psne november 2013 digital edition

AES NYCproduct news p16

PLASAshow news p29

PSNEUROPELawo loves

Laura

NOVEMBER 2013

Mixing Ms Mvula atRock en Seine

L-AcousticsK2 systemto reach

new heightsOB truckfest! p30p19 & 24

p40

Waite:yourturn! p54

THE BUSINESS OF PROFESSIONAL AUDIO www.psneurope.com

From L-ACOUSTICS, comes the classic KIVA Modular Line Source accompanied by the brand new SB15m LF extension. KIVA boasts an impressive track record of performances in classical music, special events and theatres, consistently delivering clear, precise and incredibly intelligible sound. Credentials include long throw capability, extensive vertical coverage capable of matching any audience geometry and smooth and controlled horizontal directivity pattern. As for its new SB15m companion subwoofer, nicknamed ��the bass��, it brings in the rock with its extended operating bandwidth which stretches KIVA�s response to 40Hz and an LF impact that brings down the house. A must-hear in 2013. More at www.l-acoustics.com

PLASA LONDON, then. How was it for you?“We got busier and busier, as people were staying

longer,” FBT’s Mark Parkhouse told me. “I want tosell loudspeakers to small-to-medium hirecompanies, and there were lots of them visiting.

“We loved the attention. I’m sure others like us –Shure, Martin Audio, KV2 – did too.” Unencumberedby the usual rivals, undoubtedly they did. Pioneer hada perfect opportunity to launch its club system, Avidto show off its S3L console for the first time –because there were few competing products on show.

PLASA London, then: good for those who gave it achance. And, from the conversations I was having inthe café and on the terrace, a good show for thebrands which could still meet clients, but wereemancipated from the cost of exhibiting.

Of course, all this didn’t stop people complaining:“Not enough audio!” ...Sigh. We all know that ifeveryone set up camp in Costa Coffee, there would beno exhibition. We should not be relying on certainbrands to prop up the show for the rest of the industry.

And while there’s no single solution to restoring theshow to former glories, PLASA must get the big boxand big console makers into those ExCeL halls. I askedMartin Audio’s James King, still relatively new to thisindustry, what he’d do if he was in charge. “I’d tellpotential exhibitors, ‘Take a booth, and we’ll fly overthe five customers you really want to see.’”

Chris Toulmin, head of events for the show, said inthe PLASA summary press release, “…we have morework to do – in certain areas of the exhibition…”

Perhaps put in a call to the travel agent, Chris?Dave Robinson (twitter:@psneurope)

“We all know that ifeveryone set up campin Costa Coffee, there would be noexhibition”

IIN THIS ISSUE...

NEWS4 Funktion-One victorious in trademark case5 Apex Audio NV declared bankrupt6 Industry appointments 8 Diary of events and expos10 New product round-up

STUDIO14 Paul Epworth buys ‘The Church’ 15 Craig Silvey’s Toast; all new Jungle16 SSL and API at AES NYC18 The Loft Studios, Newcastle19 New truck for Norway’s NRK

BROADCAST20 Specs in place for file-based TV broadcast22 Megahertz bought by OKNO-TV23 Audionics in liquidation24 Feature: Building the perfect OB truck

LIVE29 Shure Distribution UK’s new business model30 All hail the forthcoming L-Acoustics K232 Pearce Hire profiled; VUE in Europe35 Ellie Goulding on tour36 Music touring worth £2.2bn to UK37 Nexo STM at the Stade de France38 Brit Row Training out of the blocks40 Lawo at Rock en Seine42 Feature: Built to last! Compact speakers

INSTALL46 Duran Audio bought by Harman48 BPM launches PRO show for 201450 ETA Sound takes the double

BACK PAGES65 Hither & Dither66 Interview: Rusty Waite, EAW

www.psneurope.com November 2013 l 03

welcomeEDITOR’S COMMENT

Phot

o: Ja

ke Y

oung

Cover picture:Mercury nominee Laura Mvula at Rocken Seine, Paris, August 2013

Photo: Helen Aitchison

By Dave Robinson

AFTER A lengthy, costly andcomplex dispute, loudspeakermanufacturer Funktion-One hasfinally won an importanttrademark case relating to theuse of its name and companylogo in China.

The case follows the pre-emptive registration of theFunktion-One name and logo by Wu Meiling in March 2005.

The British company, underrepresentation from Wilkinson &Grist, challenged the move and

won – vindicating the time, costsand resources that have beenabsorbed by the long process.

The People’s Republic ofChina’s trademark law prohibitspre-emptive registration of atrademark that is already in useby another person, in respect ofidentical or similar goods thathave gained a certain level ofinfluence in the country.Funktion-One’s case focused onthe international reputation ithas grown since it was formedby John Newsham and TonyAndrews in 1992 and itsprominence in China.

Funktion-One’s evidenceincluded its participation ininternational and local exhibitions,features in international and localtrade magazines (includingPSNEurope) and records of theprofessional awards that thecompany has won. Specific

correspondences from Chinesecompanies expressing stronginterest in doing business withFunktion-One added to thecompelling argument.

Following the successfulopposition of Wu’s mark,Funktion-One also succeeded insecuring registration of its ownFunktion-One mark in China.

Reflecting on the triumph,Funktion-One’s Ann Andrewssaid: “It’s a huge relief.”

“China is a very importantmarket for us. Obviously, we’dprefer not to face threats to ourtrademarks and copyrights, butwe fought and won, so we’revery pleased about that. Ourrepresentatives, Wilkinson &Grist, have been brilliant,professional and diligentthroughout. As have the tradepress, PLASA and Prolight +Sound. We’d like to thank themfor their support.

“Hopefully this sends out a positive message to the industry.”�www.funktion-one.com

04 l November 2013 www.psneurope.com

news

Hope for brands withtrademark disputes asloudspeaker makerwins exhaustive fightwith Chinese vendor

Battle won for Funktion-One

Smiles all round: Tony and Ann Andrews, (pictured at the Pro Sound Awards), havejust won their lengthy dispute with a disreputable Chinese merchant

For the latest news www.psneurope.com

By Erica Basnicki

HOSTED BY Sir George andLady Martin, the seventh annualAPRS Sound FellowshipAwards Lunch will take place atthe Roof Gardens, Kensingtonon Tuesday 19 November.

APRS Sound Fellows arerecognised for their ‘significantcontribution to the art, scienceor business of sound recording’.

This year’s recipientsinclude songwriter Jeff Beck,former Livingston Studiosowner Jerry Boys, EMI andChrysalis A&R man ChrisBriggs, AMS Neve founderMark Crabtree, Lansdowne and CTS Studios owner Adrian Kerridge, legendaryrecording engineer PhilRamone and producer/composer Nile Rodgers.

Giving the keynote address byway of proposing the HarewoodToast this year – named afterEarl of Harewood, the foundingpresident of the APRS – is Fran Nevrkla, OBE andchairman of PPL.

Platinum sponsors for thisyear’s industry lunch includeRØDE, API and UniversalAudio, who are joining the groupfor the first time. Focusrite will

once again take up its spot aswine sponsor for the seventh year running.

Tickets for the lunch can bebooked on the APRS website or via email: [email protected] phone APRS head office on +44 (0)1803 868600. Special discounts are availablefor APRS and other trade body members. �www.aprs.co.uk

2013 APRS Sound Fellows announcedUNITED KINGDOM

Fran Nevrkla will propose this year’sHarewood Toast

UNITED KINGDOM/CHINA

APEX AUDIO NV, theBelgium-based manufacturing,distribution and solutionscompany of 22 years’ standing,filed for bankruptcy with theHasselt Court on Thursday, 17October. Company director Paulvan Hees, when asked, hasconfirmed the situation butdeclined to comment further.

The administrator for Apexhas been named as BussersPatrick ([email protected]). All concerned partiesare requested to contact him by17 November.

Apex Audio was formed in1991 by van Hees and EddyBergers (formerly of electricalgiant Philips), and thecompany’s first product was thePE-133 equaliser. The mostrecent design was the Intelli-X248 192kHz processor.

Apex, based in Beringen-Paalto the north-east of Brussels,comprised three subsidiaries,(Apex BeLux, Apex Hollandand Apex France), employingaround 18 staff.

Renaud Schoonbroodt, R&Ddirector since 2000, had alreadyleft the business before thefiling. Rik Hoerée, sales &technical director at ApexBeLux and Apex France, left thecompany one year ago for a postat Riedel.

Apex was a distributor ofmany brands across severalsectors, including DHD, AVT,Coda, DiGiCo, Genelec,Mogami, Riedel and Sonifex.

“I have known Paul for 25 years, when he was salesmanager with EML sales. I’ve witnessed the company’sgrowth from a close distance,”

comments sound engineerPatrick Demoustier. “I heardthe news on my 50th birthdayand it was very emotional – abusiness icon is at an end…” he concludes.

“Nobody saw this coming,”comments Jo Van denWijngaerde – CEO of rentalhouse Soundfield, and one of

the leading DiGiCo users inBelgium. “We recently hadmeetings about upgrading andexpansion of our DiGiCoinventory. We still haveequipment in Apex’s repairworkshop and are talking to theadministrator to retrieve it.”

Soundfield was the first touse the SD5 console in Belgium– the company currently has six DiGiCo desks for rental.Van den Wijngaerde says he hadthe impression that Apex was a

healthy company despite theeconomic crisis. “We were allsurprised…”

Pieter Begard, managingdirector of Studio Haifax, echoeshis peer. “At this stage we’repreparing a major projectinvolving quite some new Codakit – 24 new cabinets andmonitors – with Apex playing acrucial role,” says Begard. “Wenow must see how to continuewith Coda directly and give usthe support Apex would.”

Studio Haifax also uses threeDiGiCo consoles and Apexproducts for rental assignments.“You could say that aconsiderable part of our businessis based on Apex,” adds Begard.“Nobody expected this.” �www.apex-audio.be

news

Leading manufacturer and distributor based in Belgium calls in administrator,much to surprise of clients. Dave Robinson and Marc Maes report

Paul van Hees (left) and Renaud Schoonbroodt outside the Apex HQ on the occasion of the anniversary of the company’s 20th anniversary in 2011


Apex Audio files for bankruptcyBENELUX/FRANCE

FOLLOWINGWIDESPREAD interest inFocusrite’s RedNet Dante-based Ethernet audionetworking system, and in thewake of a year which has seensales of the brand expand byover 60%, Focusrite hasannounced the appointment of Mark Davidson to theposition of business managerfor RedNet the firstappointment specific to thenascent technology.

Davidson has a strongbackground in bothprofessional audio and datanetworking sales andmarketing, having worked at Optocore, Clear-Com and Riedel.

“Audio networking isemerging as a major theme inprofessional audio. There’s anextensive market for RedNet ina whole range of markets fromlive performance to fixedinstallations,” said Davidson.

“In addition to the obviouslarger-scale markets, I think thereare a significant number of nicheapplications for this technology.I want to identify those areasand develop them alongside themainstream applications.”

Damian Hawley, Focusrite’ssales director, is similarlyenthusiastic about Davidson’sappointment. “Mark bringsexactly the combination ofskills we need to progress thealready impressive success ofthis new line,” he said.

“RedNet represents the highend of our professional audiomarket. It brings together allour skills, old and new – inanalogue and digital design,mic preamps, digital conversionand now networking – andtakes them to new heights. TheRedNet line has extraordinarypotential, and Mark will becentral to realising ourambitions in this area.”www.focusrite.com


industrymovers

Mark Davidson fills firstFocusrite RedNet roleAppointment is in response to strong sales and highinterest in the audio networking system

Ronni Guggenheim hasjoined Barix as CEO

replacing company founderJohannes G Rietschel who willbecome executive chairman andCTO. Guggenheim haspreviously held managementroles with Minicom DigitalSignage, ComQi and neXius. www.barix.com

Metropolis Studios hasappointed Nina Jackson to

manage its recording studios andengineer roster. Jackson has over20 years of experience in the musicindustry covering everything frommusic engineering and publishingto studio/tour booking andfestival production.www.thisismetropolis.com

As part of itsorganisational restructure,

D&M Pro has named MarkPerrins president, while DavidMorbey becomes global productmarketing manager. Morbeyjoined the company in 2005 asgeneral manager while Morbeywas previously Europeanproduct marketing manager. Hewill now be responsible forproduct planning for thecompany’s entire portfolio ofproducts.www.d-mpro.com

Stefano Pucello has joinedAV cables and solutions

provider VDC Trading asinternational sales manager. Inthis new role he will beresponsible for the managementand development of theinternational markets for theVan Damme range ofprofessional grade AV cables.Pucello joins VDC with morethan a decade of internationalsales experience in the wire andcable industry.www.vdctrading.com

Lisa Schmitt has taken upthe position of marketing

assistant at SalzbrennerStagetec Mediagroup. She willassist marketing director AnjaKorn and interface between thecompany’s headquarters and its

15 branches around Germany and abroad.www.stagetec.com

Rich Soper has joinedCUK Audio as brand

manager, live sound, withresponsibility for sales andsupport of Cadac, Clair Bros,Cordial, db Technologies,Outline, Pivitec and Powersoft.Soper has a background as afront of house engineer,working on tours, cruise linersand live events. He joins CUKAudio from YamahaCommercial Audio where heheld the position of regional

manager and specialised indigital consoles, DSP andloudspeaker systems. Prior to that he worked fordbTechnologies UK and Amber Sound.www.cuk-audio.com

TC Group has announced the appointment of Fred

Speckeen to the role of globalbusiness manager for DynaudioProfessional. In this new positionbased at TC Group AmericasHQ in Kitchener, Ontario,Canada, he will be responsiblefor driving all aspects of theDynaudio Professional brand.He brings more than 20 years ofindustry experience to the role. www.tcgroup.tc

Prism Sound has boostedits Test and Measurement

department with theappointment of Elliott Whyte tothe position of juniorapplications engineer. Whyterecently graduated fromBirmingham City University with a first class honours degreein Music Technology. Duringhis second year at university hebegan building his own audioequipment and secured a workplacement with Technical EarthLtd where he worked withPrism Sound’s dScope Series IIIaudio analyser.www.prismsound.com

Ronni Guggenheim Barix

Nina JacksonMetropolis Studios

David MorbeyD&M Pro

Stefano PucelloVDC Trading

Lisa SchmittSalzbrenner StagetecMediagroup

Rich SoperCUK Audio

Fred SpeckeenTC Group

Elliot WhytePrism Sound

linear large-scalesound reinforcementsystem

Powerful. Linear. With tremendous headroom.

Hear what people are saying at meyersound.com/leo

VViscom & Digital Signage World7-9 NovemberFrankfurt, Germanywww.viscom-messe.com

LDI/Live Design18-24 NovemberOrlando, USwww.ldishow.com

JTSE26-27 NovemberParis, Francewww.jtse.fr

2014International CES7-10 January 2014Las Vegas, USwww.cesweb.org

2014 NAMM Show23-26 JanuaryAnaheim, USwww.namm.org

MIDEM 201425-28 JanuaryCannes, Francewww.midem.com

BETT30 January-2 FebruaryLondon, UKwww.bettshow.com

Integrated Systems Europe 20144-6 FebruaryAmsterdam, Netherlandswww.iseurope.org

SIEL 10-14 FebruaryParis, Francewww.siel-expo.com

BVE25-27 FebruaryLondon, UKwww.bvexpo.com

ISCEx 20145 MarchMilton Keynes, UKwww.isce.org.uk

CeBIT11-15 MarchHanover, Germanywww.cebit.de

Prolight + Sound12-15 MarchFrankfurt, Germanywww.prolight-sound.com

CABSAT 201423-25 MarchDubai, UAEwww.cabsat.com

NAB5-10 AprilLas Vegas, USwww.nabshow.com

LLB23-25 AprilStockholm, Swedenwww.llb.se

PLASA Focus30 April-1 MayLeeds, UKwww.plasafocus.com

ABTT11-12 JuneLondon, UKwww.abttheatreshow.co.uk

InfoComm 201414-20 JuneLas Vegas,, USwww.infocommshow.org

EVENTS Your complete calendar of expos and conferences for the months ahead


For more events news visit www.psneurope.com/events

expos&events

BVE NORTH is the leading broadcast and productiontechnology event in the north of England (and the only eventof its kind outside London), and attracts over 100 industry-leading exhibitors. It is held within the impressive formerManchester Central railway station and is part of the TheManchester Central Complex, formerly GMEX). A highlightof the show will undoubtedly be the ‘Big Stories SmallCameras – the power of handheld shooting’ session withPhil Coates. The director cameraman (right) will share hisexperiences of capturing the action and recording qualityaudio with small handheld camcorders from a range of landmark productions filmed for the BBC, Discovery and Channel 5 and for the forthcoming documentary feature,Ice Lab North Pole. (Coates is pictured relaxing between takes in, cough, tropical climes…)

SPOTLIGHTBVE NORTH12-13 NovemberLeeds, UKwww.bvenorth.co.uk

EDITORIALPLANNER

DECEMBER 2013f Studio monitors

What’s selling in the nearfield –

and further a field. The tweaky

world of speakers in studios

f Sport in 2014: a preview

Looking ahead to the World Cup,

the Commonwealth Games in

Glasgow and more

f Review of 2013

A corker of a year, or one we’d

rather forget? At least we had a

summer this time around...

Deadline: 19 November

Distribution: 29 November

JANUARY 2014f Test & Measurement

It’s all about precision

f Cables + Connectors

Something VERY SPECIAL and

out of the ordinary is planned for

this most humble of features...

f ISE preview

Make your plan for Amsterdam...

f NAMM preview

...and what to find in Anaheim

Deadline: 12 December

Distribution: 6 January

www.beyerdynamic.com/tg1000

TG 1000 DIGITAL WIRELESS SYSTEM–––––– PROFESSIONAL AUDIO PRODUCTS MADE IN GERMANY

Safe long-term Investment

Offering a bandwidth 470–789 MHz,TG 1000 is a safe long-term investment.

2.1 ms Total Latency

TG 1000 features a total latency of only 2.1 ms, which is trend-setting for digital wireless systems.

beyerdynamic GmbH & Co. KG Theresienstr. 8 . 74072 Heilbronn . Germany . Phone +49 7131 617-0 . Fax +49 7131 617-224 . [email protected]


technologynew productsPSNEurope compiles this month’s list of hot new products

DPA

Podium MicrophonesWhat is it? Two new microphones basedon the d:dicate range.

Details: DPA’s new podiummicrophones combine the modularcapsules from its d:dicate Recording

Microphones with any of the company’snewly introduced modular active boomsand modular active cables. The directionalgooseneck microphones use interferencetubes and pre-polarised backplates toensure speech intelligibility.

And another thing: The product wasinitially designed for the Nobel PrizeOrganisation, which needed a dedicatedpodium solution for its 2012 Peace Prize presentation.www.dpamicrophones.com

SONNOX/FRAUNHOFER

CODEC TOOLBOXWhat is it? Acollaboration betweenplug-in developerSonnox and MP3creator Fraunhofer IIS,which offers real-timecodec auditioning,metadata editing andbatch encoding.

Details: Codec Toolboxis comprised of twoapplications: theToolbox Plug-In, forreal-time mixauditioning throughvarious codecs; and the ToolboxManager, for encoding and addingmetadata. A ‘clip safe’ function ensuresclean encoded files, as the software auto-compensates for any overs duringthe encode process.

And another thing: Codec Toolbox willcost just £35 (around €30).www.sonnox.com

What is it? Two full-range additions tothe Vertical Array loudspeaker family.

Details: The TS 100 two-way, full-range box boasts power handling of150W/RMS and is designed for amultitude of applications, includingclubs and restaurants, hotels and forsupplying frontfill in theatres. It weighsjust 7.1kg. The TS 200 two-way,

EVE AUDIO

DYNACORD

What is it? A broadcast applicationspecific extension to the SD5.

Details: The SD5 fits directly into theshoes of the D5, but benefits fromthe advancements made possible byDiGiCo’s proprietary Stealth DigitalProcessing and floating point SuperFPGA technology.

As with the SD5, the SD5B’sworksurface is a low noise, heatdissipation worksurface benefitingfrom Hidden-til-lit (HTL) technology.Its five full colour TFT LCD screens,three of which are touch sensitive,have a new configuration that

allows easy access to single ormultiple users.

And another thing: As standard,the SD5 comes with a 2GB fibreoptic system, which is capable of running 448 channels of I/O at 96kHz, plus 56 console-to-console tie lines, allowingconnection to up to 14 of the SDvariant racks. There are threeredundant MADI ports and local I/O includes eight microphoneinputs, eight line outputs and eightAES I/O (mono). www.digico.biz

What is it? A four-way activemonitor series.

Details: The SC4xx series featurestwo models: the SC407, 6.5”powered studio monitor; and theSC408, 8” powered studio monitor(pictured). Both models are equippedwith a pair of SilverCone woofers and a midrange unit with glass fibre coated diaphragm inhoneycomb structure.

The SC4xx series utilises EVE Audio’s proprietary AMT

(Air Motion Transformer)technology with a bigger magnetsystem to deliver transparency and delicate treble with virtually no distortion, even at high output levels.

And another thing: The SC407boasts a response of 35Hz to 21kHz and a peak SPL of 116dB, while the SC408 features a responseof 32Hz to 21kHz and a peak SPL of 118dB.www.novadistribution.co.uk

SC4XX

TS 100, TS 200

DIGICO

SD5B

full-range loudspeaker boasts powerhandling of 300W/RMS. Its highsound pressure and precisely controlleddispersion make it ideal for applicationssuch as in mobile use as a medium sized FOH.

And another thing: Linear-phase FIR (Finite Impulse Response) presets and presets for conventionaldigital controllers are available for both systems.www.dynacord.com

www.dynacord.com

Vertical Array Systems

A success story continuesTS 200 AND PS 312 AS AN ULTRA-COMPACT SYSTEM

The loudspeaker cabinets of the Vertical Array series satisfythe highest standards in terms of excellent sound providingextremely high sound pressure levels and optimal versatility.

Whether used for small family parties or a big gala reception – the Vertical Array Systems stand for best sound entertainment with minimum effort. Premium quality of sound achieved by high-quality speaker parts and crossover design.

WWhat is it? Preamp for 500 series racks.

Details: Based on the ZDT Preamptechnology designed by DavidBlackmer, the 521 brings thestandards of the ZDT Zero DistortionPreamplifiers to the convenient 500series format, providing a pristineamplification option to the 500series rack.

The solid state device featuresswitchable phantom power, polarityinvert, and peak amplitude clipdetection. The transformerlessoutput stage is designed to drive longcable runs without loss of quality.Transparent gain is switchable from5dB to 60dB in 5dB steps.

And another thing: It’s the first timeEarthworks has produced a 500series preamp.

What is it? Three transformer-basedpassive splitter products.

Details: The CM-AESB3 is a passive‘one-to-three’ splitter designed tosplit a single AES3ID digital audiosource to up to three destinations,using female BNC connectors. The CM-AESX3 is similarly a passive one-to-three splitter used to create multiple AES3 digital audiosignals from a single source, using Neutrik XLR connectors. The CM-MS3 can split a single

microphone or line source to up tothree destinations, using Neutrik XLR connectors. It uses high-qualityaudio transformers that are capable of accepting input levels up to+18dBu, making the splitter useful

in both microphone and line levelsplitting applications.

And another thing: The units are housed inaluminium and require no power to operate.www.sonifex.co.uk

What is it? A 16-input and four-outputClass A discrete active summing mixerand amplifier, based on the Nicerizer 16 mk2.

Details: Designed to offer high-qualityanalogue summing to clients where

sonic quality is imperative theNicerizer Junior has 16 inputscontaining 16 Class A discrete inputbuffer amps, four outputs containingDSOP2 Class A discrete output ampsand four custom wound transformers.Each channel has panning with

detented/stepped control and an 8dBlevel boost.

And another thing: The product wason show at last month’s AESConvention in New York.www.phoenixaudio.net


technologynew products

SONIFEXEARTHWORKS

TUBE-TECH

What is it? A 19”, 2U 2-channelpremium microphone preamp/DI.

Details: The MP2A boasts aswitchable +48 V phantom power,selectable microphone impedance(600/1,200/2,400 ohms), phasereverse switch, low-cut filter(20Hz/40Hz/off) as well as aswitchable -20dB pad. The input

gain is adjustable from +10dB to+70dB (coarse by 10dB steps, fine by2dB steps). UK distributor BiggerBoat claims the MP2A delivers “arich, full-bodied sound” of a quality“that places it among the very bestmic preamps on the planet”.

And another thing: A high impedancesetting makes the MP2A ideal for usewith ribbon microphones.www.tubetech.com

MP2APHOENIX AUDIO

NICERIZER JUNIOR

CM-AESB3, CM-AESX3, CM-MS3

521 ZDT

The DiGiCo SD Ten provides a potent new blend of features, performance and

flexibility which, when coupled with the exceptional sonic clarity, redefines what’s

possible with a ‘mid-price’ digital console.

It’s all here. Taking its cues from the acclaimed SD7, the SD Ten includes the power

and purity of Stealth Digital Processing™, the smoothness, accuracy and dynamic

range of the latest generation Super FPGA technology with floating point processing

and an application-specific feature set that’s tailored to both front-of-house and

monitor mixing.

And when you’re working with large numbers of inputs and outputs, the SD Ten will

readily accommodate, offering 96 channels with full processing, 12 of which are Flexi

Channels, 48 assignable busses which offer multiple configurations, plus a stereo or

LCR master buss and a 16 x 16 output matrix.

Want to know more - mouse on over to www.digico.biz/sd10

Mixing to the power of Ten:

SD-Rack. The world’s first intelligent I/O rack with Multiple Synchronous I/O, offering up to 448 physical I/Os on a redundant loop at 96kHz. DiGiCo UK Ltd. Unit 10 Silverglade Business Park, Leatherhead Road, Chessington, Surrey KT9 2QL. Tel: +44 (0) 1372 845600

By Dave Robinson

PAUL EPWORTH has boughtthe Church Studios in northLondon from musician DavidGray. The studios will be run bythe Miloco Group, following aredesign by the Walters-StorykDesign Group.

The Adele co-writer and Brit-winning producer’s move hassaved the historic Crouch Hillbuilding from being convertedinto flats, a proposal that was putforward by Gray following hisconclusion that its role as arecording space was “obsolete”.These plans were opposed byformer owner Dave Stewart (whoset up the studio there in the

1990s) as well as by local residents,as reported by PSNEurope inAugust of last year.

Gray bought the studios,housed in a converted church,from the Eurythmics star in2004 and went on to recordthree studio albums there – LifeIn Slow Motion, Draw The Lineand Foundling.

“I’m delighted to be handingon this wonderful building inthe knowledge that it willremain a vital part of London’songoing music heritage,” saidGray. “I am just putting thefinishing touches to what will bethe fourth studio album I haverecorded at The Church and itremains a very inspiring place.

“I bought the studios as myown personal recording spaceand at one stage – with theproblems in the wider musicbusiness – it looked like thechance of selling it on as aworking studio were close tozero. I know Paul has lots ofplans and I wish him and thestudio the very best.”

Epworth said: “Davidapproached me as a last call tosee if he could keep thebuilding as a studio rather thanlet it go to residential. I wasequally as keen to keep a pieceof London recording historyrunning and we finallycompleted the exchange at thestart of October.

“It’s a fantastic place and Iintend to refurbish the studio tomake it a viable commercialbusiness. I hope we can keep it asa recording studio for the next10-20 years with a bit of luck.”

Epworth has engaged theservices of the Walters-StorykDesign Group of New York toredesign the studios, withMiloco Builds carrying out theconstruction. When the studiocomplex reopens next year, itwill be managed and booked by Miloco.

“Paul has been looking forthe perfect studio for a whileand he has now bought astudio with a great heritage and with his vision, it is goingto become one of the mostimpressive studio complexes inLondon,” Miloco managingdirector Nick Young revealedto PSNEurope. “WSDG has built some breathtakingstudios around the world andwe are looking forward toworking on this exciting projectand to help Paul’s visionbecome reality.”

The Church Studios hasattracted a vast array of artists over its two-decadehistory, including Bob Dylan,Radiohead and My BloodyValentine. A blog at the studios’ website will documentthe transformation of the site. �www.thechurchstudios.com

For the latest studio newswww.psneurope.com/studio

StudioLondon-based mastering engineerand Black Saloon Studios founderMandy Parnell has acquired a Lyra 2 audio interface from PPrismSound. The unit has already beenused on remixes for Bjork, The xx, Hejira, Medieval Baebes’Of Kings & Angels and JohannJohannsson’s soundtrack for the film Prisoners.“Prism Sound products play anintegral part in helping me toachieve what my customers want,”said Parnell.www.prismsound.com

Universal Music has launched itsHigh Fidelity Pure Audio range ofaudio products that use Blu-raytechnology to deliver what thecompany calls “the ultimatelistening experience to the user”.Users have a choice of severaldifferent sound formats includingPCM, Dolby True HD and DTS HDMaster Audio at 2.0 and 5.1surround sound. Artists withreleases already on the formatinclude Bob Marley, Nirvana andThe Rolling Stones. www.universalmusic.com

Production sound mixer Ian Sandshas won the Best Sound BAFTACymru award for his work on the2012 film The Gospel of Us. “I haveworked on many films and TVshows but this project wascertainly a challenge,” he said. Theproduction sound team alsoincluded dubbing mixer, EmyrMorris, minstrel recordists JulesDavies, Dafydd Pierce and NickStewart. Post production wasundertaken by Dia Shell and Ellie Russell. www.bafta.org

Solid State Logic’s Sigma remotecontrolled analogue mix engine is now shipping. Using proprietaryMDAC control technology firstfeatured in the company’s Dualityand AWS studio consoles, Sigma’s100% analogue summing enginecan be driven by automation datacreated within a user’s DAW ofchoice. Sigma features 16 flexibleinput channels, which can beindividually switched betweenbeing mono or stereo for up to 32 channels at mixdown. www.solid-state-logic.com

SOUNDBITES

Miloco and WSDG restore ChurchUNITED KINGDOM

Prayers answered: the Church will continue as a studio


THE MUSIC+SOUND Awardsis now accepting entries for itsthird annual celebration ofexcellence in music and sounddesign in the media.

Anyone involved in theproduction process from theworlds of gaming, film, TV and

advertising is invited to submittheir work.

Co-founder Nick Payne said:“Since its inception in 2011, theMusic+Sound Awards havegrown to become a national andinternational stamp of excellence,recognising an area of the

industry that has arguably beenneglected up until we launched.”

The judging panel includesDavid Arnold (composer,Quantum of Solace, CasinoRoyale) Mark Roalfe (chairmanand executive creative director,RKCR/Y&R) and gamedevelopers from Rocksteady,Funcom and Guerrilla Gamesamong others.

The nomination period closeson 30 November. Winningentries will be honoured at aceremony on 27 February 2014,in London. �www.masawards.com

Nominations open forMusic + Sound Awards

UNITED KINGDOM

The Noisettes perform at 2013’s awards

Multi-award winning producerand songwriter Paul Epworth

THE RESIDENT of Toast hasan itch: a gear itch. “I don’treally need any new tech,”explains Craig Silvey, “but withthe creation of a new studio, I’ve gotten the bug again!”

Toast is the reincarnation oftwo studios Silvey has worked in extensively during his busycareer; Matt Johnson’s now-defunct Garden Studios in

Shoreditch, east London, wherehe worked between 2009 and2012, and his original ToastStudios in California. It’s basedin a building used by musicians,record producers andsongwriters, in a classic BrillBuilding-style, media hubarrangement, round the cornerfrom Ladbroke Grove. (“Andfive minutes from my house!”says the American.)

When The The’s Johnsonclosed the Garden at the end of 2012, securing new premisesfor Silvey’s much sought-aftermixing skills – and quickly – wasparamount. A connection withSwedish producer Martin Terefe(KT Tunstall, Jamie Cullum)drew Silvey to the new west London location. Hetransported his collection ofvintage outboard gear, including

the 1972 Neve 8026 desk he hasowned since 1995, into Toastover the Christmas break.

As with the Garden, theMiloco Group is managing thebookings at the facility. Toast issplit between a large, day-litcontrol room and a recordingbooth big enough for overdubsor a drum kit. “Plus Martin’s

big tracking room is upstairs if I need it,” Silvey adds.

“It took a while to get used tothe acoustics – they were verydifferent to the Garden,” hecontinues. Miloco subsequentlydrafted in an acoustician to tunethe space, followed by Silveyinstalling his beloved Boxer T2monitors there. “Now its closer

to the Garden’s sound. Maybeeven better.”

Since the official launch inJuly, Silvey says he’s been “asbusy as I want to be”, with thelikes of Goldfrapp, Arcade Fire,The National and old friendsThe Horrors all dropping in formix sessions. Recent projectsinclude work for Rae Morrison,a new signing to Atlantic, and a solo album by HamiltonLeithauser, frontman of indieband The Walkmen.

“A good portion of my soundcomes from the Neve desk, so itwas good to get that back inplace and working here,” heremarks. “The mix buss has acertain sound – it’s beefier thanlater models.”

Asked to highlight three otherpieces of ‘go-to’ kit in hisextensive collection, Silveyhighlights a Thermionic CulturePhoenix compressor, originalHelios 69 modules from ChrisBlackwell’s Island Studios, andan Ibanez AD202 analoguedelay (“you can pick them upfor 200 quid”).

But there’s still that itch to scratch…

“I’ve been contemplatingmore API modules,” he reveals,“and a major Pro Toolsupgrade. I haven’t had toupgrade so far. I’m still onversion 8!”�www.miloco.co.uk/studios/toast

Toast’s reputation spreadsUNITED KINGDOM

Craig Silvey, mixer to the stars

Toast main room featuring the much-prized 1972 Neve 8026 desk

When Craig Silvey and Miloco created a new mixfacility in west London, it didn’t take long for the diary to become jam-packed with work.Crumbs, says Dave Robinson

UNEXPECTEDLY TOLD tomove out of its Dean Streetfacility, London post houseJungle has completed a £500,000refurbishment of its facilities,bringing all its studios under oneroof – by knocking through thewall that once separated its officesat 143 and 145 Wardour Street.

The overall refurbishmenttook place over six months –and unfortunately began withthe Dean Street building “andthen we learned the landlordwas turning it into flats,” saidstudio co-manager Chris Turner.

The revamp of the Wardour facility involved theconstruction of three newstudios, including a new

7.1 Dolby cinema studio, for atotal of 10. From a technicalstandpoint Jungle continued itsalmost 20-year relationship withFairlight, upgrading all itsstudios to EVO mixing consoleswith Fairlight’s Xynergi DAW.

“We’ve had (Fairlightsystems) since 1994, the originalMX2s,” said Jungle’s technicalmanager Patrick James. “We’renot trying to be different, we’renot trying to fight the trend,”added Turner. “The great thingabout it is that if we want tochange something, or there’ssomething we want to build intoit or configure it differently, wejust write them an email andthey do it. If I had Pro Tools,I’m not even sure who I wouldwrite to.”

It is very obvious that speedand flexibility are veryimportant to Jungle’s workflow.The inaugural project in the

7.1 Dolby cinema studio wasSony Mobile’s ‘Best Of You’spot, requiring mixes for severalterritories – “basically, theworld”, said Turner – meaningseveral loudness standards toconform to.

Nugen’s VislM-H loudnessmeter ticked those all-importantadaptability boxes: “We use iton every job we do,” saidTurner. “We do have all theother boxes that have ever beeninvented, but when they updatethe software, you have to waituntil they get it over to you, thenyou have to update the box.

This, I just change the settingsand I’m away.”

Each studio is technicallyidentical and fully networked,with James currently applyingthe same consistency to themonitoring with Genelec activespeakers. “At the moment we’vegot a little bit of a mixture,” hesaid. “We’ve got some M&Ks,some older Questeds. Puttingthe GLM software all the waythrough makes it that mucheasier to move between roomsbecause they sound so muchcloser at that point.”

A forced eviction is never awelcomed event, but its evidentJungle has used the externalpressure to its advantage: “Wehad no choice, our hands weretied, but it’s given us theopportunity to make some greatstudios here,” said Turner.

“We’ve always had goodcommunication as a company:everyone works in a set way andanyone can pick up anyoneelse’s job and just get on with it,it’s easy. But physically justbeing in one place makes life somuch easier.” �

www.thejunglegroup.co.uk

Change isn’t always easy, but sometimes – asJungle has discovered – being forced to change is avery good thing, writes Erica Basnicki

The all new Jungle lookUNITED KINGDOM

Jungle’s studio co-manager andsenior sound designer Chris Turner

Technical manager Patrick James

studionews


Engineer/producer Bruce Botnickhas purchased three JJBL M2master reference monitors for useas left/centre/right speakers in hisstudio. Botnick first encounteredthe M2 at the 2012 AESConvention, when it was still in thedevelopment stage. “I heard theseloudspeakers in a less-than-idealenvironment and they still soundedamazing,” he said.www.jbl.com

Synthax Audio UK is introducing afive-year warranty on all RME audioproducts purchased from authorisedUK dealers. The warranty applieswhen customers register onlinewithin 30 days of purchase, andexcludes accessories. Dave West,sales and marketing manager atSynthax Audio said: “We wanted todemonstrate the products’ excellenttrack record and offer our clientsabsolute confidence in RME.”www.synthax.co.uk

Focal Press has published DigitalAudio Editing, a guidebook tosound production. Written bySimon Langford, it offers guidanceto readers on simple correctiveediting, like cutting, copying, andpasting, and more complex creativeediting, such as beat mapping andtime-stretching. It is intended tohelp with tasks such as compingvocal tracks, restoring oldrecording, working with filmdialogue or sound effects, andcreating remixes.

SOUNDBITES

By Erica Basnicki

SOLID STATE Logic launchedan updated version of its Matrixconsole – the Matrix2 – at the135th AES Convention in New York.

The new version incorporatesfeedback from customers andprovides a collection of newfeatures, including an upgradeto the console’s integratedsoftware controlled patching ofanalogue channel inserts.

Hardware device inserts cannow be loaded directly from theconsole hardware controls, witha new interface that facilitatesloading individual processors,

A/B comparison of differentprocessors and buildingprocessor chains.

Additionally, the A-FADA(Analogue Fader AccessesDAW Automation) summing

system used in Duality, AWSand the new SSL Sigma rackhas been introduced to enablethe analogue faders of Matrix2to be driven by automationdata from a user’s DAW.

A collection of smaller newfeatures have also been added,including ‘partial TR setupsave and import,’ which allowsselected parts of the consolesetup to be saved and importedas setup templates; “automaticdB readout” for Pro Toolsusers, allowing the scribblestrip to automatically displayfader values upon touch;modifier key ‘press and hold’functionality for Cubase/Nuendo users and new DAWtemplates for PreSonus StudioOne and Ableton Live.

Matrix2 will ship inDecember 2013 priced at£14,749 (€18,487) ex-VAT. �www.solidstatelogic.com

Dan Duffell is all smilesat the debut of Matrix 2


SSL’s Matrix, reloadedUNITED KINGDOM/UNITED STATES

studionews

By Erica Basnicki

API USED the occasion of the 135th AES Convention tolaunch The Box projectanalogue console, designed foraudio professionals with project

or home studios who require asmaller format console with a“big console sound”.

The Box features the samecircuitry, performance and “APIsound” as the company’s Vision,Legacy Plus and 1608 consoles.

“The Box offers an easy,turnkey solution for recordingand mixing,” said API president

Larry Droppa. “It’s a greatoption for people who record afew channels at a time, butdemand the warmth and punchthat a large API consoledelivers. In addition to fourinputs, full centre sectioncontrol, and 16 channels ofAPI’s famous summing, theicing on the cake is a classic APIstereo compressor on theprogram bus. Now you can trulyrecord and mix… in The Box.”�www.apiaudio.com

API drops The BoxUNITED STATES

The Box: Small format, big sound

IT WAS 150 years ago that thetoll (levied by the Dutch) onshipping in the Scheldt wasfinally abolished, enablingAntwerp to develop into a majorinternational port. In addition tonumerous festive events, the Portof Antwerp Authority organiseda live performance of classicalcomposer Peter Benoit’s De Schelde.

The concert was staged at the Waagnatie port hangar, with The Royal FlemishPhilharmonic performing,featuring six solo singers and theFlemish Radio Choir and the(Dutch) Groot Omroepkoor.

Motormusic classical divisionSerendipitous was assigned torecord the concert for CD andvinyl release. A crew of three,with chief engineer StevenMaes, had the recording mobilejust outside the venue, on theRiver Scheldt quay.

“For this recording we used32 microphones altogether,”explains Maes. “We used fourNeumann U 87 for the leadsingers and a AB stereomicrophone system with twoNeumann M150. All of the 32 microphones werechannelled via Grace DesignM802 remotely controlledpreamps and then steered viaMADI in the Pro Tools HDXrecording system. We used aNuendo digital recorder asback up – standard procedurewith live recordings. Theacoustics in the port warehousewere not ideal and we used aBricasti M7 external reverb tosmooth the balance between thelead singers, the orchestra andchoir – to achieve more depthin the recording.”

Maes says Serendipitous,launched some 10 years agowithin Motormusic, has grown

organically into the classicalmusic niche. “With Motormusichaving a name and fame in popand rock music, we have beenimporting quite some of thattechnology in the classical world – these influences areomnipresent and decisive in thesound colour.”

Gradually, Serendipitousmanaged to win over theconservatism of the classicalmusic industry – bearing inmind the philosophy of a“natural good sound”, itintroduced multitracking while

others were still recording ontwo tracks.

The recording of the live CDand vinyl albums marks theextensive collaboration betweenSerendipitous and the The Royal

Flemish Philharmonic, withover 20 jobs today – in additionSerendipitous also takes on thepractical management of TheRoyal Flemish PhilharmonicRecordings label: recording,mixing and mastering, anddistribution is handled bySerendipitous, alongside its ownEvil Penguin label.

With over 110 recording daysin 2012, Serendipitous is makingits way, both in Belgium andabroad, where the studio worksfor labels such as ChallengeClassic Pentatone (TheNetherlands) and the PlazettoBru Zane foundation (France).

In other news, Motormusicwelcomed audio post-productioncompany AgeNT and imageproduction company Filmmoreinto its fold.

“Mechelen is rapidlybecoming a real media hub,thanks in part to the Flemishgovernment, which – throughScreen Flanders – gives afinancial incentive to audiovisualproductions spending part oftheir budget in the FlemishRegion,” says Hans Bellens,owner of MotorMusic. �www.motormusic.bewww.serendipitous.eu

Serendipitous captures River Scheldt

The Flanders Philharmonic Orchestraperforming “De Schelde” on thequays of the River Scheldt

BELGIUM

studionews


To celebrate 150 years of the abolishment of theRiver Scheldt toll, the Royal Flemish Philharmonicperformed a live rendition of the oratorium De Schelde – the masterpiece was recorded live bySerendipitous, reports Marc Maes

Serendipitous team: L-R: Steven Maes, recording engineer,Tom Proost, system engineer, Floren Van Stichelen, assistant

BEFORE THE Animals becameone of Tyneside’s best-knownrock bands, they recorded analbum as the Kon-Tors atMortonsound studio inNewcastle. Some 50 years laterthat very studio has beenrenovated, restored and revampedby music industry veterans, andlong-time Newcastle residents,Andrew Archer and John Elliott,reopening as Loft Music Studios.

The duo took over the studiolast July and invested £60,000(€71,000) in upgrading the facility,which they will run alongsidetheir existing business, LoftMusic: a sync agency with clientsincluding Sony, Disney, ElectronicArts, the BBC and Channel 4.

“We had to move out of ourold studio because the buildingwas bought and knocked down

to build a new police station,”said Archer. “We were homelessfor a bit and then a friend of afriend said ‘You know there’s thisstudio being sold in Newcastle.’Nobody sells a studio; that neverhappens! We looked at the spaceand we were just blown away. It’s 185sqm, and it has an officeand another production suite at

the front, so we can run thebusiness along side of it, becauseyou know, studios don’t make alot of money.” (Laughs).

Renovation work began assoon as Archer and Elliott took possession last summer,though according to Archer thelive rooms themselves werealready top-notch.

“We’ve got one of the bestsounding rooms in the region, ifnot the best,” he said. “It hasamazing acoustics; everybodyreally likes the drum sound inthere. It’s often the case thatstudios start with the technology,and build the room around it. Butwe had the opportunity to startwith the room, and add in thetechnology we felt was right forthe space afterwards.”

In the case of Loft MusicStudios, the ‘right technology’centres around an Allen & HeathGS-24RM console.

“Allen & Heath, up until the’70s, was really focused on bigstudio consoles and had as good aname as Neve and SSL,” Archerexplained. “They’ve got the

experience to do it, they’re aBritish company which we like,and that desk really ticks a lot ofboxes for a modern studio.”

A collection of over 19different preamps including Neve,Helios and Malcolm Toft’s newOcean Audio provide additionalflavour, “so if somebody wants tocome in and doesn’t want to usethe desk at all, they can have aclean path” said Archer, addingthat “for big jobs, it’s quite a goodutility piece. The quality versus theaffordability is excellent for it.”

Next to be installed in thestudio will be a pair of FocalTwin 6 monitors, which willsupplement the studio’s existingof Genelec 8040 and AdamAudio A7 monitors.

Since its official opening inJune of this year, Loft MusicStudio has been fully booked upwith work on “big Hollywoodmovie trailers”, an album projectfor Global Underground/Ministry of Sound with Archerand Elliott’s own band Trafik,and recording up-and-cominglocal bands. It’s Archer’s hopethat Loft Music Studios can alsohelp grow the area’s music scene,and perhaps keep local musicians‘local’ just a little bit longer.

“There’s a lot of talent in thenorth east of England, and a lotof the time people seem to thinkthat they need to go to London towork with great producers, greatengineers and great studios. That’sa good thing, of course, but whatwe want to do is say there is thistalent and expertise in the northeast, let’s try and keep everyone uphere for as long as possible.” �www.loftmusicstudios.co.uk

Loft Music Studios is the brainchild ofJohn Elliott, left, and Andrew Archer

studioreport


“We’ve got one of the bestsounding rooms in the region,

if not the best”Andrew Archer

Lofty endeavourUNITED KINGDOM

Live Room 1 at Loft Music Studios

“There is/a place/inNewcastle. They call/theLoft/Studio...” EricaBasnicki talks to themen who converted theAnimals’ former haunt

THE NORWEGIAN statebroadcaster NorskRikskringkasting (NRK)operates 13 radio channels,alongside three TV channels. Thebroadcaster’s management hasdecided to upgrade its fleet ofmobile audio and videoproduction trucks with a newgeneration of trucks. The L1 (Lfor lyd, Norwegian ‘sound’) is thefirst in the new series and marksan innovative design with threeworking areas instead of two: inaddition to the ‘traditional’production and control rooms,the L1 also includes a fullyinsulated machine room.

“The new truck will be used forradio, audio for television andstraightforward audiorecordings,” explains MortenArnevik, NRK project manager.“We are covering anything fromsmall church concerts to megafestivals and events.” It will bedeployed to the Oslo SpektrumArena on 11 December for theannual Peace Prize Concert whichwill be attended by 6,000 guestsbut broadcast to 100 countries.

The truck was designed byBelgian company Projectbuildersand installed by Dutch bodyrepair and coach workshopAkkermans.

The nucleus of L1 is a StuderVista 9 console equipped with theVista FX engine. In addition, thecontrol room also has a largecollection of outboard, bothanalogue and digital (Distressors,Focusrite Red3, TC D-Two),three Bricasti M7 and TCElectronic 6000 reverbs. Finalprocessing runs through a TC Electronic DB-8.

“Multitrack recording isperformed on an 128-track ProTools with back up on JoeCoBlackbox Recorders, plus two-track recording on theDigaSystem [contentmanagement system]. We have aPro Tools running just for plug-ins, and use the plug-ins in theVista,” says Morten Arnevik.“You have your favourite ProTools plug-ins under the fingerwhile mixing. With Vista FX, wehave already quite some effects,reverb and delay on board with

the Lexicons. But somebody maywant to use Waves, Sonnox orwhatever type of EQ on specificchannels; that’s when we have theoption to insert any plug-in viaMADI with the Pro Tools. Thistruck will be used for down-mixing audio content beforebroadcast and in that case, extraplug-ins come in handy.”

Monitors for the control roomare Genelec 8240 for 5.1, andNeumann KH120 for alternativestereo monitoring, tuned via aTrinnov ST-2 room optimiser.

“The working positions in thevan can be adapted for differentassignments,” continues MortenArnevik. “We have a second

engineer position serving therecording equipment and the play-out systems from DigaSystem, Q-Lab and Pro Tools. Thisworking post also features a smallSoundcraft Si Expression console,directly connected to the Vista viaMADI. A third working spot hasbeen installed in the hallway,operating the computers. Somefestivals and events want to streamtheir event so we also have a four-camera rig with a flight-casedvideo-mixer, operated from thatsame hall production room.”

With 16 MADI cards, 156 micinputs, 64 AES/EBU and 48analogue channels, the L1 has avast inventory of in/out channels.

The key issues though,according to Arnevik, areacoustics and sound insulation.“The truck will be used for allkinds of events so we had toensure a comfortable insidetemperature in combination withabsolutely soundproofinsulation,” says Eddy Brants,designer for Projectbuilders.

Brants explains that the extrainsulation proved to be a specificchallenge. “The outside height ofthe truck was 30cm lower thanwith similar trucks – this has todo with the maximal height ofbridges in Norway. With theceiling only offering limitedoptions, we integrated thediffusers and the airco as part ofthe acoustical design.”

The L1 will be based inTrondheim, in the middle of thecountry and will cover the wholevast territory – the truck hastherefore been equipped withessential features such as twosleeping facilities.

“This truck will have to lastsome 15 years from now, sothinking ahead was essential,”underlines Arnevik. “The L1 willreplace two or three of the existingmobiles and also serve as controlroom in venues where NRK hasno dedicated control room.”

The L1 will see its official firstassignment with P3 Gull, a musicaward show, followed by thePeace Prize concert. �www.nrk.no/informasjonwww.projectbuilders.eu

New NRK truck for Peace PrizeTThe new truck will be used for radio, TVand audio recordings

NORWAY/NETHERLANDS

studionews


On the occasion of the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian public broadcaster will make use of itsbrand new audio vehicle – the result of pan-European craftsmanship, reports Marc Maes

FILE-BASED TECHNOLOGYfor television production anddistribution has been a constanttheme in the business over thelast 10 years. It has been aconsistent presence at successiveIBCs so it was fitting that theorganisation driving the movetowards tapeless, data-centricworking in the UK, the DigitalProduction Partnership (DPP),used this year’s show to unveilthe latest technical specificationand announce that Britishbroadcast will begin to go file-based for programme deliveryfrom 1 October next year.

The DPP was set up in 2011by the BBC, ITV and Channel 4(C4) to inform and advise thebroadcast industry on bestpractice for digital productionand data-based distribution ofmaterial. The initiative issupported by other broadcasters,including Five, Sky, BT Sportand S4C, as well as independentproduction companies.

At the IBC session MarkHarrison, newly appointed chairof the DPP and controller ofproduction for BBC North,described the organisation’s

progress towards a unified file-based structure for UKbroadcasting as a “rather happyroller coaster ride”. He addedthat while BT Sport was file-based from its recent launch andSky “as on the way”, ITV andChannel 4 would be “rampingup” for full implementation over the year to 1 October 2014.Harrison observed that the BBChad “a bit of catching up to do”and would use the date as astarting point, with file-baseddelivery as its preferred means.

Audio was a relatively smallpart of the first DPP spec whenit was published in March 2011.This document covered onlytape-based operations and insound terms concentrated onbasic track lay-out. A file-basedspecification followed inFebruary 2012, adding EBUR128 loudness control to trackconfiguration guidance.

Version 4.0 of the DPPtechnical and metadata standardsis based on the newly ratifiedAMWA (Advanced MediaWorkflow Association) AS-11version 1.1 specification for MXF(Material eXchange Format)

programme contribution. As wellas R128, DPP v4.0 adds optionalrecommendations for the carriageof multichannel audio metadatain a programme file.

Kevin Burrows, chair of theDPP technical standardscommittee and controller oftechnical broadcast anddistribution at C4, says theindustry body was formed to not only bring broadcasterstogether but also manufacturers.“It doesn’t make sense forcompanies nowadays to supportdifferent standards because oftight profit margins,” he explains.“We’ve done a lot of testing and held a manufacturers’ dayduring IBC and had a lot ofinput, particularly with kit for interoperability.”

On the sound side Burrowssays the main issue forbroadcasters – and public servicestations in particular – isensuring all viewers can hear andenjoy the programmes. “Therehas been some concern from thehearing lobby about people notbeing able to hear dialogueproperly,” he comments, addingthat the loudness and

multichannel aspects of the spechave been designed in part toaddress this issue.

The surround soundrecommendations have threemodes. Mode 1 has dialogueacross the front three channels(left, centre, right or LCR);Mode 2 is for programmes without-of-vision commentary orvoice-overs, which are put in thecentre channel; Mode 3 coversinternational or co-productionmaterial that has centre-onlydialogue and where it is notpossible for the UK broadcasterto prepare an alternative mix.Burrows observes that filmsoundtracks generally havecentre dialogue but that “a lot ofTV programme makers andbroadcasters” want LCR.

All commissioned material hasto conform to -23 as laid down inR123. This came into operationfor UK broadcast at thebeginning of September andBurrows says there has been adrop in the number of complaintsfrom viewers about variations inaudio levels between programmes,commercials and promos. “R128has made a difference but we’renot expecting it all to happenimmediately, people need time tomove across” he says. “Part of theproblem is that we’re workingwith new commissions, whichconform to R128, and old orarchive programmes, which don’t.

“The problem will reduce overtime and R128 will minimise itbut there will always be an issuewith not knowing whatcommercial might follow a dramawith a wide dynamic range. Thereare also differences in how peopleare listening – on flat screen TVswith thin speakers or surroundsystems – and that has aninfluence as well.”

Burrows and his colleagues atthe UK broadcasters are hopingagreement can be reached withUS studios and TV producers toconform to common standards,so that programmes are moretechnically consistent. “We’llnever get to the point of universalstandards,” he concludes, “but ifwe can cut down the number of formats that would be a start.It’s looking very hopeful.”�www.digitalproductionpartnership.co.uk

For the latest broadcast newswww.psneurope.com/broadcast

broadcastDigigram has announced that itsfull product line will be powered byRavenna technology, deepeningits existing partnership with ALCNetworX. The LX-IP PCIe soundcard is the first Ravenna-enabledproduct being developed by thecompany. The LX-IP card waspreviewed at IBC2013, and amodel featuring the full Ravennatechnology implementation will beavailable by Q2 2014. www.digigram.com

Gearhouse Broadcast is in theprocess of building the third offour super OB trucks (HD7) forits Australian fleet, which willfeature BCR4 audio confidencemonitors from BEL DigitalAudio. BEL’s BCR-A1 two-channel stereo analogue monitor, BM-A1-2SHD two-channel audiomonitor for 3G/HD and SD SDIand BM-A2-E16SHD 16-channelaudio monitor/de-embedder/Dolby decoder, are also beinginstalled in HD7.www.beldigital.com

ESPN provided coverage of The British Open Championshipthis year, enlisting the help ofLondon-based CTV OutsideBroadcasts – who for the firsttime deployed OMNEO networktechnology in its 10 OB trucks.“The added flexibility andconfiguration options thatOMNEO contributed were ofdecisive importance during thisevent,” said Hamish Greig,CTV’s director of engineering.“It worked perfectly and broughthuge gains over previous years.”www.ctvob.co.uk

With a product exhibition and a paper on loudness, theSalzbrenner StagetecMediagroup will join this year’sTaktons Acoustics and AudioEngineering Conference, whichwill take place in Novi Sad, Serbia, from 13-16 November. “Be ready for a new era” is thetitle of the paper about loudnesstechnologies in broadcast thatJean-Paul Moerman,Mediagroup’s loudness expert,will present at the event. www.taktons.org

SOUNDBITES

Audio specs in place for file-based shift

Delivery of UK TV programmes is set to go fully file-based from October 2014.DPP technical standards chair Kevin Burrows discusses the practicalities ofthe changes, including for surround sound, with Kevin Hilton

UNITED KINGDOM


The Digital Production Partnership team

By Erica Basnicki

CALREC HAS sold its first Callistoconsole to American OB company TokenCreek Mobile Television, based inWisconsin, which also purchased anArtemis Beam console.

The Callisto, which was launched atIBC2013, will be installed in a new truckdestined to cover high school and college sports, as well as corporate andentertainment events, among others. TheArtemis Beam has been installed in anexisting HD unit that covers a widevariety of applications.

“We have two other Calrec desksbesides the Artemis Beam and theCallisto, and we’ve always been veryhappy with them, so when we decided tobuild new trucks, Calrec was our firstchoice,” said Brendan Clark, TokenCreek’s director of engineering.

Token Creek ordered a Callisto console with 44 faders and a 64 x 64

mic/line, 72 AES, and four MADI I/Oconfiguration, as well as a GPIO control option.

The Artemis Beam console has beeninstalled in Token Creek’s Chippewa HDmobile unit. It is a 64-fader consoleconfigured for 256 x 256 MADI, 128 x

128 AES, and 64 x 64 analogue I/O.“By adding two more Calrec consoles

to its fleet, Token Creek now has thecapability to serve just about any sizeproduction or budget,” said HenryGoodman, Calrec’s head of sales andmarketing. “The Callisto gives Token

Creek a cost-effective console with all the features and reliability it has come to rely on from Calrec. Selling the firstCallisto console to a long-time customersuch as Token Creek is especiallygratifying because it tells us they have thecontinued confidence to invest in ournewest products.”

The Callisto console made its USdebut at AES 2013, and will beginshipping in spring 2014.

In other news, Calrec reports that ithas sold its first console in Lebanon toBeirut-based production companyHedgehog for use in the country’s firsthigh-definition outside broadcast (OB)truck. An Artemis Light console wasinstalled into Hedgehog's first OB truckto complement the HD video with high-quality audio for all its mobile TVproduction projects, including livetelevision shows, sport andentertainment events. �www.calrec.com

UNITED KINGDOM/UNITED STATES

Calrec confirms first Callisto console coup

FRANCE

Solely SSL for Canal+ GroupBy Erica Basnicki

FRENCH BROADCASTER CANAL+Group has installed a broadcast audioinfrastructure based entirely on SolidState Logic equipment; reportedly thefirst instance of a major broadcasteropting for an all-SSL framework.

The two main studio audio controlrooms feature SSL C100 HDS consoles,with C10 HD consoles as backup and toprovide a consistent interface and audioquality when used as a submixer.

An additional three other studiocontrol rooms feature the C10 HD as the main console with a second C10 HDas backup in two studios, for a total ofseven throughout the facility. Beyond the

consoles, routing is based on the SSLMORSE Router and MORSE Stageboxto handle microphone and line I/O viaMADI and multiple Alpha-Link LIVE-R MADI/AES/Analogue formatconverters to connect to the consoles.

“Beyond the equipment itself, one ofthe major costs for building a facility iswiring,” said Jean-Marc Delage, projectmanager/engineer for CANAL+ Group.“We needed to put together five audiocontrol rooms in such a way that all audioassets could address any console. SSL’ssolution was efficient and cost-effective,as the entire hookup was throughredundant fibre, so we enjoyed minimalwiring to yield maximum flexibility.” �www.solidstatelogic.com

broadcastnews


The Calrec Callisto console: first sale already confirmed!

Canal+ Group opts for an all-SSL solution


broadcastnewsUNITED KINGDOM/RUSSIA

By Kevin Hilton

INTEGRATION SPECIALISTMegahertz Broadcast SystemsLtd (MHz) has been bought bythe UK arm of Russianintegrator OKNO-TV. The salewas announced on 14 October,the same day Megahertz was putinto administration. Under thedeal OKNO-TV (UK) hasacquired the business and assetsof Megahertz, saving the jobs ofall 25 employees.

Megahertz has been in thesystems integration business for25 years, installing technicalequipment in outside broadcasttrucks and TV studios both inthe UK and round the world. A recent high-profile contract in Britain was the technicalinstallation at BT Sport’s newstudio complex in east London.Company executives haveestimated that 66% ofMegahertz contracts are

outside the UK; installationsinclude an earth station for BTin Poland and two in SouthAfrica for ETV in Cape Townand Johannesburg.

In recent years Megahertz hasbeen owned by US technologygroup Piksel, previously tradingas KIT Digital. The company’sadministration was handled byBaker Tilly Restructuring andRecovery, working withsolicitors Bond Dickinson. The business and assets ofMegahertz were bought out ofadministration by OKNO-TV(UK), a subsidiary of Moscow-based OKNO-TV,which has been supplying andinstalling equipment inbroadcast centres in Russia and neighbouring countries forover 20 years.

Adrian Allen, a partner atBaker Tilly Restructuring andRecovery, commented, “Webelieve this deal represents the

best outcome for creditors. It has safeguarded the jobs of25 people and ensures acontinuity of supply to some ofthe world’s leading broadcasters.”A Baker Tilly spokesmanconfirmed to PSNEurope thatMegahertz went intoadministration on 14 Octoberand that further details on thatprocess and creditors will bemade public “in due course”.

Jon Flay, managing director ofOKNO-TV (UK), said: “Theacquisition of Megahertz gives usan immediate in-house capability,with a team of highly respectedengineers and project managersthat will help to facilitate theexpansion of our portfolio toinclude production vehicles andRF capabilities and to extend ourfootprint globally.”�www.megahertz.co.uk

BT Sports’s new complex in east London was a recent Megahertz installation

The Reproduced SoundConference, hosted by theInstitute of Acoustics, will takeplace from 12-14 November.Broadcast audio is the focus ofthis year’s event, titled: Delivering the experience –from imagination to realisation in audio. Two special visits at the BBC’s R&D facility and the University of Salford’sacoustics research unit have also been arranged for conference delegates. www.reproducedsound.co.uk

Riedel Communications hasacquired Düsseldorf-based mobilestreaming specialist Code One,providing Riedel with a portfolio ofWAN-focused technology fordistributing video, audio and datavia mobile networks. “This youngcompany’s key areas of expertise,such as mobile streaming andinnovative solutions for datatransmission, offer Riedel uniquetechnology that we can use toelevate our solutions to a newlevel,” said CEO Thomas Riedel. www.riedel.net

WRN Broadcast has enabledSeoul-based KBS World Radio toprovide a one hour dailytransmission in German using ananalogue-digital 20kHz simulcastmode of the Digital RadioMondiale system via a shortwavetransmitting station in Sofia,Bulgaria. Broadcasts began on 27 October, which listeners with a DRM receiver can hear on 5875kHz. www.wrn.org

Outside Broadcast provider andstudio operator ProlinkTelevision Facilities has takendelivery of a second DiGiCo SD10Bconsole. The first desk waspurchased in the summer of 2012to service the needs of the popularBBC1 show Saturday Kitchen,together with other programmesthat had moved to new televisionstudios in Clapham, south westLondon. The second desk,delivered almost a year later in2013, has recently been installedin Prolink’s High DefinitionOutside Broadcast unit. “Wecompleted a significant upgradeto the vision side of the truck inearly 2013 and we scheduled the mid-year period to give thesound facilities a similar makeover,” said Prolink directorAndrew Dugard, speaking of theDiGiCo acquisition.www.prolinktv.co.uk

SOUNDBITES

GERMANYGERMANY

ONE OF the original founders ofStagetec, Dr Klaus-Peter Scholz,retired on 31 October. As part ofhis activities, he provided on-sitecustomer support and technicalconsulting. In future, this role willbe filled by current assistantmanager, René Harder. “Stagetechas driven innovation from thefirst digital Nexus audio networksand Cantus mixing consoles on,going from strength to strength inthe 20 years since its founding,”said Scholz. “I am proud to havedone my part to build this success– and I think back fondly on themany great times I have had withour customers.” �

www.stagetec.com

By Erica Basnicki

RTW HAS delivered 145 TM3TouchMonitor units to Germanbroadcaster WDR, Europe’ssecond-largest broadcasterafter the BBC.

The units, which WDRhas installed in its regionalstudios and editing suites,enable the broadcaster tocomply with EBU R128loudness metering.

With the developmentof EBU R128, the audiometering reference hasshifted from PPM toloudness, with a peaklevel (QPPM) of –9 dBFSto a loudness target of–23 LUFS (LoudnessUnit Full Scale).

WDR already has a largenumber of TM7 and TM9 units,and “the similarity to the TM7and TM9 units already in use at WDR was an attractive

point”, said Friedrich Neher,head of the master unit servicegroup at WDR. “Also, we liked the idea of using the TM3as a standalone device. The

separation of the display unit and the breakout box were critical, as thisconsiderably increases theflexibility compared tocompeting products.”

Additionally, since freelancersand full-time employees share the same work areas at WDR,the company required anadministration solution to ensure

seamless workflows.Martin Leuenberg,

head of sales at RTW,commented that one ofthe drawbacks of plug-in solutions was that“any user can changepresets or the setup.Second, this would haveadded another GUI toan already clutteredscreen area,” he said.

RTW’s Devicer DC1 setup softwarecomponent for the TM3allows for preset

customisation, allowing users toconfigure administration rightsfor the application, making surethat only authorized employeescan change the set-up. �www.rtw.de

Megahertz assets bought byfellow integrator OKNO-TV

RTW boss Andreas Tweitmann at the introduction of the TM3

OMG! 145 RTW TM3s for WDR

By Kevin Hilton

RADIO EQUIPMENT andintegration company Audionicshas been wound up and itsassets are being sold,PSNEurope has learned.

The 26-year-old firm wasbased in Sheffield andproduced a range of products,including distributionamplifiers, talkback systems,audio routing/switchingmatrices and audio mixers, aswell as undertaking customdesign and build projects. Theliquidator is confident thatcreditors will receive either fullor “substantial” payment.

Founded in 1987 as a wholly owned subsidiary of theYorkshire Radio Network (YRN),Audionics was formed to offerthe skills of the parent company’sin-house technical team on acommercial basis. YRN’s hadalready designed much of theequipment used by stationswithin the group and continuedto do this under the Audionicsbrand, while at the same timeworking with other commercialbroadcasters and the BBC.

A management buyoutbacked by a group of Yorkshire

business peopletook place in 1991.Involved in this werePhil Myers and PhilDavies, who hadbeen instrumental in building upAudionics as astandalone concern.In 2007 Myers and Davies, whohad become executive directors,took over as joint owners of thecompany. That same year, theyhit the headlines when theAudionics HQ was flooded bythe River Don, which burst itsbanks after heavy storms.

Audionics established arange that covered powerdistribution, internet control,digital audio units such as theDA210D distribution amplifier,routing with the MCX4 andthe Com2000 talkback system.

Liquidator Philip Daly ofDaly & Co told PSNEuropethat Audionics had been putinto a “members’ voluntaryliquidation”. This is done whena company is solvent – in otherwords it can pay its debts; thisusually happens because theowners want to retire, or it is afamily business and nobodyelse wants to run it, or the

business has run its course.There was no indication if anyof these was the reason for thewinding up of Audionics.However, a source close to thecompany suggested that theradio specialist’s over-relianceon the domestic market hadcaused a downturn in sales overthe last two years.

Daly said there should be“sufficient monies” to paycreditors in full or at leastsubstantially, although this does depend on the sale ofAudionics’ premises. He addedthat eight employees, includingtwo directors, had been in full-time employment at the time ofwinding up. All have beenmade redundant; some havefound new jobs while othershave decided to retire. �www.audionics.co.ukwww.dalyco.co.uk

broadcastreport

Liquidation for radio industry stalwart Audionics

MAINZ-BASED TV SkylineGmbH is one of the largest OBtrucks and service providers inGermany, serving public andprivate TV channels as well ascustomers in various industriesthroughout Europe. To meet theincreasing customer demand forsurround sound productions,TV Skyline has upgraded theaudio technology of its Ü3HDtruck with a Studer Vista 1console. The Vista 1 was soldthrough Audio Pro, Studer’sGerman distributor.

The Vista 1 in Ü3HD isequipped with 32 faders andoffers 32 mic/line inputs, 32 analogue outputs and eight

AES/EBU stereo input andoutput channels, as well as an integrated MADI port. A Riedel RockNet card isinstalled in the expansion slot of the console, ensuringthe integration of theMediorNet system.

One particular advantage tothe Vista 1 is that no externalhardware is required, accordingto Jan Saueressig of TV Skyline.“The compact dimensions of themixer, combined with the factthat no external hardware isneeded, was a huge advantage ofthe Vista 1,” he said. “The easyaccess to MediorNet wasanother advantage that madethe Vista 1 the obvious choice.”

The console was first used inan 8-camera production at thestart of the season for theAustrian Bundesliga soccertournament in Innsbruck. �www.tv-skyline.de.www.audiopro.de

TV Skyline travels with Vista 1

UNITED KINGDOM

Sheffield-based broadcast equipment firm is wound up after 26 years


GERMANY

Two of Audionics’ Silence Detector units

The Vista 1 is ready for Riedel RockNet!

OUTSIDE BROADCAST truckshave evolved in recent years. It’snot just that they’ve grown insize – although smaller units stillhave their place – but thetechnology inside them haschanged. This is largely becauseof the demands put on them by not just established TVbroadcasters looking todifferentiate themselves from thecompetition but also the newgeneration of internet streamingservices, which want qualitysound and pictures to rival theirbroadcast competitors. So how doyou set about building one?

FFIND YOUR SPACE Having enough room to workcomfortably and not behampered in what you’re doing

by bumping into things or just ageneral oppressive feeling isconducive to doing a good job.It’s probably even more of apriority in OB trucks, whichhave the inherent contradictionof space always being at apremium. Even more so for theaudio crew in scanner trucksbecause the vision control areaand, increasingly, the productiongallery – with seating for theproducer, director, variousassistants and sometimes thetalent – will always take a greatdeal of what available real estatethere is.

A positive point in today’smarket is that, as WaylandTwiston Davies, OB specialistwith Sony Professional’s systemsintegration division observes, it

is “very rare not to buildvehicles with expandable sides”.Back in the days of the firstarticulated trailer OBs the sounddepartment usually had its ownarea, separate from the othersections, but now it can havemuch more room as well.

Malcolm Robinson, directorof broadcast and mediasolutions with BroadcastNetworks, says in recent yearsthe mixing console has been“central to the final design” of units built by the company.He explains there are two usualconfigurations for the sounddesk. It can be installed across the vehicle facing theproduction area, although thismeans the width of the truckcould give limited space for

the console’s surface, or alongthe side of the vehicle’s wall. In both cases a double soundproofed window will give eyecontact between personnel inthe sound and vision areas.

An exception to theseapproaches is when there is an‘expanding front’ to the trailer.In this case the console fitsacross the vehicle but on thefront wall, which in turnexpands to give what Robinsondescribes as “significant spacefor the sound engineer”.

Not all OB operators canafford to build a monstrousexpanding OB truck or, inpractical terms, needs to haveone for its particular area ofbusiness. ‘Sprinter’-style units, usually based on thelong-wheel base Mercedes vanof that name, are popular aseither mini-scanners fortelevision production orsatellite uplinks in newsgathering, with basicproduction and transmissionequipment inside.

Usually OB installations inthis type of vehicle concentrateon the basics or particularequipment needed for a specificjob. But Irish facilities companyRiverside Television has provedthat it is possible to get atechnological quart into amotorised pint pot. ROB 1(Riverside Outside Broadcast)was built into a MercedesSprinter 316cdi and although

open-plan inside it does manageto feature distinct areas forvision control, graphics andsound, with a seat for a directoror client alongside theproduction switcher.

This has been achievedthrough some careful planningand physical design. The sidewall of the van housing thesliding door bows outwardsenough to give the impression ofmore space than there is,relieving the claustrophobia ofbeing right up against the side of the vehicle. Based round a 32-channel Roland M-300 V-Mixer, the ROB 1 audio area,which Riverside TV managingdirector Cyril O’Regan describesas his favourite seat in the wholetruck, is behind a central rackscolumn. Audio from the smallGenelec 8020C loudspeakersabove the mixer help form aninvisible fence between thesound supervisor and the next-door graphics operator but he isstill able to talk to others in thevan and, by leaning slightly tothe right, can see the output ofthe vision monitors.

The vision and productionsections of today’s big TVscanners take up a considerableproportion of the available space.This is mainly because of thenumber of people that need to bein there, both staff doing theactual work and clients watchingwhat is going on. Because goodquality loudspeaker monitors

broadcastfeature


UNITED KINGDOM

Kevin Hilton examines the blueprints to see what makes an ideal OB vehicle

Gearhouse Broadcast is a big builder of OB vehicles, such as this one

Building the perfect

OB truck

are usually installed in the videoarea, which generally has comfy seats at the back forexecutives, there is little or noneed for a client to be in thesound department.

When it comes to audio-onlyvehicles accommodatingsomeone from the productionteam, the person paying foreverything or the artist involved,is a major consideration. TimSummerhayes, sound engineerand a director of music forbroadcast specialist Red TX, saysclients usually “don’t care whatequipment you’ve got in thetruck” but are instead interestedin “the creature comforts”. Thisincludes the now obligatory cosyand relaxing seating, with a well-stocked fridge.

Red TX recently refurbishedboth its trucks; the larger of thetwo, Red II, now features anadditional space that can usedfor various purposes, includingediting or as a listening room. In both vehicles the main mixarea has had small loudspeakers

installed specially to cover the seats at the back where the client/producer sits.Summerhayes acknowledgesthat this won’t give the sameaudio picture as at the sweetspot of the mixing console butdoes convey a good idea of howthe output sounds.

Surround sound is a commonrequirement for recording orbroadcasting music events,

either as future proofing in caseof repeat TV transmissions orfor DVD/Blu-ray release. But itis also a major part of sportscoverage, so having enoughloudspeakers with suitableamplification is now a standardrequirement in OB truck design.Positioning all the monitors sothat a proper surround picture isproduced is crucial, so timeshould be spent with a good

broadcastfeature


Extensive cabling is put in place along themonitor wall in Telegenic’s OB truck

�

Of course, you could always install your kit in a Land Rover...

broadcastfeature


acoustic designer or at least adecent CAD program to makesure everything will fit andsound good.

In TV 5.1 is still the norm forsurround, even if not allbroadcasters are providing amultichannel service. As 7.1 hasbecome the base standard incinemas any OB operatorslooking for work in the lucrativelive event/cinema broadcastmarket should bear extra speakersin mind. There might be need foreven more loudspeakers if spatialsound takes off in conjunctionwith Ultra High Definitiontelevision. UK OB companyTelegenic’s new 4k truck, T25,was built by Sony Professionalwith two speakers in the ceiling ofthe audio area to provide thenecessary height information inany immersive mixes.

Malcolm Robinson atBroadcast Network says thecompany’s design team isworking on using the availablespace in the vehicles to look atcreating a better environmentfor spatial sound, for exampleby moving equipment bridges orracks out of the audio area orbuilding them into the walls ofthe production section.

The choice of equipment andwhere it is installed can make agreat deal of difference in OBaudio sections today. Newdigital mixing desks are oftenmuch smaller than theiranalogue ancestors and evenmore immediate digit-basedpredecessors. And modernrouting generally calls for lessrack space in the mix area.Which leads on to...

GEARING UPThe console remains the heart ofany OB audio department butits importance and role nowgoes beyond the mixing ofincoming signals. Digitaltechnology had already changedthe way desks were used, addingmenus with different feature and function layers as well asautomation and recall ofsettings, but today’s consoles areas much a means of routing anddistributing audio feeds on siteand to broadcast centres as theyare a tool for balancing speech,effects and music.

Of the manufacturers ofdesks commonly installed in OBscanner trucks, Lawo andStagetec had a basis in audiorouting that was brought to bearon the design of their mixingsurfaces. Studer and CalrecAudio came more from the

operational side but haveproduced their own routersystems to work with the desks.In Calrec’s case the Hydra 2system has been designed tomeet the demands of themarket; the capability to dealwith a multitude of channelssimultaneously while at the sametime providing enoughbandwidth on networks to givegood quality audio but with low latency.

Most modern desks aremodular; the mix engine androuter are separate from thecontrol surface, meaning they donot have to be installed in themain mixing area but can sit inan adjoining equipment room.The application of new chiptechnology has resulted insmaller consoles that still deliveron the channel count; the SSLC100, for example, squeezes 256channels into 3U.

Modern electrical technologyhas also had a dramatic effecton a once expensive anddraining component of a truck:power. Wayland Twiston Daviesat Sony Professional says theuse of LCD and OLEDdisplays and other indication

equipment means the overallsystem is drawing a lot lesspower than in the past. This inturn puts less demand on theair conditioning, which is alsovery power hungry.

Something else that canreduced these days is theamount of cabling that has to gointo trucks. Cable is still acrucial element but changes inhow all the technical equipmentis linked has brought aboutdifferent approaches to basicdesign. Which brings us to...

GET (INTER)CONNECTEDDigital audio connectivity isnothing new but the advent offaster and more efficient datacommunications, combined withAES, MADI and embedded linearaudio, has led to a reworking ofhow signals are carried.

Malcolm Robinson commentsthat MADI over fibreconnections is used “extensively”to both route within the audiodepartment and link to hybridrouters, such as those producedby Evertz, which are used in thevideo department.

All trucks being built todayhave 3Gbps core infrastructures

that make upgrading toemerging technologies easier.Another consideration foranyone designing a truck is IP,both for audio and video. Sony’sWayland Twiston Davies says“large chunks of audio” are nowbeing carried over low costCAT5 data cable using audioover IP (AoIP) technologiessuch as Ravenna. He adds thatfibre has become widely usedbecause it is relatively cheap tobreak connections out from.

Broadcast Networks iscurrently designing an all-IPtruck that will have, saysMalcolm Robinson, “seamless”interconnectivity between theaudio and video domains.Greater integration between thetwo once disparate and separateworlds is allowing material toget on air faster during livebroadcasts. This is crucial insports coverage, so anyinterconnection between theaudio and video replay servers,typically the almost ubiquitousEVS system, will get clipstransmitted all the quicker.

Twiston Davies suggestsinstalling a 32-way I/O forconnecting to EVSs, saying thatdemand for I/Os in general isgrowing and shows no sign ofstopping. All these signals flyinground in the data world need tobe traced and controlled. Thereare several control systemsaimed at broadcast in generalbut Twiston Davies sayspackages like VSM (virtualstudio manager) are now used inconjunction with the consoles tomanage the different inputs andoutputs round larger trucks.

The rigours of live locationproduction has been recognisedby a number of routing-networking manufacturers,which provide a selection of

systems that carry both audioand video over fibre. Amongthem is Riedel with itsMediorNet network for routingand signal transport, processingand conversion. Riedel is alsoamong the leading suppliers ofintercom, along with TrilogyCommunications, Clear-Comand RTS-Telex. Whether youcall it intercom or talkback,communicating within the truckand to the crews - sound (bothbroadcast and live), camera andproduction - is absolutely vital.Hard wired systems are themost reliable but wireless isnecessary where crews areworking over a large area.Traditional four-wire systemsstill have their place butEthernet, including AVB(audio-video bridge), and IP,with sophisticated trunkingtechniques for distribution, arenow offering additionalflexibility and possibilities.

Another consideration ingeneral interconnection is thestage box; there should be atleast one for connecting toremote inputs such as mic amps.And the nearer the mics and micamps the stage box is, the lowerthe signal to noise ratio.

CONCLUSIONAs with everything there is abasic formula to designing andbuilding OB trucks. Newtechnology has brought greateropportunities to save money andreduce the amount of equipmentinstalled, which makes for bigger,more comfortable workingenvironments. But as much asmany OB units do much thesame kinds of production –sport, live music and events – onesize or style does not suit everyoccasion. Planning is all if youwant something that meets yourparticular requirements. �www.bcnet.co.ukwww.c2ssystems.comwww.calrec.comwww.clearcom.comwww.falsystems.co.ukwww.megahertz.co.ukwww.riedel.netwww.riversidetelevision.comwww.rtsintercoms.comwww.sony.co.uk/pro/hub/homewww.stagetec.comwww.studer.chwww.trilogycomms.com

+ Thanks to Steve Burgess(Megahertz Broadcast), AndyUnsworth (FAL Systems) andJonathan Lyth, C2S Systems fortheir help in preparing this feature.

One of the world’s first 4K OB trucks under construction, ahead of Telegenicand Sony’s live 4K trials at the Confederations Cup in Brazil

�

All shapes and sizes: German media and broadcast specialists Studio HamburgMCI followed up the installation of four BroaMan routing systems for Sweden’sSVT by specifying the same brand for two NRK OB trucks in Norway

STAGE. YOUR REVOLUTION.© 2013 Line 6, Inc. Line 6 and StageSource are registered trademarks of Line 6, Inc.

“THERE’S MORE TO THESE SPEAKERS THAT MEETS THE EYE, THANKS TO SOME CUNNING DSP AND UNIQUE NETWORKING CAPABILITIES.”

�Paul White, Sound on Sound, July 2013

“LINE 6 HAS DONE A GREAT JOB WITH THE DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE OF THESE STAGESOURCE SPEAKERS. THEY’RE EASY TO USE AND SETUP, PROVIDE USEFUL FEATURES TO HELP GET THE BEST FROM THE PA AND LEAVE LITTLE ROOM FOR WANTING MORE.”

� , April 2013

“IT’S A GREAT UNIT AND WELL WORTH SERIOUS CONSIDERATION.”

August 2013

“A FANTASTIC ALL-IN-ONE SOLUTION, PARTICULARLY FOR A SOLO ARTIST.”

�PSNEurope, June 2012

LEARN MORE AT LINE6.COM/STAGESOURCE

The industry�s leading reviewers have spoken�StageSource® loudspeakers are a revolution

StageSource delivers studio-quality sound for the widest variety of live applications.

NOW HEAR THISINSTANT

£100 REBATE

WHEN YOU BUY ANY STAGESOURCE SPEAKER*

By Dave Robinson

PLASA WAS the occasion forthe first appearance anywhere,according to SourceDistribution’s marketing co-ordinator Alex Theakston, ofthe PreSonus StudioLive24.4.2AI mixer. The desk waspresented on the Source boothalongside its bigger brother, the32.4.2AI, which was launchedearlier in the year.

With around 50,000 of theoriginal StudioLive mixershaving been sold worldwidealready, the two AI desks (for ‘Active Integration’) retain the same surface-drivenfunctionality of the firstgeneration series but withenhanced feature sets and 64-times the processing power.

Burr-Brown A/D/A convertersare employed on the inputs andoutputs, plus a new DSP

architecture based on theacclaimed 64-bit Studio One(software) summing engine.Integrated WiFi control means thattablet devices such as iPads can beused with the desks without theneed for an additional laptop/PC.

Source also presentedPreSonus’ Active Integration PAloudspeakers, designed inconjunction with FulcrumAcoustics’ co-founder DaveGunness, at the ExCeL show.

Other products on the boothincluded M-series live soundmicrophones from RØDE, multi-channel Apollo series audiointerfaces from Universal Audioand digital effects. �www.sourcedistribution.co.uk

The 24-fader 24.4.2AI made it’s worldpremiere at London’s PLASA Show

SHURE DISTRIBUTION UK(SDUK) kicked off pro-audioproceedings at the rejuvenatedPLASA show in September witha formal presentation heraldingits internal reorganisation. The new heads of the threenewly created groups to serve Retail, Pro Audio andSystems Integration were onhand to meet and greet pressand customers.

Following a decision by ShureEMEA, SDUK is redefining itsrole in terms of distribution,and “committing resources intoa more complete and channel-focused support package for itsselected partners”, says thecompany. “Rolling this conceptout on a pan-European levelensures service and supportlevels are consistent at a countrylevel, which is essential whenresellers and service providersare increasingly operating in asingle European market.”

The sales function at SDUKis now structured into threedivisions and these reflect theframework of the new Europeandistribution model. The Retaildivision, headed by former

SDUK field sales managerAnthony Short, supports allaspects of Music Industry (MI) and consumer electronics(CE) retail.

The Pro Audio divisionmanages SDUK’s rental,touring and broadcast-orientated customers and isheaded by Tuomo Tolonen, whoworked previously asapplications and productplanning manager.

Finally, Duncan Savage – one

of three new faces to joinSDUK in the reorganisation –has been appointed to lead theSystems Group, which has beencreated to serve integrators andcontractors working on large-scale installation projects.

SDUK has also committedresources to ensure thatpartners are offered enhancedtechnical training via the newShure Academy EuropeanAudio Network (SEAEN),which will incorporate the

existing training programmesrun by the company andintegrate new workshops andseminars. In the UK, this brief will extend across theentire Shure Distributionportfolio and include trainingand certification for brandssuch as DIS, QSC, Radial and myMix.

“We have always offereddetailed technical training forour brands at our WalthamAbbey HQ, and those events,such as Axient accreditation andQ-Sys training, will continueunder this new umbrella,”explained Peter James, SDUKmanaging director. “But theAcademy has a wider brief andwill encompass on-line webinarsand training programmes,tailored dealer events andnetworking events for end users.

“Our aim is to encourage atransfer of technical know-howbetween our experts, industryprofessionals, and ourcustomers. Sound engineers,manufacturers, integrators andend users can all be part of theAcademy and benefit from it.”�www.shuredistribution.co.uk


For the latest live newswww.psneurope.com/live

liveMIPRO IEMs were chosen for The Toy Factory Productions’Glass Anatomy – The Musical,adapted from the classic 1983Taiwanese film Papa, Can YouHear Me Sing? Singapore-basedhire company Audio ImageEngineering provided theequipment, which included 12 MI-808T stereo transmitters;12 MI-808R stereo bodypackreceivers, one MTS-100T digitalrackmountable stationarytransmitter, 11 MTG-100R digitalportable receivers and four sets ofAD-90a UHF wideband highpower antenna amplifiers.www.mipro.com.tw

Turbosound’s Flashline and FlexArray line array PA systems wereflown at this year’s Zurich OpenAir Festival, provided by Germanrental partner FeedBack ShowSystems & Service. The mainOpen Air stage FeedBack’ssystems engineer DennisDackweiler flew 15 TFS-900Hfour-way high packs plus twoTFA-600H down fills per sidewith 30 TFS-900B subwoofersevenly spaced across the front ofthe stage in blocks of three.www.turbosound.com

Solid State Logic has appointedHD Pro Audio as its Live consoledealer in the UK.It was after seeing the console atProlight + Sound this year thatAndy Huffer, HD Pro Audio salesdirector realised that the company“had to be involved with thisproduct”. SSL first shipped its firstfive Live consoles to Britannia Rowand France’s SGroup in September.www.hdproaudio.co.ukwww.solidstatelogic.com

Funktion-One’s John Newshamand Tony Andrews have signed onas tutors at Soulsound School; anew online resource centre forexperienced live and studioengineers to keep up to speed withthe latest tech developments.Additional tutors already on boardinclude FOH engineer Justin Grealy(Biffy Clyro) and live/studioengineer Marcel van Limbeek (ToriAmos). Soulsound School willlaunch officially in Spring 2014.www.soulsoundschool.com

SOUNDBITES

PLASA first for PreSonus 24.4.2AI

Shure’s business shuffle

Pictured at PLASA are (L-R) SDUK’s Savage, Tolonen and Short

UK distribution operation realigns sales and support into three clear channels, ahead of launch of‘Academy’ training and accreditation initiative, reports Dave Robinson

UNITED KINGDOM

UNITED KINGDOM

THE CLOUDS are lifting and K2 is in sight at last. The team at L-Acoustics hasdesigned a system that has the“DNA of K1” – hugelysuccessful since its 2008 launch –and the form factor of thelegendary V-DOSC. K2 is notofficially launched until 2014,but a couple of the big rentalhouses have already set out to explore its potential. Florent Bernard (FB), L-Acoustics’ director ofapplication/touring, andStéphane Ecalle, director ormarketing, gave PSNEurope theview from base camp.

The K2 system is more than justa rumour then…SE: The rumour is confirmed!Actually, three Europeancompanies are alreadypartnering L-Acoustics in ourK2 pilot phase: SSE (UK),

Black Box Music (Germany)and Concept Even in France.They have been deploying K2 in the field, either as a mainsystem or as a complement totheir K1 rigs. The pilot phasewill end in November, with asignificant amount of fieldexperience being accumulated.K2 has received outstandingcomments from engineers andowners: we’re thrilled with thisgreen light for the marketintroduction. A productionphase will ramp-up thisDecember to address selectedmarkets, while the worldwidelaunch will follow aroundProlight + Sound time in March 2014.

How does the K2 system slot into your product range?FB: K2 is positioned for similarapplications as V-DOSC,typically productions withaudiences of anything up to aheadcount of 20,000. K2delivers exactly the same maxSPL and bandwidth as V-DOSC; it’s pretty logical that K2 will be replacing V-DOSC in our product line,with V-DOSC taking a well-deserved retirement after 22years of loyal service! We will,of course, continue providingafter-sales service to our V-DOSC customers for theforeseeable future.

From a genetic standpoint,K2 has more of a K1 DNA

transplant into a 12” formatenclosure…but with increasedoperational flexibility.

What separates K1 and K2 systems? FB: Since its introduction in thefall of 2008, the K1/K1-SBpackage has been optimised for very large scale events. This narrow marketencompasses arena tours,stadium productions and largegreenfield festivals. SE: From a business standpoint,there is a very high financialcommitment required for asound company to service thismarket with one or multiple K1systems: the standard K1stadium kit comprises morethan a hundred K enclosures,plus SB28 subwoofers, racks andaccessories. Considering theseven-figure euro investment atstake, the K1 market is by itselfa selective one. Nearly 50 RentalNetwork agents around theworld have chosen K1 over thecourse of the last five years and the system is recognisedtoday as one of the top rider-friendly systems.

But beside the “small world”of “big K1”, there is a widergroup of top companies andvenues which operate in a verydemanding market segment with an audience size of up to20,000. These rental and fixedinstallation owners havebasically the same needs as K1

owners: they are exposedto demandingproductions with toptechnical requirements;[they need a] rider-friendly system; and anyinvestment needs to besecured with high stockrotation and a sizeableresale value later on. FB: From an applicationstandpoint, rental houseswill seek the K1benchmark sonicsignature to deliver thebest performance to theirown clients. Moreover,the package needs to be adapted in size,rationalised for transportand with an extremelyflexible deployment. Thisis where K2 comes in.

What was L-Acoustics’ designplan here? FB: First, the acousticperformance had to beabsolutely in line with K1, witha max SPL positioned 3dBbelow its sibling and abandwidth equivalent to K1.This determined the 12” formatand the choice of drivers whichcan match the standard of K1.

Secondly, the verticalcoverage had to be stretched toaccommodate shorter throwsand audiences with high tiers or balconies. The good news isthat a 12” trapezoidal formatallows twice the K1 maximumsplay angle for a value of 10˚versus 5˚. SE: Next, we wanted to offer a lightweight system formedium-sized events orinstallations. The system needsto fit the rigging limitations incertain buildings. Also, forproductions where temporarystructures are deployed, thesound companies have tominimise their dimensioningand therefore prefer aluminiumand/or foldable systems against steel. FB: Another feature we were looking for was adjustablehorizontal directivity. System

engineersneed tosector

the audiencezones in the

horizontal plane toreduce the overlapsbetween mains and

fills to get an evenSPL coverage and optimisedintelligibility. With accuratecontrol of the horizontaldirectivity, the sound designercan focus the acoustic energyonto the audience. So inoutdoor situations, says, thenoise exposure of sensitiveneighbourhoods is drasticallyreduced, as experienced duringthe pilot phase in the UK when SSE Audio deployed itsK1/K2 system in Hyde Park, a notoriously difficult site for sound control. Themeasurements taken on-siteconfirmed that we were perfectlyin line with noise regulations.

Now, this ‘acoustic steering’is accomplished in the verticalplane by L-Acoustics WSTsources. (WST, or WavefrontSculpture Technology, asre theprinciples behind line arraydesign first proposed byChristian Heil and colleagues in 1993.) Horizontally, though,no manufacturer offers a linesource system capable of


livereport

Summit meetingFRANCE

Rumours about K2, ‘the next big thing’ from L-Acoustics, have been circulating among high-endPA companies since the summer. Time for a sneak peek, then. Or should that be ‘peak’?

Florent Bernard, applications & touringStéphane Ecalle, director of marketing

K2: standing tall but weighing less

56What K2 weighs in kilograms

efficientlysteering acoustic energy in thehorizontal plane on demand.With K2, you get fourdirectivity settings in one box:70° and 110° symmetrical; 90°asymmetrical left or right. We have reached a new level ofdirectivity control in thehorizontal plane.

Finally, the K2 package hadto offer full mechanicalcompatibility with the existingK1 and K1-SB elements. K2 owners will need thiscompatibility feature, to extendthe K2 operating bandwidth or increase the LF throw withthe combo K2/K1-SB. Therigging compatibility betweenthe two systems also means that K1 owners can combine thetwo systems as they perfectlycomplement each other: K1 as a main system for long throwL/R applications, and K2 eitheras downfill to K1 or side fill, or delay. SE: So you can either considerK2 as a standalone systemassociated with K1-SB or SB28,or a complement to K1. Bothsystems run on the existing LA-RAK platform, so from theL-Acoustics Rental Networkstandpoint, their compatibilityrepresents an interesting cross-rental opportunity for both K1

and K2 owners, with a verylimited number of enclosurereferences in stock.

What were the big challenges L-Acoustics faced during K2 development? FB: We faced several but theenclosure “weight-loss”programme is undoubtedly themost spectacular.

The Baltic birch plywood we use in the cabinets has a high fibre density for rigidity so it is solid but heavy. Reducingthickness means a loss ofdirectivity and coherency control.

So we did two things: usingcomputer analysis, we ‘mapped’the panel areas where theplywood matter brings littlestiffness contribution to thepanel. Then we milled the K2panels in an intricate patternthat yields the maximumstiffness/weight ratio. As for theside panels, the solution was toreplace Baltic birch for a lighter

and stiffer material:aluminium. The

trick is that the K2aluminium side panelsplay a triple role: theyreinforce themechanical rigidity of

the box; they act inside asa progressive vent forlaminar airflow; while

the outside supports thesuspension hardware with thebest mechanical accuracy. SE: The results speak forthemselves: K2 weighs 56kg –that’s 50% of V-DOSC’s 108kg,for the same max SPL andbandwidth and with nocompromise on structural andacoustic performance.

What distribution strategy areyou going to implement with K2? SE: Since we are relying on theregional presence and theexpertise of our certifiedrepresentatives, the distributionstrategy of K2 will be simplybased on two channels for ourdomestic markets where L-Acoustics is the distributor:Certified Providers/Integratorsfor the fixed installation marketand Certified Providers/Rentalsfor the Rental Network. For themarkets where we are notdirectly present, we will rely onour distributors.

Can anyone buy K2? SE: Our Network indicates thatthe market potential for K2 is300 companies worldwide butmaking a purchase is down tothe customer, not us!

Choosing a large PA systemlike K2 has major consequencesfor a rental business, financially,commercially and technically.As we said earlier, riderfriendliness is the bottom linefor return on investment, whilethe system resale at a later dateis the icing on the cake from aninvestor standpoint.

Five years ago, we created aRental Network Charter thatillustrates this philosophy. And if you invest in K2, youautomatically enter into the logic of the Network, which maintains a set ofcommitments to benefit thesound companies, the clientsand the engineers.

The first concerns inventorythresholds: you cannot buy atiny fraction of a big system, it’s useless; nor can you buy too much, which would bedangerous. The secondcommitment is regardinguniversal standards:performance consistency andpredictability around the L-Acoustics brand signature forengineers and artists – pluscross-rental compatibility. No interface headaches!

And third, the training ofstaff. Everyone agrees that theeducation of technicians iscritical and must be carried outby high-level trainers. So yes,you need to have your techs

trained by professionals to takeadvantage of the system!

To cut this long explanationshort, if K2 is the right systemfor a company, its techs and itsclients, then they should go forit! And they will have the lastword on this, not L-Acoustics.

Mark the calendar for March inFrankfurt, then? SE: The worldwide introductionof K2 is scheduled for PL+S2014. However, we are proud to announce that the system will be seen and heard in theopening and closing ceremoniesof a major winter sporting eventin Russia… �www.l-acoustics.com

livereport


SHAUN PEARCE and RichardOxley busy themselves in thehangar-like warehouse of PearceHire, preparing a sophisticatedcourse of sound reinforcementfor an event mostly removedfrom musical performance: theBirmingham Great Run, aclassic official half-marathonwith added charity fundraisingthat draws huge crowds everyyear. Thanks to the audio,everyone’s experience of theoccasion is greatly enhanced –not least because of the ‘bandson the run’ that entertain alongthe way – but this is business asusual for the now 27-year-oldrental company based inPeterborough and its bedrock of loyal clients.

By trade Shaun Pearce is anelectrician, and you wouldn’tget very far without electricityin this business. But more thanthat, you can go a lot furtherwith a good grounding, if youwill, in excellent provision of it,wherever that may take you. He apprenticed at Redring, alocal water heating and showerspecialist, and no doubt it’s thisexpertise in the combination of electricity and water that has made him one of the go-to figures for temporarygenerator power at Britishoutdoor events today.

His enthusiasm dates back toPeterborough schooldays,triggered by a simple remarkmade by his Mum after she’dseen – and heard – a David Essexconcert: “Wow,” she said, “youshould have seen the size of thespeakers…” It was enough toexert young Shaun into the rathermore accessible world of disco,and the building, renting andoperation of a mobile rig aroundthe local scene.

“I built the first DJ consolemyself,” he says, “so thiscompany is effectively founded on an investment of £15.” Pearce Electrical followed, whilea collection of sound equipmentand lighting built up enough toservice the pub scene in live musicfor miles around. With textbookenterprise, the operation outgrew the family enclave andPearce Hire, as it was now called, moved into a bustling unit among

the tyre fitters and bathroominstallers populating what used tobe open fenland on the outskirtsof town.

Crucially Pearce bought hispremises rather then renting, sowhen recession hit, although hehad to shed staff and carry onmore or less alone, there wassome equity to cushion theleanness until things improved.And so they did: purchase of aSoundcraft 400B desk, MartinAudio Philishaves and JBLhorns consolidated regularelectrical and lighting work – including a cast-iron,Council-backed commitment tothe Cambridge Folk Festival –and frequent rave-scene half-marathons of a different kindinto a thriving business.

“The level of investmentnowadays required in audio is achallenge,” Pearce reflects. “Ifyou bought an analogue monitorboard at one time, it would lastyou for the next 10 years. Thepace of technology now meansyou’ve got to get your moneyback quickly, and that’s after abig outlay. It’s creating two verydifferent tiers: the top-endcompanies like Capital Sound,Brit Row and SSE; and the lowerend of the scale doing local stuff.There’s a void in the middle that’sbecoming very hard to breach.”

There’s a drive at the heart ofthe company that Pearce findslacking in a new generation ofpotential intakes, althoughapprenticeship figures highly onhis agenda. “I’ve forged linkswith the local Technical College,”he reports, “and we’ve got someinternships underway. It’simportant that they see every

aspect of the operation, and notjust make the tea all day, so wekeep a careful log of how theycomplete each task.”

For Birmingham, projectmanager and Pearce Hire’s ‘MrAudio’ Richard Oxley is testing650m of cable connecting time-aligned KARA and ARCS boxes– one stack every 50m – andYamaha M7CL control. “I’veworked with Yamaha digitalmixers from day one,” he says,“quite literally: I did the productlaunches for the ProMix01, 01V,PM1D and DM2000! They’reabsolutely reliable, I know theminside out – and everybody elsedoes as well. The M7CL is onemost bands’ riders at themoment; it’s very rare that we get asked for much else.”

As well as the flagship L-Acoustics kit and Yamahadesks, the inventory boastsLab.gruppen amps, Dolby Lakeand Sennheiser EM300 radiosystems among much else, and ifthe British Birdwatching Fair is“not on the rock and roll A-list,”as Pearce puts it, it still requires300 power sources, huge litmarquees, a distributed PAsystem throughout, delayed L-Acoustics speakers for lecturesand a digital console – where 16 years ago it took threemicrophones and a small mixer.

The business has regularbookings up to 2018, and nowoccupies 14,000sqft in an evenbigger ‘enterprise fen’: not bad for a self-confessed ‘house sparky’. If such a combination of humilityand commitment could beharnessed to a boiler, it would keepthis industry warm for decades. �www.pearcehire.co.uk

US-BASED LOUDSPEAKERmanufacturer VUE Auditechnikmarked its official UK launchlast month with a series ofdemos at The Music Bankfacility in London. The demoswere a joint effort with thecompany’s newly-appointedUK distributor Fuzion Ltd.Featured products included afull sampling of the VUE a-Class, and i-Class ranges, as well as the al-4 subcompactline array and h-Class systems

– the latter two incorporatingthe company’s berylliumcompression driver technology.

Customers from across theUK came along to the two-dayevent, this being the firstopportunity to hear VUE’sofferings since the companyrevealed itself at Prolight +Sound last year. VUE wasestablished by EAW co-founderand former CEO, Ken Bergerand former CEO of MeyerSound Germany, Jim Sides.

Design chief is Michael Adams,who has devised systems forJBL, QSC and Yamaha.

According to VUE’s EMEAbusiness development managerDoug Green, the occasion was a huge success.

“This is such an importantmarket for VUE and I couldn’tbe more pleased with howenthusiastically our productswere received this week,”commented Green. “I’m veryexcited to continue this

momentum with our partners at Fuzion as we introduce a new level of technicalinnovation and performance to customers throughout theUK and Ireland.”

During its Music Bank tenure,VUE took the opportunity tohold its first formal Europeandistribution strategy meetingahead of 2014. �www.vueaudio.com

(L-R back): Matt Cook (Fuzion); Holger De Buhr (Media Logic Germany); Doug Green; Gary Ashton (Fuzion); Mikael Collin (AVP Sales Sweden); Ed Draycott(Fuzion). Seated: Tony Torlini (Fuzion) and Edgar Lien (Avon Lyd Norway)


livereport

Loudspeaker manufacturer brings beryllium to Britain. Dave Robinson reports

VUE banks on UK launchUNITED KINGDOM

Project manager and Pearce Hire’s ‘Mr Audio’ Richard Oxley (left) and ShaunPearce, prepping the delays for the Birmingham Great Run

Phil Ward finds sparks of inspiration at UK rental powerhouse Pearce Hire

Generating profitUNITED KINGDOM

30 years of fun, obstinacyand neutral sound:d&b is d&b.

They say that d&b have built a selection of remarkable sound reinforcement systems in the course of time. All of them efficient tools for sound engineers, not forgetting the rental companies as well as the artists. Whatever: d&b as usual.

Wa

cken

Op

en A

ir F

estiv

al,

Ger

ma

nyw

ww

.db

aud

io.c

om


livenews

By Erica Basnicki

HARMAN PROFESSIONAL hasformed a new Global Live Sound andRental Systems division within thecompany to support live sound andrental professionals with advancedprogrammes, including technology,systems, training and support.

The group is led by Brian Pickowitz,newly promoted to associate director ofthe division, and includes tour soundveterans Raul Gonzalez, applicationengineer, Live Sound and Rental forNorth America, and Vincent “Vinnie”Perreux, application engineer, LiveSound and Rental for EMEA and Asia.

“The formation of a new Global LiveSound and Rental Systems group withinHarman Professional will serve ourcustomers well and I am pleased andencouraged to have a professional ofBrian Pickowitz’s expertise andexperience to lead the group,” saidHarman’s Scott Robbins, executive vicepresident of sales.

According to Pickowitz, the group is extending the depth of partnership to which Harman Professional engages its customers in this community. “We

recognise that partnership extends beyonda transaction and requires a considerablecommitment before, during and after thesale. Our strengthened commitment totraining and support will ensure thatcustomers in the live sound and rentalcommunities extract optimal return fromtheir investment in our platform,” he said.

“If we can provide customers withgreater consistency in terms of systemperformance and setup efficiency, thenwe’ll help improve their businesses andtherein lies the goal of this new group.”�www.harman.com

Harman amplifieslive sound support

WORLD

Brian Pickowitz, associate director of Harman’sGlobal Live Sound and Rental Systems division

By Erica Basnicki

LONDON-BASED EVENT specialistBlitz Communications has placed an initialorder for 20 units of DPA’s d:fine headsetmicrophones. In addition to live events,Blitz also provides services to the corporateconferencing market, which is primarilythe sector for which it acquired the d:fines.

Blitz has been a DPA customer formany years and had used a large numberof DPA 4066 omni headset microphonesover that time. However, the stock was inneed of replacement. Initially, Blitz

intended to replace the mics on a like forlike basis, but changed its mind afterdemoing the newer d:fines.

“Put simply, the d:fine headsetmicrophones offer our clients a morecomfortable solution than they have beenused to,” said theatre productionassistant Kelly Morris. “The audioquality is also very good, which is animportant consideration because weneed to ensure that conference speakerscan be heard by everyone in the room.”

Adam Pierce, UK sales and marketingmanager at Sound Network, commented:“The corporate and conference sectorsare becoming increasingly aware of theimportance of delivering great audio, and this is translating into plenty ofinterest in high-quality audio productslike DPA microphones. The d:fineheadset microphones are especiallypopular because they are so reliable and,thanks to their modular construction,very easy to maintain.”�www.dpamicrophones.com

Corporate coup for DPA d:fineUNITED KINGDOM

Adam Pierce and Kelly Morris at PLASA London

By Erica Basnicki

LIVERPOOL-BASEDEVENTS specialist Adlibsupplied a Coda Audio soundsystem for songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ellie Gouldingon the latest UK leg of herHalcyon Days tour

FOH engineer Oz Bagnallrequested the Coda Audiosystem, which comprised 24Coda LA12, 16 ViRay and 16SCPF speaker cabinets, all drivenby Coda’s C10 amplifier and

DNC260 system processors. Bagnall first heard the Coda

system at one of Adlib’s demodays: “The top end is absolutelystunning,” he said. “It’s detailed,not bright and with lots ofclarity,” adding that it works wellin all the rooms they are playing,even the highly reverberant ones.

For system processing, one ofAdlib’s standard Lake LM26/LM44 rack packages was utilised.Bagnall cut the mix using an AvidProfile console, running all thevocals through Midas XL42

preamp channels to make use ofthe XL42’s analogue EQ.

Tour/production managerDerek Fudge stated: “Havingknown of Adlib for many yearsbut never having actually workedwith them, it has been a pleasureand pain-free experience. Oz andJames (Neale, monitoring engineer)have been happy with theequipment and the crew havebeen friendly and professional.Bloody marvellous!”�www.adlib.co.ukwww.codaaudio.com

livenews

www.psneurope.com November l 35

Coda gets the call for Ellie GouldingUNITED KINGDOM

Adlib’s Coda systemwas a flexible solution

for Ellie Goulding’s tour

UNITED KINGDOM

NEWCASTLE-BASED AV hirespecialists Ingramsounds has builtup a sizeable hire inventory of KV2Audio’s EX Series, including theEX 6 and EX 12 loudspeakers andthe EX 1.2 subwoofer.

A live gig by The Unthanks,Lindisfarne Story and TheFutureheads at DurhamCathedral stands out for company

owner Reed Ingram Weir.“We used a total of 12 EX

cabinets on independent matrixesall time aligned in stereo pairs upthe pillars of the Cathedral. Threepairs of our EX 12s handled thebulk of the audio with a further twopairs of EX 6s handling in fill dutiesand the gig sounded great.” �

www.kv2audio.com


livenews

AN EXHAUSTIVE new reportissued by commercial musicumbrella organisation UK Musicin conjunction with tourismauthority VisitBritain hasunderlined the considerable value of music tourism to theBritish economy.

Entitled Wish You Were Herein a possible nod to the 1975bestseller by one of the UK’smost prodigious musical exports, Pink Floyd, the reportreveals that 6.5 million touristsgenerated £2.2 billion whileattending UK festivals andconcerts in 2012.

The 88-page document alsostates that overseas music touristsmade an average spend of £657during their time in the UK. Otherheadline statistics include a grandtotal of 24,251 full-time jobs beingsustained by music tourism.

Glastonbury aside, mainstreammedia coverage of the live musicindustry can still often seemremarkably south east-centric.

The arrival of Wish You WereHere makes this even harder tojustify, with 72% of musictourism shown to be occurringoutside London.

Speaking at a launch event held in the Top Deck area of theNational Theatre – anothercultural institution whoseenduring contribution to UK lifeis currently being acknowledgedwith a raft of 50th birthdaycelebrations – UK Music CEO Jo Dipple pinpointed theeconomic contribution made by live music, but called for more co-ordinated action bygovernment bodies.

“The Stone Roses wereresurrected in Heaton Park lastyear, generating £23 million forthe Manchester economy,” saidDipple at an event that wasgraced by a short set from fast-rising, Surrey-hailingsinger/songwriter NewtonFaulkner. “Our economy mighthave stopped flatlining, but we

need to get it to grow again.Government needs to startleading the recovery with itsstrongest hand, and that hand hastwo fingers sticking up on it –music and music tourism. Ifgovernment puts its mind tocreating a joined-up MusicTourism Strategy, we could growthe numbers we reveal in today’sreport [even more].”

Dipple urged policy-makers tolook overseas for inspiration, citingthe $200 million contributionmade by the SXSW festival to theeconomy of Austin, Texas. For UKMusic’s part, she confirmed thatthe organisation would continue to work closely with VisitBritain,whose stated aim is to attract atotal of 40 million overseas visitorsby 2020.

Wish You Were Here can be read in full at the UK Music site: http://www.ukmusic.org/assets/media/. �www.ukmusic.orgwww.visitbritain.com

Jo Dipple (left) is picturedwith VisitBritain CEO Sandie Dawe

Music tourism worth£2.2bn to the UK in 2012

UNITED KINGDOM

International music lovers are sustaining more than 24,000 full-time jobs,according to a major new report issued by UK Music, writes David Davies

Phot

o: M

ahta

b H

ussa

in

livenewsFor the latest live newswww.psneurope.com/live

By Erica Basnicki

URBAN PEACE 3, Europe’slargest hip-hop and urban musicevent, was an all-Nexo affairwith 60,000 fans packed into the Stade de France in Paris forfive hours of live performance,headlined by IAM and Sexion D’Assaut.

Sound rental providerMelpomen brought Nexo’s newSTM Series line array systemsinto the national stadium for the first time, tying into thepermanently-installed NexoGEO S12 PA for extra coverageof the uppermost seating areas.

Sound designer VladimirCoulibre used a total of 78 setscomprising one M46 main, oneB112 bass and one S118 sub.

“STM handled the job easily,”said Coulibre. “As soon as therigging was completed, I feltcomfortable with the headroomand the dynamics. What I likedabove all is that it is pretty muchplug-and-play,” he said.

Melpomen engineers deviseda new configuration for the S118 subs, which proved hugelyeffective in the massive Stade deFrance. Groups of nine S118sub cabinets were groundstackedalong the front of the stage, ineach group six units facingforward and three facing back.“The new cardioid pattern has given us a 16dB drop involume behind the stage,” saidMelpomen director ThierryTranchant. “This two-and-oneconfiguration has made the

sound even tighter.“This is the largest of all the

French STM shows so far;everyone’s been so happy at theway the system sounds, which ofcourse means less work forthem, and the carry of the low-end is particularly beneficialwhen working with this type ofmusic. Tuning went verysmoothly. We have SPL limits of115dBA (Leq 15mins) here in theStade, but headroom remainedhigh, and we positioned thedelays so that STM was able towork absolutely optimally.”

System techs Cedric Bernardand Alexandre Borel supervisedat the FOH riser: “Although thisis the largest STM show we haveever done – physically, it’s takenone-and-a-half days to put it all

in, do the EQing, set the phases,and so on – it was very easy totune, and everyone is very happywith the results,” said Bernard.“All of the engineers have foundit very easy to just turn up andmix on this system – noproblems at all – and they havecommented particularly on howbeautiful the low-end is as wellas the great clarity in the highs.”

On stage, a selection of Nexo loudspeakers made up the monitoring system. Most of the performers were using IEMs, supplemented by

PS15-R2 wedges and 16 45°N-12 line monitors.

Summing up, Nexo concertsound manager Stuart Kerrisoncomented: “The coverage in the Stade was way better than Ithought it would be in a venuelike this; when I walked intosoundcheck, arriving from theback of the stadium, the sub waskilling – I assumed subs were onall the delays, but they weren’tusing any on the delays. It wasvery impressive!”�www.melpomen.netwww.nexo.fr

STM hopping in Paris FRANCE


Urban Peace 3 featured the cream of French rap musicon the city’s largest and most prestigious stage

New system brings the beats in familiar Nexo confines of Stade de France

By Erica Basnicki

BRITANNIA ROWProductions Training celebratedthe successful completion of itsfirst three-month live soundtechnology course at theproduction company’s formerwarehouse in Wandsworth at theend of September.

According to Matthias Postel,managing director of BritanniaRow Productions Training, thecourse aims to fill a gap in livesound education. “There arestudio-focused college courses,degree courses that are also verystudio-focused and formalapprenticeships in technicaltheatre, where sound is but aportion. It is this situation that ledto this vision of ‘let’s build atraining course that is based onwhat the industry needs.’”

Course director Barry Bartlettadds that the training is practical,hands on and very intense, “whichis a benefit, as it really equates towhat life is on the road. I feel it’s

like going on a three-month tour,four times a year. That gives ourtrainees a much more realisticpicture of what the work pressureand the workload is like in a

working environment. They don’thave much time to be students,they have to get on with it and getthe job done.”

In addition to the training,the top graduate of each intakeis guaranteed a one-year paidapprenticeship with BritanniaRow Productions.

Students also have theadvantage of access to BritanniaRow Productions’ entire inventory“and also inventory from othermanufacturers who have given ushuge support and loaned usequipment”, added Bartlett.

Yamaha, Midas, DiGiCo andAvid are the main consolesfocused on during the course ofstudents’ training. There are alsomany gig visits, which have sofar included Justin Timberlakeat Olympic Park, Soundgardenat the O2 Academy Brixton, andPeter Gabriel’s recent O2 gig.

Going forward, a part-timeprogramme is also underdevelopment, and is expected tobegin in January 2014. �training.britanniarow.com

L-R: Gonçalo Lopes, recipient of the Britannia Row Productions job; Barry Bartlett;Mike Lowe, director; Bryan Grant, managing director; Matthias Postel and coursegraduate Jamie Burgess

As a result of increased successwith global partners, MMartin Audiohas announced the introduction of a24-hour email tech supportsolution for its MLA family of livesound products. Monitoredconstantly, the email helpdesk willensure that queries are handledquickly by MLA support fromaround the [email protected]

Cadac and Outline co-hosted afour-day international distributorevent at the end of September. Arolling schedule of product demos,‘breakouts’ and workshops werepresented at Pala Banco di Brecia,in Lombardia, Italy to more than100 industry professionals from 15countries. Cadac marketingmanager James Godbehear said,“The intention was to get Cadac’snew consoles in front of a widebreadth of potential customers. Themajority of those in attendance hadnot seen the product before.” www.cadac-sound.comwww.outline.it

SOUNDBITES


livenews

Brit Row Training is goUNITED KINGDOM

t h e V e n u e

BUILD your brand

SHOW your products

REACH your customers

Email: [email protected] Phone: Web: www.namm.org/exhibit/w14

Spotlight on 2013’s Debut“We’ve been approached by many buyers, many distributors, resellers, manufacturing companies and a ton of artists. It was actually great for us because we cater to sound engineers and recording studios….”

Michael Vumbaco,

LAURA MVULA takes to thestage on the Saturday afternoon atRock en Seine. She delivers anhour of exquisite soulful pop, attimes encouraging the Frenchaudience to sing along – if they’venot been stunned breathless by hersmooth-as-silk vocals and thedelicacy of the string/harp/keyboard arrangements by hermusical director and drummerTroy Miller.

While Laura transfixes thefans, what she doesn’t realise isthat, in some small way, she’salso helping to transform thepro-audio industry.

In a pre-fab control centre100m away down a fibre cable,sound engineer Olivier Gascoinand his colleagues are taking theMercury Prize nominee’s liquidsongs and mixing them – as iffor a FOH mix – on a Lawomc256 Mk2. These mixes willthen be piped to another baseonsite, to be embedded withvideo and streamed to websitesand TV channels including theDailymotion, Culturebox andFrance 4.

Rock en Seine began a decadeago and this year attracted itsbiggest ever audience (a reported

100,000 fans over three days). Aninternational line-up includingFranz Ferdinand, Nine InchNails, System of a Down, Alt-J,Major Lazer and Tricky, as wellas a host of domestic acts(Phoenix being the biggest)ventured to the Parc du Saint-Cloud for this most sophisticatedof music celebrations.

For Lawo and productmanager Hervé de Caro, Rock enSeine is the last leg of a veryimportant ‘Tour de France’ inpartnership with audioproduction outfit Yasta. Thearrangement has given engineers

from Yasta access to theintricacies of Lawo’s methodologyvia the mc256 desk and associatedkit at music events around thecountry. The pay-off for Lawoand de Caro has been an insightinto the needs of sound engineersin the live music sphere, ratherthan in a sports environmentwhere the brand is alreadystrong. The tour has visited LesVieilles Charrues, la Route duRock, Hellfest and Jazz Sous LesPommiers. This weekend, thelocation is a majestic park in thesouth-west corner of Paris.

“In France, Lawo is kind ofan unknown, ‘mystical’ name,”volunteers de Caro. “Engineersknow it as ‘high-class’, but theydon’t know the details.” He saysthe community might befamiliar with Innovason, aformer French brand, but notwith the German parent. DeCaro’s position then, put simply,is to be the Lawo “conduit” –his word – into French channels,overcoming any ‘culturalcomplications’ that may arise.

While the French market isoften understood to be closed to outsiders, de Caro can openits doors.

The outcome of the tour, hesays, will be to absorb all thefeedback and reactions to themc256, and to use that learningwisely. “My objective is toprovide the specs and themodifications we need to makeit fully compatible for a futurelive mixing system.”

He says the Yasta engineers,plus other notable operatorsinvited by Innovason/Laworepresentative Sennheiser France,have been keen to get involved.

“What is cool from them isthey accept the limitationspresented by the broadcastconsole to mix live; and it’s coolfor me because it gives me theright balance between whatworks well already, and whatfeatures are needed.”

“As soon as you have a chanceto make the demo, and theyunderstand that philosophybehind the support, the software,the relationship with Lawo –things change,” he says. For thosewho do not work ostensibly in thelive music domain, seeing thepossibilities becomes a tantalisingoffer. “They are immediatelyinterested to join the game,” as deCaro puts it. He has learned thatengaging engineers in a processthat involves taking a knownproduct and transforming it intosomething else – something otherthan what it was designed for – isa popular pursuit. And if thatproduct comes to market, theinput of the contributors isinstantly validated.

Benoît Gilg runs Yasta – abusiness strand separate to, butassociated with, videoproduction unit Sombrero & Co– with his partner Louise Bardet.He is in complete agreementwith de Caro. “The desk is not asyou would expect it... but that’sthe point of the collaboration.We have some small problemsbut we are sharing what wefind.” Gilg says he has long“dreamt” of working the Lawoway: where a powerful networkenables everything to beconnected to everything else;where audio strands can becontrolled and directed whereverthey are required.

The set-up at Rock en Seine –again, simplified – is as follows.There are Lawo DALLIS I/Ostageboxes on two of the fourstages, each with 56 mic inputsand 16 AES digital inputs (forthe Neumann and Sennheiserdigital crowd mics). These runto a Lawo Nova73 HD Core inthe control centre.

Two sets of Yasta’s Optocorepre-amps, based at the tworemaining stages, are alsohooked up to the HD Core.“Because Optocore hasimplemented Lawo protocols,

LLaura Mvula performs on theScéne Pression Live stage.

Her performance was mixed on the Lawo console and streamed to

the Dailymotion website


livereport

This summer, Lawo took an mc2 broadcast console on a tour of French festivals, ina quest to gain knownledge that will lead to the development of a fully-fledged‘live’ desk. Dave Robinson dropped in on Rock en Seine to find out more

Rock steady

FRANCE

Eels were one of many bands in the line-up

Yasta’s Louise Bardet and Benoît Gilg with Lawo’s Hervé de Caro (right)

Phot

o: H

elen

Aitc

hiso

n

Lawo detects Optocore inputs like it wasanother DALLIS, so you can control thegain levels,” explains de Caro. A 16-faderLawo extender [on a Cat5 cable runningup to 200m] can be connected directly tothe DALLIS or Optocore units – so asound mix can be created directly fromthe stage.

What are the shortcomings in thesystem, and the console in particular,then? De Caro highlights some of theprocesses expected in the liveenvironment, such as the use of multipleVCA controls and snapshots (“you onlyhave one VCA controlling a group offaders on a broadcast desk, you needmore than that on a live desk”);switching the console into an offlinemode, for previewing or adjustments; thedifferent means of naming the mixbusses. “But they agree to do without fornow because there is so much power andprocessing within the Lawo. Themanagement of a network offered byLawo is the best in the world: the matrixcan handle 8,192 x 8,192 paths andmultiple consoles.”

Gilg, in particular, has found the 16-fader extender unit a boon. “With banksof inputs and to be able to flip betweenthem, I can mix two stages on [just] 16faders. With someone working onanother Lawo desk, we can really workas a team. Sometimes we are mixing 12or 15 mixes per day…”

“The possibility to change all thefaders as soon as we what; to have in justone desk to have what we want, where wewant… it is a really, really open system,”he continues. “If you have a clear idea ofwhat you want to do, you can do it.”

”Imagine that all the mic inputs, andall the controls on the console, are justdata on the server on the network,” addsde Caro. “This is how Lawo thinks: thesound is for sharing, but with the correctmanagement, so you able to change thegain on the preamps and so on.

“The objective is to keep everythingthat is good with Lawo, plus theimportant elements from the [Innovason]Eclipse, to make a product that willprovide the right price for the rightmarket.” De Caro emphasises that youwon’t see Lawo targeting that already-crowded compact mixer market, though.

Lawo has other ideas: the opposite ofthe current economic choice, in fact. TheInnovason Eclipse desk is now a matureproduct and will continue to besupported but not be repackaged inother sizes: let Behringer, Yamaha,Soundcraft and the others fight it out inthe small footprint stakes. “We want tostay in big theatres or Broadway shows,”he says, “providing huge networkcapability and powerful processing.

“When everyone goes to manufacturein China, we will manufacture inGermany – because Lawo want to [pushthe profile of] Innovason up and up.”

Will the Innovason brand survive, orwill it be absorbed into a ‘Innovason byLawo’ realignment? It’s too early to say.Whatever the outcome, Lawo acquiredInnovason five years ago because theywanted that touring technology andbecause they were, well, too “broadcasty”.When the next stage of that evolution willbegin, the heritage and learning that hasmade Innovason successful – the MARS64-track recorder, for instance which maysoon by 128-track capable, via Ravenna –will become part of the new Lawo DNA.“And,” says de Caro proudly, “whateverhappens to the brand, the spirit ofInnovason is here, within me.”�www.lawo.de

livereport


Olivier Gascoin mixed on the Lawo mc256

Trent Reznor’s Nine Inch Nails made a rare and electrifying appearance at the festival

‘TOUGH’… ‘ROBUST’…‘enduring’… Just three of theepithets that typically litter themarketing materials for moderncompact speakers. The choice ofwords might vary, but almostwithout exceptionmanufacturers are keen toconvey the ability of theirproducts to cope with thegreatest challenges that touringor fixed installation can throwin their way.

For touring, prerequisites of a‘tough’ compact speaker wouldinclude components and cabinetdesign capable of withstandingthe endless load-in/load-out cycleand less-than-genteel handling byroad-crew. With bands packing inmore live dates than ever beforeas income from recorded musiccontinues to decline, thesequalities have never been at moreof a premium.

The stakes for fixed install-oriented compact speakers arearguably even higher. Typically– for example, in restaurantsand shops – their design mustsupport round-the-clockoperation. But nearly asimportant for external or heavy-duty usage, internal public spaceapplications is speakers’weatherproofing and all-roundsolidity of construction.PSNEurope caught up with a

number of leadingmanufacturers to find out abouttheir most robust compactspeakers… in the processdiscovering that, to paraphraseMasterchef, ‘speakers don’t getany tougher than this’.

11. JBL CONTROL 25AV-LSDesigned for applications wherethe music playback loudspeakersystem also serves as the lifesafety system, the JBL Control25AV-LS is the life safetycertified version of the Control25AV. Like its sibling, theControl 25AV-LS features a60W multi-tap transformer with8 ohm bypass, InvisiBallmounting and a magneticallyshielded woofer.

The 25AV-LS, says JBLProfessional senior manager,commercial installed sound,CBT & AWC, Rick Kamlet, is“not only physically strong, butit has been certified to beingespecially robust under a widevariety of difficult andhazardous operationalconditions”. Accordingly, thespeaker delivers compliancewith UL1480/EUAY physicalstructural requirements,UL1480-UUMW life safety

toughness criteria, IP55protection against water jettingand dust, and the MilSpec 810rating to stand up to UV, saltspray and temperature extremes.

Design-wise, Kamlet points toseveral factors that conspire tomake the Control 25AV-LS astough as they come. For one, thedrivers are made of “robustmaterials. For example, the woofercone is hybrid of polypropylene infront (for protection) and Kevlar-reinforced pulp in the back (forperformance).” A sealed-cabinetdesign – as compared to theported design of the standardControl 25AV – prevents air-borne contaminant incursion,while the transformer isconstructed of all UL-approvedmaterials and methods to ensurerobustness.

One of the many applicationsin which these characteristicshave come into their own is aLas Vegas hotel where, saysKamlet, “the speakers needed tobe installed in planters (wherethey are subjected to water),deliver high levels of highfidelity music, and still becertified as being capable ofdelivering high volumeemergency announcementswhen required”.


livefeature

built to last!Compact speakers:

Pro-audio users are spoiled for choice when it comes to compact,multipurpose speakers… but which current products have been built to

withstand the greatest rigours of the road and the built environment? David Davies selects a handy half-dozen

d&b E8 speakers taking on Balticstorms in Kiel, northern Germany

JBL Control 25AV-LS

KV2 Audio EX12

22. KV2 AUDIO EX12“Designed to withstand rigorousoperation around the clock” isJonathan Reece-Farren’s capsulesummary of the EX12 ExtremeResolution Active Speaker fromKV2 Audio, the company ofwhich he is UK managing director.

Delivering 500W of total powerwith a complete on-board speakermanagement system, the speaker iscapable of 127dB sustained output(130dB peak) with very highdynamic range and low noise floor.

Ensuring that the speaker washighly durable was a key priorityof its development, confirms

Reece-Farren, who points to theincorporation of Baltic birchconstruction with a wear-resistant polymer coating to helpit cope with the most challengingof tour and install applications.Hence, too, the recent upgradingof the EX12 to include a new

heavy-duty grill that makes thespeaker “even more durable… It’sbeing rolled-out across the rest ofthe EX range as well.”

Underlining Reece-Farren’sdescription of the EX12 as “areally reliable workhorse” is itsdeployment at a venue locatednear to KV2’s UK HQ – The


livefeature

“The enclosures are builtout of ABS plastic, whichis an incredibly durable bitof material, and ensuresthat if in the course of day-

to-day usage it’s dropped it is veryunlikely to crack” Phil Sanchez, QSC

FBT Audio, Mark Parkhouse: “We export to countries all over the world, so our speakers have to be able to cope withcontrasting environments.”JBL, Rick Kamlet: “The testing in24 days of sulphuric-acid air andbeing subjected to high pressurewater jets are just some of theharsher situations the Control25AV-LS has been subjected to…”KV2 Audio, Jonathan Reece-Farren:“All of our products go throughextreme testing – from two-weekon/off cycles as standard practice, to attempting to shake ourdouble 21” subwoofer to bits!Burning in of all loudspeakercomponents, load-testing of allamplifiers and electronics, heavy-duty thermal and overloadtesting, and vibration testing are part and parcel of ourdevelopment processes.”Peavey, James Kennedy: “The firstcabinet built [in the Elements series]was laid on its back, filled with waterand left for a 90-day period. After

that period not a drop had leaked orescaped from the cabinet, there wasno visible water damage or warping,and the dimensions were exactly thesame before water was applied.Another test involved two unitsbeing secured to lamp-posts in the

parking lot at Peavey HQ inMeridian, MS, and exposedcompletely to the elements. The speakers were connected upand actually passed audio withscheduled stimulus checks for 90 days.”

NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL EXTREEEEME TESTING!

Peavey cabinets secured to a Mississippi lamp-post...

�

Blues Bar in Harrogate, whichruns “as a café during the day,necessitating background music,and then becomes a live musicvenue six nights a week. Thesystem has been put throughmany thousands of operationand nothing has needed to bechanged, so it’s really proven tobe a very durable solution.”

The speaker also continues toshow its worth out on the road,where it has recently beenspecified by Richard BrookerSound Design for a new 24-weekUK theatre tour of classicmusical Fiddler on the Roof.

33. FBT MITUS 152AOne of the latest launches tofeature in this round-up, havingbeen launched at Prolight +Sound in March 2013, the Mitus152A active speaker has also beendeveloped to handle live soundand fixed install applications withequal adeptness. A two-way,biamplified, bass reflex design,the 1,100W + 250W RMSspeaker includes a 380mm B&Cneodymium magnet woofer with75mm voice coil, 50mm B&C HFdriver with 64mm voice coil, anda 60 (H) x 40 (V) degree rotatableHF horn.

Mark Parkhouse, managingdirector of FBT Audio (UK),highlights the “roadworthiness”of a speaker that owes itsrobustness in no small part to its“birch cabinet plywood andscratch resistant paint. As with allFBT products, it’s constructed in-house at the factory in Italy to avery good standard.”

The Mitus 152A isn’t IP55-rated for water and dustprotection (although Parkhousereports anecdotally that somepurchasers have been acquiringrain covers to allow the speakersto be used outdoors), but thisrequirement is catered to byanother of FBT’s recentintroductions – Shadow. “IP55-

rated, Shadow comprises a line offull range and horn-loadedloudspeakers that provide musicand voice reproduction forapplications where extremeweather resistance is a priority,”notes Parkhouse.

4. QSC ACOUSTICDESIGNSERIES S8T, S10T, S12QSC’s senior communications &public relations manager, PhilSanchez, nominates the fixedinstall-oriented, 70/100V, two-way S8T, S10T and S12 surfacemount loudspeakers from themanufacturer’s AcousticDesignseries. “The enclosures are builtout of ABS plastic, which is anincredibly durable bit of material,and the design also lends thespeaker to being deployed intough environments,” he says.

Alongside a spec that includesa 1.4” diaphragm, 1” compressiondriver to ensure detailed high-frequency reproduction, a varietyof features have been included tomake the speaker suitable fordemanding install applications.All three meet IEC60529 IP-54for dust and splash resistance,with sealed input panels andpowder coated aluminium grillesprovided for added weatherresistance. Meanwhile, theversatile X-Mount hardwaremakes it easy for the installer tomount the bracket and thensimply lift the loudspeaker ontothe mount and lock it into place.

But above all, Sanchezhighlights the robustness of theABS plastic, which he describesas “an incredibly well-wearingmaterial. Combined with analuminium bracket and grill, andit’s clear this product will berust-resistant.” Accordingly,demanding public spaceinstallations – including retailoutlets, casinos, houses ofworship and healthcare facilities– feature prominently in the listof suitable applications.

As a footnote, QSC famouslythrew a first-generation AcousticDesign speaker (and an RMXamplifier) off the roof of theCosta Mesa HQ in 2005, andfilmed the whole event. Bothspeaker and amp performedperfectly after the encounter withthe car park concrete.

5. D.A.S. AUDIO WR SERIESIntroduced to the market earlierthis year, the WR (WeatherResistant) series products fromD.A.S. Audio have – as theirname might suggest – beendeveloped specifically to suitadverse outdoor installation

applications. Comprising fourtwo-way passive models, the rangeis available with two exposureratings in order to comply withIP55 and IP56 environmentalratings as per IEC 529.

Roberto Giner, marketingdirector for D.A.S. Audio,explains: “‘Covered Exposure’(CX) is for applications wherecabinets are covered or protected,while ‘Direct Exposure’ (DX) is forsituations where cabinets areunprotected and directly exposedto the environment.”

CX versions, notes Giner, areprotected with a thick Iso-Flexcoating on both the exterior and interior surfaces. The DXversions, meanwhile, augment theprotection rating by employing afibre-glass exterior and a gel coatsealed interior. Additionally,stainless steel fittings andmounted hardware are offered onboth versions.

The evolution of newweatherproofing methods hasfed into the WR series,confirms Giner: “Clearly, newmaterials and techniques leadto changes in production asthese products are integrated.In our case, the WR productstake advantage of the newpaints and finishes andwaterproofing solutions to offertrue all-weather durability.”

And although it’s a new range,the WR products have alreadyfound their way into severalchallenging environments – notleast the outdoor terrace of multi-use venue Stage 48 in New YorkCity, where the WR products havebeen selected to resist NYC’snotoriously harsh winters.

6. PEAVEY ELEMENTS SERIES“Gone are the days of hangingso-called enclosures outside onlyto replace the speaker in a year ortwo” is among the claims madeby Peavey on behalf of its freshly-minted Elements series. Built for

long-term usage, the Elementsweatherproof enclosures combineinnovative cabinet constructionand weatherised componentsdesigned for direct contact withthe elements in the mostdemanding climates.

There are two distinct strandsto the Elements range. The five-model-strong Elements C seriesfeatures composite enclosuresconstructed from an advancedcomposite fiberboard materialthat is dimensionally stable in wetconditions and resistscontamination, yet has theresonant properties of wood.Additionally, the aluminium grillsof the Elements C enclosuresinclude a barrier membrane thatrepels water but allows moisture toescape without affecting the sonicperformance of the loudspeaker.

Comprising six models, theElements M series, meanwhile,incorporates rugged mouldedcabinets and a variety of speakersizes and horn options. Allcabinets feature an IP45environmental rating as a result ofstainless multi-fly-point hardware,sealed terminal connections,weather-resistant grills andweatherproof speaker cones.

“Both the M and C series arefully weatherised, so they reallycan handle all kinds ofconditions,” says James Kennedy,operations manager, PeaveyCommercial Audio. By way ofexample, Kennedy points to apublic test at InfoComm in Junethat saw discrete Elements speakerdrivers being topped to the brimwith water with ducks floatingaround. “It went to show that youcould completely submerge thespeaker cones in water and theywould be unaffected.”�www.dasaudio.comwww.fbtaudio.co.ukwww.jblpro.comwww.kv2audio.comwww.peaveycommercialaudio.comwww.qscaudio.com


livefeatureEXTREEEEEEMEEXTREME!

Here’s what some of the specialistinstallation brands have to gothrough. At the top, TechnomadVernal loudspeakers, installed bysystems integration company Watt& Volt Sverige AB, at the SkiStarresort in northern Sweden. Thespeakers are part of an installationthat communicates the history of SkiStar, deliver atmosphericaudio in eight locations. NiklasHamrin, managing director, of Watt & Volt, says of Technomad:“Their loudspeakers provide the

appropriate protection consideringthe large snow amounts andextremely low temperatures, which can drop to between -30 and -40 Celsius.”

Middle, ‘ingress protection’procedures by Intertek at its LifeSafety & Security testing facility in Leatherhead, Surrey for EN54-24 certification of

Community’s R-Series R1, R2 andR6 loudspeaker systems.

And bottom… Technomad boxeson a US Army Humvee. Need we say more?FBT Mitus 152A

Peavey Elements

�

Vernal: snowy Community: watery Technomad: army

D.A.S. WR 6412

Uniting the audience

Speech and music that stir the soul.

From the thrill of theatre to the celebration of worship to the inspiration of the auditorium.

It’s all about consistent audience coverage, front to back, whatever

the acoustic challenges.

A shared experience theywill never forget.

That’s the Martin Audio Experience.

Unite your audience at www.martin-audio.com


installationBy Dave Robinson

HARMAN, PARENT ofloudspeaker giant JBL, hasacquired privately-held beam-steering specialist Duran AudioBV of the Netherlands.

The acquisition suppliesHarman with access to electro-acoustic and software-baseddirectivity control technologiessuch as the AXYS Intellivox lineof “steerable” columns. TheAXYS products and coretechnologies will become anintegrated part of the HarmanProfessional audio product line.

The news comes just ninemonths after Harmandemonstrated an activecommitment to growing throughacquisition – across a number ofgeographic and vertical markets– by buying lighting giant MartinProfessional. The terms of theacquisition were not announced.

Gerrit Duran, founder ofDuran Audio, noted: “Our focus

has always been on innovation.Over the years we havedeveloped a range of solutionsfor some of the most difficultproblems facing sound systemdesigners, architects andacoustic engineers. Today’sacquisition by Harman presentsmany wonderful opportunitiesto push the R&D boundarieseven further and to deliver some

truly unique technologies to awider customer base.”

Founded in Zaltbommel,Netherlands by Gerrit Duran in1981, Duran Audio has earned astrong reputation for its AXYSrange of professional audioproducts includingloudspeakers, amplifiers, signalprocessors and network devices.Duran Audio pioneered modernloudspeaker “beam steering”and “beam shaping” which areessential to addressingdemanding acousticenvironments. The company hasalso established a leadingposition in audio solutions forEuropean EN54 safetyapplications and softwaretechnologies for audio design.

Harman’s director ofcorporate communications,Darrin Shewchuk, confirmedthat Gerrit Duran will stay withthe group as an “executive in theloudspeaker business”. �www.harmanpro.com

For the latest installation newswww.psneurope.com/installation

PricewaterhouseCoopers hasinvested in a YYamaha audiosystem after movingheadquarters to Prague. Thetechnical equipment includesfour DME64N digital mixingengines with two CP4SF wall-mounted control panels andtwo LS9-32 digital mixingconsoles. Michal Dolezilek,audio and video administratorfor PwC, said: “The systemallows any seminar or eventneeding sound reinforcement,video or audio to be catered for automatically, without the need for specialistoperators. It is very reliable,maintenance-free and hasexcellent sound quality.”www.yamahaproaudio.com

Polartide, an interactiveexhibition about climate change,is to take place on November 24at the 55th Venice Biennale inItaly. The installation uses aMeyer Sound UP-4XP 48Vloudspeaker system for soundreproduction. Visitors click on aninteractive graph showing seawater levels and oil stock quotes,and this generates musicaltextures. The sound is thenrelayed outdoors through eightUP-4XP loudspeakersconnected to two MPS-488HPpower supplies (48V DC). “Weneeded tools that reproducesound precisely and work in therain, and the UP-4XPs haveachieved both brilliantly,” saidGrey Niemeyer, new media artistand creator of the exhibition. www.meyersound.com

The local council in the suburbof Brasschaat, Belgium, haspurchased a QSC Core 250i-based Q-Sys system with a TSC-3 touchscreencontroller and KLA line arrayloudspeakers for the multi-purpose hall at the heart of itslocal cultural centre. The staff that run the soundsystem recommended thepurchase of the Q-Sys systemalong with the KLA active line array system following ademo by the local QSCdistributor, AED.www.qsc.com

SOUNDBITES NETHERLANDS/UNITED STATES

Harman Professional’s Bryan Bradley with Gerrit Duran at the 135th AES Convention

Duran Audio steers into Harman foldCreator of the AXYSIntellivox columnspeaker is latestacquisition by USentertainmenttechnology giant

UNITED STATES

A RENKUS-HEINZ Iconyx digitallysteerable column array wasinstalled in Los Angeles’ stunningnew Tom Bradley InternationalTerminal at LAX.

The crown jewel of the newterminal is the 14,000sqm, $1.9billion (€1.4 billion) Antonio RVillaraigosa Pavilion, which housesdining and shopping services, alongwith an AV information hub.

“At 80 feet high with tons of glass,the pavilion was one of the morechallenging spaces,” said systemdesigner Michael Kalmanson, vicepresident at VSA Associates. “TheIconyx systems allows us to directsound exactly where we needed it tobe, while avoiding difficult reflectivesurfaces or wasting energy outside ofthe listening areas.” �

www.renkus-heinz.com

UNITED KINGDOM

MARTIN AUDIO has providedequipment for Fathom, a sonicexhibition at Plymouth Universitycreatd by media arts specialistsJane Grant and Dr John Matthias.Fathom enables visitors toexperience the sounds of the RiverTamar estuary, using underwatersound recording technology. Theyexperience different atmospheres,and the exhibition conveys asound divide between water andair. Producer of the event and

sound engineer Simon Honywill,said on using Martin Audioequipment: “It was the only way Icould even start to generate thekind of sharp cut-off that thisunique project demanded.”Elements of an MLA system wasdeployed for the projects used.Andy Davies, from Martin AudioApplication Support, said: “It wasa great honour for Martin Audio tobe involved in this project.” �www.martin-audio.com

Powersoft, EAW, installedat Bosphorus bankside

TURKEY

THE ROOFTOP nightclub at NuTeras, one of the most expensiveclub/restaurants in Istanbul with afantastic view of the Bosphorus, hasbeen equipped with an audio systemfrom Powersoft and EAW. The MarsEntertainment Group chose distributorand installer Asimetrik Sound, Lighting& Visual Systems to supply the solutionfor the venue.

“In terms of location and operationNu Teras sits right at the very top,” saidGörkem Çelikbilek, electrical andelectronics engineer and VP ofAsimetrik. “Consequently, this is agreat reference installation for us and alarge step towards improving Turkey’svision of professional audio systems.We invested maximum effort in

designing a system that can only bedescribed as world class,” he said.

The system consists of a dozenPowersoft K2 and K10 amplifiers withon-board DSP, powering EAW JFL210,JF80, JF10 and SB250 cabinets.

According to Çelikbilek, Powersoftwas an obvious choice: “First of all weneeded plenty of power, as we had todeliver the most efficient signal to thespeakers at all times. Reliability was thesecond reason. We sometimes get powervariances in Istanbul – and the Powersoftamps make it safe for the speakers, as itprovides protection against voltage dropsfrom the power grid.”�www.asimetrik.com.trwww.eaw.comwww.powersoft-audio.com

Meyer hops into Rabbit LandSWEDEN

By Erica Basnicki

IN CELEBRATION of its 90thanniversary, Liseberg amusement parkin Sweden has completely renovated itschildren’s area to create Rabbit Land, a10,000sqm play area where children caninteract with animals and rabbit-costumed actors.

System integrator One Two Sales ofGothenburg has outfitted Rabbit Landwith Meyer Sound’s D-Mitri digitalaudio platform and Meyer Sound self-powered loudspeakers discreetly placedthroughout the area.

At the heart of the system is the D-Mitri platform, which connects to sixUPJunior-XP 48 V VariO loudspeakersnestled in the park’s Rabbit Hills andCupcake areas, with three 500-HPsubwoofers providing low end. Inaddition, seven UP-4XP 48 Vloudspeakers are mounted underneaththe park’s monorail track to extendcoverage and provide sound effects.

The system was designed and specifiedby Lindstedt in consultation with Dan

Rigtorp, Liseberg’s technical director.“We looked at other solutions, but

decided on Meyer for severalreasons,”continued Rigtorp. “Thespeakers have a small footprint withtheir unique low-voltage solution. In addition, Meyer Sound offers us asingle source for everything, includingsupport and education.”

The Rabbit Land developmentrepresents Liseberg’s largest singleinvestment, with a total cost of justunder 200 million Swedish kroner,(approximately €22.8 million). �www.meyersound.com


installationnewsPowersoft and EAW serve upchill-out music for dinner, and a club atmosphere after midnight

Meyer Sound’s experience in themedentertainment landed them in Rabbit Land

By Erica Basnicki

THE MAC, Belfast’s newcreative arts venue, has had itsnewly designed productioninfrastructure equipped andinstalled by Rea Sound, MartinAudio’s Irish distributors.

Appointed as specialist sub-contractors to Bowen MascottJV, and working from a designspecification by consultant Carr & Angier, Rea Soundmasterminded the entire technical

fit-out, which included a MartinAudio W3 theatre PA system.

“The W3 is a fantastic sound

system and perfect for therequirement,” confirmed Rea Sound’s Roger McMullan.

The system is the mainauditorium comprises three W3sper side and a Martin AudioAQ10, powered by MAamplifiers. These provideseparate channel feeds to each ofthe house PA speakers as well asthe infills and effects speakers,which include three AQ10’s plusfour ‘floating’ Martin AudioBlackline F10+ and two F12+.

At the heart of the system lies one of two Allen & HeathIDR units, allowing for full

control on all inputs andoutputs of the PA speakerchannels. Supplied for the audio engineer is an Allen &Heath I-Live T122 digitalconsole and IDR48 stageboxagain allow for ease of use andpreset recalls.

The smaller upstairs studioalso utilises W3 cabinets, with an Allen & Heath I-LiveR72 digital console and IDR16 stagebox. �www.martin-audio.com


installationnews

Martin Audio makes its mark at The MACUNITED KINGDOM

By Dave Robinson

ON THE wave of anothersuccessful BPM 2013 (the ‘DJand Electronic MusicProduction Event’), organiserMarked Events is expandinginto the professional audioand lighting space with thelaunch of PRO. This exhibitionis aimed at installers, rentalhouses, production companiesand anyone who providestechnical services to bars,clubs, concert venues and small to medium-sized events,and will run alongside BPM atthe NEC in BirminghamSaturday 13 till Monday 15September 2014.

The shows will retainindividual identities (BPM forDJ gear, PRO for pro-audio andlighting needs) though oneticket will cover entry to both.

Marked Events’ sales directortold PSNEurope at press time:“Since announcing PRO, theindustry reaction has beengreat. Following PLASA’s debutat ExCeL, I think the need for a targeted PRO event is evenmore apparent. The idea forPRO is that it will fill the gapingmiddle ground currently notcovered either by PLASA orour BPM event.

“PRO is specifically targetedat late night venues, productioncompanies and the retail sectors that supply professional

audio and lighting users. Thedevelopment of PRO wasinitially driven by professionalaudio companies who serve thismarket and are looking for a newopportunity for show promotionin the UK. This point hasalready being proven by BPM,which included representationfrom more speaker brands thanany other UK show this year.With the birth of PRO, this isonly set to grow.” BPM hasexpanded from 2,200 visitors in2007 to 8,000 this year, and from4,000sqm of floorspace to8,700sqm in 2013.

Walsh has already beenapproached by a number of newexhibitors for 2014, as well ascurrent BPM exhibitors seekingincreased space. “For the pro-audio companies this will meanmore feature area space forsound system demonstration anddedicated educational content inthe PRO Learning Spaces.”�www.visitpro.co.uk

BPM team launchesPRO show for NEC

UNITED KINGDOM

The MAC’s 350-seat main auditorium, equipped with Martin Audio W3s

Mark Walsh, BPM & PRO sales director

Telephone

+44(0)870 74 0987email: [email protected]: www.trantec.co.ukTOA Corporation (UK) Limited HQ3 Unit 2, Hook Rise South, Surbiton, Surrey, KT6 7LD, England

Trantec is a part of the TOA Corporation group of companies

S4.4 Series

S4.16 Series

Fully synthesised PLL quartz tuning technologyReceiver LED’s show AF peak level and diversity Channel A or BDiversity operation with detachable antennaeProfessional metal enclosureS4.16 available as ‘Racked ‘n’ Ready’ version in 19” fully-loaded flight case with built-in antennae distribution and power supplyNEW S4.16RX2 dual systems now available

sound without compromise

A YYamaha CL3 system is thecenterpiece of a new sound systemat Hereford Hereford CourtyardCentre for the Arts, following itbeing granted funds for anupgrade. Production manager CarlHulme chose the desk in order totake the venue – which was lastupdated 15 years ago – “far intothe future”. The console wassupplied by SSE Audio Group,together with a pair of R-seriesI/O units – a Rio3224-D in thevenue’s control room and anRio1608-D on stage.www.yamahaproaudio.com

VUE Audiotechnik has appointedAVP Sales as the company’sdistributor in Sweden. AVP Salesis the fifth European distributor tosign on with VUE in the last 12months. “These high-calibreteams bring tremendousexperience at a time when we’resharpening our focus on keyinternational markets,” explainedVUE’s executive VP Jim Sides.www.vueaudio.com

SOUNDBITES

By Erica Basnicki

ETA SOUND, who joinedparent company SSE AudioGroup in 2012, has scored two UK stadium sound installs recently.

The first was the WorcesterWarriors’ 12,000 capacitySixways Stadium, where ETA’s Eddie Thomas designeda sound reinforcement upgrade with JBL’s AWC129two-way coaxial loudspeakerson the lower stand and AWC 82s above in thehospitality area, supplied byHarman Professional’s UK and Ireland distributors Sound Technology.

“It is the first time we haveused these loudspeakers and weare delighted with theirperformance,” said Thomas.

Added Brian Ryan, SixwaysStadium’s head of operations:“We were very impressed withthe new JBL speakers and theyhave performed well during theirfirst ‘live’ match. The clarity forspeech announcements isexcellent and they also handlemusic exceptionally well.

ETA Sound’s second project

involved completing the firstphase of an upgrade to the publicaddress voice activation (PAVA)system at the Liberty Stadium,Swansea. The Stadium is home toboth the ‘Swans’ Swansea CityPremier League football club andthe ‘Ospreys’ RFU club.

Thomas once again designedthe system; a replacement

network solution centred aroundthe QSC, Q-Sys integratedsystem platform.

“The system comprises two250i servers and six I/O frames,two located at each of the remote equipment rack locations,along with supporting input and output cards to drive theexisting amplification frames,”said Thomas.

The operation controlsoftware was customised by SSE Audio’s Paul Todd.

As part of the refurbishmentworks, a new QSC emergencymicrophone and desk mountedpaging station was also installed.The system was designed, suppliedand installed across a three-weekperiod and was ready for use onthe first UEFA Europa Leaguequalifying match of the season,which Swansea City won 4-0against Swedish side Malmo. �ww.etasound.co.ukwww.jbl.comwww.qscaudio.comwww.soundtech.co.ukwww.sseaudiogroup.com

ETA Sound has completed phase one of Swansea’s Liberty Stadium PA VA upgrade


installationnews

Stadium double for ETA SoundUNITED KINGDOM

The party event of PLASA was undoubtedly the Martin Audio/DiGiCo/Avolites bash at the Troxy ineast London. That’s James Gordon (Phantom) and David Webster (Kiss) on the mic...


hither&dither

Hither and PLASAIncluding an ‘allstar’ line-up at the immaculate art deco Troxy

Please send all contributions for possible publication to [email protected]

CONTACTSEditorDave Robinson [email protected]

Staff Writer Erica Basnicki [email protected]

Managing EditorJoanne Ruddock [email protected]

Deputy Advertising ManagerRyan O’[email protected]

Head of Design and ProductionAdam [email protected]

Editorial Production ManagerDawn Boultwood [email protected]

Production ExecutiveEvan Graham [email protected]

Digital Content ManagerTim [email protected]

Office ManagerLianne [email protected]

PublisherSteve Connolly [email protected]

Managing DirectorStuart [email protected]

Correspondents: Mike Clark (Italy), Marc Maes (Belgium/Holland), Phil Ward (UK), Mel Lambert (USA)

Contributors: David Davies, Kevin Hilton, Paul Watson, Sarah Dawood

PSNEurope Intent Media London, 1st Floor, Suncourt House, 18-26 Essex Road, London, N1 8LN. Editorial: +44 20 7354 6002Sales: +44 20 7354 6000

Press releases to:[email protected]

Subscribe online at:http://curwood.coffeecup.com/forms/PSNEurope/Subscriptions Tel: +44 1580 883848

PSNEurope is published 12 times a year by Intent Media

London, 1st Floor, Suncourt House, 18-26 Essex Road,London N1 8LN, England.

© Intent Media, 2013. All rights reserved. No part of this publicationmay be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any meanswithout the prior permission of the copyright owners. The contents ofPSNEurope are subject to reproduction in information storage andretrieval systems. Intent Media is now the Data Controller under theData Protection Act 1998 in respect of your personal data. IntentMedia London will only use your data for the purposes originallynotified and your rights under the Data Protection Act 1998 are notaffected by this change. PSNEurope is published once a month. The publishers reserve the right to refuse subscription applicationsconsidered inappropriate and to restrict the number of free copiessent to a company or organisation. 2013 subscription rates for non-industry/non-European readers are: UK, £39/€62; Europe,£54/€86; other countries, US$106/ 170.

CIRCULATION AND SUBSCRIPTION Intent Media, Sovereign Park, Lathkill Street, Market Harborough,LE16 7BR, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1858 438786 . Refunds on cancelledsubscriptions will only be provided at the publisher’s discretion,unless specifically guaranteed within the terms of the subscriptionoffer. Intent Media may pass suitable reader addresses to otherrelevant suppliers. If you do not wish to receive sales information fromother companies, please write to Circulations and Subscriptions,Intent Media, Sovereign Park, Lathkill Street, Market Harborough,LE16 7BR, UK. ISSN: 0269-4735 (print); 2052-238X (digital).

Printing by Pensord Press, Tram Road, Pontlanfraith, Blackwood NP12 2YA

Look everyone, Al McKinna is backfrom Avid in SF! Five years away? No!

Meanwhile, back at the Troxy: Dominic Jacobson doeshis best ‘Bez’ while Simon Bull carries on regardless

Not only did Pioneer launch its new club soundsystems atPLASA, it brought the branded beer along too

And elsewhere in London, Sony showed off its new range ofhigh-res audio players. Spot the man who works for Hitachi

FOR HIS generous network ofindustry trustees, nointernational trade show feelscomplete without at least sometime spent in the company ofRusty Waite (Russell to hismom), now embarking upon the latest chapter of hisglobetrotting career. As hesettles into leading EAW’s salesdrive into a new era of domesticproduction and high-endchallenge, it’s time for somereflection on resettling on theEast Coast, moving fromconsole to speaker manufacture,his formative time in Europeand simply doing what he doesbest – keeping that network welltuned and convivially engaged.

Have you noticed that there are nofaders on a speaker cabinet?I’ve worked that out! Yes, it’snew territory for me – I wasfurther up the processing chainbefore, with AMS Neve,Euphonix and Stagetec – andthere’s a lot to take in.

But over the past year I’vebeen doing a lot of theatresound design, and I know what Iwant to get out of loudspeakersin a performance arena. After Iparted company with Stagetec Ihad time to share my daughter’senthusiasm for musical theatre –she’s with a youth theatre groupin California, which is a reallyprofessional set-up. As a soundengineer by trade I just had toget involved, bought a couple ofsmall digital consoles andmanaged to raise the audioquality to another level.

Looking back, I guess in away it was building up towardsthis kind of position.

How does it suit you?This role at EAW is global, andthat’s what really attracted me.My time at Euphonix involvedtaking an American brand andbuilding it into an internationalforce, so this was something I could really sink my teeth into. In fact, I turned down acouple of big opportunities here because they were only US-focused. Developing EAWfurther as a power acrossEMEA and Asia too… I feel I can make a difference.

And it’s an interesting time forthe company…There’s so much happening.Being part of LoudTechnologies gives us a majorinfrastructure to work with, butit’s still about me being a liveengineer, a sound designer andan all-round audio guy. I’vedelved into the core technologiesat EAW, and I have to say thecurrent portfolio is as strong asit’s ever been. I thought theAnya range would blow meaway – and it did – but what Ididn’t realise was that the rest of the products would blow meaway too. My connections withEAW go back to ’93, when it was being distributed bySiemens Austria. I was working

for them at the time, based inVienna, which brought me into contact with the EAW team and enabled me tounderstand exactly what thebrand stood for.

What impresses me now, andwhat we’re all focused on, isbringing the majority of themanufacturing back into theUS, at Whitinsville. All of thecustom work is done here now: the era of EAW being aChina-based manufacturerbelongs to yesterday. The buzz isback and, although productslike the QX series and Avalonhave sometimes felt like the best-kept secrets in the business,when you actually get people infront them and listening they

are consistently knocked out.My job is to get that messageback out there.

Is ‘Anya’ the way back into high-end touring?Definitely. Of course we’reequally devoted to installation,but Anya is poised to take usback to the top of the touringgame. It’s not a typical productof any kind: it’s not line array,but neither is it simply pointsource; and it also has value inthe fixed install market. It’s amix of qualities and techniquesthat we call AdaptivePerformance: we sold the firstsystem to Rat Sound – Dave Ratwas involved with thedevelopment – and they’re using


industrytalk

ADVERTISER INDEX NAME ....PAGE18 Sound.......................................43Adamson Systems Engineering...OFCASL Intercom..................................4Audio-Technica...............................8Beyerdynamic .................................9Canford Audio...............................47

Cedar Audio ....................................3Celestion.......................................35Clear-Com ....................................48Community Professional Loudspeakers ................................51D.A.S.Audio...................................17d&b audiotechnik ..........................33

DiGiCo ...........................................13Dynacord .......................................11Full Fat Audio................................53Genelec .........................................37HK Audio ......................................25JTS Professional ..........................50K-array .........................................38Kling & Freitag ..............................34L-Acoustics..................................IFC

Lectrosonics ..................................21Line 6 ...........................................28Martin Audio.................................45Meyer Sound...................................7MIPRO ..........................................31NAMM Show ................................39Radial Systems Engineering ....5 & 55Renkus-Heinz ...............................36Sommer Cable...............................23

SSL ..........................................18/19Tannoy .....................................16/17TOA .............................................49Waves Audio .................................41Yamaha Commercial Audio ..............1

“My time at Euphonix involved taking an American brand andbuilding it into an international force, so EAW was somethingI could really sink my teeth into. I turned down a couple of big

opportunities here because they were only US-focused” Rusty Waite

ADVERTISER INDEX

it for an incredibly wide range ofapplications. [Anya was ‘secretly’trialled by Rat in front of anaudience of 20,000 at theCoachella festival earlier this year – Ed] This weekend they’reusing it for a festival in SantaMonica, where the city wasreally worried about noise, andit’s because you can sculpt thesoundfield so accurately that RatSound got the gig. Wherever itis, Anya can be adapted to theperformance space.

Is it part of the new generation ofsoftware-driven, highly analyticalFOH systems?It’s a game-changer. The‘Resolution’ software is not justabout beam steering, or model-building, or prediction. Ithappens in real time: at anotherfestival in Downtown LA, DaveRat was able to fix someunexpected reflections from atent at the back of the coveragearea by adjusting the scope ofthe dispersion in situ. Theproblem just went away. Plus, therig hangs straight: there are notricky J-curves or degree-by-degree tweaking, you just pointit and fire. Then the softwaretakes over and deals with thesituation, including determiningthe location of the boxes inrelation to each other usinginfra-red sensors.

In the vertical plane you canadjust from 0° to 180°, making it especially equipped to dealwith balconies, upper tiers instadiums and problems of thatkind. And you can hang themside by side to deal withhorizontal dispersion, up to atrue 360° image – way moreflexible than a normal line array.

Big plans for Europe?Of course: we’ve got a great guy in Steve Badham, ourapplication support manager forthe EMEA region, and by Q1next year we’ll have an Anyasystem over for demos. But thewhole portfolio is ready to getthe full benefit of my uniqueexperience in Europe, and I’mreally happy to know I’ll get tospend more time in your neck ofthe woods! �www.eaw.com

Swapping channel strips for chain hoists, Rusty Waite has taken on a major role with EAW. The console champion would like to introduce Phil Ward to his new progeny Anya, too

Good company

psne november 2013 digital edition

Documents

newcastle19 new truck

new jungle16 ssl

new sb15m companion

brand new sb15m lf extension

plasa london

diary of events

special events

head of events