The Netherlands - With the latest order for 14 units placed by RTV Oost, Marantz's new PMD670 solid state recorder is proving a hit with broadcasters in the Netherlands. Success is due to a combination of the features and price of the unit, and the specialized support of dealer Onyx of Houten, which has packaged the unit especially for radio reporters, say Marantz.

Onyx advanced audio technologies, based in Houten in the Netherlands, has sold around 70 PMD670 recorders to the Dutch national/regional public radio stations, including NOS and NCRV, and the regional public radio stations RTV Noord, RTV Utrecht, RTV Rijnmond, and Omroep Gelderland. Most of the recorders are being used for ENG (external news gathering) and sports news acquisition and broadcast (some were used at the Ol

UK - Sound production company Canegreen has purchased four t&m 6.5pa II loudspeakers for use as 'shout' speakers - to enable touring sound engineers at the FOH and stage positions to communicate clearly with each other. After evaluating them on shows with the Corrs, Canegreen placed the order with Shepperton-based supplier, Marquee Audio. The German-built loudspeakers are exclusively imported into the UK by Fuzion plc.

Canegreen special projects manager, Pete Hughes, commented: "We were ready to retire our old shout speakers and I was looking for something with more design, which at the same time sounded great, with a good throw. These make lovely monitors, are a nice size and look great. Also, the features were what we needed - the t&m speakers are portable, self-powered boxes, with mic/line inputs, good level and tone control, which is what you need in a loud environment

Hungary - Around one million people descended upon the Hungarian capital Budapest this summer to celebrate the Budapest Gay Parade. Pako, KV2 Audio's distributor in Hungary, had prepared one of the trucks that participated in the show - on it they had set up a complete ES system, with ES 1.0 and ES 2.5 subwoofers.

KV2's Alex Pagliani explained: "Throughout the day, the KV2 system had been playing at an incredible sound pressure level. The DJs of course pushed the system at the very limit for the whole of day, making some hundreds thousands of people happy when the truck was passing by!" Pagliani reports that one of the most common reactions from the DJs who were alternating on the platform was 'How can that small system make such a big sound?'

(Lee Baldock)

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Indochine X PixMob Fan Immersion

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's - 40 thousand LED pixels on a ceiling!!! Indochine's whirlwind tour transports fans to another level of the live experience - immersing them from floor to ceiling with PixMob's X4 wristbands, and an LED ceiling made entirely of its NOVA Minis! With the vision of Indochine's creative team, PixMob used its LED fan-technology to turn attendees and venues into an ocean of effects, and a starry sky of LED magic. Très très cool!

Read more about the Indochine tour in the latest issue of LSi

Italy - dB Technologies has added more features to its successful active speaker, with the fourth generation of the Opera - including a modular slot for optional modules, three switchable sound characteristics and infrared remote control. The modular slot is on the control panel at the back and can be used for time delays or wireless receivers, as well as the new AFP anti-feedback suppressor, which works as a problem solver, particularly for monitor applications.

All models in the Opera series are fitted with high-grade bi-amp Class H stages and have intelligent electronics. Opera Modular come in five active models. With 12"/1" or 15"/1" and a power of 160 to 275W/RMS, Opera speakers cater for a range of demands, and are characterised by impressive music reproduction and a unique vocal sound, according to dB Technologies.

Opera 212 Modular is an all-round

UK - Installation company Clarity in Sound Light & Vision has completed a two-venue fit-out at the London School of Economics in the Aldwych. As a result, both the Three Tuns, a traditional ground floor bar, and Underground live music venue (in the basement) have extended their capacities (to 400 and 300 respectively). Combined with a third venue - the Quad - the LSE can now provide entertainment for 1300 people and route the signals from either of the live venues at any one time to the clientele in the bar.

Clarity director Stuart Graham again turned to Martin Audio, his first choice loudspeaker supplier, for the components in The Underground. (Martin Audio presented the company with an award for 'Best New UK installer' at the recent PLASA Show).

Four Blackline F12s are flown from the ceiling above the stage (on either side of the scanner lighting) while a pair of WS2As, gro

UK - Futurist Projects Ltd has completed the design, supply and installation of a complete technical infrastructure at the newly refurbished Cadogan Hall in Chelsea, London. The £24 million project has seen the elegant Grade I listed former Christian Scientist Church transformed into a cutting-edge modern concert hall, exhibition and arts venue. It's also become home to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, ending 60 years of itinerancy.

Michel Lister co-ordinated and managed the project for Futurist, having been referred to Cadogan Hall via Leeds College of Music, where the company recently designed and equipped a purpose-built, 350-seat concert hall. Keen to push the technical envelope, Futurist's associate consultant Richard Northwood wanted to take a lateral approach, and utilize technologies and techniques common to other areas of the entertainment industry - such as theme pa

Hong Kong - In June 2004, only 13 months after the contract was awarded and with the theatre remaining in full operation throughout the period, Stage Technologies successfully completed the final phase of a project to refurbish the flying system at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. The automation solution, installed in the venue's Grand Theatre, means that the Hong Kong Cultural Centre is now equipped to provide flying effects to stand alongside the most prestigious and technically advanced performing arts centres around the globe.

The work included the design and installation of a counterweight assist flying system, able to switch between powered and manual flying. With the initial phase of the project due to be delivered in November 2003 the project management and design teams pulled out all the stops to achieve the deadlines. Jim Roberts, Stage Technologies' project manager com

UK - Geni Electronics' new MOS Moving Scan concept is an evolved combination of the moving head and the scanner, combining the stylish design and unlimited angle rotation of the moving head with the speed of response of the scanner lens. Shown to considerable acclaim at last month's PLASA Show, both the MOS-300 (MSD 250W) and MOS-700 (HTI 700W) are now available in the UK from Lighting Effects Distribution, whose MD Ian Kirby comments: "Aside from the hybrid nature of the technology the various colour options of the outer plastic casing offer all kinds of potential for interior designers."

Features common to both products include the combination of X/Y axes of the moving head, with X/Y axes of the scanner lens, 10 dichroic colours plus 3200K colour temperature correction filter, six self-rotating gobo patterns (plus open), with glass custom options, Prism rotators, hi

UK - SES Film and Television, the well-known manufacturers of power and distribution products, is branching out by stocking Gaffergear - providing technicians and riggers with hard-wearing work clothing. Mark Cooper, director of SES says: "After looking around the industry and speaking to those 'in the know' at PLASA, we discovered that most riggers and stage hands source their kit from a multitude of suppliers and that there was no-one dedicated to supplying them with hard-wearing kit. A company supplying construction workers with the safety boots and outer garments had approached us, but most of the products were beige and brown - so we have taken the tried and tested products and sourced them in black. We'll carry stock of the products shown in our brochure and will be introducing further products in the near future. We will also be offering a customising service for peop

UK - Lighting Technology Projects (LTP) and sister company Vaughan Sound - both part of the PAI Group - collaborated to design, install and commission a complete new sound system and architectural and event lighting control at ExCeL, London's Exhibition and Conference Centre. The project involved the supply of new audio systems for ExCeL's Platinum suites and the reception areas on Levels 2 and 3 of the Centre.

The contract was managed by LTP's Jonathan Adkins: LTP handled the specification of lighting systems internally, utilizing PA Installations to assist with the signal processing and control infrastructure of the sound systems, plus all the AV, and IT / Control technologies. For sound reinforcement design, LTP called in VSI. Adkins comments: "It was a huge asset being able to offer the client a complete sound, visual and control solution. Having one company dealing wi

Belgium - Barco has announced the launch of the new compact, powerful SLM R9+ Performer projector, which the company says is based on Texas Instruments' DLP technology and delivers up to 9000 ANSI Lumen.

The SLM R9+ Performer projector, with its compact form-factor, SXGA+ resolution and 9000 ANSI Lumen output, offers a cost-effective option for the 8k - 10k Lumen market segment, say Barco. With an extended lamp life (given as typically 1250 hours), additional dust filters and continued compatibility with existing TLD lenses, the SLM R9+ offers a dynamic, reliable projector with a low total cost of ownership, say Barco. "The new SLM R9+ Performer projector is an extension of Barco's successful SLM Performer range," says Steve Scorse, general manager of Barco Events.

Specifically designed with the needs of the rental and staging industries in mind, the SLM R9+ featur

Meyer showed its new addition to the Milo line array system, the Milo120, a dedicated near down-fill for the bottom of the array which, as its name suggests, has a throw pattern of 120° by 20°. Also on show, the 700HP sub, a high-power 2 x 18", 28-125Hz range, 140dB continuous. The UP-J houses a 10" with a 2" compression driver to a 40° x 80° horn. The horn is rotatable, allowing for horizontal or vertical orientation, and Meyer has provided rigging to make a pseudo line array. Range is given as 60Hz to 18kHz. Also on show was the new SIM3 analyzer, with features are too numerous to list here - visit www.meyersound.com/sim3 for more.

With a fleet of five fully-equipped vehicles, Nightsky is known mainly for providing sleeper busses for bands, but is now developing towards the production market. All current buses feature plasma screens and DVD players, as well as all conveniences. On the same stand, S&H Technical Services were showing its flame effects for stage use, and bespoke starcloths. S&H is in the process of developing an LED starcloth, which it intends will be available by Christmas.

High End presented three new software-only versions of Catalyst (it seems too many people already have their own G4); Express has a single layer output, DV four layers, and the Pro version gives the full standard specification. There's a new release of software V1.37 for the Hog III aimed mainly at re-establishing the brand's reputation for stability (High End was confident enough to offer a bottle of high grade vodka to any visitor who could crash the demonstration machine during the show). The new Hog IPC is an integrated PC Windows-based system, shown in prototype.

Covering everything shown by beyerdynamic GB would take a feature on its own. Highlights included its own range of Opus 100, 300 and 500 wireless mic systems, alongside distributed products like Altec Lansing's SLS 6221 speaker system for plasma displays (wryly referred to as the "world's smallest line array"), the Biamp Nexia DSP system and Powersoft's new L-series of power amps, which pack 700W per channel into a mere 1U rack space.

Link S.r.l. was showing new products in its cable range that included Interconnection cables for digital equipment and Interconnection cables for Outline and L-Acoustic PA systems. The company is also shipping rubber-locking rings, which are easier to handle and unscrew than metal ones.

Rob Fricker from Adam Hall said the company had been busy completing its audio LD-ProSeries. Since PLASA 2003 it has been flat out supplying Series 1 products. Series 2 loudspeakers operate in bi-amp mode with integrated active crossover - and cost the same as Series 1.

A new lightweight switch mode power amp, the E45 comes from MC² Audio, and delivers 2,250W into 4 ohms per channel, yet weighs just 11kg. Joining the E15 and E25 (750W and 1250W per channel respectively) the E45 sports a power reduction unit on the rear panel, allowing limiting down in 2dB increments to match power to its sister amps.

Describing itself as making "the Rolls Royce of radio microphones and headphones", Audio Ltd was backing that claim by displaying a set of cans in a cherry wood box costing £1950! Also on show was its HX2040 radio mic system for studio and theatre, plus a range of quality mic capsules.

German manufacturer Smoke Factory has a full range of foggers and hazers including the Scotty II launched last year which was also this year's focus, along with the Tour Hazer.

Austrian Truss Construction was showing its multi-frame trussing which offers excellent stability, as there is no welding on the frame. Designed for ease of transport the sections can store inside each other and three will fit into a truck.

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