Austria - The best ski athletes in the world gathered in Kitzbühel to celebrate the highlight of the World Cup calendar - the Hahnenkamm Race Week from 22 - 27 January 2013 including the renowned Streif downhill.

The "Streif" is considered the most spectacular and dangerous downhill in the world 80m jumps, 85-percent base slope and top speeds up to 140 km / h. The race does not allow any margin of error.

To celebrate the conclusion of the races a VIP party, KitzRacePartywas held, with the top act for this year Gloria Gaynor playing to the crowds.

Austrian L-Acous

Singapore - Allen & Heath's Indonesian distributor, Sindo Exports Pte Ltd, recently supplied Allen & Heath GLD digital systems to Singapore's Wala Wala live music club and Cleopatra karaoke nightclub.

Founded 20 years ago, Wala Wala started hosting live music acts 10 years later following the refurbishment of its first floor storage area. A relatively small live room, the original sound reinforcement system suffered from poor sound quality when the levels were increased so Wala Wala's management appointed an audio technician to mix the 11 weekly acts.

"Having decided to recruit

UK - German-based optical fibre network specialist, Optocore GmbH, has appointed Sound Network as its new distributor in the UK.

Based in Central London, and suitably placed to serve the broadcast, theatre, install and touring segments of the market, Sound Network see the move as a logical fit. "The Optocore product line dovetails perfectly with our existing product mix and we look forward to introducing customers to the benefits of this impressive solution," stated director Ralph Dunlop.

Optocore sales & marketing director, Tine Helmle, agreed. "With our growing pene

Germany - For the first time in many years, Nexo will host an acoustic demo booth on its real estate, combining technical presentations in the Nexo Academy with live demonstrations of its new LS18 sub with classic PS Series cabinets. Overhead, the flown line arrays will include three different configurations of Nexo's flagship modular line array STM, and, for the first time, the new LS18 sub flown inline with an array of Geo S12.

Nexo will present three new products at the PL+S show this year, as well as ongoing refinements to the STM Series and its accessories.

With the launch of t

UK - Since breaking into the UK music scene in 2009 with three top 20 singles, Paloma Faith has had two platinum-selling albums. Currently in the midst of an extensive UK tour, her FOH engineer, Huw Richards, is working on a DiGiCo SD10 with SD Rack.

"I instantly liked DiGiCo the minute I used one of their consoles," Richards admits, during soundcheck at London's Hammersmith Apollo. "Whatever the model, you're getting real value. Be it the great EQ, the excellent pre-amps - the list goes on - everything you're working with is always the same quality as the flagship SD7,

Ukraine - The Victoria Hotel & Conference Centre is the leading venue in Donetsk, capital of the Donets Basin region of the Ukraine. It is also situated very close to the Donbass Arena, home of local soccer heroes (and 2009 UEFA Cup winners) FC Shakhtar Donetsk (FCSD), and one of the venues for last year's Euro 2012 tournament.

In preparation for Euro 2012, which saw a sizeable portion of the UEFA delegation staying at the Victoria, the hotel was thoroughly refurbished and all of its audio systems were renewed throughout. Odessa-based installer Real Music, who are also the QSC distrib

UK - The helipad of an 18-storey building on a cold winter's night is not a typical place for a cinema screening, but the launch of Virgin Media's movies-on-demand service Virgin Movies was no typical event. The challenge of delivering high quality (and high-rise) surround sound for an outdoor showing of The Dark Knight Rises fell to Urban Audio Productions, for whom Yamaha's StageMix iPad app was - almost literally - a lifesaver!

Located hundreds of feet above east London's Shoe Lane, the venue provided the audience of competition winners with a suitably Gotham City-esque sett

USA - Tri-Cities-based sound reinforcement and AV service and rental provider, Ford Audio Service Inc, has taken delivery of the first L-Acoustics Kara system in Washington State. The initial order was comprised of 24 Kara, accompanied by 12 SB18 and eight SB28 subs, four 12XT coaxial monitors, and eight LA8 amplified controllers.

Located on the southern edge of the state - a five-hour drive southeast of Seattle - Ford Audio is well positioned to service corporate clients, venues, festivals and regional tours throughout Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.

"We've had several

USA / Denmark - Harman reports that it has completed its acquisition of Martin Professional A/S of Denmark.

Blake Augsburger, Harman executive vice-president and president Harman Professional Division, said: "As we move forward together and institute Martin Professional as a business unit within Harman Professional, our customers from both the lighting and AV disciplines will soon be able to capitalize on joint innovations, efficiencies and access to our systems portfolios. In doing so, I am confident we'll also drive growth into emerging markets and vertical markets where digita

Russia / Germany - It all began with a documentary on the TV arts channel 'arte' about the world's coldest inhabited place, Oymyakon in the far east of Russia. The programme also mentioned 'ice whispering', a phenomenon that occurs when people breathe and speak in extremely low temperatures. The breath immediately freezes, generating a crackling noise that follows the speaker like a shadow.

Fascinated by the idea that words turn into crystals with a sound of their own, the artist Juergen Staack travelled to Yakutia in 2012, accompanied by his artist colleague Thomas Neumann. The sound

UK - At PLASA Focus Leeds, on 30April and 1 May in the Royal Armouries' New Dock Hall, nestled conveniently close to the New Dock Bar you will find the d&b audiotechnik stand at N-A24. Make yourself comfortable, come and chat, come and listen; it's what the d&b team love to do. Questions and answers, discussion and debate, fact and opinion; take your time.

Across the Piazza in the salubrious surroundings of the Bury Theatre another treat lies in store. Oran Burns and Steve Jones from the d&b audiotechnik Education and Application Support team will each be delivering another informativ

UK - Yamaha has released a major upgrade to the firmware for its CL series digital mixing consoles. Bringing a wide range of user-requested enhancements and added functions, the upgrade increases yet further the exceptional flexibility of the CL system, says the company.

CL Series Firmware V1.5 has been developed after carefully listening to comments and 'wish lists' from CL series users. The new features include:

Scene Preview - Pressing the Preview key allows the user to view (and, if necessary, edit and re-store) any other scene. While doing this the scene number area blinks red

Belgium / UK - Audac has appointed Audiologic as the exclusive distributor for the Audac brand in the UK market.

The official agreement for the complete Audac product range was confirmed at the ISE show 2013. Mark Asselberghs, export manager for Audac said, "It is very important for us that our brand is well represented to customers, and our products deserve the professional knowledge and expert support that Audiologic can provide. As a well established and trusted distributor in the UK audio install market, award winning Audiologic is the natural choice for a long term partnersh

UK - Toby Alington and his highly experienced team at Richmond Studios Productions are introducing the latest Online Mastering service to their website. With an exclusive third off all purchases until 31 March, Richmond Studios Mastering will be offering its clients "a truly professional and affordable service".

As a multi-award-winning audio producer and mixer, with over 30 years' of experience in the audio industry, Alington will bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to RSP's Online Mastering service.

Alington's most recent accomplishment was the BRIT Awards 2013. It

The Netherlands - When two of the Netherlands biggest orchestras relocated to a new rehearsal and performance space this year, they needed a high performance vocal PA system which would provide exceptional sound quality, but not detract aesthetically from the historic building. Yamaha DXR12 loudspeakers provided the solution.

Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest (the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, or NedPhO) and Nederlands Kamerorkest (Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, or NKO) work closely together, between them playing to audiences of over 200,000 people in Holland and other countries

UK - The BBC has contracted Toby Alington and his team at Richmond Studios Productions to mix and record the live-to-air music performances from the Give It Up for Comic Relief show at Wembley Arena in London.

"We are delighted to be working on another big project with the BBC, and are proud to be involved with Comic Relief," says Alington.

Once again, the team will be working with this year's double BRIT Award winner, Emeli Sandé, along with other leading artists Kasabian, Noel Gallagher, Paloma Faith, Jessie J, Jake Bugg, Nicole Scherzinger, and Rizzle Kick

Hard Rock - Bruce Springsteen has agreed to return as a headline act at London's Hard Rock Calling festival despite organisers pulling the plug on his show last year after it over-ran. He will play again with The E Street Band at the event's new location at the Olympic Park this summer. Kasabian will also headline, playing their only UK festival. Other performers over the final weekend in June include Paul Weller, The Black Crowes and Klaxons.

Late Show - Teen pop idol Justin Bieber angered parents by emerging onstage for a concert at London's O2 Arena almost two hours late. Wh

USA - Denver Performing Arts Complex's Boettcher Concert Hall, home to the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, was built in 1978 as the first US symphony hall in the round. While the 2,634-seat performance space's unique layout continues to remain enduringly contemporary, the venue's previous PA system has not fared quite so well, recently prompting a full audio system retrofit that included an L-Acoustics amplifier and loudspeaker package.

The City of Denver hired South Norwalk, CT-based acoustician/consultant Akustiks to specify the new system, which features an exploded cluster design usi

Germany - Pro audio company Rain Age has added a further 10 Lab.gruppen PLM Series amplifiers to their extensive inventory, reaffirming the company's faith in the technology available from Lab.gruppen and Lake.

The company - based in Landsberg, Germany - has built up a well-respected reputation over the past 15 years, providing full service production capability to a large number and variety of events, from club concerts to large scale arena shows.

The new purchase of PLM Series amplifiers - which come integrated with Lake Processing - complements the company's existing stock of Lab

UK - Loughborough-based conference and event production company Event Engineering has recently upgraded its audio inventory to ensure that it continues to deliver the excellence that its high profile corporate clients demand. This new equipment has included a Yamaha CL series digital console.

Supplied by SSE Audio Group, Event Engineering invested in a CL3 console and Rio3224-D i/o unit after the company's operations manager, Jim Brown, attended a demonstration day at SSE's Redditch headquarters.

"We are convinced that the CL series will become the standard conference desk, due

Germany - With the launch of the new d:facto II Vocal Microphone, which will be on show for the first time in Europe at Prolight + Sound 2013 (Booth 8.B60), DPA Microphones has now broadened its range of products for the live stage.

In addition to use with the new wired DPA handle, the d:facto II provides singers and engineers with the added benefit of a state-of-the-art adapter system that allows for seamless integration with many professional wireless systems, says the company.

"The launch of the d:facto II Vocal Microphone is a major step for DPA as it means that we now have

South Africa - Stage Audio Works has opened a new regional operations office in Cape Town, in order to better handle clients located in both the Western and Eastern Cape regions. The new base will offer these clients a more direct link to Stage Audio Works' comprehensive turnkey product portfolio, the company says.

Stage Audio Works' territory manager, Jerome Gideon, said the company is "now well positioned to support [their] Western and Eastern Cape partners and customers and the new office is an exciting milestone for growth showing our investment and confidence in the future o

China - JoeCo has announced the appointment of Advanced Communication Equipment International Co. Ltd (ACE) as the new distributor for the BlackBox Recorder and Player in China, Hong Kong and Macau. Headquartered in Hong Kong, with regional offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, ACE has over 30 years of experience in distribution, consultancy and system integration. The company adds JoeCo's BlackBox family of multi-channel live audio recorders and players to an extensive portfolio of pro audio, AV and lighting products.

"We are extremely pleased to welcome ACE to our distrib

India - Turbosound's active/passive two-way TCS-122/64 speakers and TXD-218 dual 18" subwoofers have been installed in one of India's most prestigious private schools.

Three pairs of 60°h x 40°v dispersion TCS-122/64 are on FOH duties in St Helena's Girls School in Pune - dubbed 'the Oxford of the East' - and the second largest city in the Indian state of Maharashtra after Mumbai. Two pairs are affixed to each side of the stage in the school's impressive new auditorium, with a further pair centre stage to cater to the front rows.

In addition, two Turbosound TXD-218 dual

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