Sound

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UK - Allen & Heath has launched the iLive Configuration Utility, a new online tool to aid customers wishing to purchase the new modular digital system.

The Flash-based web application enables the user to build their own iLive system, selecting iLive control surfaces, iDR10 MixRacks and the various components needed, to design a system tailored to their specific requirements.

The application comprises three screens, starting with the iLive surface, followed by the MixRack, finishing with the addition of extra modules or accessories. There is a simple 'drag and drop' configuration utility, whereby modules can be 'dragged' to the corresponding slots on the back of an iLive surface and MixRack. An item code is generated for each iLive surface and iDR10 MixRack built, and up to five surfaces and five MixRacks configurations can be saved during the process. On completion, the confi

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Norway - Sound Projects have recently introduced the SP2-10, a twin drive hornloaded bass cabinet. Now, the new subwoofer is in production and the first 20 units have been delivered to Norwegian Sound Projects agent, PAP.

These SP2-10s debuted at the Classic Rock Festival 2008 in Sandnes where the acts included Def Leppard, Led Zeppelin, Slade and Thin Lizzie. The sound system featured Sound Projects SP2-10s, Sound Projects Linex and 36 SP18 extra subs.

The self-powered SP2-10 complements the SP18 frontloaded vented sub-bass. With these identical shaped cabinets a wide variety of low-end configurations can be composed to augment the low end of any sound system, says the company. Physically the SP2-10 matches the Sound Projects Linex line array system.

Like the SP18, it's twin brother system, the SP2-10 is equipped with the same simple and elegant rigging or locking system. T

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UK - Roland Systems Group (RSG) teamed up with South West Audio to put the first RSS M-400 digital consoles in front of a Glastonbury festival stage. RSG's Peter Heath and Martin Thomas joined the crew working on the BBC Introducing Stage, which had M-400 desks at both front-of-house and monitor positions, connected by the RSS Digital Snakes which could also be found on the Park Stage.

"All the bands on the BBC Introducing Stage are unsigned so they tend not to have their own engineers," explains Mark Bott, system designer and head sound engineer for South West Audio. "This gave us the ideal testing ground for Roland's new M-400 digital console; essentially we had a festival situation with hardly any guest engineers.

"The M-400 was really quick to set up, and we all felt that its worksurface was very intuitive and easy to use," continues Mark Bott. &qu

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UK - Audio-Technica has launched the AT2035 cardioid condenser microphone and the AT2050 multi-pattern condenser microphone. These new large-diaphragm side-address mics join the AT2020, AT2010, AT2041SP and AT2020 USB as members of Audio-Technica's expanding 20 Series.

The AT2035 is intended for a wide variety of miking applications, including overheads, acoustic instruments and guitar cabinets. It features a large diaphragm for smooth, natural sound and low noise. The mic's cardioid polar pattern reduces the pickup of sounds from the sides and rear, improving isolation of the desired sound source.

It has a fixed cardioid polar pattern and offers a flat, extended frequency response (20-20,000 Hz); high SPL handling capability (148 dB, 158 dB with the 10 dB pad); and an element yielding low self-noise (12 dB SPL).

The AT2050 is designed for studio use and live sound productio

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UK - The East Riding of Yorkshire Council plans to use Cirrus noise measuring equipment to ensure the hearing of workers is protected at The Spa in Bridlington, one of East Yorkshire's premier entertainment venues. The Spa recently held a grand reopening following a £19.5 million refurbishment.

The council will be taking several noise surveys using a variety of Cirrus sound level meters and noise dosemeters during sound checks and performances in the coming weeks, as part of a full programme designed to determine the level of noise protection required for both the staff and the entertainers who will be performing at the venue.

New Control of Noise at Work regulations came into force in April this year, meaning that employers in the entertainment industry are required to manage the risk to their employees caused by excessive noise. The East Riding of Yorkshire Council are

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Italy / Hong Kong - Faital has opened a new branch in Hong Kong to cover the professional market in the Far East. Complete with a warehouse, it is destined to serve the supply of professional FaitalPRO loudspeakers in a more timely manner throughout the whole Asian region. Faital Asia was born to reduce "time-to-market" to a minimum.

"Our new Hong Kong branch," says Flavio Naggi, FaitalPRO overseas sales manager, "will take care of the shipping and invoicing of the whole professional FaitalPRO range from the new warehouse, while the central management with personal technical-sales contacts, product quality and orders will remain as always, with our Chinese staff, handled from our historic FaitalPRO headquarters in San Donato Milanese."

Naggi adds: "This warehouse and the new offices will give us a fresher and stronger thrust in this area, whe

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Sweden - Lab.gruppen has appointmented of TC Electronic Switzerland as its new Swiss distributor. The agreement takes effect from 1 July.

Long-standing national sales manager for TC Electronic Switzerland, Giovanni Dolci, will be handling day-to-day operations for the Lab.gruppen brand in the territory.

Lab.gruppen's international sales manager, Claus Behrens comments: "On a personal level, Giovanni is a huge asset to the team. He knows the industry inside out and has a deep knowledge of the Lab.gruppen range. Furthermore, everyone in the business knows and respects him, so he is a great ambassador for the Lab.gruppen brand.

"Secondly, from a corporate point of view, there is an obvious synergy to be gained by placing distribution with TC Electronic who are part of the same holding company as Lab.gruppen, TC Group. There are clear advantages for everyone in dealing

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Canada - The Adamson Metrix Ultra Compact Line Array Enclosure received a nomination for Outstanding Technical Achievement in the category of Sound Reinforcement Loudspeaker Technology.

The Adamson Metrix is a versatile, high-output enclosure suitable for small to medium permanent installations in houses of worship, theatres and nightclubs, as well for the main system in small to medium touring applications. A newly designed Adamson ND8-ML 8.5" Kevlar neodymium mid-low frequency driver is optimized for this 2-way enclosure, and is paired with a 1.4" HF (3" diaphragm) compression driver, mounted on Adamson's patented HF wave-shaping chamber.

The 24th Annual TEC Awards will be held on the second night of the Audio Engineering Society Convention (AES) in San Francisco.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - At PLASA 08, KV2 Audio will introduce a new range of portable loudspeakers dedicated to the MI market, under the new brand name of KX Audio and featuring a new series of active powered enclosures.

The internal design of the KX Audio range represents "the strongest combination of output, power handling and control, as well as the lowest distortion levels available". Externally, Baltic plywood combined with tour grade coatings offer the most natural sounding product in a package able to withstand the rigours of touring, says the company.

Onboard electronics ensure fast, easy set up and complete control with phase alignment, equalization and speaker protection integrated into the amplifier module. The KX Audio range currently consists of five loudspeaker cabinets:

The KX12 is a compact 2-way, high-output, full-range active speaker system. Its small footprint beli

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Czech Republic - MC2 Audio distributor Dancefloor has completed a major frefurbishment of top Czech nightclub Luxor. Located in the ancient city of Ceska Lipa, near the Machasee and the Czech border with Germany, Disco Club Luxor has been a popular music venue and cocktail bar for the best part of 15 years, having been voted 'Best Loved Nightclub' in the Czech Republic as long ago as 1994.

Having been damaged by fire three years ago, Disco Club Luxor was forced to close and undergo a complete refurbishment. A dance space dominates the new-look club with sound, light, lasers and special effects all flown on a supporting structure high above the floor. MC2 Audio E25 and E45 amplifiers drive a Logic System line array with more than 10kW. Sound, lights and special effects can all be controlled by the resident DJ.

Dancefloor spokeswoman, Vera Zemanova, says, 'We set up a comparativ

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USA - Shure Incorporated has announced today that The Peter E. Schmitt Company, which is based in Pompton Plains, New Jersey, is the company's Representative of the Year for fiscal year 2008. Michael Schmitt, president, and Todd Peden, executive vice president, received the award at Shure's annual meeting of the Company's US sales representatives at the recent InfoComm Show.

"We're very pleased to present P.E. Schmitt with this year's Rep of the Year Award," said Mark Humrichouser, director of sales for the Shure US Business Unit. "We selected them for several reasons, not the least of which is their strong commitment to never settle for what worked yesterday. They have exceeded their quota over the past two years and continue to excel internally as a company and externally with customers."

Representing Shure throughout the New York metropolitan area, P.E.

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UK - Consultancy On Media Systems (COMS), headed by acoustic consultant Richard Northwood, is a consultancy and engineering practice that specialises in integrated media systems with the aim of combining audio, video, lighting and control into a single coherent entity. In a move designed to further strengthen and develop the range of acoustic services available to clients, former Arup consultant Paul Malpas has recently joined the team at COMS.

Richard Northwood is pleased to welcome his new recruit. "COMS has been exploring the possibilities of expanding the acoustic services that it offers to clients and after a lot of searching found the ideal candidate in the form of Paul Malpas and managed to tempt him away from quite a senior position at Arup Acoustics to join and help grow the team at COMS," remarked Northwood. "Paul has a great combination of enthusiasm an

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Germany - Meyer Sound Germany has appointed Lothar Weimann to regional sales manager. In this position, Weimann will be working with clients throughout the Southern and Eastern parts of Germany.

Weimann has held leading sales and marketing positions at Frankfurt-based ProAudio Marketing for brands such as QSC. During the last three years, Weimann served as the registered manager of the German branch of Spanish loudspeaker manufacturer D.A.S. Audio.

"Lothar's experience in pro audio sales and in-depth knowledge of speaker systems make him a great addition to our sales team," says Jim Sides, CEO of Meyer Sound Germany. "I have personally known Lothar for more than 15 years; he is an industry veteran with a very good reputation throughout the German pro audio industry. These attributes make him uniquely qualified for this position. I am very happy to have him on bo

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UK - Roland Systems Group has introduced a powerful new software release for its RSS M-400 V-Mixer digital console at a special open day attended by dealers including HHB, Total Audio Solutions, Stage Electrics, SFL and Midas Pro Sound.

Responding directly to feedback from its growing user base of engineers, the Version 1.5 update is "packed with a number of significant features that enhance the user interface, offering operational shortcuts and speeding up workflow".

Peter Heath of RSG comments, "Tthe V-Mixing System was launched in December 2007, and very quickly we have developed a significant user base from which to draw the early feedback. The user interface is already being praised for its transparency and ease-of-use; however, this update delivers improvements which further increase operational flexibility and speed."

(Jim Evans)

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USA - Harman Pro Group was selected to provide components for a new PA system for the 1000-seat auditorium at Hollywood High School. The sound system was designed and installed by Richard Ralke, president of L.A. Sound Company in Canoga Park and features JBL Professional Vertec line array loudspeakers, Crown I-Tech amplifiers and a Soundcraft Vi4 mixing console.

The alumni rolls from Hollywood High School reads like a Who's Who of movie history. Former students include screen the likes of Mickey Rooney, James Garner, Judy Garland, Keith and Robert Carradine, Sara Jessica Parker, Lana Turner, John Huston, John Ritter and Laurence Fishburne. The school is located between Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset. In addition to its star-studded alumni, the school has also hosted concerts for The Byrds, Elvis Costello and the Stone Roses among others.

The system comprises 14 JBL Vertec VT48

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Liechtenstein - Connector manufacturer Neutrik is using a new hologram technology which allows its products to be easily distinguished from lesser quality copies. Neutrik is one of many companies in the industry which has suffered from the presence of cheap quality, illegal product copies appearing on the market. Besides legal measures which Neutrik takes against the counterfeiters, the company has taken this further step in innovation to clearly distinguish its products from copies.

Together with U-NICA security systems, Neutrik developed a unique hologram technology (Intragram). The hologram in the form of the Neutrik logo and the Neutrik writing can now be found on selected Neutrik products, allowing users to easily identify if they are using an original Neutrik product.

"Holograms are not new technology, but the Intragram hologram process is", the company says. &

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UK - A visitor survey conducted during the recent Audio-Technica Road To Success tour has revealed "an overwhelmingly positive reaction to both the concept and content of the UK-wide roadshow" says the company.

More than 90% of respondents to the survey found their roadshow visit useful and would attend such an event again. And 20% of survey respondents were currently not Audio-Technica dealers or re-sellers.

Audio-Technica senior UK marketing manager Harvey Roberts comments: "The response to the roadshow has been excellent. The survey results show that customers were very receptive to Audio-Technica going out to see them, rather than having to travel to us in the usual trade show environment."

Adrian Rooke, Audio-Technica UK managing director said: "In terms of reaching out to new prospects, the Road To Success tour more than proved it

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Music Industry News: Peter Gabriel says record companies should reinvent themselves to be seen as a service industry and not as "owners" of music. The former Genesis singer told the BBC he thought the current digital age paved the way for changes to be made. Gabriel has been a pioneer in distributing music legally online. He co-founded We7 - a website that allows users to stream and download music for free, with or without adverts - last year. "I love all these experiments - there's a lot of ways for musicians to communicate and sell their records to their fans," Gabriel said.

"There's still room for record companies but they should reinvent themselves as a service industry and not as owners. The structure of the old album and waiting for that to be finished still has some merit but you can do a lot of other things and I think it should be a lot looser and mixe

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China - Known as the 'Water Cube', the National Swimming Center is one of the main venues for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The dramatic structural design of the building is based on the natural formation of soap bubbles to give a random, organic appearance - symbolic of Beijing's architecture.

Since the entire facility had to be pitched at world-class level, the audio reinforcement system also had to meet the standard for international competitions and a CobraNet digital backbone was proposed, with BSS Audio providing the DSP network.

To meet the specification for the PA system, based around a JBL PD main system, ACE (the Harman Pro distributors for China and Hong Kong) proposed a complete Harman Pro signal chain; this comprises five BSS Audio Soundweb London BLU-80 devices as the primary processing system, with two BSS Audio FCS-966 two-channel 30-band Constant Q graphic e

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Spain - Art Ramos Studio has installed D.A.S. Audio's powered line array systems and in the new building of the National Library of Belarus, located in Minsk. The new building includes a President Centre, a complex of rooms and conference hall for an audience of 500 where Art Ramos has installed a P.A. system consisting of eight powered Aero CA-28A modules and four CA-215A units for bass.<>P>These systems were topped off with DS-12A units from the Dynamics series. Installed as well are Pf-012 models from the Pf series amplified with D.A.S. Energy series E-12 amplifiers and six Compact-115 systems.

The National Library of Belarus is the main informational and cultural institution of the country and receives over 90,000 visits per year.

(Jim Evans)

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Poland - Following a competition organised by the Polish city of Krakow, Arup is to provide venue consulting and auditorium acoustic design for the city's new Congress Centre and Concert Hall. The competition was won by Ingarden & Ewy Architects as lead architects, with Arata Isozaki & Associates as design consultant; Ingarden & Ewy invited Arup, the global firm of design, engineering and business consultants, to cooperate on the project.

The Centre will comprise a 1,800-seat auditorium, which will provide a concert hall for symphonic performances, a 600-seat auditorium and a 300-seat hall, plus smaller meeting spaces. Arup is providing building services engineering design - which includes services such as ventilation, heating and plumbing, as well as acoustic and venue consultancy.

Raf Orlowski, project leader at Arup Acoustics, says: "In the past 20 years, Krakow has be

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South Africa - With the opening of their latest college in Cape Town, South Africa SAE now boasts 49 institutes worldwide.

SAE Cape Town is housed in a landmark building situated in the heart of Cape Town's business district. Based on three floors, SAE Cape town is home to a state of the art recording studio, an advanced computer centre and two fully-equipped lecture halls, offering the latest technology in all fields of creative study, says the organisation.

The first diploma intake for Audio Engineering, Digital Animation and Multimedia and Web Development will commence in July, with new courses such as Electronic Music Production and the "revolutionary Digital DJ course" set to launch later in 2008. SAE Cape Town is also set to offer its Film diploma in 2009, aimed at students looking to enter South Africa's dynamic film industry.

"Cape Town, as a cosmopoli

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UK - Tannoy's VQ Series loudspeaker system was deployed in one of Glastonbury's most innovative tents in the Dance Village - the Igloo. A recent addition to the festival's Dance Village, the Igloo is the brainchild of cutting-edge events company Igloo Vision.

With just a single stack per side, comprising a VQ NET 60 cabinet above an accompanying VS218 DR subwoofer, the aesthetic impact on the visual projection space of the Igloo interior was minimal.

Tannoy's Tim Gray comments: "I was worried that just two subs and two VQ NET 60 tops for 1400 people would be cutting it fine, but it did the business. The best thing about the system though, was getting more familiar with the subs.This new twin 18" design clearly sets a new performance standard for Tannoy subwoofers and it's just awesome for sub-bass."

The new VQ series was designed for any application where prec

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Spain - DJ Factory recently completed a nightclub installation in the beach resort of Mataro, 40km north of Barcelona, using QSC Audio AcousticDesign sound reinforcement.

For La Cova's owners, David Pecharroman and Coral Martínez, the move is the latest chapter in a long relationship with QSC Spain, and specifically their sales manager for Catalonia and the Balearics, Ezequiel Mayoral.

Inside the all-white interior, with its long rectilinear shape, Tony Espin masterminded the installation for DJ Factory to ensure not only even distribution, but via a series of system presets optimised the sound depending on whether the venue would be presenting live music, comedic speech or hard dance playback from the highly-specified DJ station.

"The whole idea was to provide LaCova with maximum versatility for minimum investment," says Mayoral.

Thus the venue has been equippe

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