehouse in the Netherlands, but, again, Greenan’s training in taxation and international accounting is a major asset in itself. “The growth in Europe is helped by a constantly expanding product range,” he says, ”but we’ve also been able to get very close to the distributors, review performance and make changes if necessary to achieve a better fit and, in many cases, a better financial footing. France, for example, has seen the biggest growth anywhere in the world, and that is directly the result of a change in distributor.”

EMEA takes you in and out of the EU, of course, while other border issues arise from further warehousing in Shanghai, Hong Kong and the US. The payroll presence of Notion software expert Chris Swaffer in the UK and the PreSonus Software business in Hamburg has recently been appended by the hiring of director of international sales Ignazio Vagnone, who covers the entire territory.

PreSonus’s StudioLive desk

“PreSonus is changing fast, entering new markets that need the development of specific tools and skills in order to be addressed properly,” Vagnone states. “We want our distribution partners to grow together with us, investing together on new businesses.

Some of the latest product ranges, such as the StudioLive RM mixers and the WorxAudio loudspeakers, put PreSonus in the spotlight of many new potential partners in live and installed sound – whom we identify as the ‘commercial audio’ market. This is the largest growth opportunity and at the same time the biggest challenge we’ll face in 2015.”

Greenan’s skills match perfectly Michelle Lynch’s expertise in export compliance and international trade. She also trained as a barrister, and believes these are qualities that give PEL the edge. “It’s a little bit outside the usual pro-audio personnel mix,” she says. “I’ve done a lot of work with Fortune 500 companies on regulatory controls, EU regulations and compliance – including due

diligence, health and safety, export licensing and so on – and started working with PreSonus nine years ago. I was involved in the setting up of the company on a legal basis, and ensuring that from a logistical perspective they were set up properly. I sit on the board of each of the three PreSonus companies.

“But if you combine my skill set – I was at one stage a VP in the World Trade Centers Association in New York working on global compliance and licensing – with people like Eugene, there’s a great synergy when we link up with people around us who’ve had a lifetime in the industry. It enables us to do it just that little bit differently, to maybe break the mould. There’s no shortage of passion for music. Eugene may have worked for BMW, but that special enthusiasm for music is always present, as it is for myself, Ignazio, Paul and Lee. With a real product evangelist like Lee, you can see it’s in his blood.”

Indeed. In Cavan, product specialist Lee Boylan and sales manager Paul Mason complete the team. “PreSonus gear aims to help the musician do really pro stuff very easily,” says Boylan who, as a musician and sound engineer himself, is a well known figure on the Dublin music scene, “but then the pro guys will use all these features too and will definitely not regard the products as anything less than top-quality, professional equipment. There’s so much inside these products that they tick all the boxes. All you have to do is reach in and find it all – and we’ll help you

“There’s so much inside our products that they tick all the boxes. All you have to do is reach in and find it all – and we’ll help you do that” Lee Boylan, product specialist, PreSonus Europe do that.”

“If I was to sum up PreSonus’s presence in Europe,” adds Lynch, “I’d say it was about communication. It’s about us communicating with our end-users and understanding what they need, and understanding what the market requires from an EU and EMEA perspective, as opposed to a US-centric view. Ultimately, we’re communicating what our

product is all about: looking under the bonnet and explaining exactly what we’re offering. We’ve produced a lot of videos and brochures, but there’s more to it than that. To quote George Bernard Shaw: ‘The problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place.’ The market does not yet fully understand what have to offer, and that’s why we’re here.” Q www.presonus.com

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For the latest broadcast news www.psneurope.com/broadcast

broadcast SOUNDBITES

The sound teams behind Interstellar, Birdman, American Sniper and Unbroken are nominated in both sound categories of this month’s 87th Academy Awards. The four films are joined by The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies in the best sound editing category and Whiplash in the best sound mixing category. Interstellar is also nominated for best original score alongside The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, Mr Turner and The Theory of Everything. oscar.go.com

Aspen Media has been appointed UK-distributor for Milton Keynesbased Bel Digital Group. “We are delighted to be the new distributor for the Bel Digital Group’s range of monitoring and MADI products,” says Aspen media director Chris Collings, “and it’s great to be handling a British brand. Bel Digital audio and audio/video monitors are extremely simple to operate, robust, well designed and renowned for clarity and intelligibility.” The Bel Digital line will be on show on Aspen’s stand at BVE (L30). www.aspen-madi.com Yamaha CL5 and QL1 digital consoles mixed the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize awards ceremony, broadcast live from Oslo city hall to an estimated one billion viewers worldwide on 10 December.

Bernt Austad, mix engineer for the prestigious event – which was awarded jointly to children’s education campaigners Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai – has used Yamaha digital consoles since 1995. “I choose them because of their stability,” he says. “They never crash or need rebooting – and I really don’t need to reboot when one billion people are listening!” www.yamahacommercial audio.com BroaMan’s Danish distributor, Danmon, which has provided broadcast solutions to public service broadcaster TV2 for nearly two decades, recently upgraded its SNG OB truck (DNK-47) from SD to HD. The Odense-based also moved its commentator intercom onto a Clear-Com platform and added a BroaMan Mux22 transmission device for signal routing. www.broadcastmanufactur.com www.clearcom.com

EUROPE

R128 supplement sets new target for commercials’ loudness The EBU standard for achieving consistent sound levels between programmes and ads is not yet five years old, but has now been updated to deal with the difficult area of short-term loudness. Kevin Hilton reports WHEN THE EUROPEAN R128 loudness standard was introduced in September 2010, Florian Camerer, chairman of the PLOUD working group that developed it and an ORF sound engineer, called it “an important first step but not the end of the game.” While he was certain this approach to dealing with the problem of discrepancies in audio levels between television programmes, commercials and promos would “stand the test of time”, Camerer said that didn’t mean it couldn’t be improved.

That pragmatic view has been proved correct with the publication of a supplement to R128 being published at the end of last year and forthcoming updates to supporting guidelines. The S1 addition to the central loudness standard sets parameters for short-form material, such as advertisements and promotional bumpers and interstitials. This appeared towards the beginning of December and is, as Camerer observes, still “pretty fresh”.

Short-term and momentary loudness are probably the trickiest elements of what is a generally tricky, subjective area of technology and operational practices. The original R128 document gave a value of +3 LU (loudness units), equivalent to -20 LUFS (loudness units relative to full scale), as the maximum level for short-term material. Camerer explains that this was drawn up as “the first rough guideline” but with the realisation that more evidence and experience was needed as time went on.

“What happened in subsequent years was that these

Camerer: aiming to “harmonise short-term loudness for commercials”

numbers were taken, usually by non-sound engineers, and put into delivery specifications,” he says. “But these first numbers for short-term loudness were too restrictive and we needed to open it up to +5 LU as a recommendation, while keeping +8 for momentary. The feedback we were getting from mixing companies was that +3 was too strict.”

The recommendations for short-term and momentary loudness were contained in one of the four EBU technical documents that accompanied R128: 3343 Practical Guidelines for Production and Implementation, outlining the practical application of the standard. “We were saying that was a first step but as people didn’t listen we decided to solve this [problem] and go for the most severe measure, a

supplement to R128,” Camerer says. “This is the strictest move and once and for all will clarify and fix the issue at +5 and +8, all organised in a nice table.”

R128 S1 maintains the original target for programme loudness level at -23 LUFS, while allowing that this may be lower on purpose “in special circumstances”. As before the recommendation is that the audio signal should “generally be measured in its entirety, without emphasis on foreground elements such as voice, music or sound effects”.

Another requirement is for measurements to be taken on a “loudness meter compliant with ITU-R BS 1770 [the international standard for loudness published in 2006] and EBU Tech Doc 3341 [loudness metering in ‘EBU mode’].

The supplement states

that there is “especial need to give guidance” for shortform material, covering commercials and promos, using the Maximum Momentary Loudness and Maximum Shortterm Loudness parameters, as well as those for Programme Loudness and Maximum True Peak Level. The document emphasises: “The measure ‘Loudness Range’ is not useful for short-form content as it is based on a statistical analysis of the Short-term Loudness values (3s). For commercials [and] promos this leaves too few data points for a meaningful result.”

This now sets maximum shortterm loudness at -18 LUFS (+5 LU on the relative scale) and -15 LUFS (+8 LU on the relative scale) for maximum momentary loudness.

“The main reason for doing this is to harmonise short-term loudness for commercials,” explains Camerer. “We hope this will now spread over the whole of Europe.” Camerer has also been working on an update of 3343, which he hoped would be published this month once it was finished and agreed by the EBU technical committee.

These recommendations are intended to deal with the situation of big screen films being “mixed louder and louder” and achieve a consistent level in relation with commercials for TV transmission. Camerer says this is a guide for broadcasters and mixers and hopes another addition to R128 will not be necessary: “We want to keep the number of supplements as few as possible,” he concludes. Q www.ebu.ch

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broadcast EUROPE

EBU builds for digital radio success with new ‘Toolkit’

By Kevin Hilton

Even with the current rollout of DAB and the growth in DAB+, radio continues to lag behind television and new media in embracing digital transmission.

With FM still seen as the most universal platform for the medium, the EBU is putting a big push behind digits with Digital Radio Toolkit, designed to highlight “good practices” and encourage countries to follow the lead of Norway, Switzerland and the UK in establishing infrastructures based on newer technologies.

The Toolkit project is intended to move on from the EBU’s Recommendation on Digital Radio Distribution in Europe (EBU R138). This proposes that the principal form of digital radio implementation should be DAB+, the enhanced

30 Broadcast v1 JC.indd 1

and higher capacity version of DAB. If, and only if, it is not possible to achieve coverage through DAB, AM equivalent DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) is suggested as an option.

The Digital Radio Toolkit document was based on 34 “semi-structured personal interviews” with EBU members and other “relevant radio industry stakeholders” that took place between May and July 2014. The subjects included “top and middle managers in public service media organisations, commercial broadcasters, network operators, government departments dealing with radio issues, regulatory authorities, industry trade bodies and car manufacturers”.

Divided into eight sections, the report looks at the primary aspects involved in moving radio more fully into the digital

domain: the institutional structure, policy and regulation, content and offer, technology, the switchover procedure, getting the message to the public, consumer electronics and increasing the take-up of the technology by the car§ industry.

More specifically, the EBU has created “Five Cs” it sees as important to the success of digital radio: coverage, especially in not offering listeners something less than existing analogue services; content, ensuring that the programming is strong, diverse and appeals to people not currently catered for; costs, with higher investment kept to a minimum through careful planning; collaboration, ensuring that all involved work together; and communication, to make people aware of emerging platforms.

The Toolkit highlights the experiences of three countries in what can help in establishing digital radio services. In both Norway and the UK the involvement of all “stakeholders” has been a key factor, involving both public and commercial broadcasters.

Both countries, the report claims, have seen existing commercial broadcasters in particular compete against streaming and internet radio by expanding their digital presence and offering more variety. Another boost has come from forming industry organisations to promote the technology and provide information, such as Digital Radio UK and DigiMig in Switzerland.

While there is still some cynicism and doubt within the radio

market as to the future and potential of digital radio, the roll-out continues, with further DAB+ services going on air in Germany, growing audience figures in Norway and the British government announcing plans for 182 additional DAB transmitters. n www.ebu.ch

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showpreview

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BVE

When? 24–26 February

A broad(cast) church

A very busy BVE 2014

Pro audio is back on the air for BVE 2015, and Jon Chapple, Michael Burns and Philip Stevens think it’s going to ExCeL itself NAMM may be over but the year rolls on unabated, with two major shows for the pro-audio industry in February. The second of these, the Broadcast Video Expo (BVE), takes place at the ExCeL London from 24–26 February (we’re previewing the first, ISE, on page 48) – and it’s all change for the UK’s biggest broadcast event in 2015.

Last year’s expo was criticised by some for a perceived lack of audio coverage, prompting organiser i2i Events Group to guarantee an increase in content for pro-audio visitors for BVE 2015. It also added Malcolm Johnson, head of the secretariat of the Institute of Professional Sound, to its advisory panel, to “ensure what [BVE] deliver[s] provides insight, solutions and a platform to networking and exchange ideas for audio professionals.”

Event director Alison Willis is also keen to address the topic of the blurring of lines between ‘traditional’ broadcast and pro AV/audio. “When live theatrical events are being broadcast to cinemas in 4K […] the very term ‘broadcast’ becomes something much wider than before,” she comments. “It’s increasingly important to have an event where people from all areas can come together to discuss their experiences, share their knowledge and learn from each other, and our aim with BVE is to ask the right questions and bring in experts who can answer them.

“We thank our advisory board, which includes representatives from every area of the industry, for helping us to shape the show and ensure it is relevant,

informative and inspiring in these exciting times for broadcasting.”

Meanwhile, BVE 2015 will address what it calls “the looming skills shortage in production and engineering”, with a dedicated afternoon for ‘broadcasters of the future’ from noon on 26 February. These tailored sessions will educate and advise students, recent graduates and young people starting out in the industry, highlighting “the skills they need and how to get them”.

Confirmed sessions include file service delivery seminars with the BBC Academy and a networking session, facilitated by Ravensbourne college, with leading industry figures.

Bluebell Opticom will use BVE 2015 to launch the Caddie-LB 4K. Designed specifically for outside broadcast (OB) and deployable applications, the

unit provides a single cable link between cameras and ENG/OB units. Based on field-proven technology, the Caddie-LB 4K offers a range of signals to the operator, including programme audio, video, comms, data and genlock for camera control and synchronisation. All signals are multiplexed onto two fibres to ensure easy and quick system rigging.

Caddie-LB 4K units have already been deployed successfully at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and at concert venues for high-profile UHD tests.

“We aim to make our customers’ jobs simpler by designing innovative, reliable products,” comments

The Roland M-5000 live digital mixing console, which will make its UK debut at BVE turn to page 34

34 l February 2015

showpreview Paul McCann, managing director of Bluebell Opticom.

“We’ve hit the mark again with the latest entries to our product line, which we’ll be demonstrating at BVE. Beyond that, we look forward to connecting with current and future customers to hear about their latest needs and challenges.”

Calrec is featuring its Dante interface, which works in conjunction with Hydra2 across the entire range of Calrec Bluefin2 consoles. The development gives Audinate Dante connectivity to every client on a Hydra2 network via a simple, single-width 3U interface card. This provides 64 audio input and 64 output channels, with connectivity via dual-redundant RJ45 Ethernet connectors on the card’s front panel.

Also on display are Apollo and Summa consoles networked using Hydra2 technology. Hydra2 offers more than just a signal transport system: it is also a powerful management tool that provides increased network-wide control of many parameters. Broadcasters can remotely configure mic gain, phantom power, patching, port protection, alias files, virtual patchbays

Netia Media Assist software and access rights.

“BVE gives us the opportunity to demonstrate new technology and features to some of our longest-standing customers,” says Jim Green, UK sales manager for Calrec. “Not only can we show them what we have developed, but it is a forum for us to listen to our customers’ thoughts in order to provide the market with products that meet the changing needs of live broadcasters.”

Netia will showcase its new Media Assist software suite, which seeks to provide a complete solution for “managing workflows from ingest through to delivery”. The company will demonstrate how the new suite enables content owners and content producers – from radio broadcasters and television stations to organisations maintaining media archives – to access, retrieve and share or distribute their digital assets or media to any platform.

Media Assist “unites the unique functionality of Netia’s proven radio broadcast automation and media management products with a SQL database,” says the company, “to provide a robust multimedia asset management system with a full complement of

Salzbrenner POLARIS evolution

www.psneurope.com

BVE Just the five days’ worth of seminars, then…

BVE’s free seminar programme, totalling over 120 hours of presentations, returns for 2015, hosting speakers from the Raindance Film Festival, the BBC, Sky, Viacom and FremantleMedia and covering “the latest production issues and technological trends, as well as exploring the connected world and multi-platform content”.

The Producers’ Theatre should be particularly fun this year as a major new feature – Live! Ammunition! – makes its debut. The session is a chance to pitch ideas for a film to a panel moderated by Elliott Grove, founder of the Raindance Film Festival and British Independent Film Awards. A live competition, Live! Ammunition! is open to any attendee with £5 in their pocket and will see competitors attempting to convince the panel to watch their film or read their screenplay.

production tools.

“With this powerful new solution, users can manage all types of content, in any format, on any platform, anywhere, at any time. The software suite also makes it easier for users to move media among sites.”

Attention on the Riedel stand will be focused on three new products. The Tango TNG-200 is Riedel’s first network-based platform supporting RAVENNA/AES67 and AVB standards. Along with powerful processing capabilities, the Tango features two Riedel digital party lines, two RAVENNA/ AES67 and AVB-compatible ports, two Ethernet ports, one option slot and redundant power supplies. The dedicated intercom application turns Tango into a 40 x 80 matrix intercom system that users can be tailored to users’ needs.

The RSP-2318 Smartpanel includes three highresolution, multi-touch TFT displays, stereo audio, multilingual character set and 18 keys in 1R, and can be expanded through the use of apps. RAVENNA/AES67 and AVB connectivity are standard, with AES3 over CAT/coax optional.

Finally, the STX-200 professional broadcast-grade interface brings any Skype user into the professional broadcast environment. Licensed by Microsoft, STX200 is a single-box solution that delivers contributions from reporters and viewers into live programming while avoiding problems such as consumer PCs running common Skype clients, external scan and HDMI-toSDI convertersor audio dropouts and menu pop-ups on the live feed. The 1RU box offers broadcast-quality HD-SDI and balanced XLR audio I/Os and is packaged with professional Microsoft Skype TX software.

The next-generation live digital mixing console from Roland Systems Group, the M-5000, will make its official UK debut at BVE. The groundbreaking console, previewed exclusively in PSNEurope (‘M-5000 is “huge step forward” for Roland Systems Group’, PSNEurope November 2014), is based on a brand-new operating platform – OHRCA (Open High-Resolution Configurable Architecture) – that provides more adaptability to individual workflows than ever before.

The key to the M-5000’s internal architecture is that it is not fixed to any configuration. It can be freely defined within a range of up to 128 input or output channels or busses, allowing the operator to ‘build’ a console to suit the application. Each path can be used as a mixing channel, aux, matrix, subgroup bus or mix-minus bus in any input/output configuration. One primary application might be for the monitor position, where a high number of auxiliary buses are needed, although Roland says the M-5000 is “equally at home” at FOH.

Raindance Film Festival’s Elliott Grove

Bluebell Caddie-LB 4K Finally, Salzbrenner is presenting the POLARIS evolution, a tactile and adaptable network mixing console for broadcast, OBs, live sound, theatres and recording studios.

The evolution’s multi-touchscreen view, its primary user interface, presents a dynamic view of only the keys and settings relevant at that moment. The desk also incorporates Scala, Salzbrenner’s new digital mixing DSP, which can be shared by multiple users over a network via Ethernet, internet or Wi-Fi. Joining Salzbrenner on Aspen Media’s stand are the four other German manufacturers it represents: RTW, Jünger Audio, DirectOut and Delec. Q www.bvexpo.com www.aspen-media.com www.bluebellcomms.co.uk www.calrec.com www.netia.com www.riedel.net www.rolandsystemsgroup.eu www.stagetec.com

Calrec Apollo

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live SOUNDBITES

The image of Eru Ilúvatar in January’s PSNEurope article on the G. Lettimi Orchestra’s musical version of The Silmarillion (‘Everybody’s Tolkien’) was credited incorrectly. The illustration is a sketch, Melkor weaves opposing music, by Ted Nasmith, and not by Jef Murray, as previously stated. www.tednasmith.com Historic Denmark Street music venue the 12 Bar Club became the latest victim of the cull of the Soho music scene when it was forced to close on 16 January. The closure of the venue, owned by property developer Consolidated, comes against the backdrop of the continued development of the Crossrail project, which has already directly led to the demolition of the Astoria theatre. www.12barclub.com Audiosales has taken over distribution for Powersoft in Italy. The Florence-based amp manufacturer joined brands including Martin Audio, DAS Audio, XTA and Optocore in the company’s portfolio on 1 January.“We are very pleased to begin this collaboration with Powersoft,” says Stefano Rocchi, the owner of Audiosales.“The products and technology embraced by Powersoft perfectly match the requirements of the market in both the touring and installation sectors. With the addition of Powersoft to our brand portfolio, we can now provide our clients with solutions at the very cutting edge of innovation. Our goal is to make Powersoft amplifiers the standard for the Italian market. www.audiosales.it LEO-M and LYON linear line array loudspeakers from Meyer Sound provided audio support for the Oslo leg of Top Gear Live in late November. The 15,000-capacity Telenor Arena played host to to the theatrical adaptation of the popular BBC motoring show from the 28th to the 30th. Theis Romme, system designer and audio project manager for Victory Tour Production, the principal audio supplier for the shows, says the system performed “perfectly”. He adds: “The sound quality of the music tracks […] supported the visual spectacle, while the vocal clarity brought out the unique personalities of the hosts.” www.meyersound.com

For the latest live news www.psneurope.com/live

UNITED KINGDOM

DAD knows best Italian passion comes to the UK and Ireland, courtesy of AC Entertainment Technologies. Jon Chapple finds out more ONE OF THE more interesting stories to appear in last year’s glut of pre-Christmas announcements was the news that High Wycombe and Leeds-based AC Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) has been appointed exclusive UK and RoI distributor of Dynamic Audio Device (DAD) – a household name in its native Italy and much of continental Europe, but a relative unknown in the British Isles.

AC-ET’s audio sales division, AC Audio, said at the time that it was the DAD range’s “high performance at a very attractive price point” which brought the brand to its attention and convinced the distributor that it had the potential to be successful in the UK.“After spending many months looking for a brand that would live up to our strict criteria of performance, reliability and value for money, a visit to the brand’s parent company’s facility in Italy confirmed that this was the right manufacturer for us to partner with,” comments AC-ET audio and visual director Peter Butler.

Offering solutions ranging from “small PA loudspeaker solutions [and] power amplifiers right up to high-end, largescale line array systems”, the DAD portfolio includes several distinct models – HDA (High Density Array); MA (Modular

The DAD Live series

Array); Touring System; Touring Power; Fusion; Live; and Event – each of which it says are “ideal for concerts, [...] fixed installations in theatres and onstage monitoring”.

The company behind DAD started life as a supplier of audio production technologies to the Italian market, but in 2001 “took advantage of [its] extensive industry experience to develop [its] own range of pro-audio solutions”, explains CEO Fabio Sorabella. He tells PSNEurope: “[We] created a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility idyllically located on the coast of the province of Latina, which features offices, a showroom, production plants and warehouses.

“Creativity, innovation and customer satisfaction are the main principles supporting the company’s philosophy. This includes carefully analysing and

Dynamic Audio Device’s parent company celebrates 25 years in the industry last year. CEO Fabio Sorabella is front row, centre (fifth from the left)

monitoring each phase of the production process, including R&D, design, production, quality control and sales and marketing.”

Alongside DAD’s individual active loudspeakers, subwoofers and stage monitors, AC-ET also offers a range of DAD speaker packages. Portable PA systems range from under £920 (DJ package) to £1530 (solo act package), while a full ‘venue package’, suitable for installs, touring, houses of worship and pubs and clubs – comprising two DAD Live 12A active speakers, two 15SA subs and two AS230 speaker poles – will set you back just shy of £1600.

So, affordability is a big factor – but what else does Sorabella think sets DAD apart from its rivals in the touring and installation sectors? Well, “technological innovation, passion and industry knowhow” are a good start (the brains behind DAD can lay claim to “25 years’ sales, rental and manufacturing experience in the entertainment production industry”).

He continues: “The company always places central focus on customers’ needs to ensure [it] delivers a product which meets users’ ultimate requirements in

terms of performance and value.

“By adopting highly efficient product design and manufacturing processes, and utilising our strong relationships with audio manufacturers to source components at very competitive prices, we are able to bring to market products which offer a new level of performance and value for their price point.”

Italy is a crowded place to be an up-and-coming loudspeaker manufacturer – there isn’t exactly a paucity of rivals in the immediate vicinity – but Sorabella believes DAD’s ‘made in Italy’ badge is one that should be worn with pride. “[‘Made in Italy’] is a proud mark of DAD’s brand values,” he concludes, “which are to offer creative, competitive audio solutions that are the result of real passion, featuring top-quality construction, technological innovation, high attention to detail and the beautiful design for which Italian products are known.”

AC-ET will showing selected models from its Dynamic Audio Device range at the 2015 PLASA London, PLASA Focus Leeds and Glasgow and ABTT shows, among others. Q www.ac-et.com/audio

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live

UNITED KINGDOM

No palaver for Paloma Paloma Faith, Tom Jones and a choir of hundreds bid a fond farewell to Earl’s Court

The first BBC Music Awards saw Britannia Row running the technical side for a showstopping evening of live music and gong-giving.

Dave Robinson was backstage at one of Earl’s Court’s final shows “They’ve done the right thing!” says Lez Dwight, the ‘they’ being the BBC. “There are lots of audio companies that do this kind of thing but Brit Row has built a reputation for doing many-band TV shows – Live Aid, the MTV EMAs, Chime for Change…”

And the Brits, of course.

It’s almost too easy to draw a comparison between December’s inaugural BBC Music Awards and the long standing BPI ‘Brit’ Awards event, but Britannia Row Productions can now claim to have done both.

Chris Evans and Fearne Cotton have been lined up for tonight’s proceedings, one of the last events to be held

The two DiGiCo SD5s at FOH

at London’s Earl’s Court (the old home of the Brits, of course). Guests planned include Coldplay, One Direction, Ed Sheeran, Clean Bandit and Calvin Harris, plus a finale featuring Paloma Fiath, Tom Jones and a huge choir conducted by viewers’ favourite Gareth Malone. Awards dished out will include British Artist of the Year, International Artist of the Year and Song of the Year.

New Zealand-born Dwight is Brit Row’s first point of contact for the show’s production manager, and therefore more than qualified to show PSNEurope around backstage.

The hire company has provided a L–R system using L-Acoustics K1 and K2 speakers, with five

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live delay hangs to cover the whole venue and a KARA centrefill just to smooth over any potential hole.

“You can crank the angles so you hit most of the floor, along with the frontfills – and you have variable dispersion on the horizontal so you can adjust that… we’ve got them open to 110 degrees,” says Dwight.

With three stages in one, we are talking around 35m of width, so that dispersion is important.

And a sold-out audience of some 13,000, of course.

Deskwise, it’s all DiGiCo (“keeping everything the same brand is easier for networking and MADI streams”) except for the presenter board, which tonight is a Midas PRO2. There

are three performance stages, which will work with a flip-flop arrangement for FOH and monitors (… think about that).

“We’ve got two SD7s at monitors, which offer more outputs for the monitor engineers, then SD5s at FOH, and an SD10 submixing the stems from the orchestra.

Whenever you do a BBC show you have the BBC orchestra…”

The only band that brought in a desk was Coldplay, for mons and broadcast. [Always bloody Coldplay, eh? – Ed] At the splitters, there are 48 channels going to each of the FOH desks and the broadcast truck, where, somewhere outside the venue, Toby Alington is mixing the show for the

audience at home.

“Our responsibility is that the mics work, that all the feeds are clean,” says Dwight. “The first time I did this, adding the live element, you know – if a mic goes down, you add another mic... but when it’s going live to broadcast, you need to have the best possible crew, the best possible equipment.”

Dwight, whose CV includes the EMAs and Chime for Change, seems quite unfazed by the evening.

“I’m very confident in the guys – we employ the best possible freelancers that we can find. We had the sad loss of Derrick Zieba who, if he was around,would be the guy here… but the calibre of the engineers

we have is huge.

“Nearly all the bands will bring engineers, but they see a lot of familiar faces on at this type of event. They know Brit Row is doing it, which is quite calming for them.”

This just in: Dwight calls Earl’s Court “not the easiest”.

Who knew? “But it’s quite cool to be doing one of the last gigs here.

Will he miss the place?

“Yes! [laughs] It will be a shame because there is nowhere else west London of this size, and Wembley Arena is not the same. We’ll be missing another live space, gone forever!”

It will be up to Bombay Bicycle Club to turn off the lights just a few days later, in fact. Thank you, Earl’s Court, and good night. Q www.britanniarow.com www.bbc.co.uk/music

“I’m very confident in the guys...

We had the sad loss of Derrick Zieba who, if he was around, would be the guy here, but the calibre of the engineers we have is huge” Lez Dwight, Britannia Row

A few words with the crew chief…

Colin Pink: “I’m crew chief for Brit Row and broadcast liaison, effectively heading up the team and geting all the band info, trying to get a plan together that will work on the schedule… being that it’s 13 bands in two hours, with an awards show, the logistics is the tricky bit, doing the changeovers… whether or not the band are playing live or not!

PSNEurope: But this is bread and butter to you?

I’ve had to step up following the unfortunate demise of Mr Zieba. I don’t know whether I’m filling his shoes but I’m certainly walking in his footsteps. And it’s all working very well. It’s all about using everybody’s strengths.

What about prepping for the event?

Weirdly, it’s been a relaxed week. The hard bit is getting info out of bands, because they don’t know what they want to do for the show and they are working to a BBC brief, so those decisions are made late in the day... it’s trying to get enough information out of them so that if they change their minds you can cover it. It’s trying to keep the flexibility in the system to work the changes, but trying to tie down as many aspects as you can.”

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live UNITED KINGDOM

Florence and the lean Jon Chapple listened to K-array’s ultra-slim new Firenze speaker system before it departed stateside IT HAS ALREADY rocked the Chinese festival circuit, with appearances at the Great Wall Music Festival in Beijing and JZ Festival in Shanghai, since its launch in October last year, but on 7 January K-array’s latest touring system, the Firenze series, made its debut in the UK. “We’ve had lots of good feedback from American sound engineers and from the festivals in China… everybody is happy,” Francesco Maffei, product specialist manager at K-array, told PSNEurope at the launch at the Barbican Centre in London, held in association with the company’s British distributor, Sennheiser UK. “Next week I will be in New York to take the first system there. You can do huge things outside the UK and America, but it doesn’t have the same impact. We did a lot of things in China, and the same in Italy, with the biggest Italian artists…”

Comprising the KH8, a flat,

The KH8, with ‘slim array technology’ (SAT), launched in October after three years of development

self-powered line array with ‘slim array technology’ (SAT) and the ability to independently tilt each loudspeaker within the totally straight enclosure, and the KS8 subwoofer, Maffei described Firenze – named for K-array’s home in Florence (Firenze in Italian) – as “a rock and roll system where you can really get a lot of SPL” (145dBs of it, no less).

However, according to Maffei, many of the features that make Firenze such an effective piece of touring kit – its weather resistance, high power, small size and flat design (the KH8 is less than a foot [30cm] deep) – also make it suitable for fixed installations. “It’s a system that stays straight, so it’s easier to integrated into the design of the room,” he explained, “and it’s loud! Especially with the subs – what we’ve seen in clubs is that they are really happy with just four subs on a big dancefloor. So, [the advantages of Firenze for installers are that] it’s flat and smaller than our competitors, but at the same time louder – you can make good coverage with just three panels a side. Everything, anyway, can be used without the KH8 box, as a normal selfpowered speaker.”

Firenze KH8 features eight built-in DSP channels per enclosure drive, which separate sections of 20 HF, MF and LMF transducers.

Shaping of the wavefront and all beam steering and coverage optimisation is performed electronically by filters calculated by FIRmaker, the sound optimisation tool developed by German proaudio software company Ahnert Feistel Media Group (AFMG).

FIRmaker, which AFMG says makes it possible to “‘design’ the coverage that a system provides onto the exact audience areas”, has also since been integrated into Powersoft amps and – in combination with the company’s TrueAIM system optimisation software – WorxAudio speakers, but it was originally developed for K-array, said Maffei.

Francesco Maffei of K-array addresses the Barbican’s concert hall at the UK launch of the Firenze series

When the Firenze series launched, K-array president Alex Tatini used the press release to thank “the incredible team we have here in Tuscany, the European Commission and our colleagues in the pro-audio world”. The first and third thanks are self-explanatory, but (unless Tatini is merely praising the single market and/or the end of the tyranny of bendy bananas) the second requires some explanation – presumably the company receives EU funding to help with its R&D budget?

“You mentioned earlier about noise pollution… it’s connected mainly to the digital steering part,” explained Maffei.

(He confirmed to PSNEurope earlier in the day that the FIRmaker-optimised KH8 is suitable for built-up areas where noise spillage would be an issue: “What you can do is use the software to avoid areas; so, as soon as your oblique area is finished, you can close it virtually and try to maintain the sound as much as possible inside.”) “It’s always useful if you can find a little help – especially considering we are quite a small company… and it’s a nice recognition from someone else that we are doing a good job.”

For those that need even more precise coverage, the KH8 will be joined at Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt by its baby brother, the KH7. “It’s able to play in both directions and fill only the places that you need,” Maffei explained. “[The KH8] is more the main PA that has to be loud…”

The flat line array is a design that is uniquely K-array’s, but it’s usually only a matter of time before any innovative technology spawns a slew of imitators. Why does Maffei think that, almost 11 years on

from the launch of the KH4, the company’s only-slightlycurvy debut loudspeaker, the same hasn’t happened to K-array? “We’ve had some copies but nothing serious,” he commented. “It’s probably a little too crazy for our competitors to follow us!”

“It works and we are really happy and that’s why we went on with that approach,” he concluded. “It saves space, it saves time [and], today, it’s doable… so let’s do it.” Q www.k-array.com en-uk.sennheiser.com

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live ITALY

Electro-Dada Top Italian pianist Stefano Bollani makes a unique theatre debut with live electronics, reports Mike Clark Francesco Canavese at front of house

Photo: Margherita Cenni

Dada Queen Valentina Cenni on stage

avant-garde wonderland, where she meets a depressed Pan and other fantastic creatures with whom she talks about the past, present, future, life and death.

Founded in Florence in 1987 by Luciano Berio, Tempo Reale (TR) is one of Europe’s main reference points for research, production and educational activity in the field of new musical technology and

Photo: Valentina Cenni

AFTER HOSTING a comedy radio show on music for RAI 3 and a successful live TV show, eclectic Italian pianist Stefano Bollani – an ingenious character with a natural gift as an entertainer – recently debuted as author and actor (as well as composing the music) in La Regina Dada (The Dada Queen), a highly original theatrical production with actress Valentina Cenni, actor Paolo Livolsi and spatialised sound and live electronics by Tempo Reale.

Bollani played professionally from an early age, but his career took off when trumpeter Enrico Rava invited him to join him for a series of concerts in Paris.

Two years later, Musica Jazz magazine nominated Bollani best new talent, and in 2003 he was the first European musician to win Japan’s Swing Journal’s New Star Award. Although he has played with jazz icons such as Richard Galliano, Gato Barbieri, Pat Metheny, Phil Woods and Lee Konitz, his often ironic, bizarre and offbeat music includes musical settings for surreal poetry; an oratory for four voices, narrator and piano; and compositions for jazz trio and symphonic orchestra.

Cenni plays the part of a modern-day Alice in a surreal

Stefano Bollani plays the part of a rabbit, a panda and Pan in La Regina Dada

electronic music – particularly the study of real-time sound processing and interaction between sound and space and acoustic instruments and digital systems. Many of the centre’s recent projects have highlighted the possibilities offered by live sound processing and spatialisation.

TR’s Francesco Canavese, the show’s sound director, explains its work: “Sound design by Francesco Giomi and other TR members consisted of various audio contributions: sonic ‘textures’ to characterise the various scenes; sound environments for the actors’ performances; rhythmic/gestural backings, to which Bollani added short piano pieces; forming soundtracks used in various parts of the show; and a series of sounds ‘animating’ the Dada Queen’s household objects, such as a curtain moving, a plate falling or a passing fly.”

As well as supervising sound system installation and microphone placement (DPA d:fine headset mics with a flesh-coloured DPA d:screet 4060 mic taped to them as a back-up), Canavese’s work consists of controlling the actors’ amplification, mixing their voices with the sounds,

Photo: Elisabetta Macumelli triggering recorded audio content and DSP algorithms used to process the actors’ voices and controlling their parameters and volumes.

“The processing doesn’t transform the voices’ natural timbre, but ‘enriches’ it using ring modulation, pitch shifting and filtered delays,” continues Canavese, “and each voice is ‘positioned’ using reverb algorithms. This work must be done carefully to ensure speech is perfectly intelligible – fundamental in this type of work. Further DSP is applied to a wooden platform, on which Valentina Cenni dances, with a Schaller Oyster pickup applied to its underside, producing amplified sounds which are also electronically processed.”

Audio contributions are played back in sync with performers’ movements via Ableton Live, which also hosts the DSP algorithms processing the actors’ voices. All are controlled by Canavese from his Yamaha 01V96 FOH console, which, as well as mixing, doubles as an Ableton control unit, with its user-defined keys used as MIDI controls.

The main PA varies from theatre to theatre, but the show’s production carries eight d&b E8 speakers (in various

positions onstage, front field and behind the audience) and two d&b B4 subwoofers, powered by six d&b D6 amps.

Canavese concludes: “All the sounds are spatialised in one way or another, associating them with objects on stage or specific areas of the set or immersing the audience in sound arriving from various points. The static positions – and random movements in the more ‘gestural’ electronic parts – contrast with the voices, almost always fixed and mainly fed out through enclosures flown stagecentre.”

Bollani, who plays the part of a rabbit, a panda and Pan, and whose white-gloved hands are seen playing a piano set in a window frame, also plays and sings two Brazilian songs. He enthuses: “For this production I was inspired by Dada theatre, which I’ve always loved. The idea began as a monologue, then we added other artists on stage… If it continues like this, we’ll soon be doing a full-blown musical with dancers!” Q www.stefanobollani.com www.temporeale.it www.ableton.com www.dbaudio.com www.dpamicrophones.com www.schaller-electronic.com www.yamahaproaudio.com

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For the latest installation news www.psneurope.com/installation

Q

installation WORLD

SOUNDBITES A new three-room live music venue has been created in a converted industrial building in Leiden, the Netherlands. The sound system installation for the Gebr. de Nobel venue was carried out by TM Audio – who participated successfully in a European public tender in early 2013 – and based around a compact line array from Martin Audio. www.martin-audio.com Out Board has appointed Electro Waves as Finnish distributor for the TiMax SoundHub audio showcontrol matrix and TiMax Tracker performer tracking system. The company will also sell Out Board’s LV and DV chain-hoist controllers. “TiMax has proved popular in Finland, and that enthusiasm is rising for TiMax SoundHub and Tracker,”says Electro Waves’ Kurt Nyback, “so we see a very promising future for the range with [us].” www.outboard.co.uk www.electrowaves.fi

Meyer Sound CAL becomes first AVnu-certified speaker The first of many? The CAL follows Extreme Networks’ Summit X440 switches and Crown’s DCi Network Display amps as the third certification in a year, write Dave Robinson and Jon Chapple MEYER SOUND’S CAL column array speakers have become the first loudspeaker products certified by the AVnu Alliance.

Heard in venues such as the California Memorial Stadium, the Bank of America Stadium in North Carolina, the Musikverein in Austria, the Konzerthaus

Berlin and Bern town hall, CAL loudspeakers, which are available in three models, each with different power capabilities, are designed to “introduce high vocal clarity in even the most reverberant environments and provide exceptional headroom for music and speech reinforcement”. All CAL speakers’ vertical beams can be angled up or down in one-degree increments up to 30 degrees, and the CAL 64 and CAL 96 models also include beamsplitting capabilities.

The AVnu Alliance is the industry consortium that certifies devices using the Audio Video Bridging (AVB) networking standard for interoperability. AVnu certification is given to devices that have implemented the IEEE AVB standards and passed AVnu Alliance’s testing for interoperability and compliance.

“Meyer Sound embraces technology that yields superior audio performance and operating simplicity for our customers,” says Luke Jenks, director of product management at Meyer Sound. “By aggressively addressing the issue of interoperability through AVnu certification, we have taken an important step to help customers create end-to-end AV networks that are easier to plan and less costly to install.”

In December, AVnu and XMOS announced the first AVB audio endpoint reference platform – an “affordable, scalable and productionready solution that allows customers to quickly and easily build a wide range of AVB-enabled audio products, from single speakers and microphones to complex multichannel mixing desks and multi-port conferencing systems” – however, expansion of the portfolio of “AVB-enabled” and -certified products progresses at little more than a snail’s pace. To date, as discussed in David Davies’ scrutiny of the state of AVB last year (‘Has the AVB dream lost its lustre?’, PSNEurope September 2014), only two other product lines have

received certification in the past 12 months: Extreme Networks’ Summit X440 Series switches and the Crown DCi Network Display series of amplifiers.

Rick Kreifeldt, AVnu Alliance chairman, revealed in Davies’ report that devices from Audio Science and Harman were in the midst of certification, while new Pivitec CEO Tom Knesel said that the company planned “to submit its e64i/o MADI-to-AVB bridge for certification” before the year ended.

CAL can be heard live at the Meyer Sound stand at ISE (hall 1, M90) in Amsterdam. Q www.meyersound.com www.avnu.org

Back panel view of the CAL 32 loudspeaker, featuring AVB connectivity

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showpreview

ISE

ISE ISE baby MAKING ITS ISE debut is Aimline, which will show the first models in its ALX-Series of Dante-enabled digitally steerable column loudspeakers in Amsterdam. Describing itself as “a cutting-edge brand backed by a team of time-served pro-audio professionals”, the company was formed late last year by ex-Tannoy, Tascam and Lab. gruppen employees.

ISE 2015 also sees the European launch of the Community I Series high-power, high-output modular loudspeaker

Community I Series

family. The range includes pointsource, high-directivity, compact and floor-monitor models in multiple performance levels, providing modular scalability for a wide range of applications.

New from Crest Audio is the Tactus digital mixing system, which provides a simple, customisable touchscreen operating interface that puts all audio routing, processing and mixing tools within immediate reach. Tactus, which was designed by the Peavey-owned company in partnership with Waves, works with the new Waves eMotion Mixer for SoundGrid and allows the use of Waves audio processing plug-ins for live events.

Another first-time exhibitor is Canadian start-up Mass Fidelity,

When? 10–12 February

Our second preview of the audio firsts on display in Amsterdam this month. Jon Chapple will see you there!

Crest Audio Tactus

which will be displaying its Core compact wireless speaker system and S250 Relay Bluetooth DAC. The Core, funded via a successful Indiegogo campaign, is claimed to offer “better than stereo” sound that moves beyond the idea of having just one sweet spot thanks to Wave Field Synthesis.

Meyer Sound will present Countdown, an “immersive

multichannel sonic adventure that brings the company’s advanced show technology from the world’s most ambitious spectacles to the exhibit floor”.

Countdown features Meyer Sound’s SpaceMap multi-channel dynamic panning software with the D-Mitri digital audio platform.

Meyer Sound will also show its CAL steerable column array loudspeaker, the first AVnucertified AVB loudspeaker (see page 46).

Audio consultancy RH Consulting is to lead a number of educational sessions, including Better than human auto-mixing? on 11 February and the Sports Facility Integration Summit on the 12th, in partnership with

InfoComm Meyer Sound and Sports CAL family Video Group, respectively.

Better than human auto-mixing? will address the “series of revolutionary developments that allow live music to be mixed totally by computer to a standard as good as or perhaps better than humans,” says RH Consulting’s Roland Hemming, and examine how the technology will change audio engineering.

Yamaha will be showing products from its range of

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showpreview solutions for installers, including amplifiers, mixing desks and speakers, and launching as-yetunannounced “new products for the installation market” at ISE. Two of the most recent additions to the Yamaha Commercial Audio’s Commercial Installation Solutions (CIS) series are the MA2030 and PA2030 2 x 30W mixer amplifiers. Both feature a high-efficiency class-D amplifier, silent operation and direct support for both low- and high-impedance speaker systems.

In loudspeakers, a highlight will be the new CBR series. The two-way passive units come in three models, all featuring a newly designed wide-dispersion constant directivity horn, HF protection circuit, M8 rigging points and a highly portable enclosure. Q www.iseurope.org www.aimline-audio.com www.communitypro.com www.massfidelity.com www.meyersound.com www.peaveycommercialaudio.com www.rhconsulting.eu www.yamahacommercialaudio.com

OUT TO WIN InfoComm International, the trade association representing the global AV industry and co-owner ISE, announced its first ‘Women of InfoComm’ networking breakfast for ISE 2015.

The Women of InfoComm Network (WIN) is committed to “promoting and empowering women in the AV and IT industries”. By participating in WIN’s live and online events throughout the year, InfoComm says its members can “make connections, find resources, pursue education, discover mentors and identify opportunities to advance women in the industry”. WIN seeks ways to raise awareness of gender diversity and celebrates the achievements of women who work in AV and IT. “The Women of InfoComm Network breakfast at ISE will explore what women – and men – in the industry can do to encourage women into successful long-term careers in technology,” says Betsy Jaffe, vice-president of communications at InfoComm International.

Sharing experiences and

Sarah Joyce, InfoComm director and Electrosonic VP, EMEA

highlights from her 20-year career in technology, the breakfast will be presented by InfoComm director Sarah Joyce, vice-president, EMEA, at Electrosonic, and Diana Danziger, an organisational development and leadership consultant, will host an interactive session aimed at promoting women in technology. The session concludes with networking and a roundtable discussion to solicit input from participants about potential WIN activities in Europe.

The Women of InfoComm breakfast will take place at the First Lounge restaurant, Amsterdam RAI, from 8–9.30 on 11 February and costs €40. Sign up at the ISE website.

MARTIN AUDIO KICKS OFF A YEAR OF LIVE DEMOS

Martin Audio, a longtime exhibitor at ISE, is to launch an inaugural “year of live demonstrations” of its products at this year’s show.

The company will, in addition to exhibiting (hall 7, K175), be demonstrating its solutions for the installation market, ranging from its ceiling speakers to the award-winning MLA Mini system. The demo takes place near hall 10, in room 104.

Combining a presentation covering the acoustic principles behind its products with an opportunity to listen to them, attendees will discover Martin Audio’s “signature experience” of “superb richness, detail and even coverage”.

James King, director of marketing at Martin Audio, says: “We’ve grown a very steady reputation for our demonstrations in the last couple of years, so we are delighted to be able to showcase our products in a way that the installation community can gain a better understanding at this year’s ISE.” Demonstrations will last one hour and take place at noon, 2pm and 4pm on on Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 February and noon and 2pm on Thursday 12 February. Attendees who pre-register will also receive a Martin Audio T-shirt. www.martin-audio.com

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installation UNITED KINGDOM

Bringing the Barbican into the new age of networking The Barbican has been an integral part of London’s cultural life for more than three decades. David Davies finds out about the venue’s latest audio upgrade, centred around the provision of multiple DiGiCo consoles and a sophisticated network infrastructure

Setting up for Sparks

additional control surfaces when necessary.”

Tom Shipman, from the Barbican’s audio team – one of the venue’s regular in-house mix engineers – was a keen advocate of a DiGiCo-based solution, having recently had the chance to play around with an SD9. “I got to grips with it very quickly.

It was amazingly easy to use and felt very intuitive,” says Shipman.

After careful consideration, the audio team opted for an SD7 at FOH (equipped with Waves to allow visiting engineers to bring in SoundGrid servers) and an SD9 for the control room.

The SD7 was supplied with an SD-Rack, which provides 56 inputs and 24 outputs, as the main stage rack, plus an SD-Mini rack with 24 inputs and 8 outputs, which can be used as a remote connection box or integrated into the main system as required. A second SD-Mini Rack was installed in the control booth to accept inputs from wireless microphones and provide outputs to the main house sound system.

DiGiCo provided guidance throughout the specification process. “The DiGiCo team invested time to fully understand the Barbican’s requirement today and offered them a solution that can expand as more demands are placed upon them,” says DiGiCo MD James Gordon. “It’s no secret that adding the Barbican to the DiGiCo family is something we are very proud to have achieved.

Their international recognition and reputation reinforces

The Barbican Centre concert hall hosts the New York Philharmonic

“The new mixing set-up had to be immediately familiar and acceptable to both visiting engineers and the in-house team, and able to provide enough capacity not only for their immediate needs but also to offer scope for future expansion” Chris Austin, Autograph Sales & Installation DiGiCo as the ultimate range of live sound consoles, and we look forward to working with them in the coming years to further strengthen our relationship.”

FLEXIBLE NETWORKING But the specification of the DiGiCo systems was only one component of the project.

With a similar emphasis on flexibility, Autograph was asked to design and implement a new audio network that would ensure adaptable system control and connectivity. “This was achieved by installing a discreet networked system using about 10km of cable and including almost 600 fibre terminations, at the same time as adding HD video capability and extending the existing Cat6 network,” explains Austin.

The DiGiCo desks and racks have been equipped with Optocore fibre connectivity on Neutrik opticalCONs, complementing the infrastructure installed by Autograph. “This links all the racks they are using for the show

with the SD7 at FOH, or the SD9 in the booth, depending on what’s going on. Often they rent in another SD7 and link this in too for monitors,” says Austin.

The upshot is a highly flexible configuration that allows the desks to share every input and for them to be put “almost anywhere” within the concert hall and backstage areas, including the TV gallery, the BBC’s facilities backstage and the OB trucks outside. “The DiGiCo racks also provide MADI splits which are used to provide broadcast and/or recording feeds to the BBC, who are regular visitors,” says Austin. Indeed, the BBC contributed to the expense of installing the new tie-lines.

With a view to possible future requirements, the Autograph team also installed separate multi- and single-mode fibre for video and data use, supplementing the existing multi-mode cabling. Each location now sports an HD coax HD-SDI connection, as well as Cat6, too.

Guiding PSNEurope around the Barbican shortly before a Heritage Orchestra-assisted performance by cult glamelectropop duo Sparks, Shipman pays tribute to the efficiency of the Autograph team. “It was really a very good cooperation with Autograph,” he says. “I would also highlight the quality of the work; for example, the cable terminations are superb.

“One of the BBC engineers who mixed the broadcasts from the recent London Jazz Festival highlighted how incredibly clean the [audio chain] was and actually suggested he would have to put more room noise in to make it sound more like a live mix. The whole project has gone so well, and we are very happy to have an infrastructure that sets us up nicely for the longterm.”

With special thanks to Dave Wiggins. Q www.autographsales.co.uk www.barbican.org.uk www.digico.biz www.neutrik.co.uk www.optocore.com

Photo: Chris Lee

LOCATED IN the heart of London, the Barbican Centre is the very definition of the modern multi-performance venue. Although perhaps best known as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, the Barbican regularly stages performances from across the musical spectrum, as well playing host to a wide variety of cinema screenings, presentations and workshops.

Backed by owner and financier the City of London Corporation, the Barbican has kept pace with the changing audio times, with recent developments including the installation of additional Meyer Sound equipment on two foyer stages during 2012.

Now, in the latest phase of work, the Barbican’s concert hall has been provided with multiple new DiGiCo mixing consoles and a bespoke audio networking infrastructure masterminded

by Euan MacKenzie and Chris Austin from Autograph Sales & Installations. As Austin explains, the new configuration had to be capable of satisfying both current and likely future requirements.

“It had to be immediately familiar and acceptable to both visiting engineers and the in-house team, and able to provide enough capacity not only for their immediate needs but also to offer scope for future expansion,” he says. “It also had to be able handle in excess of 100 input channels, to have dual-engine backup facilities and allow the technical team to easily source compatible

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installationfeature WORLD

Cinema sound:

immersed but not standardised

So-called 3D sound for films is capturing the public imagination and becoming a valuable selling tool for cinema operators.

But, as Kevin Hilton and Marc Maes report, there are serious considerations for equipment installation and a possible battle for supremacy as a universal open standard edges closer THE GROWING success of Dolby Atmos and Auro-3D by Barco reflects both the desire within the cinema business for technology that adds an extra dimension to films and the appetite of audiences for something that thrills and touches the emotions at the same time. As with any emerging technology, there are practical implications regarding the installation and rollout of technologies that demand more processing, amplification and loudspeakers. There is also the thorny question of compatibility and an open standard for immersive audio to avoid the format war and proliferation of formats that occurred during the 1990s with Dolby Digital, DTS and SDDS. Dolby is the veteran in the field. From noise reduction and processing for films in the early 1970s it developed stereo and the then-surround systems in cinema, forming close bonds with film directors and producers, re-recording studios and movie theatre operators.

Throughout the analogue to digital evolution in movie audio, Dolby has been able to maintain and strengthen this relationship to become a major part of the market. In recent years it began to see that the market was looking for something more from audio.

“Some six years ago, Dolby consultants scanned the proaudio market for what the expectations would be as to cinema sound,” explains Francis Perréard, a Dolby sound consultant based in Paris. “The extra height effect came out predominantly.”

The end result was Dolby Atmos, an object-based 9.1 speaker configuration (7.1 plus two ceiling channels) plus 118 individual elements, which are static or dynamic in the mix.

Dolby Atmos makes it easy for filmmakers to place or move specific sounds anywhere in the movie theatre, including overhead. As a result, audiences feel as if they are inside the film, not merely watching it.

The big challenge in the international development of Dolby Atmos is the installation cost. This is considerably higher than a standard cinema audio system, with extra speakers on the sidewalls, in the ceiling and individually amplified channels. “Existing theatres must be completely stripped, starting from scratch with acoustics, cabling and audio,” says Perréard. “In France, 70 per cent of theatres with Dolby Atmos are new venues and 30 per cent are renovated cinemas, where the refurbishment gave the chance to install the system.”

Worldwide, over 900 screens

Brian Claypool

The Wangfujing Cineplex in Szechuan, China, combines Auro-3D sound with 4K 3D projection have installed Dolby Atmos or are committed to install.

More than 200 films from 17 different countries have been, or are scheduled to be, released with Atmos sound since the first film, Disney Pixar’s Brave, was released in June 2012. Perréard sees the future involving Dolby Cinema, a package claimed to be the “total experience” for films, and “technical partnerships” for the certification of audio gear, both of which will further pave the way for Atmos. In France, loudspeaker manufacturer DK Audio has developed dedicated speakers for the Dolby Atmos

specs, with specific side and top surrounds.

“Any equipment can be used provided the technical specifications meet the required criteria in terms of power and energy,” explains Perréard.

“Each theatre has a defined central listening area (CLA).

Depending of the position of each speaker from this CLA, Dolby uses a calculator displaying the optimal value of power and sensitivity for the specific speaker and amplifier.”

Current Dolby Atmos theatres use a wide range of brands, including JBL, Klipsch, QSC,

Barco’s Brian Claypool comments that a less proprietary approach could offer more economies of scale, potentially making immersive audio available to the middle market, as well as taking pressure off content creators

Meyer Sound, Christie, ElectroVoice, KSC, DK Audio and Luis Wassmann loudspeakers and Crown, QSC, Crest and Electro-Voice amps.

Perréard concludes that it is now crucial to roll out the system on as many screens as possible while, at the same time, encouraging mixers and sound designers to produce in Dolby Atmos: “The challenge will be to more work cost-effectively. We see that major US productions are produced in multiple standards – 5.1, 7.1, Dolby Atmos and Auro-3D – which works out as quite expensive, so it’s our goal to persuade European producers to use Dolby Atmos for their movies.”

Dolby’s big rival in 5.1 discrete surround sound during the 1990s and into the 2000s was DTS. But when it sold its cinema business in 2009 to concentrate on licensing consumer software and codecs – with the theatrical hardware taken over by a new company, Datasat – the market looked open for Dolby. The reality is that DTS still plays

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installationfeature a part through MDA (MultiDimensional Audio), an openstandard format developed originally by SRS Labs which was bought by the US company in 2012.

More obviously, Dolby Atmos is being challenged by Auro-3D from Barco. This technology, which in its current form is 11.1 and channel-based, was conceived by Wilfried Van Baelen, founder of Galaxy Studios in Mol, Belgium. Van Baelen began experimenting with 3D speaker configurations in 2006 by adding the ‘height’ dimension to encompass the listener. The same year, Auro 10.1 was demonstrated at the AES show as a three-layered immersive sound system built on the 5.1 standard.

The Auro-3D format appreared four years later, offering a combination of scalable 3D speaker layouts based on existing standards and groundbreaking technologies.

Today, over 300 movie theatres have installed the Auro 11.1 system, produced under licence by Belgian audiovisual technology manufacturer Barco, with more than 500 others committed to installing it. In addition, 35 major dubbing stages and 10 leading music studios and universities worldwide have adapted the format. Approximately 100 titles have been released in the format,

Immersive in the home

leading to claims that Auro-3D has established itself even faster than 7.1 surround.

Citing his adage “the closer to real life it sounds, the more immersive the impact”, Van Baelen is convinced that, in future, audiovisual entertainment will continue to move more into the realms of virtual reality, only with high-quality standards for both image and sound. “Whereas 3D audio is closer to the natural sound we experience, 3D image is based on visual effects,” he explains. “People are very sensitive to spatial sound. But we must remain realistic: the true reproduction of natural sound is impossible. The best we can do is create an illusion.

That’s where Auro-3D has its roots. [The aim is] to reproduce the most immersive natural sound with a minimal number of speakers creating a 3D space around the listener.”

Auro-3D is set for further development following Barco’s purchase of the assets of German developer and immersive sound pioneer Iosono in October last year. “We are excited to be able to work together with these innovators to further integrate our objectbased format, AuroMax, with their hardware renderers to be part of our three-layered systems,” comments Van Baelen.

“We keep selling Auro 11.1 as

DTS’s Jon Kirchner says DTS:X is a result of “years of cutting-edge development [into] object-based audio”

Not even wraparound sound can get some people into the cinema, what with the cost of the tickets, popcorn, fizzy drinks and often continual chatter and mobile phone action, which is why immersive home theatre systems are the next big thing.

Dolby has again taken the lead by putting Atmos on Blu-ray Discs (BD). This uses extensions to Dolby Digital Plus, which means changes to the BD spec are not necessary.

DTS is bringing further immersion to the consumer in March.

DTS: X is described as “next-generation object-based codec technology” and will be supported by many AV receiver and processor manufacturers, including Denon, Integra, Marantz, Onkyo, Pioneer, Trinnov Audio and Yamaha. “DTS:X is a result of years of cutting-edge development in the area of object-based audio and reflects our continued commitment to provide listeners with incredible immersive audio experiences,” comments Jon Kirchner, chairman and chief executive of DTS.

The Dolby Atmos-equipped Arena Mladost in Sofia

the basic install because it is the most efficient immersive sound system – and has much more resolution in the vertical axis compared to our competitors’ two-layered systems.”

From Barco’s perspective, the Iosono acquisition gives the company, previously best known for its video monitors and, more recently, digital projectors, an audio development component within its organisation. “We don’t own Auro, so buying Iosono is giving us more audio expertise, which is good for Barco,” comments Brian Claypool, the manufacturer’s senior director of business development. “Rather than build a product on our own we’ve taken something [through acquisition], but we will continue to be partners with Auro because what we both have is complementary.”

Iosono holds numerous patents for immersive sound techniques and licenses its technologies into a variety of markets, including automotive, gaming – for which the Proximity system was developed – and professional audio, with the CORE processor in cinema and the Spatial Audio Workstation for object-based mixing. A key part of its work has been in wave field synthesis rendering; while Claypool says Barco will not be going wholly into that area, the renderer will play a major role in future developments.

Claypool comments that the company has been looking at object-based systems as a way to not only “match art and science”

but also move sound around a space: “Where a little bit of art comes in is being able to build a renderer, but there’s also marketing the quality aspect. By using this technology we can get the channel counts up and take advantage of higher resolution.”

The aim is to offer systems from 11.1 to 22.1, based on the concept of four zones with each wall housing two upper and two lower loudspeakers. “We’ll apply objects but keep the Auro format in vertical stereo layers,” explains Claypool. “This is why the Barco/Iosono and Auro systems complement each other.”

Barco and Auro are members of an unofficial grouping called the MDA Cinema Proponents Group, which supports the establishment of an open standard for immersive audio based on MDA in the film sector. Claypool comments that a less proprietary approach could offer more economies of scale, potentially making immersive available to the middle market, as well as taking pressure off “content creators”, particularly studios and facilities, which otherwise would potentially have to prepare films in a number of formats.

The group, which which also includes DTS, Doremi Laboratories, Ultra-Stereo Labs and QSC Audio Products, has presented MDA to the SMPTE TC-25CSS Audio Technology Committee on Sound Systems, which incorporates a working group on immersive sound.

Dolby has similarly presented a proposal for an open format

to the committee. The company issued this statement on the question of standardisation: “Dolby supports efforts to develop object-based audio standards and is active in SMPTE and other standards bodies to ensure the industry standardises on technologies that are proven to work in the real world, despite variations in playback environments.”

Speaking to SMPTE’s Newswatch publication at the end of last year, the chairman of the working group, Peter Ludé, said it was significant that “virtually everyone with a stake in the conversation had publicly and enthusiastically” backed the need for “a single specification for the packaging, distribution and theatrical playback of D-cinema-based audio tracks”.

Ludé also pointed out that many, if not all, big ‘tentpole’ movies were mixed in both Atmos and Auro-3D, which showed that the virtues of immersive sound were appreciated. Switching over to a single standard would, Ludé acknowledged, mean considerable changes for manufacturers, post-production facilities and cinema exhibitors, although that would be less costly than films being mixed in different formats each time.

QSC has been involved in cinema sound through its amplifiers for approximately 30 years; in the last 10 to 12 it has also produced processors and loudspeakers for the sector.

Cinema marketing manager Mark Mayfield says the shift to digital projection and, in turn,

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installationfeature digital media replacing film, has resulted in “much better fidelity” from the speakers and amplification chain. “This has been pushed further by immersive sound,” he says, “with Dolby Atmos establishing itself in just a few years. This is now a major focus for us.”

Mayfield observes that immersive requires “many more loudspeakers”, each of which has to have its own amp. The company has been developing

new four-channel and multichannel amplifiers, which, he says, can save at least half a rack in installations. “At the moment the technology is restricted to the big rooms in multiplexes,” Mayfield comments, “but by making [the equipment] more cost-effective we can bring it down to smaller rooms.

We’ll see the usual debate that digital projection and digital sound went through but we’re format-neutral and will support

whatever turns out to be the standard.”

The developers of the two main systems right now have similarly professed themselves to be “agnostic” in terms loudspeakers, amps and processors. But in December 2014 Dolby announced a collaboration with projector manufacturer Christie for the co-development, supply, installation and servicing of proprietary Dolby Vision

projection systems. Part of the package will be immersive sound, with Atmos through Christie Vive loudspeakers and class-D amps. Christie moved into audio in 2013, branding a range of single-enclosure line array speakers, featuring ribbon driver technology, and highpower amplification produced by a third party manufacturer, the name of which is kept confidential.

Dolby Atmos has taken

an early lead in the race for domination of this new market, shown by three nominated films in the Oscars sound categories being mixed in the format. But Auro-3D is gaining ground and Barco looks determined to stake its claim, either on its own terms or as part of an open standard.

There will be sequels... Q www.auro-3d.com www.barco.com www.christiedigital.com www.dolby.com www.dts.com www.iosono-sound.com www.qsccinema.com

Turning it down in the cinema Being pinned in your seat by loud music or effects has always been part of the movie-going experience, but in recent years sound levels have risen considerably to the point where they are not only obtrusive but uncomfortable.

The AES is now looking at new guidelines to produce more consistent volumes in cinemas, importing experience and expertise from those who tackled the problem of loudness in television.

Florian Camerer, chair of the PLOUD working group that developed the R128 standard, is among those looking at cinema sound. He says some action films can be “way louder than -23 LUFS” (the limit in TV). “There is a scary amount of headroom,” he comments, “and with immersive systems there are many more loudspeakers, each delivering high SPLs, which can fry the audience.”

An ITU group is looking at extending the BS 1770 loudness standard to cover immersive formats, including the NHK 22.2 system.

Camerer says the approach will be different to TV, where the aim is to get the levels right from the beginning – in the post facility. Instead, the focus will be on the master fader settings in cinemas for playback. The aim is to publish recommendations in time for an AES conference in Hollywood during May.

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CONTACTS

February 2015 l 57

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Editor Dave Robinson drobinson@nbmedia.com

hither&dither

Deputy Editor Jon Chapple jchapple@nbmedia.com Managing Editor Jo Ruddock jruddock@nbmedia.com Advertising Manager Ryan O’Donnell rodonnell@nbmedia.com Commercial Manager Darrell Carter dcarter@nbmedia.com Sales Executive Rian Zoll-Khan rzoll-khan@nbmedia.com Head of Design Jat Garcha jgarcha@nbmedia.com

Hither and California Half of PSNEurope does NAMM while the other binges on the editor’s Toblerone Herbie Hancock puts in a guest appearance at the NAMM Show, appearing at the Universal Audio booth – this year recreating the heady days of 1958

Production Executive Jason Dowie jdowie@nbmedia.com Digital Content Manager Tim Frost tfrost@nbmedia.com Office Manager Lianne Davey ldavey@nbmedia.com Correspondents: Mike Clark (Italy), Marc Maes (Belgium/ Netherlands), Phil Ward (UK) Contributors: David Davies, Kevin Hilton, Erica Basnicki, Paddy Baker, Michael Burns, Philip Stevens

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Oops. German synth plug-in developer doesn’t quite make the translation work as it should…

So, just along from the PSNEurope office, there is an old telephone booth, and this request for electronic beats was discovered on the floor. Don’t ask us to explain any more than that

Please send all contributions for possible publication to drobinson@nbmedia.com

It’s a long story, but Sonifex always sends PSNEurope a Toblerone at Christmas.

When the 2014 choccy gift failed to turn up, Sonifex’s Marcus Brooke took steps to compensate the loss. And how!

The second picture (above) shows the editor with a plate of carved up sugariness – and that’s only two ‘triangles’. With another ten to go. Ye gods….

58 l February 2015

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industrytalk

Core values

As chief technology officer at Fairlight’s Sydney HQ, Danish-born Tino Fibaek is now among that small elite of designers who span the digital systems of both studio and live sound applications. Phil Ward catches up with him as Fairlight ‘goes live’ I worked for them during the early days of Cubase and learned so much.

A COMPUTER science student and local DJ in Aarhus, a young Tino Fibaek was spotted by, first, Steinberg and then Amek where he worked on SuperTrue automation software, early plug-ins and the automated live consoles such as the Recall RN and its pioneering Showtime package. Speaking from Sydney – where he recently spotted a Recall RN at the Lyric Theatre – his thoughts are dominated by clouds, cores and conflagrations…

Warm enough?

It’s over 40°C today. The Skype connection might get cut off…

Phew. Quickly then, what was your first stab at audio technology?

My brother is a musician, and he bought one of the first Ensoniq Mirage samplers.

At that time, there was no computer editing software available for it – I had an Atari ST computer, he explained what he needed and I did my best to implement it. This was early days in computing: 40,000 bytes of hand-written assembly code later, I had an editing application that did something useful. Luckily for me, this software was enough to get me involved with Steinberg.

How did you get from Amek to Fairlight?

During the final part of my Amek years, we switched away from analogue designs and developed Amek’s all-digital, all-modular DMS1000 console.

This was a huge effort; again, much was learned, and my hair turned largely grey… The surface technology from this console was then adopted by Fairlight and was the front end for their FAME DAW systems.

The FAME development between Amek and Fairlight was a very close collaboration that ultimately saw me move from Manchester to Sydney in 1999. Much of the attributes that made Amek such a unique company were duplicated in Fairlight. Fairlight is nimble; it’s a relatively small group of very talented people who get amazing things done in short time. The CC-1 development was a good example of that: before Fairlight, nobody had ever conceived that it was possible to put an entire postproduction audio processing engine onto a single FPGA chip. Fairlight is also very open to collaboration with complementary organisations: examples include NHK, DTS, Zynaptiq, MainConcept and, most recently, Audinate.

What kind of game-changing technological breakthroughs have you witnessed?

The pioneering work done on development of audio plug-in standards by companies such as Digidesign and Steinberg has been a true game changer, providing a level of affordable creativity not seen before.

The switching from traditional DSP-based audio processing to FPGA technology by companies such as Calrec, DiGiCo and Fairlight has not only yielded a very compact

“Fairlight is a relatively small group of very talented people who get amazing things done in short time”

processing core is FPGA-based.

EVO.Live was launched with Crystal Core 1 (CC-1), and we’ve recently launched CC-2 for post – this will become an option for the processing core for the Fairlight Live family as well. That will give us a range of products starting from a 48-channel core with CC-1, while the CC-2 option will provide in excess of 250 channels of processing power.

and cost-effective platform but, probably more importantly, delivers a unique new form of abstract hardware, where the actual hardware processing platform can be updated through software releases.

I’m looking forward to flexible and affordable audio connectivity in studios and facilities through the development of technologies such as Audinate’s Dante.

This is clever technology that, I think, the industry will gain from in many new ways.

And extending that thought, I believe that the ‘internet of things’ (IoT) will also open up a vast range of new opportunities, allowing for much deeper integration between equipment from different manufacturers and resulting in improved workflows and, in the end, better content.

How does it differ from postproduction’s challenges?

In post there isn’t the same amount of real-time control to deal with as in live sound, where you have an enormous number of channels that have to go from A to B with 100 per cent reliability and predictability.

There’s more production bandwidth to play with in post, and it’s a more controllable environment.

In general, we’re looking at making our equipment more locally customisable. Studios and broadcasters would once visit someone like SSL or Neve and design the console they wanted alongside the manufacturer. Today, we’d like to make part of this possible ‘in the field’: if you buy a console from us, you could sit in your room after installation and we’d script your workflow with your software right in front of you – an on-site, after-sales service with our sales engineer.

What does your live console technology bring to the party?

The Fairlight Live consoles are very modular systems. We have a single processing core that can be connected to one or more consoles, and one or more I/O racks. When we originally launched the Fairlight Live family, it had a single control surface option in the form of the EVO.Live. We’ve subsequently added QUANTUM.Live to the range, so you have a choice of different consoles and you can mix and match them. The

Apart from fire protection, what two things has this life taught you?

Firstly, to listen. Mix engineers and software engineers are very different types of engineers.

To develop good pro audio products, the latter must listen to the former.

Secondly: embrace and appreciate change. I’ve been lucky enough to work through several evolutions, and we are now racing towards a cloudbased world. Let’s go with it… Q www.fairlight.com.au