UK - Pro Audio Systems, the Bradford based audio and AV rental, sales, installation, conference and events production company, has taken delivery of its first Yamaha M7CL digital console, among the very first to be delivered in the UK. The console was presented to the company personally by Yamaha-Kemble joint MD, Andrew Kemble, and joint MD, Hiroyuki Wakamatsu.

Yamaha's new M7CL was launched at this year's PLASA show and represents a major advance in the evolution of a truly intuitive easy-to-use interface in the development of digital consoles. The M7CL offers professional digital console performance for live sound in a 32 or 48 channel system, and is actually easier to operate than many equivalent analogue desks, says the company.

Pro Audio Systems has been a Yamaha commercial audio and music production reseller and hire specialist for 18 years. The company is an officially

UK - A new county museum, 'The Collection', was recently opened in Lincoln's city centre, including a sound system based around Allen & Heath's iDR DSP system. The £12.5m development, designed by London architects Panter Hudspith, houses art and archaeology from the area, including a large Roman mosaic and other finds from the museum site itself.

The iDR system is being used as part of an invisible sound system for a 'talking wall', located in the museum's Orientation Hall. The wall is a public artwork, commissioned from Dutch artist Adinda van t'Klooster, which broadcasts a multitude of pre-recorded speeches, describing different aspects of Lincolnshire history. These stories are played through 22 Amina flat panel speakers, concealed in apertures in the wall.

"The system was commissioned during the final stages of building the museum, and to ensure quiet we had to

UK - Concert Sound LTD, a well established rental company based in Luton, UK, recently invested in their first Adamson line-source array. They chose Y-Axis line's Y-10s and a SpekTrix system which they immediately took on the road with the Canadian crooner Rufus Wainwright, whose performance in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator brought him instant worldwide recognition in addition to his years of critical acclaim. This multi-stop UK tour had virtually every venue fully sold out.

Matthew Manasse, Rufus Wainwright's FOH sound engineer commented: "The Y-10 provides such pure audio that I can forget about the loudspeakers and just listen to what the musicians are doing. I am no longer listening to a PA system; I'm mixing a band and finding it possible to concentrate on the music, confident that the majority of the audience will hear exactly what I hear. We achieved excellent

UK - 2005 was a great year for Athlete. Their track Wires was a huge international hit and one of the best-selling singles of the year. It was followed by an emotive appearance at Glastonbury plus further chart success with the singles Half Light, Tourist and 24 Hours not to mention their album Tourist going multi platinum. As the year comes to a close, the band has just finished on a high with a massive sell-out tour. For that show, front-of-house engineer Suneil Pusari has, not surprisingly, chosen the best in outboard gear to highlight the band's great and varied sound . . .

"I'm using Focusrite Liquid Channels as my stereo bus mix compression," he says. "Usually you have to decide what unit you like and hope that it will achieve what you need in terms of holding the mix and letting it breathe. This will always compromise certain tracks if

UK - Amanda Chester has been appointed marketing communications manager at Harman Pro UK. Chester joins Harman from Digidesign, where she was UK marketing and PR executive. Prior to that she worked in the IT sector, including at business management software company, Hornbill Systems.

Chester will oversee the marketing and PR activity of the nine Harman Pro brands across seven vertical markets in the UK; JBL, Crown, BSS, AKG, Soundcraft, dbx, Lexicon, DOD, and HiQNet.

Commenting on the appointment, sales director Max Lindsay-Johnson, states: "Amanda brings with her a wealth of knowledge and ability, which will strengthen our current team."

(Chris Henry)

Germany - German pro audio manufacturer K.M.E. recently launched its new, flexible 'Pano' line array at the Gewandhaus Theatre in Zwickau. With Pano, K.M.E. says it has "developed a compact line array which meets highest requirements of professional reinforcement for mobile usage and in fixed installations".

Pano consists of the line array unit QL 906, the flyable and stackable subwoofer QLB 118 and two system rack combinations SR 4800 for passive channeling and SR 7100 for complete active channeling. The 2-way line source unit QL 906 is equipped with two 1" drivers coupled to a wave-former / horn combination and two 8" neodymium speakers combined with "outstanding AQF acoustic filters" say K.M.E.

The line array subwoofer QLB 118 offers a clear, transient response for a minimum distortion in the low frequency range. The sub reproduces a low limit

USA - Brevard County's Maxwell C. King Center for the Performing Arts reopened following major renovations totaling $1.3 m to improve the sight lines and concert sound system at the main theatre, and included the installation of four Lake Contour digital speaker processors and two Lake Mesa Quad EQ digital matrix processors. The six Lake Technology processors, which were supplied along with a wireless touch pad and access point, control multiple zones of loudspeakers at the 2,000-seat performing arts hall.

"Because of the wireless tablet, the Lake Contour system is great because it allows us to 'walk the room' and make adjustments in real time for any location in the house," said Tim Freese, technical director. "It is a perfect match to our JBL VerTec speaker system, which is a perfect match for our facility."

One Lake Mesa Quad EQ provides individual contr

UK - Shure Distribution UK, the London-based professional audio equipment manufacturer and distributor, reports that Shure's new top-end UHF-R system, fitted with Beta 87A heads, has been sounding out the musical tones of showbiz hopefuls on The X Factor talent show, the winner of which was announced at the end of December to over 10 million viewers.

Since Shure launched its new professional UHF-R system at the PLASA Show in September 2005, its features have hit the right chords with leading sound professionals such as Gearhouse Broadcasting, the company rumoured to have supplied audio equipment to The X Factor TV show. Dennis Harburn, managing director of Shure UK states: "The use of our pro audio products at special live televised events is always a source of great pride for us. The new UHF-R wireless system and the Beta microphone series were designed with

USA - The sheer physical size and scope of the modern athletic venue, combined with the demand to accommodate high-end, simultaneously distributed, on-demand audio and video needs of multiple user groups, can test the installation skills of the most seasoned AV systems integrators.

Delta Systems Integration was selected to implement a new AV system at Reser Stadium. Though Delta's integration expertise and experience working in the stadium market was essential to installing the facility's new sound system, one tool, a networked digital sound management system from Symetrix Audio, made the task far simpler.

The Dallas consulting firm, WJHW, specified the DSP-based SymNet networkable, modular audio mixing, routing and processing system in their initial design. As the entire AV concept for the stadium hinged on flexibility, pinpoint control and sound quality reliability, a tradit

UK - Digital nightclub, located in Newcastle's Times Square, open its doors in July 2005. Heralded as an embodiment of a clubbing ideal, reactions to the venue have since been overwhelming. "Welcome to the Fabric of the north," proclaimed DJ Magazine, as scores of upbeat music connoisseurs paid homage to the venture. Owners Rob Cameron and Aaron Mellor, who have successfully raised the bar of clubbing in the north east of England. The club includes a state-of-the-art sound systems powered by Pioneer and Funktion One.

Hallmark features in the main room include a huge LED display that towers over the dancefloor from behind the DJ booth and screens for viewing visuals, whilst a series of well-placed mirrors and a wall of steel bars surround the area designed for dancing.

Aiming to offer DJs and clubbers the best sound possible, Digital was one of the first clubs in the

USA - Held for the first time in New York City, Country Music's 'Biggest Night' Audio-Technica has supported the Country Music Association (CMA) Awards for 12 years. This year's Awards, held at New York's Madison Square Garden featured over 200 Audio-Technica hard-wired and wireless systems, including backline, vocal and instrument mics, and frontline wireless systems for leading country artists such as Kenny Chesney.

Hosted by the multi-platinum duo Brooks & Dunn, who took home top honours as Vocal Duo of the Year, the Annual CMA Awards presentation is recognized as Country Music's Biggest Night, and represents the pinnacle of achievement for anyone involved in country music. Audio-Technica microphones were featured for their accurate and reliable sound reproduction - characteristics that have dictated A-T's long-standing presence with country music artists and leading venues s

Australia - Hemisphere Conference Centre & Hotel, located on the Moorabbin Campus of Holmesglen TAFE, recently upgraded their audio-visual system courtesy of solutions company, Lightmoves.

With their business focussed on corporate conferences and retreats, Hemisphere demands first class performance from their audio-visual systems. Their existing system was not capable of meeting these standards, suffering from poor sound quality that was often muffled and uneven. In addition, many of their clients were now demanding access to a projector and screen, facilities not readily available in-house.

After their installation of an audio-visual system in the conference rooms of Holmesglen TAFE's Chadstone campus, Lightmoves were approached by Hemisphere to provide a solution that would enhance their overall audio-visual quality, but also fall within budget.

Lightmoves' Peter Gray, in

Turkey - In November 2005, the highly successful distribution agreement between EVI Audio and Atempo Sound and Lighting Systems in the pro audio sector, which has been in force now for several years and covers the brands Electro-Voice, Midas, Dynacord and Klark Teknik throughout Turkey, was extended to the broadcast and intercom sector with the addition of RTS Telex - the manufacturer of world-beating broadcast and intercom systems such as the Zeus and Adam digital matrices and the BTR-700 wireless intercom - to the Atempo portfolio.

EVI Audio is pleased to have found a suitable distributor for these lines since, as Manuel Brico, product manager Telex/RTS EAME, explains: "The Turkish media market is enjoying a tremendous boom at the moment and it was important to find a well-established and competent distribution partner. I'm sure that with Atempo now in our corner, we are

The Netherlands - As an addition to its L-series of products, Alcons has introduced the LR14Bass. The LR14B is a high-output bass-system, designed as a low-frequency extension to the LR14 ultra-compact ribbon line-array module. The LR14B offers surprising versatility, say Alcons, as it can be flown, stacked or serve as basis for a stand-mount triple-LR14 array.

The main focus in the development of the LR14B was obtaining the highest efficiency in "full-space" conditions, within the weight/size parameters set by the line-array application. The line-array specific "full-space" flown condition brings a substantial reduction (-3dB) of output, versus a "half-space" stacked bass application. In order to achieve a far higher efficiency than the conventional front-loading arrangement, the long-excursion 12" drivers are double-vented, double-tuned in a

USA - Bolstering their managerial leadership and manufacturing ingenuity, Biamp Systems today announced that they have appointed Jim Nelson to the position of outsourcing and OEM manager. Effective immediately, Nelson will report to Bob Yeager, manufacturing and facilities manager, and will be responsible for overseeing contracted manufacturers as well as many of Biamp's subcomponents manufactured by OEMs.

"This is an important new position for Biamp and we felt that Jim's technical expertise made him the perfect candidate," said Yeager. "While we have a great deal of confidence in Jim's managerial skills, what impressed us was his technical and manufacturing background that we feel can be applied to our other manufacturing initiatives. Jim's dedication to his profession and thorough understanding of the industry will help us provide our customers and contract man

Hungary - A Butterfly line array was recently sold to Arton Ltd by Zaj Discotechnika, Outline's exclusive Hungarian distributor. The system, which recently debuted at the Budapest Opera House, comprises 16 Butterfly CDH 483 hi-packs and eight Victor Live subwoofers, all powered and controlled by T series digital amplifiers and Genius 24 processors.

The owner of Arton, Tamàs Ditzmann, commented: "The first time we used the system - to learn how to install and use it - was a great experience. In just an hour, we achieved a sound that was more than reasonable, and that same day obtained very impressive results from the system. All the experienced sound engineers were satisfied with the new system."

Ditzmann continued: "The Butterfly system's real debut was on November 14th at a Dance Festival staged in the Hungarian State Opera House. The results were excellent an

Finland / Estonia - The Finnish distributor of Yamaha, F-Audio/F-Musiikki Oy, has delivered the first Yamaha M7CL-48 Digital Live Mixers to Estonia and Finland. In Estonia the mixer was delivered to Salme Culture Center, a 700-seat multipurpose auditorium in downtown Tallinn, Estonia. Salme Culture Center was going through a full renovation after its 40-year history, and the delivery of Yamaha M7CL-48 completed the technical upgrade including whole new lighting system and Meyer PA.

"We were looking for a console suitable for both theater production and live concerts and after consulting Kari Tiitinen of Finnish National Opera we desided to go with Yamaha digital console. After long discussions with F-Audio's Petri Mäntysalo, we found M7CL-48 to be the right choice for us. We have had a lot of requests for Yamaha console from our visiting engineers, now we can finally provi

The Netherlands - Holland's flagship stadium, the Amsterdam Arena, home of soccer club Ajax Amsterdam, has announced a €1.4 million investment in dramatically improving its acoustics and sound quality for live events. The programme will include acoustic treatment and a new, digitally-distributed sound system, designed both as a stand-alone PA/safety system and to augment PA systems brought in by visiting concert and event productions.

The measures follow months of preparation and research by leading Dutch music promoter MOJO Concerts, TM Audio of Holland and acoustic engineers Peutz, and will result in a substantial improvement for speech and music intelligibility and quality.

To improve the quality of the acoustics, reverberation time in the stadium will be reduced by using thousands of square metres of special sound absorbent materials on the roof and on the walls. The mate

UK - RTS/Telex reports that Adrian Richmond has assumed responsibility as sales engineer throughout the UK for CCS. A member of the Institute of Broadcast Sound, Richmond is one of the most experienced and highly respected sound and broadcast experts in the UK, having worked as a sound supervisor for the both the BBC and ITV. His expertise covers all areas of sound technology including radio, TV, studio production, outside broadcasting, PSC, recording studios and video post production. In addition, he has a thorough command of digital and analogue mixing consoles, digital talkback systems and radio links. Most recently, Richmond worked as executive manager with responsibility for all areas of sound technology at the Anglia studio complex.

Nico Lewis, sales manager for Telex/RTS Intercom EAME, comments: "With his outstanding competence and first class contacts, Adrian Richmo

Canada - Adamson's M15 multi-purpose, high-performance monitors are now in full production, the manufacturer reports. The first run was pre-ordered by several of Adamson's European Partners while the M15 was still in the design phase. Guy Vignet, President of Adamson Europe - DV2, commented: "The M15 is a no compromise innovative monitor design, in a sleek package. It is aimed at the most demanding artists, sound-engineers and high-profile rental companies. There was a huge buzz surrounding it and we can't believe the response we've had upon releasing it."

In addition to the pre-emptive sales in Europe, more M15 speakers are bound for the United States, China, Singapore and India, say Adamson.

(Lee Baldock)

UK - The Wroxham School in Potters Bar is a thriving primary establishment with an enviable performance record - and an ethos that states that "everyone should have a voice".Voted in the top 100 schools for value added performance, they are now putting their ethos literally to the test, having - with the aid of Soundcraft - set up a broadcast facility for the benefit of its 4-11-year-old pupils.

This unusual development was stimulated by a government initiative, promoting communication opportunities in primary schools. "The school is run as a democracy in which we try to give our children exciting learning opportunities," explained head teacher Alison Peacock. "When the government sent out their information packs, our deputy head Simon Putnam suggested we promote speaking and listening via a full broadcast facility."

The only problem was funding.

UK - Dukes Genesis nightclub in Chelmsford has consistently kept in touch with the current developments available in lighting, sound and visual effects. The latest technology to be installed in the venue is in the new compact full-range loudspeakers from the Spanish manufacturer Vieta.

Although refitted five years ago with a Funktion One system, certain operating changes within the Dukes club meant that the time had come to offer a gentle re-tune and re-alignment of the system.

Having worked closely with Ado Osborn and John Nightingale of DSi Services in a number of the operators' other venues, the management contracted them to complete the necessary services, working to a tight timescale as the venue could not afford any closure time.

Osborn acknowledged that the Funktion One main sound system had been professionally installed and that there was no reason to remove it. To e

UK - Liverpool welcomed 2006 with a spectacular 20-minute multimedia son et lumière event organised by The Liverpool Culture Company, designed to appeal to a mass audience. The show, staged on the steps of St Georges Hall with the iconic building's impressive neoclassical architecture as a backdrop, featured dancing water fountains, a water screen, lighting, sound, lasers, giant flame effects and fireworks. It was enjoyed free by over 8,000 people.

The show was devised by Kirstie Blakeman (also the event manager) from Liverpool Culture Company and Steve Boothman from Fantastic Fireworks. They created a soundtrack encompassing an array of music styles - kicking off with Leftfield's 'Phat Planet' and ending on the Can-Can.

They wanted to focus attention on the building rather than the sky, and integrate the City's '2005 Year of the Sea' theme with its 2006 one - 'Year of Perfor

UK - A.C. Lighting's audio division has been appointed as a main dealer for the Soundcraft MH2, MH3 and MH4 range of dual-purpose mixing consoles.

The consoles have been widely adopted by venues and sound contractors, due to their ability to handle the most demanding live sound mixing for FOH, monitors, or a combination of both from a single desk.

The deal follows a number of major sales and installations by A.C. since becoming a stockist last year, including the supply of an MH4 for the restored and re-opened Hackney Empire.

A.C. was appointed for to its ability to meet the standards required by Harman Pro, including product knowledge, training, and the capacity to provide the necessary support for console users in this sector of the market. The company carries stock of MH consoles as part of its extensive inventory of Soundcraft products, enabling it to respond quickly to

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