Germany - d&b audiotechnik will launch two new products and a significant software update at Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt next month. The announcements aim to keep d&b at the forefront of the touring and installation markets.

The new products include the D20, the latest addition to the company's four channel amplifier family, and the MAX2, a flexible 15" stage monitor. The software update is a new ArrayCalc feature for d&b line arrays.

"The only way leading companies such as d&b can retain their market position is through constant innovation, meeting the demands of the market and more importantly the satisfaction of their customers," says Sabina Berloffa, director of marketing and product Management at d&b audiotechnik.

"Prolight+Sound is such an important show for us. This year, we're launching some really excellent new products, which elevate the quali

USA - Founded by former U.S. Navy SEALs, the BattleFrog Obstacle Race Series is an intense obstacle course race for all ages inspired by the challenges Navy SEALs face every day in training. BattleFrog transforms every race venue into a demanding obstacle course designed to test the strength, skill, and determination of any athlete.

On 28 February and 1 March, Miami area participants brave enough to take the challenge gave it their all on the BattleFrog 15K, BullFrog 5K, BullFrog Mile, and TadPole Dash 400M courses. Being able to clearly hear the instructions of the staff and others requires first-rate audio quality and, for this, sound reinforcement technology from Valencia, Spain-based D.A.S. Audio was placed into service.

Edwin 'Haviken Hayes' Guerra is the production coordinator for BattleFrog Series, Miami and director of operations for Kenote Entertainment of Hollywood,

USA - Christmas services this past December never sounded better at Second Baptist Church's 400,000sq.ft West Campus in Houston thanks to a recent audio system upgrade to two DiGiCo SD5 consoles. Installed by local HOW systems integrator Covenant Communications, the new consoles replace a pair of legacy DiGiCo D5 Live FOH and monitor desks for the church's 5,000-seat "in-the-round" worship centre, which also televises its lively services.

Second Baptist Global tech director Mark Sepulveda notes that after seven years of duty, the time had come to retire the previous consoles and make an upgrade. "The SD5s were chosen based on what our team thought were the best overall live audio consoles on the market that continued to give us superior audio with the DiGiCo brand, continued ease of hands-on functionality, easy firmware updates that will continue to add new featur

Germany - Keeping digital music files safe is the focus of a special panel being hosted by the Music Producers Guild at this year's Musikmesse/Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt.

Producers Tony Platt, Gareth Jones and Stevan Krakovic will take part in the event which aims to highlight the care that should be taken of recordings and session information, especially when an entire album's worth of creativity can now be contained on one memory stick.

"In the days of analogue recording, the tape box and track sheet logged all the important information, "Stevan Krakovic says "In this new digital age we have become very casual. Too many sessions are badly labelled and too much information goes unreported. Some people even entrust their valuable music to cheap hard drives without paying any attention to how accurately it has been copied. We really need to up our game and get

Fame Academy - Sir Paul McCartney is to induct former Beatles bandmate Ringo Starr into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Starr is the last of The Beatles receive the musical honour. Sir Paul will usher in the 74-year-old at the 30th annual ceremony at The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum next month. The Beatles are already in the hall as a group, as are John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison as solo artists. Other inductees will include Green Day, Lou Reed and Bill Withers.

Speaking to Rolling Stone magazine, Starr said it meant "recognition" of his work. He added: "And it means, finally, the four of us are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame even though we were the biggest pop group in the land."

Eagle Joe Walsh will perform some of Starr's music, while Withers' music will be performed by John Legend. It is not known if Withers, who quit

UK - Founder of the London Electronic Arts Festival (LEAF), Rob da Bank, has praised the sound generated at this year's event by Flare Audio's system.

A two-day cultural celebration of electronic music, art, technology and digital futurism, held at Tobacco Dock this March, the event attracted around 20,000 electronic music fans into the heart of London. Flare was selected as the event's only audio supplier.

"I was blown away almost quite literally by the sound quality that Flare provided for our LEAF festival," said Rob da Bank. "Whether it was a live act or DJ, or in a small room to a vast warehouse space, they delivered on every level and were supremely professional all weekend."

Flare Audio products provided sound for both the conference and live performances. Flare's V8C and V12C high SPL point source loudspeakers and flat panel SB18 bass delivered fo

Canada - With multiple dealerships across the country, the Dilawri Auto Group is Canada's largest automotive group, and it has recently completed construction of several new dealerships in the Vancouver and Lower mainland areas of British Columbia.

The A/V integration wing of Vancouver-based firm Commercial Electronics has been involved in those projects from the planning stages and has now completed installations at new Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Infiniti, and Aston Martin locations. Reflecting the prestige of those brands, the new sound systems deliver true high-fidelity output, helped in large part by Ashly Audio processing, amplification, and user control.

"Good sound is important anywhere, but it is especially important at a car dealership," said Terry Neudorf, pro division manager at Commercial Electronics. "Poor quality sound is distracting and annoyin

Canada - When the Royal Theatre and McPherson Playhouse in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada needed to upgrade their digital consoles, they turned to DiGiCo and are delighted with their investment.

"In 2002, we decided that we were going to have some of the most technologically equipped theatres in Canada," recalls Warren Busby, head of audio / assistant technical director for both venues. "We undertook a multi-million dollar renovation of the 1416 seat Royal Theatre and with that, purchased new technical equipment including the very first Yamaha PM1D ever to be installed in a venue in Canada.

"We continued to be state-of-the-art for many years and then, in 2012, we decided it was time to replace the PM1D - not because it wasn't functional, but rather it was no longer supported by Yamaha and parts were no longer being manufactured."

This started War

UK - KV2 Audio's philosophy has always been to embrace the principles of point source speaker system design to provide optimum sound quality and coverage for applications and audiences of all sizes.

Up until now, their VHD2.0 Large Format Point Source System had been the company's flagship, with the capability of covering crowds in excess of 10,000 people with just one or two enclosures per side. The challenge for KV2 in building even larger point source systems for audiences of 50,000 people plus, was to reproduce the low mid energy that certain line arrays provide though the summing of multiple drivers, while maintaining the key benefits of point source technology, being minimal destructive interference in the higher frequency range and accurate impulse response.

George Krampera and his team of highly skilled engineers have overcome those challenges with the development of K

Italy - Loudspeaker manufacturer Eighteen Sound has announced the appointment of Davwinder Sheena as director of sales, Middle East, Asia and Pacific Rim and Jeffrey Cox as director of sales North America.

Sheena will be responsible for managing distributors, as well as market development, in China, India and other key Asian manufacturing centres.He comes to Eighteen Sound with an array of experience in the pro audio market. Based in Singapore, Sheena has guided sales leadership in various market quadrants in the Asian region for a number of name brands from the US and Europe.

"We are excited to develop this important region of the world utilizing the extensive experience and relationships that Davwinder brings," explains Giacomo Previ, Eighteen Sound director of global sales. "His fluency in so many Asian languages and his comfortable demeanour, make him the id

UK - The BRIT Awards returned to London's O2 Arena this February, where the best of British and international music talent were brought together for another spectacular night. Sennheiser assisted audio supplier Britannia Row Productions with both equipment and technical support, making sure that the sound quality for this RF-intensive show was crisp and clear throughout.

TV personalities Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly hosted the night and regular Sennheiser users Ed Sheeran (Mastercard British Album and British Male Solo Artist) and Sam Smith (British Breakthrough Act and British Global Success Award) bagged two awards each.

For the second year, and helping to address the RF challenges with its steep filters allowing an extremely narrow set-up of radio frequencies within the available range, Sennheiser's flagship Digital 9000 Series microphones were utilised for the hos

USA / UK - In-ear monitor specialist Noble Audio has launched Prestige, its new flagship CIEM (Custom In Ear Monitor), billed as "an unashamedly luxurious bespoke-fit monitor offering Noble's finest audio performance and craftsmanship".

Prestige is a high-end progression of Noble Audio's flagship custom K10 and universal-fit K10U IEMs. Like its K10 siblings, Prestige also employs Noble Audio's advanced 10-driver balanced armature technology to deliver its quality audio.

This month, Noble Audio also unveiled its first UK demo facility. The new resource, which is based in London, makes the entire Noble Audio range of IEMs available for demonstration. Visitors can also have ear-impressions taken for Noble Audio's bespoke-fit models.

Noble Audio has partnered with a high-profile Harley Street audiologist, Gisele Flower, to demonstrate the range and take personal ear im

World - DPA Microphones has launched a new worldwide 'Trade Up to d:fine' campaign, running from now until 30 April, 2015.

As part of the campaign, anyone who buys a new DPA d:fine Headset Microphone will receive a rebate of $100 USD (or near-equivalent in local currency) provided they trade in an existing non-DPA headset microphone. All other headset microphones can be traded in - it doesn't matter what make or model. Participants can also trade in as many microphones as they like, provided they replace each one with a new d:fine.

"This is the ideal opportunity for people to get closer to the DPA Microphones' quality and upgrade the tools they need most," says DPA CEO Christian Poulsen. "Our microphones deliver the ultimate in speech reproduction, musicality and reliability. We hope to encourage more artists and sound professionals to try them because we are co

Germany - Studiomaster will launch the digiLiVE ultra-compact digital audio mixer - a hybrid concept fully marrying the advantages of hardware / touch-screen control surface and remote tablet operation - simultaneously at Musikmesse and Prolight+Sound (15-18 April, Frankfurt).

digiLiVE 16, a 16 input - 16 bus - 8 output digital audio mixer, sports a control surface integrating a 7" Android driven high-resolution touch-screen and eight motorized 100mm fader operation, alongside fully remote (iOS and Android) tablet operation. With an anticipated price point well below £1000 / €1500, this versatile professionally specified mixer has target applications across the pro-audio and MI sectors, being equally attractive to gigging musicians, small venues, dry hire and installation companies. As such, the company will be showing the new mixers on its stands in both the Proligh

France - Celebrating its 30th year, Les Victoires de la Musique is France's most prestigious annual awards ceremony, akin to the Grammy and BRIT Awards, and is broadcast live from the 5,000 seat Le Zénith arena in Paris.

The nearly four-hour show, in which the French Music industry recognises the year's top recording artists, featured performances by David Guetta, Brigitte, Jean Louis Aubert and Christine and the Queens, among others, who were all supported by a full orchestra. For this year's live performances and broadcast, the ceremony's audio crew turned to four SSL Live L500 consoles to deliver the audio for FOH and monitors, supplied by Parisian rental firm Silence

The production was technically sophisticated, with 10 SSL stageboxes on stage. Fabien Chanier, who handled the FOH mix for the performers, and Stephane Pelletier, who mixed the orchestra, handled the im

USA - Established in 1985, Pro Tech Marketing is a professional manufacturers' representative firm supporting AV integrators, system design firms and end users in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona and the Western panhandle of Texas including El Paso. The firm offers product and system design training, product demonstrations and sales support and has warehouse facilities in both Louisville (Denver area) and Tempe, Arizona.

Pro Tech's success in the AV industry comes in large part from its emphasis on building lasting relationships and its tradition of on-site product demos and training.

President Dean Hinton commented: "Community is a well-respected company with a great product line and an excellent technical support staff. They'll be an important part of our image as a 'Systems Solutions Provider'. I'm looking forward to working with Community to grow their sal

UK - The Oxford Union has for many years been a forum for high class debating, both competitively and otherwise. In fact the Debating Society's Chamber been described as "the world's most prestigious" - having hosted speakers including President Ronald Reagan, Mother Teresa, Senator Bobby Kennedy, Michael Jackson and the Dalai Lama.

The Union, founded in 1823, is Britain's second oldest Debating Union. The Chamber itself was designed by Alfred Waterhouse in 1878, and today it has a Grade II* listing. With a seating capacity of 450, for the first time it recently took delivery of a Harman Pro integrated sound system, provided by local multimedia specialists, City AV.

Their MD, Peter Gunn, has been providing the Chamber with temporary PA equipment for these high profile events for many years. But as Bursar Lindsey Warne points out, with its growing commercial use, and

Germany - The International Film Festival (Berlinale) is one of the most important events for the international film industry and is at the same time the largest public cinematic festival in the world. The 65th Berlinale enthused hundreds of thousands of spectators with some 400 films in 52 venues. Dutch loudspeaker manufacturer Alcons Audio supplied its pro-ribbon sound system for the Berlinale Palast (Berlinale Palace).

Each year, since the Berlinale of 2000, the Stage Entertainment Theater am Potsdamer Platz, which is actually a musical theatre, is transformed into the main venue of the Berlinale: the 1,600 seated Berlinale Palast. Here the glamorous gala opening with an international star cast takes place, as well as the premieres of the competition films. In addition, the Berlinale Palast is the setting for the award ceremony of the Golden and Silver Bears.

For the Berlin

UK - There is little than can compare to the sheer joy of listening to the assembled voices of several thousand youngsters singing their hearts out. In motivational terms alone, what Young Voices does for the primary school age children of the UK is sensational; to be planted front stage centre in one of the UK arenas and perform in front of an equally large audience is a memory most of them will carry for the rest of their lives. How do we know this?

Arthur Mazzer who works for Britannia Row Productions Ltd (Britrow), the company that has provided the sound system for these events since their inception, was once one of those early choristers. "We all like music," he said, "I don't think you can work in this industry unless you love it, and for me singing was what started me off. In that sense Young Voices was a magical experience."

Astute readers will also

UK - In a busy year where some seriously talented and influential artists are hitting the road, Adlib is audio supplier for The Script's new No Sound Without Silence world tour which has kicked off in the UK and Europe in great style.

It's the fourth album campaign on which the Liverpool based company has worked with the popular Irish rock band, alongside production manager Bob O'Brien and tour manager Quinner, supplying the audio system and crew to work with engineers Richy Nicholson (FOH) and Paul 'Mini' Moore on monitors.

Adlib's crew is led by crew chief Marc Peers who is also co-ordinating monitor world, with Tony Szabo KSE as the systems engineer, charged with the dextrous task of fine tuning a perfect system every day whatever the venue or surroundings, delivering continuity and sonic confidence to Richy's rich animated mix.

They are joined by Adlib's Michael Flaherty

Spain - As Barcelona hosted the biggest mobile industry show in the world in March, Orbital Sound's conference and events team moved into action with a high profile corporate event organised by global creative agency Imagination.

Staged at the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, the project involved a VIP evening's entertainment hosted by the MWC's headline sponsor, a major Chinese telecoms manufacturer. The project involved over 100 performers, taking part in an extravaganza that included flamenco dancers, hip hop, a 50-piece orchestra, and a full choir across three central stages, as well as in the balcony space - performed in front of an invited audience of some 1200.

The inspiration of Imagination's head of sound design John Del' Nero, the show sound was supervised by Seb Frost, and involved a technical crew of seven from Orbital Sound, under events director Eric Simpson. F

UK - Allen & Heath has released a major firmware upgrade for its Qu series of compact digital mixers, paired with key enhancements to the Qu-Pad and Qu-You apps.

V1.7 ArcLight firmware now allows up to two iPads running Qu-Pad to be connected to a Qu mixer at the same time. New features in Qu-Pad include saving and recall of processing and FX libraries, a third custom layer for easy access to any combination of inputs, mixes, DCAs, Mute Groups or SoftKeys, full control over key FX parameters, the ability to store and recall scenes, plus access to the mixer SoftKeys. Master PEQ, GEQ and compressor settings have been added to the Qu-You personal monitoring app, allowing performers further control over their own mixes.

V1.7 ArcLight also makes a channel Ducker available on all channels, inputs and stereo groups, adding to Qu's appeal in applications such as conferencing, educatio

Germany - Sennheiser presented a further milestone in the development of its company facilities and invited guests from politics, business and entertainment to its Innovation Campus.

With floor space of around 7,000sq.m, the Innovation Campus provides plenty of room for cross-functional teams to carry out projects in the development and marketing of audio solutions. The ground floor of the state-of-the-art building even accommodates a theatre and Germany's first Sennheiser Flagship Store, which enables customers to gain hands-on experience of the brand and its products.

"With our new Innovation Campus, Sennheiser now has the biggest and most modern centre for innovation in the entire audio industry," explained CEO Dr. Andreas Sennheiser. "We have created the space to develop innovations that are targeted even more directly at the customer. This is apparent not o

UAE - Sennheiser and Delta Sound recently collaborated to ensure the success of Drake's debut concert in the Middle East by providing him with the latest Digital 9000 wireless system which was used for all hand held microphones at the show. In addition to providing a memorable audio experience for the over 16,000 fans who attended the concert at the Dubai International Stadium on the 14th of March, 2015, the Digital 9000 managed to hugely impress both the house engineer, Demetrius Moore and the show's monitor engineer, Sean Sturge.

International superstars performing to sell out audiences have become a regular feature in the region in recent years and Delta Sound has played a lead role in supplying equipment for many of these concerts. "Having Sennheiser in the region is an absolute bonus for Delta Sound. As an extensive rental stockist of Sennheiser's RF and cabled product

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