UK / USA - The JoeCo Blackbox Recorder has scooped its second trophy in recent months, receiving a Pro Audio ReviewPAR Excellence Award at the recent AES Convention in New York.

The PAR awards are given to professional audio companies that introduce particularly significant new products at the annual AES Convention. The award-winning products are nominated and selected by a panel of audio engineers, professional end-users and PAR contributors, with the oversight of Pro Audio Review's editorial staff. Selection is based on the product's potential to enhance the quality of an audio professional's work, either through innovation in design, performance/value ratio, enhanced features, or performance improvements over previous versions.

JoeCo's PAR Excellence Award comes within weeks of the company's success at the PLASA Show in London, where the Blackbox Recorder received a

Russia - The global success of DiGiCo's SD7 mixing console continues with one of the latest sales being to a high profile rental company in Moscow.

Established over a decade ago, S-Service Pro provides production services to many of Moscow's highest profile live events, including outdoor festivals, arena and theatre productions, fashion shows, corporate events, exhibitions, trade shows and parties.

The SD7 was handed over by DiGiCo's Russian distributor, Aris Pro, at the beginning of August and was immediately put to work by S-Service on a festival headlined by Madness.

"S-Service chose the SD7 because it is the future," says Katerina Pogodina of Aris Pro. "Company founder Oleg Syadrysty is young and forward-looking, he invests in products which he knows are both state-of-the-art and going to be able give him a very long-term return.

"The DiGiCo D5 is e

Spain - Ecler has introduced the Audeo speaker series which "strikes the perfect balance between the intelligibility and sound reproduction quality requirements currently demanded in professional audio installation and ever-increasing demands with respect to aesthetics, design and integration into all types of architectural environments".Audeo has a balanced, innovative design, resulting from the collaboration between Ecler and the prestigious group Giugiaro Design during the conceptual phase and in the exterior design of the speakers. This factor, together with its quality sound reproduction, make this series suitable for use in numerous sound projects: corporate and residential buildings, commercial premises, leisure centres, health centres, conference and meeting rooms, says the company.

This versatile series, which comes in three sizes (Audeo 103, 106 and 108), and

UK - This year's ninth annual British Invention Show saw TL Audio and Fatman presented with five awards, including the prestigious Diamond award for design for sister consumer electronics brand Fatman by TL Audio.

The flagship TL Audio console, the VTC, won a highly acclaimed Gold award for its industrial design which combines traditional valve circuitry with modern discrete transistor circuitry; providing low noise, wide frequency response and "some pleasing tube saturation for recording and mix down".

The Vic's award comes 10 years after its first introduction to the market and proves it is still a highly desirable and expertly crafted mixing console, that boasts a unique and clever design, still all hand made in our Hertfordshire factory in England, says the company.

(Jim Evans)

USA - The technical staff for the a cappella pop group, Rockapella, together with its members, selected the AKG WMS 4500 wireless system and C5900 microphone as they tour the globe and lay the foundation of a new album. Rockapella are best known for their string of Folgers Coffee commercials as well as the theme song of PBS children's game show, Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?

Commenting on the group's selection of the WMS 4500 and C 5900 microphone, Rockapella's high-tenor and primary arranger, Scott Leonard, said, "The microphone and sound system selection for an a cappella group is extremely important. The human voice is the sole instrument of the group, therefore selecting the right microphones is a highly sensitive process."

Rockapella took extensive time to review the entire line of AKG products as well as those from many competitors. "The mi

China - Martin Audio has opened a showroom - among the boutiques in a prestigious shopping district in China. The idea was the brainchild of wealthy businessman Regan Goh, who owns sound rental/installation company Huifeng Performance Equipment Co.

As one of Martin Audio's major customers, he came up with the idea of opening a full demo facility for consultants, production companies, dealers and installers in Panyu, a suburb of Guangzhou.

Ambassador for Martin Audio, David Bissett-Powell said: "China is the major market for Martin Audio and Huifeng is our main Chinese dealer - so the move makes perfect sense.

"Regan and I go back a long way, and he has purchased this building with the sole intention of making it Martin Audio - in fact the signage over the large shop window simply states 'Martin Audio'. Regan also supports King Kong of the Martin Audio Business Deve

UK - Analogue mixing console manufacturer Audient is rolling out a scrappage scheme to all UK customers, with immediate effect. Purchasers willing to trade-in their old console will receive £2000 off the published price of a new ASP8024 or ACS8024 high resolution mixing desk.

Sales director Luke Baldry comments: "This scheme will appeal to studios as well colleges and universities, providing an easy way of releasing capital from their older consoles. There are a number of older consoles out there, particularly digital consoles that are becoming unreliable and difficult to service. This scheme provides the perfect opportunity to upgrade to one of our new analogue consoles."

Audient will accept analogue or digital desks as part of the scheme up until 31March 2010, subject to qualification. Further details of the scheme are available at www.audient.com/scrappage.<

Live on Line - U2 have broadcast an entire live show via the video sharing website YouTube. Although 96,000 people turned up to see the show at the Pasadena Rose Bowl in California, many times that number were expected to have watched it online. As he took to the stage, lead singer Bono said: "Thank you Los Angeles. Thanks to everyone watching on YouTube all over the world - seven continents."

Cancelled Concerts - Sir Elton John has cancelled his concert at Wembley Arena tonight (Tuesday), the third gig he has been forced to shelve after contracting flu. Promoters said it is "hoped he will make a speedy recovery". A concert in Liverpool on Wednesday is still scheduled to go ahead. The singer scrapped Friday's gig in Sheffield and Saturday's in Newcastle after he was told to rest by doctors. Promoters are trying to reschedule the Wembley concert for a d

UK - Trade distributor to the AV and broadcast industry, Bright Space Technologies, has been appointed as the exclusive UK distributor for Analog Way's range of broadcast products. Bright Space Technologies will now supply the Tetra-VIO and Broad Scan range of PC to HD and SD scan converters.

"There are numerous products on the market. Combine this with the complex nature of today's installations and broadcast resellers and integrators are facing an increasingly challenging situation when it comes to developing and implementing optimum solutions for their clients," says Colin Clarke, senior technical sales and support manager, of Bright Space Technologies. "To address this issue, Bright Space Technologies provides 'best-in-class' solutions to our trade customers, as well as consultancy services and advice about the equipment, technologies, processes and implementa

Italy - Fiorello, one of Italy's most popular showmen, hit the headlines this year with a live and TV entertainment project. Three nights a week, he hosted a show in a 2,500-seat marquee in the centre of Rome, recorded and edited down to a 30-minute package and beamed out in prime time by Sky Italia Satellite channel the following evening, with highlights transmitted every Sunday.

An up-tempo combination of his talents as a singer, comedian and imitator, the show alternated solo sketches with interaction between the artist, his guests and members of the audience, with a great deal of improvisation.

Fiorello's FOH engineer Hugo Tempesta used a DiGiCo SD7 console to mix live and broadcast sound, as well as recording every show. "With a 10-piece band and bandleader/pianist, mics for guests and spare mics, I'd no less than 156 input channels," he says. "Quite a numb

Canada - Cast Software of Toronto has received confirmation of International Patent PCT/CA2009/001225 for its BlackBox system and method for realtime environment tracking and coordination - and thereby this filing conforms with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Switzerland. This international patent filing for BlackBox is in addition to the filing #12/421,343 in the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Through the realtime positioning, BlackBox receives and converts live positional data about any/many moving objects, establishes the exact 6D positions of those objects, computes instructions in XYZ, plus yaw, pitch and roll terms, and shoots out moving positional information so moving lights, set pieces, spatial sound, media servers, robotic cameras, etc. are synchronized and tracking to the action of those moving objects, all at a speed of 50 Hz.

Bru

Korea - Suwon Outdoor Concert Hall recently installed an Adamson sound system for its amphitheatre's seated area. One of Korea's most celebrated amphitheatres, the venue is located at the heart of a grand oval-shaped park in the centre of Sewon City, in Kyounggi Do province, at a close proximity to Korea's capital city of Seoul.

For its stage design and surrounding landscape, the SOCH was awarded the Korea Architecture Prize in 1996. World-class musicians as Pavarotti, Sumi Jo, and Andrea Bocellini have graced its stage. The concert hall is also home to the Suwon Metropolitan Symphony and the Suwon Metropolitan Choir, and from spring to fall, it hosts to a wide range of performances by classical and popular performers who traditionally kick off their nationwide tours in Suwon.

The venue's smallish conventional seated area is taken up by 796 seats, but the oval park's meticulou

UK - Void Acoustics took over the high-profile Matter venue in London's O2 Arena in mid October, to host a one-day Void Extravaganza. Taking advantage of Matter's impressive space and ambience, Void demonstrated its latest loudspeaker and amplifier products, launched last month at PLASA 09, enabling the invited audience of some 65 venue owners, hire companies, installers and DJs to audition the new systems under real-world conditions.

The Void products demonstrated at Matter ranged from touring line-array to club install systems, and included the Arcline 12 medium-format line-array and Arcline X multiple resonant-chamber sub. Void also demonstrated the Stasys range, across the Stasys Prime ultra-efficient wide-band arrayable point-source, the Stasys X horn-loaded sub, the Stasys 5 Mk2 1 x 18 low-frequency and the Stasys 3 mk2 arrayable mid-hi. Completing the new-product l

UK - The UK debut of Electro-Voice's EV-Innovation Series will be one of the highlights of Shuttlesound's Big Day Out, being held at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton on 3 November.

There are three Series in the EV-I loudspeaker family. The EVA Expandable Vertical Array Series for installed sound applications, the EVF Front Load Series of two-way front-loaded full-range system for fixed installs demanding a compact and lightweight package, and the EVH Horn Load Series of 15" full-range cabinets with five different rotatable waveguides. Big Day Outvisitors will be able to experience all three versions.

These new products for the installation market are being launched to UK customers by Guillermo Wabi, product manager for EV fixed install, concert sound, cinema & custom loudspeakers, who is flying over from the USA especially for the occasion.

The Big Day Out<

Kenya - The Gearhouse South Africa Group of companies supplied rigging, lighting, audio, LED screens and power distribution for the 2009 MTV African Music Awards, staged at the Kasarani Gymnasium at the Moi International Sports Centre, Nairobi, Kenya. The project entailed air freighting 55,000 Kgs of equipment from South Africa.

The Gearhouse crew was led by Bill Lawford who collaborated closely with Simon Roche, logistics manager from production company VWV, together with an international production team primarily from the UK, including lighting designer/director Gurdip Mahal, moving light programmer/operator Ross Williams, FOH sound engineer Derrick Zieba and screens director Chris Saunders from XL Video UK.

Gearhouse also asked UK lighting rental company HSL to supply additional lighting equipment and technician Tim Oliver for the event. Gearhouse has a long standing relati

USA - Bosch Security Systems, Inc. Is to realign its sales, marketing, and customer service and support organisations in a move that will combine the Security Systems and Communications Systems Divisions in the Americas. Effective 1 January, 2010, the changes will result in a fully integrated organisation that makes it easier for customers to do business with Bosch, says the company.

The senior leadership team of the combined organisation will incorporate key executives from both Security Systems and Communications Systems.

Heading the team, Jeremy Hockham, president of sales for the Americas, will lead sales, marketing, business development, technical and project support and customer service for the combined operation in North and South America. Christopher Gerace will continue in his role as president.

Eric Cechak, Franck Fabry, Daniel Nix and Kelly Priest will head the fo

Canada - Looking to provide versatility in a cost-effective manner, systems integrator AV Communications recently installed a Soundcraft Si3 console as the centrepiece for its audio system design at the new Mapleview Community Church in Barrie, Ontario.

Housed in a former sports arena, Mapleview Community Church currently seats up to 900 people, and is part of a much larger campus that eventually will include sports facilities, a daycare centre and other recreational areas. In addition to the requirements for customary SPL, dynamics, and Percentage of Articulation Loss of Consonants, there were two requirements for this installation: It needed to fit within the designated budget and it needed to include a digital console.

The console needed to handle 32 channels of mixing and a dozen auxes, and it had to be flexible enough to handle day-to-day presentations by members of the c

UK - Baldwin Boxall's Vigil EVAS voice alarm system has been installed in the brand new Caterpillar stand at Leicester Tigers stadium. The new stand completes phase one of the £60m redevelopment at Welford Road.

The voice alarm system, installed by Argus Services Ltd, will ensure safe and controlled evacuation in the event of an emergency. Investing in a well-built voice alarm system enables security and safety staff to feel at ease with the knowledge that the system will activate the instant it is required to do so. In the meantime, for everyday events, the same system provides stadium staff with full public address / DJ facilities and background music creating a great atmosphere for the fans. Other benefits include the ability to record timed messages for announcements such as advertising forthcoming events, venue facilities and closing/opening times total flexibility to

UK - The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Ltd (LOCOG) is inviting an expression of interest from live events production companies to provide the production services for the Opening and Closing ceremonies of the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

LOCOG is seeking a highly experienced live events production company who have Olympic, Paralympic or large scale events experience to provide administrative and production services to the Creative Directors of the four ceremonies. The Creative Directors will be recruited directly by LOCOG through a separate process and so creative content proposals are not being sought from potential production companies. The chosen production company will manage and execute the production process from conception to delivery.

Bill Morris, LOCOG Director of Culture, Ceremonies & Education said: "The

Finland - In late 2008 and early 2009, Finnish band Eppu Normaali enjoyed its Klubiotteella tour with a pair of DiGiCo SD8 consoles supplied by Akun Tehdas, the audio production company owned by the band and directed by drummer Aku Syrjä.

So successful was the tour that TomFloor Production, an associate company run by producer and engineer Tomi Pietilä, has since purchased its own console for Location Factory - the world's first SD8-equipped mobile recording facility.

"When it came to choosing a console, there were a few options which I considered, but very soon it became obvious that the SD8 had more preamps, more power, more... everything... compared with other brands," says Tomi of his new acquisition.

"Most importantly I knew the sound quality of the preamps. Having used the SD8 to make live recordings of the Eppu Normaali tour, I already k

Italy - The ND 850 2.0 from RCF is a driver for professional high performance applications, from high power two-way systems to multiple-way long throw systems.

The ND850 2.0 has a two-inch exit throat featuring several state of the art technologies. The diaphragms are precision formed from made from pure titanium and the suspension is based on a vented and damped design in order to provide low distortion.

Voice coil assembly of the compression driver is designed using high temperature kapton former.

(Jim Evans)

Dubai - Dubai-based company EPIC Events L.L.C. has just invested heavily with NMK Electronics in equipment from Electro-Voice.

The order includes 12 XLC127 line-array enclosures, 20 active ZXA5 speaker systems, and Tour Grade amplifiers (TG5, TG7) with integrated RCM DSP modules controlled by IRIS-Net software. This is state-of-the-art equipment offering the highest degree of reliability, performance and ease-of-use, says the company

"The inventories of three rental companies in the United Arab Emirates now boast Electro-Voice line arrays with remote amplifiers," says Chicco Hiranandani, business development manager, NMK Electronics. "Another thing customers appreciate is the quality of Electro-Voice (after-sales) service. The regular software updates are extremely popular here. They create trust. That's why investing in Electro-Voice is always a sound decision

Germany - With an impressive five-year growth rate of 289%, Coolux, the creator of the Pandoras Box media server system, has reached 42nd place as part of this year's Deloitte's Fast 50 list, a ranking of Germany's 50 fastest growing technology companies.

Deloitte has honoured business growth, technological innovation and entrepreneurial spirit this way for the seventh year in a row. The listed companies' performance highlights the fact that they were able to surpass expectations even in times of economic crisis.

Coolux founder and CEO Jan Hüwel comments on his company's success: "We are now reaping the benefits of our sticking to triple A quality standards, no matter what the economic situation. Pushing our ability to come up with innovative new ideas to the utmost limit and beyond has always been one of our main goals. More than 1500 licences sold since the inception o

Japan - Cirque du Soleil's ZED is playing Tokyo Disney Resort's purpose-built 2,150-seat theatre. The dynamic soundscape created by sound designers François Bergeron and Vikram Kirby helps entice the guests into a world of imagination, giving the show a heightened emotional texture using Meyer Sound's Constellation electroacoustic architecture.

As applied in ZED, Constellation utilizes 97 compact loudspeakers, 32 microphones, and five dedicated VRAS processors to afford the liberty of creating fully adaptable acoustics.

"Constellation can sound absolutely natural, if that's what you want," says principal sound designer François Bergeron, who is also CFO of Burbank-based Thinkwell Design and Production and designer for six prior Cirque du Soleil shows, "but in pure sound design it also lets you play with the laws of physics. You can create acousti

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