It’s been said before how much more holistic the American AES Conventions are compared to the European ones. Rightly or wrongly, this may conjure up a uniquely Californian vision: grizzled pro audio shamen burning incense on the exhibition booths, and harnessing nature’s awesome and arcane powers in the pursuit of the ultimate sound wave.
Actually, it just means there’s more loudspeakers. In Munich, despite the fact that it is the German city most suited to outdoor festivals and the like, the beards are as tidy as a studio floor manager’s clip-board during a chat show on Zud-Deutsche Rundfunk about cycle paths. And Rundfunk - broadcasting - is the dominant theme of the AES, leaving the lion’s share of the rest of European pro audio to Frankfurt and PLASA.
The American market is bigger and more cohesive, of course, so it’s not right to draw conclusions about what’s going on based on who’s there over here, and who isn’t here over there, and vice-versa till the goats come home. But just as EAW did not appear at the New York show in December - along with many other absentees, of course - Telex/EVI Audio gave Munich a miss, in spite of being a lot closer to it than EAW is to the Jacob K Javits Centre in Manhattan.
The last time the AES was in Munich, EVI general manager Mathius von Heydekampf was presiding over a new, pan-European regime following the merger of EVI Audio with Telex. The brands from EVI’s base in Straubing in south-east Germany, especially Dynacord, were beginning a journey of cross-pollination with the matrix technology expertise within Telex, and many industrial products have germinated.
In the performance arena, we have indeed this year seen a compact line array system and the RE-1, a touring wireless system with up to 950 programmable channels. But the point is, we saw them in Frankfurt. And we saw them in Frankfurt along with a 20ft-high, bright green, smoke-spitting plastic cobra, promoting the products with an adventure game based on the Indiana Jones films and culminating in a first prize trip to India.
Compare that with the Psychoacoustics, Perception and Listening Tests paper at AES, or Professor Manfred Krause’s seminar on The Legendary Tape Recorder Magnetophon of AEG. I know, some of you can imagine another sequel starring Harrison Ford: Indiana Jones and the Legendary Magnetophon of AEG, and I too will celebrate when pro audio relics are as revered as the Ark of the Covenant. But the statement has been made by EVI Audio: all of its spring European cobra eggs in one banana-leaf basket.
Von Heydekampf has recently been promoted to president of the pro audio group worldwide, so the policies are clearly working. He was to be seen, anyway, briskly pacing the exhibition floor and thereby moving as much air as a compact line array system.
Harman sent out a lone batsman for sound reinforcement loudspeakers at this AES, wielding JBL’s installation ranges. But that was it. The most telling Harman statement on sound reinforcement has been the relocation of most of Amek’s resources to the Soundcraft site in Potters Bar, signalling the effective withdrawal of Amek from the live console market. The booth in Munich, therefore, contrasted Amek’s broadcast and recording consoles with Soundcraft’s new MH4, RM1D and 328XD, with the digital 328 highlighting its project studio/live versatility.
The MH4 addresses the new requirements for multi-functional desks seen across the market, in that it is configurable for front-of-house duties, monitor use or both simultaneously - a combination that makes it handy for both touring and fixed installation. The RM1D now has v3 software, while the 328XD features dynamics on every channel and every group.
Innova Son continued its comprehensive support of practically all the trade shows, demonstrating once again the snap-shot-laden and curtain-call ready Actor Series of consoles. The company
