USA - For this year's AES Show in Los Angeles, sE Electronics is introducing the X1 A, a new entry point to their X1 Series designed to be the best-in-class offering on the market for home recordists and bringing the heritage of the X1 Series to an expanded user base worldwide.

On the live sound front, sE has also announced a pair of dynamic microphones - a first for the company, known primarily for their industry standard Reflexion Filters and hand-crafted condensers. According to sE, the new V7 supercardioid dynamic and V3 cardioid dynamic offer "exceptionally low handling noise, a more natural sound, and higher gain before feedback than other mics in their class".

The X1 A utilizes a newly-developed acoustic design with a carefully selected condenser capsule, low noise electronics, an integrated windscreen, and a gold-plated XLR connector. Just like the acclaimed X1 con

USA - New for AES 2016, Rupert Neve Designs has announced the Shelford Channel.

The Shelford Channel is built around Rupert Neve's first new transformer-gain, class A mic preamp in over 40 years. This new preamp design is complemented by the "best-of-the-classics" 1073- and 1064-inspired inductor EQ section from Rupert Neve Designs' existing Shelford 5051 and 5052 modules, a bold and powerful new diode bridge compressor inspired by the 2254 with additional functionality, a new dual-tap transformer output with high- and low-headroom outputs, variable Silk/Texture transformer saturation, and twice the operating voltage of Rupert Neve's vintage modules.

Says the company, "For decades, Rupert has often been asked to create a new design based around the same mic pre, EQ and compressor technologies that comprised his classic console modules. With the Shelford Channel, he and his

UK - Focusrite, international leader in audio interface design, has announced a major update to its RedNet Control software system that provides remote control for products in the company's RedNet range of Dante-based audio-over-IP systems. RedNet users worldwide are employing and planning ever-larger RedNet systems, and RedNet Control 2.0 was developed in response to this trend, the company says.

Based around a web-browser-like tabbed graphical interface, RedNet Control 2.0 is designed to handle the largest RedNet system, with the ability to control up to 600 RedNet devices in total, representing up to 9600 Dante audio channels. Available units in the system can be dragged and dropped from a sidebar list into a grid on a tab. Each tab can display up to 12 devices, and up to 50 tabs can be defined. Devices can be grouped logically and intuitively on each page: a multi-location

USA - The 141st AES Convention, taking place from 29 September 29 through 2 October at the Los Angeles Convention Centre, is hosting exclusive demonstrations of L-Acoustics' newly launched Kiva II ultra-compact line source, as well as the KS28 reference subwoofer and X Series of coaxial enclosures.

These demos will also showcase L-Acoustics' latest developments on the open standard Audio Video Bridging/Time Sensitive Networking (AVB/TSN) technology.

Show control for the demos will be managed using an Apple Mac mini equipped with Q-Lab software, playing 20 audio channels at 24-bit/96kHz directly to an Ethernet AVB/TSN Gigabit network via three streams of eight channels each. LA Network Manager 2.5, which implements an AVDECC 1722.1 AVB/TSN controller, will connect the streams to five newly updated LA4X and LA12X amplified controllers, dedicating one audio channel to each am

UK - VDC Trading has announced the release of a new design and packaging for the Van Damme professional musician range of cables. Available off the shelf from a range of quality outlets, the range consists of top of the range cables for studio, amplification, microphone and guitar applications in a variety of combinations and specifications to suit all needs.

VDC CEO Niall Holden said, "The new blister pack range represents the best of the most popular cables in an easily identifiable format with most of the options an industry professional will need. For custom requirements of course we are always happy to oblige."

As supplied to Abbey Road Studios for over 20 years, the cable available in the new packaging range includes the classic Van Damme mic cable, proven on tours and in studios worldwide, Blue Studio Grade and Black Touring Grade speaker cables and the Starquad mic

Europe - QSC has introduced the TouchMix-30 Pro, 32-channel digital mixer to customers worldwide, with immediate availability in select markets.

Designed for production professionals, musicians and bands as well as live performance venues, TouchMix-30 Pro is a compact digital mixer with features and functionality that "will satisfy the most demanding professional, while also providing an intuitive workflow that delivers great results, quickly and easily, to users at every level of experience".

With 32 mixing channels (24 Mic/Line, 6 Line, Stereo USB) and 16 outputs, the TouchMix-30 Pro offers considerable signal management flexibility for a wide range of applications. Beyond offering a higher channel count than its predecessors, a host of additional, new 'Pro' features sets TouchMix-30 Pro apart from its smaller TouchMix Series siblings.

"The TouchMix-30 Pro builds on

UK - Chroma-Q launched their new Color Force II range of professional LED luminaires at PLASA 2016 to much interest from visitors. The product received a special commendation at the show's Awards for Innovation - with judges praising the fixtures' notable evolution from the original Color Force range.

After Color Force revolutionised the lighting market six years ago, the next generation Color Force II range utilises the very latest fully homogenised optics to deliver a superior single colour blend with no unsightly colour mixing shadows, even higher quality saturates and pastels, a purer white, and at least 50% more output.

Designed for shows and events requiring the highest level of technical and artistic performance, other benefits shared across the Chroma-Q lighting portfolio include exceptional colour consistency fixture-to-fixture and batch-to-batch, theatrical grade

UK - ProLights received a great reception to their latest product line-up showcased on the A.C. Entertainment Technologies stand at PLASA 2016. Highlights included the ArenaCOB LED blinder, as used on Coldplay's recent stadium tour, and the stunning new Stark1000 LED Wash Light.

The ProLights ArenaCOB4 IP65 LED blinder family were supplied to leading rental company Lite Alternative, for the European leg of Coldplay's A Head Full of Dreams stadium tour. World-renowned tour lighting designer, Paul Normandale, commented, "I needed an IP-rated wash fixture - as well as a blinder - that would be reliable and crew friendly."

The new ProLights STARK1000 LED Wash Light proved a great hit, with orders being taken at the show. This next generation "workhorse" LED wash features 19 of Osram's new 40W RGBW LEDs with a bespoke optical design, to provide a powerful, smooth output

UK - PLASA London 2016 proved to be the best UK show yet for Current RMS. The new venue, Olympia, in central London made the event much more accessible, helping play a part in such a busy stand for Current RMS. The team were flat out, providing demos of the online hire management system, on a range of devices, across all three days of the event.

Also helping contribute to a busy stand was the buzz around all of the new features released within the system since last year's show. These included; Free Scan, an easy process to add additional items to a job, a new Costing Module, helping log all job costs and summarise projected profitability, as well as Part Invoicing and an Open API allowing rental businesses to create exciting integrations.

The Current team were thrilled to see so many new faces on the Stand: "We were rushed off our feet the entirety of PLASA, which was fant

UK - PLASA 2016 has been chalked up as a resounding success by Ambersphere Solutions. The combination of the demo areas that showcased new products from Clay Paky and Ayrton Lighting and the enthusiastic hospitality of the whole Ambersphere team proved a real winner, attracting a constant stream of visitors - customers both old and new.

MD Glyn O'Donoghue reflects on the show: "PLASA London was a real success for Ambersphere. We were excited to feature a whole host of new products from our manufacturing partners. From Clay Paky, we highlighted the Scenuis Profile, which won a PLASA Award for Innovation at the show, plus Hepikos the new beam wash partner for Mythos and Sharbar, which is a new 6 beam mirror-based LED batten from Clay Paky. We put together a demo-show which was very well received."

The opposite side of the demo area was dedicated to Ayrton as O'Donoghue expla

UK - For the launch of KIVA II, the new compact line array from L-Acoustics, the SSE Sales team is going on tour. The tour will visit three different venues across the country, giving attendees the opportunity to hear the brand new KIVA II system for the first time. To further increase the appeal of the days SSE has invited AVID along to demonstrate its flagship S6L digital console, whilst L-Acoustics will also demonstrate the X-Series Co-Axial range.

The free-to-attend tour dates include:

Friday 28th October at Fly By Nite Rehearsal Complex Redditch B98 8YP

Monday 31st October: Theatre Royal Wakefield WF1 2TE

Tuesday 8th November: University of Westminster, Harrow Campus HA1 3UW

KIVA II is a new ultra-compact modular line source adding 6dB of max SPL versus its predecessor, maximised amplifier density with 16 ohm impedance and a new rugged enclosure mat

Europe - High End Systems has released its latest OS for Hog 4 lighting consoles. Hog 4 OS 3.5.0 offers numerous new features and enhancements for the platform's wide user base; the company is also touting new features in development for release in the near future.

Hog 4 OS v3.5.0 fully supports Compound Fixtures (single fixtures with multiple parts), providing easy scheduling and patching without the need to manually and, renumber, and patch individual parts.

Hog 4 OS v3.5.0 communicates directly with several video matrix switcher products over Ethernet. This allows smaller productions to control video equipment directly from a lighting console without the need for additional control systems or operators. Hog 4 OS supports the Barco MatrixPro-II SD/HD/3G-SDI series, the Blackmagic Smart VideoHub series, the Lightware MX series, and the AJA KUMO 16x16 series switchers.

UK - GoboPlus.com turned out in force on its fully recyclable cardboard stand at PLASA 2016. The whole stand, with graphics designed by GoboPlus.com's Vicky Fairall, was made entirely of cardboard, including the lectern, seats and tables. It succeeded in drawing large numbers of visitors with its unique and colourful appearance that guided customers through the process of custom gobo production.

GoboPlus.com is a one-stop online shop that specialises in the supply of custom and standard metal gobos, glass gobos and all projection images. Goboplus.com's online shop now features colour filter which is available from stock, by the sheet or roll, for shipping the same day.

Its sister company, CutColourPlus, provides bespoke cutting and complete scroll-making services, and supplies lighting filters in sheets and rolls from leading manufacturers that include Lee, Rosco and GAM.<

UK - Pharos Architectural Controls Ltd, designer and manufacturer of advanced lighting control solutions, has launched a new lighting controller - the Pharos VLC.

The Pharos VLC (Video Lighting Controller) is a simple, cost effective, all-in-one solution for controlling LED lighting fixtures installed as a large array; such as a building fa

USA - At AES in Los Angeles, Apogee Electronics announced a Dante Network option card for its flagship audio interface Symphony I/O Mk II.

The addition of Dante expands Symphony's connectivity options which currently include, Thunderbolt, Pro Tools HD and SoundGrid. The Symphony I/O Mk II Dante option card uses Audinate's Dante Brooklyn II module which features plug and play media networking for up to 64 bidirectional channels at 48kHz.

"Dante's powerful solution allows Symphony I/O MK II customers to network Apogee's legendary sound quality in a wide range of audio workflows including live sound, sound stages and networked recording studios," commented Betty Bennett, Co-Founder and CEO of Apogee. "Dante compatibility is the latest result of our commitment to the growth and evolution of the Symphony I/O Mk II system."

(Jim Evans)

USA - With an output greater than that of a 750-watt HPL ellipsoidal, the Ovation E-260WW IP is bright enough to work effectively at outdoor events, theatrical performances and concerts. The new LED fixture from Chauvet Professional will also keep working without issue if the weather at those outdoor projects turns bad, because it is fully IP65 rated, says the company.

In addition to its IP65 rating, the new indoor/outdoor fixture, which will be showcased at the Ovation LDI booth (1515), is endowed with all of the performance features of the popular Ovation E-260WW. This includes a 50,000-hour LED source life as well as an intense output (6,910 lux at 5m with a 26? lens). The latter feature makes it, along with its sister fixture, the brightest LED ellipsoidal on the market.

"The response to the Ovation E-260WW has been overwhelming since we introduced it earlier this year

UK - Allen & Heath has announced the availability of further ProFactory Mic presets for Audio-Technica Microphones, following the successful collaboration with microphone manufacturers, Shure and Sennheiser, to provide channel library presets on its leading Qu Series compact digital mixers.

ProFactory Mic presets offer engineers of all abilities the ideal starting point to get the best possible sound out of their instrument, microphone and mixer combination, in record time and across a large range of popular and industry standard mics.

New presets for Audio-Technica include MB, ATM and Pro series microphones, to add to the evolution e600, e800 and e900 series from Sennheiser, and PGA, SM and Beta series from Shure.

The team at Allen & Heath worked closely with the engineers at each manufacturer to ensure that the optimal settings were applied for each mic paired with Q

UK - Doughty Engineering has added a new item to its Studio Rail 60 range in the form of an Articulated Carriage that will allow for curved Studio Rail to be used for applications other than, but not excluding, curtain tracks. The new piece of kit which is unique to Doughty was given a surprise debut on the company's stand at this year's PLASA show.

Dan Phillips, project sales co-ordinator at Doughty explained, "The Articulated Carriage is a piece I'd been working on for a little while and thought it would be worth taking along to PLASA to try it out and see just how well it would work. If it didn't perform as expected, I was ready to go back to the drawing board to fine tune the design. But we built the stand and it worked perfectly - and went on to become the talking point of our stand at this year's show."

The new Articulated Carriages allow the Studio Rail perimeter tr

Germany - GLP has announced the release of the upgraded 30 Watt version of their popular X4 atom fixture. Adding a new high power light source into the unit has doubled its brightness, and introduced greater optical efficiencies within the unit. At the same time, an additional 6-way PSU has been added to the product line up.

Concurrently, and supporting GLP's philosophy of promoting longer product life cycles, the company has undergone a complete market swap-out of current units, allowing all existing owners and users to benefit from this technology upgrade immediately, and without cost.

The brighter 30 Watt RGBW LED source is from the same family used across all GLP's X4 range. This ensures full colour matching across fixtures and enables the X4 atom to really cut through, despite its compact size.

However, the X4 atom houses a lot more besides a bright source, starti

USA - For designers that have zero patience with dim, bulky and muddy linear LED units, the ENTTEC Phero 33 RGB Pixel Bar may be the answer.

"I'm convinced this new Phero model, with its technical features and sleek form factor is going to make a big dent in the small to medium size touring market," says ENTTEC Americas general manager, Jeremy Kumin. "We're focusing our energy on telling designers who are hip, rising stars about this light because it just feels like a must-have for the indie bands that are starting to break into big festivals or are headlining in small to medium sized clubs,"

At a mere 18 watts, the Phero 33 is an energy efficient unit designed for direct lighting applications. Comprised of 33 independent RGB pixels, the Phero 33 features extended color blending and uniform color. While some LED units struggle with the warm colour palette, the Phero 33 giv

Germany - The PLUSlite 1000-4 fulfils the wish of many users for a handy, single chain-fall D8 Plus chain hoist with a safe working load of 1,000 kg at 4 m/min.

The Movecat PLUSlite 1000-4 is based on the current DIN 56950-1:2012-5 standard and satisfies in full the BG requirements. The mechanism is designed for twice the nominal load and the chain exhibits dynamic and static safety factors of 8:1 and 10:1 respectively.

With its compact aluminium housing, a 9x27 load chain, two robust handles and a total weight of only 115 kg, it is suitable for day-to-day touring and rental applications.

Above all, when used as a climbing hoist in combination with the Movecat Case, which was developed in close cooperation with users, ideal operation is guaranteed, as the chain-hoist can climb and retract independently drawing its power from the case.

Features include: overhead or

Europe - The new 24S and 24S-D point source loudspeakers from d&b audiotechnik are set to conquer permanent applications including night clubs, live performance venues, houses of worship, multipurpose centres and sports venues, says the company.

These latest additions to the established xS-Series all feature redesigned front grills making them more unobtrusive than ever before. "The 24S, 24S-D and 21S-SUB are designed to set and forget. They meet the exact day to day demands of permanent installation with minimum fuss and maximum reliability," explains Wolfgang Schulz, product manager of installation products at d&b.

Differing only in horizontal dispersion, with 75° x 45° and 110° x 45° (h x v) respectively, the 24S and 24S-D house two 12" LF drivers in a dipolar arrangement and a single hornloaded 1.4" exit compression driver. This HF horn is rotatable, me

India - Cloud Electronics exhibited at InfoComm India 2016 in Bombay for the first time with recently appointed distributor for the India region, Acoustic Arts.

Simon Curtis, managing director for Cloud Electronics reports, "Cloud is one of the industry's oldest and most respected brands in commercial contracting and distributed audio. Until Acoustic Arts were appointed, Cloud had limited into the regions of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. We're very excited about this partnership and the particular benefits it will bring to dealers in these regions.

"Exciting times lie ahead for the Indian market as AV tech, digital signage and High-Speed Internet are finding relevant solutions and applications, although more traditional solutions are still very much in demand in this, the most diverse marketplace of all.

"It was very reassuring how clearly relevant and app

Europe - Yamaha has launched its latest MT Series headphones, the HPH-MT8 and HPH-MT5*, developed to provide engineers with the high levels of precision and fidelity required for professional monitoring.

MT Series headphones are designed to deliver flat, high-resolution sound with precise stereo imaging and faithful source signal reproduction, while providing a high level of isolation and comfort to ward off fatigue during extended monitoring sessions.

The new models are equipped with custom drivers and powerful neodymium magnets for precise definition, even at the highest output levels. The lightweight-yet-powerful drivers deliver a frequency response of 15Hz-28kHz in the MT8 and 20Hz-20kHz in the MT5.

Both feature a comfortable closed-back, circumaural configuration with solid ABS housing and sweat-resistant headband. Large ear pads and low-resistance cushions absorb

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