USA - Martin Audio has again walked away with the Best Club Sound System (Design) category in the 26th International Dance Music Awards (IDMA), held during the Winter Music Conference at the Miami Beach Convention Centre.

The custom dance system installed at the Ministry of Sound in South London beat off nominations from top international venues, Beta in Denver, Cielo and Pacha in New York and Space in Ibiza.

The Ministry of Sound has systematically converted to Martin Audio over a long period, capping this off last year with the completion of a bespoke club stack in its main room (the Box). The final piece in the jigsaw came in February 2010, when it became the first venue to adopt the manufacturer's new ASX active sub.

MoS technical manager, Alex Barrand, said, "Winning the Best Club Sound System last year was a huge honour - but to be accoladed two years in successio

UK - The latest addition to the LSi Online website - home of PLASA Media's daily news service, LSi magazine archives and other resources - is the LSi Online Video Hub.

A database-driven resource for videos from across the industry, the LSi Video Hub aims to become a one-stop location for LSi Online's 20,000+ global audience to source and view industry-related video content. Visitors to the site can search by category, tag and keyword to refine their searches.

Beginning with almost 100 videos, the site will grow as more companies put their video content directly in front of LSi's regular online audience. With more than 20,000 regular users making an average of 240,000 page requests at LSi Online each month, and a wide-ranging global appeal, LSi Online is ideally placed to present video resources for product training, demo

Disaster Relief - Liam Gallagher's band Beady Eye have released a cover of Beatles song Across the Universe to raise money for the Japanese disaster relief effort. The band played the track at a Japanese disaster benefit gig in London on Sunday having recorded it the previous day. The Beatles originally recorded the song for 1969 WWF fund-raising album No One's Gonna Change Our World. It was then re-recorded for the Let It Be album, released in 1970. The song is available digitally through the Beady Eye website for 99p, with 69p from each download going to the British Red Cross Japan Tsunami Appeal.

Pop Music - Pet Shop Boys have been confirmed as the main support for Take That's record-breaking summer Progress tour. Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe will join the reformed boy band for the series of gigs starting on 27 May in Sunderland. Pet Shop Boy

USA - Electrosonic has confirmed its acquisition of systems integrator Excel Media Systems Inc. The company will become part of Electrosonic's corporate solutions business, offering meeting room and video conferencing systems with full after-sales services from offices in New York City.

The acquisition expands Electrosonic's corporate solutions business in the New York tri-state area and allows the company to better serve its international clients with local offices.

"We are excited to bring Excel Media's talented team to Electrosonic," says Jim Bowie, president of Electrosonic Group. "Together we will continue to expand and develop our systems and service offerings."

"Both our companies have decades of systems experience. By building on our strengths we will provide the highest value for our customers," adds Robert Menell, founder and owner of

UK - In the space of little more than a year, Tinie Tempah has gone from relative unknown to double BRIT Award winner.

Tempah has just finished a tour of some of the UK's best known arenas and he, his band have and his audio crew have appreciated both the quality of Sennheiser's product and the back up that they receive from the company and in particular special projects manager, Phil Cummings.

Tinie's microphone of choice is a 'blinged' SKM 2000 handheld and his in ear monitoring system is a combination of SR2000 and EK2000 (also blinged) which, says monitor engineer Raphael Williams, have proved to be particularly effective, especially in festival situations.

"We use the in ears for clarity and noise reduction," he reports. "They give definition, clarity and directness - and reduce injury for others. If you want to deafen yourself, that's up to you, but you

Germany - Mobile Air Wall from Event Acoustics makes its Pro Light+Sound début this week, following a hugely successful launch at ISE 2011. This sound isolation baffle system will be on display in the form of a booth-within-a-booth so that visitors can experience for themselves how it performs at sound isolation on a busy trade show floor.

Adapted to standard entertainment mounting and rigging systems, Mobile Air Wall enables an exhibitor to create a quality meeting space in noisy environments like tradeshows.

Mobile Air Wall is the latest addition to Event Acoustics' range of sound isolation solutions, which includes the TexLNT sheep wool baffles that have been deployed to great effect at venues such as the Ahoy in Rotterdam for the North Sea Jazz Festival.

Designed to be hung from standard entertainment mounting and rigging systems, Mobile Air Wall enables an exhibi

Germany - HK Audio is launching SoundCaddy One at Pro Light+Sound. SoundCaddy One is a fully integrated sound system. A mixing console, controller, line source mid-/high range unit, subwoofer, cordless speaker bus, and even a pneumatically extendable speaker pole - all united in a powered all-in-one system.

Designed for smart, intuitive handling, it sets up and tears down "in a snap" and takes up very little cargo space. It is designed for schools, churches, government offices, and car dealerships, at conferences, exhibitions and fashion shows, and for product presentations, says the company.

SoundCaddy One's line-array design delivers optimum frequency response, spreading speech and music evenly from the front to the back row. The Elements system and the new SoundCaddy One will be demoed in hall 4.2. Alongside the Portable Sound range, HK Audio will also be displayi

Australia - The Sydney office of national audiovisual group Scene Change has purchased a ClearCom Tempest wireless talkback system. After evaluating many different systems, Sydney director Vicken Hekimian chose the Tempest system for its clarity and reliability.

"A lot of our clients are show producers who are very particular about the quality of the show call," he said. "When it comes down to a vital cue, you don't want even the slightest chance of interference. They trust Clearcom systems as it means they go into a show feeling more comfortable, knowing that they're always in control.

"We've had great feedback on the Tempest, it's one of those products that just tells your client that you're prepared to invest a bit more for ultimate dependability."

(Jim Evans)

Sweden - Göteborgs Stadsteater has recently added a TiMax SoundHub-R32 delay-matrix processor to the sound reinforcement system for its main auditorium, with a TiMax Tracker (TT) performer tracking system. The project was overseen by head sound engineer at the theatre, Jorgen Eriksson, and the complete system is designed primarily to improve the vocal intelligibility when the on-stage actors use lapel microphones.

TiMax SoundHub controls zone level, EQ and matrixed delay for the main FOH system comprised of seven d&b Q1s distributed around a central d&b Q10 hoisted across the proscenium, supported by two L Acoustic MTD115s and a further two L Acoustics MTD112s providing side-fill back and front.

A total of 24 Tannoy 8" speakers act as delay-fills to the upper and lower house and to the balcony, with fill by three EAW JF50S enclosures. Two 2 d&b J-subs and two L Acoustic

Germany - DPA Microphones has officially launched its new modular series of microphones at Prolight & Sound 2011.

The Reference Standard mics take DPA's Standard and Compact ranges a step further, building on the company's reputation for clear, transparent and precise sound and improving on the classic mics. The new range offers increased flexibility, sound quality and cost-effectiveness; the best just got better, claims the company.

The Reference Standard 4000 Series builds and improves on DPA's Compact and Standard 4006, 4011, 4015 and 4017 mics, making a wide selection of capsules available at different price points and performance demands. Three new preamplifiers improve on previous designs: the MMP-A ultra transparent transformerless preamp with active drive for impedance balancing, the MMP-B preamp with low cut and high boost filters and the 45mm compact MMP-C preamp wit

Germany - Harman's Crown Audio announced at ProLight+Sound the addition of the 'Powered By Crown' iPad/iPhone App, designed to provide users with enhanced control and configuration of its amplifiers. The new application can be deployed to control and monitor amplifiers by setting the basic control panels on an amplifier or handle a complete setup through Harman HiQnet System Architect.

The new application benefits both touring professionals and integrators as it can be used to control numerous lines of Crown amplifiers including I-Tech, I-Tech HD, CTs, and Macro Tech I Series amplifiers, says the company. Users can instantly connect by plugging their amplifiers into a wireless router. The app can be deployed on two, four and eight channel amplifiers. Users can now create a custom control panel in HiQnet System Architect, save it and directly import it onto the app using iTunes.

Germany - L-Acoustics announced version 1.8 of its 3D Simulation software Soundvision. at Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt this week.

New features of version 1.8 include updated data product library including the new architectural series (KARAi, SB18i) and new KARA-MINIBU and MINIBUEX Bumpers. These are in addition to the features implemented in the previous version of the software. An upgrade package for existing users is available www.l-acoustics.com.

Exclusively dedicated to L-Acoustics sound systems, Soundvision provides real-time mapping in coverage and delay modes; user-friendly 3D graphical interface; modular multiple window display; temporal mapping for time delay optimization and subwoofer mechanical data; free downloadable database of Soundvision venues for all users.

(Jim Evans)

Germany - Beyerdynamic is celebrating the debut of its new Touring Gear live microphone series at Prolight+Sound 2011.

Touring Gear represents "a whole new chapter in microphone innovation for beyerdynamic". There are four categories in the TG (Touring Gear) series of live microphones TG30, TG50, TG70 and TG90. The TG series includes (V) Vocal, (H) Headset, (L) Lavalier, (D) Drum and (I) Instrument microphones and all models feature beyerdynamic's new Sound Channelling Technology.

The TG 30 series is billed as the perfect introduction into the world of beyerdynamic - an entry level series that can produce large beyerdynamic sound within a small budget.

The TG 50 series covers all applications related to the stage - from vocals, instruments and drums to headsets and lavalier microphones.

The TG 70 series microphones feature advanced technical characteristics and h

USA - Bosch Security Systems has launched the Safe & Sound security and audio tour - billed as the largest, most interactive product exhibit truck in the industry. Featuring video surveillance, access control, intrusion and fire detection, critical communications, and audio systems, the mobile product display enables dealers, specifiers, and end users to experience Bosch products in dynamic ways, says the company.

"Extensive feedback from customers confirms they want the live product interaction available at a trade show without the expense of travel or time away from business activities," said Jeremy Hockham, president of sales North America, Bosch Security Systems. "With the Bosch Safe & Sound Tour, we're bringing the 'show' to our customers - allowing more people to see our products in action and fully understand the capabilities, performance and

Indonesia - A nation of 197m people spread across almost 6,000 inhabited islands makes Indonesia one of the most challenging territories for any business. For Sebastian Song who heads up d&b audiotechnik's Singapore office as well as being responsible for other areas within South East Asia the challenges are legion. "But I have at last found a company that really knows how to address this market with vigour, yet without compromise to the d&b ethos of democracy for listeners," he asserts.

The new partner for Indonesia is Jakarta based A&T Solution, a subsidiary of IM Group which is headed by its founder Christian Kartiko, "a young ambitious audiophile decidedly in the d&b mould". "He really understands why good sound matters," said Song. "He is also a shrewd and effective businessman."

Kartiko established A&T Solutions specifically to man

UK - Studer's Vista 5 console gets an upgrade to the M2 with the optional addition of the precision TFT metering system introduced on the flagship Vista 9 console.

The new metering is capable of displaying signal levels from mono through to 5.1 channels on each input, with a configurable lower area which can be used to display bus assignments, surround images or the History mode, where a scrolling audio waveform displays signal anomalies and highlights them for up to 50 seconds to allow the engineer to identify where the event occurred. Metering for 'layer 2' signals can also be viewed, while the Control Bay screen can be used to provide configurable user pages with up to 40m. When the TFT meter bridge is fitted, the external GC screen becomes an integral part of the chassis.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Production music library Audio Network has invested in a Prism Sound Orpheus FireWire computer interface for its purpose-built mastering studio in Essex, where it is being used as the studio's main sound device.

Established 10 years ago, Audio Network has offices in London, New York, Holland and Australia and is internationally known for offering a complete music solution that cuts through the traditionally complex and costly processes of licensing music for television and advertising.

Audio Network's studio facility, which is located in Little Maplestead, is used for mastering and for remixing composers' original song files or stems. Many of the recordings take place in commercial studios such as Abbey Road, which have the space for large orchestral sessions.

(Jim Evans)

Germany - Gert Sanner , front of house engineer for Deep Purple, and the band's keyboardist Don Airey visited the Harman stand at Prolight +Sound.

Airey and Sanner will be utilizing Si Compact 16 consoles for Airey's keyboard rig - one each for Deep Purple's upcoming Europe and US tours. An Si Compact 16 will first be put to work on Airey's own solo tour in Europe beginning in late April.

"As we have been using a Soundcraft Vi6 for Deep Purple concerts with tremendous results, the Si Compact 16 for Don's keyboard setup gives us compatibility across the system," Sanner says. "I'm looking forward to another successful tour season with Soundcraft."

(Jim Evans)

UK - Adlib supplied sound equipment & crew for the recent sold out UK arena tour for the The Script , as part of their Science & Faith world tour , which saw their largest production set to date.

Richy Nicholson is The Script's FOH engineer. Last autumn for their theatre tour, he used an L-Acoustics V-DOSC system that was also supplied by Adlib, and for this one, he specified the new K1 system, of which Adlib now has a substantial quantity.

Nicholson worked alongside an Adlib team, consisting of Tony Szabo as systems tech, crew chief Marc Peers who also oversaw monitor world, plus PA techs Ian Nelson and Alan Harrison. Bob O'Brien managed all aspects of the production with Ian 'Quinner' Quinn as TM.

Says Adlib project manager Phil Kielty, "The Script are easily one of the most exciting and talented bands of the moment. It seems wherever I go from LA to Glasgow th

Germany - Roland Systems Group has boosted its extensive V-Mixing System lineup with the introduction of the new R-1000 48-Track Recorder/Player, a stand-alone dedicated recorder/player designed to work with the V-Mixing System in any live event or production. The R-1000 can be connected with any digital console that has MADI output capabilities by using the Roland S-MADI REAC MADI Bridge.

Used as a recorder for live events, the R-1000 will capture up to 48 channels of discrete audio all as separate broadcast wave files ready to open in a DAW of choice, says the company. As a playback device, it can be used in live events to play back selected channels, to augment a live performance or as a multi-channel playback deck in a theatre or amusement park application. Two units can be sinked together for a 96-channel recorder/player or sync to video with SMPTE (LTC) or via black burst.

Germany - Martin Audio's Multi-cellular Loudspeaker Array (MLA) celebrated a double success in Frankfurt this month. Just six months after winning the top prize at PLASA's Awards for Innovation, voted by an independent panel of 16 expert judges during the trade show at London's Earls Court, they scooped the MIPA Musikmesse International Press Award for Best PA System during the Pro Light&+Sound expo in Frankfurt.

Held for the 12th year running, the award, voted for by more than 100 magazines worldwide, was presented to managing director, Anthony Taylor and R&D director, Jason Baird during a gala awards ceremony held at the Messe's Saal Europa.

Said Anthony Taylor: "It has been an incredible year for the MLA and its design team headed by Jason Baird. Winning the top PLASA Award was a highlight but to be recognised by the world's press - the harshest critics of all - underp

Germany - Soundcraft's Si Compact range has grown with the latest release of the Si Compact 32, which can deliver 40 inputs to mix, while maintaining the full DSP functionality of its smaller siblings, the Si Compact 24 and 16 models.

The Si Compact 32 features 14 main busses (all with dynamics, delays and BSS graphic EQs), four matrix buses, four dedicated FX buses, four full-time Lexicon effects engines and a range of option cards to interface with other systems such as Aviom, CobraNet, AES/EBU and MADI.

All Si Compact models can connect via MADI to the new Compact Stagebox, adding remote connectivity to these great value digital mixers.

"We believe that this very cost-effective, powerful mixer will be a natural choice for larger install or medium tour sound and house of worship systems," said Keith Watson, marketing director for Soundcraft Studer.

(Lee Baldock

UK - Cooper Controls will be presenting the latest developments in its Zero 88 entertainment lighting control range at PLASA Focus: Leeds 2011. New to the show this year is the ZerOS Android application - Zero 88's latest addition to its suite of remote applications. Continuing the commitment to mobile device integration, this new app adds to their existing suite of iPhone, iPod, iPad and Windows Mobile applications.

The ZerOS Remote Android app, the first for the entertainment technology industry, allows remote control of any ZerOS console. The app allows users to control their lighting rig from their Android for the first time. From channel levels to playback the ZerOS Remote offers full control of the Leap Frog 48, Leap Frog 96, Frog 2, ORB and ORB XF consoles.

Taking centre stage on the Cooper Controls stand is the ORB XF.

UK / Germany - UK-based professional loudspeaker manufacturer EM Acoustics revealed its brand new X3 horn-loaded PA system, the long-awaited companion to the mighty Quake subwoofer, at the ProLight&Sound exhibition in Frankfurt last week.

On the drawing board for over six years, the X3 was finally brought to life at the behest of Show Atelier, EM Acoustics' Russian distributor, who saw X3 as an ideal product for their market. The system comprises a horn-loaded 15" LF drive unit, a horn-loaded 8" MF drive unit and six 1" compression drivers on a bespoke waveguide, creating a horizontal line source which allows X3 enclosures to be tight-packed together to form arrays.

The result, they claim, is a system that offers predictable horizontal coverage in any application, particularly those where high SPL is required. "The difference between X3 and other point sour

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