Pharos - Leaderboard - May 2024

Sound

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Russia - Optocore has named Oltbert, Ltd. its exclusive distributor in Russia. The two companies have been working together since 2012. Moving forward, Oltbert will oversee all sales, service and support of Optocore's technology in Russia.

"Optocore's audio transport systems are smart, cost-effective solutions offering a very good extension of intercom systems, one of our main focuses," says Alexander Trukhanov, head of the broadcast department, Oltbert. "We came to know the team at Optocore through its relationship with Clear-Com, a major U.S.-based intercom manufacturer that we also represent here in Russia."

Oltbert will stock all Optocore system components, including BroaMan's full range of network solutions. Oltbert has been representing Clear-Com in Russia since 2003 and has a long history of developing the business of foreign companies for the Russia

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USA - Sound reinforcement company Rat Sound deployed the new Anya system from Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW) at the Coachella Festival's Gobi tent. The system employed seven Anya modules per side with a single out-fill module flanking a main column of six. This was the first use of the new Anya system for a public event.

Rat Sound principals Dave Rat and Jon Monson, who worked with EAW to develop the MicroWedge line of stage monitors, contributed throughout the research and development process for Anya. According to EAW president Jeff Rocha, the decision to deploy the initial pilot build for the high-profile event came relatively late in the planning cycle.

"When Dave and Jon came to the factory to work with the final engineering prototypes, they asked if they could use the first 16-module build live at Coachella," Rocha said. "Naturally, we were thrilled to showc

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UK - With its installation and rental arms constantly in simultaneous swing, it's not always easy to keep tabs on developments at Sound Services. The London-based audio specialist and Funktion-One partner is behind some of the coolest events and venues that the UK capital has to offer. Its latest installation endeavour is Beagle in Hoxton.

Situated within a stone's throw of Hoxton tube station, Beagle houses a restaurant, which is flanked by a spacious bar and daytime coffee shop. While the décor could be described as minimal, its audio package is all encompassing.

The system utilises Funktion-One F101 speaker, a range that has recently been bolstered by the addition of the F1201 - now the largest in the series.

Beagle's director, Kieran Clancy, comments, "Being club promoters as well as restaurateurs, sound quality is incredibly important to us, and we think tha

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Norway - Norwegian Idol recently celebrated its 10th anniversary with a televised final at the Oslo Spektrum before a crowd of 7,000. As in previous years, sound for the event was being handled by local rental company Frontlite, but this year saw the first-ever use of a new Nexo STM system, which arrived in the country just days before the event. This was also the first STM sale for Norwegian Nexo distributor, Bright.

Frontlite's PA system and FOH technician Sondre Sandhaug had a weekend to get to grips with STM, its rigging software and amplifiers before the event, when the system had to be loaded in, rigged and line checked in one day.

"We had 111x Nexo speakers up in the air, but even though it was the first time with the new system, STM proved to us that it's efficient and easy to rig," says Sandhaug. "It really is an excellent system, and went up in

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The Netherlands - As every football fan knows, the roar of the crowd at a major game is just as important as the action on the pitch when it comes to truly experiencing the excitement of the event. With this in mind, Outside broadcast specialist United chose DPA Microphones' 5100 Mobile Surround Microphone to capture the ambience of the Amsterdam Arena when SL Benfica played Chelsea in the 2013 UEFA Europa League Final.

Huub Lelieveld, senior sound supervisor for United Outside Broadcast and Studios, says, "UEFA was adamant that the broadcast quality had to be top class as this was a huge 35 camera production that was going out to broadcasters all over the world. We wanted to make sure the audio quality would be as high as possible and that we captured the ambience of the stadium in phase coherent surround so that it sounded huge in surround, but also still sounded great in

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Serbia - Martin Audio has changed its distribution arrangements in the Western Balkans, appointing the newly formed System Design.

Based in the Serbian city of Novi Sad, the company, run by audio veterans Sreten Kovacevic and Slobodan 'Bobo' Vesovic, has historically experienced great success with Martin Audio systems (through their different operations) dating back to 1995.

According to Martin Audio's export sales manager, Martin Kelly, the decision to appoint System Design was a no-brainer. "I have worked with Bobo for many years and coincidentally Sreten, under the name of Audio Konstruktor, was once our distributor in Serbia. So we are 100% confident in going forward."

Between them they will now handle Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and FYR Macedonia.

Stated Sreten, "We will use the marketing strategy set by Martin Audio and implement it in o

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Portugal - The recent concerts in Portugal featuring Brazilian band Natiruts were reinforced by NEXT-proaudio PA.

The reggae roots band Natiruts was formed in Brasília (Distrito Federal) in 1994 under the name Nativus. The band comprises Alexandre Carlo Pereira, Luís Maurício Ribeiro, Kiko Peres, Rodrigo Txotxa, Bruno Wambier, Denny Conceição, Luciana Oliveira, Ludmila Mazzucatti, André Mitsuoka and Paulo Roberto Pizzulin.

They were promoting the CD / DVD Natiruts Acoustic Live, which was recorded in Rio de Janeiro and distributed by Sony Music.

In Portugal the Brazilian band used the LA12 from NEXT-proaudio in two different situations: outdoor and indoor concerts.

Natiruts Front of House Engineer Daniel Félix said of the sound system: "We are extremely satisfied with the quality of the system - it far exceeds much of the other equipment that we hav

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UK - Yamaha professional audio equipment is suitable for theatrical venues and productions of all sizes, a fact amply proved by its presence at this year's ABTT Theatre Show.

Exhibiting on Stand 137 at ABTT 2013 - which takes place at The Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, London from 12-13 June - Yamaha will be highlighting the sound quality and versatility of its CL series digital mixing system and the Commercial Installer Solutions (CIS) range.

Already well-established in the live production, theatre and broadcast markets, two of the attractions of the CL series for theatre are its audio quality and flexibility.

In theatre, where sound levels range from strident music to absolute silence, the quality of sound reinforcement is key. The CL series features head amps which deliver remarkable sonic clarity, coupled with high quality onboard processing which makes CL consoles suit

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UK - Sound Technology, the Harman distributor in the UK and ROI, has promoted Joe East to the new role of business development manager - installed audio. East has been at Sound Technology Ltd since the company purchased Harman Pro UK in 2008, and was at Harman Pro UK for two years prior to that. His new role is to act as liaison between all relevant parties of a project to ensure it runs smoothly.

In addition, Hugo Burnard has joined the technical project team, working as project engineer alongside senior project engineer Ben Todd and product specialist Danny Kyte. Burnard is an experienced audio engineering graduate who joins Sound Technology from the TOA Corporation.

(Jim Evans)

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The Netherlands - For 33 years, Queen Beatrix has lead the Netherlands with grace and beauty. Known for her warmhearted smile and 'modernizing' the royal house, she has been beloved by the Dutch people since receiving the crown from her mother in 1980. However, this year, at age 75, Beatrix is ready to give the next generation a chance to continue her work. King Willem-Alexander, the first king in over a century and Beatrix's eldest son, was sworn in on 30 April 2013.

Dressed in orange and proudly displaying their flags, the Dutch celebrated their first 'King's Day' in style. After a full day of festivities, the Royal Family finished their evening by sailing the River IJ for the Royal Boat Parade. Passing various islands around Amsterdam, the new King was greeted with a few minutes of entertainment as they drifted past; from sport to dance, even opera. Reaching Java Eiland, the

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Poland - The Iluzjon cinema in Warsaw has been home to the Polish National Film Archive since the mid-50s, and is also Warsaw's main art-house cinema. The venue, which had remained in its original state until just two years ago, has recently undergone a massive renovation. At the heart of the audio system, which was designed by audio consultant and system designer, Wojciech Zielinski from pro audio specialists, Dysten, is an Innovason Eclipse GT running a fully networked Fohhn Audio PA system.

One of the peculiarities, and indeed part of the charm of Iluzjon, is that, thanks to its National Film Archive heritage, it often screens silent movies accompanied by live music. The sound system therefore, unlike a typical cinema system, also had to be able to cater for live music as well as playback. It was these slightly unusual requirements that led Zielinski to specify an Innovason E

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Germany - Since its release at LDI 2012, High End Systems' Hog 4 console range has become one of the most successful lighting control platforms ever introduced. The Hog 4 console range includes the flagship Hog 4 desk, the Full Boar 4, the Road Hog 4, the Nano Hog 4 and Hog4 PC.

Customer demand for the Hog 4 was illustrated at the recent Pro Light + Sound trade show in Frankfurt, where High End Systems announced that the thousandth Hog 4 console had been shipped to European production supplier Arcus.

High End's VP of worldwide sales Renaat De Wilde commented, "We are proud and honoured to announce that during ProLight+Sound, High End Systems shipped the 1000th console of our new Hog 4 product family to Arcus, our long standing partner for Germany, Russia and the ex-Russian countries. This landmark is cause for celebration as well as clear proof that the Hog 4 family is a

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Kenya - Nairobi Baptist Church recently upgraded their existing analogue mixer to an Allen & Heath iLive digital mixing system, supplied by Kenyan company, Sound Creations.

Founded in 1958, the Church required a more sophisticated console with improved sound quality. Sound Creations, the distributor for Allen & Heath in Kenya, suggested an iDR-48 MixRack with iLive-T112 surface.

"We were confident the Allen & Heath iLive-T112 would be the ideal mixer for Nairobi Baptist church and would meet their specific needs," said Nipul Shah, owner of Sound Creations.

Tim Pollard, managing director for A&H regional distributor, PAXT, said, "It is always a pleasure to receive successful stories from our customers and this installation by Sound Creations is the perfect example - great work."

(Jim Evans)

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Europe - German rental company Sound Linear has deployed its system on James Last's One More Time tour, which encompassed 23 shows in six countries. From London's Royal Albert Hall through to the 02 World in Berlin, the tour demonstrated the flexibility and scalability of STM.

"On the one hand, we needed a small system which wouldn't intrude visually on the production design," says Sound Linear's Kalle Hogrefe. "However, on the other hand, the tour demanded an arena-sized system because of the distances involved in the larger venues. By using the M46 main cabinets and flying some S118 subs on top, we were able to fulfill both criteria perfectly. Any other system which could do that would have had a much larger footprint."

The tour also proved STM's compatibility with other NEXO models, with GEO S12s used as side-fill and out-fill, and PS10s for near-

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USA - Originally created as a pure EDM (electronic dance music) festival in 1999, Ultra has grown through the years to present not only the genre's hottest, biggest and best headline artists (The Prodigy, Swedish House Mafia, The Chemical Brothers, Tiësto, David Guetta, deadmau5, Underworld, Kraftwerk, Armin van Buuren, Moby, Fatboy Slim, Justice, Carl Cox and Avicii to name a few), but also crossover headline bands like The Cure, The Killers, New Order, Duran Duran, The Black Eyed Peas, Erasure, M83, and even Madonna, who performed in 2012.

The audio ran on a backbone of Lake Processing. Behind the audio were Beach Sound from Miami, Florida, a full service concert production company that handles festivals, concerts and corporate events of all shapes and sizes.

"We go back to the original Lake processors," said Neil Rosenstock, head of audio at Beach Sound. "An

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UK - Recently re-opened after a three-year, £17m redevelopment programme, The Atkinson is Sefton Council's flagship arts and cultural venue. Housed in a grade II listed building in the heart of Southport, The Atkinson integrates four arts and cultural venues - the Southport Arts Centre, the Atkinson Art Gallery, the Botanic Gardens Museum and the Southport Library - into one single, regional cultural centre.

Theatreplan, were called in as the theatre consultants to oversee the redevelopment of the two auditoria housed in The Atkinson. Theatreplan specified EM Acoustics loudspeakers throughout both venues, all of which were installed by Oxford Sound and Media, along with the rest of the loose audio equipment.

The main performance venue, the Atkinson Theatre, is a traditional proscenium arch theatre with a capacity of 440, and also houses a state-of-the-art cinema screen.

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USA - Audio-Technica US has unveiled its new Systems Integration Resource Center (SIRC) web site at http://sirc.audio-technica.com. Intended for consultants, contractors and system integrators, this password-protected web site offers Audio-Technica product information, price lists, spec comparisons and other resources.

Once authorised by Audio-Technica, the consultant, contractor or system integrator creates his or her own user profile and receives "24/7 access to a host of A-T resources". Visitors to the site will have access to dedicated product pages, along with a search function..

"The consultant, contractor and system integrator market is very important to A-T," stated David Marsh, Audio-Technica US director of sales & marketing, installed sound. "With this new dedicated website, we are continuing our quest to give our customers all the resources

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Italy - An Italian touring production of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert - The Musical has arrived at the Politeama Rossetti theatre in Trieste, where audiences are enjoying quality sound thanks to the extensive use of DPA Microphone's 4066 Omnidirectional Headset Microphones and 4060 Omnidirectional Miniature Microphones.

DPA's Italian distributor M. Casale Bauer has supplied the production with a total of 34 DPA Headset Microphones, which are being used for every member of the cast (plus a few spares). The show's sound engineer Cristiano Grassini says the microphones are performing flawlessly every night and are proving very popular with cast members because they are so light and comfortable.

"The original Australian production of the musical specified DPA Headset Microphones and, having previously experienced the quality of these microphones on

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Sweden - The sound is ear-splitting: the howl of race tuned engines vying with each other to strip paint by SPL alone from the concrete walls of the long U-shaped arena at Tierp, purpose-built on an old military airfield in central Sweden. The brainchild of Lief Andréasson, this derelict patch of perfectly level wasteland has been turned into one of the most modern drag racing arenas in the world - with a host of other purposes planned - 2.51km (1.56 miles) of motorsport racetrack just 120 km (75 miles) north of Stockholm with the capacity for 20,000 spectators.

Tierp Arena is the first European drag racing track to be accredited by the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association), the US-based, 80-000 member strong body that is the sport's de facto world organization. Founded by Wally Parks in 1951, who worked to get racing off the city streets and highways and into safer, organi

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Hungary - For the past two years, the Hungarian government has been funding a special project to bring regional theatres up to date and into greater community use. The town of Tatabánya has been one beneficiary, where three DiGiCo SD9 consoles have ensured that further capital investment will not be needed for many years.

Titled Agora, the project aims to modernise the venues and help them to stage a greater range of multicultural events. In Tatabánya it has included a complete technical refit of the town's theatre, which has featured three new DiGiCo SD9 consoles - two for the venue and a third as part of a mobile audio system, which can be used at events in different locations throughout the area.

Supplied by Budapest-based Chromasound, the SD9 was chosen thanks to its mix of channels, outputs and onboard processing for the events that Tatabánya stages, plus the re

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UK - Genelec reports its continued commitment and support for the not-for-profit John Lennon Educational Tour Bus Foundation. A new European tour bus was recently unveiled by Yoko Ono Lennon at a ceremony in Liverpool, and like its USA-based sister bus, its two state-of-the-art mobile studios are outfitted with Genelec active monitors.

Following huge success in the USA, the Lennon Bus concept has now been rolled out to Europe where it will provide kids and students across the continent with hands-on digital media production experience. Built on a rugged Mercedes-Benz 12m long chassis, the bus also features a roof top terrace and 'pop outs' that offer expansion into exterior space when stationary.

Like the North American Lennon Bus, the European counterpart has two digital recording studios plus an acoustic isolation room. Genelec joins a raft of other sponsors including Apple,

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UAE - Danish Intepretation Systems (DIS), a Shure company, has appointed NMK Middle East FZCO as the exclusive distributor for supplying its award-winning Conference Solution product range to Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and United Arab Emirates.

A part of the Informationsteknik Scandinavia Group acquired by Shure Incorporated in 2011, DIS is represented through a global partner network in more than 80 countries, with offices in Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, and Asia.

"NMK Middle East are looking forward to introducing DIS Conference Solution products across the region," commented Stuart Stephens, DIS product specialist. "With the addition of the new System 5900, NMK is even closer to providing our clients a state-of-the-art solution for a wide range of clients."

(Jim Evans)

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France - Amadeushas announced the re-launch of its famed UDX Series passive speakers - 30 years after originally releasing their first edition. Including four different models, the UDX Series is designed for sound reinforcement applications in concert halls, auditoriums, conference rooms, and theatres.

Designed to be included within fixed or long-lasting installations, each UDX speaker system can also be used in touring applications as a stage monitor when fitted with optional accessories. The newly redesigned UDX Series are now available from licensed Amadeus distributors and dealers throughout Europe and Asia.

Gaetan Byk, marketing manager at Amadeus, stated, "The core idea behind the UDX Series was to keep the main focus on the values which have given Amadeus its reference-quality status throughout the years, both the unique acoustical characteristics of its sound syst

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USA - The New York City Police Department's headquarters building in downtown Manhattan is understandably a challenging RF environment. Inside, the 500-plus-seat auditorium is used for all manner of presentations using wireless microphones, as well as video teleconferencing, for applications that can range from officer graduations and assemblies to large-scale counter-terrorism strategy and information exchanges with other police and security agencies around the world.

As good as the sound components in the auditorium are, the existing wireless microphone systems had been experiencing RF interference, feedback and other problems as a result of being mounted on a pair of movable podiums. These are necessary to make the auditorium as flexible as possible, but it made the wireless audio system vulnerable.

The solution was the installation of a SpectraPulse Ultra Wideband (UWB) Wi

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