The Netherlands - ISE 2012 gave Alcons Audio the opportunity to again demonstrate how pro-ribbon audio technology is bringing an ever-more lifelike experience to 3D cinema.

For the second year running, a highlight of the show was the 3D theatre, which brought together several of the leading manufacturers of 3D cinema equipment to provide a real world demonstration of their technology.

A collaboration between Alcons, DVS (who provided the server and content), Image Screens (projection screen), Infitec (3D glasses) and Lang AG (projection), visitors were treated to a range of 3D Blu-Ray and CD presentations, including Teutonic rockers The Scorpions in concert action.

The Alcons 5.1 surround system comprised a CRMS (15" LF, 8" MF, 4" pro-ribbon HF) front system and 12 CRMS surround speakers (which feature 8" MF and 4" pro-ribbon HF). Powered and control

USA - Sensaphonics has announced the opening of its new online store. The new e-commerce site is primarily devoted to parts and accessories for Sensaphonics custom earphones and earplugs, and features a secure checkout system powered by Volusion.

"When our clients are on tour, the need for items like replacement cables and desiccant is obviously not limited to business hours," notes Michael Santucci, Sensaphonics founder and president. "Our secure online store allows our customers to order the supplies they need online, anytime."

Notable accessories available online include the dB Check in-ear sound level analyzer, Dry & Store Zephyr desiccant system, and earphone supplies such as Oto-Ease lubricant, cleaning wipes and earpiece soft wraps. Replacement parts run the gamut from earphone cables and cleaning tools to Pelican storage cases and replacement filter

USA - Roger Keim who heads up the marketing department at d&b audiotechnik Inc. knew exactly why the company wanted to have a presence at the first ever PLASA Focus in Austin Texas.

"The idea of regional trade events is very appealing to d&b audiotechnik because of the more personalised opportunities it affords our clients. We also recognise that the tie-up between ESTA and the PLASA organisation can only strengthen the industry's voice at government level; so we felt it was doubly important to support this inaugural show."

The d&b audiotechnik booth featured two distinctly different loudspeakers this year, both from the Black range. Part of the T-Series is the T10, a multifunctional cabinet that can be used either as a line array or as a high directivity point source loudspeaker. The HF driver is fitted to a unique waveguide horn producing vertical linesource direct

Germany - Italian loudspeaker manufacturer dBTechnologies will unveil a wide selection of new products at this year's ProLight+Sound exhibition, welcoming visitors to its now established 780sqm booth space in Hall 8, G70 shared with cousin brand RCF.

Preferring to keep full information under its collective hat however, the dBTechnologies team reveals just a few choice details prior to the show giving customers a taster of what they have to look forward to later on this month.

Amongst the professional audio offerings, comes the upgraded Opera DX line, billed as the next chapter of the celebrated Opera series' 12-year success story. With a level of reliability that is expected of the well-established range, Opera DX benefits from the latest available technology, and has been augmented with in-house developed digipro G2 power amps and other state-of-the-art features which improve

Germany - Merging Technologies will be exhibiting at Prolight + Sound on stand #8.0 G18A. Horus, Merging's new flagship I/O system is now being delivered and is already making its mark on the live sound market, just as it is with high end music recording and broadcast. For this reason, Merging Technologies decided to exhibit in Frankfurt on its own stand rather than that of a local distributor.

Horus has been designed as a stand-alone converter of the highest quality, but its utility is hugely increased by becoming an IP 'node' on a RAVENNA network. Combined with Merging's MassCore, performance and flexibility takes on another dimension and allows comprehensive routing and control of the astonishing I/O capability of the converter, says the company.

This highly scalable solution has applications right across the industry from the simplest location recording and mastering to ma

Qatar - Dubai-based event production company Kenkaato has produced the first ever live public music event to be staged in the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) Park in Doha, Qatar.

The initial concert in a series of music shows planned over the coming months was headlined by Yusuf Islam/Cat Stevens - also on his first ever live appearance in the Middle East - and was completely sold out, attracting a capacity audience of 2,800 including 221 VIPs and senior members of the Qatari Royal Family.

Kenkaato is a new company established by Sarah Whitmarsh and Daryl Payne to provide imaginative, turnkey, full production solutions for all types of live events.

Both Whitmarsh and Payne have extensive experience working on a variety of large scale and high profile productions in the Middle East region.

The company's brief for the MIA Park show from the Qatar Museums Authority included the p

UK - Spanish singer-songwriter Juan Zelada's debut single Breakfast in Spitafields achieved Record of the Week status last summer. Fast becoming one of the most talked about names on the music scene he was awarded a prize at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA), for his songwriting. Since then, Zelada has been A-listed three times in a row; and he has just released his debut album High Ceilings and Collarbones, which has already received critical acclaim as well as Radio 2 Record of the Week status.

On the road, Zelada and his guitarist Luke Higgins both use Trace Acoustic TA200s. "The TA200 is so easy to set up - it's like a PA in a box and the sound quality is absolutely phenomenal," Zelada states. "It's particularly versatile, as it has two channels; I just plug in my mic and guitar, and I am able to get a crystal clear tone as well a

France - Le Camji is a dedicated performance space that includes a 320-seat auditorium right in the centre of the bustling city of Niort in western France. First opened in the year 2000, Camji's mission is to support cultural diversity through the medium of contemporary music in general and amplified modern music in particular.

The organisation therefore plays an active role in supporting local talent and introducing young performers to modern technology, as well as hosting concerts from well known and established artists. When the time came to upgrade their audio facilities, Le Camji turned to Poitiers-based systems integrators, Agora Audio, who specified and installed a full digital solution based on a EtherSound network throughout and an Eclipse GT digital console from Innovason.

According to Agora's David Rocher, it was the Camji's role of nurturing local talent by offerin

USA - Students at Valley Christian Schools' Conservatory of the Arts in San Jose, Calif. are honing their musical skills in a high-tech rehearsal and performance facility unlike any other in the country. Completed in late 2011, the new Conservatory building incorporates a multipurpose rehearsal hall that can be used as one large room or divided into two smaller spaces. In any of the three space configurations, the acoustical characteristics can be instantly optimised for music style and ensemble size using the permanently installed Meyer Sound Constellation acoustic system.

"The school wanted acoustics with exceptional variability," says James Black of Acoustic Dimensions' San Diego office and principal acoustical consultant for the Conservatory project. "The idea was to accommodate anything from a small string ensemble to a full marching band, either for rehearsa

Europe / USA - Alan 'Big Nobby' Hopkinson has been a fixture on the London live sound scene for some time now. Perhaps best known as the perennial front of house mixer for Tool, Hopkinson spent most of 2011 on the road with System Of A Down. It was his first tour with the band, and his first behind a Midas digital mixing system - the PRO9.

"I've been a longstanding Midas user, but it's always been an XL4 analogue for me until now," notes Nobby. "I have used Midas digital previously though, as we have a PRO6 installed at Shepherd's Bush Empire, probably the busiest 2300-capacity theatre in London. I have babysat many engineers on it there, and have seen many come in apprehensive and leave amazed. So I knew what I was getting into."

With System Of A Down, Big Nobby used the PRO9 across Europe and North America, with occasional switches to a PRO6 as availabili

UK - The PLASA 2012 free registration offer ends in just under 48 hours! Over 9,000 people have taken advantage of the free registration offer for this year's PLASA 2012, taking place at Earls Court in London from 9 - 12 September. Register before midnight on the 29th February and save £20 on the standard ticket price.

All previous PLASA Show visitors have been sent this special offer via email, and free registration for new visitors is live at www.plasashow.com

(Claire Beeson)

Germany - Nexo has chosen the Frankfurt ProLight+Sound expo to share its new system design with the professional audio rental community. The show will see the world preview of its STM Series, talked of as the new flagship product for the company.

Turning its back on the dominant line-array trend, Nexo has taken modularity as its central design concept. It promises advanced formatting options by combining four separate loudspeaker elements - main, bass and sub cabinets, with an all-purpose 'omni' 15° option. Building on the discrete main and bass cabinets, STM can be configured at will; from arrays of main cabinets only, to main+bass, or to bass+main+bass. Adding the dedicated subbass cabinets, either in the arrays or as ground-stacks, further increases the options, and the omni units complete the coverage pattern, whatever the scale of the system.

"The modularity of S

UK - Lighting and sound rental company Entec supplied lighting production for three high profile shows at London Fashion Week - Paul Smith, Mulberry and Moschino. A projection system and media server was also provided for Paul Smith, and all three projects were once again managed for Entec by Adam Stevenson.

Paul Smith featured the largest lighting rig and was the biggest space, staged in the Lawrence Hall of the Royal Horticultural Halls in Victoria, central London. It also accommodated one of the largest audiences of the whole event. Entec has supplied lighting for Paul Smith's LFW shows for at least the last eight years, working with several different lighting designers in the process.

Lec Croft was Paul Smith's LD for this season (and also last), who has an illustrious LFW history dating back to the late 1980s. The creative brief this time continued on from the summer coll

Australia - Newcastle's Ausgrid Stadium (formerly Energy Australia Stadium), home to the Newcastle Knights, has undergone a dramatic facelift with the redevelopment of the Western Grandstand. This facility provides Newcastle and the Hunter Valley with a sporting facility to rival any across the country.

The Stadium boasts yet another stadium audio system, designed and implemented by The PA People, using the proven formula of JBL Application Engineered loudspeakers with weatherised treatment for external use (WRX) as well as JBL Control Contractor 29AV and 25AV products. All speakers are driven by Crown CTS amplifiers fitted with the latest Crown DSP card - Crown IQ PIPUSP4/CN. Overlay processing and control is via BSS London BLU systems.

Loudspeakers for the stands consist of six clusters of spaced elements mounted close to the leading edge of the roof and a quantity of fill-s

France - Games developer Electronic Arts (EA) has been using DPA 4061 miniature omnidirectional microphones for foreign dialogue recordings for its Battlefield 3 title.

"Part of our job consists of taking over and overseeing the foreign dialogue recordings for most of the games published by EA," explains Fernando San Nicolas Serrano, from EA's Central Development Services in Madrid. "We've recently been using the DPA 4061 on dialogue recordings for Battlefield 3 in German, French, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Russian and Japanese.

"The DPA 4061 was our first choice for the motion capture scenes dubbing, recreating as much as possible what was done on the mocap stage in the original version, with the 4061 mounted on the talent's forehead. We were striving to improve the quality of the actors' performances by allowing them to move more freely, inst

South Africa - With no fewer than 24 channels, SuperSport, a subsidiary of the MIH Group, is the leading sports broadcaster on the African continent. Its programming, which can also be seen in neighboring sub-Saharan countries, includes sporting events from all over the world, broadcast 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

To meet not only the present but also the future expectations of its viewers, SuperSport recently invested in a new HD outside broadcast truck: the OB6HD, a high-end vehicle in every respect and one with exceptional capabilities, thanks to the lavish array of high-tech equipment on board, not least among which are its 28 high definition cameras. The design and implementation of the installation was the work of Sony PSE (Professional Solutions Europe) at their premises in Basingstoke (UK). SuperSport's new reference vehicle will be used primarily for the live tra

Germany - Peavey Electronics is teaming up with Martin Professional to sponsor the popular Agora Stage at this year's Musikmesse in Frankfurt (21-24). Peavey and Martin will be providing a complete audio and lighting setup for both Agora stages during the entire four-day trade fair.

The Agora Stage, a large festival tent, is the exhibition's main performance space with live entertainment throughout the show. On Thursday evening, 22 March, Peavey and Martin will be holding a special Agora Stage event with entertainment including The Alex Skolnick Trio and the Peavey All Stars.

Peavey's commercial audio division will be supplying all the audio for the Agora Stage's setup, from the mixing desks to front-of-house PA and monitoring system. The gear that will be used includes the Peavey Versarray 212, which is powered by Crest Pro amplifiers and controlled using the companies Media

Germany - Allen & Heath will be unveiling a new ZED mixer at ProLight+Sound, Frankfurt, as well as showcasing the new GLD digital mixing system, and other recent additions to the ZED and Xone ranges.

Exhibiting in Hall 8.0 on Stand C22, Allen & Heath will be launching the ZED60-10FX, a new mixer based on the top-selling ZED-10FX with the addition of premium quality 60mm faders.

The ZED60-10FX is a compact, portable mixer for solo artists and small bands. Two of the four mono channels have high impedance jack inputs that can take a normal line level or a low level input from a guitar pickup, so guitars can be plugged straight into the mixer without the need for DI boxes. Two stereo inputs are provided for MP3/CD players or keyboards, and the mixer is equipped with configurable USB audio in/out to capture a stereo recording, XLR main stereo outputs, a flexible monitoring section

UK - The Clore Studio Upstairs is, as the name suggests, upstairs at the Royal Opera House. This versatile venue is used as both a ballet rehearsal studio and as a performance space in its own right with its own programme of workshops, events and small-scale performances for audiences of up to 200. It offers a 'laboratory' environment in which independent artists, small-scale companies and Opera House personnel can experiment and collaborate. An APG MX1 sound system has recently been installed by APG's UK sales partner, Red Square Audio.

RSA's Paul Nicholson explained that Martin Adams, head of sound at the Royal Opera House, had been looking for a solution for the Clore Studio for a while. "Martin wanted something that would deliver high quality speech and light music program material across the whole of the audience seating area, which occupies the full width of the room,

UK - Martin Audio is making its groundbreaking and award-winning Multi-cellular Loudspeaker Array (MLA) technology available to a wider range of touring and installed sound applications, in a smaller and lighter version, with the release of the new MLA Compact - formally launched during two days of demos for industry specialists at London's HMV Hammersmith Apollo this month. This keenly anticipated system will make its world trade show debut at next month's Prolight+Sound expo in Frankfurt.

Incorporating the same principles that have made the MLA such a game-changer on the international touring circuit, MLA Compact delivers this cellular technology to a wider range of applications that do not require the full power and throw of the full-size MLA, or where a smaller, lighter system is required - such as medium-scale touring and fixed installations.

Director of sales, Simon Bull

UK - On Friday 22 June a group of intrepid motorbike riders hailing from all sectors of the entertainment technology industry will set off from the Royal Albert Hall in London for a four-day open-air tour of England's green and pleasant A-Roads.

Their mission? To raise as much money as possible for industry charity The Theatrical Guild (TTG), the only charity dedicated to looking after the interests of backstage and Front of House personnel.

"2012 marks the third First Night Riders event and we're hoping to make it the most successful and fun ride yet," says organiser David Edelstein, who is a keen biker and managing director of stage engineering company Triple E. "It's important that we value the help charities like The Theatrical Guild provide. TTG is the only charity in the UK available to anyone who works, or has worked in theatre - backstage or front of hou

USA - EAW has appointed Steve Davis to the position of EAW service manager. A longtime member of the extended EAW family, Davis for many years held this same position, before shifting his focus to his company Performance Audio of New England (PANE), where he continued to contribute with his service expertise.

Coincidentally, PANE has been located in the same mill complex where EAW designs and manufactures its loudspeakers. The announcement was made by Jeff Rocha, EAW president, and reflects the company's dedication to enhanced communications and direct access to resources for greater overall efficiency and faster turnaround on service issues.

Having worked as an EAW employee then a contract vendor, Davis is now in his 25th year as EAW's primary service resource. As a result of the new appointment, he will soon relocate to a new dedicated space in EAW's manufacturing complex.

Germany - For d&b audiotechnik 2011 was not only the year they celebrated 30 years but also when their Black product range was joined by the new White range. From 21 to 24 March 2012 at the Messe Frankfurt in hall 8.0 stand J46, d&b will again be celebrating by giving centre stage to several new additions within their Black range of loudspeakers as well as highlighting the xS and xA-Series from their White range of integration cabinets.

Elements from the established T, J and E-Series within the Black range will be displayed alongside the newly introduced teenyweeny E4 and E5 loudspeakers. And being typically d&b there will be" a little, well actually quite large, something up their sleeve in the form of the brand new V-Series to whet the appetite".

(Jim Evans)

UK - Pro Light Concepts Ltd is a rapidly expanding supplier of innovative lighting and sound equipment to the entertainment industry. On display on stand S-D12 at PLASA Focus: Leeds will be product displays from its vast range of brands.

Staff will be on hand to discuss the products available from Pro Light's office and distribution centre in Lancashire for worldwide dispatch. The stand will also feature many new products, including the LED Quad colour Q Color and Color Storm LED Battens along with the Xperior Platinum 5R Spot from iSolution. Many other new items from eLumen8 will be launched at PLASA Focus including fixtures specifically designed for theatre, stage and T.V.

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