The Netherlands - Tannoy and Lab.gruppen will be exhibiting alongside each other at the forthcoming Integrated Systems Europe 2011 in Amsterdam, having attended the show separately in previous years, with plans to unveil a major new product range involving both of the professional audio brands.

The new Tannoy loudspeaker range, in the form of VX Series, will be given its international debut at the show, with the full line-up of new cabinets on display including examples of the self-powered variant VXP Series, boasting newly developed integrated Lab.gruppen amplification.

The new ran

UK - Rich Mix, Shoreditch's thriving multi-arts and community centre, is now treating clients to its 450-capacity live room with improved sound reproduction - thanks to the installation of a JBL VRX line array system and Soundcraft Vi1 digital mixing desk.

Occupying an old five-storey industrial building originally used as a clothing factory, the social enterprise Rich Mix originally opened with three cinema screens four and a half years ago, showing world cinema and first run movies.

But far from being purely an art house it started to run events in the bar - and under the supervis

UK - Brighton Goes Gospel is that city's non-religious community gospel choir, entirely run by volunteers. To mark its 10th anniversary, the choir staged a night of gospel music in the Brighton Dome's Concert Hall before Christmas, a high-spec visual event featuring six cameras and a mix solution using the latest video products from Roland Systems Group.

Led by choir director Karen Gibson, and musical director Jason Thompson, the 180- strong choir was joined by prominent UK gospel singer Beverley Trotman of X-Factor fame and the Kingdom Choir as well as other surprise guests. The high

Canada - John McArthur, vice president of sales & marketing at PAG Canada has announced that Eric Prevost will be joining the sales team as Quebec sales representative beginning 1 February 2011.

"In mid-December we had a sudden need for an experienced and respected sales representative to oversee Electro-Voice & Bosch (Conferencing & Public Address Systems), so we started our search," McArthur says. "When it became public that we were looking for someone, we were surprised, humbled, and very pleased with the selection of candidates to choose from. We chose Eric, in part

USA - Sensaphonics has announced an upgrade to its dB Check in-ear sound level analyzer. Beginning immediately, the dB Check will be able to check monitor levels for the Shure SE Series of musician earphones. Sensaphonics will have this new version of dB Check on display at the NAMM Show in Anaheim this week.

"Previously, the dB Check was only programmed for Sensaphonics models," notes company president D. Michael Santucci. "But due to consumer requests, we decided to include the new Shure SE Series as well. Now users of both companies' earphones can tell exactly how lo

Italy - RCF has created a new PR & strategic marketing job function within the company and has appointed Kenneth Bremer to fulfil this role, starting from January 2011.

Bremer will work closely with the marketing team, to keep branding RCF internationally, developing marketing strategies and to keep relationship with all relevant media and to support customers providing them fast product information, and suggestions to invest in professional audio equipment. Bremer will also define the company PR strategy and work closely with company branches .

The strategic marketing role will als

USA - Orange Amps continues to advance its guitar amps range with the new TH100 head, the 100 watt big brother of the TH30.

The TH100 has exactly the same controls and pre-amp section as its smaller sibling, but when running in class AB1 (half power) it makes 35 watts on two output tubes and 70 watts on four output tubes, says the company. Put it to full power (AB2 position) and the amp makes 50 watts with two output tubes and 100 watts with four. Being able to switch to half power means you can reduce the listening volume while preserving the power tube distortion.

Just like the TH

USA - This year's NAMM Convention in Anaheim will be a busy show for Renkus-Heinz, says marketing manager Margie Ulm.

"NAMM is always a great show for us," says Ulm. "It's a good opportunity to reconnect with long-time clients and friends who come by to catch up, see our latest products and talk about their plans for the coming year."

The company will be showcasing their new CF101LA series of compact modular point source array loudspeakers. The CF101LA's power, portability and versatility has made it an immediate success in small and mid-sized venues, says the co

USA - Hartselle, AL's newest house of worship, Hartselle Church of Christ, boasts inspirational architecture featuring high ceilings and ornate brickwork. It's an impressive looking sanctuary, and the church's elders are understandably proud.

But that same stunning architecture had created some unforeseen challenges. As Christopher Bragg, senior systems engineer at Covington, GA-based Messenger Media Systems, explains, the room's acoustic signature did not lend itself to getting the message across to the congregation.

"It's a very wide room, and very reflective," says Brag

Denmark - Volbeat's Front of House engineer Mads Mikkelsen is contending with a band whose music embraces three powerhouse signatures, profound low end content, distinct multiple guitars, and big vocal harmonies. Volbeat's recent tour drew a decidedly young audience to arenas all across northern Europe.

"The band sound is a lot more dirty live," said Mikkelsen. "I double channel each of the two guitars, slightly delaying each to opposite sides of the PA to get that big guitar and bass sound and the J-Series delivers exactly what I am aiming for. That's one of the reason

California Calling - NAMM returns to Anaheim this week with the organisers and exhibitors in buoyant mood despite the continuing fragile nature of the world economy. Alongside the many musical instrument offerings will be a healthy quota of pro audio exhibitors, covering live sound, the fixed installation sector and recording. Some significant new product launches are promised, while the annual TEC Awards have been revamped and the educational programme extended.

The education session schedule for this year's Hands-On Training (H.O.T) Zone offers "the broadest educational experie

UK - Pulse is to continue its new product drive in 2011 with the launch of two ranges to cover public address amplification. The MA and SA series from Pulse offer basic public address amplification suitable for a host of venues without requiring large budgets for install, says the company.

The models are all designed within standard 2U rackmount chassis to ensure compatibility with existing installs, the amplifiers also feature the standard mic & line inputs required for a mixture of sources.

(Jim Evans)

USA - KK audio labs will introduce its new DS-6 six-inch, two-way powered studio reference monitor at the 2011 NAMM Show this week. KK audio labs, led by industry veteran Keith R. Klawitter, founder and former owner of KRK Systems, is a Southern California company that designs and manufactures high-end audio products for the recording studio and professional live sound markets.

The high-resolution KK audio labs DS-6 monitor speaker features a six-inch low frequency driver utilising proprietary composite cone material together with a one-inch, custom-designed titanium composite high fr

UK / USA - Navigator Systems, authors of HireTrack Eclipse rental software and Production Exchange of Los Angeles, the online exchange for AV, Lighting and Rental Staging market sub rentals have announced a technology partnership demonstrating a fully integrated link in the latest HireTrack Eclipse release.

The Production Exchange will be a third party application that integrates seamlessly with HireTrack Eclipse software's current version. As a result of this partnership, current authorised users of HireTrack Eclipse will be able to subscribe to Lite Exchange, Video Exchange or Audio

USA - QSC Audio Products is debuting the KLA Series fixed arcuate, active line array system at NAMM this week. Built on the same power platform as the established K Series and KW Series powered loudspeakers, KLA is designed for a wide range of portable and permanently installed applications including houses of worship, entertainment venues and a variety of other locations where the use of a line array is indicated.

"Ease-of-use in terms of deployment and system tuning were the key elements driving the KLA design," states Phil Sanchez, product manager at QSC. "As a compl

USA - Presented at NAMM 2011 this week, XEOS is a new series of installation speakers created by Proel to replace the existing Spark and MO/CSE series, with a single range featuring a selected number of models, a renovated look and an improved sound

The series includes three two-way surface-mount models: XE35TB/TW with 3.5" woofer, XE55TB/TW, with 5" woofer and XE65TB/W, with 6.5" woofer. The newly designed front baffle featuring a full protection grille with a new aluminium logo, allows these speakers, available in black or white, to blend into any environment.

The

USA - The new Live X series of portable powered and passive loudspeakers from Electro-Voice debuts at Winter NAMM in Anaheim this week.

Comprising three powered and four passive models, Live X features the latest Electro-Voice-engineered components; lightweight, durable plywood cabinets; "best-in-class" SPL output, power-handling, and frequency response; and clean, stackable designs - all at a price point previously unheard-of for loudspeakers of a similar pedigree, says the company.

Three versatile powered Live X cabinets are available: two full-range loudspeakers and a m

USA - Intelix has partnered with Pioneer Music Company "to better serve the Midwest consumer electronics and custom installation markets". Effective immediately, Pioneer Music is stocking and supplying Intelix hardware, including their HDMI, analogue-to-digital conversion, and audio/video over twisted pair solutions.

"Few firms match the experience, dedication, and knowledge of Pioneer Music Company," says Cameron Smith, Intelix sales and marketing manager. "Their commitment to quality product and excellent service has made them a leader in the Midwestern resi

UK - The 33rd ABTT Theatre Show promises to deliver a packed showcase, whilst celebrating The Association of British Theatre Technicians 50th anniversary, say the organisers.

The Show will focus its marketing campaign online and again offer a simple and free pre-registration facility through its enhanced website. This will also boast easy to use facilities for exhibitors and visitors alike allowing fast upload and download features.

The ABTT Theatre Show is already well over 50% sold out for 2011 with exhibitors including XL Video, ETC, Stage Technologies, Martin Professional, Yamah

India - The end of November saw a prestigious music conference - Soundbound - held in Mumbai, with a range of live performances for participants to enjoy after the business of the day. The first two nights featured gigs by Shaa'ir + Func, one of India's most successful indie bands, mixed on a DiGiCo SD9, the first to be deployed on the Indian sub-continent.

Soundbound and the associated live shows were sponsored by the British Council. It was part of the long-term SoundPad project, bringing together high profile names from the Indian and British music communities

Australia - When AV company Scene Change decided to upgrade their radio microphones they opted for the Shure UHF-R series.

"We needed to increase the number of radio microphones and frequency band in the business," said Vicken Hekimian, director of Scene Change Sydney. "We also needed to be able to properly assess available frequencies in real time. The Shure UHF-R series spectrum analysis gave us that ability.

"We've found that the Shure UHF-R series networking ability and scanning really saves us time in set up. I have to say that both the RF and audio performa

Germany / USA - HK Audio is unveiling its Elements modular sound reinforcement system at the NAMM exhibition in Anaheim, California. Elements, the company says, "merges the benefits of modern line array technology with the portability and easy handling of ultra-compact PA systems," enabling users to easily build up to 44 different system configurations, for a wide variety of situations, using just six easily combined components.

The system can be configured to support anything from an intimate speaking engagement to a multi-instrumental concert system with a full 3600W of po

Italy / USA - Powersoft has announced the formation of a new US corporate structure and move to an expanded facility in California. The new corporation, Powersoft Audio Technologies Corp, makes its home in an expanded 1,600sq.ft facility that serves as the national sales, service and support centre for the company's innovative amplifiers.

Ken Blecher, who joined the Powersoft team in May 2010, will lead the new company, with Tom Bensen remaining in the east as the key accounts manager and Steven Temmel as the operations and service manager. The new facility officially opens in mid-Jan

USA - Line 6 announced at NAMM the expansion of its XD-V line of digital wireless microphone systems to include XD-V70HS and XD-V30HS, a pair of high-performance headset microphones with beltpack transmitters.

"The headset mics are a natural addition to our XD-V line of digital wireless mic systems," commented Don Boomer, wireless sales engineer at Line 6. "They offer the sonic clarity and simple setup Line 6 digital wireless mics are known for, and the hands-free designs required by professional presenters, singers, and performers of all kinds."

Alongside the XD

Latest Issue. . .