Pharos - Leaderboard - May 2024

Sound

Details
UK - On Sunday 13 April, the cream of the UK theatre industry gathered at London's Royal Opera House for the 2014 Olivier Awards. Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along walked away with two of the illustrious prizes, recognition aided by the performance of the show's Sennheiser Digital 9000 series digital wireless system.

With sound design by the twice previously-nominated Gareth Owen, Merrily We Roll Along claimed more five star reviews than any other West End show in history. This was borne out at the Oliviers, with Gareth winning an award for Best Sound Design, while the show was also awarded the Best Musical Revival prize.

"Merrily was a really good test for the 9000 system because, with Sondheim, the trick is to make the show sound unamplified, but without losing the excitement. You tend to put so much effort into making a Sondheim musical sound natural that it's ea

Details
Poland - Clear-Com has announced that the Grand Theatre and National Opera in Warsaw, Poland, has extended its existing Clear-Com wired partyline intercom system with a FreeSpeak wireless system including two Basestations and 35 digital beltpacks. The new elements were supplied and installed by Profiaudio Ltd, Clearcom's authorized distributor in Poland.

The Grand Theatre and National Opera, built in 1833, is one of the largest theatres in the world. A Clear-Com partyline communication system had been installed in the theatre several years ago for the lighting team, but there was a requirement to enable the entire theatre staff to communicate throughout the venue, both inside and outside. Having considered other comms systems, the theatre's technical team decided instead to extend the existing Clear-Com installation with 35 additional beltpacks and two FreeSpeak Basestations.

Details
USA - Until recently, the 950-seat auditorium used by Wabash City High School and Middle School (Wabash, Indiana) featured a sound system that had not been updated in 30 years. That has all changed since a new RoomMatch sound system from Bose Professional Systems was installed there recently. Now, students, faculty and visitors to the schools can enjoy high-quality sound and increased intelligibility for everything from school band and theatrical performances to graduation and other ceremonies.

In the auditorium, Indiana-based AV systems integrator Circle City Audio installed a RoomMatch system composed of three RM9040 modules, two RM7020 modules and two RMS215 subwoofers, configured in a dual-hang arrangement at the front of the hall. These are powered by three Bose PowerMatch PM8500N amplifiers, with processing by a pair of Bose ControlSpace ESP-88 digital signal processors.

Details
UK - The anticipation that preluded the sixth PLASA Focus: Leeds delivered everything it promised, with two-days of packed show floors and seminar rooms. A total of 2107 visitors flooded into the Leeds' Royal Armouries, drawn by a showcase of professional sound, lighting, video, trussing and staging companies, plus an education programme that spanned the industry's expertise.

A mixture of quality, variety and enthusiasm combined to create the unmistakable atmosphere that the show has become renowned for. "We really enjoy PLASA Focus," says Michael Brooksbank, European General Manager, Chauvet Professional. "It's a small, intimate, networking show, it doesn't cost us a significant amount of money, which always helps, and we get instant returns."

Martin Professional's UK Sales Director, Mike Walker, adds: "It's an important show for us. The international

Details
USA - When the touring production of the five-time Tony Award-nominated 80's musical Rock of Ages hit the road to rock its way across America for a third season, Masque Sound went along for the ride, supplying a custom audio equipment package to support sound designer Craig Cassidy and his team.

Set in 1987 on Hollywood's famed Sunset Strip, Rock of Ages tells the story of a small town girl who meets a big city rocker at Los Angeles' most famous rock club, The Bourbon Room. This arena-rock love story is told through the hits of the greatest bands of the 80's including, Journey, Night Ranger, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister, Poison, Asia, Whitesnake, Bon Jovi and more.

Recreating the heavy, arena-rocking sound that defined the big hair 80's with a PA system that would be able to move in and out of the theatres quickly enough for the tour's rigoro

Details
UK - Belfast PA company, Wackiki, employed its Allen & Heath GLD digital mixing system, comprising the GLD-80 mixer and accompanying AR2412 remote I/O rack, for the recent Arenacross UK tour, which visited seven arenas from Belfast to Wembley, showcasing an international line-up of pro racers and Freestyle motocross.

"We chose GLD because of its small footprint and I/O processing abilities. The use of compressors, high pass filters and 4-band EQ on each channel was a must. With some venues posing difficult cable runs, we liked that the GLD only required a single CAT5 to connect the stage box, instead of multiple cables like most desks," explains Wackiki's hire manager, Steve Woods. "The truck pack was also very tight with the amount of truss and PA involved, and the only way the tour budget would work was if all the sound and lighting production fit into one truck

Details
UK - Having previously been nominated for two Olivier Awards, it was it was third time lucky for sound designer Gareth Owen as he won one of the coveted awards for Sondheim musical Merrily We Roll Along. Gareth's choice of a Yamaha PM5D digital console for the show proved that his philosophy of 'the right tools for the right job' is a recipe for success.

"I'm not one to always use the same equipment - no 'cookie cutter' specs, if you will. I believe in picking the tools that are best for each production and not spending a lot of the producer's money on gear for the sake of it," he says.

"Merrily We Roll Along was all about sonic clarity and fast operation. It needed a straightforward system, just exactly what was needed to deliver a sound which was very clear and true to the original. Three of the main reason why I chose the PM5D was because it has

Details
USA - Rational Acoustics has announced the release of the fifth major version update for the Smaart v.7 measurement platform - Smaart v.7.5. This latest release includes significant feature additions, usability enhancements, interface modifications and important bug fixes. This is a free update and is recommended for all Smaart v.7 users.

Notable among the feature additions in Smaart v.7.5 is the addition of 'Target Curves' on RTA plots allowing ASCII traces such as the X curve (used in cinema tunings) to be imported into Smaart and displayed in a static position on the RTA plot to serve as a visual target or threshold for single channel measurements. A 'Quick Compare' feature has also been added for transfer function measurements which captures a copy of the top transfer function trace and stores the inverse in memory as a weighting curve, allowing it to be quickly applied as a

Details
UK - Who wouldn't want to be in Leeds on a sunny spring day with all the delights of the PLASA Focus event laid out before you? As usual, long before the need for a mid-morning latte, the place was busy with visitors and exhibitors alike. Nowhere was busier than the d&b audiotechnik stand in the New Dock Hall where the three latest products were on display.

Mounted against a backdrop of vaulted gothic cathedral windows was the rather elegant xC-Series of column loudspeakers, comprising the 16C, 24C and 24C-E. Designed specifically to deliver the d&b System reality in those difficult reverberant environments, the company's long experience of working with passively crossed loudspeakers has produced a series of column loudspeakers with supremely effective horizontal pattern control.

Meanwhile, the freshly updated ArrayCalc simulation software from d&b attracted a steady stream of

Details
UK - MilTec (UK) Ltd had another busy PLASA Focus show this year with a stand in the New Dock Hall and an audio demo room in the Holiday Inn hotel next door. Both positions were themed to promote MilTec's increasing British manufacturing base. Visitors to the demo room had the opportunity to try out a traditional Kentish ale or a G&T made with London dry gin.

As well as promoting fine British ale and spirits, the company also used the additional space to demonstrate their Blakite range of British speakers along with their own signal processing equipment. New products on show included a 6" speaker and 12" compact stage wedge, both fitted with dual concentric drivers. These speakers and two subs were being powered by a prototype class-d amplifier. The amp has six channels giving 2x 2,500WRMS and 4x 800WRMS into 4 Ohms. It also includes an updated version of MilTec's DNP2

Details
USA - Meyer Sound has bolstered its marketing efforts by recruiting Karen Ames for the newly created position of vice president of marketing and communications.

A veteran communications professional who has worked with a diverse range of artists and institutions - from the San Francisco Symphony to George Thorogood - Ames joins the Meyer Sound senior leadership team to head up its global marketing and communications strategy. She is charged with the overall leadership for corporate communications, marketing, advertising and sponsorships, social media, public relations, philanthropy, and public affairs.

As part of this restructuring, Ames heads up a marketing team that includes Jodi Hughes, who assumes the director of marketing position, and Rachel Archibald, who drives strategic marketing initiatives such as competitive research, market development, and industry alliances. The

Details
USA - Though he was born in Pasadena, CA, vocalist / composer / performer Gerardo Ortiz was reared in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico. These days, Ortiz is recognised as a stand-out artist in the Norteño-Banda, Corridos music genre and, in 2011, he dominated the Billboard Mexican Music Awards. Ortiz is presently on tour and, to ensure the best audio fidelity with consistent coverage, he relies on loudspeakers drawn from the Aero Series 2, Convert, and Road catalogs of Valencia, Spain-based D.A.S. Audio.

Los Angeles-based International House of Music, Inc. (IHOMI), a full service music and audio equipment supplier that services a wide range of customers from individuals to professional touring acts, recently sold the Ortiz tour a large D.A.S. Audio sound reinforcement system. Presently, the mains system includes 36 D.A.S. Aero 50 3-way, large-format line array modules powered by Lab G

Details
blurb

Details
Royal Record - London's Royal Albert Hall enjoyed a bumper year in 2013, posting record audience numbers of 1.71 million and operating income of £18.6m, up 10.4% on the previous year. The figures represent the most successful year of trading in the venue's 143-year history with 390 events driving a 7% increase in audiences. The venue recorded its highest ever operating surplus of £5.3m. The Hall's own promotions - which included performances of Carmen, Swan Lake and live orchestral accompaniment to films including Fantasia and Singin' in the Rain - generated £600,000 more in ticket sales than in 2012. The figures were released to coincide with the unveiling a new large-scale mural by artist Peter Blake featuring more than 400 artists who have performed in the hall since it opened in 1871.

Eurovision 2014 - The first of the Eur

Details
South Africa - A Martin Audio OmniLine micro-array, much favoured by houses of worship, has been installed in the 1500-seat Old Apostolic Church (OAC) Christian church at Mayfield Park in Gauteng, South Africa.

Audiosure, Martin Audio's territorial distributor successfully tendered for the work to install and commission a complete sound system in the new sanctuary, working from the OAC's specifications. OmniLine was central to the bid and the installation was carried out by their clients, JRTL Projects.

With Audiosure's Thys Venter overseeing the project, OmniLine first needed to meet a number of key criteria aside from the quoted specifications, including technical output, price, quality and warranty, before being chosen to handle the traditional twice-a-week service regime.

The design was based on a single central hang, comprising 12 OmniLine elements. In addition, eight M

Details
Spain - Space Ibiza has marked its 25th anniversary by being crowned 'Best Club in the World' in the prestigious DJ Mag Top100 Clubs awards for the fourth time in seven years. The venue, which is highly regarded by clubbers and operators around the globe, has been home to a Funktion-One sound system since 2002.

Since opening in 1989, Space Ibiza has received a host of awards and has consistently impressed with its forward thinking operational and music policies. DJ Mag's 'Best Club in the World' prize is one of the most renowned awards in the nightclub industry. Winners are chosen through a public vote, making the recognition even more special.

The venue has six different areas. The 2,000-capacity main room, known as La Discoteca, features a Funktion-One sound system, comprising custom clusters of DS15s, R3SHs and R1SHs, along with F221 bass enclosures, and F88s with R3SHs in

Details
UK - The SDUK Systems Group, the installed sound division of Shure Distribution UK, has appointed experienced sales manager James Nicholds to the role of Midlands regional sales manager, installed sound.

James brings with him eight years of audio-visual sales experience in the corporate, educational and public sectors, culminating in his most recent position as regional business development manager for Northern Light, where he consulted on, designed and sold AV systems to private companies, integrators, universities, and local authorities.

Based in Lincoln, he will assume responsibility for the Midlands sales region, working under the direction of SDUK's system group manager Duncan Savage to further develop relationships with integrators and installed sound projects in the region that incorporate brands from the SDUK stable.

"The Systems Group has had a very successful

Details
USA - The Public Theatre in New York City has been a symbol of culture and community since its opening in the 1950s. The theatre has facilitated a variety of performances throughout the years, and is committed to nurturing both artists and audience. From the world premiere of Hair, to the annual, and beloved, free Shakespeare in the Park, The Public Theatre constantly searches for new, creative opportunities to fulfill its mission.

In 1998, the non-profit organization in the heart of the East Village opened the 200- seat live performance venue known as Joe's Pub.

Joe's Pub at The Public is one of New York City's most celebrated venues for emerging and established performance artists. Named for Public Theatre founder Joe Papp, Joe's Pub plays a vital role in The Public's mission of supporting young artists while providing established artists with an intimate space

Details
UK - Electrosonic will provide corporate and oil and gas industries an in-depth look at the latest audio-visual and collaboration solutions at its Technology Day on 4 June at the AECC in Aberdeen. Over 30 leading technology companies are participating at this free event.

The event will give attendees a real insight into how state-of-the-art technologies can increase productivity and communication between teams, as well as how new collaborative technologies can improve business performance.

During the Technology Day, a member of the Electrosonic team will guide each visitor through the exhibition, visiting each supplier to discuss the new technologies and how they can be integrated into any current facility.

Unlike other technology exhibitions, the event will showcase full solutions as opposed to individual products. Attendees will have the opportunity to see complete, real-t

Details
New Zealand - AcousticDesign loudspeakers from QSC, driven by GX3 and RMX850 amplifiers, have been installed at a stylish new bar/restaurant in the Wynyard Quarter, a recently redeveloped harbourside area in New Zealand's second city, Auckland. The splendidly named Urban Turban wears its Mumbai influence on its sleeve, offering fine Indian cuisine and beers and a high-quality sound system in a top people-watching spot on the waterfront.

Local AV contractor Halogen Audio was asked to install some loudspeakers for the restaurant's external pavement areas. As a long-standing user of QSC products, and mindful of the restaurant's north-facing waterfront location, Halogen's Rick Senekal chose models from the QSC AcousticDesign series for their durable construction and ability to endure constant exposure to the wind, sun, salt air and water. After a short while, the venue's management

Details
UK - London Fields' new establishment, The Laundry, has just completed the installation of a Flare Audio X3/Q18 sound system for its sizeable basement event space and café/bar, to handle an eclectic mix of live music, club nights, cinema and screenings. The brainchild of Radiohead band member Ed O'Brien and businessman Raj Nayak, The Laundry brings together a host of creative and musical talent, comprising 26 separate creative areas including the basement and café/bar areas.

Raj's experience includes running a venue in Shoreditch, giving him a clear perspective on what he wanted from The Laundry's new sound system:

"We wanted a high quality sound with great separation that would also give us flexibility, in terms of its size and portability. With such a mix of events in the basement, we need to be able to move the boxes around easily and even store them when

Details
UK - Norfolk based KV2 Audio installer Saturn AV have completed a permanent installation in an events marquee at The Ivy House Hotel, Oulton Broad, Suffolk.

The marquee required a discreet solution for both DJ playback and live band reinforcement that needed to adhere to strict noise regulations regarding SPL. To tackle these issues a distributed system was chosen to achieve maximum coverage at lower SPLs.

Having completed successful installations using KV2's passive ESD Series Saturn AV director Olly Smith had no hesitation in returning to the product range.

Eighteen KV2 Audio two-way 6" ESD 6's were distributed around the marquee and were chosen because of their small profile design that offers an amazing full range output. The wide yet controlled 100 x 100 degree dispersion covered the large area whilst reducing the projection of sound beyond the required distance.

Details
The Netherlands - The LR24 is a three-way, 'larger-format' line-source sound system, to be used as vertical array, either in stacked or flown configuration, for even the largest sound reinforcement applications.

The LR24 combines a HiFi-grade sound quality with very high SPL capabilities. Loaded with Alcons' proprietary pro-ribbon technology for mid and high frequencies, the LR24 offers very fast impulse response with full-dynamics, up-to-90% less distortion under lowest power-compression. The all-natural (Isophasic) cylindrical wavefront of the pro-ribbon HF transducer enables a precise pattern control, without any distortion-inducing horn constructions, says the company.

Philip 'Dr. Phil' de Haan, head of Alcons R&D and initiator of multiple patents, comments, "Until now, this extraordinary high level of precision in sound quality was not obtainable in sound reinforceme

Details
France - Exactly two years after Nexo first showed its STM Series modular line array system to the world, the company hosted its first-ever owners' conference. A richly international crowd from 16 countries made the trip to Paris, representing 22 of the first rental companies to adopt Nexo's new flagship PA technology. The group included five brand-new system owners, yet to be announced, from Germany, USA, Canada, India and China.

Nexo's Concert Sound team encouraged the STM owners to share their successes with the system in all kinds of musical applications, from simple acoustic jazz concerts to one of the USA's top-grossing concert tours (Kenny Chesney). With owners reporting on several events attracting upwards of 120,000, STM is justifying NEXO's claims that it will perform as a large-format system as well as scale down for smaller, more intimate shows.

After Nexo technica

  1. The Dubai Mall makes major Meyer installation
  2. SSL Live gives clarity to Santana's monitors
  3. Yamaha CL Series teaches theatre sound
  4. d&b audiotechnik says cheese at Alkmaar
  5. Nexo Geo line arrays in new Paris venue
  6. SSE expands sales team
Page 1187 of 1299
Robe - Large MPU
GLP - MPU - May-June 2024

Latest Issue. . .