UK/USA - Following the successful release of the major V4.8 update at the beginning of 2019, SSL has now followed up with the latest Live V4.9 console and SOLSA software. This release includes a host of feature updates and performance enhancements including the addition of new patch manager for importing and exporting input patches, talkback groups, speed enhancements for scene recalls and routing page navigation, plus numerous other workflow and functionality improvements. SSL will present the Live V4.9 software release at InfoComm 2019 this week. (Jim Evans)
Europe - Yamaha has announced an upcoming upgrade to its iActive Field Control (AFC) acoustic enhancement system. AFC4, the fourth-generation system, features upgrades in DSP processing and hardware. Yamaha says that when combined with optimally placed microphones and loudspeakers, AFC4 operators can enhance or create any acoustic environment, even in an outdoor or roofless venue. “By combining our collective knowledge in these areas to develop the new AFC4 system, it is possible to create incredibly natural and immersive acoustic experiences for both audiences and performers,” comments Joe Rimstidt, systems design engineer at Yamaha’s Professional Audio division. “We look forward to the exciting possibilities that the future holds for the AFC4 acoustic enhancement system.” First released in 1985, Active Field Control was developed in response to the g
USA - Trio, Charleston’s downtown dance club and lounge has a new owner, a million-dollar renovation, and a line-up of internationally-recognised DJs, all of which was unveiled during the club’s grand opening weekend 22-23 March Renovations include a technologically-advanced light and video production system and DAS Audio loudspeakers throughout. In addition to loudspeakers from the company’s Artec and Ventec product lines, Trio also serves as a ‘proving ground’ for the forthcoming E11EVEN Sound by DAS Audio loudspeakers. iDesign, a Miami, FL-based AV design / build integration firm was contracted to design and deploy the new sound reinforcement systems throughout Trio. Michael Meacham, the company’s owner and lead designer, worked in conjunction with DAS Audio’s national sales manager for installation and nightclubs, John Fiorito, to create the new soun
USA - The Pablo Centre at the Confluence is a fine arts centre with grand aspirations. Situated at the confluence of the Chippewa and Eau Claire Rivers in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, the 143,000sq.ft space includes a 1,200-seat proscenium theatre, the 400-seat JAMF black-box theatre, five flexible rehearsal rooms & galleries, and a light, sound, and video production lab, among many other rooms. One publication described The Pablo Centre at the Confluence as the centre of gravity for a growing orbit of arts and cultural institutions in the northwestern Wisconsin city of 65,000 residents and home to the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire. AV integration firm Camera Corner Connecting Point (CCCP) of Green Bay, Wisconsin assisted in the design and installation of the centre’s audio and video systems, which include over sixty Danley Sound Labs loudspeakers and subwoofers pow
USA - L-Acoustics has expanded its AVIXA Certified Technology Specialist (CTS) Renewal Unit (RU) provider status to include two new training modules. Engineers participating in the company’s Variable Curvature Line Source (3.5 RU) or Loudspeaker System Calibration (3.5 RU) training modules - either at an L-Acoustics location or via a certified provider - will now also be able to receive CTS Renewal Units. Etienne Corteel, director of scientific outreach at L-Acoustics, comments: “Across the globe, our L-Acoustics training programs are on track to deliver over 6,000 certifications in 2019. Expanding the AVIXA CTS offering to two of our strategic trainings is a mark of quality for the engineers who look to L-Acoustics to provide not only the highest standard in equipment, but also the highest standard in education for the professionals who design, implement and cal
USA - Wireless intercom solutions manufacturer Radio Active Designs will host a daily Radio Spectrum Update & RF Best Practices presentation during this week’s InfoComm 2019. Taking place at 11am on stand 6161, the event will be presented by the company CTO James Stoffo. He comments: “As the TV repack and T-Mobile activation begins to wrap up, wireless microphone and intercom operators across the country are finding it particularly challenging to get their jobs done. The radio spectrum shuffle affects all aspects of American culture including live broadcasts, sporting events, houses of worship services and arts and entertainment productions.” Stoffo will also be presenting an hour-long seminar offered by InfoComm at 8:00am on Thursday, 13 June. This will cover wireless microphone use as well as a spectrum update and best practices. Radio Ac
USA - A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away . . . or, to be more accurate, rather recently in Denver, the Colorado Symphony performed Oscar-winning composer John Williams’ full score for Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back while accompanying the film’s screening at the 1STBANK Centre in Broomfield. What elevated this cinematic performance from other popular orchestra/movie pairings - including the Colorado Symphony’s own accompaniment of Star Wars: A New Hope last year - was Clearwing Productions’ deployment of L-ISA Hyperreal Sound technology, which delivered a different experience for those in attendance. Clearwing is no stranger to L-ISA, having been the first North American company to utilise the system, initially for an outdoor Santa Barbara Bowl show with ODESZA, then later at the same venue with Bon Iver. However, this event marked the f
Belgium - The Cathedral of St Michael and St Gudula is one of the oldest and most beautiful cathedrals in Belgium. It originated as a chapel to honour St. Michael and was built on the Treurenberg hill in the ninth century. In the 11th century, it was replaced by a Romanesque church and in the 13th century, they added two round towers to the church. In total it took about 300 years to complete the entire church and it was finished in 1519 just before the reign of the emperor Charles V. Since 1962, the church is given the status of cathedral. The towers are each 64m high and the Cathedral is built of stone from the Gobertange quarry, which is located 45km southeast of the city. Because of the versatile character of the church there was a need for a complete, new audio system that can be used during these different types of events. It was important that there
UK - Creative technical event production company Hawthorn has appointed Jolene Price, who has joined the company as business development manager. Price will support the development of new business for Hawthorn’s live event technical production service. Before joining Hawthorn, she held the position of sales, events and marketing director at Rail Media and brings with her over 19 years of experience in sales and events. Scott Rooney-Ashby, account director at Hawthorn, comments: “We’re delighted to welcome Jolene to Hawthorn. She brings a wealth of experience to the position and with her previous experience in the industry, I believe she will be a great asset to the team. Investing in our people is vital to developing the service we provide to our clients and maintaining the extremely high-standards we are renowned for delivering.” (Jim Evans)
Cambodia - In Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, the Hard Rock Cafe has opened a two-floor venue in the city’s newly opened Exchange Square building. The Cafe has a capacity of 370 people, including a 75-seat outdoor terrace, a VIP room and a Hard Rock gift shop. Sonos Libra, Audac distributor in Cambodia, delivered an Audac installation to the cafe for areas such as the Hard Rock shop, the VIP room and the outdoor terrace. In the Hard Rock shop it was very important that the speakers were invisible but still delivered exceptional sound. Sonos Libra decided to install the CELO8 high-end ceiling speakers because of its slim grill design without a border these ceiling speakers blend perfectly into the interior design. In the VIP room, where intimacy but still exceptional sound quality was important, they have chosen to install a combination of a BASO15 bass reflex ca
UK - Middlesex University is among the latest educational establishments to invest in an Allen & Heath dLive digital mixing system, recently installing an S3000 surface in the TV production facilities at its Faculty of Arts and Creative Industries in Hendon, north London. The university’s Sony-designed facilities were created to give students as close to a real-world learning and working environment as possible. Boasting a double-height main studio and separate main, VT and sound galleries, they are equipped to a standard comparable to commercial studios and see a diverse range of programme creation - including a significant amount of live music production - throughout the academic year. “When we were looking to replace our existing audio desk, I was considering very ‘broadcast-specific’ options,” Aidan Delaney (technical manager at the faculty) explains
Mexico - Auditorio Citibanamex is a live music venue located in Monterrey that has emerged as one of the country’s top concert venues since undergoing an extensive renovation and redesign several years ago. Located in the heart of Monterrey’s Fundidora Park, the venue has a capacity of 8,000 and attracts both national and international artists. Despite the renovation, the venue stood somewhat unobtrusive in a brush of static white light until last summer when it received a radiant outdoor wash of colour courtesy of company Adimsa, Elation’s long-time partner in Mexico and one of the country’s leading lighting providers. Adimsa installed weatherproof Elation Professional SixPar and SixBar series luminaires across the outside of the building, high-power, single-lens Pars and battens with RGBWA+UV LED chips that provide an exceptionally broad palette of colours.
UK - Nexo will present the Geo M12 mid-size line array in a real-world production environment as part of two roadshow events held in partnership with Yamaha this summer. Visitors will have the chance to get hands-on with the three-line array systems in the Geo M family: the new Geo 12, the Geo M10 mid-size line array, and the compact Geo M6.The Nexo system set-up will include the PM7 and PM10 Rivage digital consoles, running the Dante audio network. On 26 June, sound engineers, rental providers and audio installation professionals will get the chance to audition the full range of Geo M high-output line arrays in Birmingham’s Resorts World Arena. On 3 July, the location is The Mill Rehearsal Studio in Wimbledon, London. This purpose-built production studio has more than 400sq.m. of space, with a trim height of 6m for the line arrays. Nexo and Yamaha syste
UK - A new pro audio company focused on the corporate and special events markets has been launched. Audio Evolution is the brainchild of the leadership team at live events video specialist Pixl Evolution and will operate as a sister company from the latter’s Hertfordshire HQ. The pro audio arm has been set up as a response to regular requests from Pixl Evolution’s clients for bespoke audio to accompany video provision. Prompted by this demand, further scoping of the market revealed a clear space for a high-quality audio provider specifically aligned towards the corporate sector. A £1.1m investment in d&b, Yamaha, Shure and Denon equipment is supported a team of four, able to meet the needs of worldwide corporate events “on any scale”. Lee Spencer, commercial director at Audio Evolution comments: “Audio Evolution came into being as a direct
UK - Martin Audio has announced WPS, the fourth model in the award winning and best-selling Wavefront Precision optimised line array series. Wavefront Precision evolved the technology and innovation of the MLA series by offering external amplification and scalable resolution. The systems deliver improved coverage, consistency and control compared with standard line arrays, and are “flexible, upgradeable and financially accessible”. Dom Harter, managing director, explains: “Simply put, the more enclosures with dedicated amplifier channels, the higher the resolution and scale of coverage and control is achievable. “This means even at the lowest level of resolution the results are still fundamentally better than traditional line array, at no extra cost, and at the top end of resolution users can enjoy many of the benefits that MLA systems provide. Presently
USA - At Infocomm 2019, TiMax will showcase ‘an exhilarating sampler’ of TiMax immersive audio soundscapes along with panoramic and 3D spatialised music playback, in conjunction with a multi-channel immersive sound system of Renkus-Heinz compact, Dante-enabled active installation speakers. Dave Haydon and Duncan Crundwell from TiMax will present the immersive sampler regularly throughout each day and be available for detailed product and application discussions in Demo Room W221BC. There will also be updates on some of the latest TiMax innovations including the new HARDCore FPGA spatial processing engine for TiMax SoundHub, and the new TiMax TrackerD4 all-purpose performer stagetracking system. The TiMax SoundHub HARDCore FPGA delivers extended delay-matrix scalability and new levels of seamlessly transparent dynamic delay morphing. The power of the new platf
USA - d&b audiotechnik will announce the launch of a new product class of loudspeaker at InfoComm 2019. Suitable for a variety of mid-size applications, the new product will be on display at booth #6761 and demonstrated in the d&b demo room, W232AB. The recently announced B8/Bi8 subwoofers will also be found in the booth and in the d&b demo room as part of overall product demonstrations. The ultra-compact subs are approximately 6.7” high, low profile, the B8 maintains high performance to size ratio with a low frequency from 170 down to 43 Hz. The d&b Soundscape advances the capabilities of sound design over conventional systems in live environments through the use of object-based mixing, room emulation software and the system configuration processing of the DS100 engine. With Soundscape, the listener enjoys a true audio experience and clarity, creati
USA - Community Professional Loudspeakers is exhibiting at InfoComm 2019 and showing two new major product lines. The company will display a wide range of its new and existing products. Community will be introducing the L Series LVH-900 loudspeaker system, with beamforming technology that addresses the coverage and projection challenges of large venues and stadiums. There will also be demonstrations of the I Series Modular Vertical Array 600 and the launch of ALC Amplified Loudspeaker Controllers. The L Series LVH-900 Beamforming Venue Horn, combined with Community’s proprietary room prediction software and Amplified Loudspeaker Controllers, precisely tailors the directivity of each loudspeaker, or array of loudspeakers, to meet the sound requirements in any application, says the company. Designed for exceptional performance in large venues, each LVH-900 consists of
UK - DPA’s d:facto 4018V Vocal Microphone plays a starring role in the staging of SIX the Musical - and not just because it conveys the crystal clear audio that sound designer Paul Gatehouse was looking for. Equally important is the look of the microphone and the fact that it is handheld, which truly conveys the concert-like atmosphere that this popular West End theatre show aims to replicate. “The d:facto 4018V is a vital part of SIX’s visual imagery because the Queens (the main characters) convey their message using a handheld device,” Gatehouse explains. “The show’s creators, Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, wanted to present a unique experience, something that referenced Beyoncé at Roseland. Working with handheld microphones allows us to do that in a very powerful way.” Written by Marlow and Moss while they were studying for their final
Italy - Following last year’s success, in 2019 the RDS Stadium in Genoa again hosted www.elrow.com/en. Behind the consoles, there were some of the most popular DJs of the moment: Dennis Ferrer, Marc Maya, Milkborg, Toni Varga, Anabel Sigel and Federico Guttadauro, so sound quality played a fundamental role in the successful outcome of the event, promoted by RST Events of Genoa. The audio rig able to meet the requirements of the world-level event was supplied by Show Technologies TM of Recco (Genoa) with an Outline system. Sacha Bozzo, partner with Show Technologies TM, explains: “For the PA, we adopted a solution we’d already successfully used in the location in question, which comprised two hangs each with 12 Outline Butterfly systems, positioned approximately 10m above the floor and 15m apart, plus two groups of three Outline Mantas modules, stacked left and ri
UK - London’s Saatchi Gallery is hosting Beyond The Road, an immersive exhibition and independent project developed by Punchdrunk creatives Colin Nightingale (creative producer) and Stephen Dobbie (sound designer and creative director). Presented by Beyond Projects in collaboration with the gallery, Beyond The Road merges the worlds of visual arts, music and film, and offers visitors a chance to leave behind their modern day lives and lose themselves in a multi-sensory world led by sound. Collaborating with contemporary artists, filmmakers and photographers, the exhibition deconstructs a soundtrack by music pioneer James Lavelle (UNKLE), to create a completely new and multi-disciplinary sound experience. Nightingale and Dobbie now seek to reinvent how people experience and interact with music, so it becomes an environment which visitors are fre
Ireland - Andy Knightley from Krecording Audio Solutions is no stranger to recording live performances having been responsible for multiple hit live albums over the last 20 years. The latest addition to this list is Derek Ryan Live, which hit the top of the Irish iTunes country music chart, recorded using a Blackbox BBR64-MADI from JoeCo. Since upgrading to the JoeCo unit, it has been the ease of transport and portable nature of the BBR64-MADI that has quickly made it an integral part of Knightly’s rig. “The size of the JoeCo means it's so easily transportable,” explains Knightley. “When I'm doing fly shows I send the preamps freight but I can carry the JoeCo on the flight with me. That not only saves space but also peace of mind given that the recorder is right beside me when I travel. I carry 64 channels in my record rack. Before I switched to JoeCo I used a
USA - Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. seats 20,000 fans and is home to the Washington Capitals NHL hockey team, the Washington Wizards NBA basketball team, and the Georgetown NCAA men’s basketball team. As of late, the arena had been feeling the effects of the age of its original sound reinforcement system that was installed two decades ago. Headquartered two hours away in Manheim, Pennsylvania, national AVL integration firm Clair Solutions embraced the task of modernising the Capital One Arena with the installation of new EAW self-powered Anna and Otto adaptive line array elements, complete with custom flown equipment racks. Clair Solutions managed the project without a hiccup on a short lead time. “Capital One Arena’s previous sound reinforcement system was 20 years old,” explained Jim Devenney, Clair Solutions senior systems designer. “It lacked cla
Ireland - The first convention centre designed from the outset to be carbon-neutral, the multi award-winning Convention Centre Dublin (The CCD) opened in 2010. It has since become a landmark on the Dublin skyline while its world-class facilities, technical infrastructure and central location make it attractive to a wide range of international clients. Twenty-two separate, individually-configurable spaces are available for meetings and events of all kinds. At its heart is a 2,000-capacity auditorium (featuring a full theatrical production specification) in addition to a capacious exhibition space, extensive banqueting facilities, a further large theatre space in the Forum and six spacious areas in the magnificent glass-fronted foyer. Autograph Sales & Installations were recently approached to provide an upgrade path to the venue’s existing Clear-Com communications
