South Africa - British headquartered, manufacturer of live sound solutions, Studiomaster has appointed StageOne (formerly TV Audio) as its distribution partner for its range of sound mixing consoles, loudspeakers, amplification and accessories in South Africa. The exclusive distribution partnership kicked off in January.
The first Studiomaster shipment, which arrived in South Africa in early January consisted of a range of digital and analogue audio mixing consoles including the Studiomaster Digilive 4C, Digilive 8C, Digilive 16, Digilive 16RS, Digilive16P-600, Digitrack18, C6XS-12, C6XS-16, Sessionmix 822, Sessionmix 1222, Sessionmix 1622 consoles and AC48II processors.
“I am particularly excited about taking on the Studiomaster brand as I believe that it’s a great product at a price point suitable for the South African market,” stated Peter Berry, owner of Stag

Poland - Historic tourist attraction, the Rzeszów Cellars, has officially re-opened after a restoration project lasting from the 70s. Transitioning the underground tourist attraction to a more modern era naturally presented challenges such as lighting, space and acoustics. Ashly Audio was able to provide the Rzeszów Cellars with an improved amplifier system so every guest could experience history brought to life.
The Rzeszów Cellars are a 396m-long route located beneath the homes in the Polish town’s central market square. This attraction consists of 25 basements and 15 corridors, reaching up to 10m deep below ground. Each room contains a different piece of history from relics of medieval wars, signs of fire, remains of iron hinges and even hidden passages.
The Tommex Company worked to integrate a complex sound system. Comprised of many different rooms, the cella

USA - Live from Los Angeles’s Crypto.com Arena, the 65th Grammy Awards featured heart-warming tributes, a fair share of surprise twists, and many jaw-dropping performances supported by Shure wireless audio technology.
For another year, Shure Axient Digital wireless microphones were relied on by the show’s production teams and the musicians and celebrities, including the evening’s host, Trevor Noah. Nearly every performance of the night implemented Shure PSM 1000 in-ear monitoring systems, totalling 28 channels with 160 Shure P10R bodypacks. Overall, this year’s Grammy Awards relied on 59 channels of Shure wireless.
The entire broadcast was helmed by a team of veteran audio engineers and sound technicians, including audio producer, Michael Abbott, production mixer, Tom Holmes, and music mixers, John Harris and Eric Schilling. Front of house was overseen by produ

Switzerland - Optocore has appointed Tonspur AG as its exclusive distributor for Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The partnership was confirmed during the recent ISE Show in Barcelona and takes effect immediately.
The alliance is a logical one for both parties, since as a long-time distributor of DiGiCo, Tonspur had regularly been in contact with Optocore due to the inter-brand compatibility. “It was simply a case of formalising the agreement,” said Tonspur’s head of marketing & communication, Samuel Leber.
The Lucerne-based company has a proud heritage extending over 30 years. Starting out as a recording facility they later took on distribution of many A-list pro audio brands, including Meyer Sound, DiGiCo, Van Damme Cables, Arx, Schoeps, JoeCo and Directout Technologies. Their policy is always to sell through third parties and never direct to the end user.

USA - Since the opening of the ICP Production Centre in Atlanta, In Concert Productions founder, Jay Rabbit, has been looking at expansion opportunities. The 30,000sq.ft facility is set to double in size by March 2024. The larger facility is predicted to offset production costs while creating jobs.
Rabbitt founded In Concert Productions (ICP) in the late 1970s. While the company was built on providing sound production and audio services, ICP quickly scaled into a full-service event production company. Its clients include the 1996 Olympics and Coca-Cola to long-standing television shows like Family Feud.
According to Rabbitt, ICP’s success stems from a commitment to being a one-stop service provider. “We provide an experience that the clients in LA and New York are used to getting. We make it easy for them,” he explains. The ICP Production Centre was inspir

Finland - The Codecasa-crafted Bon Vivant superyacht accommodates up to 12 guests across its six cabins, with a Nordic-inspired interior. To round off the on-board experience, Finnish integrator 4Business Oy was brought in to install a comprehensive AV system, featuring Genelec loudspeakers
4Business was given a strict initial brief detailing the need for reliable, stand-alone AV systems which were easy for the crew to use. The team implemented a centralised matrix with automated logic controls that would serve the crew and client better.
Sonic clarity was the primary driver behind decisions, yet all technical equipment had to be hidden out of sight. "We worked closely with the interior architect to ensure that all the components were integrated properly," explains Janne Lankinen, chief operating officer at 4Business. "We’re used to this level of cross-disciplinary c

UK - Blackthorn Productions has been working with BBC radio and television in Northern Ireland for 30 years, handling many of their outside broadcasts in Belfast, as well as religious radio broadcasts for BBC NI and Radio2,3 and 4, 5 Live and various television shows. It has recently upgraded its largest OB truck, replacing a 12-year-old console that had served the company well with a DiGiCo SD12 96 and SD-Rack with 32-bit SD cards.
“Our old console had been great, but was simply at the end of its life,” says Blackthorn’s David Walker. “Working on live broadcasts means we need ultimate reliability, so we knew it was time for a new console. We started researching what would work best for us.”
The team talked to PA companies they we work with and found they have a good relationship with DiGiCo.
“DiGiCo, and the SD12 96 in particular, kept coming out on

UK - Griff Hewis is regularly seen on front of house duties for concerts and events around the UK and has worked with many of the UK’s leading orchestras and bands such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, HM Royal Marines Band, BBC Symphony and Concert Orchestras. He has worked on major events such as London 2012 and Sochi 2014 Olympic Games, BBC Proms and BBC New Years Eve Broadcasts. Griff also owns a growing pool of equipment to support his engagements in playback/recording and sound reinforcement.
Always on the lookout for interesting new microphones, Griff discovered Austrian Audio via a webinar for the Institute of Professional Sound, where he is a director and was immediately intrigued by these new Vienna-made Austrian Audio microphones.
Griff says “Austrian Audio kindly sent me a demo pair of CC8 to try on some of my live shows. On opening the box I was i

USA - Constructed between 1806 and 1821, the Baltimore Basilica was the first Roman Catholic cathedral built in the United States. A National Historic Landmark, the 1,200-seat Basilica underwent extensive restoration between 2004-2006 to implement modern systems throughout the building while restoring the interior to the original design.
As with many houses of worship, the high ceilings and ubiquitous hard surfaces made for a challenging acoustic environment. Room reverberation measured 4.5 seconds at mid-frequencies and 6.1 seconds at low-frequencies. Digitally steerable arrays from Renkus-Heinz were the solution to improve speech intelligibility.
To improve acoustic performance, the Archdiocese of Baltimore turned to Neil Thompson Shade, FASA president and principal consultant of Acoustical Design Collaborative, for help. With experience in over 1000 projects, many d

USA - Wisycom SRL has announced a corporate restructuring that will enhance its business in the Americas. Among the changes is the opening of Wisycom, Inc., its new U.S.-based facility, which will give the company a larger and more active channel into the Americas. Led by the newly appointed vice president of sales and marketing, John Kowalski, the new office will allow the team to better support the brand’s growth in the region.
As a division of Wisycom SRL, Wisycom, Inc. gives customers in the region a more direct connection to the brand’s sales, support and administrative personnel. “Wisycom has grown tremendously in the United States, especially over the past year, and we found these changes necessary to help nurture and expand our business,” says Massimo Polo, CEO of Wisycom SRL. “With the restructuring, I am also pleased to welcome John [Kowalski] to our te

Spain - LEA Professional has launched its first application software, Sharkware. Developed in part based on integrator and customer feedback, Sharkware allows integrators to work both in offline design and online mode on a systems amplification configuration to ensure a more seamless, accessible, and flexible user experience with all LEA Professional Connect Series amplifiers.
“At its core LEA Professional is a technology company, and we are working to provide customers with the smartest, most flexible tech possible to ensure their AV systems are built for the future,” commented Nick Mourn, applications engineering & consultant relations manager.
Free to download and available for both Windows and Mac, Sharkware includes features such as amplifier grouping, offline design, granular user access control levels, locked speaker tunings, and a graphical EQ. Sharkwa

Europe - Optocore’s presence at ISE 2023 produced an outcome ‘far beyond the company’s expectations’. Sharing the booth with sister company BroaMan, the focal point was the Optocore party held to recognise 30 years since the founding of Optocore technology, and 20 years since the company itself was founded in its name.
Optocore marketing coordinator, Kamil Zajdel, reported a significant visitor bounce back following the years of the pandemic, and the show’s proactive expansionary move from Amsterdam to Barcelona.
“It was clear that confidence had returned and this was reflected not only in the number of visitors generally but also in the response to our party,” he said. However, the party has only just started, he affirms, and these anniversaries will be celebrated at further events that will run throughout 2023.
“A lot more audio professionals a

UK - HireHop, the cloud equipment rental software, has been adding new features at a rapid pace and has just released their new maintenance module that can also be run as a progressive web app on any device. The addition is free and has been automatically added to the software.
The maintenance module allows you to track repairs, log tests and services, move assets to different depots, change what an asset is, and much more.
The maintenance module is fully adaptive to all mobile devices and can even use your phone camera as a barcode or QR code scanner. You can also use inbuilt or linked barcode scanners or an RFID reader.
Another feature is that it enables users to do batch tasks. For example, if you have 50 items that you have just tested, you can use the bulk scan feature (even with the phone camera) that will let you scan the barcodes of the 50 items and then

Denmark - The town of Kolding is home to the Sonic College. When the college built a new facility, the staff implemented Audinate’s Dante transport protocol for routing audio throughout the building.
No small undertaking, staff had to interconnect multiple stereo studios and their companion mastering suites, a foley stage, immersive recording studio, Dolby Atmos mastering suite and theatrical mix stage - even a colossal 187-channel, AVB-based Meyer Sound Spacemap Go spatial sound system located in the five-story atrium, all via Dante (with a little help from AVB-to-Dante conversion cards).
Lars Tirsbæk, a lecturer at Sonic College, was instrumental in setting up the new facility and deciding what spaces would be most beneficial to students and essential to delivering a good grounding in sound design. “[Building the new facility] was an opportunity to start from sc

USA - AKG has formally launched the AKG Stories Behind The Sessions web series on YouTube.
Hosted by radio and television personality Nic Harcourt, Stories Behind The Sessions spotlights the producers, engineers and songwriters responsible for the music that defined the sound of popular music and the culture at large. With a candid one-on-one interview format, guests talk about their creative process, what it was like to collaborate with iconic artists and their reaction to watching their work become a hit in real-time.
In the latest episode, the first one recorded in the Harman Experience Centre in Los Angeles, Harcourt sits down with musician, producer and INXS bassist, Garry Beers, to discuss the band’s album Kick, which celebrates its 35th anniversary this year.
The first two episodes of the series were recorded live at the NAMM Show

USA - Point Source Audio has unveiled its new Series9 sub-miniature microphone collection for professional users. Available in a variety of formats, the microphones deliver a combination of high max SPL with high sensitivity making them versatile and able to easily handle the ‘powerful vocals of a live sound event or the quietest whispers of a conversation in a studio’.
Despite the tiny form factor, the mics feature 142 dB max SPL along with a -39 dB mic sensitivity - ensuring it will deliver on every aspect of a performance with ease. This performance capability is matched by its practicality. Series9 has the added Endure connectors - with accelerated life testing to 12,000 bends - as a standard option to its long list of flagship features like the 360˚ bendable booms, 180˚ reversible earhooks, IP57 waterproof rating, and sanitization with 70% Isopropyl Alcohol.

UK - Wet Leg - founded just three years ago – have seen the kind of global success most young acts could only ever hope for. Their first viral hit, Chaise Longue, was the catalyst for a meteoric rise which has seen their self-titled debut album land at the number one spot in three different countries.
What followed was an unrelenting promo and touring regime, with international audio support from Eighth Day Sound, part of the Clair Global Brand Group. Technical duties were led by production manager and monitor engineer, Karima Kingsley, augmented by the skills of FOH mix engineer, Ben Ellis.
“We got the opportunity to work with the band, who were fairly new to touring, and as a result we've been able to reconnect with our jobs in a way that we hadn't before, as we'd been mainly working with people who are so seasoned,” says Kingsley.
“Initially, we

Norway - Located just north of the Bergen metropole, the new Åsane Arena boasts professional standard facilities for over 20 sporting activities. Three years in the making, the venue caters to both the local community and national and international competitions. The facilities offer an array of sporting disciplines, including a new and improved home for Norway’s First Division football team, Åsane FC.
Committed to maintaining absolute quality throughout the design-build, Arena management chose an L-Acoustics A Series sound system for the outdoor football stadium and the main indoor stadium, both intended to host national and international events.
"The design concept for Åsane Arena was to establish a top-quality sports complex with a broad offering and multiple facilities all under one roof,” explains Roald Bruun-Hanssen, managing director at Åsane Arena. “Al

India - One of India’s fastest growing live event service providers, Global Production Services (GPS), has added a Martin Audio WPC line array to its inventory, becoming the first company in India to invest in the system.
The system was supplied and will be supported by Vardhaman Megatech Pvt (VMT), Martin Audio’s Indian distributor.
GPS’ portfolio spans prominent Bollywood music events, award ceremonies, political rallies, corporate functions and more as well as conventional live gigs.
“We have always placed great pride in the quality of technical equipment and expertise that we provide for our shows,” states GPS director Saurabh Ayare. “We’d been wanting to expand our inventory for some time and after experiencing WPC we knew right away that this system would be the perfect addition to our inventory. We were extremely impressed with the quality of

UK - 22live has invested in three Outline Newton units as part of their initial hire inventory. The Midlands-based company have hit the ground running, having already supplied touring systems for The Australian Pink Floyd Show and Sigur Rós as well as completing a run of O2 Arena shows with UK rapper D-Block Europe.
Technical director Simon Gladstone comments, “We are using Newton as our front-end processor with the Martin Audio Wavefront Precision series. The Newton lives in the FOH drive rack, sending PA returns to the Martin Audio IK42 amplifiers at stage end via our Dante enabled fibre backbone which carries control and comms.”
22live’s ‘no legacy equipment’ approach has allowed them to create ‘state of the art drive racks’ which also feature MIPRO’s ACT-800 wireless system. This enables high quality wireless transmission of measurement mic signals

UK - Neutrik UK is introducing the Contrik range of professional power distribution products. Contrik extends the Neutrik Group’s product offering with a portfolio of power distribution systems, innovative equipotential bonding systems and premium-quality power cables, specifically designed and specified for portable indoor and all-weather harsh application environments.
Employing automated precision manufacturing processes within the EU, together with high-quality components and materials, Contrik systems offer ‘unsurpassed levels of quality, safety and reliability, and provide for reductions in cabling costs, complexity and man-hours’. Contrik’s multicore solutions further reduce complexity and cable volumes for demanding mobile and outdoor applications; these include pre-assembled multicore cables, power containers and power racks with multicore outputs, and highl

Europe - Berlin-based Holoplot returned to this year’s ISE to reveal the beta version of its new design and simulation software Holoplot Plan as well as the new rigging system for its X1 product series - once again winning Best in Show in the process.
The X1 series - consisting of the Modul 96 full-range speaker and the Modul 80-S loudspeaker with built in sub - is a fully integrated system which combines sophisticated software and IoT capabilities. By combining 3D Audio-Beamforming and Wavefield Synthesis sound can be steered vertically and horizontally, directly to a listener’s precise location.
Holoplot brought these capabilities closer to the end user than ever before, delivering an open demo and seminar program, showcasing and explaining the effects of 3D Audio-Beamforming, coverage zones, virtual source localization and multi-zones on systems designs for som

Europe - On-Stage has added new lines designed for home recording, podcasts, broadcast, studio recording and live stage environment.
Featuring multiple hinges and swivel points within a reinforced construction, the new On-Stage Microphone Boom Arm, with a 32’’ reach, offers a wide range of mic positions with ease of mobility.
This professional boom arm also includes a 20 ft XLR cable installed within the arm, ready to accept standard mic clips or shock mounts. Quick and easy to install to flat surfaces via a sturdy C-clamp, the new On-Stage Microphone Boom Arm also includes a handy removable headphone hanger and, for self-promoting during videos, On-Stage has included a transparent snap-on sleeve to display websites or brand logos.
For use at home, in the studio, or live stage performances, the latest Tripod-Base Mic Stand features a lightweight and yet stu

Europe - Bosch has announced the launch of the PRM-4P600 multi-channel power amplifier for driving sound systems in commercial installations. As one of the most powerful products in the current portfolio, the PRM-4P600 significantly expands the application range for music and announcements.
Intelligent Bosch amplifier technologies enable flexible installation options and achieve low cost of ownership via reduced energy consumption. With a total amplifier power density of 600 watts and full flexibility over its four channels, the PRM-4P600 perfectly fits small to mid-sized commercial installations, such as retail stores, bars, restaurants, educational facilities, and more.
The PRM-4P600 features an industrial design housed in a robust enclosure that takes only 1RU of rack space and requires minimal ventilation space. Designed as a convection-cooled power amplifier, the

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