The TCS contractor series from Turbosound comes in black or white as standard, but Turbo will paint it any colour you like. This install speaker range is intended for outdoor use, is IP54-rated with stainless steel front grilles, waterproof cable glands, and all driver voice coils are treated. Cabinets come with a range of mounting brackets, including Omni-mount for the US market. TCS comes in a range of eight speaker cabinets, four mid/highs, four subs.
Funktion One, purple cabinets, Ann Andrews, Tony . . . Tony . . ? Anyone seen Tony? Of course not: Mr Andrews was in the demo room for most of the show blowing people away with his purple powers of persuasion and an updated version of the Resolution 1 of which, we were reliably informed, a self-powered version is imminent. As the year has progressed the company has seen its systems go out on another theatre musical tour, Seven Bridges, this time with Orbital and sound designer Glen Beckley.
VersaPIXEL is the newest product from US-based Element Labs. Originally developed for a massive O2 exhibition stand at the CeBIT show (which graced the cover of L&SI's April 2005 issue), VersaPIXEL is a distributed system giving designers complete freedom over pixel shape and placement - including intricate 3D arrangements. Element Labs also had other video-controlled products such as its popular VersaTILE and VersaTUBE on the stand.
One of the largest selections of mobile and club laser systems was demonstrated by Spectrum UK Lasers. Featuring nearly 30 different types of laser, the range goes from small 'crab' lasers to the 100mW five-colour Actor Mate 'Aurora'. The latter also includes red, green and yellow and 116 onboard preset graphics.
The 00DJ is the latest release from Computer DJ, a product that any self respecting DJ and secret agent will want to get hold of. This state-of-the-art, all-in-one DJ module, housed in a stylish robust silver case contains touch screen, a digital soundcard and biometric (fingerprint) security with plenty of storage for your MP3s: the company says it's now being used by top DJs worldwide - goodbye record cases!
Of particular interest for bars and clubs as well as light and sound installers was the new Q-Play digital music systems. This touch screen unit incorporates bio-metric (fingerprint) security, ensuring that only those authorized to do so can change the music (or its volume). The system can be managed by venue staff or programmed remotely via an optional secure internet link.
Also attracting a stream of visitors was the new Screenfly, a software programme used to generate immediate adverts and other live messages on the plasma screen. Within seconds the user can display special offers, introduce new products or show menu details, for example. Screenfly can also be used interactively or to entertain customers, and can play short video clips, and will accept photos via Blue Tooth.
HB Laserkomponenten GmbH makes components for lasers and also full show systems. Its technology is all DPSS and all its new generation laser systems are air-cooled and run on 230V, with a long life of over 10,000 hours from 500mW to 15W and from green to full colour. The company's new interactive 'Vision' software allows the real-time texturing and effecting of images projected from video projectors.
With the Disability Discrimination Act meaning that retail and entertainment venues have to look far harder at their disabled facilities, Current Thinking is ideally placed to assist. The company was showing a range of its low-spill induction loops, call systems and voice alarms. Perhaps the simplest yet most ingenious is the Easy AX Customer Care Kit, which includes a portable clipboard induction loop, text magnifiers, pen holder and templates for writing cheques, forms and documents.
Studio Due's new RGB CityLed/C architectural fixture dominated its stand. A compact, 42-LED, IP67-rated device, it gives installers the opportunity to mount each single point of light or pixel individually or to use Studio Due's mounting system.
With the entire team in evening dress and the stand decked out with a piano bar including live music, the Adam Hall stand certainly caught the eye. Probably best known for flightcase hardware, connectors, stands and tools, Adam Hall has shifted markets slightly by expanding into finished products. Rob Fricker, general and export sales manager, told L&SI that the influx of cheaper products from the Far East has meant that fewer people are building their own equipment - hence the company's new sales opportunities.
Robe Show Lighting, the moving light manufacturer from the Czech Republic, created a beautiful stand to show off its full range of moving lights at what it described as its "best PLASA ever". New products included its LED entertainment range plus the LED products of its architectural sister company, Anolis. The highlight was the launch of Robe's new DigitalSpot 5000 DT - a 5000 ANSI lumen output moving head projector, which demonstrates Robe's attention to converging lighting and video technologies.
Also new was the MediaHub 2x4 DT - a media server located in the base of Robe's ColorSpot 575AT. Finally, more on the company's StageBanners can be found in this month's Technical Focus (see page 110).
Another new range of ceiling speakers, this time from Martin Audio, all two way coaxial, 4" + 0.8", 6.5" + 0.8" offering 180° and 150° dispersion, with a larger 8" + 1" model at 90°; all at 16 ohms. These speakers come in installer kits - tile rails, template and paint mask are all included.
Augmenting the Martin line array range is the W8LMD, a small under-hang cabinet for the mini line array that will attach to the standard fly-frame for use as a near down-fill 120° by 20°, while the W8MX is a sub delivering 104dB at 1W/1m from a single 18" hybrid cabinet. The two boxes can also be used a compact stand-alone system, the top boxes capable of being stacked - MD above MX - or the MD can be pole-mounted to the sub; in this configuration there's a handy HF cut switch included, on the assumption you'll likely be playing a small room and won't want the high end power in the upper ranges.
Funktion One, purple cabinets, Ann Andrews, Tony . . . Tony . . ? Anyone seen Tony? Of course not: Mr Andrews was in the demo room for most of the show blowing people away with his purple powers of persuasion and an updated version of the Resolution 1 of which, we were reliably informed, a self-powered version is imminent. As the year has progressed the company has seen its systems go out on another theatre musical tour, Seven Bridges, this time with Orbital and sound designer Glen Beckley.
XLNT (a development arm of Flashlight/Ampco) launched a couple of clever audio products. Bass Creator is in may ways a problem-solving tool for club and bar owners, designed to filter out sensitive frequencies that 'grab' the harmonics of neighbour's walls and excite them. To compensate and keep the customers happy, Creator then works with higher tone harmonics that fool the ear into believing it is still receiving the same low bass energy. Tuned to the 20Hz to 150Hz frequency range, Creator can give level gains of 6-10dB once the offending frequency is eliminated. It also has a two-band limiter to avoid pumping effects, and an eight-band EQ if you need it.
In prototype form, the Engineer is a balancing tool, again designed primarily for pubs and clubs. The problem stems from the current fashion for mass storage MP3 file players, where the myriad compression techniques lead to wild variations on playback quality and level. Engineer has a four second 'look ahead' sampler that begins compensating within two seconds. Four-in, eight-out, comps, limiters etc, and a mic input, this unit just needs to be 'taught' how you like things to sound. Run your favourite CD through it and set the system to your desired output, and it will remember. Production is expected to commence in two months.
Slingco showcased the Vortek theatre rigging system, manufactured in the USA by Hoffend and distributed by Slingco in the UK. It's driven by the Vortek Automated Control system, which allows up to 250 individual Vortek units to be controlled as a complete system. With a number of efficient safety mechanisms built in, it complements Slingco's Cablenet, a tensioned wire grid system that can be installed below lighting rigs to provide a safe working platform, yet not cast shadows from luminaires installed above (see news this issue, page 36).
Vossloh-Schwabe's LED components range goes from strength to strength with several new products introduced this year. The most impressive of these products was the LEDline Flex (SMD) which is now available in RGB. The flexible PCB, with fitted SMD LEDs, is ideal for flowing paths or contours - such as around furniture or for accenting the curves of a building.
Cross-fading colours is now a real possibility with Syncrolite's products, through its new system, Omni Colour. Q Package is a sound deadening kit that involves re-designed air-cooling intake for the lamp housings; by radius'ing the enclosure, Syncrolite has removed some of the more boxy resonant characteristics of the cooling apparatus. Soon to be available (but not finalized yet) will be W Package, a weatherizing system that will give these lamps an IP rating of 55.
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.
Total Audio Solutions was very proud to be showing the brand new Anycast AWS-G500 A/V mixer from Sony at the show. The briefcase-sized device is an all in one solution with six video and audio inputs. The audio mixer has six real faders, a master fader and speakers all included in the unit. There is a high resolution 15" LCD monitor, VISCA camera control, iLink control and an intercom I/O. The company believes the unit will be a hit with theatre groups, churches and conference hire companies.
Forward-looking Digidesign presented several new augmentations for its digital desk, the Venue. D-Show 1.1 is a free update, giving a new Variable Group mode that permits operators to configure 24 discrete mix busses, in addition to main LCR bus. Drawmer TourBuss gives live sound engineers four plug-ins for the desk, noise gate, expander, comp/limiter and a bracketing filter. D-Show Script Tray is a simple flat transparent tray designed to fit above the console surface and roll across it without disturbing any controls, while supporting notes, cue sheets - even a Laptop, anything reasonable the operator needs to hand. Personal Q Monitoring software and hardware allows for remote mixes from the main desk transmitted over a four-pin XLR to PQ wired controllers.
Wenger has been manufacturing audience seating systems, acoustic shells, sound control rooms, music stands and chairs for many years, and at PLASA was represented by its UK distributor, Black Cat Music. The company specifically highlighted its Upper Deck Audience Seating System, which offers fast, tool-free set-up and de-rig: a 200-capacity audience system can be setup by two people in two hours. When not in use everything breaks down and is stored on custom wheeled carts.
Although it seems to have been with us for some time now, this is in fact the first appearance at a UK trade show, on the Shuttlesound stand, of a Midas Sienna console. Midas were also happy to announce the 10th birthday of its flagship console, the XL4 - seems like only yesterday. Of greater significance, Midas announced its adoption of the AES50 standard interface for multi-channel digital audio, and that it has licensed the AES50 (SuperMAC) and HyperMAC technologies from Sony Pro-Audio Labs, Oxford, for implementation into Midas and Klark Teknik equipment.
Blue Microphones is a new brand to be seen under the wing of Electro-Voice. The retro appearance of the Cardinal and Raven mics is deceptive; these are derivatives of Blue's experience in producing high quality studio mics, but are aimed at live (but not high sound level) applications. A dual swivel on the yoke mount makes them especially attractive to singers sat at pianos or similar instruments. The Cardinal claims a good proximity effect - i.e. you don't have to sing right up against it, which indicates the sensitivity of the mic, but a very tight pattern allows its use in a stage environment.
Also from EV, the RE97TX an almost microscopic head-worn microphone on an extremely flexible stalk - tested to oblivion and found capable of being re-shaped thousands of times. The mic capsule is claimed to have a very flat frequency response. In the more familiar area of speakers, EV adds the ZX1 to the existing ZX series. Designed precisely for install, the speakers come complete with a neatly engineered mounting bracket
DJ audio specialist Numark released several new products. Probably the most eagerly awaited is the company's iDJ mixing console for Apple iPods. The system allows two iPods of any flavour, including the new Nano, to dock with the mixer. The familiar iPod controls are then mirrored on the console with the addition of a 3-band EQ and gain control on both channels. The iDJ can also act as a charger and docking station with the inclusion of an integral USB port.
Another, more familiar looking product, the HDX, was launched at the show and looks and operates like a vinyl turntable except the HDX is actually a tabletop HD/CD/MP3 player. The 12" platter is used as a normal turntable, but other controls allow any track from the removable 80Gb hard disk drive to be selected and mixed as if it were on vinyl. The HDX also boasts an ultra-high torque direct drive motor (for that real turntable feel), scratching, looping and Numark's proprietary Beatkeeper technology.
Finally, HDCD1 DJ Media Player provides a large internal hard drive, twin CD players and a separate controller with two large LCD screens allowing easy access and mixing of a huge amount of tracks.
Batmink showed a wide array of RGB LED products, many of which were being launched at the show. These included Par 36, Par 64 and pin spot fixtures in a choice of black, white or polished finish. Also on display was Neon Flex, an LED-driven flexible tubing that mimics neon-filled glass. A new range of aluminium ARCLED fixtures was also on show, designed for the retail, architectural and entertainment markets.
Although with a long and illustrious history, Zero 88 could be said to be the company that Frog built in recent years. PLASA 2005 saw the launch of version 10 software for the highly-successful Frog console range, initially launched in the spring of 2000. This new version includes parameter level programming and move on dark functions. Also on display on the Zero 88 stand was version two software for the Frog 2 console and the newentry-level Jester console.