All sessions in the audio streams are presented by leading experts in audio technology, with separate programmes on Live Sound and Installed Sound in the new AudioLab Theatre, and a pro audio laboratory - AudioLab Interactive - that will push audio technology to its limits - and beyond. Visitors can register their interest in their preferred sessions at www.plasashow.com/education
The AudioLab Theatre features programmes on Live Sound, Installed Sound and The Sound Business. Highlights in this theatre include:
• Touring Live Sound Meets Broadcast Audio, highlighting the areas of common approach as well as possible conflicts;
• Live Sound Engineers Question Time, whose guest panel includes Barry Bartlett (Ray Charles, James, Chaka Khan, Damon Albarn), and Rampton (Chase & Status, Basement Jaxx, The Libertines) amongst others;
• Do You Trust Acoustic Models? presented by the Institute of Acoustics;
• Bringing Together AV, IT and Audio, examines where pro audio fits into the colliding worlds of AV and IT;
• How to Soundcheck! Jon Burton (FOH for The Prodigy and Bombay Bicycle Club) takes the audience through a show day with a focus on the final soundcheck, exploring the common problems that occur, and examining ways of overcoming them.
The pro audio content continues with the potentially explosive four-day AudioLab Interactive, a hands-on, myth-busting laboratory where visitors will see live experiments on a range of pro audio equipment.
AudioLab Interactive Sessions include:
• Aural Athletics - Do You Trust Your Ears? If a sound engineer's ears are their greatest asset, this session promises to put them through their paces;
• A Network Shootout in which the AudioLab Interactive team push networks to their limits before attendees decide which network is up to the task;
• Things You Really Shouldn't Do With a Power Amplifier asks how do you know how much power you really have? What really happens when amplifiers get hot, when you run them too hard, or into the wrong load?
• Does Network Latency Really Cause Problems? Just how much does audio latency affect a performance? What happens when you put a drummer in a room with a completely digital system and a bunch of sound engineers? Can they mess up his performance?
• What Happens in an Emergency? Visitors enter PLASA's hi-tech stadium emergency simulator and, using a real life scenario, will see how emergency audio systems are designed to carry on working under the most testing circumstances;
• What Really Causes Interference? The team set out to bust old myths about things that affect our equipment. Do better cables really help? What interferes with your radio systems? What if we could put our equipment in a Faraday cage?
AudioLab 2013 also features a new pro audio arena, where the latest club sound, mobile / PA, and large-format sound systems will be available for demonstration. The 1000sq.m venue has been designed in consultation with the industry to give exhibitors and visitors a world-class facility in which to sample the cutting edge of pro audio and will feature many world-class brands, including the launch of Pioneer's new club range of loudspeakers.
(Jim Evans)
