North America - L-Acoustics have implemented the largest AV bridging (AVB) touring system on Arcade Fire’s Infinite Content tour. This is the first time the company has used an AVB system on tour. Supplied by L-Acoustics North American certified provider Solotech, with support from Germany’s Black Box Music, the system’s benefits include simple deployment with minimal network configuring, long-distance network communication, low latency, improved synchronisation and reliability. The tour is carrying a total of 92 AVB-equipped L-Acoustics LA12X amplified controllers, 48 K1 and 80 K2 loudspeakers, 56 KS28 subs, eight ARCS Wide and eight X8 coaxials. Processing is being handled by a pair of redundant Meyer Sound Galaxy units, one driving analogue lines over copper for system fallback. All equipment from L-Acoustics and Meyer Sound is certified through
UK - Technical event production company Hawthorn has officially become an Adamson certified reseller in the UK. Derek Blair, director of Adamson’s UK distributor The Warehouse Sound Services, says: “We are delighted to have Hawthorn on board as one of the first Adamson certified resellers in the UK. They have a wealth of experience in the installation and rental markets and are well-known for providing the very best equipment with customer service that is second to none. We look forward to a long and fruitful partnership.” Rob Allen, Hawthorn’s group head of sound, adds: “I’ve been aware of Adamson for a number of years and have always been very impressed with its quality, from how their loudspeakers sound to ease of rigging and now, it’s great to see it on many riders and installation specifications in the UK. We’re very proud to be one of the first co
Europe - In anticipation of Brexit, ADJ has re-assigned two of its key personnel to continue the company’s growth in the UK and mainland Europe. Kris Dawber will take on the role of UK and Ireland sales manager while Sebastian Mobers will move into the position of EU sales manager. ADJ Europe recently celebrated its 15th anniversary and the company’s European arm is a significant part of its global business with showrooms at Kerkrade in the Netherlands and Greater Manchester in the UK. Having worked for ADJ in Europe for almost 15 years, Sebastian Mobers is an integral and highly valued member of the team. Having most recently served as the company’s European purchasing manager, before previously gained valuable experience in the sales department, he will take on the role of EU sales manager. This role will involve supporting and overseeing ADJ’s regional sales
USA - FOH engineer and sound designer Stan Miller is mixing Neil Diamond’s 50 Year Anniversary World Tour on a JBL by Harman VTX Series sound reinforcement system, provided by Sound Image. Miller has mixed FOH for Diamond for nearly 50 years and has relied on JBL audio systems for Diamond’s tours for many years. For this tour, he selected a JBL VTX V25 system. “I think the sound for this tour is the best we’ve ever had,” Miller says. “We have better control over the system, and we have better technology than in the past. We have better consistency from venue to venue, whether it's indoors or outdoors. And with the Crown amplifiers we’re carrying, we have gobs of horsepower to run everything, but we never blow loudspeakers. Our show runs somewhere around 100 dB max, or maybe 101 or 102. We don't want to overpower people.” The tour system inc
South Africa - DWR Distribution is expanding its industry footprint with the addition of Quest Engineering. Melbourne-based Quest Engineering has become an internationally recognised audio brand following its humble beginnings in live audio production and 20 years of product development. During this time, Simon Oates, has held the agency in South Africa and made Quest a household name in the industry. “Simon has now passed the torch to DWR, and we are thrilled to introduce Quest as our first loudspeakers to our family of products,” said Robert Izzett, head of sales at DWR. Simon will continue to support his new and existing clients in collaboration with DWR and Quest. Quest’s Frank Andrewartha was in Johannesburg recently to meet up with the DWR team. “This is a good outcome and brings experience as well as a great support structure for production custom
South Africa - VisualAudio Productions’ Staal Van Der Bergh has invested in a new Hippotizer Karst Media Server from South African distributor DWR Distribution. The new purchase complements his existing Hippotizer Boreal Media Server. Staal comments: “I love animals - the more Hippos, the merrier! But in all earnestness, I don’t always need a big Hippotizer such as the Boreal and the Karst’s greatest selling point is flexibility. Now I have the best of both worlds.” DWR’s Dylan Jones agrees: “Staal can send out the Karst on an extra show, he can work on large productions using both the Karst and the Boreal, or he can do a smaller show with just the Karst.” In addition, the unit can also be rented out for dry hire. “The main attributing feature is a 4k Output which can be split into more outputs if needed,” explained Dylan. “Because the Hipp
UK - For Robbie William’s Heavy Entertainment Show, sound engineer Simon Hodge is mixing on a Digico SD7 using an L-Acoustics K1 based system from Britannia Row Productions (Brit Row) and has not found it wanting. “We have played some very tricky venues, acoustically speaking,” said Hodge. “The new amplifiers and subs that Brit Row has invested in have made a big difference. I was expecting the new subs to be better but actually the difference is pretty phenomenal - they produce notes that I’ve not heard before with what feels like effortless power. The new amplifiers have made a difference to the HF as well which seems extended in to the range that only dogs can hear. I have ultimate respect for Josh Lloyd’s system design and line up but that combined with the new system has resulted in the most even coverage that I’ve ever heard in stadiums.” Lloyd’
UK - A 36-channel Audient ASP8024 desk with patchbay and producer’s desk has been installed at Cornwall charity Livewire Youth Music. The charity offers free and open access to music lessons and its facilities are also used as a teaching space for 10 to 21 year-olds interested in live engineering and studio recording. The arrival of the professional quality Audient console has brought a significant upgrade in sound quality along with a more enriching experience for those on both sides of the glass. Manager Andy Rance has been running the youth centre for the best part of three decades, and was pleased to welcome local three-piece band, The Flying Saucepans as the first to be recorded using the analogue console last month. “Our long-time studio and venue engineer, Will Rodgers led the session with support from two of the older trainee studio engineers,” says
Hungary - Around 1,000 dance aficionados arrived at the Dürlin Budapest Event and Performance Space in Hungary recently to celebrate Bladerunnaz, the traditional annual opening of the autumn/winter season. To ensure one of the country’s premier drum & bass events made its usual impact on the dancefloor, service company and Martin Audio partner, BG Event , provided its MLA Compact PA system. According to BG Event’s Balázs Szentiványi, the promoters opted for Martin Audio’s technology after specifying the MLA Compact on the drum & bass stage at the Balaton Sound festival, which they also promote. Szentiványi said: “We knew that MLA Compact, accompanied by the mighty MLX subs, would unquestionably provide the ultimate gear for such a bass-heavy event. Due to MLA’s sonic capabilities over the full spectrum it was an ideal choice. We were
UK - Adlib’s Scottish operation has recently supplied a substantial L-Acoustics package with DiGiCo control to Limelight Event Services, an Inverness-based production and rental company. Limelight had already developed a relationship with Adlib as they previously owned a smaller L-Acoustics system and would use Adlib to source cross hires for larger shows and for spares as necessary. The recent purchases include most of the current L-Acoustics range of speakers - K2, Kara, Kiva and ARCS Wide plus HiQ wedges – supplied together with LA amplifiers, proprietary flying systems, a set of LoadGuard motors and rigging - all fully flight-cased. A DiGiCo SD12 console was selected as a fully-featured user-friendly console with which most professional sound engineers will be familiar. Craig Duncan, owner of Limelight Event Services, said: “We feel that L-Acoustics is
UK - JHS has announced the appointment of Jack Irish to the position of pro audio area sales manager for southern UK and Ireland. Joining JHS after a short sojourn outside of the industry, following on from his six years as an ASM with Lamba PLC, Jack says of the appointment: “I am incredibly excited and proud to be working with JHS. Being part of the team here will be a pleasure, because they have so many respected brands that encompass an array of innovative and high-quality products that can cater for almost everyone. I am very passionate about the industry and am looking forward to meeting with both old and new customers.” JHS managing sirector Dennis Drumm adds: “We’re looking forward to Jack joining the company very much. With a well-deserved reputation for excellence and a well-grounded knowledge of the industry and customer base, Jack will really hit th
USA - Playback engineer Romain Garnier and long-time FOH engineer James McCullagh have chosen DirectOut products to improve redundancy and provide D/A conversion for the Backstreet Boys’ entirely digital Larger Than Life Las Vegas residency and forthcoming 2018 world tour. The US boy band that saw international success during the 1990s is currently in residency in Las Vegas – supported by audio company and DirectOut audio vendor Sound Image – with a live show based wholly on a “virtual band” playout of 64 separate and unequalised digitally recorded tracks. Garnier explains: “We chose DirectOut products because they are extremely reliable and offer great flexibility. They’re also compact and robust which makes them perfect for the road.” The playback rig for Larger Than Life includes a redundant pair of MacBook Pro computers running c
USA - Audio-system integrator Solotech recently completed the world’s first permanent installation of JBL by Harman VTX A12 loudspeakers at The Colosseum at Caesars Windsor Hotel & Casino resort. The Colosseum is a 5,000-seat venue that hosts a wide range of performances - from chart-topping rock bands to acclaimed comedians. In order to improve the sound quality in the venue, The Colosseum hired Solotech to replace its entire audio system in three separate phases. In the first phase, which was completed earlier this year, Solotech replaced the venue’s aging main hangs with 26 VTX A12 loudspeakers, JBL’s latest line array technology. “We've got a world-class venue, and thanks to the VTX A12, we now have a world-class PA,” said David Cyrenne, production supervisor and audio engineer at The Colosseum. “We needed something reliable and versatile to complem
UK - Stylus Productions is a new, London-based company providing production management services and pro-audio rental. Founded in 2016 by Sam Thomas and Oliver Weeks, the company delivers a comprehensive service for the touring and live events industry and has an uncompromising approach to technical excellence. In line with this, it has recently invested in DiGiCo mixing consoles, adding an SD10 and SD11 to its inventory. “As a young company entering a competitive marketplace, we knew from the outset that we had to carry an inventory with maximum functionality and flexibility; systems that are powerful and applicable to a varied client base,” says Sam. “This made DiGiCo the obvious choice when looking at consoles.” “We approach things very much from an engineers’ point of view, and try to devise solutions that will best suit their individual needs in demandi
UK - Southampton Solent University has upgraded its performance studios as part of a £100m facilities improvement programme running up to 2020, with VDC supplying the cabling infrastructure. The university’s TV, Film and Media Technology department already boasts a number of professional-standard facilities including 4K-ready broadcast studios, radio suites and newsrooms, and the decision was made to invest in similarly high-quality facilities for the Music and Performance students. The department has nine rooms in total, five full studios and four smaller workstations which can be used for mixing. Studio 1 was upgraded in 2016 but the remaining studios hadn’t been touched for around ten years so much of the kit was showing signs of wear and tear. When the decision was made to redevelop Studio 1, Technical Instructor Jon Wills contacted VDC to provide the cabling
Europe - Production manager Will Wilkinson engaged the services of Video Design, Negative Earth lighting and SSE for sound during Lady Antebellum’s recent European tour. The band visited the Netherlands, England, Scotland and Ireland during the European leg of the tour comprising six dates between 1 October and 10 October, with the crew and band arriving on the continent on 27 September. Wilkison says: “When you tour with such a tight schedule at an arena level, the key is being able to source close what we use in the US. In that sense of matched equipment, it was a very smooth transition from the US into Europe. As far as Video Design was concerned, our biggest concern was over the video content. With almost no time for production prep ahead of our first show in Amsterdam we needed to send our content over before we arrived and have it loaded onto the server.
USA - As Atlona prepares to celebrate its 15th year in business, the company has launched a series of Launch & Learn events for partners, including Atlona distributors and systems integrators. The goal of each event is to bring attendees up to speed on how recent Atlona innovations correlate with today’s most important industry trends, including AV over IP and networked control. The first event, which took place October 19-20 at Atlona’s international headquarters near Zurich, Switzerland, offered two distinct educational tracks: Networked AV and Modern Meeting Spaces. Attendees from 50 companies were provided with hands-on demonstrations of Atlona’s now-shipping OmniStream AV over IP and Velocity networked control platforms, along with detailed case studies on early installations. The event was rounded out with informative Q&A sessio
USA - Total Electronics Contracting (TEC) installed a sound reinforcement system for the gym/auditorium at the new Neosho Junior High School in Missouri. TEC designed and installed a system based on Ashly Audio's nX-Series multi-mode amplifiers. Nate Pugh, audio/video project manager at TEC, says: "Back in 2013, we installed a sound reinforcement system at the Carver Sports Complex, which shares the very grounds that the new Neosho Junior High School occupies. Warren Smith & Associates designed that system and spec'd Ashly Audio amplifiers. We had never used Ashly before, but I knew of their reputation so I figured we'd get set up with them. “We were impressed by Ashly's performance and value, so we started designing their products into our jobs. Since then, we've been amazed at the reliability of this brand. So, here’s our oldest and newest installations
Germany/Spain - DirectOut has entered into a distribution agreement with Spanish company SeeSound, covering Spain and Portugal. Effective immediately, the Spanish pro-audio distribution company is responsible for the complete product portfolio of the German networking, routing and conversion specialist, including sales and technical service. SeeSound presents more than 25 of the leading brands dedicated to the live sound, broadcast, install, vision and acoustic treatment for the Spanish and Portuguese markets. Nacho Alberdi, SeeSound’s CEO comments: “We are extremely pleased to have been appointed as the new distributors for DirectOut. Many professionals from the broadcast, install and live markets appreciate their products because they allow them to have solutions that make their life easier and can free them from their hassle when interconnecting digital devices
Lebanon - EDM festival Tomorrowland went global for the first time. Dubbed Unite, the concept connected Tomorrowland’s mainstage in Belgium with eight locations around the world, attracting in excess of 400,000 people. L-Acoustics has been the choice of PA system for Tomorrowland in Belgium for many years and was also chosen for several of the new locations, including the Lebanese city of Byblos, where local rental company Loud N Clear provided the audio system. The Byblos venue measured 120m deep by 50m wide, with VIP and VVIP areas to the left of the venue measuring 60m deep by 20m. To cover this, the main system comprised 32 K2 with 16 K1 SB, plus 32 SB28. For delays 16 K2 were positioned left and right with six Kara for front-fills. For the VVIP and VIP nine by nine Kara were deployed, with four ARCS and four SB18M for the DJ booth. The entire system was
USA - The annual Lincoln Centre Festival in New York City festival featured 46 performances that covered dance, music, theatre, and film. This year David Jensen and David Meschter, head of production and sound supervisor for the festival respectively, decided to utilise an Eastern Acoustics Works (EAW) Adaptive system to meet the needs of two of the events. To do this, they worked closely with Harrisburg, Pennsylvania-based Anderson Audio, who supplied the system and support for the festival. The first event was a showing of the film Naked Lunch with live orchestral accompaniment at Alice Tully Hall. “Composer Howard Shore was adamant that the dialogue be localised on the screen,” explained Meschter. “This was challenging since the screen was upstage with the orchestra in front of it and the jazz quartet positioned even further downstage. I was look
Germany - Audio rental company 8 Days a Week recently deployed a complete JBL by Harman VTX Series audio system for a major concert by German pop-rockers PUR at Veltins Arena. PUR has played multiple concerts at the arena since it opened in 2001, and Frank Müller of 8 Days a Week has been the systems engineer for all of them. One of the biggest challenges at Veltins is the lack of good options for deploying subwoofers. When PUR played the arena in 2014, Müller hung the subwoofers in a 40-cabinet cluster above the centre of the stage, which created weight and placement issues for the video and lighting deployments. To avoid those difficulties at this year’s show, Müller forwent a traditional subwoofer deployment and instead relied on the superior bass response of JBL VTX V25-II loudspeakers to cover most of the bottom end for the performance. "If you set up a VTX V
Korea - Furniture retailer IKEA has opened its second store in Korea, in the city of Goyang near Seoul, with Inter-M Corporation providing the background music and announcement system across the new 164,000sq m building. Handling design, supply and commissioning directly, Inter-M used the services of Samjin Elex to assist with installation. For the high ceiling height of the warehouse-style store, Mr. Byoung Dock Choi from Inter-M’s SI Team chose Community pendant loudspeakers for their acoustic performance and aesthetics. The system designed by Inter-M uses a combination of Community’s DP6 and DP8 two-way, high output pendant loudspeakers. The coaxial six and eight-inch designs use separate magnets for the LF and compression HF drivers, giving reduced distortion and sensitivity. In total, the system uses 105 x DP6 and 62 x DP8 loudspeakers, driven by Inter-M DPA
USA - Miami-based Mix3 Sound recently added 24 Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW) Anya array modules to their rental inventory, bringing their total up to 48 Anya and 24 Anna. James Newhouse, North American sales director for EAW, says: “John Ferlito and the folks at Mix3 have been fans of Adaptive since they purchased their first Anya system in 2015. Since then they have found that the flexibility and adaptive nature of the systems keeps it in high demand. It was an easy decision to increase their inventory to meet their clients’ needs.” Mix3 put the new boxes to use at CAP (La Conferencia Apostólica y Profética) 2017, an Apostolic and Prophetic Conference held at the American Airlines Arena in Miami. Mix3 also provided an EAW Adaptive System for the stadium last year. The event draws more than 20,000 every year. “We have used Anya for CAP since 2015,” add