USA - Audinate has announced the availability of Dante Virtual Soundcard for installation in virtual Windows environments using Type-1 hypervisors. This update is especially important for customers such as broadcasters, educators and corporate users that want to deploy Dante networked audio throughout data centres, studios, server clusters and campuses, says the company. Dante Virtual Soundcard interfaces directly with audio software running on virtual machines, allowing distribution of media playback, centralised recording, and more. Dante Virtual Soundcard turns any computer into a Dante endpoint for networked audio. It provides a standard WDM or ASIO audio interface that allows any installed audio software to send and receive up to 64 channels of lossless audio over a standard 1Gbps network to any Dante-enabled AV endpoints, including other instances of Dante Virtual Soun
UK - Outline has announced a major firmware (v95) and software (v1.9) release for its Newton multi-source audio processor. Smaart API integration represents the quickest and easiest way for users to integrate Smaart measurement data into Newton and to plot it within the Outline Dashboard software environment. This new compatibility will provide a faster, simpler and more accurate method of system tuning for Smaart users. “Outline has done an outstanding job of utilising the Smaart API to integrate Smaart measurement data within the latest release of their Dashboard control software,” comments Karen Anderson, CEO, Rational Acoustics. “This integration really highlights Outline’s commitment to providing their customers with powerful, forward-thinking professional audio tools and we are thrilled to see Newton/Dashboard added to the ever-growing list of Smaart API
Sweden - Yamaha VXL1 slimline line array loudspeakers are proving the solution of choice for many houses of worship, radically enhancing sound but without compromising the aesthetics of church interiors. Opened in 1815, the current Gothenburg Cathedral is the third on a site in Sweden’s second largest city which dates back to the early 1600s. The building has seen a constant series of improvements, including being the first Swedish church fitted with central heating, plus a number of major restoration and renovation projects. The latest upgrade has been to its sound reinforcement system. Installed 11 years ago - including a Yamaha LS9 digital mixing console, DME24N digital mixing engine and ICP1 surface-mount controller - the installed loudspeakers were lacking quality and coverage by today’s standards. “The main need was to improve the intelligibility and
The Netherlands - Three festivals in a row on two weekends in August - that’s the order of the day(s) for creative event production specialists The Good Guyz of Amsterdam at the Velsen Valley. Dance Valley, Dutch Valley and Latin Village Festivals share the same site which features multiple stages and attracts huge crowds. The three electronic music events move between genres and offer up the cream of Dutch and international artists. The Good Guyz’ Arjen Ott, technical production manager for the three events, has been a fan of Pioneer Pro Audio systems since first hearing XY-3B at the invitation of Wouter Rouijter of Amsterdam Pro Audio rental company AVL. This year he took the decision to introduce an XY-3B system for the Club Onderste Boven stage hosted by SLAM FM, which would be used during the three consecutive Velsen Valley events. Arjen Ott explains:
UK - Ocean Colour Scene's drummer, Oscar Harrison, leads a double life - he's the drummer and multi-instrumentalist with Birmingham's Ocean Colour Scene and a leading DJ in his own right. Determined to make himself heard, Oscar has just taken delivery of a new rig from PA manufacturer, Yorkshire-based BishopSound. Oscar says: “I recently found myself at a friend's wedding party and was stunned by the sound I was hearing. I was amazed at how the sound filled the room with over 400 people, with no sound loss or punch on sound quality. I got investigating. My friend was using Orion15" full range and Beta 18" subs from BishopSound. For me, the system ticked all the boxes.” Oscar's new BishopSound rig comprises: two BO115A4 Orion 15A4, two BB218S, four BB118s Beta 118 Subs, two Beta BB115 speakers, two BSS4 Telescopic Poles plus assorted cables. (Jim Evans)
USA - Distributor Stampede is hosting eight Big Book of AV Tour & Conference Series stops in the United States and Canada, one US national sales meeting, and three summits for its United States, Canadian and Latin American vendor partners. The Fall 2019 Stampede Big Book of AV Tour & Conference Series will make stops in San Diego, California, 19 September; Montreal, 17 October; Chicago, 24 October; Toronto, 13 November; Houston, 21 November; Miami, 5 December and Vancouver,11 December. Complete details on the fall tour can be found at www.bigbookofavtour.com. The United States Vendor Summit will take place on 7-8 October at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Centre in New York, following on the heels of its United States national sales meeting on 5-6 October. The Canadian Vendor Summit will take place on 12 November at the Holiday Inn Toronto International Airport
Canada - At a time when the background noise in audio is all about 3D sound and immersive experiences, arguably an extravagance suited to famous concert halls and exotic experimental music, it is contrary to the flow that a d&b audiotechnik Soundscape system is being applied at a church in Calgary, Alberta. Thriving it may be, yet the pastoral team at First Assembly, Calgary is not prone to moments of irrational exuberance or wanton financial profligacy. For them Soundscape provided an entirely affordable solution to a seemingly intractable issue between acoustics, worship and sound reinforcement. Justin Wells, First Assembly’s technical director, saw it as an uncomfortable divide between parts of their congregation and the heart of music worship. “Music is a huge part of what we do and within our church we have highly skilled musicians. For people who come fo
UK - Now well into its ninth decade of technical innovation, RG Jones Sound Engineering returned to Glastonbury for the eleventh consecutive year to support headliners Stormzy, The Killers, and The Cure on the Pyramid Stage, and to extend its expertise to the Genosys Stage and the new IICON stage at Block9, and a reconfigured West Holts stage. RG Jones has enhanced the Pyramid Stage since 2007 in one of the longest uninterrupted runs of audio services of any sound company at Glastonbury in recent times. The 18-strong on-site team, headed up by production manager Ben Milton with production engineer Mark Isbister on stage, collectively brought to the largest green field festival in the world a wealth of expertise in delivering audio to an extremely large crowd under notoriously challenging climatic conditions. The main aim of the system design, developed by festival soun
UK - Entertainment Technology Partners has announced the launch of its new European division. Based out of the United Kingdom, ETP Europe will provide support throughout Europe to bring AV solutions to clients. Industry veteran Paul Hutton will be joining as president of European operations. Paul has spent the past three decades creating and spearheading Blitz, one of the leading AV staging companies in Europe. “We couldn’t be more excited about expanding ETP’s operations to Europe, especially with Paul coming on board to help lead the way,” said Les Goldberg, chairman and CEO of ETP. “We have been looking at a number of opportunities in Europe and expect to have more announcements of new brands joining ETP in the very near future.” Entertainment Technology Partners was created in 2014 with the idea of like-minded owners joining together to continue
Europe - DPA Microphones has appointed AVL Projekt and LAV Projekt as its distributors in Serbia and Croatia respectively. The two companies are distributors and integrators of professional audio, light and video solutions and can support customers from the initial point of contact through to the delivery and installation. AVL and LAV address DPA market segments through a network of system integrators, installers and dealers active in the theatre, broadcast and touring. Slobodan Veckalov, managing director of AVL Projekt, comments: “We are very excited to be representing such a great microphone brand. We have worked with DPA in the past on various projects, and we advocate for top-notch quality product in the portfolio of brands that we distribute.” Davor Vujic, managing director of LAV Projekt, adds: “It is both a great privilege and obligation to introdu
UK - Martin Audio has confirmed that the active versions of its BlacklineX series, the BlacklineX Powered, will begin shipping in early September. When it was first announced in May this year, customers and distribution partners welcomed the introduction of a self-powered version of this full-bandwidth, high definition portable system. They will now have the opportunity to sample the new speakers, and learn more about their properties at the series of Martin Audio open days (17-19 September) at company HQ in High Wycombe Comprising 12” (XP12) and 15” (XP15) full range enclosures plus the compact but powerful 18” XP118 subwoofer, BlacklineX Powered integrates Martin Audio’s signature acoustic, DSP and amplifier technologies and follows the success of the passive BlacklineX Series - the fastest-selling portable series in Martin Audio’s 48-year history. S
Sweden - The country’s largest fixed installation of Nexo’s STM Series modular line array has been completed at the Konserthus of Västerås, a city about 100km to the west of Stockholm. Designed and supplied by the Bright Group, the system includes several Nexo models, and is “a state-of-the-art solution for a busy modern performance environment”. With more than 200 events a year, including folk and world music, dance and new circus, pop and rock, jazz, chamber and orchestral performances, drama and comedy, the Västerås Konserthus is a buzzing cultural centre for its community. Its principal venue is The Great Hall, with its capacity for 900, and two wraparound balconies seating 215 and 125 people respectively. The team at the theatre, led by stage technical manager Per Andersson, conducted an exhaustive tender process involving nine well-known suppliers and
Croatia - HUST has completed the design and installation of sound systems throughout the new Grand Park Hotel Rovinj, using a combination of Community and Apart loudspeakers with Biamp control. This five-star 209-room hotel enjoys a stunning setting on the Adriatic coast of Croatia, with views of the old town, islands and sea. With over 40 separate zones, the Grand Park Hotel Rovinj’s audiovisual systems can be controlled and monitored via an intuitive GUI on any computer within the hotel network, or via separate wall-mounted digital OLED controllers located strategically throughout the complex. Twelve choices of music genre are available in any zone via the streaming service. A central feature of the hotel is its grand ballroom with stunning views of the city of Rovinj. The hotel also has three multifunctional/lecture halls, which can be divided or joined in various
USA - Each year since 1979, the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! festival takes place at the Prospect Park Bandshell. This year, the largely free event delivered 29 shows over 10 weeks, from June through August, to an estimated 175,000-plus people, featuring artists including Patti LaBelle, Liz Phair, Iron & Wine, Salif Keita and Bomba Estereo (free concerts), as well as The National and Courtney Barnett, and Father John Misty and Jason Isbell (ticketed double-bills). What was different this year was the sound: an L-Acoustics PA system was acquired and will now be an integral part of the event going forward into its fifth decade. “This was a big year for the event, its forty-first year,” says Brendon Boyd, of Boyd Design, the event’s production manager who was celebrating his 20th year with the festival, where he began as a lighting apprentice in 2000. “It took us a cou
Hungary - Szeged Sabadteri opera and music festival takes place annually across the city of Szeged, with a major feature being the diverse programme of lavish productions ranging from rock musicals to opera being staged in the vast central Dóm Square. This year’s futuristic treatment of Aida, where love is set against the backdrop of war, marked the 80th anniversary since the eponymous opera’s first 1939 staging at this striking venue. Complementing director Gergely Kesselyak’s use of high-tech LED and multimedia scenography, TiMax SoundHub with HARDCore FPGA spatial processing added a new level of vocal and orchestral sonic immersion to an audience of 8000 over two nights. Hungarian TiMax specialists Votec have managed the event’s audio for several years, but Votec international business manager, Otari Tsereteli, revealed, “For the first time we wer
UAE - Dubai-based AVenger Electronics has been appointed RCF distributor for UAE/Oman. “Since RCF had the entire range of professional audio products in its portfolio, catering for the installation, touring, MI and Evacuation segments, we considered them as our preferred choice for servicing the markets in the UAE and Oman,” stated AVenger sales manager, Joseph Ninel Rebero. “This would range from small portable PA to large stadium installations. We knew it was well established in both the touring and MI market.” Rebero will lead a team that will be focused on brand promotion throughout the UAE and Oman. “Our mission will be to focus more on the integration market to bring RCF up to the next level in this segment,” he says, forecasting that initial impact is likely to be created through the Live & Pro Series as well as the new business music solution pr
The doors of PLASA Show 2019 open in just a few days from 15-17 September at Olympia London, where thousands of visitors will experience the leading edge of live entertainment technology. With 220+ brands, 55+ educational sessions and a plethora of immersive features, this year’s show is ready to serve industry professionals from all sectors. PLASA’s Managing Director Peter Heath comments: “Last year’s edition of PLASA Show was heralded for its high footfall and vibrant atmosphere. We have worked hard to build upon this by offering more brands and new features for a show that is both enjoyable and productive. Of course, we couldn’t do it without the exhibitors and their technology which has developed at a dizzying rate over the years – PLASA is proud to provide a platform for such innovation, and we can’t wait to share what’s in store.”
UK - Southwest London venue Under the Bridge has benefited from the installation of a new LED wall as well as lighting and audio upgrades at its premises. “Since Under the Bridge launched in 2011, we’ve taken great pride being one of the UK’s most unique and technically-advanced, mid-sized, multi-purpose venues for hire,” says creative manager, Alan Tenenbaum. “With approximately 100 confirmed events scheduled to host for the remainder of 2019, we’re excited to share this production upgrade with our clients and audiences. The upgrade puts our intimate venue in a class of its own, beyond comparison.” The 3.9mm pixel-pitch LED screen from Absen supports a video resolution higher than Full HD (1080p), making it ideal for presentations, image projections and video content. The venue also has a new LED lighting rig, expanding the existing stock to offe
Russia - The Sound Line Agency received its first Clair Brothers speakers in the form of the 1.5AM stage monitors. For its production needs, Sound Line purchased several Clair Brothers components, including the kiTCurve12 system, 8CX front-fills, 1.5AM stage monitors, i218-Ms and CS218-Ms. “This was my company’s first experience working with Clair Brothers gear, but I had heard such positive feedback from musicians who’d had direct experience with the American brand that I already had high expectations,” explains Andrey Kabanov, owner of Sound Line Agency. “Back in 2005 I had the pleasure of seeing a Sting concert in Moscow where Clair Brothers loudspeakers were used. Since then, I’ve never heard another system of equal quality. The problem in those days was this incredible equipment was exclusive and not readily available to companies like mine.”
USA - Harman Professional Solutions celebrated the grand opening of The Reach at the John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts in Washington DC. The opening of The Reach marks the first new construction at The Kennedy Centre since its opening in 1971, and is comprised of three contiguous pavilions creating 72,000sq.ft of interior space, 4.6 acres of green space and gardens, and a pedestrian bridge over Rock Creek Parkway that connects the Kennedy Centre to Washington, DC’s other memorials. The centre describes The Reach as “a home for non-traditional programming with an emphasis on active participation and access. The open, informal spaces of the new expansion draw visitors directly into the creative process and inspire new connections and collaborations between creators of multiple genres and disciplines.” “We are very proud of our decades-old rela
UK/USA - Pink’s Beautiful Trauma world tour started in North America in March 2018 and is set to conclude this November on the same continent. The tour, in support of the singer’s seventh studio album, Beautiful Trauma, will have taken in 157 dates across 18 countries in North and South America, Europe and Australasia. This included a weekend of sold-out shows at London's Wembley Stadium, where 150,000 fans gathered to see the rock/pop starlet dazzle with her vocals and gymnastic skills. Working in conjunction with its family of partners Clair Global and JPJ Audio, Britannia Row successfully delivered a worldwide audio feat. Britannia Row’s Dave Compton says: “Once again, we’ve really enjoyed working with Pink’s team. It’s been an amazingly popular worldwide tour where the artist and engineers have given it their all across a multit
UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) will exclusively show over 20 brands from across its dedicated lighting, rigging, audio and video sales divisions on stand E30 at PLASA 2019 (15-17 September, London Olympia). The stand will feature at least six products that have been nominated for the PLASA Awards for Innovation 2019, including the Prolights PixieWash XB, a single source RGB+WW LED wash light with extensive zoom and high CRI. Also nominated from Prolights is Mosaico XL, a long-throw IP66 LED fixture for projecting gobos and textures onto buildings and landscapes with colour mixing, animation wheel and framing shutters. LumenRadio’s TimoTwo module, which brings concurrent CRMX (wireless DMX/RDM) and Bluetooth to a single chip, and BroadWeigh’s Bluetooth system that sends data straight to a smart device, have also been nominated. Other nominees include
India - AM Integrated and Crescendo AV recently outfitted The Piano Man Jazz Club in Gurugram with a complete Harman Professional Solutions sound reinforcement system. The Piano Man Jazz Club is a full-service restaurant, bar and music venue founded in 2015 by classically-trained pianist and entrepreneur Arjun Sagar Gupta. The first location in Delhi was so successful, Gupta decided to open a second location in the bustling city of Gurugram. In addition to being one of the few venues in India that showcases live jazz music, The Piano Man Jazz Club also features diverse acts from young singer-songwriters to international brass bands. The venue hired AM Integrated and Crescendo AV to design and integrate end-to-end Harman Professional audio and lighting systems, including solutions by JBL, AKG, Soundcraft and Martin Professional. “We wanted premium audio soluti
UK - More d&b audiotechnik loudspeakers than ever before delivered the strums, beats and vocals of Glastonbury this year, as KSL made its debut on The Other Stage and Y- and V-Series graced The Acoustic Stage. Glastonbury veteran, Skan - which has been providing PA systems for the festival’s second stage since 1989 - supplied the d&b KSL System for The Other Stage, where headliners included Tame Impala, Chemical Brothers and Christine and the Queens. “The stage size and technical demands increase every year, and we have increased the spec and system requirements alongside this growth,” says Skan senior designer Matt Vickers. “We beta-tested the GSL System at Glastonbury in 2017 and that experience has contributed to the stunning results we can get from both GSL and KSL Systems. “‘Punchy, tight and so clean’ were words thrown around by vario
