UK - ChamSys celebrated the launch of its new MagicQ consoles at PLASA 04 with an innovative demonstration of its powerful distributed client / server architecture. Media clips were selected from thumbnails displayed on the MagicQ touch screen. The MagicQ 100 console controlled a Hippotizer media server with live retrieval of the media thumbnails onto the console. Being able to select media clips from thumbnails on the touch-screen of your lighting console has to be the way forward.

MagicQ is ideally suited to controlling media servers and all the associated control parameters through the eight separate encoder wheels. And with full Cue Stack capability on every playback fader it becomes easy to control highly cued shows. The distributed design will allow future systems to control an almost unlimited number of channels. ChamSys expect to be in a leading position to support the n

UK - EAW Engineering has designed the new Element Series to combine the highest levels of audio performance with the most robust environmental protection: IEC 60529 and MilSpec 810 ratings.

Key to this breakthrough is a new acoustically inert yet waterproof enclosure material: high-impact polypropylene with 40% calcium carbonate. Shaped into sophisticated enclosures with few or no parallel surfaces, this new material makes the Element Series sonically indistinguishable from EAW's world-famous laminated Baltic birch enclosures say the company.

To prove the point, EAW will introduce four new Element Series compact two-way loudspeakers at PLASA. The LM60 includes a soft-dome tweeter on a Waveguide Plate and a 6.5" woofer. The LM80 pairs a Waveguide Plate-loaded compression driver with dual 6.5" woofers. A perforated steel grill backed with open cell 60ppi foam protects

UK - Following the success French company Ayrton has enjoyed with EasyColor 1 via UK distributors, Lighting Effects Distribution, Ian Kirby has announced that the twice-as-powerful EasyColor 2 is now in stock in the company's Kent warehouse.

In addition to greater power, the new LED moving head luminaire offers more LEDs and more features than its precursor, enabling designers to be more creative. EasyColor 2 is equipped with 36 high-power Luxeon LEDs, with lamp-life duration exceeding 100,000 hours.

The product's new features include a totally new software programme, which allows variation of the colour balance. And in order to fulfil the increasing demand for installation in new vertical markets, EasyColor 2 is now available in a variety of finishes - Carbon (black), Snow (white) and Platinum (grey). An entirely new construction and higher-grade motors widen its application

Denmark - The new plug and play MC Switch from Martin lets you power up and down six fixtures such as lights, fog machines or mirror balls, with the option of daisy-chaining up to 24 units through four power boxes. The MC Switch controls lights such as the Martin Manias, Egos, T-Rex and Raptor, as well as other equipment including mirror balls and fog machines. Sturdy and robust, MC Switch may be placed on a table, rack-mounted or truss-mounted, say Martin.

Designed for easy use, installation and set-up, the MC Switch control box connects to a power box with six IEC channels out via RJ 45 cable - allowing a maximum of 300W output for each (US version maximum output 250W per output/fixture). Control is a mains power on/off digital switch, which is controlled via a remote control with on/off buttons.

(Lee Baldock)

UK - As the exclusive UK dealer for Telex Radiocom's BTR 700 and BTR 800 intercom systems, Orbital Sound has announced eight new sales of both systems, which have been used on a variety of applications across the live broadcast and production industries. Deployed on projects as diverse as Edinburgh's International Festival, Glastonbury Festival, a host of West End Musicals including Andrew Lloyd Webber's latest production The Woman in White and, most recently, on location filming the new Sahara Productions' blockbuster movie - Sahara - starring Penelope Cruz and Matthew McConaughey.

The systems have proved their versatility and simple operation straight out of the box, providing the perfect solution in any environment where real time 2-way communications are required. Orbital's sales and installation manager Tom Byrne collaborated with Joe Buxton of MR Technical S

Denmark - Danish Interpretation Systems (DIS) has introduced the latest incarnation of its Digital Conference System, the DCS 6000, which handles up to eight active microphones plus 32 different language channels simultaneously - all tied together with standard Cat 5 cable in a fully digital high-speed communication bus - the proprietary DCS-LAN developed for digital audio and data distribution. The total capacity of the system can be enhanced for up to 4,000 microphones and interpreter units and an unlimited number of channel selectors, say the company.

The CM/DM 6560F are fully digital microcomputer controlled conference units with loudspeaker and illuminated microphone mounted on a semi goose-neck arm. The units support a three-button voting facility and a chip card reader for identifying the user of the system, and come in either chairman or delegate versions. The high-qual

UK - Sound production company Canegreen has purchased four t&m 6.5pa II loudspeakers for use as 'shout' speakers - to enable touring sound engineers at the FOH and stage positions to communicate clearly with each other. After evaluating them on shows with the Corrs, Canegreen placed the order with Shepperton-based supplier, Marquee Audio. The German-built loudspeakers are exclusively imported into the UK by Fuzion plc.

Canegreen special projects manager, Pete Hughes, commented: "We were ready to retire our old shout speakers and I was looking for something with more design, which at the same time sounded great, with a good throw. These make lovely monitors, are a nice size and look great. Also, the features were what we needed - the t&m speakers are portable, self-powered boxes, with mic/line inputs, good level and tone control, which is what you need in a loud environment

Italy - dB Technologies has added more features to its successful active speaker, with the fourth generation of the Opera - including a modular slot for optional modules, three switchable sound characteristics and infrared remote control. The modular slot is on the control panel at the back and can be used for time delays or wireless receivers, as well as the new AFP anti-feedback suppressor, which works as a problem solver, particularly for monitor applications.

All models in the Opera series are fitted with high-grade bi-amp Class H stages and have intelligent electronics. Opera Modular come in five active models. With 12"/1" or 15"/1" and a power of 160 to 275W/RMS, Opera speakers cater for a range of demands, and are characterised by impressive music reproduction and a unique vocal sound, according to dB Technologies.

Opera 212 Modular is an all-round

UK - Geni Electronics' new MOS Moving Scan concept is an evolved combination of the moving head and the scanner, combining the stylish design and unlimited angle rotation of the moving head with the speed of response of the scanner lens. Shown to considerable acclaim at last month's PLASA Show, both the MOS-300 (MSD 250W) and MOS-700 (HTI 700W) are now available in the UK from Lighting Effects Distribution, whose MD Ian Kirby comments: "Aside from the hybrid nature of the technology the various colour options of the outer plastic casing offer all kinds of potential for interior designers."

Features common to both products include the combination of X/Y axes of the moving head, with X/Y axes of the scanner lens, 10 dichroic colours plus 3200K colour temperature correction filter, six self-rotating gobo patterns (plus open), with glass custom options, Prism rotators, hi

UK - SES Film and Television, the well-known manufacturers of power and distribution products, is branching out by stocking Gaffergear - providing technicians and riggers with hard-wearing work clothing. Mark Cooper, director of SES says: "After looking around the industry and speaking to those 'in the know' at PLASA, we discovered that most riggers and stage hands source their kit from a multitude of suppliers and that there was no-one dedicated to supplying them with hard-wearing kit. A company supplying construction workers with the safety boots and outer garments had approached us, but most of the products were beige and brown - so we have taken the tried and tested products and sourced them in black. We'll carry stock of the products shown in our brochure and will be introducing further products in the near future. We will also be offering a customising service for peop

Belgium - Barco has announced the launch of the new compact, powerful SLM R9+ Performer projector, which the company says is based on Texas Instruments' DLP technology and delivers up to 9000 ANSI Lumen.

The SLM R9+ Performer projector, with its compact form-factor, SXGA+ resolution and 9000 ANSI Lumen output, offers a cost-effective option for the 8k - 10k Lumen market segment, say Barco. With an extended lamp life (given as typically 1250 hours), additional dust filters and continued compatibility with existing TLD lenses, the SLM R9+ offers a dynamic, reliable projector with a low total cost of ownership, say Barco. "The new SLM R9+ Performer projector is an extension of Barco's successful SLM Performer range," says Steve Scorse, general manager of Barco Events.

Specifically designed with the needs of the rental and staging industries in mind, the SLM R9+ featur

USA - Prelite has broadened its arsenal of pre-visualization capabilities by offering ESP Vision Studio Version software. ESP Vision, with an extensive luminaire database, has an unprecedented ability to realistically simulate all performance aspects of both automated and conventional luminaries, say Prelite. The Studio Version provides additional functionality and support options not available in the standard package. Prelite's arrangement with ESP Vision to deploy this version of software is unique.

Prelite's Tom Thompson explains: "We have used ESP Vision for a number of shows - such as Jay Z, the Millennium Park opening and The Opposite of Sex - with great success. It's dead-on accurate rendering of luminaire functions - from shuttering, colour mixing, colour and gobo rolls, animation disks, effects and such to photometric representation - is very exciting for b

USA - Arri Inc has introduced the new Arri X Ceramic 250, which employs the new Ceramic ST 250 HR discharge lamp from Philips, producing a 3200°K Tungsten quality light. This new lamp from Philips provides almost the same light output as a 1kW Halogen lamp, yet consumes just a quarter of its power. Besides considerable cost savings due to the low power consumption (250W) the fixture dissipates significantly less heat than a Halogen fixture, making it a 'cool' unit, which can be touched with bare hands even after hours of operation.

The ARRI X Ceramic 250 is based on the design of the ARRI X Series, but includes a built-in ballast and igniter and can be directly plugged to power. Using the ARRI X reflector technology guarantees excellent light distribution, say Arri, suitable for a smooth and cool background or fill light. With optional snoot and eggcrates, a smooth but direct

Czech Republic -Intelligent lighting manufacturer Robe Show Lighting has announced the launch of its two latest fixtures - both of which are in full production. ColorMix 575 AT and ColorMix 550 AT extend its popular current range of static colour mixing fixtures yet further, say Robe. The versatile ColorMix 575 and 550 fixtures are ideal for theatres, clubs, live performance and stage work, TV studios and interior architectural applications - anywhere where powerful, evenly-spread colour mixing is needed.

The standard ColorMix 550 AT fixture offers full CMY colour changing facilities, manual zoom with a beam angle range of 7-26°, separate shutter for blackout and variable strobe effects, plus ultra-smooth micro-step driven dimming, selectable between 8- and 16-bit.

For those looking for specific features or more intensity, the ColorMix 575 AT offers remote zoom of 7-26°, c

Japan - D&M Professional's newly-launched DN-S1000 CD/MP3 player and DN-X100 mixer have been recognized with Good Design 2004 awards by the prestigious Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization (JIDPO). Both the DN-S1000 - an entry-level MP3/CD tabletop device - and the complementary fully-featured DN-X100 Battle mixer - were designed by Kimura Akihito, from Denon Ltd's Global Marketing Division Design Group.

This year's Good Design Awards, which give manufacturers the opportunity to achieve a closer communication with their target markets and customers, were announced on 1 October. JIDPO was founded in 1969 and is the only organisation in Japan involved in the comprehensive promotion of design activities. These activities have included the implementation of a Design Year campaign, sponsorship of the Good Design Awards (the so-called G-Mark), and publication of the quarter

USA - Allen & Heath will be introducing a new product inspired by the award winning Xone range of DJ mixers at the 117th AES Convention (Moscone Convention Center, San Francisco, 28 - 31 October 2004). A big hit when it was launched at the recent PLASA show in the UK, the new Xone VF-1 is a single rack space, universal analogue stereo filter intended for live and studio use that can interface with any mixer to create and manipulate sophisticated audio filtering.

Allen & Heath's third generation of MixWizard desk/rack mount consoles, introduced earlier this year, will also be seen at a U.S. AES Convention for the first time. The new WZ³12:2, WZ³14:4:2, and WZ³16:2 mixers utilize the latest technology to add new and improved features to the well established functionality and build quality of the MixWizard range.

Allen & Heath will be exhibiting on booth 919 at the 117th AES C

UK / USA - West London Electric of Acton London - one of the UK's oldest commercial audio distribution companies - is to distribute the complete range of Audio Spotlight speakers, manufactured in the USA by Holosonic Research Labs Inc. Audio Spotlight Speakers utilize ultrasound to produce a highly directional loudspeaker: only those within the 'beam' of sound will hear the program source - those outside hear nothing. It is because of the high directivity of these speakers that they are especially suitable for use in libraries and other environments where the intrusion of sound in quiet places has prevented concepts such as 'talking book' areas or point-of-sale displays taking root. Now, with the ability to deploy discreet, focussed, audio systems, a whole new world of possibilities has been opened up, say WLE.

WLE's Marc Ryan says: "We are very excited about the uses of u

Sennheiser UK announced the launch of the new SKP 3000 plug-on transmitter, which turns any wired microphone into a wireless microphone. Successor to the highly successful SKP 30, and utilizing Sennheiser's legendary wireless technology, the SKP 3000 is compatible with Sennheiser 3000 and 5000 series receivers and is designed to meet the standards of critical professional users and commercial applications.

The SKP 3000 is available in nine frequency ranges, with frequencies tuneable in 5kHz steps. The transformer balanced input matches the highest professional requirements and features include 48V phantom powering, which feeds condenser microphones directly from the transmitter, mute function and backlit display for ease of use in any situation. The SKP 3000 has a robust metal housing to withstand the rigors of hire and touring and a range of accessories are available, including the BA

USA - Cadac is celebrating 20 years of dedicated design for live sound applications during 2004, with its extended product portfolio including the all-new M16 Remote Mic Amp - making its US debut at AES. The M16 integrates 16 of Cadac's classic mic pre-amps into a 19" rack unit, providing three active splits per channel plus a MADI interface. Also on show will be the production D16 Digital Mix Matrix - Cadac's answer to the concept of a console in a 19" rack - providing a high quality 16 x 16 variable gain audio matrix with 96kHz 24-bit sampling and SHARC DSP processing. The D16 uses proprietary Cadac mix, EQ and dynamics algorithms to deliver quality that matches the company's hallmark analogue sound.

Designed to address live, broadcast and recording market requirements, the M16 integrates directly with Cadac's new D16 Digital Matrix, and up to 16 M16 units can be co

USA - First came the Concept:1 and Concept:2, two DMX combination scanner/laser effects from American DJ. Now the company has taken this "concept" a step further and added the Concept:Color, a DMX colour changer with the same design theme as its cousins.

The new Concept:Color is the ideal fixture for DJs, clubs and bands, Scott Davies, general manager of the American DJ Group of Companies: "The popularity of the Concept:1 and Concept:2 convinced us to add a colour changer to the line, so that users could run an ensemble of matching effects."

The Concept:Color offers 15 colours plus white, along with two prism-like quadras that split the light beam into four colours. As an added bonus, a removable Frost Filter lets DJs create a dreamy "wash" effect when desired. The Concept:Color includes two DMX channels that can be conveniently hooked up to the s

UK - Skan PA Hire supplied a Digico D5 Live for Sound Techniques Group 40th anniversary corporate party hosted at Carrow Road, home of Norwich City football club. Sound Techniques staff enjoyed a three-course banquet and their view of the pitch was enhanced by music from early Sound Technologies' studio recordings courtesy of a row of white C25 speakers.

The set-up featured acts on two independent stages in a fairly narrow room. Skan's Steve Jones looked after the patch and Chris Amblin dealt with mics. By using the Digico D5 Live and Turbosound pairing, they kept the sound system very contained and discrete, whilst still achieving an even response in the room.

The second system consisted of a mixture of Turbosound speakers; flown TQs supported by 21" subs and TFM 450s for monitors controlled by XTA DP226 processing. Ant Carr operated the Digico D5 Live at front of house

USA - Super Vision International (NASDAQ: SUPVA) recently announced that it will introduce its new colour changing LED lighting system this month in Las Vegas at LDI. The Entertainment Lighting Show. The new SaVI line of intelligent LED lighting products include architectural lighting fixtures that are designed for commercial interior and exterior applications as well as nightscape and underwater lighting applications.

The SaVI line of fixtures include the SaVi Accent, a linear lighting system for coves, accent and backlighting, SaVi Flood for larger scale wall washing and colour floodlighting, SaVi Spot for accent lighting of smaller illumination areas, nightscapes and underwater use, and the SaVi Tube, a visually exciting special effects linear lighting system.

Mike Bauer, vice president of sales and marketing stated: "Architectural and retail lighting is being revoluti

UK - PLASA's Technical Office has announced that the long-awaited German safety standard, BGV-C1 Staging and Production facilities for the entertainment industries, is now available in an official English version. This standard was first introduced in 1998 and its English translation has been eagerly anticipated for many years.

PLASA, working with its German counterpart, the VPLT, is now offering a downloadable PDF version of the translation, absolutely free, from the web address below.

(Lee Baldock)

USA - American DJ has introduced the Mega Flash DMX, a powerful DMX-compatible strobe light with 800W of output. Compact and pocketbook-friendly, the brilliant Mega Flash DMX out strobes similar fixtures in its price range by as much as a brightness factor of four.

Small and compact, the fixture weighs 5 lbs. and comes with a durable, high-tech plastic case that protects it from damage during transport, setup and breakdown. The Mega Flash DMX lets users change strobe speeds and adjust dimming from 0-100 percent via a standard DMX lighting controller. Speed- and dimming-control knobs are also located on the rear of the unit for DJs who want to operate the Mega Flash DMX without a controller. The fixture also can be set to operate in sound-active mode, in which it will flash along to the beat of the music.

(Sarah Rushton-Read)

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