Switzerland - The Guide-U system from Phonak makes sure that visitors in leading attractions worldwide, such as the Dresden Start Art Collections in the Semper Building, can effortlessly understand what their guide tells them. Powered by Roger technology, the latest generation of the guiding system offers an even greater listening experience to every visitor: groups of any size, several groups in the same room, and even people with hearing loss can rely on Roger Guide-U to get more out of their guided tour, says the company.

Since its launch, Guide-U has been the audio tour guiding system of choice for some of the world's biggest visitor attractions. Featuring the latest digital standard, Roger, the new generation of the guiding system offers "crystal-clear speech understanding even to large visitor groups or several groups simultaneously". Leveraging Phonak's longstan

USA - Soccer might not be the most popular game in the USA although it has had a major boost from the latest World Cup. Undoubtedly the involvement of David Beckham with the LA Galaxy team made it the most well known team internationally. Their home venue is California's StubHub Centre, which is way more than just a football stadium. This is also an Official U.S. Olympic Training Site with state-of-the art stadiums and facilities for tennis, track & field, cycling, lacrosse, rugby, volleyball, baseball, softball, basketball and other sports in addition to the soccer.

Playing music, making announcements, playing commercials and jingles is essential in any stadium and multiple areas need different treatment. When it was time to upgrade their facilities, the technical team at the StubHub Centre chose Merging's Ovation Audio and Event Sequencer.

Removing the limitations of the pre

USA - Michael McDonald joins 1980s super-group Toto this summer for a North American co-bill that stops at The Greek in Los Angeles and The Fox in Atlanta. McDonald's front-of-house engineer Curtis Flatt was first introduced to Spectrum Sound of Nashville while in college and went to work for the company in 1986. Through the long association, Flatt's career has spanned the best consoles and musicians of the last three decades, including Wynona Judd and the Judds, Donny Osmond and Michael W. Smith. He also filled in for a short time for Robert Collins on Eric Clapton. Today, he can be found at McDonald's helm with an SSL Live console.

Flatt first took SSL Live out on McDonald's Christmas Tour last winter. "Spectrum was going to order a pair for Jason Aldean and asked if I wanted to be the first to take one out," he says. "I programmed it in my office and, without a

USA - The Donald and Maureen Green Music Centre is a world-class performing arts complex in the heart of Northern California's renowned wine country. Located on the campus of Sonoma State University, the Green Music Centre consists of multiple performance venues, a music education wing, sprawling outdoor spaces, an on-site restaurant, and more.

But the heart of the $145m GMC is the architecturally impressive Joan and Sanford I. Weill Hall. Opened in the fall of 2012, the concert hall seats 1,400 in an audience geometry that extends from the classic shoebox design with surrounding balconies to the sides and rear of the stage. Furthermore, the entire rear wall of the hall opens to a massive lawn that can seat more than 5,000 additional guests when the need arises.

When looking to install a new sound reinforcement system, the university's challenge was to find a solution that wou

Japan - Allen & Heath together with Japanese distributor, Comodo Mattina, recently held a training seminar for its growing digital mixing range in Tokyo. The event was attended by more than 90 industry engineers and technicians, and included operation overviews for Allen & Heath's iLive, GLD and Qu series digital systems.

There was also a session about digital audio networking and the various standards and their implementation and integration into Allen & Heath mixing systems. On display, Comodo Mattina showed a number of QU-16 and also QU-24 mixers as well as a number of GLD systems. An iLive-T112 system was used to mix the live performance and systems operation.

"Attendees were very enthusiastic about the gear on hand and the response was overwhelming," says Alex Schloesser of GMM, Allen & Heath sales engineer. "I have had personal interactions with quite a nu

Germany - Loudspeaker system manufacturer d&b audiotechnik has appointed Amnon Harman as CEO effective 7 July 7, 2014. In this newly created position, Harman will drive the continued success of the German premium provider, taking responsibility for the further development and implementation of the company strategy.

Prior to joining d&b, Harman was an independent consultant. From 2006 to 2012 he served as chairman of the management board of Augusta Technologie AG, an international technology company focused on niche markets for optical sensor technology and digital image processing. Previously, he was a member of the management board and COO at Suse Linux AG, where he took over the position as vice president and COO of the EMEA region after a sale to Novell Inc., a specialist for network and internet software products.

Harman holds degrees in industrial engineering and aeronaut

UK - Pro audio equipment provider Audiologic has added Phoenix Audio Technologies to its portfolio of distributed brands. Phoenix Audio Technologies is an innovator of audio communication solutions for Voice Over IP (VoIP), web conferencing, distance learning, and video conferencing applications.

Formed in the first instance by a group of scientists who, 30 years ago had worked on the development of SONAR systems, Phoenix came into being 10 years ago. Its key personnel having been at the forefront of academic research and having co-authored hundreds of professional essays and books on the technology, Phoenix very quickly established a strong portfolio of audio solutions for the emerging video and audio conferencing markets.

Key lines now available for shipping include the brand new Spider, the very latest word in conferencing phone technology. With SIP telephony & USB soft cod

Portugal - PA company, ST Sonorizacoes Tuna, Lda, recently purchased Allen & Heath's new Qu-24 compact digital mixer to add to its hire stock.

"I invested in the Qu-24 for some of the smaller shows we manage where we do not need a lot of channels, Qu-24 is the perfect console as it is compact and has all the features we need to do a professional job. Out of all the consoles I tested, this one really impressed me with its great sound quality, quick setup, and easy operation. It's a good investment," comments CEO, Paulo Tuna.

The mixer was used for the first time at a Revolution Day celebration held in an auditorium in Mogadouro in the north of Portugal.

Sound engineer on the night, Pedro Oliveira, comments, "This console is perfect for smaller events. It has a great sound, and is very fast and intuitive to work with, including an easy set up procedure. In short

Taiwan - MSI Japan Taiwan has given Martin Audio's MLA system its debut in the Taiwan capital, at a recent show held at Taipei Arena.

This proved a big success for MSI Japan Taiwan - part of the MSI Japan HD Group, who set up their office in Taipei several months ago. Their first gig with the system was supporting the Taiwanese leg of the famous Japanese artist, Masaharu Fukuyama, for his Fukuyama Masaharu We're Bros Tour 2014.

Since the artist had used the MLA system for the Japanese leg, he wanted to retain continuity with the award winning loudspeaker technology that is a combination of multi-cellular control and progressive optimisation software.

MLA has already enjoyed great success in Japan and its reputation is quickly spreading through all the Asian countries. Without the need for delay towers, it can effortlessly provide consistent sound pressure level and fr

USA - This year's Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) in Las Vegas easily earned its reputation as the world's largest electronic music festival with seven stages, carnival rides, art installations, fireworks displays and over 400,000 in attendance.

The landmark multimedia three-day event took place at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and focused on providing a total entertainment experience for electronic dance music fans, with over 70 DJs performing each day.

3G Productions of Las Vegas/Los Angeles, who once again provided audio for the event, set up a fully loaded Martin Audio MLA loudspeaker system on Stage Two (Cosmic Meadow) to deliver the power and huge amount of low end required for the shows. DJs featured on the stage included Diplo, Justin Martin, A-Trak, Chromeo, Bassnectar, Dillon Francis and Destructo, just to name a few.

The system for Cosmic Meadow stage consisted of 16

Germany - Creating quite a stir at the moment is an exhibition at Berlin's Martin-Gropius-Bau: The life and work of David Bowie can be explored in this multimedia exhibition taking place at the historic building near the former border strip until 10 August 2014.

"David Bowie is a pioneer in many artistic fields, making him the ideal subject for an exhibition," says Victoria Broackes who, as co-curator along with her colleague Geoffrey Marsh, has had a key role in realising the exhibition and tirelessly brought together exhibits from different provenances. "The sound is presented as never before at an exhibition," explains the Bowie expert, highlighting Sennheiser's involvement - the technology of the audio specialist is an integral part of the multimedia experience and allows visitors to immerse themselves in soundscapes by this exceptional artist.

D

Denmark - Roskilde Festival 2014 hired in a Funktion-One sound system for its Apollo stage, as it looked to improve audio performance.

Funktion-One partner, Moto Rental, has supplied a large system for Roskilde's Apollo stage - its platform for electronic music. After experiencing issues while using a different system in 2013, the festival's organisers were keen to raise the audio quality for the audience, while minimising the impact on the surrounding environment - including nearby residents.

Apollo hosts a range of musical styles that fall beneath its broad electronic music banner and sees a mixture of playback, live and varying combinations of both. Naturally, bass frequencies have a prominent role to play, which presents both a challenge and an opportunity when it comes to sound reinforcement.

"Apollo is all about being progressive - the music, the light show and th

UK - Britannia Row Productions Training (BRPT) are offering a new programme of 1-day live sound training sessions at their London training centre from July through to 18 September. The scheme offers people in the live sound industry the opportunity to attend training in selected, specific topics, for example in system optimisation, RF, rigging and monitor mixing.

Training sessions are also available for Yamaha, Avid, DiGiCo and Midas digital consoles. Following the success of the first wave of one-day sessions taken up by a number of people from the UK and abroad, BRPT has expanded its offering to include packages such as System Analysis and Optimisation comprising of two tuition days plus a practical workshop, and a three-day package on Sound for Corporate Events, Theatre and Classical Music.

The range of topics also includes fundamental topics from the earlier stages of BRPT

Germany - The city of Bielefeld has been marking its 800th anniversary throughout 2014, with a highlight of the celebrations a 'time travelling' production which featured 800 performers. A Yamaha CL5 digital mixing system helped ensure that the complex show was a fitting tribute to the city's history.

Titled 800 Jahre Bielefeld - Bi Motion, the production took place in the city's Stadthalle on 19 and 21 June, with two performances on each day. David Heuer of DH ProSound was asked to design and mix the show's sound. He chose a Yamaha CL5 digital console, with two Rio3224-D i/o units and an additional Ro8.

David is familiar with both complex events and Yamaha consoles, having been heavily involved with Dusseldorf's 2011 Eurovision Song Contest spectacular, amongst many other high profile live and broadcast projects.

"The show brought 800 musicians, dancers, actors

Germany - Attracting around 70,000 visitors, Hurricane is one of the most successful music festivals in Germany. Held in Scheeßel, this year's headliners included Arcade Fire, Volbeat, Seeed, Kraftklub, and Fettes Brot among others. TVN Mobile Production was in attendance with its Ü3 OB truck (equipped with a Lawo mc²66) and a mobile control room (with a Lawo mc²56) to mix the live broadcast sound from the two main stages and make multitrack recordings for later broadcast. "The festival was perfect! We got the releases from all the bands for TV broadcasts," says Stephan Thyssen, audio manager at TVN.

TVN first mixed festivals for live broadcast and recording in 2005. Since 2006, the company has also handled the Wacken Open Air event (the largest heavy metal festival in the world), and in 2008 took on the Hurricane festival. While his senior position puts Thyssen in

Nicaragua - Having survived the earthquake of 1972 that devastated much of Nicaragua's capital city Managua, there has been little that has shaken Teatro Nacional since; until that is, time came to re-equip the venue in the modern vernacular.

"Function is core to our art at the Teatro," said Licenciado Ramon Rodriguez, director of the theatre (Licenciado is a term of respect, one Señor Rodriguez has earned during his time at the theatre), "and technology forms a big part of that." Teatro Nacional had been surviving on a bequeathed audio system for many years, "But now we needed a system that can manage all forms of performance; musical theatre; classical concert, rock and folk concerts; these were not even considered when the venue was first built."

Teatro Nacional, named Teatro Rubén Dario after a national poet, was built as a concert hal

UK - Held at the beginning of July each year, Sennheiser's 2014 charity golf day proved as popular as ever, with a total of £16,000 raised at the evening dinner's charity auction.

An annual highlight on the Sennheiser UK calendar, this year saw a change of venue to the stunning Bearwood Lakes Golf Course in Wokingham, Berkshire for an exciting, fun filled day for its customers and suppliers, with entertainment from Sennheiser UK's own Ken Morrison during the evening.

As in previous years, the majority of the auction money raised was donated to the Caron Keating Foundation, which was set up in memory of the late television presenter Caron Keating and provides a range of support services for cancer patients and their families, with £2,000 being given to Diabetes UK.

"The day was another great success," says Paul Whiting, president, global sales at Sennhei

The Netherlands - TC Group has announced the appointment of Fairlight as the exclusive distributor of Tannoy, Lab.gruppen and Lake for the Netherlands

The deal will see Fairlight, located in Bemmel become the primary contact for all three brands in the country, with exclusive access to Tannoy professional loudspeakers, as well as access to the extensive library of Lab.gruppen and Lake amplification and processing products.

Michel Arntz, director of Fairlight , commented, "We are extremely happy to begin this new partnership with TC Group's professional install and tour brands. Tannoy is an innovative company with many leading product lines, and one which we are excited about working with. Along with Lab.gruppen and Lake, we are sure that these new additions will help us to continue to deliver the very best to our customer base."

Stephan Grawe, TC Group's internatio

UK - Allen & Heath has released a new firmware update for its Qu Series of compact digital mixers with a wealth of core new features to enhance functionality of the pioneering range. As well as support for the newly launched Qu-32 mixer and AB168 Audio Rack, v1.5 introduces DCA Groups, custom channel naming, flexible dSNAKE output patching, improved routing for studio recording applications, and additional MIDI control soft keys.

Four DCA groups have been added, which can be assigned to fader strips in the custom layer on Qu-16 and Qu-24, whilst the new Qu-32 has 4 dedicated DCA master strips in the upper layer. Furthermore, all Input channels, FX returns, Mixes, DCA and Mute Groups now have custom naming functionality, which can be shared with the QuPad remote app and with any connected ME-1 personal mixers. Also, dSNAKE outputs to remote Audio Racks and monitor sends to ME-1 m

Canada - The Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre in British Columbia has installed a Meyer Sound Mina line array loudspeaker system to reinforce its theatrical and music productions. Together with its existing Meyer Sound mono centre cluster, the 750-seat theatre now provides an exceptional listening experience to every guest. The Mina loudspeaker arrays were specified and installed by James Dreyer of Kamloops, BC-based Dreyer Bros. Sound.

"It's a wonderful improvement," says Eric Pells, technical director for the venue. "The clarity of Mina is excellent, and there's very little difference now in levels from front to back. Even on shows when we have to mix from the booth in the back balcony, we still get a true representation of the sound."

Nine Mina loudspeakers each flank the existing overhead centre cluster, comprised of two each CQ-1 and CQ-2 lou

USA - Before Joe Bonamassa hit the road this spring for the initial North American leg of his latest world tour, the production team at Special Event Services (SES) knew they needed a highly versatile loudspeaker rig that could handle anything they could throw at it over most of a year and three continents. To ensure that they were well prepared for everything - acoustic sets, electric sets, large theatres, small arenas, the US, Europe, and Australia - SES chose to specify L-Acoustics' new K2 system for its first official tour as a main PA.

Jason Farah of SES says that the venues on this tour made K2 the right rig for the gig and that there are zero sonic compromises due to the K2's smaller size compared to the vaunted K1. "The K1 with its 15s can feel a bit deeper, but there is no shortage of low end in the K2. In fact, the 12s in the K2 are so potent that they can easily

New Zealand - Park Road Post Production, a premier post production facility based in Wellington, has recently invested in a new MADI solution from DirectOut Technologies to improve working conditions in the mix area.

Owned by Academy award-winning film director, Sir Peter Jackson, best known for having directed and produced The Hobbit' and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Park Road was established as a one-stop shop with world-class integrated picture and sound departments all under one roof. Park Road is uniquely placed to supply all post services for a feature from on-set support, rushes, stereoscopic alignment, digital intermediate, foley and sound mixing through to the final completion of all film and digital deliverables for distribution

The facility forms part of a creative community that includes the Academy award-winning Weta Digital and Weta Workshop and t

Switzerland - Set high in the spectacular Graubünden Alps, 1600m above sea level, the new InterContinental Davos luxury hotel offers the very best of Swiss hospitality and business facilities. A major Yamaha audio system has been installed to deliver the optimum in sound quality and flexibility.

The hotel features 216 rooms, 25 suites, nine meeting rooms, a business centre and conference facility, fitness centre, spa and three restaurants. With extensive alpine views, the hotel's state-of-the-art facilities are matched by the extensive Yamaha audio system.

The system was designed and the equipment chosen by German AV company Macom, working closely with the hotel builders TU Arge to guidelines supplied by InterContinental Hotels. Hünenberg-based AVS Systeme AG was appointed to supply and install the equipment.

The system features 107 VXC6W, 16 VXC4W, 10 VXC8W and two VXS5W

USA - Free registration is now open for PLASA Focus: Austin 2014. Taking place at the Palmer Events Centre on 9-10 September, this will be the second time PLASA Focus has returned to Texas since the launch of the event series in North America in February 2012.

PLASA Focus provides visitors with the opportunity to check out the latest products from some of the biggest names in entertainment technology. Companies already signed up to exhibit include: d&b audiotechnik, Chauvet Professional, TMB, Altman Lighting, Drape Kings, Harrington Hoists, Lightronics, Elation Professional, and Big House Sound, among many others. With many other applications being processed, companies interested in exhibiting are advised to move quickly to secure a spot.

Running alongside the exhibition is the PLASA Professional Development Programme which offers attendees free access to seminars. The program

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