World - The White Stripes tour has seen the minimalist rock duo delivering performances to sold-out crowds on several continents. Six years and five albums into their careers, the duo of Jack and Meg White show no signs of slowing down.
Detroit-based Thunder Audio has been providing the sound for much of this year's foray, based around an array of 24 Meyer Sound MILO high-power curvilinear array loudspeakers. FOH engineer Matthew Kettle, mixing the band on a Midas Heritage 3000 console, favours a stripped-down approach that calls for little in the way of effects, other than a bit of compression and a slight touch of reverb. Two LD-3 compensating line drivers provide system drive processing, while status of the loudspeakers are monitored from a laptop computer running RMS remote monitoring system software.
"The MILO rigs, in particular, have proved to be quite versatile," reports Thunder Audio VP Paul Owen. "People typically associate Meyer gear with more mainstream, acoustic or jazz-oriented material, but we've found the MILOs to be exceptional for a much wider range of sounds. We've had great results using the MILO on the Garbage tour, and are sending one of our rigs out with Slipknot as well."
Stage mics are a combination of Sennheiser Evolution series and Neumann KM184s. The shows are being recorded to an iZ Technology Radar 24 recorder, with Kettle using a pair of Meyer Sound HD-1 high definition audio monitors to mix the recordings backstage.
(Jim Evans)
Germany - Over 65,000 concert-goers attended this year's Popkomm festival in Berlin, where more than 1,500 musicians from 23 different countries provided over 400 hours of live music in 30 different clubs and halls around the city. In the thick of the action was the Berlin production company TSE AG: the team lead by Marcel Fery was responsible for both the lighting and the sound at many of the main events, including one of the real highlights of this year's Popkomm, the MTV Designerama Fashion Show.
The centrepiece of the sound design, for an event that received widespread media coverage within Germany and drew a large TV audience throughout Europe, was an Electro-Voice X-Line, Midas consoles and processors and EQs from Klark Teknik.
Commented Fery: "The extremely wide stage in the Berlin Arena held no terrors for the EV system, with its coverage angle of 120 degrees. Not only was the sound transparent; it was also invisible, as we were able to keep all the enclosures out of shot!"
(Jim Evans)
USA - St. Joseph's and St. Patrick's Church in Escanaba, Mich, has a new sound system installed by Eagle Communication and featuring EAW DSA series loudspeakers. The system was installed by Eagle's co-owner Tony Rogalski who has installed systems in more than 1,200 churches. The long-established church was having problems with noise reflection from its shiny gloss-painted surfaces.
"The church described the exact problem I had just solved for a massive old church in downtown Detroit," explained Rogalski. "With hard surfaces like marble, wood and stained glass, old churches frequently battle reverberation when it comes to the spoken word. At the same time, these same churches often reject traditional damping methods, such as acoustic panelling, because they don't want to cover or in any way mar the traditional and well-loved aesthetic of the old buildings."
Rogalski recommended EAW's DSA Series line arrays, which use onboard digital signal processing and amplification to precisely control the vertical output pattern, thereby steering sound directly at the listeners and away from hard surfaces.
Beyond solving the church's specific audio challenges, Rogalski was especially pleased to have an additional positive experience with the DSA system. "Compared to the labour-intensive wiring and hanging requirements of a distributed sound system - the traditional solution for a cathedral-type space - the DSA Series loudspeakers are a breeze to install at a fraction of the labour price," he said.
(Jim Evans)
UK - Thirteen Ampetronic induction loop systems have been included in a brand new hostel at St Evelina Children's Hospital, London. Installed by regular Ampetronic client Scanaudio, the hospital features 12 ILD20 and one ILD252 loop amplifiers.
At the hospital's main reception, two ILD20-driven base station loops ensure the communication process is as clear as possible from the moment that visitors arrive. Ten further ILD20 loops are installed at nurse stations and in the wards throughout the hospital, ensuring visitors with a hearing impairment can discuss anything they need with the staff, while not disturbing patients. They also have the additional benefit of helping any of the patients who may have a hearing impairment.
A perimeter induction loop is also installed in the hospital's main meeting room, powered by an ILD252 and including a condenser microphone for presentations.
"There were no technical hurdles although, as it was scheduled for fairly late in the build stage, we had to negotiate a lot of medical equipment being put in during the client fit out," says Scanaudio's Dee Couchman. "Being a children's hospital, the funky colours the wards are painted in made it seem quite an unusual environment for us, though!"
Ampetronic's technical director Leon Pieters adds, "All too often Induction Loops are specified to the minimum requirements of the DDA without a thought to the users' welfare. This installation is a good example of how a well thought out system makes a positive difference to the lives of the hearing impaired and of
Switzerland - Butterfly line-arrays played a key role at the St. Jackob stadium in Basle, on the occasion of an ecumenical mass attended by 5,000 people. Blackburn Productions deployed 24 CDH 483 Hi-Pack modules, backed up by eight Victor Live subwoofers. H.A.R.D. 212 monitors were used for the musicians and choir and Bomber systems on side-fill chores. Amplification was courtesy of T series power amps and the system was controlled by new Genius 26 DSP, also by Outline.
Christof Mäder, owner of Blackburn Productions, commented: "The area to be covered in the stadium was 140 metres long, but I didn't need delay systems. The VIP software, as always was very precise and reliable. It would be no exaggeration to say that the sound was wonderful and intelligibility really high."
(Jim Evans)
UK - Bosch Security Systems is enhancing its Praesideo Public Address and Emergency Evacuation System with a new Remote Call Station and Call Station Interface that use CAT-5 (Category 5) cabling.
The use of CAT-5 cabling, the industry standard for data communications in computer and IP networks, gives the Praesideo system even more flexibility in system design. The new Remote Call Stations can be located up to one kilometre away from the Call Station Interface. Other advantages of using CAT-5 cabling are that it does not add to the Praesideo's system bus length and it makes call station installation easier, says Bosch.
The new Remote Call Station - the LBB4438/00 - can be powered either by the Call Station Interface or from a local power supply if a large number of keypads are to be used at long distance. The LBB4438/00 can be extended with up to 16 keypads each with eight configurable keys. The Call Station Interface is also new and is specially designed to accept the CAT-5 digital audio and control data connection with the Remote Call Station, and to connect to the Praesideo's optical fibre network.
Both the LBB4438/00 Remote Call Station and the LBB4437/00 Call Station Interface are fully supervised and comply with IEC60849, the European standard for voice alarm systems. A new Remote Call Station Kit - the LBB4439/00 - will also become available.
The LBB4438/00 otherwise has the same functionality as the existing Basic Call Station. Among key features are support of fail-safe mode, high-quality digital audio and the fact that it is configurable via the Pr
ride of place on the Pinanson stand went to the company's EtherSound Snake, enjoying its first showing since it went into full production. The technology was developed by Digigram and is an Ethernet multicore, designed with minimal latency in mind, which can be used with any EtherSound adapted console or a combination of EtherSound and analogue desks.
Meyer Sound showed the Galileo a speaker management system for Meyer's self-powered speakers; this is still in development but should go into production next March. The big advantage Meyer claim over comparable products is that with crossover functions already carried out within its speakers, Galileo's processing power is left exclusively for the other functions. With 16 outputs, the unit is capable of running a very large show system.Meyer's Mica system also received its first public airing in the UK, but readers will already be familiar with this small-scale line array following its launch earlier in the year.
Located in the heart of DJ land, the PPL stand was cunningly positioned for the launch of the new Digital DJ Licence. The annual licence is available for £200 and allows DJs to legally copy sound recordings onto a computer for use during their performances. The licence also allows DJs to hold up to 20,000 tracks on a machine as well as a complete backup on a separate machine.
SEED is an R&D company specializing in digital audio, and offers OEM and ODM solutions for other manufacturers to incorporate into their own products. Recently announced products included the GPG-2 Graphic/Parametric EQ board, the GFE-2 Feedback eliminator, GCL-2 Comp/Limiter and HXO-6 loudspeaker management system with 2-in and 6-out, all with PC remote control and storage.
Marketing manager Martin Capp told L&SI that the company would be launching the new Marani brand in the next few months, offering simple, cost-effective pro audio products.
There was quite a buzz on the Allen & Heath stand throughout PLASA this year, due to the introduction of the company's iLive digital mixing console system.The console has been designed to bridge the gap between digital and analogue mixing desks and its look and feel is certainly testament to that. Its large EQ and dynamics controls look like a cross between the inside of the Delorian in Back to the Future and a Moog synth. Yet this retro look is calming and strangely familiar, as are the large multi-coloured LCD panels for channel information.
At the heart of the iLive lies the iDR-64 processing engine, which allows the desk to mix 64 channels of audio across 32 mixes that can be assigned as combinations of auxes, groups, matrix and main outputs. The unit is controlled via Ethernet and can interface to a number of control surfaces in addition to the iLive, which itself is available as the iLive-112, 144 or 176. Included with the iDR-64 are two EtherSound ports allowing low latency remote audio distribution and expansion of the system up to 128 channels. PR manager Vicky Willson told us the company expects to start shipping the system in the spring.
The company also unveiled the new GR2 9-input and 4-output analogue zone mixer. Designed for the installation, live entertainment and conference market, the GR2 includes paging, 3-band mic EQ, HPF and 2-band stereo output EQ as well as an auxiliary output complete with a LPF. Once set up, the system is protected by a blanking plate.
Finally, the company also showed its Xone:3D DJ mixer/controller, the curious beast being a
The launch of Dio Core at PLASA is significant for InnovaSON. This is essentially a stage box compatible with any device so long as it is Ethernet capable. Used typically with InnovaSON consoles, Dio Core allows greater input to the console, and can be used in multiples linked together by simple Cat 5 cable. One stage box gives up to 64 ins and outs in modules of eight. Patch at the desk, every remote gain, phantom power, high quality pre-amp, etc - all the renowned InnovaSON features are there. Naturally, software updates have been made for the InnovaSON Sy80 and Sy48 consoles to manage the Dio Core functions.
London-based sound and lighting distributor Fametrack was promoting its latest trade catalogue.
American Audio launched no fewer than four new MP3 players, including the Velocity twin MP3 player with interactive jog wheel. The machine, which plays MP3s and CDs, boasts advanced cueing to the frame (not the second), digital scratching, nine onboard effects, digital BPM counter and tempo lock.
Also launched were the MCD range of MP3/CD players - the MCD-110 single deck, MC-510 dual deck with separate controller giving pitch control, fader start and relay play and the MCD-810 at the top of the range. Also new was the CDI-500, a single deck but with many of the features already mentioned plus the addition of a tap button for manual BPM entry, reverse play and storage of up to 1500 cue points.
Tannoy's successful V-Series dual concentric loudspeakers were launched in 2003: at this year's show, Tannoy exhibited the latest update, the VNET, which is self-powered and networkable. The new cabinets use VLINEA class D amplifiers, which do not use fan cooling. The integrated DSP looks after the amplifier and will, according to engineering director Ben Ver, attempt to make some kind of sound at any cost! Designed from the ground up, the VNETs are available in several flavours - VNET 12, 12HP, 15 and 300 with three subs - the VNET 15BP, 15HL and 18DR.
LMC Audio was showing a wide selection of new products under its 'Pure Audio Choice' banner. Martin Audio, Turbosound and Nexo compact systems were all featured, with both analogue and digital consoles the cause of interest and sales. The compact Soundcraft MH2 led the way, with Midas Sienna and Yamaha digital consoles also vying for attention. "One of our most successful shows ever," said Paul Hinkly.
Canford Audio highlighted its vast range of cables: the company keeps an impressive 1.5 million metres of cable in stock. The two main new products here were by Anchor Audio - the first a wireless comms system requiring no base station and accommodating up to 15 belt-pack groups with no limit on the amount of packs per group. The second was the Beacon portable line array sound system, which resembled a large wheelie suitcase when compacted!
The Mach CW 115 is the newest subwoofer in Mach's new C-Range of installation speakers. The powerful reflex-loaded sub is designed for heavy-duty use in professional environments, say Mach. Like all speakers in the Mach C-Range, the CW 115 is designed to fit unobtrusively into any install environment and features the same flying point principles used on the C-Range top boxes. The Mach C-Range also includes the CI Series of molded speakers for in-fill applications, and the first in a series of white CI Series moulded speakers, the CI 6, also featured at PLASA.
Utilizing Alcons' own 18" ribbon tweeter, the new Q-Series is a true flat line array in the purest sense of the name. Highly directive Q comes in 1m modules with frequency control in the lower ranges increasing as you add modules, potentially down to 80Hz if you like a line that tall. With 90° horizontal dispersion and the high claimed power of the ribbon driver, a single module makes for a very powerful cabinet.Alcons' Ultra Compact Line Array comprises two cabinets, the LR14 and LR14B (bass). It can be flown (including the sub), or groundstacked, and uniquely with the mid/high boxes pole-mounted (up to three boxes) in a yoke-style harness, adjustments can still be made to the arraying intervals between the cabinets. All with on-board amps and DSP.
Probably one of the most useful products at the show is the new Samson USB microphone, the C01U. The condenser mic plus directly into a USB port on either a PC or Mac allowing direct digital recording into the machine. The A/D converters are placed as close to the capsule as physically possible and were designed specifically for the microphone.
Peavey focused attention on a new live sound desk made in Australia - the Smart Console. Really, it's a work surface designed to be used with products such as Peavey's Nion (now we see their logic). The control surface comes in three formats - 48-, 72- and 96-channel, each topped by a sweeping arc bridge which exemplifies the innovative approach taken by the Smart Console. Besides being a meter bridge, the arc gives the operator instant access to any channel by sweeping a finger along the touch-sensitive strip below the channel linear meters. A simple scribble strip beneath each channel is read by character recognition software from below and transferred onto the digital display above the channel faders on the main work surface below.
Highly intuitive, but radically unconventional, the Smart Console is intended as a universal control surface to work with ultimately any engine. Besides Nion, it already works with Mergin/Pyramix, Apple/LOGIC Pro7, Klotz Digital/Vadis, with work under way on the Mackie HUI protocol and Steinberg's Nuendo 3.
Unfortunately, Crest Audio were stymied by a courier snafu that saw all their new products held up till after PLASA closed; rather than spoil the party, they asked that Crest fans visit their website for announcements.
Signet, manufacturers of induction loop, voice alarm and emergency telephone systems were showing its recently introduced Pro range of induction loop amplifiers at this years show. The PDA Pro-Range come in three varieties, PDA200/2, PDA500/2 and PDA1000/2, which relate to the number of square meters the loop can encompass. Also, on the stand was the neatly packaged PL1/K1 Portable Induction Loop system ideal for use anywhere and ready in seconds. The system is capable of generating a loop field of 1.2m2 , provides excellent sound quality and runs off a rechargeable battery.
Equipson showed its new Studio Series loudspeakers. The new range is specifically aimed at providing high quality audio for short spaces that have high ceilings, such as shops, galleries and museums and are designed to minimize diffusion to maintain intelligibility.
MilTec (UK) featured several new products from the Ecler brand, including the Ambit 103 and 106 loudspeakers, the DPA, XPA and DT ranges of amplifiers and the DP300 effects processor. Further new audio products included a series of Beyma neodymium driver and line array horn loudspeakers.