Sound

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UK - FX Rentals has recently updated its extensive inventory with a wide range of new DJ gear. Now available for rental is the new Pioneer DJM700 DJ Mixer featuring a unique master filter which can be overlaid on any other effects and switched to sweep over the EQ band to filter frequency ranges. New effects include the Robot and Crusher, plus full MIDI mapping on all but three controls.

Other new DJ mixers on offer from FX are the Vestax PMC-08 Pro Digital Mixer and the Pioneer DJM909 and DJM800 DJ mixers, plus Allen & Heath's XONE:92 DJ mixer with six dual stereo channels, two offering mic inputs, totalling 10 stereo and two microphone inputs and a full range of connectors; this allows connection to four turntables, two mics, CD and MD players, drum machines and samplers.

FX has also added the Pioneer DVJ-1000 Pro DVD turntable with the same operation and layout as the CDJ-1

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USA - QSC has named Dale Sandberg as its new senior product manager. Sandberg, who comes to the post from dbx Professional Products, will take charge of guiding the development of the Costa Mesa, CA-based manufacturer's installed sound product line.

"Dale joins us at a truly venturesome time in our company's history," QSC VP of marketing Gerry Tschetter said upon officially announcing Sandberg's appointment. "With his solid background in multiple vertical markets, and reputation as an innovator of industry-leading technology, he'll be bringing fresh new insights into our marketing and product development efforts."

From 2005 until taking on his current role at QSC, Sandberg served as dbx's senior product manager in Sandy, UT. While with dbx, Sandberg's accomplishments included playing a vital role in the development and marketing of the DriveRack and ZonePRO

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Singapore - Traffic Jam is thought to be the biggest-ever street party to be held in Singapore, a carefully-collaborated event staged by Sony Ericsson and SingTel at Connaught Drive. This exclusive street party was open to only 2,500 partygoers and, with well-known American hip-hop/R&B group Arrested Development headlining the party, the event was the most sought-after ticket in town. Alongside Arrested Development were a few of Singapore's own bands like Electrico, Mystroe, Inquisitive, adding their own spice to the mix.

The events company taking care of the show was LTM Productions, one of the lighting and sound industry's most experienced operators, known for their expertise in setting up large-format PA systems for major events.

Sound engineer Justin Tan specified some of LTM's new Nexo Geo D10 arrayable loudspeakers, purchased a few months ago from Show Company. For the m

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Singapore - The Singapore National Day has been celebrated every year, since 1966, on 9 August with the National Day Parade (NDP) which has been the main feature since the inception of the celebrations in 1966. A string of activities and events were held around the vibrant Marina Bay, including this year's NDP named City of Possibilities, or as it was officially nicknamed PossibiCities.

The event's appointed technical director Nick Eltis together with designer Paul Collison and audio designer Scott Willsallen were given an immense challenge by the Singapore Government: the event was to be the best audio and lighting extravaganza in the republic's history.

The NDP 2007 show comprised of five segments, Sea, Earth, Sky, People and Fire, weaved together by a central character SING, which symbolized the tremendous willpower and bountiful energy of Singapore and its pe

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World - It's been a busy year for Rihanna. The Barbados-born R&B singer climbed to the top of charts around the world with her global hit, Umbrella, and picked up two MTV Video Music Awards, plus an MTV Europe Music Award, for the song and its accompanying video.

Her success inspired a totally new live show, both artistically and technically, with the addition of a new band and the adoption of Sennheiser evolution wireless G2 personal monitoring systems and a Sennheiser SKM 5200 wireless handheld mic outfitted with an MD 5235 capsule.

"That microphone she sings on is fantastic," enthuses Rihanna's monitor engineer, Ricky 'Bongos' Galecki. "It's one of the best mics I've ever heard in my life."

"It works really well," reckons front-of-house engineer Davie Kirkwood, who has over thirty years of experience working with names like Joss Stone,

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UK - Show organiser PLASA Events reports that interest in PLASA08 is running high, with over two thirds of exhibitors having already rebooked their stand space and further applications arriving at the PLASA Events' offices daily.

On the back of the success of PLASA07, many companies have increased their stand size and several have doubled their space, setting PLASA08 on course to be the major industry event of next year. The success of the 2007 show has also been a catalyst for drawing back former exhibitors and generating strong levels of interest from new exhibitors, impressed with the professionalism and energy of the event.

The show management team has identified a range of new initiatives to develop and strengthen visitor attendance and is also focusing on a number of key areas for further development.

"One of the key messages that came across very powerfully from

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Germany - Camco has introduced its new Q-Power Series of high-output 4-channel power amplifiers. At launch there are two models in the Series, the Q- Power 6 and Q- Power 10, both of them 19" 2U 4-channel amps using class D and class H technology respectively and benefitting from developments in Camco's proprietary dual-voltage SMPS with automatic voltage selection for 120V/230V operation. They are designed for live sound and theatre applications.

Rated at 2500W (Q-Power 10) and 1500W (Q-Power 6) peak power RMS output at 4 Ohms, the Q-Power 10 offers 625W per channel for 100V line operation, and the Q-Power 6 will deliver 950W per channel for 70V line operation. Although the Q- Power units represent a high-tech 'no-frills' alternative, they have been given careful consideration when it comes to basic features, for example, having XLR and Phoenix input connectors, and Speako

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UK - November saw singer/songwriter David Gray and his four-piece backing band hit the road to promote his latest Greatest Hits album. The tour started in the UK, climaxing in three shows at the Roundhouse in London, and features a DiGiCo D5 console with ProTools recording system at front-of-house.

It is also the first time that Gray's FOH engineer Graham Pattison has specified a DiGiCo console. "Some time ago I was working with Gomez in Australia and in one venue I had to use a DiGiCo D1," says Pattison. "At the time I was a strictly analogue engineer, so I had that natural 'instant aversion' reaction, but the guy who owned it knew it inside out. To my surprise, within half an hour, I found it a joy to use. It was so straightforward."

Having finished a European tour with another artist, Pattison had just a weekend off before he was straight into pre

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UK - Headed by partners Richard and Nigel Jeffery and experienced golf and leisure developer, Ian MacNae, Tingley's new 'Acanthus Golf Centre' occupies a prime site on the thriving Leeds/Wakefield border. With a 40-bay driving range and nine-hole golf course, the Acanthus Golf Centre provides an environment for beginners and seasoned golfers alike.

To help realise the owners' vision of moulding the cutting edge architecture of the impressive three-storey venue into 'more than your average' golf centre, local installation specialists F.C. Smith (audio consultants) were called on to design and install an infrastructure capable of distributing high quality - but visually unobtrusive - audio to four distinct areas.

At the centre, pro golf shop, The Golf Bunker, occupies the ground floor, adjacent to a relaxed bar and lounge area. The second floor is home to Jaf Jaf, a sophisticate

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UK - Audio-Technica and the International Guitar Foundation have announced that the microphone manufacturer will become 'exclusive microphone partner' to the IGF. The three year sponsorship agreement sees the company committed to supporting the IGF's programme of festivals, Summer Schools, Guitar Camps, and Teacher Training Centres.

A not-for-profit organization, the IGF has promoted performance, learning and teaching of the guitar, in all of its forms and musical genre, among people of all ages, for more than 14 years. From classical, folk, flamenco and all forms of world music, to jazz, blues, r'n'b, rock and other contemporary playing styles, the IGF has "nurtured and celebrated the varied pleasures of this beautiful and multi-faceted instrument with unparalleled dedication".

Whether promoting concerts by major artists at prestigious venues like the Royal Festival

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Finland - iLive recently embarked on a national arena tour with Finland's biggest-selling rock band, Eppu Normaali. Visiting 13 cities across the country, the touring production rig included Robe lighting, a Grandma console, d&b speakers and amps, Sennheiser IEM's, and Allen & Heath's iLive digital system at FOH.

Eppu Normaali has an impressive back catalogue of albums (nine platinum and four gold selling), and has sold 1.5 million copies in Finalnd alone, making it the country's biggest selling band. Support acts varied during the tour and included well-known hardcore metal band, Kotiteollisuus, ethnic rock band, Lauri Tähkä & Elonkerjuu, new-wave punk rockers Stalingrad Cowboys, and hard rockers, 51Koodia.

"Reactions from the band engineers were very positive," explains EM Nordic Finland's Jorma Tikka, who was at hand to provide technical support during the tour.

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USA - Biamp Systems reports that Smeed Communication Services has completed a third stage of audio systems design and integration at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem using Biamp AudiaFLEX and Nexia digital audio processing platforms. This project follows two earlier implementations in which Smeed provided a Biamp solution for hearing rooms, as well as portable systems for remote applications at the Capitol.

Ken Lewetag working with Smeed's educational systems specialist, Rick Iverson, designed new systems for eight hearing rooms: six of standard-size, and two smaller rooms. Ken Lewetag is the Capitol's media technician/system administrator, Smeed equipped each of the six standard spaces with Biamp AudiaFLEX digital processing systems and between 10 and 20 active microphones. For the two smaller spaces, he used Biamp Nexia processing hardware and five microphones.

"The ch

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Mexico - One of the biggest entertainment industry events on the Mexico City media calendar, the annual Lunas del Auditorio Awards, held in the city's Auditorio Nacional, celebrates the best live talent, productions, and performances from across Latin America. Along with the top stars appearing onstage over the course of the evening, the new Midas XL8 digital mixing system made an impressive showing at FOH position.

Rodolfo Oropeza, owner of rental company ROA, supplied the XL8 for the event. The console was supervised by engineer Luis de la Rosa, whose company, Musica Moderna, also owns an XL8 system. Along with mixing some of the evening's live performances, de la Rosa assisted Sergio Garza and a host of other mix engineers new to the XL8, with uniformly positive results.

"The XL8's intuitive work surface meant all the first-timers quickly came to grips with their mix,

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UK - Brit Row's Outline array was used for the second time to amplify Groove Armada. For the tour that ended recently, there were 28 CDH 483 Hi-packs and 16 Subtech 218; the rig was processed via Dolby Lake and powered by Outline's new T9 power amplifiers. Four DVS 15 - two-way multi-purpose enclosures also manufactured by Outline - were used as ground in-fills.

FOH engineer on the GA tour was Sam Parker, who described the Outline units as "immensely efficient for their size", adding that at the Love Box 2006 festival (the first time he used the systems) "they easily covered the 20,000 people there".

Adam Smith, system engineer on the GA tour stated: "The system performed consistently throughout, over a wide range of challenging rooms at very high SPL."

(Jim Evans)

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USA - Digidesign reports that its Pro Tools 7.4 software has already surpassed the 10,000 mark in downloaded purchases. This milestone was reached last Saturday (December 1, 2007), after only 25 days on the market, says the company.

"Digidesign is fortunate to have grown one of the largest and most loyal user communities in the professional audio industry," remarked Dave Lebolt, Avid vice-president and general manager of Digidesign. "Their allegiance and dedication inspires us to continue to raise the bar as Pro Tools has evolved and grown. Achieving this milestone is extremely gratifying, and is a testament to the importance of Pro Tools to professionals and hobbyists alike from all over the world."

(Jim Evans)

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USA - Symetrix has named S-Wave Marketing, located in San Diego, California, international rep of the year. Under the direction of Kris Jackson, S~Wave handles the Symetrix, SymNet, Lucid and AirTools brands in Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific regions.

Noted Paul Roberts, Symetrix director of sales: "Kris Jackson has shown strong dedication to implementing the sales of all the Symetrix brands in his region. The sizable growth of Symetrix sales in his regions is a testament to Kris' hard work, experience and capabilities in the international arena. We are very happy to have S~Wave Marketing representing us in the growing Asian and South Pacific markets and congratulate them on their efforts."

(Jim Evans)

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India - Having achieved great success scoring Bollywood blockbuster movies, Indian musical group Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's star continues to rise in the world of mainstream pop music, thanks to their chart-topping fusion of Indian classical styles with western pop sensibility, musical virtuosity, and a stunning live show.

The trio, comprised of Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani, and Loy Mendonsa, brought their Cheers India tour to the Hitec Grounds in Hyderabad, India, on 13 October, where the 10,000-strong audience enjoyed the show via an Electro-Voice, Midas, and Klark Teknik sound system deployed by Acoustic Control of Bangalore. S.E.L Engineer Ashish Saksena mixed the show, with systems engineering support from Sanjay Mudartha of Acoustic Control.

"The EV XLC line array rig was set up using EV LAPS (Line Array Prediction Software), which was bang-on with its coverag

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USA - Online Marketing, based in Wadsworth Ohio has officially acquired Adamson representation for Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, West Virginia and Western part of Pennsylvania.

Online Marketing represents Adamson exclusively when it comes to high-end, pro audio line array speaker systems and continues its role as a manufacturer's rep firm for companies such as TC Electronics, Lab.gruppen, Sony, Digitech, Audio Technica, Aphex, Tannoy and Pioneer among others. Online serves the AV integration, commercial installation and pro audio industries.

With sales in excess of $25 million last year, their methodology has helped Online grow into one of the most successful rep firms in the industry. In the last 16 years their efforts have been recognized with over 70 sales achievement awards and 23 Rep of the Year awards from many of the industry's leading manufacturers.

Online marke

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Switzerland - Barix recently introduced the Annuncicom 1000, a professional grade device that combines intercom, paging and IP-based audio conversion for PA system playback into a half-width 19" rack-mountable box. It will be shown at the forthcoming ISE trade show (Amsterdam, 29-31 January).

For entertainment applications, the Annuncicom 1000 is designed for multiroom audio distribution in hotels, clubs, sports venues, and restaurants where there is a need to relay audio to multiple rooms from a central point. Eight relay contact closures can be used to distribute audio to specific speaker sets, or zones for improved control.

The Annuncicom 1000 is also suitable for integration into complex, professional intercom and paging environments. Security system operators at universities, business campuses, shopping districts, industrial facilities, airports or transportation cen

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UK - Plus 4 Audio used its new L-Acoustics Kiva system for the main front of house arrays at the recent National Television Awards ceremony held at the Royal Albert Hall. Broadcast live on National TV, the annual event commemorated the most prestigious annual awards for both the stars and programmes alike.

Plus 4 used a total of 32 Kiva split into two arrays of 16 cabinets each, while 24 dV-Dosc in two arrays of 12 took care of the left and right out-fills. A further 4 SB118 subs were utilised for low end reinforcement All the amplification was derived from a mixture of the new L-Aacoustics LA4 and LA8 Controllers.

Stew Chaney, MD of Plus 4 comments: "Sight lines were very tight on this show so we needed the smallest possible system to cover the Royal Albert Hall. I used Soundvision to appraise the system coverage and was really surprised to find that the SPL and coverage

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Italy - Cardito, a town with a population of approximately 20,600 on the outskirts of Naples, recently hosted the launch of Max & Play. The venue takes its name from the owner, Massimo De Vita, a young man who has overcome the problem of impaired sight, becoming a multi-instrumentalist with his group, the Dioniso Folk Band.

Max & Play puts a live room at the disposal of emerging local musicians, with a layout that varies according to the evening (with or without tables and chairs), plus adjacent kitchen facilities and bar. As well as a Yamaha sound system, the stage is equipped with a complete backline and the venue also includes a control room and three recording rooms, one of which can also be used for rehearsals. There's also a welcoming outdoor 'relax' zone, complete with fountains, pools, sunshades and tables.

Max & Play was designed by Massimo's father, who studied archi

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The Netherlands - Audica Professional is making its first showing at an ISE trade show in 2008 (Amsterdam, 29-31 January). On display will be the company's complete range of MICROseries electronics, loudspeakers and accessories.

The Audica MICROseries system is designed for background music in applications such as retail outlets, restaurants, bars and public areas and for AV systems in boardrooms, meeting facilities, museums and galleries, visitor centres and hotel guest rooms.

Established in late 2006, Audica Professional is already distributed in 27 countries and is looking to ISE to further expand its sales and distribution. Sales director, Derek West, comments, "Our first full year of operation has exceeded our very best expectations. We have already exhibited at PLASA, ProLight+Sound, PALME and PALM and we see ISE as a key exhibition to add for 2008. Its focus and in

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Singapore - Spektra Electronics has recently completed a number of audio system upgrades at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel in Singapore, using a variety of Community loudspeaker solutions. Situated next to the historic Singapore River and close to the Central Business District and Orchard Road, the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel is one of Asia's premier choices for 5-star accommodation with 550 lavish rooms and award-winning restaurants.

The original audio systems had been installed by Spektra Electronics when the hotel was built and the company was again appointed to handle the upgrade by the hotel's chief engineer, Mr. Leo Hee Swee. The systems for upgrading covered the piano bar/lobby, coffee house and outdoor dining areas. The brief specified a significant improvement in music quality throughout, with and a particular emphasis on system power and speech intelligibili

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Denmark - No stranger to the principles of Source Oriented Reinforcement (SOR), Karsten Wolstad, one of Det Kongelige Teater's principal sound designers, has employed Out Board's TiMax delay matrix and showcontrol software at the heart of the theatre's new playhouse sound system. The main design objective was to maximise dramatic impact by optimising localisation of amplified voices and effects throughout even the largest performances on the vast main stage.

Wolstad and sound design colleague Jonas Vest worked closely with Out Board's Robin Whittaker to create an SOR-based sound system design to supply unobtrusive and subtle amplification with accurate audio image localisation and hence good intelligibility for all audience members.

Two rows of five d&b horn-loaded full-range cabinets provide the main reinforcement to the circular auditorium, supported by Tannoy NXT flat panel

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