UK - As the Torch Relays made their way around the UK this summer, DPA microphones were at the heart of the festivities, providing loud and clear audio at a total of 70 evening celebrations and the daily lighting of the cauldron ceremonies.

Among the items on the extensive sound, lighting and power equipment list for the Torch Relays were DPA d:fine headset microphones, supplied by DPA's UK distributor Sound Network. These were used at every one of the 70 locations to mic a wide range of dancers, actors, presenters and TV presenters.

"We chose DPA d:fine headset microphones for their discreet profile and sensitive capsules," says sound engineer Doug Maddison, who was responsible for the on-stage sound at the evening gigs. "We specified the cardioid version to try and reduce spill and feedback from the monitors and the PA. This was important as the presenters wer

UK - With over 91m passenger entries and exits between April 2010 and March 2011, London's Waterloo is easily Britain's busiest railway station in terms of passenger throughput.

With so many passengers to take care of, it's important that any announcements made to the public are both clear and concise and can be heard by everyone who needs to hear it, whether it is travel information or emergency information being issued.

Traditional transport hub structures and building materials meant that this station suffered from poor intelligibility, with the reflective surfaces such as marble and glass causing high reverberation times. However, passengers are now enjoying crystal clear audio thanks to a recently completed overhaul of the audio system, which included installation of Tannoy's new VLS Series. The major upgrade to the PA system was handled by Glasgow-based TG Baker who were

The Philippines - Adamson Systems has installed their first sound reinforcement system in the Philippines. The University of Santo Tomas in Manila celebrates its 400th year, and in honour of their anniversary they've constructed a multipurpose gymnasium aptly named the Quadricentennial Pavilion.

Replacing the university's aging sports complex, the new pavilion is not only home to the university's sports teams, but it also accommodates a dance troupe, fencing-, badminton-, judo-, and taekwondo clubs. The ground level is home to retail space for businesses such as banks and restaurants, the first floor houses a 2-level fitness center adjacent to a gymnastics room, while the third level features a two-lane oval track around the inside perimeter of the building.

The crowning feature of the Pavilion is a 5014sq.m gymnasium with gallery seating large enough to hold 5,792 people. The

The Netherlands - Nadja Knauss has joined the ADJ Group to take on the main administrative jobs and assist the team in Marketing.

Nadja works from ADJ's European Headquarters in Kerkrade, The Netherlands.

(Jim Evans)

Switzerland - Schertler is now shipping LaFaro, the latest addition to its Deluxe range of acoustic amplification systems. The two-channel, 280W bi-amplified combo has been specifically designed for use with the double bass, whose natural sound is notoriously difficult to reproduce with true accuracy and musicality. (It was this very challenge that inspired bass player Stephan Schertler to develop his first non-piezo bass pickup during the 1980s.) Dedicated to jazz bass legend Scott LaFaro, Schertler's new amplifier represents years of research and experience in a quest to create a specialist amplification system for bass players that offers unparalleled sound quality and versatility both on stage and in the studio.

"The support of the international double bassist community has been extremely important in helping us develop new products that have changed the playing of this

USA - Free registration is now open for the PLASA Focus: Stamford 2012 Professional Development Programme, a two-day programme of free educational seminars and workshops, running alongside PLASA Focus: Stamford, on 12-13 November 2012.

The programme will give visitors a unique opportunity to broaden their specialist knowledge and take part in discussions about innovative projects and cutting edge techniques.

Technical editor, Richard Cadena comments, "It's always been a dream to host a show like this in the Tri-state area, and with so much talent on our doorstep we've literally been spoiled for choice when putting this seminar series together."

Media, sales & marketing director, Jackie Tien adds, "Sharing knowledge and expertise is vitally important to the development of technology, techniques and talent. We wanted to produce a program that features current, h

Kazakhstan - Astana Hz. Sultan Mosque is one of the distinguished buildings in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan. It features an incredible worship area of over 60.000m2 to allow for 10.000 people to pray at the same time. The main hall has one main and eight smaller cupolas, of which the main has a diameter of 28m and a height of 43m.

All floors are covered with specially woven carpets, resulting in a fair absorption on the higher end. Most surfaces expect for the floors are covered with marbles and encaustic tiles from Iznik, Turkey. This unparalleled beauty has a price to pay acoustically, making the halls extremely reverberant especially on the lower end, thus making the electroacoustical design the ultimate challenge.

A Complete structure was modelled in EASE4.3 and the exhaustive design process started, adding and removing lots of speakers so as to keep the intelligibility a

New Zealand - PA company, Tomcat Production Services, road-tested an Allen & Heath iLive-T digital mixing system on the first leg of New Zealand's Got Talent audition tour.

Comprising an iDR-64 MixRack and iLive-T112 Control Surface, the system managed all of the three FOH speaker systems, the main performance PA, the small distributed speech PA, and the judges' near field monitor system.iLive also took care of the stage monitor system - approximately two to sixsends - and Tomcat used it as part of the audio department shout comms system.

"NZGT's audition tour is an audio marathon, comprising 35-40 acts a day with practically no sound checks and you are dealing with anything from a 60 piece choir to a singing basset hound," explains Andy Tait from Tomcat Production Services. "iLive coped with everything I threw at it without a hitch and of course the snap

World - Stadia, arenas and open air venues across Asia, Europe, North and South America are hosting Madonna's 2012 MDNA World Tour with all featuring a large Sennheiser microphone and RF system. Madonna has six Sennheiser SKM 5200 mics for each show, which, as monitor engineer Matt Napier explains, get tested to the limit.

"The 5200s get a real battering. The whole first section of the show is highly stylised with an almost comic book aggression. There is, a lot of staged violence and the microphones get hurled around and are frequently being thrown to and from dancers and onto the floor," commented Napier. "We're going through a new microphone every 10 shows or so. But given that the 5200 is not a microphone designed for such abuse, I think they are standing up remarkably well. Of course we have a whole drawer of spares from Sennheiser," he concluded.

UK - As technology continually drives the improvement of entertainment systems, customer expectations rise exponentially. This is just as true at sea - in the cruise market - as it is on land, which is why the cruise liner Saga Sapphire has emerged from a recent refit with a comprehensive Sennheiser, DAS Audio, K-array and APart audio system on board.

Under previous owners the 30,000 ton vessel was named the Europa, SuperStar Europe, SuperStar Aries, Holiday Dream and Bleu de France. Given its third major refit at the end of 2011, the liner emerged as the Saga Sapphire with significantly upgraded facilities designed specifically for its owners' over-50s market. Major elements of the refit were brand new audio, lighting and A/V systems, specified and installed by Luton-based TEDAV.

"Our technical director Mark Morley had an extensive marine past and brought a lot of that w

Italy - For almost 40 years, a historically ancient Italian town in the hills of central Italy transforms itself for ten days each July. Perugia welcomes tens of thousands of visitors for the annual Umbria Jazz Festival, which has gone onto become one of the largest music events not just in Italy, but in the world.

With it come the challenges of hosting multiple stages in a mediaeval and architecturally sensitive town, where getting the sound right for critical ears is as rewarding as it is challenging. Umbria Jazz's technical partner is Angelo Tordini, who is perhaps better known as the owner of the Ancona-based cable manufacturer, Reference Laboratory. As the chorus confirms, Mr Tordini and his handpicked dream team are prepared to work like dogs in order to get the sound right for the artists, the audiences and of course, themselves.

"I normally spend three weeks prepa

UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) Ltd's audio division has supplied one of Yamaha's CL5 digital mixing consoles - along with two Yamaha Rio I/O rackmount units - to Manchester based technical solutions company, Sterling Event Group (SEG).

As a single-source supplier for the corporate, commercial and private event markets, SEG specialise in providing creative, technical and production expertise and skills, coupled with all the latest available technologies.

SEG's project manager and head of sound, Ben Marshall explains that they already own several Yamaha digital consoles, which have been in constant use. When looking for a larger digital desk with more onboard features they were naturally attracted back to the Yamaha brand, explaining that they have found Yamaha consoles to be "extremely user friendly" and "reliable".

AC-ET was amongst the firs

UAE - A Solid State Logic AWS 948 Hybrid Console/Controller was chosen to upgrade the primary audio recording room, Studio 7, now named the SSL Studio, at the SAE Institute in Dubai.

As a part of the worldwide network of over 56 SAE educational facilities, the Dubai campus offers a variety of degree and certificate programs in media production, including audio engineering, 3D animation, multimedia, game design, digital filmmaking and music production.

SAE Dubai's audio programme revolves around seven studios, each having a different level of sophistication and primary application. The SSL Studio connects to the SSL Live Room, a moderate-sized room that can comfortably house a quartet of musicians. The acoustics of the room are designed for picking up the dynamic response of instruments, especially drum kits and loud instruments. Having a console that can match the acoustic sig

UK - Allen & Heath will be releasing new firmware updates for the Xone:DB4 and Xone:DB2 digital FX mixers, and the Xone:K2 MIDI controller. Previewing at the BPM show, the new software provides enhanced FX sections and configuration for the DB4 and DB2 mixers, and greater integration between the DB4 and the K2 controller.

Xone:DB4 V2.0 firmware offers more creative flexibility with an advanced channel FX configuration, which allows the user to determine where the FX section, EQ section and FX ON switch are placed in the signal path - including much requested Post Fade FX. In addition, each FX section can be configured in Classic, Send or Hybrid Mode, to create a subtly different sound for each effect type. The new firmware also introduces a powerful new effect to the DB4's extensive FX library - Infrabass - a low frequency enhancer that generates infra bass energy from the sub-b

Lebanon - Brothers Rami and Joe Keyrouz opened the Bar National in Beirut early 2012, yet within a few months were having to look at replacing their installed audio system. "This is a roof top bar with live DJ and music playback," said Youssef Aoun from sound specialists Seebeck Audio. "In the winter the bar keeps the glass walls to the balcony closed, but as soon as the warm weather arrived and they opened up the neighbours began complaining about the noise."

Music manager for Bar National, Gunther Sabbagh asked Aoun to take a cold hard look at the bar's physical orientation and surrounding neighbourhood. "He came up with a tricky but effective solution," said Sabbagh. "Beyond removing the existing system I could see two immediate problems," said Aoun. "The only way to contain low end at moderate levels to the surrounding buildings w

Italy - K-array announced during their Global Distributors Meeting that Michel Brouard will join the company as corporate vice-president of sales. Brouard will personally manage the handling of the Asian Market. He is joining K-array from L-Acoustics, where he covered multiple roles.

"I am delighted to be joining the K-array team," Brouard said. "This is an exciting time with our strong lineup of upcoming product releases and line diversifications. What attracted me to K-array was its dynamic team motivation. The vision of growth and 'keep it in the family' spirit is the primary motivation behind the company's success - that and their open-minded approach to the market."

(Jim Evans)

Colombia - A DiGiCo SD8 is the latest mixing console purchased by Colombian company Grupo Hangar, which provides technical production services to events in and around the city of Medellín. Already used successfully on the city's highest profile festival, the SD8 has made many friends.

Grupo Hangar provides its services for live music, cultural festivals, sport, exhibitions, trade and fashion shows. The company needed a mixing console that could handle all of them and satisfy their policy of providing a bespoke solution for each one.

"We purchased the SD8 for a number of reasons," says Grupo Hangar producer Santiago Vélez. "First of all it has a wonderful sound - not only in terms of the features to shape the sound, but just by bringing the faders up it sounds amazing. It's also a very versatile desk; each session can be configured to each event's needs,

Norway - The Hålogaland Theatre in Troms°, Norway, is putting its new DPA d:fine Headset Microphones through their paces on a production of Les Misérables, which opened on 6 September 2012.

The theatre has replaced its old stock of DPA 4060 omnidirectional miniature microphones with 40 directional d:fine Headset Microphones and 40 d:fine omni microphone booms, which are being used with a new 32 channel Shure Axient wireless system. The microphones were supplied by sound company Lydproduksjon Troms° AS, in conjunction with DPA's Norwegian distributor Lydsystemer.

Jim Oddvar Hansen, head of sound at the theatre, says, "The new d:fine Headset Microphones replace a selection of DPA 4060 miniature microphones that we had had for some time. As our previous experience with DPA technology had always been good, it made sense to upgrade using the same manufac

UK - Now signed to the Ministry of Sound label, electronic heavyweights Hadouken! performed a headline show at the Ministry of Sound Club itself. The London gig not only showcased the band's new single Bad Signal, but also the club's ability to stage pulsating live shows with the help of a JBL VT4886/VT4883 sub-compact Vertec line array.

The system consisted of two hangs of five JBL VT4886 sub-compact line array elements with three ground-stacked VT4883 subs per side. The system was powered by Crown iTech 12000HD power amplifiers, housed in three tour-ready Crown V-Racks. The JBL VT4886 is a true three-way high directivity line array element which with its companion VT4883 cardioid-arrayable subwoofer provide a very high degree of output and predictable coverage capabilities in an extremely compact package.

Darius Kedros, (FoH engineer for Hadouken!), commented, "A

Sold Out - Glastonbury tickets have sold out in a record time of just one hour and 40 minutes after thousands of fans flooded the website and phone lines. The festival's Twitter feed apologised to the "thousands" who missed out, adding that there had been some problems with getting through "due to the sheer volume of people". Fans could reserve up to eight tickets - each costing £205 plus booking fee. Any returned tickets will be put on sale in April 2013.

When tickets sold out, Michael and Emily Eavis posted a joint statement on Twitter saying: "We're genuinely humbled by the sheer number of people who would like to come to the festival and we dearly wish we could have you all along. Sadly, that just isn't possible, which means a significant number of people have missed out. Demand simply outstripped supply."

Live Advice - The Musici

Finland - Scandinavian cruise company Viking Line has announced that their new flagship cruise liner M/S Viking Grace, due to set sail in January 2013, will be amplified by Swedish brand Lab.gruppen. The announcement continues a successful relationship between the two companies, with seven of Viking Line's current fleet now being kitted out with Lab.gruppen amplifiers.

Lab.gruppen's Finnish distributor Noretron Audio Ltd. finalised the deal with Viking Line Abp, which will see the delivery of a total of 27 Lab.gruppen amplifiers to the new M/S Viking Grace cruise ship. Amplification is for a massive 344 units of Turbosound loudspeakers which will be installed in the night club, several restaurants, tax free shop and conference rooms.

Noretron is also supplying all other entertainment audio including digital and analogue consoles, wireless microphone- and IEM-systems.

Accordi

Poland - Home to the oldest sports club operating in Poland, Cracovia Rink has benefitted from a complete programme of reconstruction and refurbishment in recent years, and has now had a state-of-the-art sound system designed and installed by Wroc?aw-based Tommex ?ebrowscy Sp. J.

Sound Skating Cracovia is a multi-functional PA/VA system. The commentator's room houses a Dynacord CMS 1000-2 mixer and the system's Dynacord DSP244 digital processor. This feeds to the amplification room which houses the heart of the system, the Swiss g+m elektronik APROSYS APS modular system. In addition to the priority task of efficient evacuation during an emergency, the sound system is also used for commercial purposes at sporting events.

"Due to the difficult acoustics and harsh climatic conditions in the ice hall, the choice of loudspeakers was fundamental to the system's performance and

Turkey - Date Restaurant & Designers' Corner recently celebrated its opening, gathering together Istanbul's dining, entertainment and fashion and design communities.

Date Restaurant & Designers' Corner is a new multi-functional venue in Istanbul offering entertainment around cuisine and fashion. On the first floor, Date Restaurant & Designers' Corner serves as a bar and restaurant. On the second floor, the Date Restaurant & Designers' Corner hosts events around fashion and design. Fashion collections designed especially for Date were exhibited for the opening celebration, followed by a fashion show choreographed by the Turkish fashion designer U?urkan Erez.

Aside from providing a multiple activities under one roof, Date Restaurant and Designers' Corner put a lot of thought into choosing the sound system and sound design appropriate for their space. The building dates from 1873

USA - Ricketts Field, Farmington, NM, has always been more than just a local ball park for this city near America's Four Corners. Since opening its doors in 1965, the stadium has been the home of one of Little League Baseball's signature events, the Connie Mack World Series.

The venerable 5100-seat venue was recently treated to a large-scale audio makeover, upgrading their aging horn-based system to Community's R-Series all-weather loudspeakers. According to William Hartley of Albuquerque-based Sound & Signal Systems, the R-Series was selected not only for its durability but also for its tight pattern control.

"The stadium is situated very close to a residential neighbourhood, and the sound from those pole-mounted horns was shooting right across the surrounding homes," Hartley explains. "After receiving several formal complaints, the city approached us to design

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