Artistic Licence has launched a new show control system. 'Common-Sense' provides a protocol interface that supports contact closures, switch matrices, analogue control voltage, real-time clock, MIDI, MIDI show control, Infrared, RS232, RS485 and of course DMX512. All of these interfaces are software-controlled in a self-contained wall-mount enclosure. The product is configured using a user-friendly graphic software package, Sense-Edit. Common-Sense has been nominated for the PLASA 2000 Best New Product Award.

SSE Hire has been servicing Pearl Jam's sell-out European arena tour with a Nexo Alpha PA system. The company is providing all of the input and house side of the show, control, line system and a 36-stack Alpha system with delay hangs where necessary, processed by BSS Soundweb and ably mixed by Brett Eliason. Rat Sound are looking after the monitor side, Karrie Keyes mixing on a Yamaha PM4000 using Crest amplified, Rat wedges and fills. The tour is the fourth American production to be serviced by SSE this year and SSE personnel on the tour include Matt Field, Tom Wiggans and John Gibbon.

Alfred Van Wyk, whose extensive experience includes time spent at both TOA and more recently Federal Signal, has been appointed the area sales manager for Philips CSI communications division. He will be covering the UK, Northern Ireland and Irish Republic, and will have responsibility for communications, public address and congress sales.

beyerdynamic is expanding its sales staff with the appointment of Simon Druce as sales manager responsible for MI product sales covering the north of England. He has had wide hands-on experience, working as a DJ for six years in clubs and pubs around the country before venturing into sales management in the retail sector looking after key accounts. Druce will be responsible for the full line of beyerdynamic's MI products as well as for introducing dB Technologies radio microphones, active speakers and IEM systems.

Huntingdon-based NXT plc has been shortlisted for this year's £50,000 Royal Academy of Engineering MacRobert Award for its SurfaceSound flat panel loudspeaker technology. Henry Azima, Martin Colloms and Neil Harris have spent five years perfecting the world's first diffuse flat-panel loudspeaker, the technology behind which is now being licensed to manufacturers around the world. The winner of the Award will be announced in November.

Design and installation specialist Sound and Visual Ltd has just completed what must be its most taxing contract to date - a portable conference system for the Inland Revenue. Based on the beyerdynamic MCS system, the system comprised a 15-delegate system that had to be fully flightcased with a simple wiring and connection regime for swift set-up at various meeting points around the country. One of the major problems of traditional systems that use a central loudspeaker is the potential for acoustic feedback. By incorporating the speakers into the delegate stations, all participants have a 'local' loudspeaker, keeping audio levels down and negating feedback problems.

Soundcraft's successful Going Live programme of sound engineering seminars has debuted in Mexico. Hosted by local distributors Hermes Music in Mexico City and Metropoli in Guadalajara, the events were joined by Dave Kay of Adlib Audio who flew out from the UK to chair the panel of engineers who provided the tuition, accompanied by Ian Staddon of Soundcraft and engineer Geoff Lissaman. Nearly 200 people attended the events. The first USA Going Live course is due to take place in Nashville in November.

Music Live 2000, the UK's largest public music-making show, returns to the NEC, Birmingham in November. The show, which runs from 17-19 November, is looking to attract over 25,000 music enthusiasts which brings together some of the most respected names in the business, including Marshall, Fender, Korg, Peavey, Yamaha and Akai.

Philips CSI's Easy Line 2000 products represent anew and easy way for CCTV installers to offer more advanced systems combining CCTV and PA. Easy Line brings together Philips POS observation and discrete CCTV systems with compatible public address products to add sound capability in a plug and play format. The new system allows installers to provide fast and cost-effective solutions including stand-alone or integrated POS, CCTV and PA systems.

XtraMusic has launched a new satellite music package which provides subscribers with unlimited access to 80 channels of music, encompassing full background and foreground music requirements for business establishments. The company's European business development manager Noel Chivers said: "Our customer feedback tells us that the average pub can spend between £50 to £100 a month on CDs, and this is without the cost of CD players."

Dave Haydon, BSS Audio's long-serving sales manager, has left the company to join Out Board Electronics as commercial director. To ensure a smooth hand-over, he will continue his association with BSS, on a consultancy basis, for one year. Haydon has a wealth of industry experience, including working as a sound engineer on Jesus Christ Superstar, QC engineer at Midas and product management and broadcast sales at Solid State Logic.

Hacousto International b.v. has appointed ProAudio Marketing GmbH as their official distributor in Germany for the Matrics Pro-Sound range of products. The appointment follows a study of the target market and those companies in Germany who showed interest in representing the products, particularly the Magic 88, the digital processor-mixer aimed at the pro-sound, conference and installation/contractor markets. ProAudio Marketing, who were officially appointed at the beginning of July, have started with a large stock order off which is intended to support the significant sales expected following their initial product launch.

ARX has announced the launch of two new products. The Mix 8 is an 8 into 2 stereo line mixer, designed as the ideal real-world interface for today's 8-track playback requirements, and a solution to all multi-channel line mixing needs. Also new is the VCS-6 (pictured) DC-controlled noise gate, which has been developed in conjunction with Panasonic Broadcast and the Sydney Olympic Broadcast Organisation (SOBO), who requested from ARX an audio-for-video switcher based on the ARX Sixgate, which they were already familiar with. Panasonic has now placed an order for 34 of the units, allowing them to control remotely 204 channels of audio at the Sydney Olympics.

Audio Design Services has celebrated its 10th anniversary by changing the company name to ADS Worldwide - reflecting the company's increasing involvement with global markets. ADS Worldwide has now embraced the education market with a range of products such as the MiniLab, which provides cheap and flexible access to language and general tuition for schools and other establishments. Part of the celebration included a formal dinner at the Deanwater Hotel in Cheshire, at which members of the ADS Worldwide team are pictured.

Lamba has secured one of the most significant agencies in the history of the company with their appointment this month as the exclusive UK distributor for Nady products. California-based Nady Systems has a long tradition of wireless microphone innovation dating back to 1976, while Lamba boasts an even longer track record in both MI and pro audio - the two core markets that Nady's products address. Talks began at the NAMM Show last January, where Nady launched several new state-of-the-art wireless mics, and under the new Nady Audio badge, introduced several new power amplifiers, mixers, hardwired microphones and rack-mount equipment, further extending their influence in the DJ and pro audio markets.

Allen & Heath has announced the availability of version 1.01 of the new ML5000 console's software, which can be downloaded from the company's website and is complete with full, clear instructions for uploading to the console. The new version offers refinements to the functionality of the desk, including a streamlining of the snapshot store to allow storing to sequential locations with single key presses and an extension of the MIDI dump to include more surface settings.

Autograph Sound Recording has announced its association with the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA), commencing with the donation and permanent installation of a CADAC A Type mixing console for the Paul McCartney Auditorium, the college's largest live performance space. The tie-in with LIPA also includes Autograph sharing their 27 years of live sound design and rental experience with the Sound Technology degree students, by undertaking a regular series of live theatrical sound workshops.

Following extensive architectural renovations of the Centre Court complex at Roland Garros Paris, an L-Acoustics dV-Dosc system has been installed for the International French Open Tennis Championship of this year, reinforcing the position of L-Acoustics within the high performance permanent installation market. As part of the project to renovate the Centre Court at Roland Garros, the French Tennis Federation's architect Didier Girardet, from ACD Girardet & Associates, contacted Mas Conseil, a PA consultancy headed by Jean-Pierre Mas, to specify the PA system. After the system requirements were defined, the concept proposed by L-Acoustics was chosen.

ADS Worldwide has received an order from a company in Cyprus for 60 Mole loudspeakers for installation in a theme park. ADS' Mole loudspeaker has several advantages in an installation of this type since it can be installed in the ground, being easily camouflaged by shrubs and plants. The unit has been designed to provide a wide frequency range through 360 degrees and in open areas is ideal in that it can be located near to those people required to listen to either background music or public announcements.

The Oxford Sound Company has recently completed the installation of a voice-reinforcement system at the prestigious Keble College, one of Oxford's high seats of academia. The installation was in the main dining refectory used as a conference facility accommodating up to 200 people, making the use of voice reinforcement essential. "The refectory is a giant reverb chamber with a reverberation time in excess of three seconds," explained Andrew Riley of the Oxford Sound Company. "So we had to specify speakers with a predictable off-axis polar response and position them to achieve an even sound coverage for all of the seated areas." Three pairs of speakers were used, all fed via appropriate delays and equalisers.

As part of its current restructuring programme, Trantec Systems has further strengthened its sales force with the appointment of Allan Gallacher as regional sales manager for the North of England, Scotland and Ireland. Allan brings considerable experience at the MI end of the market; he was lately shop manager at Micro Music in Liverpool, and prior to that worked at Dawson's in Warrington for six years.

Martin Audio's new three-way THX-approved sound reinforcement systems have been specified and installed in no fewer than 14 auditoria (including the main THX room and the three Gold Class VIP suites, served by their own bar and foyer) at Warner Village's massive Star City 30-screen multiplex - situated beneath Birmingham's Spaghetti Junction at Nechells. The multiplex is the largest in Europe and its 24 general-run mainstream houses, are complemented by six distinct screening rooms. Martin Audio Screen 5s have been used in triamp mode in the THX suite while in the other larger rooms the same enclosures are run biamped. Screen 4s have been sued in other smaller auditoria - again in LCR configurations stacked with Screen Sub 1 low frequency enclosures.

Martin Cassey has joined NXT. Cassey studied Engineering before going on to work with a number of companies including TAG McLaren Audio, Rover Group and British Aerospace. He joins NXT as general manager in the technology transfer department which has a 25-strong team of scientific and engineering specialists.

Apogee has introduced a new range of CA amplifiers for touring, permanent installations, rental applications and commercial sound. Built around the same rugged chassis as the DA-Series amplifiers, these new CA amps use the latest in power MOSFET technology. Four models are available and all are only two rack spaces high, and feature rear panel level controls to avoid tampering or inadvertent adjustment. The front-end circuitry features an advanced clip eliminator to reduce distortion. Speaker protection is provided by means of an ultra-fast crowbar circuit. All models are equipped with dual, adjustable speed fans for quite, efficient cooling and feature internally configurable AC mains for 120 VAC or 240 VAC. Power inlet is an IEC approved removable connector; cordsets may be specified for US, Euro or UK standards.

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