UK - Liverpool based Adlib Audio is launching a new specialist division - Adlib Speakers - to manufacture and market its AA brand of speakers, which are made in Liverpool.

Hand-crafted and designed by a dedicated team of individuals who know their audio, using quality components, precision engineering and innovation, the AA series is the ultimate 'boutique' brand for those who understand that their sound really matters, says the company.

Adlib has been making, installing and using the AA range very successfully for the last 15 years, primarily for its own installations and projects, and now they believe the time has come to step up and make the AA series available for re-sale worldwide explains Adlib director Mark Roberts.

"The company is diversifying as the nature of the industry is changing," says Roberts, "We have enjoyed great success with these products o

Europe - Swedish PA company, Parashoot, has been on a European tour with Norwegian singer songwriter, Ane Brun, using iLive and ME systems for FoH and Monitors.

Parashoot used an iLive-T112 system, mixing both FOH and monitors on the same console. xDR-16 I/O expander racks were positioned on stage, one left and one right, along with an iDR-16 MixRack.

Parashoot has worked with Ane Brun since 2007, and the lineup comprises two drum kits with open micing, an upright bass with FX pedals, various guitars, 2 keyboards, backing vocalists and Brun. All musicians bar one used in ear monitors, and Parashoot opted to use Allen & Heath's ME personal monitoring system, comprising five ME-1 personal mixers with a ME-U hub as the power and distribution system on stage.

"I took the ME-1s down to rehearsals and everyone was thrilled with them. The layout is easy, you can pan and it's a

Germany - Demonstrating how the company is 'Bringing Professional Audio and Video together' will be the main focus for Roland Systems Group at Pro Light & Sound this year (8.0 G54). As the only manufacturer providing integrated audio and video products, Roland's strength in digital technology has established the company as a provider of total solutions for the live production arena -as well as professional audio and video production.

With the launch of new products at Pro Light & Sound, including the S-2416 Digital Snake, that utilize proprietary Roland technology (such as REAC - Roland Ethernet Audio Communication) Roland is set to show unbeatable innovation in connectivity and flexibility. The key to the R&D strategy of this global company is to continually evolve both hardware and software to provide practical, system based solutions whilst giving the user the freedom to maxi

France / UK - French loudspeaker systems manufacturer APG has announced the appointment of experienced pro audio professional Scott Fraser to head up APG's UK sales operation. "The fact of going direct will ensure that UK clients benefit from exactly the same support as customers in France, in addition to having access to a significant stock of demo equipment," say APG.

The move is indicative of APG's broader international strategy throughout the EMEA region. According to APG's VP global sales, Bruno Garros, the decision to go direct has been maturing for some time. "It is clearly the best solution for APG in the UK," he commented. "The traditional distribution model puts too many obstacles between us and the customer. We felt very strongly that the best way forward for us was to have a direct link into the UK with someone who is actually employed and tr

USA - Audio-Technica microphones and headphones are used by SXSWfm, the dedicated online radio portal of the South By Southwest (SXSW) festival, which takes place each year in Austin, Texas.

This year's festival, which will be held 7-16 March, will encompass film, media, technology, and of course music, with over 1700 showcasing artists playing live. The channel is now live at www.sxswfm.com and currently features artists that have showcased during the SXSW's 27-year history and all other aspects of the festival.

"The goal of the channel is to reflect the wide spectrum of sounds you can hear when you attend the SXSW Music Festival," stated Kevin Connor, SXSWfm programming manager. "It's all kinds of music from all over the world. As the SXSW 2014 season progresses, we will be introducing you to the artists who will be joining us in Austin in March for five night

Mexico - Mexico City's Teatro Telcel is hosting the first Spanish adaptation of the musical Wicked, with a record-breaking 50,000 tickets sold in its first five weeks. As with eight other Wicked productions worldwide, renowned Broadway sound designer Tony Meola has chosen Meyer Sound as the audio foundation, this time including Mexico's first Constellation acoustic system.

"Constellation works amazingly well with amplified musicals in houses like Teatro Telcel," observes Meola. "Amplified sound in a dead acoustical environment makes it sound like the room doesn't have any dimension to it. But with Constellation, all of a sudden the sound is given dimension, and everything sounds much more real. I was surprised when I heard the effect, and I imagine it would be very welcome in many of the road houses where Wicked tours will play well into the future.&

The Netherlands - On the eve of the ISE in Amsterdam on 4 February, Bosch Communications Systems invited its international distribution partners to a distributors' meeting at which Kamil Swobodzinski, vice president sales communication EMEA, and his sales team were pleased to welcome to the Pakhuis de Zwijger more than 150 business partners from Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The agenda included an update on business developments, a look ahead to the coming year, and the unveiling of new products. An effective multimedia presentation was chosen this year as a means of introducing the latest innovations from Dynacord and Electro-Voice. Since the official launch of the new products is scheduled for the Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt in March, this part of the programme was followed with particularly keen attention.

Another highlight of the distributor meeting was the present

UK - The eyes of the music world were on London in mid-February as the annual BRIT Awards brought together many of pop music's brightest stars at the O2 Arena. Sennheiser was much in evidence, the high quality of the company's equipment and support ensuring that the RF-heavy show enjoyed crystal clear sound throughout.

The company's 9000 series digital microphone system was used at a BRITS ceremony for the first time, with host James Corden and all awards presenters using SKM 9000 handhelds with Me 9004 heads.

Broadcast live on television, the show featured performances by an array of stellar names, all of whom used Sennheiser 2000 series/G3 in-ear monitors.

Most also used Sennheiser microphones - Beyoncé and Katy Perry using custom SKM 5200s with MD 5235 heads, Bruno Mars an SKM 5200 with 5235 head, Bastille SKM 2000s with 965 heads, Rudimental SKM 2000s with 935 hea

UK - Already owners of an MLA System 30, Manchester-based VME Ltd have extended their commitment to Martin Audio's premier platform by investing in a further 28 x MLA, six MLD down-fills and 12 MLX subs - bringing their inventory up to 76 enclosures.

This not only gives them a powerful and award-winning front-line system with which to pitch for new business but positions them as the second largest MLA rental company in Europe.

Managing director Dion Davie said the new round of investment just before the turn of the year was the result of meeting increased broadcast requirements for Sky Sports and the prospect of a busy summer season. Large amounts of their stock have already been requisitioned for use at outdoor events this summer, including their own stately home classical concerts.

"We had so many big boxes going out and we wanted to remain self-contained," he sa

Germany - Core Brands will showcase the latest innovations in its Furman line of power management products at Prolight+Sound. Exhibiting with Trius Vertrieb GmbH & Co. in Hall 8, Stand C40, Furman will display its new F1500-UPS E, PS-8R E III and an array of the company's 230V rackmountable Pro products.

As Furman's first BlueBOLT-compatible 220V-240V product, the F1500-UPS E uninterruptible power supply is specifically designed for A/V installations within EMEA countries. The battery backup and power conditioning device provides 1500VA of true sine wave battery backup to prevent data loss and allow the orderly shutdown of connected equipment in the event of a power outage.

Featuring Furman's advanced non-sacrificial SMP surge/spike protection circuit, Extreme Voltage Shutdown (EVS) and Linear Filtering Technology (LiFT), the F1500-UPS E provides professional-level protection,

USA - As all eyes were fixated on the actors who graced the stage of the 86th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday night, audience's ears were tuned to the musical accompaniments of the show's orchestra, which performed remotely from Capitol Records.

Since the piano was positioned among the noisy percussion instruments, the show's orchestra mixer and orchestra setup coordinator needed a way to isolate its sound. To accomplish this for the piano, the duo used a combination of DPA Microphones' d:dicate 4011A Cardioid Microphones and d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones. He also positioned a pair of d:dicate 4011E Hanging Microphones for the orchestra's drum kit.

By using the combination of d:dicate 4011As and d:vote 4099s, the duo was able to close the lid of the Steinway Grand Piano, giving live and television audience members a full appreciation of the pristine i

USA - Multi-platinum recording artist Kip Winger has always had serious musical chops, as he demonstrated during his first high-profile gig, playing bass with Alice Cooper, and for six years fronting the glam-metal band Winger. But aside from occasional shows with the reformed Winger band, his fans most frequently see him at his solo acoustic shows, at which he often performs using an L1 Model II portable loudspeaker system, B2 bass module and T1 ToneMatch audio engine from Bose Professional Systems.

Winger generally takes only a single L1 system on the road for his solo acoustic shows. But he actually has two complete systems because he is also using a stereo L1 rig as studio monitors at his private home-based facility in Nashville.

Winger has long used Bose QC15 headphones during the final stage of mixing. "The last three records I've made, I'll mix my album and then th

Known for its wide range of entertainment, Leeds University Union operates three popular live rooms, including the 1200-capacity main Stylus as well as subsidiary Mine and Pulse (with respective capacities of 450 and 350).

Having installed a new sound system two years ago, it has always placed high priority on keeping its technical infrastructure at the cutting edge.

However, it was with their burgeoning hire business in mind that they recently purchased a Soundcraft Si Expression 2 mixing console, opting for the 24 mic input capacity in order to be able to service a range of events - from conferences to big warehouse dance parties - on both a wet- and dry-hire basis.

The purchasing decision was taken by LUU's technical manager, Sam Ryder, who joined the University last summer, and who was already familiar with the Soundcraft topology and operating system from his experience using

Poland - GigantSound Letus recently deployed a large number of Powersoft amplifiers to drive their JBL VerTec PA rig, at a special concert in Warsaw welcoming in 2014.

According to owner of the company, Jurek Taborowski, the concert, which was organized by Stoleczna Estrada, saw the sound specialists provide a system, driven by Powersoft K Series amplifiers, to satisfy an audience of 200,000 people on the square near Stadium Narodowy in Warsaw.

"We decided to use 64 Powersoft K10 amps to drive a 96 JBL Vertec cabinets (low, mid, high) and 32 Powersoft K20 amps which powered 88 (2 x 18") subs. That's a gigantic amount of power - but the concert was performed live, and the Square is a huge space.

"We knew that the 15-minute firework show would bring in a lot more people, so we had to have an adequate supply of power."

In the event around 200,000 people tu

UK - MilTec (UK) has announced the appointment of Peter Maddison to the position of audio sales manager.

Peter's role within the company will be to further promote Miltec's successful Blakite range of British made speakers along with their amplifiers, signal processing and LED lighting products.

David Faulkes, MilTec's sales director, commented, "I am pleased to be able to welcome Peter to the company. He brings a wealth of experience gained from 27 years in the industry. With Peter on board we are set to increase our presence in the rental and installation markets even further."

Peter added, "MilTec's drive to bring design and manufacturing back to the UK has really struck a chord within the industry and I am looking forward to maximising the opportunity that this provides."

(Jim Evans)

Germany - Riedel will present the MN-ST-AL-2, the company's new MediorNet expansion card for Studer consoles at ProLight+Sound. The MN-ST-AL-2 card provides two ports, each with redundant interfaces, for connecting Studer mixing consoles via the Studer A-Link protocol. In this way, the consoles become an integrated part of the entire signal distribution infrastructure.

Users can gain up to 384 channels per connection and realize significant cost savings in cabling and maintenance while benefitting from MediorNet's unparalleled flexibility and signal quality. Routing of the audio stream is handled by the user-friendly MediorWorks control and management software via drag-and-drop programming, which makes last-minute changes easy and intuitive. Additional routing adjustments can be performed via Pro-Bel commands or the new EMBER+ remote control protocol in MediorNet.

One MediorNe

Germany - Focusrite Audio Engineering will be showcasing RedNet, their expanding range of Dante-powered audio-over IP interfaces, including the new D16 AES interface and a suite of additional RedNet Control features, at Booth C10, Hall 8.0, Prolight+Sound, Frankfurt.

RedNet is Focusrite's growing range of high quality audio interfaces and connectivity solutions based around the popular and well-established Dante digital audio networking system. RedNet allows a Dante network to interconnect seamlessly with AES/EBU, MADI and Pro Tools|HD systems as well as providing ultra-high quality, high-resolution A-D and D-A conversion anywhere it's required, via a standard Ethernet cable.

RedNet D16 AES is a 1U 19in rack-mount interface on show for the first time, featuring 16 channels of AES/EBU connectivity to and from a Dante audio network, with network redundancy for maximum network re

Germany - At this year's Messe in Frankfurt, Genelec is taking its presence further than ever before. It will demonstrate the latest pro monitoring products in Hall 8.0, and in Hall 5.1 music creation products with DJ Paul Loraine performing live with Genelec.

Genelec is showcasing two product innovations on Stand 8.0-H25 at Prolight + Sound 2014. The recently launched 8010, a compact-sized professional monitor is available for listening first time for the public in Europe, while the 1238A three-way Smart Active Monitor SAM, is making its Prolight + Sound debut.

The 8010 is the newest and smallest member of Genelec 8000 product range. Suitable for professional work in small studios it offers accurate monitoring capability with ease of installation. The outstanding sound quality makes 8010 ideal for small studios, OB vans, and a perfect companion for portable recording devices

Germany - At Prolight + Sound 2014 in Frankfurt Meyer Sound will feature the latest addition to the Leo family of linear sound reinforcement systems.

Bringing the linear reproduction of the Leo system to a more flexible and compact package, Lyon is designed for applications where Leo's extreme long throw is not required. They include arena and large auditorium installations, as well as tours and festivals.

Lyon linear line array loudspeakers are available in two versions: the Lyon-M main line array loudspeaker and the Lyon-W wide-coverage line array loudspeaker. Complemented by the 1100-LFC low-frequency control element and the Galileo Callisto loudspeaker management system, Lyon-M can anchor a powerful system for installations in arenas and large auditoriums, as well as tours and festivals. Lyon-W can serve as down-fill to augment a Lyon-based system.

Also making its Prolig

Germany - Audio-Technica is to re-introduce one of its classic microphone models at ProLight + Sound 2014, with other new headphone and microphone products also receiving their PL+S debut at the event.

The AT4060a tube microphone rejoins the Audio-Technica line-up for 2014 - the cardioid large diaphragm condenser boasts a dynamic range that "far exceeds other tube mics", and is capable of handling high SPLs, making it suitable for bringing vintage warmth to everything from vocals to guitar cabinets.

In addition, ProLight + Sound will see Audio-Technica showcasing the newly-arrived M Series monitoring headphones, System 10 Stompbox guitar wireless system and BP894 subminiature headworn microphone.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Britannia Row Productions has invested further in DiGiCo consoles, with latest SD7 purchase going straight out on the recent Mastercard BRIT Awards.

Watched by over four million television viewers, the ceremony, held at London's O2 Arena, was once again hosted by James Cordon and featured performances from Beyonce, Katy Perry, Arctic Monkeys, Rudimental, Lourdes, Bastille and Bruno Mars, plus a medley from Pharrell Williams and Nile Rogers.

"For the first time on the BRITS I specified DiGiCo SD7 consoles for use on Front of house and Monitors," says Derrick Zieba, audio designer and live sound supervisor for the show. "I had used this console for the first time on the Classic BRITS last year and was amazed by the audio quality, transparency, flexibility and reliability of this board.

"For the BRITS, both the Arctic Monkeys and Bruno Mars requested th

UK A slice of 1950s Americana is currently rockin' and rollin' all week long throughout the UK and Ireland, as Happy Days, A New Musical brings The Fonz, Ritchie Cunningham and many other familiar characters from the television series to provincial stages. A Yamaha CL5 digital console is helping to deliver the c-o-o-o-l sound of the era.

Designed by Ben Harrison and supplied by Orbital Sound, the show's audio production features a Yamaha CL5 at front of house, with i/o from two Rio3224-D units. One of these is in the orchestra pit for the band inputs, a combination of microphones and DIs, with the other on stage handling inputs from the cast mics. The AES outputs from the latter unit feed a Yamaha DME64N digital mixing engine, which in turn outputs AES to the front of house PA.

Meanwhile, a PC at FOH with Dante Virtual Soundcard is running Steinberg Nuendo Live, enablin

UK - Allen & Heath has released V1.4 firmware for its GLD digital mixer range, introducing a suite of powerful dynamic processors and enhancements to scene management, including crossfading and embedded scene recalls.

V1.4 features two multiband compressors (three and four bands) and a four-band dynamic equaliser, recently developed for the latest update to the acclaimed iLive digital series. V1.4 also includes Transient Controller, an accurate model of the industry standard transient signal processor. These additions provide GLD users with crucial tools for dynamic control, such as taming vocals, smoothing a bass line, or shaping the transient behaviour of a snare drum.

In response to user requests and especially useful for theatre production, v1.4 provides the ability to set a crossfade time of up to 20s per each scene, which ensures a smooth transition by automating the lev

Rich Pickings - Taylor Swift has returned to the top of Billboard's annual list of music money makers, a title she held in 2012 only to relinquish last year to Madonna. The 24-year-old earned $39.7m (£23.8m) in 2013 from a combination of music sales, royalties and touring, according to the trade publication. Country star Kenny Chesney rose three places to second place, while Justin Timberlake came third. Rock acts Bon Jovi and the Rolling Stones round out this year's top five.

Homecoming - Hit musical Book of Mormon is due to play Salt Lake City for the first time next year, near the location of the Mormon church's headquarters. It will run from July to August at The Capitol Theatre, less than half a mile from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' flagship temple. Written by South Park's Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the show pokes fun at two naive m

Latest Issue. . .