Austria - DiGiCo's Austrian distributor, TON Eichinger Professional Sound Systems, has recently made significant sales of DiGiCo and Soundtracs consoles in the Austrian market: the first is to ORF, the country's central radio facility; the second is to the Landestheater, St Pölten in Lower Austria.

ORF's central radio facility, in the capital of Vienna, comprises small to medium sized studios used for recording radio talk shows and small live music shows as well as high-level post production. Its recent purchase of three Soundtracs DS-00 digital consoles - two for its Vienna facility, the third for its Eisenstadt regional studio - is part of a series of such installations there.

"ORF have used Soundtracs consoles for some time, having had DS3s previously, and are familiar with the way they work," says Othmar Eichinger of TON Eichinger. "So when it was time to u

Middle East - Creative Events, a sound reinforcement company serving the Middle East, recently added EAW UX8800 digital processors with Gunness Focusing technology, as well as EAW KF760 Series and KF730 Series line arrays, to its growing inventory of top-flight professional audio equipment.

Creative Events is one of several companies of Creative Communication Group (CCG), a full-service event management and production venture based in Qatar. Under the direction of managing partner Jalal Dudin, Creative Events provides sound reinforcement systems and services to numerous high-profile concerts, theatrical productions, festivals and other events held throughout the Middle East.

For example, a notable Creative Events project was supplying all audio, video and technical support at more than 110 sports venues during the 2006 Doha Asian Games 2006. In addition, they've supported firs

USA - Built in 1914, Chicago's Wrigley Field is one of Major League Baseball's legendary landmarks. Having long ago been designated one of the city's historical landmarks, improvements to the park are carefully evaluated and overseen, not only by the city's historical society, but by fans and the public. The installation of lighting in 1988 to allow for night games was preceded by several decades of controversy. And the field's original scoreboard, with per-inning and pitch scores changed by hand, has been untouched by progress (or pitches) since its construction in 1937.

Not surprisingly, the project to upgrade the park's audio system was also subject to the limitations of historic preservation. "Because of the park's landmark status, any proposed changes have to run through a number of lengthy and complex approval processes," explains Kevin Tucker of Chicago-based Ad

USA - Meyer Sound will have much to celebrate at this year's Audio Engineering Society (AES) Convention in New York City when CEO/president John Meyer is presented with the society's prestigious Silver Medal Award in recognition of his "outstanding achievements in the field of audio engineering" during Opening Ceremonies on 5 October.

The Silver Medal Award recognises the considerable impact Meyer's innovative loudspeaker designs have had on the industry, starting in the late 1960s with his Glyph loudspeaker and continuing through the 2006 release of the M'elodie ultracompact high-power curvilinear array loudspeaker. The Silver Medal Award has been presented to a long string of audio pioneers such as John Mullin, Robert Moog, Ray Dolby, and James A. (Andy) Moorer.

The award is not the first honor bestowed on Meyer by AES: in 1985 he was named a Fellow of the AES. Mey

UK - Freelance broadcast sound designer Oliver France, who originally designed the sound for Deal Or No Deal, has replaced the game show's inventory of 23 Audio-Technica Engineered Sound gooseneck contestant microphones, re-equipping the production with the newly re-engineered Engineered Sound Series models, featuring the UniGuard RFI protection circuitry.

The decision to deploy the new ES Series mics, was made to take advantage of the new RFI protection circuitry on set. "There are large numbers of the public to marshal on this show, and some of them do sneak in with their mobile phones switched on in silent mode," explains France, "The new RFI protected microphones provide us with a guarantee against that additional possibility of something else going wrong with a live studio audience. The RFI protection also guarantees against interference from other RF

UK - Delta Sound has a reputation for working on unusual projects and one Friday evening in mid-September heralded another atypical job, the UK premier of Alvin Curran's Maritime Rites, which required ingenuity and versatility from both equipment and engineers.

A DiGiCo D5 Live sat at the bankside Front of House position, with XTA digital signal processors controlling two hangs of VDosc loudspeakers. Nothing unusual there, but with a barge moored in the middle of the river Thames as the main stage, that was where convention ended and inventiveness took over.

Commissioned by Tate Modern, Maritime Rites is the first collaboration between Tate Modern and the London Symphony Orchestra and is part of UBS Openings: Live, a series of bi-monthly performance events at the gallery, which is a regular Delta Sound client, and marked a prelude to the start of the Thame

France - At this year's 60th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival, Meyer Sound signed on as a sponsor of the Cannes Legend celebration, employing the new, self-powered UPJunior ultra-compact VariO loudspeaker to deliver audio to the esteemed guests and performers. Cannes Legend is an exclusive week-long spree of animation screenings, presentations, fashion shows, and soirees held in conjunction with the festival itself.

Paris-based Dispatch, France's largest audio rental house, supplied the audio equipment for Cannes Legend, including four UPJunior loudspeakers and four USW-1P compact subwoofers for a tented dance floor on the beach, six UPJunior cabinets on the terrace surrounding the tent, and four more UPJunior units at the hotel's seafront garden, where another tent hosted a series of smaller gatherings.

Versatility was of key importance in choosing the Meyer Sound syst

USA - Aviom's MH10f Fibre Merger Hub made its high-profile debut moving live broadcast audio at the recent MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas.

The Vegas hotel-nightclub that hosted the star-studded extravaganza has a sizeable complement of Aviom Pro64 Series products already installed, including a dozen 6416dio Digital I/O Modules as tie lines. The MH10f Merger Hub allowed MTV engineers and installer Audio Analysts to connect the venue's 12 6416dio modules via fibre to broadcast locations over long distances.

The MH10f Merger Hub is designed to merge and distribute A-Net data streams and provide a host of professional features to make audio networking with Pro64 Series products easy to set up and configure in multiple professional audio environments, says the company.

(Jim Evans)

USA - American Music & Sound confirms that Turbosound has joined the AM&S family of brands effective 1 October 2007.

"Turbosound produces the most innovative loudspeaker systems on the market," comments Lynn Martin, president of American Music & Sound. "We are honoured to have them on board, and we look forward to spearheading Turbosound's push into the American market."

"American Music & Sound is extremely well aligned to take Turbosound to the next level in the US," says Turbosound's new managing director, Simon Blackwood. "They have a number of complimentary product lines in their roster to leverage our brand and are in a perfect position to market our products through their existing channels."

"Also fantastic news for us," comments Blackwood, "is that Brad Stephens, who managed the Turbosound brand at our previous di

USA - The Oregon Symphony starts its annual concert season in style at the end of each summer, celebrating popular classics in the heart of the community with outdoor performances staged in Portland's public parks.

Local company Horne Audio deployed Electro-Voice XLC loudspeaker systems for 30 August performances by the Portland Youth Philharmonic and the Oregon Symphony in Tom McCall Waterfront Park, which featured a programme of classical favourites ranging from Copland to Tchaikovsky.

Horne addressed the large bowl-shaped venue with 14 delay towers in 15 time zones, a surround sound system with a circumference of approximately 1000ft.

Spaced up to 75ft apart, the towers were configured to keep every member of the audience in a near-field zone, minimising environmental effects on sound quality. Most of the towers featured three XLC127DVX enclosures, with low-end support v

Russia - NOUK Autograf based in Moscow, has just invested in two InnovaSON Pro FX Sy80 and Sy48 console packages featuring the new FM-8VB plug-in effects modules. The consoles were supplied by StudiTech, InnovaSON's Russian distributor.

According to StudiTech's Nikita Stepanov, Autograf is one of the most highly regarded rental production companies in the country. "They were the first rental company in Russia to invest in really top-class consoles from internationally recognised brands," he explained. "Everything they do is of the highest quality and it is important to them that they maintain those standards. Hence when it came to investing in a new digital console, they saw and tested absolutely everything that was available."

Autograf decided upon InnovaSON for a number of reasons. "First and foremost, they were extremely impressed by the flexibility

UK - RCF is to present a seminar on the new DXTsystem at Audex 2007 (18 Oct 2007, City of Manchester Stadium, UK - in conjunction with the RCF Open Day), scheduled for 3pm. in the Audex lecture theatre.

The seminar will provide a full preview of RCF's soon-to-be-released new voice alarm and venue management system, the DXT.

RCF's Phil Price comments: "The DXT system is sure to become a standard specification for any number of venues in the very near future."

The seminar, will be presented by Michele Begotti, product specialist for RCF Spa, Michele will give a complete overview of what the system is, what it can do and some basic design and functionality guides and demonstrations. Price adds: "If you are involved with voice alarm in any way then you really must see this presentation."

(Jim Evans)

USA - Ableton has announced the expansion of its US sales force with the introduction of the team that will be dedicated to serving the entire country's distributors and retailers.

Terry Hardin joined Ableton in August as the new senior account manager. He will help increase US distribution for the company's music production software, Live 6 and Live 6 LE.

"I have been a fan and a Live user for a number of years, and I am amazed by the advances that have been made with Live 6," says Hardin. "Live is the single most musical and intuitive music production software available."

Hardin is based in Santa Cruz, California, and will be working closely with the teams in Ableton's New York and Berlin offices, including inside sales support coordinators Sam Walker and Cindy O'Shea in New York.

Working closely with Hardin are two Ableton product specialists, Huston

Germany - The Weekend is arguably Berlin's hippest house and techno club, and with its high-flying location on the 12th floor of a Soviet block on Alexanderplatz in the former East Berlin, it's easy to see why. The outside might not win any design prizes, but the inside is all geometric lines and minimal chic with breathtaking views out over Berlin - perfect for seeing in the sunrise.

As for the sounds, Atlantic Audio had already put in a powerful, top of the range Crest-driven Martin Audio system into Week12end (on the twelfth floor, naturally), followed by a second system complete with Digitool processing from Peavey into Week15end (yes, on the 15th floor) in February of this year, and have just completed an extension of the system onto the brand new roof terrace on the 17th storey.

Jörg Sandmann, project manager for Atlantic Audio, has specified Martin Audio throughout, (W

UK - The Reproduced Sound Conference, in its 23rd year, is one of the friendliest and most informative conferences available to audio professionals, providing a great opportunity to mix and interact with people from all sides of the industry, say the organisers.

This year, in addition to the usual format of papers, more demonstrations and interactive sessions have been added, which are expected to inform and challenge even the most experienced audio professional, while being easy to understand by newcomers. The addition of a voting system brings audience interactivity to many sessions, and will provide an immediate indication of audience opinion during listening tests and demonstrations.

Papers cover a wide range of topics, with emphasis on issues relating to live music. Presenters are industry professionals including product designers, consultants, sound designers, researcher

UK - Alcons Audio reports that its fifth PLASA show was again a very successful one, with many new clients and interested potential Alcons users visiting the company's stand.

"We can look back on another very successful event, where we welcomed many new Alcons-interested people and existing clients," says MD Tom Back. "It was good to see that they could find us on the main floor of Hall 1."

Following its presentation at Frankfurt's ProLight & Sound, the Phitom "large-format pro-ribbon sound-reinforcement" design study was also present in London and proved again to be the centre-point of interest and discussion. Besides this, the Q-series pro-ribbon column arrays and the L-series pro-ribbon line-arrays were on show, including the LR16 line-array, as featuring in London WestEnd's Fame The Musical.

Back continues, "With PLASA also attra

UK - After establishing the concept for an upmarket bowling alley, diner and bar at Bloomsbury's Victoria House in January 2006, All Star Lanes' directors Mark von Westenholz and Adam and Charles Breeden this month opened their second site at Whiteleys Shopping Centre in Bayswater.

All Star Lanes has revolutionised the bowling industry in Britain, and the larger, more luxurious Bayswater site has seen the concept evolve into a flexible space, with eight bowling lanes (including two in a private room), a large sophisticated diner /bistro and glamorous American cocktail bar.

To develop the sophisticated switching and routing of audio and video sources, the owners again turned to the Sound Division Group - who first worked with the Breeden Brothers on their award-winning Lonsdale Bar in Notting Hill.

Technology has moved on apace since then, and the new bar would not only requi

The Netherlands - Dutch rental company More Stage Services managed the audio requirements for a recent open-air cultural event called The Hague Gathering, held in the city's main square, the Spuiplein. The company selected Allen & Heath's iLive digital system, comprising the iDR10 stage rack with iLive-144 surface, as the FOH mixer.

The event was founded by local authorities to bring together different cultures living in the area through music and entertainment. Surrounded by the Parliament and government buildings, various musicians, stand up comedians, bands and politicians from the city gathered on stage. The climax of the event was a collaborative performance between a Surinamese traditional folk band and Dutch rock band, The Hague Rock.

It was the first event that Marc Noble, FOH engineer and CEO of More Stage Services, had worked with the iLive system but he was v

Singapore - In 1966, a Catholic church named St. Stephen's was founded in Singapore's East District primarily for the large English-speaking community - over a thousand parishioners - who lived along Singapore's East coast. Today, most of the Masses in St. Stephen's Church are still held in English, while the early morning Sunday Mass is said in Mandarin.

Local audio firm Sound Principles selected HK Audio ConTour Series loudspeakers for the sound installation. They installed twelve CT 108 full-range cabinets at strategic locations in St. Stephen's Church.

Daniel Ng of HK Audio distributor Peak Fusion in Singapore explains: "For optimal speech intelligibility we recommended the HK Audio CT 108 to our client. The CT 108 is a perfect combination of compact size and full sound. With its combination of 8" cone woofer and 1" high-frequency driver in a 90°-x-60&de

USA - Cascade Sound debuted its new DVX woofer-loaded Electro-Voice XLC line array system at this year's Oregon State Fair in Salem, which featured sold-out shows by classic rockers Heart and Steppenwolf, country artists Joe Nichols and Craig Morgan, and 'American Idol' Daughtry.

"We've successfully used a 15-box per side EV X-Array system at the State Fair for a number of years now, and our new XLC DVX has a similarly warm tonality," says Larry Carroll of Cascade Sound. "However, where the X-Arrays' coverage and throw is impressive, the results we heard from our two 11-box main XLC hangs this year were simply awesome. Plus, adding more EV to our inventory keeps the sonic standard consistently high if we want to mix and match systems.

"The XLC showed itself to be a highly intuitive and immediately satisfying system - very responsive to the engineer and very

USA - At the AES in New York this week, Studer will unveil the new Vista 5 SR, a road-ready version of its established Vista 5 model, with a specification appropriate for top-end touring customers.

Studer's third-generation digital console, the Vista 5, is already in use in theatres, studios and performing arts centres around the world. Vista 5 SR has evolved out of the suggestions of leading international touring sound companies and engineers, who saw the Vista 5 and realised its potential to become a dedicated live sound desk.

Peter Weber, Studer's product manager for the Vista Series, explains: "We showed the Vista 5 to influential people in north America including Howard Page at Clair Brothers, Bob Goldstein at Maryland Sound International (MSI), and the Celine Dion team (Denis Savage, Frankie Desjardins and Charles Ethier), and everybody was so impressed they suggest

UK - French digital mixing console manufacturer, InnovaSON reports a busy and successful PLASA 07. The last 12 months have been a prolific period for the company, with several new products making their debut, all of which bring new functionality to the InnovaSON digital mixing experience.

The most important and most recent development is the powerful FM-8VB 8-in/8-out plug-in effects module, which was demonstrated for the very first time at PLASA 07. Built on original algorithms from VB Audio, the FM8-VB features a powerful DSP engine, which enables you to run up to four digital effects per channel simultaneously. Users have access to a wide range of effects (reverb, delay, de-esser, limiter etc) including StripTool, a vintage design channel strip which offers fast and easy access to a full range of audio processing with a warm analogue feel.

Compatible with all Innovason audi

Japan - The Last Summer Fantasy music festival attracted over 10,000 fans to the Aspecta outdoor theatre in Aso Kumamoto, Japan on 25 August. Two leading SR companies - Kumamoto-based Sound Kyushu and Osaka-based Z Sound collaborated for the event, deploying an Electro-Voice PA featuring new XLC127DVX and XLD compact line arrays, Phoenix PX2152 loudspeakers and Tour Grade TG-5 power amplifiers.

Both sound companies agreed that the main XLC and XLD systems offer remarkable versatility, with the coverage and power handling capacity to precisely address a wide range of applications, from small indoor venues to large outdoor festivals like this, and always with a tidy footprint. Since both companies handle SR for a continuous stream of large scale events, it was important the new XLC127DVX system proved itself at Last Summer Fantasy.

"We are very happy with the XLC system we

UK - Harman Pro UK reports the completion of a prestigious PA installation at North London live music venue, Koko. The Camden venue has added to its Harman inventory this month, choosing a JBL VerTec line array driven by Crown iTech amplifiers to achieve a comprehensive upgrade of its sound system.

16 JBL VT4888 mid-size line array elements have been installed by Camden based electrical contractors RAG Support, as part of the upgrade of the venue's sound system with a view to provide full, even coverage throughout the venue. To complete the latest Harman package, iTech 4000 and 6000 amplifiers from sister company Crown were also chosen.

Tim Hamper, head sound engineer at Koko, explains the decision: "Buildings of this age are often irregular shapes, which is part of their charm. When it comes to setting up an audio system however, this has its drawbacks as the sound can b

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