UK - Visitors to Baldwin Boxall's stand at either the 2009 ProLight&Sound (1-4 April, Frankfurt) or International Firex (11-14 May) will be well rewarded. The now infamous Plug & Socket has a new look this year. In addition, there will be two new products being showcased.

While supping on Harveys Real Ale, visitors to the Plug & Socket will be able to see a demonstration of the new BVRD2M4 mini router and the new BVRD voice alarm controller. Also on the stand will be the OmniCare emergency voice communication system.

The BVRD2M4 Mini four zone voice alarm router retains many of the features of the well established EVAS BVRD2M router. However, it is small enough to fit alongside a VIGIL2 amplifier and power supply in one 19 mainframe.

The unit's four electronically balanced inputs have both independent priority and level settings, allowing for dual mode. Input one is configur

Germany - At Frankfurt's ProLight + Sound this year, TTA's Stagetracker FX matrix will be shown with a fresh customised GUI. This provides user-friendly access to, and control of, the new Pan Between Points (PbP) operational mode which has further increased Stagetracker FX's versatility, widening its appeal to include venues and productions using line array speaker systems, says the company.

PbP is a dramatic development for the sector of actor tracking systems, reducing the degree of user input to a minimum. The new software brings a high degree of automation to the set-up process, which can now be completed quickly and without the skills of a trained technician. PbP is designed for use in situations where ultra-fast set-up is required, as with a touring production. PbP achieves true plug-and-play status.

"Stagetracker FX is bringing actor positioning to the masses,"

UK - Orbital Sound is exhibiting its range of communication solutions at Broadcast Video Expo 2009 (17 -19 February, Earls Court 2, London). Orbital is demonstrating equipment from Zaxcom - including the TRX900 digital wireless microphone system - as well as products from Telex, RTS and HM Electronics.

As Zaxcom's exclusive UK dealer, Orbital Sound is giving centre stage to the diminutive Zaxcom TRX900, which is being headlined as the industry's first digital wireless microphone transceiver with built-in IFB facility. With applications in ENG, and in film and television production, it also offers a back-up recording capability, as Tim Sherratt, Technical Director at Orbital Sound, outlined:

"This apparently simple step of integrating an IFB receiver with the tiny transmitter has opened up some extremely useful and powerful possibilities. Audio output is linear and inheren

USA - Shure Incorporated answers its top five most frequently asked questions in the latest edition of ShureCast, the company's educational podcast series. The show is the 18th episode in the series, which provides useful information about audio technology for professionals and consumers.

"Our podcasts have been very well-received," said Mark Brunner, Shure's senior director of public and industry relations. "Several thousand people are downloading each new episode and their popularity has continued to grow."

Previous episodes include the history of the SM57 and SM58, Microphone Basics, Wireless Basics, Using Audio Effects, Sound Isolation vs. Noise Cancellation, and updates on the "White Spaces" and wireless spectrum availability.

"The wizards in our Applications Engineering group have been busy answering questions from customers fo

Germany - Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, Nexo will be showing an impressive and mature line-up of tangent-array sound reinforcement systems aimed at touring applications and the fixed installation sector at ProLight&Sound.

As well as the four tangent array propositions - Geo T, Geo D, Geo S12 and Geo S8 - Nexo will display its successful gradient CD, GEO and RAY SUB Series of subs. Premiered at last year's ProLight show, the RAY SUB technology allows the same cabinet to be configured for any polar pattern, omni-directional as a standard direct radiating subwoofer when speakers are facing the audience, or highly directional when a speaker cabinet is rotated sideways or upwards.

?Completing this line-up are Nexo's new NXAMPs, the powered TD Controllers generated by the collaboration with Yamaha. The integration of amplifier, available in two four-channel sizes, with

UK - Allen & Heath has shipped the first batch of the new iLive-T digital mixing systems. Launched last month at NAMM 2009, the British manufacturer has been overwhelmed as distributors have placed orders months in advance to cope with demand.

"The response to iLive-T has been unprecedented and production is now flat out to fulfil orders," says managing director, Glenn Rogers. "In all my years in the pro audio industry I've rarely seen a reaction to a new product like this."

Manufacturing is scheduled to produce 50 systems in February with 100 per month thereafter. All systems are manufactured at Allen & Heath's factory in Penryn, Cornwall.

Evolved from the successful flagship iLive digital range, the iLive-T Series has all the performance and power of the original iLive in a lightweight, affordable package. The T Series comprises the fixed I/O iDR-32 and

USA - Las Vegas' Hope Baptist Church has moved its services to the gymnasium and other spaces of Silverado High School. This presents its own new challenges, most notably setup and teardown, which need to happen extremely quickly early Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon. These problems were solved by the use of EAW's NTL720 Self-Powered Line Array Modules (16 in total), NTS22 Self-Powered Subwoofers (eight in total) and a UX8800 Digital Signal Processor .

Robert Sims of Las Vegas' Communication Electronic Systems put together the new gear package as well as the one serving Hope's prior facility. Additionally, Ryan Durham of Las Vegas-based Ford AV guided the church in their equipment and new gear package decisions, and was on hand to assist with the initial setup. Each array consists of seven modules per side, supported on a ground-based tower. An additional NTL720 module per

USA - The Robert P. Knowles Centrer at the University of Wisconsin River Falls is a busy place, home to the University's indoor track and field, tennis and multiple intramural sporting teams, as well as a wide and growing range of community activities and events. The massive arena houses a 200m indoor running track, a rock climbing wall, basketball, tennis and volleyball courts, exercise centre and more. It's a versatile, cavernous and acoustically challenging venue.

"The announcements were pretty much unintelligible except right underneath the speakers," says Intermedia Systems Group's Doug Klein. "It was less than ideal to begin with, and as they've begun to diversify the use of the Centre, it got to a point where they really needed to address the audio situation." Intermedia consultant Joel Evermann specified a distributed system centred on eight Community

UK - Pro Audio Stash UK has announced the release a brand new, high spec data cabinet and rack enclosure range, adding to the company's already extensive collection of 19" rack enclosures and accessories. The company says it aims to provide the customer with racking systems that will be functional to industry standard but will also create a professional look to businesses that are either expanding or upgrading their IT systems.

Pro Audio Stash UK is fast becoming a common name for manufacturing and supplying 19" racking to professional AV and IT markets, specialising in quality but affordable rack enclosures and accessories. As well as showing a growth in sales of 19" racking, the company is one of the main UK suppliers of Gator Cases, flightcase hardware and Neutrik connectors, boasting the largest range of specialist connectors in the UK. Pro Audio Stash has als

Germany - Ahead of the Frankfurt show, Roland Systems Group (RSG) is previewing the RSS M-48 Live Personal Mixer and RSS S-4000D Splitter and Power Distributor, a monitoring solution for live performance and studio applications, and a logical progression for the current suite of RSS stage sound control and mixing products.

The M-48 offers control over 40 audio sources that can be easily managed in 16 assignable stereo groups. The playing experience is enhanced with level/pan/solo/3-band EQ on each group, built-in reverb for a more appealing sound, ambient mic for better communication with band members as well as physical inputs and outputs for multiple headphones, wedges and powered monitors, interfacing with iPods, metronomes and external recording devices.

Sound quality is ensured by use of Roland's Ethernet Audio Communication (REAC) Cat 5e protocol. Power is supplied via t

Germany - Electro-Voice's The N8000-1500 is capable of processing over 1,500 MIPS: more than twice as many as the basic model. This not only makes the N8000-1500 the most powerful loudspeaker controller currently on the market, suggests the company, but also represents something of a quantum leap. As product manager Ethan Wetzell puts it, "With the N8000-1500, we have effectively skipped an entire generation of development."

The first deployments of the N8000-1500 in major productions - Jan Smit's concerts in Rotterdam's Ahoy and Sarah Brightman's US tour at the end of 2008 - proved convincing. The system permitted the sound crews in each case to run the entire rig - including delays - with EV Netmax and FIR-Drive (Finite Impulse Response Filters), while the devices were controlled via IRIS-Net.

Gert Wiersema, the system technician for the Jan Smit tour and a long-ti

UK - Allen & Heath will be showing the new iLive-T Series compact digital mixing system for the first time in the UK at the Eventech Scotland event in Glasgow 25 - 26 February.

Evolved from the successful flagship iLive digital range, the iLive-T Series has all the performance and power of the original iLive in a new lightweight, affordable package.

Also on display will be the new Xone:22 2-channel analogue DJ mixer, offering quality audio and a professional feature set at an entry level price, and the ZED range of small-format mixers for live performance, recording, and production.

(Jim Evans)

Finland - L-Acoustics' Finnish distributor, Starlike Oy, has installed a Kiva/Kilo system into the Vantaa Martinus concert hall, a 1,000-seat purpose built concert hall constructed in 1986.

The hall is home to the Vantaa Pops Orchestra, a 40-70 piece symphonic orchestra specialising in light entertainment rather than classical music, and including 'pop' elements such as guitar, keyboards and drums. According to sound designer Sepi Myllyrinne, responsible for the orchestra's sound, it was widely perceived that the existing system at Vantaa needed updating as audio quality is of paramount importance to the orchestra.

The system installed by Starlike consists of three clusters. The left and right comprise of six Kiva line source cabinets and two Kilo low frequency extensions, with a centre cluster of seven Kivas. The operating range is extended down to 32Hz via two SB118 subs. Th

Spain - A Bosch Digital Conferencing Network (DCN) system was recently installed at El Palacio del Congreso de los Diputados (The Palace of the Congress of Deputies) in Madrid, a 159-year-old facility, which is used by the Congress of Deputies, one of two houses in the Spanish legislature.

The Bosch DCN Next Generation network units were chosen by the Spanish government to optimise parliamentary procedure and create an efficient work environment for all members of parliament, who use the new units for voting, discussions, presentations, and a variety of other functions. The installation at the 350-seat chamber combines modern technology and traditional architecture, with each Bosch DCN console blending in with the hall's neoclassical style.

The DCN Next Generation system contains one Central Control Unit (CCU) with PC control connection operating on the Spanish Windows XP Pro

UK - The Bedford Corn Exchange complex has upgraded its sound reinforcement with systems based around the RCF TT+ range installed by JAP Sound.

"The initial inquiry came in nearly two years ago, Marcello Quartarone said that they wanted a line array system in the main hall. So we started looking around to see what was available on the market. We demonstrated a couple of very good systems but still didn't quite get the one he needed. At this time RCF's Greg Oliver introduced us the new TT+ range," says JAP Sound's Jason Price.

They decided to demonstrate the new subs and top boxes to get a feel for the voicing and general overall sound of the system. Quartarone decided on a pair of subs and top boxes to use as a portable system. The result was, that liking the voicing of the TT+ boxes and knowing that the line array was voiced the same way, he made the decision to inv

South Africa - Pro audio company Prosound has supplied DPA microphones for two major new Disney stage musicals: High School Musical and Beauty and the Beast, co-produced for the theatre by local impresarios Hazel Feldman and Pieter Toerien.

The stage production of Disney's High School Musical kicked off at Cape Town's ArtsCape theatre in December 2008, and transfers to Johannesburg in 2009. Meanwhile Beauty and the Beast, which opened at Johannesburg's Teatro Theatre in October 2008, will transfer to the ArtsCape in 2009, swapping over with High School Musical. To facilitate an easy move, the system designs for the two shows have been made relatively similar, so that only show specific hardware will need to travel between the venues.

Prior to the stage show of High School Musical, broadcaster M-Net hosted a new reality TV show, High

Belgium - Ampco Belgium has achieved its first Martin Audio OmniLine installation in the country - in spectacular fashion. The company has supplied and installed 72 enclosures in different hang configurations within the massive, five-storey high Antwerps Sportpaleis concert and sports arena.

Ampco Belgium sales manager Steven Kemland says: "It is ironic that the smallest line array in the market should open its account in one of the largest, multi-purpose venues in the country."

Built in 1933 (and recently augmented with a new building) the main arena - with its distinctive green roof - holds around 17,000, with the new space offering about half that capacity.

But it is on three floors of the public, general concourse areas that technical manager Geert Torfs has made his boldest move, as part of an upgrade plan implemented when he joined the operation more than a y

Germany - Meyer Sound's M'elodie line array loudspeakers are taking centre-, left-, and right-stage at the Friedrichstadtpalast, one of Berlin's key theatres. The Friedrichstadtpalast lies just beyond the old Checkpoint Charlie where East once confronted West in Germany, but today stands as a high-tech marvel in a city brimming with innovation.

Boasting the largest indoor stage in the world, at 2,542sq.m, the Palast was conceived as a technical tour-de-force from its outset in 1984, featuring staging and rigging intricacies capable of hosting the most outlandish and ambitious productions.

"This theatre was very famous in the time of the DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik/ German Democratic Republic)," says technical director Franz-Josef Münzebrock. "In those days it hosted revues, big-band performances, and TV variety shows. It's now a privately owned theatre

Malaysia - Harman Professional has announced the appointment of several new staff members to the Harman Pro Asia team. The Harman Pro Asia office, located in Kuala Lumpur, has effectively added three new additions onto their team: Eric Goh, Kit Roche and Raymond Tee.

Goh has been added to the Asia staff as regional sales director for South Asia; a position in which he assumes responsibility in handling all dealings involving Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand. He will report to David McKinney, Harman Professional's senior director of sales for Asia.

Another team addition, Roche comes to the office with 20 years of administrative experience and assumes the position of office manager.

To round out the newly appointed members of the Asia team, Tee joins as application engineer and will handle technical support and system design support for all of the Harman Pro brands.<

UK - Violinist Tim Kliphuis has purchased a DPA 4099 instrument mic from UK distributor Sound Network.

"I have played as far afield as Syria and Lebanon, where people are used to a totally different, more pop, approach to acoustic music," he says. "Having my own mic saves long discussions about the sound I want, as the 4099 dictates guarantees the sound I will get.

"My first impression was that the 4099 looked strong and compact, which is what I need for my touring work," continues Kliphuis. "When it came to mounting the mic onto my instrument, the violin clip worked like a charm, and the arm made positioning very easy. I was familiar with DPA's sound quality from working with their previous models and expected the same standard: a faithful rendering of the sound of my violin."

(Jim Evans)

Eurovision Update - Georgia has chosen an entry which takes a swipe at Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for May's Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow. But disco-funk song We Don't Wanna Put In, a play on the politician's name, could fall foul of Eurovision's rule against political content in entries. A contest spokesman told BBC News some lyrics are "sensitive", but any action would be deferred until next month. Russia and Georgia went to war last year over the region of South Ossetia. Relations between the two countries have been tense for several years.

Tout Control - A new website has been launched to try to help fans buy secondary gig tickets more safely. The Concert Promoters Association (CPA) has developed the website and says it is in response to a lack of government action on touts. Anyone will still be able to use the site, but the CPA

Germany - The Berlin microphone manufacturer will be offering trade fair visitors a programme of short seminars with expert moderators. The seminars, 40 in total, focusing on 10 different topics, will deal not only with general questions concerning the use of microphones in the studio and on stage but also with special topics such as the amplification of choirs, the creation of band demos, the use of digital microphones in home recording studios, voice training for various musical styles, optimal monitoring, and measures for improving room acoustics.

Seminars will be held on all four days of the trade fair, from 9:45 am to 6:00 pm. The complete programme with all of the information concerning the seminar topics and moderators can be found at www.neumann.com. Participation is free of charge, and no preregistration is required, however those who come early will get the best seats,

UK - Kettner's is a grand old Soho institution, once frequented by Oscar Wilde, the Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII), often with his mistress, Lillie Langtry, and Agatha Christie and later a favourite haunt of media types and theatre-goers. The restaurant, and its famous champagne bar, has now been refurbished with a new decor, which harks back to its Victorian beginnings, and a sound system marking the first UK installation of the Ateis UAP G2 digital audio processor and K-Array loudspeakers.

Background music, both live and pre-recorded, sets the mood in the building's different areas; the Champagne Bar, Brasserie and Pudding Bar on the ground floor and the Apartment Bar on the first floor. A well-distributed, easy to control sound system was required and Kettner's management also wanted facilities for three media rooms on the first floor.

These are being hired ou

USA - A Meyer Sound system successfully brought a bone-rattling rumble to create sensational movie experience in a 2006 Sensurround screening of the 1974 cult film Earthquake for the Pacific Film Archive and then a 2007 screening for the Los Angeles Film Festival. This January, Meyer Sound's 700-HP ultrahigh-power subwoofers were once again deployed to reproduce the historic track at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles.

One of the more interesting concepts was Sensurround, a system developed in the 1970s by Universal Studios and most famously associated with Earthquake. Sensurround's extreme low-frequency enhancement, while a harbinger of today's dedicated subwoofers and multichannel environments, was both rudimentary and somewhat controversial at the time, and quickly fell into obscurity.

Everything old is new again, and modern audiences have shown a keen apprec

Latest Issue. . .