Millbank Electronics has always provided high quality, reliable public address, induction loop and background music systems. In recent years they've also moved into the area of voice evacuation systems and it was the 10Max controller that was a central part of the display on its stand. The 10Max can be used in systems with a maximum of 10 zones and can handle up to 10 prioritized input sources. The BS5839 compliant router is designed to form the heart of a voice evacuation system.

Another featured product was the DVS8 compact flash sound store. The unit uses CF cards to store high quality 16bit 44.1kHz samples that can be played back across public address and voice alarm systems. A positive show, according to Neil Voce.

Le Mark's stand was dominated by an assortment of brightly coloured tapes including the new MagTape Extra, available in a variety of funky colours including baby pink, complete with extra adhesive qualities. The company also had the SetWare range of gloves and personal production accessories for techs and engineers including tool bags, rigger's belts and pouches.

Laser System Europe (SA Sound and Light Show Lasers) from France was at PLASA for the second time with its 'Stage Blitz' lasers, claimed as the first fully moving DMX laser - basically a powerful 5W laser in a moving head. It's air cooled - unusual for a 5W, consumes just 5A and comes with 256 onboard animations. It's slightly hungrier on DMX channels, taking up 24! Also being promoted was the LM Productions StratoSphere, a 50, 60 or 70ft translucent globe which functions as a projector screen, viewable from either inside or outside.
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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

The launch of the new M7CL digital console turned many heads at PLASA, culminating in multiple sales for Yamaha to companies with the calibre of Britannia Row Productions and Orbital, while dealers like Warehouse (Scotland) and Marquee Audio (UK) queued up to place orders. A completely intuitive touch-panel control surface on the M7CL guides the user through a straightforward and logical navigation system. Touch the on-screen Rack button and instantly patch effects or EQ to any channel; another touch takes you to detailed editing within your chosen effect or graphic.

Eight signal processors can be used simultaneously; conventionally deployed as four graphics and four effects, but with all the onboard effects units capable of operating alternatively as graphics, up to eight graphics can be used. If you don't need the effects - the choice is yours. Operators can exploit processing power

Tryka had three new products on display at PLASA, including two new and ground-breaking DMX drivers. The IDS-4 and IDS-12 Intelligent Drive Systems offer four and 12 outputs (RJ45) respectively and are able to control up to 144 LEDs each. Both models encompass seven modes (static colour, crossfade, criss-cross fade, cyclic wash, solid chase, fade chase and DMX) - each with several pre-set functions. The units, based on the unique 'colour cool' technology which is patented in Europe, USA, Australia and Japan, use Pulsed Amplitude Modulation to drive the luminaires. Other features of the IDS drivers include thermal feedback control, easy plug-and-play set-up, and full DMX address mapping.

Meanwhile, on the luminaire front, Tryka is showing the Module 36 Interior - a powerful, ultra slim colour-changing floodlight, available with a variety of optics (6º, 15º, 25º and oval for a wall-wa

Long-term exhibitor Andolite reported having a busy show, with its range of lighting bars, socket boxes, panels, power distro, racks and brackets drawing a steady stream of visitors.

If there was such an award, City Theatrical would have won for the cutest piece of technology at the show. A Color Kinetics Color Blast was being powered by City Theatrical's new PDS-50 power supply with a battery pack and receiving DMX via a City Theatrical Wireless Data System (WDS) Rx2 Receiver - all packaged together into a single self-contained unit. Also shown by City Theatrical was its PDS-375 TR touring-style power supply for up to six Color Kinetics Color Blast 12 fixtures, among others.

The Sea Changer from Ocean Optics is a dichroic colour changer that fits between the lamp housing and the lens tube of an ETC Source Four fixture. Featuring DMX512 control as well as RDM, the Sea Changer does not require tools in order to be fitted to a Source Four due to the bayonet mounting lens tube.

Some stylish re-branding by SSE Audio Group proved attractive for a company reassuring the market of its future longevity (the company was founded in 1974 by directors Heather and John Penn). The re-branding underlines SSE's presence as not just a PA rental and service provider, but also as a fully-fledged equipment dealer (now an approved Yamaha Digital dealer) and construction company, providing stage sets for purchase and hire.

On the PA rental side, SSE confirmed they are now members of the V-dosc Network, and that recent improvements to the software control of their Nexo Geo-T system has been extremely well received by visiting sound engineers to this year's V and Reading festivals.

SSE has re-tooled its range of stage deck products, a new aluminium profile extrusion of just 75mm makes for a compact system; six sections stacked in the same space as two decks of older conventiona

Visual Discomix from Slovenia made its first professional DJ computer software in 1995, since when, many others have appeared on the scene. VDMX's DJ Professional Advance has seven modules - known as racks - offering all the control you'd expect from a digital DJ mixer and storage archive.

PR Lighting, distributed in the UK by MilTec, showed a number of new lighting fixtures, including the Solo 1200 and Pilot Pro range of moving heads, the Design range of architectural CMY colour mixing fixtures and the Lazer 100, the first of a new range of projectors.

Rope Assemblies, sharing a stand with HSL, was concentrating on promoting its new PPE kits, which include harness, helmet, gloves and the company's Frog quick release system (winner of this year's ABTT Widget of the Year Award). The company was visited by customers from UK and overseas and took orders from new customers in Greece and Estonia, as well as plenty of other good enquiries.

UK manufacturer Triple E majored on its new three-way track system which won the 2005 ABTT Product of the Year Award. Few components, easy assembly and a great price are three of its big selling points and the track is also elegant and aesthetically pleasing. It keeps the cord within the track cavity, preventing any chance of it sagging and circles and curves are also possible. The product is aimed at schools and drama studio-sized venues.

New from SGM on the Lightfactor stand was the Synthesis 700W moving head fixture, which comes complete with Wireless DMX as standard. Also new from SGM was the elegant flat-faced Palco LED moving head fixture that can be used both indoors and outdoors due to its IP22 rating.

The Lightfactor stand was a constant hub of activity with a number of the brands under the Lightfactor umbrella enjoying significant success. This success was epitomized by Lightfactor's Paul Deville, who told us: "This year marks a return to form for us. We've come out of the shadow of High End [whose products Lightfactor used to distribute in the UK] with [rival moving light manufacturer] SGM, and it's a great feeling."

A PLASA debutant was Cornored Audio Systems, whose Hans Madsen was giving a world premiere to his new approach to loudspeakers. "I want to build bracketless loudspeakers which will look good in any environment," he said. Manufactured from aluminium, the low-profile enclosures feature a 90° curved front panel, producing a high quality sound.

The wildly waving arms of the fan-driven MBN Eventproducts Airman are a familiar sight at PLASA and this year was no exception. The C-180 small confetti cannon was making its UK debut, as was the ProLED range of low-cost, single-colour and RGB lighting fixtures. These include balls, tubes, panels and replacement MR16/GU10 bulbs. The full range of effects includes foam, snow, confetti cannon, silk flames, inflatable figures and weatherproof airdomes for moving heads.

A range of bespoke lifting equipment was on show by Maquinas de Precisao, its S3 lighting hoist demonstrating the versatility of the company's custom systems. The lightweight S3 can be mounted beneath or on the grid and has a slimline design to take up as little space as possible.

Lifting and handling technology company Gala Systems showed its new Rigid Spiralift Column, which features mechanically interlocked bands that provide a self-guided rigid lift column. The interlocked bands allow for a higher level of travel than a normal spiral lift, with quieter operation.

Gemini showed a myriad of new products, the most significant of which was the I-Key portable USB recorder which records to any external mass storage device. The user can select between MP3 or WAV file formats and then record onto the key - very simple to use and great for recording on the fly.

Proel made the most of this year's PLASA by launching three new products of its own and a further nine from among the third-party brands it distributes in the UK. The Proel Extreme Series of affordable PA enclosures providing reliability and audio quality above that of an entry level system. The range is available as both passive and active versions, and has its own range of matched subs.

Debuting at PLASA was an enhanced version of Proel's popular Smart series - the Smart VPlus. The new, improved versions boast high quality sound coupled with sturdy build quality. The trapezoidal enclosures come in 20 flavours, both active and passive.

At the higher end of the market was the AX1118SP subwoofer system, designed to work with the Axiom line array system. The cabinet is designed to be flown as part of an Axiom system and comprises an 18" neodymium woofer with 4" voice coil, wh

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