USA - The 57th GRAMMY Awards, broadcast on CBS the evening of 8 February from the Staples Centre in downtown Los Angeles, featured an unprecedented 23 live musical performances. With so many artists performing in an RF-intensive urban location, the production team was faced with the daunting task of ensuring flawless audio from everyone's wireless microphones and in-ear monitors.

From the hard-rocking opener by AC/DC to the poignant closing performance of Glory by John Legend and Common, Shure wireless microphone systems, wired mics, and in-ear monitoring systems were a near-co

UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) will be featuring new lighting solutions from Chroma-Q, Mole-Richardson and Fiilex, grip equipment from Manfrotto, and video innovations from Green Hippo and Prolights - at the Broadcast Video Expo (BVE) 2015 show, held at Excel, London on 24-26 February (stand E20).

The company offers a comprehensive one-stop inventory of equipment solutions for film, television, and studio or location broadcast applications. This service covers products through to complete lighting and video systems, from supply through to installation.

The award-winnin

UK - It is with great sadness that the family of Muriel 'Mu' Wiltshire has announced the news of her passing on 5 February. Mu was the mother of HHB Communications MD Ian Jones and a founding member of the successful professional audio technology supplier. A shareholder since the company was started in 1976, Mu served numerous roles at HHB and was a company director for many years. She was also HHB's first accountant/bookkeeper and retained this role until her retirement from day-to-day activities in 1989.

During her years with HHB, Mu was very active in attending shows and other indu

Turkey - When Konya was under consideration as one of the host cities for a future European Championships to be held in Turkey, construction of a brand new UEFA-compliant stadium was proposed.

While original plans set a capacity of around 33,000 seats, this was later upgraded to 42,276 seats - divided over two tiers, with an additional 50 VIP boxes - and the new facility, based in Selçuklu, will now provide the club Konyaspor KR with a state-of-the-art stadium for home matches.

Asimetrik, the Turkish-based distributors and AV system integrators, were awarded the contract to provide

UK - Flare Audio's PA system has been selected due to its 'clarity of sound' for powerhouse electro quartet Node's first concert in 15 years. Node Live will take place in the Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall at the Royal College of Music in London on 27 February 2015.

The detailed ambient sonic landscape created by the band requires true clarity of sound and definition with even coverage and dispersion, as they fill the stage with an array of instruments and vintage analogue synthesizers, creating both a sonic and visual experience for the audience.

Just two X2As and two X5As will pro

UK - Of all the buildings set within the historic cloisters of Oxford, one that really stands out is the Chapel at All Souls College - one of the city's oldest, whose origins date back to 1438-1442. Built by master mason Richard Chevynton, the original structure of the carved reredos (screen altarpiece) dates from around 1447 but the Chapel was almost completely rebuilt following its destruction by Puritans, followed later by a mid-19th century renovation, heavily influenced by Victorian design ideals.

The chapel contains 40 stalls, for the 40 Fellows of the original foundation and a

Germany - Nexo has announced the appointment of satis&fy, one of Europe's leading full service companies for event production, as a new distributor in Germany. The two companies have been working together since satis&fy invested heavily last year in Nexo STM modular line array systems as well as the latest compact line array Geo M6.

"We've been increasing our sales business over the last few years," explains Martin Ramrath, head of satis&fy's audio department, who will be handling Nexo sales. "To be true to what we're doing, as well as to the market, we are only selling

Norway - Hajfell is hosting the FIS Alpine Junior World Ski Championships this winter and, with the original sound system installed 20 years ago for the Lillehammer Winter Olympics, the Hafjell Nationalanlegg decided a new system was required. The investment is part of a major overall upgrade of the national slalom slope, financed by the Norwegian government.

Hafjell is located just north of Lillehammer and is one of Norway's largest ski areas, with a starting point 1030m above sea level and a vertical drop of 835m. During the Winter Olympics in 1994 it was the venue for the slalom an

USA - At Aspen Ridge Church in Evergreen, Colo., steerable Meyer Sound CAL 32 column array loudspeakers cut through a reverberant room to bring exceptional music and speech clarity for the congregants. The result shows that even and intelligible audio coverage is possible in sonically challenging spaces when acoustical treatment is not an option.

"I've been blown away by the sound quality, and since our worship space doubles as a gymnasium during the week, I'm extremely impressed by the way the CAL directs sound right where the people are, and not on the walls and ceiling,"

The Netherlands / Israel - Kramer Electronics made two new product introductions aimed at long-distance, reliable and high-performance transmission at ISE 2015. Kramer is among the first to incorporate Valens' Colligo chipsets.

The TP-590RXR and TP-590TXR are "ground breaking" range extenders that let users connect any device over a single twisted pair cable without compromising on quality or performance. Kramer's range of extenders implement the entire set of features supported by HDBaseT 2.0, including USB 2.0.

"Kramer is one of the first to incorporate Valens' Coll

USA - The Fred Bramlage Coliseum, commonly referred to as 'The Octagon of Doom', is a 12,528-seat multi-purpose arena that is home to the men's and women's basketball teams for Kansas State University.

University officials recently decided it was time to upgrade the eight-sided building with new sound and video systems that are in line with state of the art technology. System design company Wrightson, Johnson, Haddon & Williams (WJHW) specified a new sound reinforcement system that features EAW QX Series loudspeakers. Promedia UltraSound, located in Martinez, California handled the in

USA - Electrosonic has opened a new office in the San Francisco Bay Area, which will support Electrosonic clients in the region and serve as a resource for new business development. The Bay Area office is located in Livermore and features 3,000sq.ft of office and warehouse space.

"We are very excited to announce the opening of our new San Francisco Bay Area location," says Jim Bowie, president of the Electrosonic Group. "Over the last few years, Electrosonic has steadily increased the number of our Bay Area clients. This office will support them, keep pace with their ev

UK - One of the oldest loudspeaker companies in the world, Tannoy is a brand that is synonymous with sound, their pre-war horn technology being such a part of everyday life that the phrase 'over the Tannoy' entered the Oxford English Dictionary to describe a public address system. After being at the forefront loudspeaker technology ever since, the company has produced a brand new product that takes that horn heritage into a whole new area of application.

The Tannoy THL-1 tunnel loudspeaker provides a robust, durable and highly cost-effective solution for Emergency Voice Alarm/C

USA / UK - Ashly Audio has announced the appointment of Sound Directions as its exclusive distributor in the United Kingdom. The Chessington, Surrey-based company will distribute Ashly's entire line of products, including Ashly's networked multi-channel amplifiers, Protea DSP-equipped amplifiers, and customizable user interfaces, such as Ashly's iPad app.

Stanislas Boivin-Champeaux founded Sound Directions in 1998. "From the very start, we've worked closely with our customers to demystify the vast array of technologies that are available in the installed A/V market," he said

The Netherlands - Shure Distribution UK (SDUK) used ISE 2015 to focus on awareness of the importance of RF spectrum availability for all users of wireless microphones. Under the slogan 'Losing Your Voice', SDUK are aiming at the growing market of professional and semi-professional users of RF technology, from the conference audio and systems integrators at ISE to live performers and organisers of commercial and non-commercial events.

The goal is to better inform this wide range of users about the growing challenges to the unhindered use of wireless microphone systems as a result of co

Hungary - The end of January saw Chromasound, DiGiCo's Hungarian distributor, invited to demonstrate the advantages of DiGiCo consoles at the MPRT - the Hungarian Professional Technical Event Company.

Founded at the beginning of 2014 and based in the Hungarian capital of Budapest, the MPRT was set up to help train and educate those working in the theatre, cinema, television, radio and concert touring industries.

Chromasound was invited to introduce DiGiCo consoles to its members during an eight week series of events, where it worked alongside eight different brands.

"We were

Canada - Two nearly identical venues have become the first theatres in Canada to be equipped with the Meyer Sound Lyon linear sound reinforcement systems: Edmonton's Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (NAJA) and Calgary's Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (SAJA).

Both long-time Meyer Sound users since 1983, the 2,538-seat auditoriums selected Lyon as they looked to upgrade from their trusty M2D line array loudspeakers, a decision made jointly by Mark Belkie and Paul Schmitz, technical coordinators for audio at SAJA and NAJA, respectively.

"In our extensive listening and asse

USA - At the 57th Annual Grammy Awards held at Los Angeles' Staples Centre, audio manufacturer Sennheiser once again delivered reliable and detailed wireless audio to a host of world-class recording artists including Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, Beyoncé, Madonna, Tony Bennett, Annie Lennox, Miranda Lambert and many others.

Sennheiser user Sam Smith scooped up four awards, including Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Album; Ed Sheeran performed a guitar-centric, stripped down version of his blockbuster Thinking Out Loud, singing through a S

UK - Northern Stage Services Ltd, the specialist lighting, sound and stage solutions provider, has completed the acquisition of the business of Lancelyn Lighting and Lancelyn Theatre Supplies.

Northern Stage Services Ltd, whose client list includes the RIBA award-winning Liverpool Everyman Theatre, Brio Leisure and Manchester Communications Academy, acquired the business on 16 February 2015, enhancing its overall offering to be UK-wide spanning the theatrical, architectural and construction sectors.

Northern Stage Services Ltd managing director, Patrick Colin, comments: "Lancel

UK - Welsh four-piece Catfish and the Bottlemen, winners at the inaugural BBC Music Awards in December 2014, have chosen Shure microphones for use live and in the studio. The band are now using Shure PSM1000 wireless in-ear monitoring, and an extensive complement of frontline and backline mics, including a KSM9 vocal mic for lead singer Van McCann, and KSM313 ribbons on guitars.

The new Shure equipment arrived in time for a single warm-up concert before the band played at the BBC Music Awards, where they walked away with the 'Introducing...' award for best newcomers.

"The KSM9

USA / Europe - Media Networking Alliance, Bothell, Washington, USA. The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), Swedish Radio (Sveriges Radio AB), Focusrite, Genelec, Riedel Audio & Acoustics and Shure Incorporated, are among the latest organizations to join ALC NetworX, Archwave Technologies, Attero Tech, Bosch Security Systems, Directout, Lawo, QSC, The Telos Alliance and Yamaha, in signing up to membership of the Media Networking Alliance.

The fast growing pace of membership follows the alliance's inaugural membership meeting at last October's AES Convention, and the recent AES plu

USA - The Audio Engineering Society hosts its 57th International Conference, the Future of Audio Entertainment Technology: Cinema, Television, and the Internet, on Friday 6 March through Sunday 8 March 2015, in Hollywood, California, at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres.

The conference will feature the AES's first-ever Immersive Audio Day (Sunday), an entire conference day packed with panels, papers, workshops and demonstrations focusing on one of the most active new areas of audio technology: immersive sound. Starting with the day's presentation by Francis Rumsey entitled Immersiv

USA - Life Church of Rock Run is a Pentecostal church in Joliet, Illinois with an unabashed flair for engaging, contemporary services. Outfit with drums, bass, guitar, keyboards, and plenty of spirit, Life Church rocks its message every Sunday. Knowledgeable in technical matters, the church had acquired a high-performance Danley Sound Labs sound reinforcement system but for budgetary reasons had omitted low-end from the system.

Understandably, the church was keen to shore up that omission, and it timed subwoofer installation to correspond with the addition of new seating that would re

UK - Shure microphones including Beta series drum mics, KSM9 vocal mics and a UHF-R wireless system are being used extensively on the UK and international dates for Holy Holy's live presentation of David Bowie's album The Man Who Sold The World, featuring original drummer Woody Woodmansey and producer Tony Visconti on bass.

After selling out several UK venues including the Shepherds Bush Empire and the O2 Academies in Glasgow and Sheffield in Autumn 2014, the live show is returning for more dates in June 2015, and will tour Europe, the USA, Japan, and Australia later in the yea

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