UK - A new pro audio distributor, AUX Import, has officially launched, offering brands such as CatCore, UNiKA and NEXT Audiocom. Following a career in pro audio, founder and sales director, Mike Newman explains his drive to start the company. “Having worked over 20 years in live events I felt that experience could lead me to better understand what installers, integrators and rental companies were looking for; both in terms of products and service. Having worked around the world for audio manufacturers for many years I had become aware of several unrepresented brands who I felt could succeed in the UK market. AUX Import has been founded on a culmination of these two things, which is already proving to be a winning formula.” AUX Import currently offers exclusive products from the German ‘XLR over Cat’ manufacturer CatCore as well as UNiKA Pro Audio, the man
USA - The Grammy Award-wining Tedeschi Trucks Band is known for its relentless touring, but plans for the group’s sixth Wheels of Soul Tour, originally slated for 2020, obviously had to put on the brakes for a couple of years. Now the band is finally back out doing what it does best, rolling through its North American tour accompanied by opening acts Los Lobos and Gabe Dixon as well as an L-Acoustics K2 loudspeaker system supplied by PRG. The current tour leg comes on the heels of a three-week break from Wheel of Soul’s initial return to the road, which kicked off on June 24 in Jacksonville, Florida, hometown of vocalist/guitarist Susan Tedeschi and guitarist Derek Trucks, the band’s two married principals who front a 12-piece band often augmented by guest artists. Recently picking back up at San Diego’s Cal Coast Credit Union Amphitheater on August 18, the Wes
China - Located in the Songjiang District of Shanghai, the Yun Hall Cultural Art Centre is a major community and economic project of the district party committee and district government. Its aim is to build a comprehensive, high-quality cultural landmark, providing one-stop public cultural services such as art exhibitions, cultural performances, group activities and reading for all. A pair of a pair of DiGiCo Quantum 338 consoles form part of its high-end technical infrastructure, designed and installed by DiGiCo distributor, Rightway Audio Consultants (Racpro). Designed by Xing Tonghe, chief architect at Shanghai Xian Dai Architecture, whose works encompasses an organic combination of the spirit of the times and national tradition, modern technology, and history and culture, the Yun Hall Culture and Art Centre communicates a strong sense of innovation and highlights t
UK - Highlite’s UK sales representative Dave Hartley will be enjoying his well-deserved retirement from 15 September. Jeff Davenport will follow in his footsteps and be the new contact for Highlite-related matters and products in the North of the UK region. Jeff Davenport will be taking over the UK sales representative position at Highlite from Dave Hartley. Jeff will start on 1 September. During the overlap period, Dave will bring Jeff up to speed on the current state of affairs. Jeff will dive right in at the upcoming PLASA Show at the Olympia London (4-6 September), where he will join the team on stand (B23) to introduce himself to the market and clients. Jeff is already familiar with the market, as he has previously worked for several businesses that are active in the industry. From his hometown of Burton upon Trent, he can be contacted at Jeff.Davenport@highlite
USA - Audinate has announced the immediate availability of Dante Domain Manager v1.4 with support for Dante-enabled video products such as PTZ cameras, HDMI encoders and decoders, and the Dante Studio suite of video tools. With Dante Domain Manager, AV-over-IP systems get IT-level monitoring, security and control. Dante Domain Manager secures Dante networks by enforcing user authentication and roles to ensure that only trusted people can make changes to the system. It provides organizational tools that allow Dante devices to be split into functionally independent groups (domains) that correspond to rooms, spaces, buildings and more for easier routing and security. Dante Domain Manager coordinates clocking across the entire network, enabling routing of audio and video across IP subnet boundaries for large systems that must span large buildings, multiple studios, or camp
UK - BishopSound, boutique manufacturer of point source and line array loudspeakers, has announced the availability of the company on the open market. The company founder, Andrew Bishop, is seeking to partner with investors to grow his infrastructure to a level that can meet the increasing demand for his products. BishopSound’s order book includes enquiries from as far afield as the US, India, West Africa, and Vietnam, as well as reflecting a loyal customer base in the UK among discerning artists, rental companies, and systems integrators. Since the company was formed in 2015, year-on-year growth has stretched resources to the limit, and Bishop now feels the best way forward is to place the business in the hands of a like-minded concern with shared goals in entertainment technology. Although seven years old, BishopSound’s provenance goes back several decades to wh
UK - Free registration for this year’s PLASA Show will end at midnight tomorrow (31 August). Taking place in Olympia London’s Grand Hall on 4-6 September, the leading entertainment technology trade show promises to deliver some of the latest technology, brand showcases and product demos. Alongside ample networking opportunities, visitors will also be able to take advantage of the show’s free-to-attend seminar programme of over 60 sessions, taking place across four show floor theatres. Meanwhile, the winners of the 2022 PLASA Awards for Innovation and the Gottelier Award will be announced at the show on Monday 5 September. Don’t miss out – register for your free ticket by midnight tomorrow: https://registration.gesevent.com/survey/1ibtbcj5j6f10?actioncode=WB14
The Netherlands - High bandwidth fibre network specialists, BroaMan, has extended its range of Mux22 devices with the addition of the Mux22 12G - an all-in-one 12G-enabled unit. It will make its debut on their stand (Hall 8, Stand A97) at next month’s IBC2022 broadcast show at the RAI, Amsterdam. Mux22 in its different guises has been providing solutions in the broadcast environment for nearly a decade due to its protocol independence, and ability to process any signal in just a small 1RU chassis. Since the 4K era has been firmly adopted by both the commercial and consumer markets, it was only a matter of time before customers asked BroaMan to enable 12G transmission in its devices, states BroaMan MD, Tine Helmle. “Up until now, 12G was available for our Repeat 48 and Repeat 8 Nano, but what the market was really waiting for was the possibility of upgrading our poi
UK - The Llanerch Vineyard Hotel near Pontyclun in South Wales, with its beautiful surrounding grounds, is a popular venue, principally for weddings but also hosting conferences, corporate events, galas and parties. A large marquee is a permanent fixture there and provides ample space for over 200 guests when required. In common with so many similar venues, the pandemic had caused a huge backlog of weddings and despite its rural location, the sudden rise in noise levels following reopening was causing some difficulties with nearby residents. Spartan Audio Visual of Cardiff were approached to design, supply and commission an installed sound system that would meet all the various needs of a modern multi-purpose venue, yet also meet the noise control requirements of the area. Dave Morgan is Spartan AV’s sales & installation director and he remarks, “We kne
UK - Since investing in a Nexo Geo M12 line array a couple of years back, Bluestone Audio is winning more and more mainstage jobs at festivals where they might previously have supplied systems for second or third stages. A recent example is Lakefest which took place in August at the picturesque Eastnor Castle Deer Park in Herefordshire. The Bristol-based sound rental company has previously handled the VIP Gold Stage at the festival, but this year moved up to the mainstage, with headliners including UB40, Manic Street Preachers, Leftfield and Supergrass. “This year’s Lakefest gig is typical of how our business is growing with the Geo M12 system,” says Bluestone owner Sam Brook. “And we’re building relationships with other Nexo-equipped rental companies like Total Sound Solutions from Swansea, who are partnering with us at this event.” With an audience
Europe - KV2 Audio has announced the launch of the 500 series range of processors which, for the first time, are available directly from KV2’s online store at https://shop.kv2audio.com/ The range comprises three models; the TCL thermo-compressor/limiter; the QD8 stereo 8-band master EQ with line driver; and the MPA microphone preamplifier. The TCL is an analogue thermo audio compressor featuring a superior natural RMS detector and dynamic voice bass enhancement control. Its patented design offers ‘an exceptionally musical and natural compression that is a component part of its real-time input, rather than a typical side-fed gain reduction circuit attempting to either follow or anticipate compression demands’. QD8 is a George Krampera 8-band stereo equaliser specifically designed to highlight a desired band without adversely affecting the overall sonic lands
Europe - Yamaha Corporation has announced two new additions to its professional audio line-up with the Stagepas 1K mkII portable PA system and the DXL1K powered loudspeaker. Featuring a high frequency array of 10 1.5” speakers and a compact, powerful 12" bass reflex subwoofer, all driven by a powerful Class-D amplifier, Stagepas 1K is an all-in-one portable PA system that delivers professional audio performance from a small footprint and slimline vertical profile, with fast and simple setup. Now, enhanced sound and control features in the new mkII version make it even more flexible and powerful. With a coverage area of 170° (horizontal) by 30° (vertical), Stagepas 1K delivers uniform, high-quality sound throughout an audience. The onboard digital mixer offers extensive input capabilities, with three channels of mono microphone/line inputs, plus stereo inputs, as w
USA - When officials at the La Crosse Centre in Wisconsin were looking to replace the venue’s aging PA system as part of a $42m dollar renovation, the task of finding a sound system capable of handling today’s complex audio demands while delivering unrivalled clarity was given to operations manager Kris Salzwedel and his team. Salzwedel found the solution he was looking for with a custom Radius RSX Series PA from Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW). Located in the heart of downtown La Crosse’s riverfront district, the La Crosse Centre hosts conventions, meetings, trade shows, concerts, weddings and sporting events that welcome hundreds of thousands of attendees each year. Built in 1980, the centre was recently expanded to include the South Hall. “We chose to install EAW’s RSX PA system in our 21,000sq.ft arena because the system checked all the boxes,” says Salzw
USA - San Francisco’s Outside Lands Festival, presented by Another Planet Entertainment and co-producer Superfly, returned to Golden Gate Park 5-7 August, with headliners including SZA, Green Day, and Post Malone. This year, a Meyer Sound Panther large-format linear line array loudspeaker system powered the Lands End main stage, provided by Bay Area rental company UltraSound, LLC. While previous generations of Meyer Sound systems have been in place at the Lands End main stage since the festival’s inception in 2008, this year marks the first edition with the new Panther loudspeaker. Although it was introduced just six months prior to Outside Lands, Panther was welcomed by visiting engineers who were mixing on the new system for the first time. “Overall feedback was positive, and engineers had a fun time mixing on the system,” says UltraSound senior systems engin
UK - Solotech has announced the appointment of Lee Unsworth as director of UK operations – live productions, working out of the group’s Manchester office. In this new role, Lee will oversee the day-to-day running of the company’s live productions operations at the five warehouse locations in Manchester, Redditch, Hemel Hempstead, London and Southampton. Lee first joined the group as operations manager for the Manchester office in June 2019 before stepping up to the role of general manager. Lee Unsworth commented, “I’m looking forward to taking on this expanded role. Since becoming part of the Solotech group we have sought to standardise and integrate our processes across the UK operations and this position is key to delivering on that promise. I look forward to maintaining and extending our hire inventory to meet the demand of our clients, while overseeing o
UK - Martin Audio has announced the appointment of Henry Packard as its new finance director. Henry had previously been financial controller at parent company Focusrite. He said the drive to fill the vacant position, following the departure of his predecessor Steve Miller, had become more pressing with the growth of Martin Audio and the launch of sister brand Optimal Audio. “As Dom [Harter, Martin Audio MD] and Sally [McKone, Group CFO] are in regular discussion the move came about quite organically,” he said. “An internal move is great for the company and generally for everyone involved. I’ve effectively had a six-year interview process to prove myself with Focusrite, so it was a lovely surprise to be told I was being considered. There was no way I could let the opportunity pass, and after a few further chats with Sally and Dom, it seemed like a great match al
The Netherlands - Genelec has further strengthened its growing AV business by appointing Audio XL as its distribution partner for the entire Genelec AV Installation range throughout the Benelux region. Audio XL’s appointment also deepens the relationship between Genelec and the European AV Group. Founded in 2004 and based in Utrecht, the Audio XL team specialises in the live, retail and installed sound markets and combines exceptional levels of sales and marketing expertise, technical knowledge and system design – all backed up by a premium quality logistics operation. With a separate showroom in Antwerp, Belgium, and two independent sales teams, Audio XL is well equipped to handle the entire region and its various language requirements. It is the distributor for several leading brands, including AV system automation and integration solution providers such as AMX a
USA - Clear-Com has announced the appointment of Marco Lopez as the company’s VP of engineering. Marco brings 30 years of experience in the broadcast market to his role at Clear-Com, where he will spearhead innovation across key strategic areas related to product development, including strengthening the company’s leadership in wireless technology and advancing its IP-based intercom solutions. Over the past three decades, Marco has contributed to significant movements in broadcast technology. In the mid-2000s, he played a key role in the transformation of analog to digital signals with Miranda Technologies and helped develop the Active Format Description (AFD) standard that defined aspect ratio control between standard and high-definition broadcasting. After Miranda Technologies was acquired by Belden, Marco was appointed president and tasked with leading the acquisition
Germany - The current system update of DirectOut’s Prodigy series gives the devices another boost in meeting the requirements of the market. For the modular audio converter Prodigy.MC and the multifunctional audio processor Prodigy.MP the Automator Licence is now available. With Automator it is possible to programme triggers to run tasks in an automated way. Triggers can be coming from different sources, such as parameter or status changes in the device itself, a MIDI or OSC command from an external device, a cron job (periodically recurring trigger) or can be created based on time (e.g. LTC). Device actions such as gains, mutes, snapshot recalls, input manager switches and EARSTM source selection or GPOs can be triggered. And it is also possible to send custom defined messages via OSC and MIDI, or to hosts via HTTP, UDP, TCP commands. Taking into account th
UK - Established in 1583, the University of Edinburgh is one of the world's oldest universities in continuous operation. The university has five main campuses in Edinburgh that support more than 42,000 students, placing the university among the top 10 largest universities in the UK. In early 2020, as the realities of the pandemic were starting to take hold, the School of Engineering at the University of Edinburgh reached out to the university's Learning Spaces Technology team asking for a way to share audio between its three instruction labs, and then also share audio back-and-forth with students attending remotely. At the time, because of campus restrictions, the university could not bring contractors or electricians onsite to install the new audio cable systems needed. Faced with the challenge, the Learning Spaces Technology team began researching IP-based audio to m
UK - Central London venue Somerset House is inviting suppliers to apply to become an accredited supplier. The venue hosts hundreds of events each year for a range of clients and is keen to ‘ensure its suppliers and their services are equally inclusive and sustainable in practice’. Rebecca Moore, senior event manager, said, “Somerset House is committed to building a diverse and inclusive community reflecting the diversity of our society. Our newly accredited suppliers will reflect this and actively engage with it. There’s a lot of new, forward-thinking talent in our industry, and we welcome businesses both big and small that identify with our beliefs and working practices.” The accredited list is being reviewed for the first time in over three years. Somerset House is expecting significant interest given the opportunity to work with high profile brands, busin
Germany - Studio specialist Neumann.Berlin expands its line of reference-class studio monitors with the KH 150. The bi-amplified, DSP-controlled loudspeaker features the same high-resolution tweeter as all Neumann studio monitors and a newly developed 6.5” woofer with ultra-low distortion and high SPL capability. Despite its rather compact format, the KH 150 offers ‘outstanding clarity’, even at high volume, and extended low-end. The KH 150 has a flat frequency response from 39 Hz to 21 kHz (±3 dB) and is recommended for all applications from broadcast to music production, including styles that require a powerful, deep low-end and/or elevated listening levels such as urban music, EDM, and film scoring. “The KH 150 closes the gap between the KH 120 and the KH 310, but it does far more than that,” says portfolio manager Stephan Mauer. “Its internal DSP engi
The Netherlands - Renowned pastry chef and bread specialist, Eric van Otten, recently established a new food concept for his patisserie that creates multiple atmospheric eating zones with the help of Powersoft’s Dynamic Music Distribution (DMD). Unlike many of the pastry shops that line streets of Amsterdam, van Otten offers its guests a number of places to sit and enjoy its culinary delights: the outdoor patio, ice cream parlour and a plethora of private spaces, each fitted with sounds that enhance the overall dining experience. Powersoft’s Dynamic Music Distribution can provide corporate, retail or hospitality venues with a high-quality audio backbone that ensures selected speakers receive the perfect amount of power to each ‘zone’. Dutch professional audio distributor, Mennegat, was approached by Eric van Otten with a brief to create a multifunction
UK - Following the success of the inaugural South Facing Festival at the Crystal Palace Bowl last year, festival director Marcus Weedon requested the same formula for this year’s 10-day event. And that included Martin Audio’s MLA loudspeaker array, supplied once again by Capital Sound (part of the Solotech UK group). This served the requirements of a bill, including London Grammar, Bombay Bicycle Club, Jungle, Becky Hill and Richard Ashcroft. Two other key developments helped boost the quality of the sound, as Solotech project manager David Preston - who was working alongside production manager, Julia Bruns, and site/production specialists, LS Events - explained. Driven by the positive feedback, and absence of complaints from neighbours last year, he noted that levels within the bowl were raised from an SPL of 96dB(A) to 98dB(A) for this year, while the tech team s
