UK - XL Video supplied one of its new bespoke mini-cam packages and LED screens for the latest UK and European tour by talented singer / songwriter and Brit winner Ben Howard, working with lighting and visuals designer Andy Rowe.

The tour - Howard's most comprehensive to date in terms of video production - was project managed by XL's Paul 'Macca' McCauley who commented, "We are thrilled to be involved with this fast rising star and an imaginative production design with an interesting and different slant on video."

Andy, Macca, production manager Chris Pollard and tour mana

Romania - The glittering new Club NOA (Nest of Angels) has opened in the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca following a major renovation of a well-known clubbing site on the Strada Republicii.

Oozing fashion and luxury, the club has a potent Martin Audio system based around the W8VDQ, at the heart of an advanced sound and lighting infrastructure costing €500,000 to put together, and boasting 65kW of sound.

The Sound and lighting systems were specified by Romanian installation specialists Simo Sound SRL (Disco Zone), with support from Martin Audio's Product Support Group. The 18 W8VDQ enc

UK - It is estimated that by 2017 visitors from China to the UK will spend £1bn a year; currently there are approximately 150,000 Chinese tourists who choose to visit London each year. There won't be many who don't take the opportunity to visit Trafalgar Square, feed the pigeons, gaze up at Nelson on his Column and pop into the National Gallery before exiting through Admiralty Arch to walk down towards Buckingham Palace. These iconic images of London are at the top of the 'must see' list for every visitor.

So it comes as not real surprise that Weli Media, the London-based Chines

UK - At BVE 2015 in London next month, HHB Communications will feature the latest audio and video technologies on Stand J43.

Prominently located on the show's central aisle with Soho audio post specialists Scrub and co-exhibitors Nugen Audio, HHB will show the latest loudness tools, audio networking technology and Pro Tools systems for broadcasters, audio post engineers and systems integrators.

HHB's Avid specialists will demonstrate the full features of the Avid S6 and S3 control surfaces alongside Pro Tools with the latest plug-ins and NUGEN loudness software.

The newest Dante A

UK - Germany-based Aimline will show the first models of its ALX-Series in Amsterdam, representing a new generation of digitally steerable column loudspeaker that can be integrated into existing networks using DANTE connectivity. Using DANTE, no audio signal conversion is necessary, allowing the audio to remain in the digital domain throughout.

The series consists of the ALX-8, which can be cascaded in up to six units in horizontal and vertical directions.

Main features include DANTE audio input and output, multibeam technology for horizontal and vertical beam control, strong SPL, a

Arts Education Funding - Youth dance and music schemes will benefit from an increased £109m in government spending in the coming year, after the Department for Education pledged its support for cultural education programmes. A number of projects - including the National Youth Dance Company and the BFI Film Academy - will be granted a share of £4m in the 2015/16 financial year. It was also revealed an extra £1.1m with be spent on In Harmony programmes - which aim to engage children in deprived areas with orchestral music - as well as National Youth Music organisations s

UK - Well known throughout the entertainment industry for its lighting services, White Light will now offer sound equipment and services with the launch of a dedicated audio department.

The London-based supplier has earned its reputation for quality products and reliable service throughout its more than four decades in the entertainment business. The company has taken the decision to expand based on increasing demand, especially from existing clients. "Our success has always come from listening to and understanding our customers," explains Bryan Raven, managing director for

The Netherlands - Panasonic Visual Solutions division has launched a training programme exclusively designed for visual professionals, such as resellers, system integrators, AV rental companies and distributors.

The Panasonic training programme includes several levels to develop Panasonic visual product knowledge and gain special certifications.

Split between projectors and display (which have three and two levels respectively) Panasonic partners can engage in free online training sessions through the Academy portal to gain Visual Professional certification.

When Visual Profession

UK - Martin Audio has announced support for installers and sound designers with the provision of specific GLL files for designs using MLA, MLA Compact or MLA Mini in an EASE model.

Andy Davies, head of Product Support Group for Martin Audio said, "The increasing demand for Multi-cellular technology in an installation environment has driven this development as an initial in-house solution; however, we are also working towards making this a simple addition to future iterations of our free-to-own Display software."

For the time being, in order for Martin Audio to supply a GLL

Egypt - TIU opened its doors in November 2014, unveiling a new nightlife concept from three of Egypt's best-known operators and promoters. The new venue, which resides where Tamarai once stood, has brought a new direction to one of Cairo's most famous night time locations. With an emphasis on quality and with a desire to create the city's best clubbing experience, TIU's owners opted for a Funktion-One sound system.

Tamarai was one of the most well known venues in Egypt. It was admired for its glamour and exclusivity but as Egypt's political landscape took a seismic shift, the appetite

The Netherlands - Opened in 1887, Amsterdam's Koninklijk Theater Carré (Royal Theatre Carré) has played host to circuses, vaudeville, one-man shows, revues, plays, operas, operettas and musicals. Completely renovated in 2004, the venue has continued hosting a wide range of events to the present day. The ongoing demand meant a major upgrade of its audio system became necessary, with a Yamaha CL digital mixing system the chosen solution.

With a lot of main productions now running in the theatre for longer periods than before, the management wanted the flexibility to host s

Sri Lanka - ARX's MSX series audio splitters featured prominently in the audio system for Pope Francis's recent overwhelmingly successful visit to Sri Lanka.

Mr Chaminda De Mel at Panadura based Creative Entertainment Pvt Ltd supplied the Audio System for the sea-front Mass in Colombo where in front of a reported crowd of over 1m people, Pope Francis canonised Sri Lanka's first Saint 17th Century missionary Joseph Vaz.

ARX's managing director Colin Park comments, "The supply and sale was arranged in late 2014 by ARX's Sri Lankan representative Mr Mohan Jayasuriya. Audio contrac

Australia - Rental provider Gearhouse Broadcast has rolled in nine Lawo mc2-56 audio mixing consoles, 21 x Lawo V__pro8 video processor units and a Nova73 HD router for the broadcast of the first big international sports event of 2015 - the Australian Open tennis tournament.

Traditionally, the tournament attracts the tennis elite to the 30 tennis courts in Melbourne Park where, from 11 o'clock in the morning till late at night, they fight each other for the prestige of victory and the €2.1m prize money that awaits the winners of the singles games. The finals will take place on 1 Febr

Spain - D.A.S. has launched the Event M210A, a three-way stage monitor in a double 10" "dual-band" configuration. The dual-band configuration permits the twin 10" loudspeakers to work in tandem for maximum power at low frequencies.

Above the low frequency range, the advanced digital signal processing allows the 10" speakers to operate independently in specific frequency ranges, eliminating off-axis interference between the drivers to maintain optimal polar and frequency response characteristics throughout the low and low-mid operating ranges.

The D.A.S. loud

Germany - New Year's Eve on the Fan Meile in Berlin is the biggest Sylvester party in Europe, attracting well over a million visitors to the street party in front of the Brandenburg Gate. National and international performers on three stages put on a spectacular show that was broadcast live by ZDF. For several years, regular audio provider Auvisign has used Nexo PA systems for this prestigious event - this time, it was an occasion to push the new STM M28 modular line array into the limelight.

Taking everyone into 2015, the massive Sylvester party was attended by 1.2m visitors, enterta

UK - Following a triumphant UK and European arena tour in 2012, Live Nation and SJM Concerts announced that the tour of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of The Worlds would return for the sixth and final time in late 2014, and RG Jones Sound Engineering were once again on duty.

'The New Generation' as it is now known, played to packed arenas throughout the UK and Northern Europe this winter but the tried and trusted team of Simon Honywill, FOH engineer, sound production company RG Jones, and Martin Audio's full catalogue of MLA (Multi-cellular Loudspeaker Array) componen

India - Audio Design has become one of the largest and most respected sound rental companies in India, providing audio solutions locally across India and internationally. The company provides a full range of high end staging solutions including sound, lighting and video equipment as well as stage structures for some of the biggest concerts and festivals in India and employs more than 100 professionals. Underlining its dedication to excellence is Audio Design's recent investment in a substantial L-Acoustics K2 loudspeaker system.

Audio Design has been the preferred technical supplier t

The Netherlands - At the upcoming Integrated Systems Europe show (ISE) in Amsterdam, visitors to the Shure stand C90 in Hall 3 will have the opportunity to experience established Shure technologies including the RF microphone system for conferencing audio applications, Microflex Wireless, plus the digital wireless microphone systems ULX-D and QLX-D.

Additionally, DIS's DDS 5900 and DIS DCS 6000 discussion and conferencing systems will be on show, together with the newly introduced DIS CP 7890 camera control system, which can be used in conjunction with a DDS 5900 or DCS 6000 system to

Slovenia - Europe's first installation of the new Nexo Geo M6 line array can be found by a peaceful park on the shore of a Slovenian lake. In the Bled Festival Hall, the compact Geo M6 arrays look down on a venue originally built for grandmasters to play a World Chess Championship.

Bled has a long tradition of congress, and its elegant Festival Hall has hosted scientific and professional meetings, corporate and economic summits, and sporting and musical events. In its principal hall, capacity 500, MK Light Sound has just installed the Geo M6.

Dean Karov of MK Light Sound explains th

The Netherlands - IP audio and control specialist Barix has long had a strong OEM business, with the company's IPAM module series at the core of tens of thousands of devices deployed worldwide today.

At ISE 2015, Barix will exhibit its latest module, the IPAM302, for vendors and systems integrators seeking cost-efficient, openly programmable modules to build their own IP audio products - as well as for companies interested in private-label products manufactured by Barix.

The recently introduced IPAM302 is more compact and uses less expensive connectors than previous generation IPAM

The Netherlands - Dutch audio innovator Alcons Audio will be showcasing its latest pro-ribbon sound system innovations at the upcoming Integrated Systems Europe show in Amsterdam.

The joint-venture of InfoComm and CEDIA forms an appropriate platform for Alcons to display the wide portfolio of its evolutionary audio solutions: From high-power installed sound reinforcement all the way to the finest Home Theatre sound systems, all featuring the same 1:1 natural crystal-clear response, with low-distortion, very high SPL and wide and deep imaging.

On booth 6-N148, Alcons presents a selec

The Netherlands - ISE 2015 will see DiGiCo consoles connected across multiple booths via a DiGiCo-Optocore/Broaman network, demonstrating the system's suitability for transporting a number of different signal protocols to multiple locations.

"This year, we will be showing a DiGiCo SD7, SD10, SD5, SD9 and SD11, which will connect to a number of different locations," explains Jaap Pronk from DiGiCo's Dutch distributor TM Audio, on whose booth number 7-K175 DiGiCo will be based. "We will connect the SD7, SD5 and SD10 together on an Optocore loop. We will have a laptop with

UK - One of London's most famous places of worship, St Martin-In-The-Fields, has a long history of opening its doors to people from all faiths and walks of life - or indeed no faith at all. Welcoming 750,000 visitors every year to church services, events and music performances, a Yamaha QL1 digital mixing console is at the heart of its newly-upgraded audio system.

The church also occupies a special place in broadcast history, having made the very first religious broadcast, and it continues to broadcast to people around the world. Working with a knowledgeable partner to upgrade the chu

UK - Autograph Sound Recording, one of the UK's most iconic names in theatre sound design and rental services, has recently invested in yet another very large batch of EMS-51 loudspeakers from EM Acoustics, bringing their total inventory up to an impressive 239 cabinets. This is in addition to the rest of their EM inventory which also includes i-8 and i-12 subwoofers as well as EMS-81 and EMS-121 full range loudspeakers.

According to Autograph's rental director, Scott Arnold, the ultra-compact passive EMS-51 has more than earned its stripes thanks to its ability to cater for a wide va

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