Mexico - Ensconced amidst the glistening glass, steel and concrete modernity of Santa Fe, a bustling commercial and business hotspot in the west of Mexico City, in their new office and warehousing facility at the Expo Bancomer is Matatena Producciones.

The company is a design and rental - sound, lighting and video - specialist fast gaining recognition for the imagination, creative flair and energy they bring to a variety of events - from product launches, corporates and industrials to weddings, parties and socials.

The company was started six years ago by Manuel Macouzet Hierro and Gerardo Boue who had initially met a couple of years earlier whilst working on assorted events - for different companies at the time. Matatena is a new and recent investor in Robe products with the pu

Denmark - The eye-catching Black Diamond cultural centre in Copenhagen is a modern waterfront extension to the old Royal Danish Library building. Earning its quasi-official nickname from its polished black granite cladding and irregular angles, it houses a number of public facilities, centred round its top-lit atrium.

One of the main features of the centre is The Queen's Hall, a 600-seat auditorium used for a variety of events ranging from classical and jazz concerts to literary events and conferences. The hall's cutting-edge acoustic modelling allows for sound reinforcement that can be adjusted to the specific requirements of the type of music being played. This, in theory, made the venue ideal for the recording of classical music, but the noise generated by the existing lighting system rendered this impossible. In fact, the hall's authorities had, with little success, sought a

USA - Ultra Music Festival 2015, which took place Friday to Sunday, 27-29 March, drew thousands of music fans to Bayfront Park in downtown Miami, which has hosted the event since 2012.

"We've been doing the Ultra festival for a long time and have become very familiar with what a system needs to be able to do this kind of show right," observes Andre Serafini, founder and president of Beach Sound, the Miami Gardens-based sound reinforcement provider for Ultra over the past decade. "Bayfront Park can be a challenging venue for this kind of music, but the L-Acoustics systems handled it without a problem, and even overcame some of the venue's special challenges."

Those challenges included keeping the sound for each stage contained within its area and avoiding overspill into nearby stages. For the Live Stage, Beach Sound assembled an L-Acoustics K2 sound system w

Germany - Following the successful ISE launch of Liviau R, the new, all-in-one conference room control system from Apex, the company has unveiled the latest in the series, Liviau S. Based on the same sleek, yet robust hardware platform as Liviau R, S offers all the same audio functionality as R but with greatly enhanced video and lighting capabilities for bars, clubs, retail, houses of worship and corporate applications.

Seen for the very first time at ProLight & Sound 2015, Liviau S features a fully integrated DMX controller for powerful and sophisticated lighting control. As well as architectural lighting, up to sixteen intelligent lighting devices may be controlled. Moving heads, strobes, RGB devices, lasers, dimmers and more are all controllable via the DMX512 protocol.

In addition to the DMX controller, Liviau S also incorporates a programmable lighting mixer offering 24

China - With a lot to show and a lot to say, d&b audiotechnik (China) Ltd took care to focus their product displays at this year's PL+S Guangzhou and at InfoComm Beijing, placing the professional concert systems of J, V and Q-Series together in one area, with the more installation oriented systems from the xS and xA-Series placed discretely elsewhere.

"We chose to differentiate the systems in a clearly visual sense," said Freddie To, director, d&b China, "but with the emphasis firmly on how the many elements of the d&b product range can be integrated in any combination."

Highlights included elements from the xS-Series, the 4S, 5S, 8S and 12S loudspeakers, along with the dedicated 18S-SUB subwoofer. The 4S, 5S and 8S are light weight coaxial 2-way loudspeakers with a 100° conical dispersion, while the larger 12S is a biaxial bass reflex loudspeaker with

Belgium - The Apart VINCI Series has been expanded with a new VINCI4-16 bass reflex cabinet loudspeaker. VINCI4-16 has an impedance of 16 ohms, what allows the connection of up to 4 VINCI4-16 loudspeakers in parallel on a single amplifier channel, capable of handling a 4 ohm load.

The VINCI4-16 is a small yet true high-end speaker specifically designed for fixed install applications. VINCI4-16 loudspeakers are highly recommended for use in small to medium-sized projects where design and sound quality really matter. VINCI series loudspeakers are ideal for use in retail stores, high class restaurants, boardrooms or any other application where stylish design and a HiFi sound experience are expected.

The loudspeaker has a 4" coated paper cone woofer and a ¾" silk dome tweeter. VINCI4-16 is compact, audiophile, neutral but also captivating... with great dynamics and a cr

Germany - Bose Professional has drawn acclaim from end users and venue owners for its L1 portable array systems. At Prolight+Sound 2015, Bose expanded its portable P.A. offerings with the introduction of the F1 Model 812 flexible array loudspeaker and F1 subwoofer. Designed to serve an even broader set of applications than L1 systems, F1 Model 812 is the first powered portable loudspeaker that lets users optimise sound by creating up to four different vertical coverage patterns.

Offering exceptional power and clarity, the F1 system provides versatility for a wide range of applications and venues, easy setup, aesthetically pleasing design, and rugged durability.

The F1 system is an ideal choice for live music, DJ, corporate AV, house-of-worship, AV rental and general PA applications, says the company.

Craig Jackson, Bose Professional product line manager, portable products, s

Italy - Based on leading edge technology and customer demands, the 18XL1800 subwoofer from FaitalPRO is designed to recreate the very low natural audible frequencies of 20 to 30Hz, and give an intense acoustic performance.

It has a very high mechanical excursion, which is at least one and a half times greater than the other 18" woofers in the FaitalPRO catalog.

With a rated power of 1600 W and declared 3200 W maximum (according to AES standard), it maintains a good operating reserve allowing for optimum performance even in extreme conditions.

It offers 95dB sensitivity and is equipped with two demodulation rings to reduce any unwanted harmonic distortion and modulation of inductance.

Pro Audio division manager of Faital Flavio Naggi said, "Although the new 18XL1800 has an average efficiency of 95 dB and is not exactly suitable for pure horn applications (to empha

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Germany - Alcons Audio is celebrating its most successful Prolight+Sound ever, with two new pro-ribbon line-array systems, the LR28 and LR16.2, taking centre stage.

"This was our most successful Prolight+Sound to date," says Alcons co-founder Tom Back. "The LR28 created an incredible buzz. During the show, Norwegian rental company Trondheim Lyd was happy to announce the purchase of the first system in the world - a complete package of 32 LR28s, plus BC543 triple 18" cardioid subs and Sentinel10 amplified loudspeaker controllers."

The LR28 larger-format line-array marks an important advance for the company within the concert touring and large-scale installation market. Based on LR24 line-array, which was presented at last year's show, the LR28 offers a substantial increase in HF and LF output over its predecessor, the LR24, the system we spent the past

Europe - Entec's lighting department is enjoying another busy season with The Australian Pink Floyd Show (TAPFS), currently touring Europe with a lighting design by Phil White which is being operated by Tom Mumby.

Entec's project manager Noreen O'Riordan comments, "It's great to see the popularity of this tour grow together with the investment in production values. It really proves that there is a huge demand for live shows and that a diverse selection of people want to appreciate legendary and influential music first hand. Apart from that, we're very proud to be part of an absolute top production team and crew."

Entec's working relationship with TAPFS dates back to 2004, when they decided to seriously up the ante in terms of production.

That same year, current TAPFS Production Manager Chris Gadd - universally known as Gaddie - also undertook his first gig for Ente

South Africa - For the live telecast of Miss South Africa 2015, designer Joshua Cutts of Visual Frontier picked up producer / director Gavin Wratten's gauntlet to help bring a fresh look to the high profile beauty pageant staged at Sun City Superbowl.

Central to his lighting and set design was the specification of 24 x Robe BMFL Spots moving lights. Gavin's re- imagining of the show in a new and contemporary context involved a 30m long black high-gloss central runway emanating from the stage, traversing to the centre of the venue.

Sic Productions produced the event for Sun International. The traditional gala dinner set up was ditched in favour of tiered VIP seating - fashion show style - flanking the catwalk.

Broadcast live on TV channels MNET and Mzanzi, this redefinition of traditional beauty pageant presentation was hailed as a major success by the media and received with

Canada - HHB Canada has announce the exclusive distribution of Adam Audio in Canada. The agreement is effective 1 May, 2015

Adam Audio was founded in March 1999 in Berlin Germany. Since then the company has been developing, manufacturing and distributing loudspeakers in the field of Professional Audio.

Ferdinand von Wrede, managing director of Adam Audio comments, "We are pleased to announce our partnership with HHB Canada. Together we will be able to grow substantially in the Canadian market and best support our customers and end-users in their work with our products."

HHB Communications Canada is one of the top distributors of professional audio products in Canada. Formed in 1997, HHB Canada is located in Toronto, with sales and service representation across the country. HHB are known for selling and supporting the top brands available in the industry, including

Germany - Prolight+Sound 2015 was a great success for Clay Paky. The 60 demos that were held one after the other in German and English during the four-day fair were seen by more than 10,000 people, with an average of 150-200 spectators at each.

The Clay Paky stand was designed to look like a large cinema where the Clay Paky lights were the stars of the show, thanks to a high resolution LED wall provided by Unitech Digital Media.

Pio Nahum, Clay Paky CEO, comments, "In my memory, I cannot recall another ProLight+Sound that was so busy and so full of visitors. Our demos were literally taken by storm and the interest in our new products was constant and widespread. We had some very interesting new contacts and noticed a general revival in the industry."

Clay Paky's stand stood beside the Osram stand. This year, Osram chose to be in the hall devoted to show technology

UK - Lighting designer Tom Campbell is using an Avolites Tiger Touch II for the entire run of Australian progressive rock band Karnivool's European tour - and has recently upgraded to the new operating system Titan V9.

Karnivool has played dates in countries across Europe, including France, The Netherlands, Germany and the UK. Campbell has been controlling a large rig for much of the tour. At one of the major UK shows at London's Roundhouse, this included a mixture of Robe MMX spots, Robe 600LED wash and 100LED beams, Showline NITRO 510 strobes.

"The new features of V9 are great - Key Frame Shapes is an extremely powerful new addition to Titan," says Campbell. "It adds a new dimension to the show, even the band noticed and mentioned how it looked cool in soundcheck. I used this to run some original looking dimmer effects over 42 asymmetrically rigged 60-watt squ

UK - Martin Audio has boosted its UK sales force by recruiting Richard Van Nairn as a new account manager, working alongside Al Brown.

With a lifelong love of music, recording and production he is well placed to drive sales after spending four and a half years honing his skills at Martin Audio dealer, LMC Audio. During his time there Richard looked after the needs of customers in the south of the country, catering for their pro audio needs.

Of his move to Martin Audio, the new account manager states, "The company has been leading the way in professional touring sound since the inception of the market itself. Each step in Martin Audio's history has resulted in a monumental leap in the way loudspeaker design is perceived - from the iconic 115 bass cab and Philishaves, to the ground breaking F2 in the 80's, to the milestone that was W8L, W8LC and W8LM in the 90's and most re

UK - Professional audio designer Ian Colville joins Flare Audio as its head of pro technical this May, expanding the company's presence in the pro-audio market and introducing its technology to the concert-going public.

Colville joins Flare following eight-and-a-half years with audio rental company Capital Sound, where as technical manager and systems designer he worked on a wide range of high profile projects including Take That's Progress stadium tour, The British Summertime Concerts in Hyde Park, London, and The Killers at Wembley Stadium.

"Sound has been my passion for the last 40 years," says Colville. "I've always looked for the best solutions, the best technology and the best experience. Flare loudspeakers are unique because of the innovative technology the company has, and is continuing to develop. I believe they offer the most accurate reproduction of s

USA - PixelFLEX, the leading provider of flexible and lightweight LED video screens, will be returning to PLASA Focus at the Kansas City 2015 trade show with its new FLEXCurtain HD LED video wall, a physically lighter video product designed for a new variety of needs.

Displays for the FLEXTile, FLEX Lite and FLEXCurve will also be featured for the two-day convention that takes place 20-21 May at the Kansas City Convention Centre. This will be PixelFLEX's fourth time attending a PLASA Focus event, following the successful PLASA Focus in Orlando in February of this year.

"PixelFLEX has made a definitive mark in the LED world both in Nashville and through the rest of the country and world," said David Venus, PixelFLEX director of marketing. "Attending PLASA Focus as a vendor is a more intimate way for us to get the word out about how unique our products are, especi

UK - Few rental companies have been as progressive as Wigwam in deploying Optocore optical fibre interfaces over the years, and configuring drive racks designed to give their sound engineers a much more 'fuel efficient', elegant and secure ride.

After initially devising the OptoRack data returns system, when Optocore announced the DiGiCo implementation last Autumn, Wigwam wasted no time in building the first multiplexed DiGiCo Fibre Ring systems, allowing a range of DiGiCo mixing consoles and Optocore devices to work seamlessly together.

And when the experienced Dave Bracey, FOH engineer with one of Wigwam's long term accounts, Björk, wanted a more compact, efficient and tourable FOH package, with no single point of failure in the signal flow for this summer's festival shows in the US and Europe, he again turned to Wigwam.

Alex Hadjigeorgiou, Wigwam's digital audio speciali

Germany - French LED lighting manufacturer Ayrton surprised visitors and clients with the launch of no less than seven new products at Prolight + Sound 2015. The newest developments added three fixtures to Ayrton's Creative Solutions line, two specimens to its Imaging Displays portfolio and a further two additions to its Automated Luminaires range.

Heralded as the A61 Project prior to the show, Ayrton revealed a totally new technology that combines the first 94mm diameter narrow beam angle collimator with the latest generation high-power (40W or 60W) Osram multichip LED. Together these two elements create tighter beams with "an unrivalled centre beam intensity" that Ayrton has incorporated into three new Creative Solutions fixtures: MagicDot-R, CosmoPix-R and VersaPix-RS.

The latest member of the RADICAL series, MagicDot-R is the first professional moving head LED lu

USA - Chauvet Professional has added a versatile LED house light to its award-winning line of Ovation stage and studio fixtures. The new Ovation H-105WW is a warm white fixture that features COB LED technology to produce an exceptionally flat, even, flattering field of illumination when used as a house light in any environment.

Powered by a 100-watt, 50,000-hour-rated, 3048K (at full operation) LED source, the Ovation H-105WW is suitable for theatres, houses of worship, colleges and other venues that want to bring the energy-saving, low-heat, low-maintenance advantages of LEDs to their house lights. Additionally, it features convection cooling for completely silent operation, as well as adjustable PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) to eliminate flickering, making it a perfect choice for applications that involve TV and video filming.

"Many theatres and churches are so happy wit

Germany - The launch of Green-GO's new wireless extension of its Ethernet based multi-channel digital intercom system at this year's Prolight+Sound has been hailed a huge success by the company's sales manager Silvio Cibien.

He explained "We chose to début the new wireless system in Frankfurt as the event is always a highlight on our calendar and we are aware of the calibre of people that are drawn to the show. It is a truly international event and we wanted to introduce our new product to the world. It really is a remarkable development for the Green-GO system and as predicted, it was an amazing crowd catcher."

Silvio continued: "This year, we chose to take a display at the entrance of hall 8 which was instrumental in leading many curious customers to our booth. Visitors to our stand got to see the system in action and were extremely impressed with what

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