USA - Sprint Centre, a flexible arena in downtown Kansas City, has recently reached out to local integrator Digital Sound Systems, Inc. (DSS) to explore options for updating its arena sound system used for sporting events.
DSS was tasked with updating portions of the arena’s control room, as well as audio and video facilities. After thorough research and consideration, DSS was able to provide Sprint Centre with an entirely new front-line sound system, including new speakers, subs and amplifiers, thanks to the powerful and cost-effective solutions provided by L-Acoustics Kara(i) loudspeakers, SB18i subwoofers, and LA4X amplified controllers.
“Sprint Centre consistently ranks as one of the top venues in the US, so it was important for us to make sure that we were advising them on the best plan of action for years to come,” says DSS CEO Jeremy Dixon. “A simple am

Europe - Martin Audio has appointed Audio-Technica Iberia as its distributor in Spain, effective 1 June.
The partnership had been put in place at ISE in February and confirmed at Prolight+Sound in April. It follows the appointment of Audio-Technica Germany as Martin Audio’s German distributor in September 2018.
Audio-Technica Iberia MD, Sylvain Hochart, comments: “We were looking for a premium loudspeaker brand with pedigree and high value. Martin Audio was our number one choice - particularly after the new arrangement had started so positively in Germany.”
Bradley Watson, Martin Audio international sales director, adds: “A pan-European deal was always part of the plan, with the advantage of a single point ordering process. Audio-Technica Iberia has a very good network of territory specialists and collectively they bring a lot of experience. We look forwa

USA - Audinate has announced its CEO Lee Ellison is retiring in September, with the company’s CTO and co-founder Aidan Williams (pictured) set to replace him in the role.
Ellison is to retire on 13 September following the release of the company’s 2019 full year financial results.
David Krall, Audinate’s chairman, comments: “Lee has been a key contributor to the growth of Audinate, and the results speak for themselves. Under Lee’s leadership as CEO over the past 11 years, Audinate has become the global market leader in audio networking for the professional AV industry. Lee led the company through its successful IPO in June 2017, and since its listing, Audinate has consistently delivered strong results and record growth.
“Together with Lee and the Board, we developed a succession plan over the last year to ensure a smooth transition of the CEO role. Ou

USA - Peavey Commercial Audio has partnered with Neets to announce the availability of a driver for PCA’s Digitool family of digital audio processing units for matrixed zone processing.
Shown for the first time in the US at InfoComm 2019, the newly-ratified driver is currently available for the Digitool MX16 and Digitool Live devices and works with all Neets AV control interfaces with IP connectivity. These include the feature-rich TanGo control system that enables intuitive touch control through Neets hardware, Android/iOS devices or standard browsers allowing for custom-build GUIs.
The Neets/Digitool driver developed by PCA offers an IP-based command set including input and output channel level and mute control, level and mute functionality for all audio matrix points, and the ability to trigger internal pre-set loads.
PCA operations manager, James Kennedy, s

UK - Following its UK launch at PLASA Focus last month, EM Acoustics is to showcase Halo-B at the ABTT Theatre Show in London’s Alexandra Palace.
The third system in the Halo family is a medium format, 110° horizontal dispersion line array for indoor and outdoor sound reinforcement. As its name suggests, Halo-B sits between Halo-A and Halo-C in both physical size and overall system output. As such it is perhaps the most versatile system in the family and ideally suited to live performance applications in theatres, concert halls and other performance venues.
Halo-B will feature amongst a range of other of EM Acoustics’ firm favourites for performance venue applications, including the award-winning ultra-compact EMS-41 which delivers class-leading performance in a truly bijou package.
Halo-B is a two-way reflex-loaded medium format line array element featuring

UK - On Joe Bonamassa’s current world tour, system engineer Michael Grabarczyk relies on Outline’s Newton FPGA-based processing platform. Bonamassa played a three-night residency at London’s Royal Albert Hall in April as part of his European spring tour, for which Adlib provided a full audio package, including part of their Newton stock.
Michael comments, “Newton is an extremely capable device. A single 1RU unit replaces a multitude of current industry standard devices. The clocking flexibility, simplistic routing, and plentiful IO makes Newton a dream to use. Each output has gain, delay, polarity, layers of EQ, and every filter type including both types of all pass filters. The possible uses for the device are incredible.
“Not only can the Newton make a whole rack of gear disappear, but sonically it is very transparent. When applying a filter, you hear the f

UK - London-based technical event specialists Light Fantastic Production Services supported Voxburner with a full design and technical solution for YMS London.
YMS LDN is Europe’s largest youth marketing festival, part of a series of global events demystifying the changing trends, habits and attitudes of the consumers of the future.
Held over two days at the Old Truman Brewery, YMS19 LDN was the largest Youth Marketing Strategy event to date, welcoming almost 2,000 delegates and over 150 speakers.
Working closely with Voxburner to deliver an engaging visitor experience, Light Fantastic Production Services provided a comprehensive equipment and support package covering all technical elements, including lighting, audio, video, set and staging.
Commenting on the show, LFPS project manager Andrew Maxted says: “Handling all aspects of the technical requireme

South Korea - At a recent a stadium show in Seoul, the LA Philharmonic Orchestra took the music of celebrated composer John Williams to new level, incorporating giant screen projection and an epic soundscape provided by L-Acoustics L-ISA Hyperreal Sound technology.
The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra (aka 'LA Phil'), led by music & artistic director Gustavo Dudamel, has been celebrating its 100th year with the 2018/19 LA Phil 100 centennial programme. The season includes runs at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl, the free Celebrate LA open-air festival, and a global tour that includes seven residencies in seven cities, and performances on three continents.
That journey started with LA Phil's 2019 Spring tour of Seoul, South Korea, and Tokyo, and included a landmark performance of film music by John Williams in the Seoul Olympic Park Gymnastics

UK - CUK Audio has appointed Alex Ronald to the role of operations manager, taking responsibility for the new CUK audio distribution centre in East Kilbride along with the management of all the company’s logistics and customer service functions.
Ronald has previously held the roles of group head of logistics at Hornby Hobbies and European logistics manager at OKI Europe. Speaking of the new role, he explains: “Moving from working for very large companies to a growing SME with a close team of colleagues is extremely exciting. I’m already busy setting up the new warehouse and look forward to working with our suppliers across four continents and servicing our customers in the UK and Ireland.”
CUK Audio director, Stuart Cunningham adds: “Alex has already made a big impact in the few weeks he has been with us. To continue growing our business and improving the s

USA - AV Stumpfl will present its new AT64-SHIFT system for large mobile projection screens and the new PIXERA mini media server at this year's InfoComm in Orlando.
With the AT64-SHIFT, it's possible to assemble a large mobile projection screen and to adjust its height in a matter of minutes, says the company. No extra measuring is needed to ensure that the frame is level, due to a clearly marked height scale.
Based on the same principles as the T32-SHIFT, the AT64-SHIFT projection screen legs can be used for much larger mobile projection screens and are compatible with all mobile AV Stumpfl screen systems.
Another highlight of AV Stumpfl's InfoComm booth will be the new PIXERA mini hardware. PIXERA mini is an ultra-compact media server, perfect for digital signage and multi-display applications.
The PIXERA mini is a 1U and ½ 19“ product. Two PIXERA min

UK - Allen & Heath has released V1.4 firmware for its SQ series, delivering a raft of features and new processing options ported from the company’s flagship dLive digital mixing system.
V1.4 unveils a dynamic trio of powerful audio tools, comprising Multiband Compressors, Dynamic EQ and De-Esser, all straight from the FX Rack of dLive. These optional add-ons allow SQ users to have up to eight instances that can be inserted on any input channel, group or mix.
Giving engineers more preparation time away from the console, V1.4 also introduces the eagerly awaited offline mode for SQ’s MixPad App, which is now also being released for PC and Mac (previously iOS and Android only). Offline mode enables engineers to create entire show files without the need for an SQ, manage shows and scenes offline, and send and receive entire shows over a wired or wireless network.

UK - At ABTT 2019, Point Source Audio (PSA) will unveil the GO-8 Series of microphones featuring the GO-8WD, a moldable microphone that shapes into a variety of mic styles.
The company says GO-8 allows the sound team to create a custom actor microphone style as they need it.
Designed for theatre, the moldable GO-8WD-SK starts out flat but can be shaped by an A2 or mic expert into a collar mic, halo mic, or a headset mic for the left or right side. The company reports that while these are the most common styles in theatre, the GO-8WD’s moldable format can be an instant problem solver in a multitude of mic’ing situations that are either unexpected or challenging.
“For me, the GO-8WD is a great solution for precisely fitting a headset-style mic on an actor; every aspect from the ear hook to the boom length can be formed exactly as needed to get the best soun

Europe - Portugese acoustic treatment specialist Artnovion has announced the launch of its Aries series of diffuser products created specifically for professional audio applications.
The Aries Diffuser was designed using a variety of diffusion techniques and offers a clear advance in performance over traditional QRD design. Inspired by traditional numeric sequence diffusers, it’s composed of asymmetrical multi-depth wells, in which specific wells use a folded-depth technique to boost the mid-low diffusion range of the panel.
While the panel itself is only 60mm thick, the extended wells on the diffuser are designed to be effective at 160Hz and 400Hz, with a linear diffusion pattern from 700Hz upwards, delivering previously unheard-of diffusion capacity for its size.
The asymmetric wells are also arranged in an optimised sequence to prevent lobbing when used in

USA - Yamaha Commercial Audio will host two sessions as part of the AVIXA seminar programme at InfoComm 2019.
Yamaha: Network Boot Camp for AV Professionals and Audio Insights in Hospitality and Retail will address key technical and business aspects of audio networking and installed audio systems.
Addressing the technical aspects of networking and the decisions which need to be taken for installed audio systems in hospitality, retail and other public-facing environments, these sessions will be presented by senior product specialists Andy Cooper and Karl Christmas, both well-known faces from Yamaha’s Audioversity training programme.
The seminars will be open to all InfoComm seminar and workshop package holders on a first-come, first -served basis, so advance registration is essential.
“An important part of Yamaha’s training initiative is

USA - Encompass AV recently installed a comprehensive Martin Audio CDD sound system in the fashionable SX Sky Bar nightclub and lounge that occupies two floors of the luxurious new Hotel Essex across from Chicago’s Grant Park.
Discussing the project, Encompass AV owner Tim Pickett explains: “We were charged with doing the audio for the SX Sky Bar on the fifth and sixth floors which includes the main bar/lounge upstairs and the dancefloor downstairs, in a night club which can also double as a corporate space during the day.
“Initially the designer was spec’ing another brand,” Pickett continues, “and they brought us on board because they wanted to do something special in terms of sound and make it different and nice, so we moved them into a Martin Audio CDD system.”
The sixth-floor lounge includes a combination of 16 wall-mounted CDD8s throughout the

USA - Kelly Clarkson is touring in support of her Meaning of Life album. For Chris Michaelessi, who has served as Clarkson’s FOH engineer since 2011, the availability of the new Quantum engine for DiGiCo’s flagship touring console couldn’t have come at a better time.
“I’ve always enjoyed mixing on the SD7 and was really looking forward to having the new, faster and more powerful engine for Kelly’s Meaning of Life tour,” he says, getting his wish fulfilled by Clair Global, Clarkson’s long-time touring reinforcement provider.
“Once I started the using SD7 Quantum, paired with the new 32-bit Stadius Pre-Amp cards for input, I was immediately struck by how much headroom the console has gained with the new engine,” he says, noting that the difference was immediately noticeable both in terms of overall sound and managing console gain structu

Japan - In Apri, Kraftwerk put on four sold-out shows in Tokyo. d&b audiotechnik Japan provided the system solutions used in Orchard Hall, which belongs to the Bunkamura complex.
The sound solutions included KSL loudspeakers with D80 amps and d&b Soundscape to reproduce a sound immersion that totally impressed the audiences. The combined use of KSL and Soundscape was a world premiere and a complement to the visual 3D experience offered by the Kraftwerk performances.
The main hangs flown at the concerts were five KSL arrays, each consisting of six KSL8 (top) and two KSL12 (bottom). Behind each of the five main hangs were two flying SL-SUBs. They supplemented the KSL arrays in the low frequency range and delivered a powerful bass which was extremely evenly distributed throughout the entire hall.
The KSL Systems were driven using d&b ArrayProcessing. Arr

UK - PLASA will deliver two professional development training sessions dedicated to voice alarm systems and loudspeaker installation.
Basic audio system design is taking place on 3 July (Wednesday) at White Light’s Jubilee Way HQ in London. It will be hosted by audio consultants Roland Hemming and Richard Northwood and will focus on how to calculate loudspeaker spacing, how to select suitable amplification and signal processing options, and how to document design correctly. Delegates will be able to deepen their understanding of audio theory, product types, system architecture, audio coverage and basic modelling software.
The event is ideal for live events engineers who wish to branch into the installations sector, as well as in-house

France - As part of the Viparis group of event sites, the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles exhibition park is the largest in France and hosts over 120 tradeshows, including some of the French capital’s most prestigious occasions such as the Paris Motor Show, the Foire de Paris, the International Agriculture Show, Viva Technology and Who’s Next.
With such a diverse, high-profile array of exhibitions to cater for, the venue’s sound system needed to be of an equally high standard. When the venue’s largest pavilion - the 7,000sq.m Hall 1 - required an audio upgrade, APG’s Uniline Compact was chosen as the key component.
The audio system in the venue was specified as a result of an electro-acoustic study undertaken by LM Ingénierie Audiovisuel (LMI AV), while the equipment itself was supplied and integrated by Belgian company Inytium.
Partner and project mana

The Netherlands - Although the Dutch village of Vredepeel only has 245 permanent residents, it has a remarkable sense of community. Having raised over €100,000 towards the cost of combining the church and community centre, they are now enjoying all the benefits of a flexible, networked Yamaha audio system.
Located a few minutes’ drive from the city of Venray, a significant decline in the number of regular worshippers at Vredepeel’s Catholic church meant that it had become too large. At the same time, the local community centre needed major work. Residents came up with the idea of incorporating the community centre into the church building, which would host all of the village’s social activities in one place, including worship, activity groups, meetings, events and the village pub/restaurant. The church and local authorities agreed, and De Kleine Loef (The Small Loaf)

Argentina - Clair Brothers’ newest Argentine distributor SVC has recently made a ‘significant’ sale of the loudspeaker manufacturer’s C12 line array system.
With integral presentation assistance from Fabián Giordano of Sonamos Audio, a key Clair Brothers partner in Argentina, the live demo at Giordano’s location to Argentine production company Merino Producciones Técnicas was a great success. “This was not just a demo,” explains Ricardo Pegnotti, audio division director at SVC, “it was an event attended by several recognized audio professionals from the region.”
Merino Producciones Técnicas is well known and respected throughout the region. Known best as being the provider of equipment and live production in recent years of one of the National Grape Harvest Festival. It was with this festival, and many other upcoming shows, in mind that the decisi

Three audio hardware and software solutions providers have joined forces under a new umbrella organisation, Audio Squadron.
Tracktion Corporation, the makers of music production software Waveform, and audio product developer 2JW Design have combined with Prism Sound and Sadie in a bid to increase investment and produce “a unique shared creative environment”.
The companies say in a statement: “The resulting pro audio powerhouse brings together all the diverse, highly-skilled workforces and technical expertise of these renowned global brands enabling them to accelerate innovation, development and the cross fertilization of ideas.”
Prism Media Products retains the test and measurement equipment business and will continue to supply leading manufacturers worldwide.
“We are excited by the multitude of opportunities offered by this collaboration,” comments J

Europe - Tech start-up PEEX has become a partner to the Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam’s 17,000 capacity arena.
PEEX makes wearable technology and software that enable concert-goers to control the live sound from their phone through a five-channel mixer.
The first concerts involving PEEX technology at Ziggo Dome will be two of Elton John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour dates on 8 and 17 June. Attending fans will be able to rent out the PEEX rX wearable device at the venue or pre-book it online for €10 per show, with a discount available for those booking in advance.
The technology has also been made available for booking for Elton John’s tour dates in Italy, Ireland, Wales, France, Austria and Germany.
Pieter Hamelink, chief executive officer of PEEX, comments: “Partnering with a globally recognised venue that can accommodate up to 17,000 people

India - Waves Audio will be presenting the eMotion LV1 digital mixing solution at the upcoming PALM Sound & Light Summit. The presentation will take place between 15.30-16.30 on 30 May (Thursday) at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Goregaon.
The eMotion LV1 Live Mixer is modular and can be adjusted according to the user’s mixing and business requirements.
Involved in the presentation will be Ravisankar Nadiyam (Waves regional sales manager), Pravin Muralidhar (FOH for Neha Kakkar and Jonita Gandhi) and Supratik Subramanian (FOH for MADBOY/MINK and The Fanculos).
(Jim Evans)

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