USA - Elation Professional's award-winning Sniper 2R multi-effect light "just got better and brighter". Elation now offers the Sniper PRO, a new and improved hybrid effects projector, scanner and laser simulator with more power, more effects and greater speed than the original Sniper 2R.

Featuring the new 280W Philips MSD Platinum 14R lamp and emitting an ultra-narrow 2.5° beam, the Sniper PRO is capable of producing the same precise beam and laser like effects as its successful predecessor but now with three times the brightness.

"We met with a lot of success with the original Sniper when it launched in 2014, but we also had some customers tell us they wanted more power and more color choice," said Elation Professional sales director Eric Loader. "So we increased the lamp from 132 watts to 280 watts and upgraded with CMY and more effects to give designers the chance t

Germany - Fohhn's award-winning Linea Focus series, with beam steering capabilities, is now equipped for networking via an Optocore fibre solution. A SANE-FX module is mounted directly inside the Linea Focus housing, enabling direct fibre connection to the speaker.

The Linea Focus series is often used in combination with the security and evacuation system (PAVA), for instance in railway stations, airports, tunnels and theatres. As the Optocore fibre network is a modern IT-based 'copper free' audio infrastructure, it fulfills all demands in this area, thus greatly simplifying installation in respect of security, weight and flame-retardant design.

Speaking of the collaboration, Fohnn CEO, Jochen Schwarz,said, "For some time now, our ongoing aim has been to achieve multi-channel digital connectivity for our speaker systems and compatibility to any major digital audio network.

UK - Penn Elcom has launched a new series of ingenious space-saving Cavity Wall Racks designed for housing rack-based AV, IT and communications equipment ... in any usable void wall space.

Almost every building - whatever the style and era - will have a wall void of some kind, explains Dave Roberts who heads up Penn's R&D at Bristol.

Stairwells and loft spaces are the most common - however a plethora of other 'spare' spaces are frequently created during building and refurbishment projects. The Cavity Wall Rack can also be fitted into cupboards and closets ... in fact, into pretty much every imaginable place!

The very first Cavity Wall Racks were a custom design for a smart-home project - a sector with huge potential for this product. The national house builder this was originally designed for, now installs one in every new home built.

This design provided such a si

Europe - BroaMan has announced a new version of its Route66 video router, now offering Auto Routing and an intelligent fibre patch bay.

This additional functionality is powered by Optocore, well known OEM provider of industry standards and formats, making it ideal not only for Installation (where there are multiple connection points, including mobile devices) but equally for Live Events or Broadcast. Optocore is a leading OEM manufacturer for audio networks, producing network modules for other manufacturers to connect their products to an advanced audio network.

The Auto Routing is compatible with Optocore and DiGiCo fibre loops, creating a redundant 'star' out of ring topology.

The Route66 Auto Router automatically discovers mobile and remote devices and closes the Optocore loop - this does not need to be carried out manually as the system is always redundant

The

UK - FBT UK is promising the UK debut of several brand new product ranges at this year's PLASA Focus, being held in Leeds on 10-11 May.

Leading the new arrivals will be FBT's Vertus CS1000 column line array which offers a modular, scalable system suitable for both live performance and installation applications. A biamplified design, the system comprises a long excursion 12" bass reflex subwoofer and a passive mounted satellite, linked via a Neutrik SPEAKON connector and equipped with six full-range neodymium 3" speakers. Onboard, the subwoofer is a Class-D, two channel amplifier, complete with a switch-mode power supply, delivering 600W RMS to the subwoofer and 400W RMS to the satellite, both of which are housed in birch plywood enclosures.

Also on show for the first time in the UK will be FBT's Ventis range of passive and active speakers - the Ventis 115a, 112a, 110a and

Germany - Powersoft took to the new hall reshuffle at Frankfurt Messe like a duck to water at this year's Prolight+Sound, as they reported another highly successful outing.

As ever, interest in Powersoft's amplifiers continues to run high. But the feature that particularly pleased Francesco Fanicchi, the company's brand and communication director, had been the radical decision to promote popular series such as the 'X' and Ottocanali families by application, rather than technical characteristics.

"This new concept brought us closer to users' needs and enabled them to choose the right amps for the right applications," he said. "In particular, it helped us to make the distinction with our two rack amp lines that are now well delineated."

Visitors were also impressed by the latest reboot version of Deva, the company's multimedia device that integrates solar power, bi-direc

Germany - One of the highlights of the show is the Prolight + Sound International Press Awards (PIPA).

More than 100 dedicated special interest magazines from all over the world voted for the best pro audio equipment and musical instruments of 2015/2016 in 38 categories.

This year, Electro-Voice received a PIPA award for the second time in a row: the X-Line Advance compact vertical line array loudspeaker system convinced the jury in the concert sound category.

Introduced in spring 2015, X-Line Advance is gaining industry notice for providing a satisfying combination of precise, linear output, a best-in-class performance-to-size ratio and a user-friendly rigging system. Last year, EKX series loudspeakers from Electro-Voice prevailed over the competition in the portable sound category.

Guillermo Wabi, product manager for concert sound systems with Electro-Voice, prou

Germany - Robert Juliat was very happy with its position in the middle of the Lightpower Village in Hall 3.0 where its products attracted a constant stream of visitors for the whole duration of the show.

The array of RJ Zep LED profile and Fresnel fixtures drew much attention from theatre, event and display technicians, as did the Merlin 2500W HMI touring spot and the 300W LED Roxie followspot, which both continue to lead the way in followspot innovation.

But perhaps the biggest scene-stealer was the Dalis LED cyclorama light which brought with it some exciting new developments to the technology that took the show by storm in 2015. In addition to the award-winning Dalis 860 Cyclight, which has been flying off the shelves since last year, Robert Juliat also unveiled a new Dalis footlight batten and a Dalis wash light.

The Dalis LED Footlight 862 is a 150W LED batten wit

Germany - Philips Lighting is celebrating its Entertainment division's most successful Prolight+Sound show to date. With a record number of on stand visitors, the Entertainment team is crediting Prolight+Sound's new concept and location in the Eastern section of the Messe for the boost.

"We really saw a noticeable increase in visitors to our stand from previous years," says Philips Entertainment general Manager Grant Bales-Smith. "The show's new set-up, along with our completely new stand concept, worked well to highlight to visitors our fresh and original approach."

Philips Lighting opted to theme its stand 'inspired by light', with a large video screen displaying stunning imagery of natural light. Lighting designer Mark Wynn-Edwards created a range of looks that worked with the video to fully immerse visitors in the experience and demonstrate how Philips understands and

UK - Midas has announced the launch of the Midas M8000, an ultra-high performance 192 kHz, eight-channel A/D converter with "unprecedented audio and sonic performance".

Andy Trott, SVP, Enterprise & Entertainment Division states, "For over four decades, Madas has been the undisputed leader in audio and sound performance, especially known for its award-winning microphone preamplifiers and best sounding mixing consoles.

"Our Manchester Innovation team spent over three years and close to 1 US$m to develop what we believe is the world's best-sounding A/D converter. Based on advanced multi-bit delta-sigma architecture and a revolutionary high-speed TDM interface, the converter's performance delivers close to 120 dB of dynamic range with sampling rates up to 216 kHz."

Andy continues, "We are especially proud of the M8000's incredible audio performance, which industry standar

Germany - Track systems specialist Triple E is celebrating its successful launch of ModTruss in Europe at Prolight + Sound, Frankfurt.

The Triple E team constructed an iimpressive stand at the Messe Frankfurt for the event, showcasing the versatility of the ModTruss product line, which lends itself to endless configurations using standard accessories, ensuring ideas that once took extensive custom design and fabrication are constructed easily and fast.

Triple E launched the US-designed ModTruss in the UK in June 2015, immediately winning 'Engineering Product of the Year' at the ABTT Theatre Show in London.

"This year's Prolight + Sound marked a milestone in the history - and future - of Triple E as we undertook the biggest launch for our company yet - ModTruss, Europe-wide," says Triple E's managing director, David Edelstein. "We've put in a lot of hard work to bring t

China / Germany - PR Lighting's new hybrid BWS (Beam Wash Spot) hybrid attracted much interest at the recent GET Show in Guangzhou and Frankfurt Prolight+Sound, two of the global production industry's major shop windows.

The Chinese manufacturer has wasted no time in capitalising on these lightshow extravaganzas, and has followed up last year's XR 330 BWS release with the new XR 440 BWS, which is now shipping.

This new range of high-output moving heads integrates three features in one unit, and adopts PR patented technology.

The XR 440 BWS houses a powerful Osram Sirius HRI 440W lamp, and features include an advanced colour index with CYM linear colour mixing system, with macro; colour wheel with 12 colours and CTO plus open; bi-directional rainbow effect at variable speeds; step/linear colour change.

There is a fixed gobo wheel with 13 fixed gobos plus open, bi-di

Germany - The Shure KSM8 Dualdyne Vocal Microphone introduced this January was awarded the pipa award in the category Live Microphone / IEM. The ceremony took place during the 2016 Prolight+Sound / Musikmesse in Frankfurt on 7 April.

Ron Hautzinger, product manager pro & retail at Shure Europe says, "With the KSM8, Shure set out to develop a microphone that turns the world of dynamic microphones upside down. Offering a brand-new patented cartridge design with two diaphragms, the KSM8 has virtually no proximity effect and a flat off-axis attenuation for superior rejection of unwanted sound sources. We are honoured to receive the pipa and would like to thank all voters."

(Jim Evans)

Germany - Laserworld Showeditor FREE was presented at prolight+sound 2016 for the first time. It is a free ILDA laser show control software, that incorporates the utmost features of the Laserworld Showeditor full version except the direct output to a hardware interface. It can be used for creating logos, text, animations and aerial effects and exporting them to the standard *.ild file format. This file format is compatible to all ILDA standard SD-card playback systems for show laser lights, so the Laserworld Showeditor FREE can be used with SD-card lasers of almost any brand.

Laser show playback systems are useful for many different applications: DJs may not want to directly control their laser with a computer during their set, as they obviously need to concentrate on that. So they often decide to have an automated show playing or control the lasers via DMX, together with the

UK - RCF UK will present several of the innovations that lit up the company's international stand at Frankfurt Prolight+Sound recently, when they arrive at this year's PLASA Focus (Leeds Royal Armouries Museum, 10-11 May).

Occupying stand #N-D20 the showcase will include the following:

HDL6-A: The new mini-format entry to the composite D-Line line array series, this active 2-way powered system is partnered by the HDL6-AS sub. Housing double 6.5" bass drivers the HDL6-A is run in combination with 1.75" compression driver with a 2" voice coil on a 10° x 100° waveguide. The HDL 6-AS is a 12" bass reflex enclosure, designed to be flown with the full range system.

HDL50-A: At the other end of the spectrum, this large-format, three-way active line array module is the flagship of the D-Line range and contains 2 x 12" bass drivers, 4 x 6.5" mid-range and 2 x 3" compres

UK - StarTech.com has announced three new dual-monitor mounting products that offer advanced options for a flexible, ergonomic-friendly workstation. The Dual Monitor Stand (SKU: ARMBARDUO), the Side-by-Side Monitor Mount (ARMSLIMDUO) and the Stackable Dual Monitor Mount (SKU: ARMDUAL30) make up the new trio of products.

All three of the dual-monitor mounts offer cost-effective ways to create an ergonomic work space. Each of the monitor mounts are built with sturdy materials, and can securely hold two monitors in place with varying degrees of adjustability.

"Our newest dual-monitor mounts offer users three different options for creating a comfortable work space," said Jordan Hamm, product manager at StarTech.com. "They provide a durable and dependable way for users to adjust the position of their monitors, without wasting valuable desk space."

The new trio of monitor mo

UK - Following what has been an extremely busy and exciting year for White Light, the complete production solution specialist will be returning to PLASA Focus Leeds at the Royal Armouries Museum from 10-11 May. With over 130 different exhibitors working across audio, lighting, video and rigging, along with presentations, technical demonstrations and panel discussions, this year's PLASA Focus Leeds promises to be the biggest one yet.

Since its previous visit to PLASA Focus Leeds, WL has grown exponentially. Alongside expanding its audio department along with acquiring video technology company Shock Solutions, the company has worked on a whole host of projects, including the Rugby World Cup, the NME Awards, London Fashion Week and many more. For all of these projects, WL drew on its unparalleled inventory of entertainment technology;

USA - The new Maverick series of powerful moving fixtures from Chauvet Professional generated worldwide buzz when it was shown at Prolight+Sound in early April. Now the company has announced that the first product in the series to be available will be the Maverick MK2 Spot. The new LED spot is already making waves in the marketplace, according to Chauvet.

"The response to the Maverick MK2 Spot has been overwhelming," said Albert Chauvet, CEO of Chauvet. "We aimed this product at the lighting professional and rental house who want a very bright tour-ready affordable spot that can be used at an arena one night and a 500-person venue the next. Our research told us that this part of the market was being overlooked. Based on the incredible interest in the Maverick MK2 Spot, it looks like that research was absolutely on target."

Powered by a 440-watt LED engine, the Maverick MK2

UK - Elation Professional invites lighting professionals to Stand N-D32 at PLASA Focus Leeds for an up-close look at an impressive line-up of new lighting solutions that includes three all-new product series.

On display May 10-11 at the Royal Armouries in Leeds will be Elation's new Fuze Series, a dynamic range of LED wash luminaires with single-lens RGBW COB LEDs for a wide choice of colours and extremely homogenized field of light. Available in moving head or IP65-rated PAR versions, all Fuze Series fixtures (Fuze PAR Z60, Fuze PAR Z120, Fuze Wash Z120, Fuze Wash Z350) house a wide 5-50-degree zoom.

Also showing will be the DTW Series, a new variable white LED series of products designed specifically for the broadcast and video market. DTW Series fixtures are color temperature adjustable and can emulate the "dim to warm" look of conventional tungsten / halogen fixtures.

Germany - Lasers are becoming more and more popular and especially mobile DJs and smaller nightclubs often request a product that is easy to operate, is capable of projecting tunnel effects, layers and some basic shapes and figures, and most importantly can write custom messages as running text. And of course the laser should be RGB and white light for being able to make the projection fit in with the lighting design.

This is quite demanding, but the new Laserworld EL-500RGB KeyTEX offers all these features. Besides being a normal laser system that can be run stand-alone, in sound-to-light mode or controlled by DMX, it also comes with a remote control plus a keyboard for entering text, animating it and doing colour changes. The Laserworld EL-500RGB KeyTEX is the successor of the Laserworld ES-400RGB, as it has all the features seen previously in the ES-400RGB - but adds much m

UK - Professional wireless audio specialists, Raycom, are now stocking "the world's first digital covert in ear audio monitor" aimed at the broadcast and film market.

The Roger Earpiece system from Swiss based Phonak Communications offers virtually invisible, intelligible audio, as part of a perfectly simple solution for delivery of director's feed and prompting. Leveraging their expertise in designing miniature hearing devices, Roger Earpiece is shaped to sit comfortably inside the ear canal. Thanks to its fully integrated receiver and battery, there is no need for cables or belt packs, making Roger Earpiece the most discreet in-ear receiver available today, says the company.

The Roger Earpiece system uses Phonak's proprietary technology in the license-free 2.4GHz band, with adaptive frequency hopping to deliver interference free clear audio with a bandwidth of 100Hz-7kHz

UK - Following a successful Prolight+Sound in Frankfurt, ETC is heading to Leeds for the annual PLASA Focus event, taking place at the Royal Armouries, 10-11 May. The company will present a selection of its newest innovations and most popular products on stand N-C06.

The latest additions to the budget-friendly ColorSource family will be making their UK debut at the show. The just-launched ColorSource consoles deliver hands-on control for modern, small-scale venues. Each console offers plug-and-play setup, an integrated touchscreen, and the ability to run effects, mix LED colours, control moving lights and play back cues. The consoles are available in two sizes, 20 and 40, with optional audiovisual capability.

ETC's popular ColorSource Spot and PAR fixtures are newly available in Deep Blue versions. These affordable fixtures use an array that offers richer, more saturated b

UK - Following its successful launch in the US in 2015, Marq Lighting, a new player in the entertainment lighting sector, hasannounced the global rollout of its diverse range of innovative professional lighting products.

Marq Lighting is an independent brand owned by music industry heavyweight inMusic. inMusic has a long-standing reputation designing, engineering, manufacturing and marketing twelve different brands of music recording and performance equipment and software from influential lines including Numark, Denon DJ, Akai Professional, M-Audio and Alto Professional.

Marq was born from a long-established pedigree of innovative in-house music/DJ design and engineering, where the needs and requirements of artists and performers are understood and experienced first-hand. This experience offers a unique perspective that directly benefits the design and specification of the

USA - Elation Professional has added to its family of LED strobes with the new Protron 3K Color, a high-power LED strobe light featuring 240 x CREE XLamp 3W RGBW LEDs and 40,000 lumens of power for an explosion of colour. The Protron 3K Colour not only packs a powerful punch of coloured light - and without thermal issues - it provides a much better ROI compared to conventional 3K Xenon strobes on the market, says the company.

Utilizing special optics and new LED driver technology, the Protron 3K Color includes built-in strobe effect macros like burst, pulse and lightning for different effects possibilities and can even operate full on without causing thermal-out issues (output at full max 10 seconds) thanks to regulated silent cooling fans that keep the strobe from overheating.

The Protron 3K Color uses much less power than Xenon strobes (peak power output is 800W) and is

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