UK - The COHEDRA Coherent Dynamic Response Array system from Germany's HK Audio was given one of its biggest challenges to date on the first UK production tour for boy-band sensation McFly. COHEDRA's longthrow projection was invaluable at cutting through the screams of the teenage girls who packed the venues to see their idols in action.

The three-week tour in late September and October featured a rig of 12 COHEDRA mid/high cabinets per side at most venues. The system was supplied to Production North by HK AUDIO's UK distributor John Hornby Skewes, together with two COHEDRA PR-8 and two PR-16 Power Racks. It was configured by FOH engineer Nick Warren using HK's CAPS Aiming Software prediction software. " COHEDRA exceeded my expectations for this tour," says Warren. "Firstly it is fantastic to fly and put together. The way the rigging is configured means that apar

UK - London-based ear monitor and hearing protection specialist Sensorcom has announced the release of Soundcheck, a simple key-fob style audio level meter designed to give a visual indication of noise levels. Suitable for use in music venues, theatres, nightclubs and in industry, Soundcheck has a traffic-light format of visual display to indicate when audio levels are safe or too high to work in without ear protection. Current and future noise at work legislation stipulates that employers must be aware of noise levels and must provide hearing protection beyond 90dB, also known as the 'Second Action Level'. This figure reduces to 87dB from April 2006.

Operation of Soundcheck is simple: a single button activates the device and from the resultant display the noise levels can be interpreted from the flashing or steady-state of the LEDs; the red LED indicates the noise level is at

UK - Stage Electrics will be holding an auction in North London on behalf of Northern Light on Saturday 20 November. 850 stage and entertainment lighting, sound and miscellaneous lots will be under the hammer at the Millennium Studios, 5 Elstree Way, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire from 10:00am. Over 2500 invitations have been distributed and the level of response has been impressive. Viewing of the equipment takes place on Friday 19 November from 14:00 to 20:00 and on the Saturday morning from 08:00.

There will be new and used equipment to suit every budget. From large Gladiator follow spots to small birdies, Patt 23 to Strand SL Profiles, From Carousel to Barco LCD projectors. The list is endless and an up to date version can be found at the website below.

(Sarah Rushton-Read)

UK - A.C. Lighting's Special Projects division has provided the £200k supply and installation of all technical facilities for a theatre studio and other teaching rooms at the B6 Sixth Form College in Hackney, London.

The College is the first of its kind for London in ten years and runs a wide range of further education courses for students in the borough, including Performing Arts vocational courses in Technical Theatre, Acting and Dance. When the College was granted funding to build new teaching rooms for the Creative Arts and Media department, it commissioned Theatre Consultant Crin Claxton to produce a detailed specification of the technical facilities required for a new theatre studio, dance studio and film screening room. The theatre would be used to host multiple types of student and guest artist performances, and provide teaching space for the various production and perf

USA - Meyer Sound has appointed touring sound veteran Don Pearson to its staff of educational trainers as a technical seminar instructor. Pearson co-founded Ultra Sound (now Pro Media/Ultra Sound) in San Rafael, California, with Howard Danchik in 1978.

The company established a reputation for taking a studied approach to sound reinforcement and providing pristine audio using Meyer Sound loudspeakers for its clients, who have included the Grateful Dead, Santana, the Dave Matthews Band, Andrea Bocelli and many others. Pearson left the company in spring 2004 to be an independent consultant providing audio services, including system tuning and educational seminars.

"We have known and worked with Don for many years," says Helen Meyer, executive vice-president of Meyer Sound, "and have always respected his devotion to combining the science of sound and the realities

Russia - Vision Systems, the global provider of early warning fire, public address and security systems which purchased Ampekko/Millbank earlier this year, has announced the appointment of Mikhail Elisseev as a regional sales executive for Russia. The appointment is a result of increased demand for Vision Systems' very early smoke aspirating VESDA solution. The appointment will ensure even better levels of technical support to Vision Systems' network of channel partners, and promote awareness of VESDA to target end users and specifiers throughout Russia and CIS region, say the company.

Mikhail has extensive experience in the field of fire engineering from his role with SEM, the leading Russian Fire Engineering and VESDA reseller. Prior to his time with SEM, Mikhail was a teacher at the State Service Technical School and holds a Masters Degree from the Academy of State Fire Servi

UK - Sound design and installation specialist CP Sound has completed a JBL installation at Octave - Covent Garden's newest live Jazz Bar and restaurant. CP's Colin Pattenden was asked to handle all Octave's audio elements, after completing other successful projects for owner Glendola Leisure.

The intimate new venue consists of one large area with bar, divided into several different level zones - raised or sunken - complete with two separate areas for live performance, which together with the low ceilings produced an interesting set of acoustic conundrums.

The Stage B position is the favoured one for performances - an expediently sized area with just enough room to get a duo on stage, adjacent to the resident piano.Pattenden's sound proposal was designed to allow them to stage simple live acts with mic inputs, as well as a background music system with full zone control for the

USA - San Diego-based design and installation company, Bluewater Audio, recently furnished U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Miramar with a multi-zone paging system using Allen & Heath's iDR-4 programmable DSP distributed audio system. The installation was the finishing touch on a $4 million construction project to build a state-of-the-art facility to support the embarkation and debarkation of service members to overseas areas.

"We put in a six zone paging system using the iDR-4 as the heart of the system," explained Paul Svenson, co-owner of Bluewater Audio. "We also put in a remote controller - the PL-3 - at two locations, duplicating each other; there's one by the door and one by baggage handling."

Based on the same technology as the Allen & Heath iDR-8 system, iDR-4 is a 4 input / 4 output digital processor, with additional 2 input / 2 output dual-function

UK - L-Acoustics introduced the Kudo system at the recent AES exhibition in San Francisco. The company says Kudo is a new generation of line source array offering far more flexibility than any other line arrays to date, and marks a significant evolution in L-Acoustics' pioneering Wavefront Sculpture Technology (WST) - since WST can now be performed in both vertical and horizontal planes.

Two patented DOSC waveguides are incorporated in Kudo, allowing WST to be performed either vertically or horizontally. In parallel, coverage pattern adjustment is available in the perpendicular plane using patent-pending K-Louver technology. Mechanically-adjustable K-Louvers provide directivity control for the mid/high section and allow Kudo to be reconfigured with four different coverage pattern settings.

The system is primarily intended for end users such as regional sound companies for to

UK - Maycom, the Dutch company which has pioneered the design and manufacture of compact flash card sound recorders since 1994, has appointed Solid State Sound to distribute its range of HandHeld II, EasyCorder and MP3/MicTube solid state recorders in the UK and Eire.

Based near Warminster, Wiltshire, Solid State Sound specializes in the sale of digital audio card recorders and their accessories, including suitable microphones and headphones. The company is owned and run by Rodney Wayman who has over 20 years' experience in pro-audio equipment sales, and some 10 years in broadcast production before that. "Having used and sold several million pounds worth of every conceivable audio device in my time, all the way from open reel to hard disk," says Wayman, "it is such a pleasure to be so closely involved with what the industry has been working all this time to achie

France/China - French digital mixing console manufacturer InnovaSON has appointed its first Chinese partner, Hua Nan (HN) Audio. For several years InnovaSON has been testing the water in China, and the new appointment reflects an aim to step up its presence in the region.

"The Chinese market is a huge and difficult one," says Philippe Pelmelle, market development manager at InnovaSON. "If you do not have somebody in the country working for you with experience of your technology and products, together with a great knowledge of its market, and ability to do business right across the region, you will not succeed. My strategy was to find a company not only able to do this, but which also represented other product lines compatible with InnovaSON."

HN Audio was able to meet Pelmelle's criteria. Located in the southern Guangdong province and active across the whol

USA - Meyer Sound celebrated its 25th anniversary in style at the117th Audio Engineering Society (AES) convention held in San Francisco recently. After a year of increased sales and well-received new products, the company had a strong presence at the exhibition and left with its fifth TEC (Technical Excellence and Creativity) award, awarded to the MILO high-power curvilinear array loudspeaker for being best in Sound Reinforcement Loudspeaker Technology at the 20th annual awards show.

Previous TEC awards have been given to the SIM source independent measurement system, HD-1 high definition audio monitor, PSW-6 cardioid subwoofer and UPM-1P ultra-compact high coverage loudspeaker. The award took its place on Meyer Sound's booth the day after the TEC event next to the company's previous four awards, which were on display there. MILO's nomination was the 19th that the company has r

New Zealand/Australia - Following the recent appointment of Amber Technology as exclusive distributor for DPA Microphones in New Zealand, it has been announced that the ties between the companies have been further strengthened with the appointment of Amber Technology as the exclusive Australian distributor for the range.

For the past decade, DPA Microphones have been well represented in Australia by Leon Hart from D2a Professional Audio. However, in an amiable agreement between all three companies involved, distribution arrangements for DPA products have moved to Amber Technology, with Leon Hart joining the company to ensure his extensive experience and product knowledge will continue to be available to DPA's large Australian client base.

"It was time to grow the DPA Microphones brand name even further and after more than 10 years association with DPA, I am pleased that m

UK - The BT Digital Music Awards 04 took place in the Shepherds Bush Arena recently, with PA company Canegreen Commercial providing their specialist audio expertise to ensure the event could be enjoyed by the live audience and be recorded for the all important webcast.

The event was managed by Reality, who have extensive experience of producing corporate style awards ceremonies with a rock'n'roll element. MD Paul Corrick commented: "When music is the central theme of an event we know the sound - critical to the events success - will be in safe hands with Canegreen Commercial. Their knowledge of the venue and their interfacing with a good in-house system helped make these Digital Music Awards run very smoothly to be televised and webcast."

Canegreen has enjoyed a long relationship with the Shepherds Bush Empire, having first installed the in-house PA over 10 years a

USA - Community Professional Loudspeakers has launched the new DXP4800, a Digital System Controller that provides precision digital signal processing for Community full-range and subwoofer loudspeaker systems. The DXP4800 can also be used as a generic DSP device for other loudspeaker products.

New system configurations are possible with the abundant number of audio channels. The 4 inputs and 8 outputs allow stereo 4-way, stereo 3-way + mono 2-way, 4 bi-amp mixes and 8-channel zone capability. The DXP4800 enables the audio engineer to come up with creative system architectures via the 4 x 8 matrix feature and programmes allow for fast A/B comparison, and the matrix feature allows any of the four inputs to be assigned or mixed to any output, say Community.

The audio converters in the DXP4800 offer high quality signal reproduction, distortion and noise, with a sampling rate of

UK - Professional audio-visual supplier, Snelling Business Systems of Norwich, has just completed an AV system for the new Jarrold stand at Norwich City Football Club. The microphone systems chosen are from Sennheiser's evolution wireless G2 series: two ew322 systems with EM300 receivers and SK300 pocket transmitters with ME 4 tie cardioid mics and two ew335 systems with EM 300 receivers and SK 300 hand-held transmitters with MD 835 cardioid heads. These, plus Denon multi-CD and pro DVD players, plus a JVC SVHS VCR, feed the mixers and DSP audio matrix control. Amplification is handled by a QSC CX254 4-channel amplifier, which drives eight Tannoy iP5 Mirage NXT ceiling loudspeakers. A Tannoy CMS110B active sub adds the lower frequencies to the system.

To provide audio for the hard of hearing and comply with the Disability Discrimination Act, Snelling installed an additional Sen

USA - American DJ will be holding its Customer Appreciation Party on February 23, 2005 during the Mobile Beat 2005 Show at Las Vegas' famously popular Beach Night Club, which was voted "no 1 Party Club in Las Vegas" in a 2004 poll conducted by the Las Vegas Review Journal.

The party is free for Mobile Beat show attendees. "It's our way of thanking customers for their patronage and support," said Scott Davies, general manager of the American DJ Group of Companies. On most nights, working DJs provide entertainment so that other people can party and have fun. We thought our customers deserve one night when they can kick back and do the partying themselves."

"The 2005 version of this annual ADJ bash promises to be bigger, better and more fun than ever," said Davies. "In fact, this party will be so jamming that it will take two DJs to emcee

USA - TAB Technical Services has become a major installer of Allen & Heath's iDR DSP audio distribution and processing systems. For one client, The Cheesecake Factory, TAB has installed the A&H iDR-8 at 75% of the national restaurant chain's 60 locations, according to company president Todd Berman.

Although materials, ceiling height, and décor differ slightly between locations, says Berman, the A&H iDR installation at each Cheesecake Factory restaurant is essentially the same. "It's pretty much an 8 or 10 zone system in each venue. The iDR works out well because there are 10 outs - two monitor jacks in addition to the eight main outs."

Using the multi-zone control and processing capabilities of the iDR-8, audio in each area of the restaurant may be separately programmed and controlled, continues Berman, who also has years of experience with Allen & Heath's DR128 dig

Worldwide - The edgy melodic post-grunge of Hoobastank is a worldwide hit. Live, the band relies on Audio-Technica mics to deliver knockout performances on stages throughout North America and Europe. Currently trekking through Europe on The Reason Tour, Hoobastank's lead vocalist Doug Robb is using the A-T Artist Elite 5000 Series Wireless System with an AEW-T3300 capsule.

Drummer Chris Hesse has a pair of Audio-Technica ATM63HE dynamics mics on the top and bottom of his snare, the dual-element AE2500 on his kick drum, an AE5100 on his hi-hat and ride cymbals, and the AE3000 on his rack toms. The AT4050 microphones Hesse uses as overheads are also employed by guitarist Dan Estrin on his guitar amps, while bassist Markku Lappalainen utilizes the AT4047/SV.

Brendon Brown, Hoobastank's tour manager and FOH Mixer for the band's last two tours, likes to work with the combina

Germany - d&b audiotechnik has announced the launch of a newly-designed website - and really hopes that everyone has as much fun looking at it as they had choosing the images - such as the d&b army knife representing 'Support' (pictured). The website design now matches the most recent marketing design used by the company over the past year and to launch the Q-Series loudspeaker range and the D12 amplifier.

The company says that the new design allows easy navigation to download all d&b documentation and software updates and even includes a site map for those to whom speed is of the essence - zero to E0 in nanoseconds. Even the highly useful d&b calendar has been made more accessible under the News section, say the company.

"Of course," commented Simon Johnston, d&b's marketing director, "being d&b, we will now be changing the design of our advertisements from S

Australia / Germany - Smart AV Pty Ltd has appointed the German distributor For-Tune as its distributor for Germany and Austria. Smart AV is the manufacturer of the Smart Console, a revolutionary new control surface for digital audio workstations and live applications. "For many years we have specialized in the distribution of high-end audio technology," said Stefan Mayer, managing director of For-Tune. "The products of Smart AV fit perfectly into our current product range and we are convinced that the Smart Console will set a new standard for hardware controllers in post-production and broadcast applications."

Patrick Woolcocks, European sales manager for Smart AV, commented: "We chose For-Tune not only for its reputation and knowledge of the market and technology, but also for the company's great energy and enthusiasm. I am very pleased to be working

USA - Cerwin-Vega! has announced the introduction of its all-new Intense line of portable sound reinforcements products. These were given a sneak preview on the stand of UK distributors, Lamba plc., at the PLASA Show in London recently, and are now shipping.

The series consists of three new models, with a high level of user-researched features, including titanium compression drivers, plywood cabinets and Cerwin-Vega's exclusive HighRoad horns, for dramatically improved high-end performance and clarity.

"The INTENSE line represents a real step forward for Cerwin-Vega! and gives our customers a highly competitive alternative to the more traditional product lines in this segment," said Domenic Buonincontri, general manager, Cerwin-Vega! "For the first time, we are able to produce an entry level line with the look and the feature sets usually found only in systems c

UK - The TOA D-901 digital mixer is a fully modular, cost-effective digital mixer featuring a 12-input, 8-bus, 8-output channel configuration (12 x 8 matrix) with easy operation that can be expanded as applications require. The compact (3U rackspace) D-901 incorporates important functions such as digital mixer, feedback suppression, auto mixing, parametric EQ, compression, delay and echo. Its operational scope allows it to do the work that conventionally requires several different pieces of equipment, providing a cost-effective solution for any requirement, say TOA.

As a full-featured digital mixer, the D-901 incorporates several useful built-in functions to ensure maximum performance without the need for other equipment. A compressor can be switched in to reduce the dynamic range between the smallest and largest signals, preventing amplifier clipping at high levels. The flexibl

UK - The first ever Nordic Music Awards was held recently in Oslo, Norway and rental company Audio One was the chosen live audio supplier for the event. The show, which was held in Oslo Spektrum and broadcast live on Scandinavian television, featured top international artists such as Robbie Williams, Tina Turner, Kylie Minogue, Westlife and Brian McFadden.

The Nordic Music Awards is to be an annual event for Norway, Sweden and Denmark, where national and international artists are chosen in different categories, such as Best International Female Artist, Best Nordic Band, etc.

With an audience of around 9000, the event was completely sold out, meaning a large sound system was required to adequately cover the whole audience listening area. Spektrum is a very wide and steep seated venue, so to have an even SPL coverage is always a real challenge. To do the job proper

Latest Issue. . .