Italy - Optocore and its partner company BroaMan have appointed Parma-based Audiolink as its sole distributor for the Italian market. Stefano Cantadori, Audiolink general manager, comments: “The reason we chose Optocore was simple. Today’s integrations require a massive chunk of fibre optic data, and Optocore, together with BroaMan, allows all the different signals to be managed on a single fibre ring with 100% redundancy. Total redundancy means avoiding any type of problem - unforeseen circumstances that can lead to a lot of expense for the installer and the customer.” Tine Helmle, Optocore MD of BroaMan and director of sales & marketing, adds: “We are very happy to have found a strong partner in Italy that will best represent our two brands. Stefano and his team are very competent people, with whom we can’t wait to start this collaboration.” She
UK - AV and entertainment technology company Anna Valley has announced that operations director, Peter Jones, has been promoted to the position of MD with immediate effect. The move follows an extensive hand-over period with exiting MD, Steve Jones who has led the company for 13 years. Peter Jones worked for 10 years as a sound and video technician before joining Anna Valley in 2010 as a senior project manager. After working his way up through the ranks, Peter was appointed as Anna Valley’s operations director following a management buyout in 2015. Since then he has played an integral role in the company’s expansion, the purchase of Matrix UK Solutions and Anna Valley’s move to new premises earlier this year. “As operations director, I’ve been as involved in the financial and business aspects of the company as I have in the process and procedure of service
China - Work Pro Audio, the installation and pro audio division of Equipson, has made an inroad into the Chinese market by supplying the country with its first SL210A Line Array system. The system has been delivered to Freelancer Production Company, a theatre and event production company that specialises in audio equipment rental to theatres in Hong Kong and touring artists on the mainland China. Since its delivery in September it has already been used at the 3,000 seater Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Hong Kong for a musical theatre production celebrating the 70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China. The SL210A Line Array was specified by sound system designer Camus Chan, director of Equipson's Hong Kong distributor All Solution. He says: "Freelancer Production Company contacted us as a result of a promotion we were running to showcase Work Pro products to
USA - When Texas country artist Aaron Watson was planning the fall leg of his current Red Bandana Tour, the decision was to go native with Houston-based production company LD Systems. It was a “natural” decision and an “easy choice,” says lighting designer Anthony McCoy, who recently worked with the company with Watson’s shows at the Houston and San Antonio Rodeos, plus a few festivals. In business since 1975, LD Systems specialises in turning a sketch or key concept into a workable, real-world solution - be it for festivals, corporate events or concert tours. So when operations manager Bill Bowers saw a sketch of Aaron Watson’s design concept, he says, “We knew we had our work cut out for us.” Production manager Jared Miller created the design framework using the band’s Red Bandana album artwork for inspiration. “Jared’s idea was to
UK - James Bond tribute band, Q The Music is currently touring theatres across the country, accompanied by an Allen & Heath SQ digital mixing system and 13 “game-changing” ME-1 personal mixers. The current 13-piece band has been performing the 007 hits across prestigious venues, including the West End’s Adelphi Theatre, since 2014. Warren Ringham, who founded the show in 2004, opted for the SQ system after becoming frustrated with the lack of flexibility and reliability offered by other systems. “Our show and the demands on the production were getting bigger so we needed to upgrade. The SQ-6 arrived just at the right time. It had great reviews and did everything we needed and more.” The full setup for the show comprises SQ-6 on FOH, while an SQ-5 acts as a monitor desk for visiting engineers and FOH back-up. SLink and Dante option cards provide recording
UK - Audiovisual production supplier SFL provided a custom-built 10m wide projection screen and stage monitoring for Senbla’s latest film season - starting in September with Star Wars and finishing in December with Love Actually - which sees films screened in HD in venues around the UK, with live orchestras performing the films’ scores. “We supplied a 20m truss screen and our brand new 10m wide custom-built AV Stumpfl screen,” says SFL’s video and projects director, Craig Lawrence, who worked on the project alongside the company’s Sungho Jeong, Sam Wheeler, Paul Medley, Chris Gunner-Lucas, Adam Chisnall, Jack Roberts. “The screen was built specially for these tours at the aspect ratio of 2.35:1, which is specific to film. Projection was done using our Barco UDX and HDX projectors. We also provided onstage monitoring for the conductors and
UK - The Association of Sound Designers has announced the third of their flagship triennial seminar events: The Winter School 2020. It will be held in the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama’s Embassy Theatre. This is a week-long series of theatre sound related seminars being held Monday 6 to Friday 10 January 2020, including leading industry professionals such as Carolyn Downing, Ben and Max Ringham, Richard Brooker and Scott Willsallen. The seminars are aimed at undergraduates, recent graduates, apprentices and educators, as well as anyone else looking to expand their knowledge. Admission is free for all students and tutors, as well as ASD, IPS, AMPS and ALD members. Winter School is also home to the Tech Hub this year. Running alongside the seminars in our main space, the Tech Hub will enable attendees to get hands on experience of the newest sound equi
Europe HK Audio has unveiled Polar 10, an ‘affordable new columnar PA for musicians, entertainers, DJs, presentations, schools and audiovisual applications’. Polar 10 features include a four-channel mixer with five programmable user presets, Bluetooth 5.0 audio streaming, and assertive bass response. Polar 10 consists of a subwoofer and two columnar elements. The contours of the subwoofer’s birch ply housing are not just cosmetic; the enclosure is acoustically shaped and sized to deliver quality audio results in combination with a specially developed 10” woofer sporting an extra-long voice coil. The midrange/HF column comes in two sections for easy transport. The top section is loaded with six high-performance 3” midrange drivers and a low-distortion, 1” constant directivity horn. The system delivers well-balanced, exceedingly natural sound, renderin
USA - Lectrosonics has announced the appointment of two new US regional representatives, Blair Johnson in the Northeast and Nicholas Mariano in the Southeast. Blair Johnson will serve customers and develop new business in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC. Nicholas Mariano will do so in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, the Carolinas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. Both began working full time in their new roles with Lectrosonics in December 2019. Johnson comes to Lectrosonics from a background in filmmaking and film/video production management. His credits include live-streamed performances from the Metropolitan Museum of Art as well as editing, sound mixing, and producing in a wide variety of environments from artistic
UK - Shure worked with Wigwam to install a new audio system into the magnificent York Minster building. The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, more commonly known as York Minster, is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The historic Minster building is justifiably seen as a national treasure and unsurprisingly boasts Grade 1 listed status with Heritage England. Church leaders have been refurbishing and maintaining the building and an important part of the project was for the audio in the building to be crystal clear -- both for music and the spoken word. As a result, the installation of a new audio system was commissioned, and the entire sound system has been upgraded. The system had to accommodate the wide variety of uses the building hosts, often with two or more events taking place simultaneously. There are up to 2,500 pe
USA - JBL Professional has released JBL DSi 2.0 Series cinema amplifiers designed for the company’s range of cinema loudspeakers. The first ever JBL branded cinema amplifiers, DSi 2.0 Series builds on the legacy of Crown DSi Series amplifiers to combine the of Crown’s CDi DriveCore Series amps with a new high-power design to deliver “superior efficiency, reliability and audio fidelity”. The DSi 2.0 Series includes three power configurations - 350W, 700W and 1,200W - available in analogue and analogue-plus-digital versions with Dante/AES67 and SNMP connectivity. “As cinema audio systems continue to grow larger and more complex with 5.1, 7.1 and immersive audio formats, venue owners require more efficient ways of powering, controlling and managing networked audio systems,” says Karam Kaul, vice-president of audio, Harman Professional Solutions. “The J
USA - Miami-based DAS Audio America, the North American subsidiary of Spanish pro audio manufacturer DAS Audio, will celebrate its 25th anniversary during the Winter NAMM 2020 tradeshow in Anaheim. Much of the activity will take place on the tradeshow floor, at booth #17224 and neighbouring Anaheim Hilton hotel. This event will take place at the Anaheim Hilton inside the Avalon Room on Thursday, 16 January 2020 at 6:30pm. Those who wish to attend should visit DAS Audio at the company’s NAMM Show booth to acquire a pass, which must be collected prior to 5pm that day. The company will be launching two new product lines: the Icon Series and E11EVEN Sound by DAS Audio. Jaime Villegas, general manager of DAS Audio of America, comments: “During our 25 years in the United States, we’ve been fortunate to take an active role in gr
USA - Audinate, developer of the Dante media networking technology, worked with Utah State University to implement a Dante audio network that helps offer a series of online courses and live, interactive broadcasts where students can remotely attend live classroom presentations - and also communicate with the instructor. This is mission critical for the university in its effort to serve rural areas of Utah, where students may be unable to travel to campus for instruction. A major component to successfully bringing these presentations to all students is utilizing the latest AV technology - and that’s why Utah State University relies on Audinate’s Dante and Dante Domain Manager to ensure students are connected with crystal clear audio. Jim Wellings is the senior systems designer and programmer for the Academic and Instructional Services Department at Utah State Univer
Austria - Now in its 19th year, the three-day Krone-Fest has been running in the Austrian city of Linz since 2001. This year, once again the free event saw more than 70 acts appearing on 13 stages in different squares spread throughout in the city centre. Promoted by KOOP Live-Marketing and Upper Austrian Kronen Zeitung, a total of around 400,000 people gathered across the duration to hear artists such as Darius & Finlay, Status Quo and Milow headline on the respective days. Last year, a Martin Audio Wavefront Precision Compact (WPC) loudspeaker array featured on the second Herberstein stage but this year the scalable resolution and control technology was also promoted to the Sparkassen main stage in the Linzer Hauptplatz (main square), where a WPC system was provided by rental company Z-VT. “The threshold was set at 100dB in the audience areas with Z-VT’
Denmark - Nanna-Karina Schleimann has become one of the first sound designers to make use of DPA’s new 4560 Core Binaural Headset Microphone, which gives sound technicians, vloggers, film makes and YouTubers “an accurate and reliable tool to capture authentic 3D audio in realtime”. This new headset allows film, theatre and online content creators to capture exactly what each ear is hearing so that those consuming the content on headphones can experience full immersive sound. The headset features a pair of 4060 Core Miniature Microphones that are mounted on ear hooks and sit just outside the user’s ear canal so that the mics capture the sound being heard by the person making the recording. The ear hooks are attached to a flexible headset that is simple to fit, comfortable to wear and can be easily adjusted to suit the dimensions of each individual head. Earlier
Portugal - NEXT-proaudio has introduced the i Series, the company’s new installation line. Th range comprises the i4 (a 4” LF transducer and a 0.8“ dome tweeter), the i6 (a 6” LF driver with a 1“ HF driver), and the i8 (a 8” LF transducer with a 1“ HF driver). All speakers are housed in IP65-rated plastic white or black cabinets designed for indoor and outdoor applications, with the speakers benefitting from dust and splash protection. The speakers are equipped with a four-position Phoenix connector located on the back plate, whilst the screw connector provides a faster and easy way to wire the system allowing the speaker to perfectly fit the wall shape while keeps invisible. This speaker is designed for PA applications in restaurants, bars, shopping centres or conference rooms. For greater versatility, the speakers can be used at 100V or 16Ω. In high im
Europe - Coda Audio has released a beta version of its upcoming 3D prediction software. The Coda System Optimiser enables users to design audio systems, from small to large-scale productions. The software is currently under development, with users invited to register to access the beta version from the Coda website (codaaudio.com). The System Optimiser will eventually be compatible with the company’s entire loudspeaker range. David Webster, global marketing director at Coda Audio International, comments: “This is a ground-up development, so taking the long view; it’s very important to us that audio professionals out in the field are directly involved with the evolution of our 3D system optimisation software. A beta release gives us the opportunity to allow early engagement for Coda system-users operating in real-life environments. “Our System Optimiser al
Italy - Every October for the past five years, over a thousand musicians have gathered together in Italy to perform as the ‘biggest rock band in the world’. Yamaha digital mixing has featured each time, with a Rivage PM10 digital mixing system making its debut in 2018. This year the event moved to Linate Airport, Milan, where a Rivage PM7 system was added for the first time. The scale of Rockin’1000 That’s Live means that the sound has to be managed by a highly professional team. Yamaha Music Europe’s Italy branch were on site in Milan as technical partners, with Alessandro Arturi, Marco Giovanetti and the rest of the crew facing the major task of mixing FOH and monitors for over a thousand singers, guitarists, bass guitarists, drummers, keyboard and wind players. The event’s biggest digital mixing system yet comprised a Rivage PM10 with CS-R10 and CS-R10-S
USA - While he officially retired from touring after his 2012-2014 Cowboy Rides Away tour, George Strait was one of the first headliners at Fort Worth’s new Dickies Arena, playing two back-to-back, sold-out shows in late November. With those shows and others now being mixed on a DiGiCo SD12 96 desk at front of house, Strait stays at the forefront of live sound technology. Commissioned by Epicenter Productions of Dallas, the console was acquired by George Olson, who has been with Strait since 2004. “It was the SD12’s compact size, and the power that it packs into that footprint, that really convinced me to go with it,” says Olson, who bumped up the console’s channel count from 72 to 96 with DiGiCo’s latest software, increasing its desirability as a rental unit for his GP Productions company when he’s not using the desk for shows with Strait. “Wh
USA - Although Louisville residents have long associated the term ‘Triple Crown’ with Kentucky Derby thoroughbred horse racing at their own Churchill Downs, this year’s Trifesta may well pose a legitimate threat to that reigning royal trio title. Produced by Los Angeles-based Danny Wimmer Presents (DWP) - the concert promoter behind popular US music festivals like Sacramento’s Aftershock, Columbus’ Sonic Temple and Charlotte’s Epicenter - a Trifesta pass served as the golden ticket to get into three large Louisville music festivals held on consecutive weekends during September, each of which utilised an L-Acoustics K Series loudspeaker system deployed by Brown Note Productions (BNP) of Thornton, Colorado. Staged at the Kentucky Expo Centre’s Highland Festival Grounds, the inaugural Hometown Rising festival packed in more than 70,000 country music fans ove
UK - Shure has opened a new Experience Centre and office in London. The move further establishes the company’s presence in the UK and wider EMEA region by providing a location for product demonstrations with corporate, government and education customers looking for audio solutions for their respective facilities. The Rose Shure Experience Centre, named after the company’s late former chairman Rose L. Shure, was inaugurated earlier this month with a VIP opening that featured key Shure executives, including CEO Christine Schyvinck. Schyvinck comments: “I think Rose would be honoured by having such an amazing complex named after her, especially given the short amount of time it has taken to complete such an ambitious project.” “The Rose Shure Customer Experience Centre has been the accumulation of many, many months of work by Shure employees from all are
UK - Silent Disco King, a leading provider for wireless headphone events, helped deliver the biggest ever silent disco event at Lowlands festival. Back in 2017, the festival organisers wanted to increase the size of their silent disco to 10,000 headphones and needed a suitable supplier. Having visited the company’s UK head office, Lowlands turned to Silent Disco King, who, in August 2018, delivered a silent disco for the festival with not 10,000 headphones but 20,000 headphones. In August this year, the supplier provided 30,0000 headphones to light up an arena with three channels of music, keeping festival goers dancing until sunrise as customers were able to switch between two DJs or the on-site radio station. Seven technicians and supervisors from the Silent Disco King team were on site to help set up and manage the event, with a local crew of 90
UK - Anna Valley has announced their purchase of over 500sq.m of 3.9mm Unilumin LED, making the AV and entertainment technology company one of the biggest suppliers of single-batch high-resolution LED in the UK. The purchase was motivated by increased demand for super-sized screens for projects like X Factor: Celebrity 2019 where 200sq.m of Anna Valley’s new stock was used to create the digital backdrop for the live final at the SSE Arena, Wembley. The improvement in LED resolution and the increase in the computing capability of video processors and servers has prompted a surge in demand for large screens to display ultra-high-resolution content for live events and broadcast shows. However, in order to achieve image consistency across these video walls, they have to be built from LED panels that are not only from the same supplier, but from the same production batch
Europe - Over the past five weeks, Bose Professional has hosted Installed Sound Expansion events in 10 cities across Europe and the Middle East. Over 900 dealers, integrators, consultants and end users visited Bose offices and external venues to experience a two-hour showcase of some of the latest audio solutions that are now available. These events were the culmination of the launch of over 50 new products earlier this year. The Installed Sound Expansion has one goal: to provide consultants and integrators with the components they need to deliver complete systems - from simple, repeatable background music systems, to sound reinforcement, to more complex, networked, and distributed solutions. To accurately demonstrate how the expanded lines of loudspeakers, amplifiers, processors and controls can provide flexible, full audio solutions for more spaces than ever, the l
