Robe - LEADERBOARD - Feb 2025
Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

Sound

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UK - London's new Absolut Icebar - a joint venture between Absolut, Icehotel and Below Zero London - is a unique environment at -5°C, where everything, from the walls, bar, and bar stools, to the artwork and the 'glass' that holds the Absolut cocktail is made from crystal-clear Nordic ice.

Finding a loudspeaker system that would blend seamlessly into the glacial interior of the Swedish concept provided a challenge that was met by Martin Audio. The UK manufacturer had already produced 'invisible' customized perspex floor monitors for the Eurovision Song Contest in Latvia several years ago, and now they turned their attention to their classic EM26 - which formed the centrepiece of a complete audio fit-out of the four-zone, £1.5m development.

Icehotel partners, Below Zero London, had originally been looking at two loudspeaker options for the overall sound reinforcement via

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UK - London-based event services company PSL has expanded its sales team with the appointment of David Hudson as head of sales. Hudson brings heaps of experience to the energetic PSL task force, having spent the last two-and-a-half years working for George P. Johnson, the world's largest event marketing company. As business development director, he was instrumental in establishing GPJ's new UK operation; prior to that, he spent 10 years working in the event production industry, always in a sales and marketing role and usually in the live environment.

Hudson says he welcomes the opportunities offered by PSL's wide-ranging skill-set and its massive inventory of technical equipment. With the mainstream corporate sector in his sights, he plans to co-ordinate the company's sales approach, emphasizing the 'one-stop shop' capability that is unique to PSL.

(Lee Baldock)

Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

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USA - Austin, Texas-based based SR provider Big House Sound has augmented its stock of Soundcraft consoles with the addition of a 40-channel MH3 and two new 32-channel GB8s. Aside from already owning a Soundcraft Series FIVE:56, SM20:48 and another MH3:40, the company has also been responsible for putting Soundcraft consoles into several of the city's best known live music clubs.

According to Rod Nielsen, president and co-owner of Big House Sound, the first outing for the MH3 and one of the GB8's was the Shiner BASH in Dallas, featuring Dwight Yoakam, Aaron Tippin, Chris Cagle and Darryl Lee Rush.

"When Spoetzl Brewery originally booked the concert with us, it was supposed to be a much smaller event with lesser-known acts and a smaller crowd," says Nielsen. "Under normal circumstances we would have chosen to use our Series FIVE and SM20. But even though w

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Europe - Digidesign has named Ineke Van der Voort as its new technical sales specialist. She joins shortly after leaving manufacturing and distribution company, Apex N.V. in Belgium where she was professional audio sales engineer, responsible for a leading portfolio of pro audio brands.

Van der Voort has worked as a freelance live sound engineer throughout Europe since 1994, representing many of the major rental companies. In 1998 she was senior sound engineer for the start-up of the joint venture between MTS (a French rental company) and Philing Live (a Belgian rental company), located in Marseilles. While there she was responsible for the design of multiple sound systems involved in the FIFA World Cup.

Her duties will include Venue system demonstration and training throughout Northern Europe, and providing full distributor support. "This is a fantastic opportunity, as I

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Germany - Telex/EVI Audio reports that it enjoyed a very successful International Broadcast Convention (IBC) in Amsterdam. Manuel Brico, Product Manager Telex (EAME), comments: "We managed to continue the positive trend of the last few years and even doubled the number of visitors we had in 2004. There was also a marked increase in the number of serious enquiries - especially from potential customers from Africa, the Middle East and eastern Europe."

The Telex/EVI team led by Ralph Strader, Klaus Seitz, Nico Lewis and Manuel Brico presented a number of new products including the expanded RVON product range with its voice over IP capabilities. Commented Manuel Brico: "We've really caught the mood of the market there. The future belongs to voice over IP - something we foresaw long ago, which is why we've been working on this technology for years. For many visitors to

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UK - Audio-Technica's Artist Elite AE2500 dual element mic has won a best in class reputation for the kick drum and bass cab applications for which it was specifically designed. However, front of house engineer for Metallica (and many others) 'Big' Mick Hughes has extended its duties as his mic of choice for guitar cabs.

"The mic lends itself to giving you a great in-phase guitar sound that encompasses all of the bandwidth of the guitar," says Hughes. "It cuts out all of the alignment problems of using two mics on a cab, and them being, even slightly, out of phase much of the time."

As a result of the phase coherence of the AE2500's two capsules - one dynamic, one condenser - there are no frequency cancellation effects. "It just gives you this huge picture," continues Mick. "The combined sound of the condenser and the dynamic capsules is crus

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Switzerland - The Festilac festival, which takes place near Geneva at the end of August, is serviced by a French sound rental company, Digiteac Industrie. This year, for the acapella and acoustic music event, they provided a sound system which featured Soundcraft mixing desks and JBL Pro loudspeakers supplied by SCV Audio.

Digiteac put a Soundcraft MH3 console out at front-of-house, electing to use a Soundcraft SM20 for monitor mixing. The main PA system was a JBL Vertec line-array, comprising 16 VT4888 mid speakers and eight VT4880 subwoofers, combined with six VRX932LA speakers providing frontfill.

Powering the system were 16x Crown I-Tech rack-mounted amplifiers, suspended and linked up by an appropriate patch system. Signal processing was done by two BSS Omnidrive FDS366Ts, and also in the rack were Lexicon multi-effects and DBX graphic equalizers. The JBL SRX Series provi

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Brazil - Soundcraft has appointed the Sao Paolo-based Royal Music as its distributor in Brazil. Royal Instrumentos Musicais (AKA Royal Music) was founded in 1994 around the time when the Brazilian market had just opened up to international imports.

Soundcraft's Intercontinental sales manager Richard Ayres comments: "This is a distributor covering all the market segments in which we work, totally committed to supporting the customer base."

(Jim Evans)

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UK / Canada - Richmond Sound Design (RSD) of Vancouver, Canada, and London, England, has introduced the new Model AB64, the latest model in the line of award-winning AudioBox sound and show controllers. The AB64 series offers up to 64 channels of sound recording, playback, shaping and manipulation, plus enhanced show control capabilities, all in a 2U rack-mountable modular mainframe. This comprehensive re-design, headed by HFI lead engineer Tim Bartoo, quadruples the capacity of the previous model without requiring any additional rack space, say the company.

As a sound controller, the new AB64 can mix simultaneously up to 64 live analogue input signals, 64 live digital input signals and 64 pre-recorded audio signals from the unit's internal hard drives. The unit is capable of both synchronous and non-synchronous audio file playback. Each input channel can be gain leveled, panned

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Sweden - Ampetronic has appointed Sennheiser AB as distributor of its product line to the Swedish market. Commenting on the arrangement, Christian Wollin, Sennheiser's deputy managing director, said: "We are very happy to have Ampetronic on board. We believe there is a good match between our companies and our products."

He continued, "Sennheiser has a reputation for working in the high-end segment of the market and our operation in the audio sector has garnered good relationships with installers all over Sweden. Sennheiser AB has also been working in the audiology sector for more than 20 years as a distributor of Siemens' hearing instruments. This means we can start work with Ampetronic immediately from our current customer network and distribution channels."

Both Wollin and Ampetronic's founder Leon Pieters believe there is a growing market for loop system

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UK - One of the big successes of the Home Counties is the Vanilla Bar in Windsor, where owner Mark Sansom, formerly of Bagley's Nightclub in Kings Cross, has created a stylish and accessible lounge bar and dance venue, complete with restaurant facilities. Paul Knight of Ascot Audio has designed a sound system for the 400-capacity venue which is critical to its clubby ambience. Since he's been installing Electro-Voice sound reinforcement gear for over 20 years, there was always a good chance he'd choose products from the EV catalogue for this project, especially given the system requirements of the venue. But the all-white EViD full-range loudspeaker models that he's specified are an uncommonly good match for the light interior of the Vanilla Bar, he says.

"These little speakers have a great design, they're trendy and they look good, but they also sound fantastic; they're am

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UK - One of London's flagship cultural venues Riverside Studios has undergone a major technical refurbishment program facilitated by a UK Arts Council grant. Featuring as a key element, a new Logic Systems sound rig has been supplied and commissioned by theatre sound specialist Orbital Sound.

Orbital's head of sales collaborated with Riverside's technical manager, Barbara Egervary, to supply a system that met her specifications to augment the theatres capacity to host a variety of advanced productions, including an expanding repertoire of international work. The system supplied by Orbital comprises four Logic System LS15 Tops and two Logic System B1Subs, which is run through a 24-channel Allen & Heath FOH mixing console with BSS EQ and speaker management.

The Logic LS range is designed and built from the ground up for installation use and delivers a large sound from a small bo

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UK - Baldwin Boxall Communications is well-known for being at the forefront of the emergency voice communication market. As such the company acted quickly upon learning about the new Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) by providing disabled refuge systems from September 2001 - some three years prior to the DDA coming into effect in October 2004.Listening to input from leading outside sources and from their own research, Baldwin Boxall developed Vigil CommuniCare and then, more recently, Vigil CommuniCare Advance.

Vigil CommuniCare Advance is a disabled refuge system which is easy to install and use, says the manufacturer. The special features of the CommuniCare Advance include raised luminescent script, Braille and a built-in induction loop - making it suitable for the majority of applications. Upon occupation of the specified area, a single button press on the unit is all that

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Singapore - Logic System Asia Pacific is a newly-formed joint venture established between the UK loudspeaker manufacturer and James Yeung and Lawrence Tay, owners and directors of Singapore distribution company Electro Systems. The new, independent company has warehousing, stock, infrastructure and logistics based in Singapore, where the company is registered.

The announcement comes after months of speculation, in which Logic System's loudspeakers have become increasingly visible in Indonesia, Singapore and China thanks to the combined efforts of Yeung and Tay.

The new company will handle all distribution business for Logic System products in the Asia Pacific region including China, forming a dealer network and managing that to maximise Logic System's presence in the area. Logic's MD Chris Scott comments "This is a strategic move based on months of planning with Lawrence

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Denmark - Following the introduction of a new series of System 6000 stereo plug-ins for Pro Tools HD, TC Electronic has announced that it will be taking over worldwide distribution of all its TDM plug-ins going forward. Effective immediately, distribution of Master X3 will switch from Digidesign to TC Electronic and TC Tools will be discontinued.

With the four new TDM plug-ins from System 6000, some of the most sophisticated dynamics, reverbs and effects processing algorithms for mixing and mastering will be available for the Pro Tools platform. TC Electronic expects VSS3 to ship in October 2005, MD3 to ship late November 2005, and DVR2 and NonLin2 to ship during the first months of 2006. Master X3 is a mastering plug-in for Pro Tools that is the virtual incarnation of the TC Electronic Finaliser. It supports Pro Tools 24 Mix and HD and can operate at sample rates up to 96kHz.

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USA - Digigram, owner and supplier of the EtherSound technology, revealed at this week's AES convention in New York the specifications of Gigabit-EtherSound that will include 512 audio channels over a single cable (256 channels in each direction) as well as a bandwidth of 100 Mbit/s for control and IP data transport, while maintaining all current EtherSound features including the ultra-low latency of only 125 microseconds.

Digigram will be showcasing the technology for the first time at the next Systems Integration Expo (formerly NSCA) and Prolight+Sound trade shows in March 2006. A technology upgrade will then be made available to all EtherSound licensees in the second quarter of 2006.

EtherSound business development manager Jimmy Kawalek is enthusiastic about the evolution: "We are thrilled about the possibilities that Gigabit-EtherSound will offer. Imagine how quickly

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UK - Cambridgeshire based flightcase manufacturer 5 Star has taken delivery of its second CNC Machining Centre. Again, 5 Star chose the Thermwood Corp of Indiana, USA to supply the CNC Machining Centre, which joins the company's already installed Thermwood Model 40 which has been in use for over six years. Thermwood was chosen for its reliability, ease of use and excellent after sales support.

The move is part of the company's ongoing investment programme, and follows an exceptionally busy period over the last 12 months. "Six years ago, we took delivery of our first CNC system from Thermwood, and this was seen as a big step at the time!" says 5 Star works director, Keith Sykes. "Since then, the move to our new factory five years ago and investment into other CNC systems has continued. With the growth over the last few months, we didn't hesitate in purchasing anoth

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USA - Furman Sound has developed a new 20-amp regulator that delivers a stable 120 volts of AC power to protect equipment from problems caused by AC line voltage irregularities. Furman says that the AR-20 II is the only 20-amp voltage regulator that also filters and purifies AC power, assuring that electronic equipment performs at optimum levels while also providing full protection from spikes and surges with Furman's exclusive SMP+ technology.

"Voltage irregularities like sags, brownouts, and overvoltages are commonplace in AC lines and can cause sensitive electronic equipment to malfunction or sustain damage," said Dave Keller, executive vice president of Furman Sound. "In addition, electrical noise on the line prevents equipment from achieving optimal performance. The AR-20 II not only protects electronics from damaging power, but also filters out the noise usi

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Ibiza - Recognizing the achievements of DJs and all involved in the nightlife industries, the 8th edition of the annual DJ Awards was a sensational success. Sponsored by Motorola and held at Pacha on Mediterranean party island of Ibiza, the ceremony on 29 September 2005 saw winners of 21 categories presented with the characteristic kryptonite awards.

After previous success at the DJ Awards with the CDJ-1000 series of CD decks, this year Pioneer's award covered a wider range of equipment. Pioneer was again honoured to receive the best Technology award, but this time for its overall contribution to DJ culture during the year. This year, Pioneer has further elevated the concept of the mix with a new high-end, professional series of digital DJ booth solutions, say the company. Recognized by the DJ Awards, these include the amazing DJM-1000 mixer and EFX-1000 effects unit, as well as

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Czech Republic - Headliners at this year's Masters of Rock Festival in Vizovice were American metal outfit Korn. 25,000 punters attended the two day event where the sound reinforcement was based around an L-Acoustics system.

The sound equipment consisted of a turnkey L-Acoustics system, comprising 24 V-Dosc, 6 dV-Dosc, 20 SB218 subs, 12 115XTHiQ wedges with 2 dV-SUB for drumfill. High Lite Touring, the L-Acoustics dV-Dosc provider in the Czech Republic, rented the system from the local L-Acoustics V-Dosc partner, T Servis.

(Jim Evans)

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Denmark - DPA Microphones has launched two new instrument mics, which offer musicians "flexibility and quality at an affordable price point, whether live or in the studio". The 4090 and 4091 mics feature an omnidirectional condenser capsule in a lightweight aluminium housing with a 3-pin XLR connector.

The DPA 4090 and 4091 microphones are housed in a 19mm anodised black aluminium barrel casing which tapers down to the 5.4 mm capsule. The mics, which are a total length of 12 cm, fit neatly into the mic clip included.

"Studio and live sound users who wish to experience DPA's quality and open, natural sound at an affordable price can now do so with the new 4090 and 4091 microphones," says Craig Parrish, sales and marketing manager at DPA. "The price level will mean that every studio and rental company will be able to own a pair."

For the 4090 caps

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Slovakia - Bratislava-based Centron Slovakia S.R.O, led by managing director Radoslav Bako took over the distribution of RTS/Telex systems in the region earlier this year, and the recent addition of two internationally respected TV broadcasters to the Centron reference list underlines the standing of the firm within Slovakia.

One of Slovakia's leading broadcasters, TV Markiza, which is also based in Bratislava, commissioned Centron to install a customised system for the TV series Big Brother, with a view to establishing an easy-to-use, reliable and modularly expandable system of wireless communication for the production team. The broadcasters opted for a system from RTS/Telex: a Zeus digital matrix with 24 ports and a generous supply of peripherals, including KP-32 keypanels and a BTR-700 wireless intercom system.

TV JOJ also opted for a Cronus and were so impressed with the r

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UK - Sennheiser UK held a champagne reception for its staff in High Wycombe to celebrate the company's 60th birthday. What began in June 1945 in a former university laboratory with a team of only seven and a great deal of pioneering spirit has now become a global corporation with a workforce of more than 1,600.

Managing director Paul Whiting told staff that despite increased competition both nationally and from overseas, they had continued to grow to record levels. He added, "Without the dedication of the Sennheiser team over the years, this would not have been possible. Thanks are due to everyone connected with the company both past and present, and for as long as we maintain our solid customer focus we will be assured of the company's continued success for many years to come."

Each member of staff was presented with a limited edition 340 page book commemorating the

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UK - Launched at PLASA this year, Audio-Technica's re-engineered UniPoint range of full-line, miniaturized, condenser installation-sound microphones, now features unique Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) shielding. The new UniPoint range, comprising gooseneck, hanging, boundary and handheld models, enables improved standards of audio reinforcement in the increasingly hostile RF environments associated with commercial and industrial AV installations.

The original full-line miniaturized, condenser installation-sound microphones, UniPoint remains a market leader within the commercial audio and AV integrator sectors. Comprising over 30 different models, UniPoint is designed for the widest range of applications, in corporate, institutional, civic and religious installations, including sound reinforcement, broadcast and recording. Audio-Technica's proprietary UniGuard shielding est

  1. Busy year for L-Acoustics
  2. PSL provides watery support for Hexstatic
  3. RTS / Telex top distributor
  4. Integrated install for KOKO club
  5. Series Five fit for a Palace
  6. Noise Control installs for Barfly
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