UK - Stage Electrics has been delivering audio and lighting solutions for over three decades. But the company continually aims to improve and expand its service; to this end it has appointed Rob Collett to the position of audio hire manager. Rob's all round knowledge of audio and his attention to detail adds a further dimension to the hire division's offering.

Rob's background spans concert touring and corporate events, having started as a system tech with bands such as Boyzone, Westlife, Busted, McFly, and Coldplay. His career progressed into the role of monitor engineer for a number of artists including The Australian Pink Floyd Show, Emilie Sande, Matt Redman and The White Lies. He has worked with companies such as MCM Productions and First Network in corporate events and was a regular face on the Top Gear Live and Gadget Show Live Shows.

"Like most people that visit t

UK - Well-known for its work in the concert touring and corporate events markets, sound rental company BCS Audio is a long-term advocate of L-Acoustics sound systems. The company's recent investment in a K2 variable curvature WST line source system underlines its commitment to high quality audio solutions and adds an extra dimension to its offering.

"Our inventory already included V-DOSC, DV-DOSC, Kara, and Kiva systems, in fact, pretty much the whole range of L-Acoustics products, so investing in K2 seemed like the next logical step," says BCS managing director David Shepherd. "We went out to L-Acoustics' Paris facility with its UK sales manager Stuart Down to hear the K2 system and pretty much said that we wanted it there and then.

"Having K2 gives us an extra competitive edge, enabling us to work easily in venues where there are limited weight loadings t

UK - Pro audio provider The Warehouse Sound Services has reported a surge in interest in d&b audiotechnik's Y Series point source and line array loudspeakers following a presentation at their Glasgow premises this week.

The presentation follows positive feedback about the Y-Series at this year's inaugural PLASA Focus at the SECC.

The Warehouse Sound Services has 25 years of experience as a leading d&b audiotechnik UK Sales Partner and is one of only two UK sales partners in d&b's newly restructured sales network.

The event was the first time customers in the North were given the opportunity to see and hear the new d&b Y series of loudspeakers up close and personal. Over 40 industry representatives from across the UK attended and the event generated unprecedented demand.

Janet Murray, sales manager of The Warehouse commented, "The response to the d&b Y Series range has

USA / Europe - Throughout his career, Lenny Kravitz has always insisted on accuracy in his guitar tone. "He works hard on getting everything just right, especially his guitar," says Alex Alvarez, Lenny's guitar tech of 23 years. "He's just insistent on his sound, which is why he never went wireless. Every time we would demo something, it would never meet his expectations."

But all that changed during production rehearsals for Kravitz's European tour in support of his latest album, Strut. After a demo of multiple high-end wireless systems arranged by Tour Supply, Lenny, Alex, and guitarist Craig Ross agreed that Shure Axient Wireless Management Network was the one system that could deliver his sonic requirements on stage.

"It started as a conversation with Lenny," Alex relates. "The subject of wireless guitar came up, and I told him there was

Croatia - The Arcus Cafè and Night Bar have a long and enviable reputation as one of Čakovec's premier hot spots for entertainment. Situated in northern Croatia, the town and its surrounding area serve a population of nearly 45,000. The club itself has been open since 1998 and has recently undergone a thorough refit. The owner, Mr Ivan Steficar, knew he wanted a top quality sound system to maintain and grow the level of customer satisfaction; so he turned to Davor Files from ELTEL, the sales partner for d&b audiotechnik's Croatian distributor, Sunflower.

Files explains the rationale behind the choice of loudspeaker, "The Arcus Cafè is quite an intimate space; in total no more than 90sq.m. The performance space for the DJ is in the centre of the room so we opted to incorporate the subs into the plinth itself. The choice there was for 18S-SUBs from the d&b xS-Series. T

The Netherlands - The recently-launched System 10 PRO wireless system from Audio-Technica has been confirmed as the centrepiece of the company's showing at ISE 2015, with the new system receiving its European debut at the show. Also of key importance will be Audio-Technica's Dante-equipped network audio line-up - the ATND971 condenser boundary microphone and ATND8677 microphone desk stand.

Suitable for fixed-installations, House-of-Worship and education applications, the new rackmount-able System 10 PRO's half rack chassis can house one or two receiver units. These can be operated either within the chassis or removed, mounted remotely and connected via Ethernet cable - the design offers real flexibility in terms of installation and use, without the expense of adding an antenna distributor and corresponding cables.

Receivers can be placed up to 300ft away - even in separate roo

France - Founded in 1368, the Bibliothèque nationale de France (National Library of France, or BnF) is one of the country's highest profile institutions, holding copies of virtually everything published in France. Nowadays one of largest and most modern libraries in the world, a Yamaha QL5 digital mixing console has been entrusted with supporting the BnF's programme of cultural events.

The library currently holds around 14m books and printed documents, manuscripts, prints, photographs, maps, plans, scores and many other artefacts. As well as acting as a hub for researchers, it also hosts exhibitions and cultural events in various spaces. A compact, easy to move mixing console was needed for these events, but the Yamaha QL5 also delivered much more.

Installed by Coulommiers-based MDS Audio, besides its size and portability, another key factor in choosing the QL5 was its combin

The Netherlands - TC Group's install, tour and residential brands - Tannoy, Lab.gruppen and Lake - will once again be bringing their extensive range of install and performance audio products to ISE 2015 this month, with Tannoy leading the charge with a host of new product offerings.

Making their debut will be two additions to Tannoy's award-winning digital beam steering column array system. Tannoy has developed the new QFlex Life Safety (LS) models as a cost effective solution for critical, life safety applications, a solution that balances complex power consumption needs with the high performance and intelligibility that is the core of the proven QFlex range.

The new models have an optimised driver placement and improved current draw, making them suitable for applications where emergency voice alarms or communications may be required. The QFlex LS will also herald an integrat

UK - London-based audio consulting firm, RH Consulting, has completed its second annual count of networked audio products and released the full data as an iOS app called Networked Audio Data. Building on the research completed last year there are now over 700 networked audio products available. This does not include the 100 or so interface cards that simply enable products to be networked.

"We think that part of the increase in devices we have recorded is due us being more diligent with the research, but we have also noted a significant increase in product availability with very many product launches over the past year," remarked consultant Roland Hemming. "We included products that use custom protocols as well as looking at those that are AES67 compliant. For AVB we counted all AVnu members' products separately from those who use the underlying AVB technology for

The Netherlands - The Royal Concertgebouw is expanding its Meyer Sound inventory by adding two Meyer Sound CAL 96 column array loudspeakers in the Main Hall (Grote Zaal). Amsterdam's architecturally resplendent and acoustically magnificent concert venue, The Concertgebouw now joins two other world-renowned orchestral venues, Vienna's Musikverein and Konzerthaus Berlin, both of which have installed Meyer Sound CAL systems within the last year.

"Here at The Concertgebouw we have been planning for some time to install a state-of-the-art permanent system for speech reinforcement," states Wouter van Poppel, head of technical services at the venue. "After listening to CAL demonstrations here on site and at the Musikverein in Vienna, we were extremely impressed with the system's clarity, speech intelligibility, and configuration flexibility."

The new Meyer Sound s

USA - Furniture building isn't the only demanding aspect of Ellen's Design Challenge, a four-week-long HGTV reality show produced by Ellen DeGeneres, which began airing in the USA in January. In addition to the six competitors who are trying to make it to the end - using saws, drills and welders, among other noisy tools, to complete the weekly tasks - the audio team faced the daunting task of providing clear, crisp audio that is not interrupted by the hum of the machines. The solution was found with DPA d:screet 4061 Omnidirectional Miniature Microphones.

Selected by the show's sound supervisor, Daniel McCoy, CAS, a long-time DPA supporter, the d:screet 4061s are used by the entire 16-member cast, which includes a host and three judges as well as six designers and the carpenters with whom they are partnered. "I've had a lot of experience doing build shows," he e

The Netherlands - Shure will be exhibiting a new version of the Camera Control System for conferencing audio applications at ISE 2015, the DIS CP 7890. Designed to integrate with the DIS DCS 6000 conference or DDS 5900 discussion systems, the package allows remote set up and control of a camera system for conferences, discussions or meeting spaces.

The CP 7890 controls up to four cameras, allowing a visual feed to automatically 'follow' the active microphone in the system. In this way the camera system is always displaying the person currently talking in the discussion or conference. The CP 7890 camera control system provides a steady, consistent camera feed, making it perfect for live broadcast or archival recording.

The CP 7890 is controlled via a setup app, originally only available for use on Apple iPads, and now also available for Android tablets. Downloads are available

USA - To strengthen its support for system integrators, Meyer Sound has joined the Crestron Integrated Partner Programme. The result is a suite of Crestron modules in development to allow customers to seamlessly implement Meyer Sound self-powered loudspeaker systems in environments controlled by Crestron products.

The Crestron Integrated Partner modules will provide integrators with direct access to the Meyer Sound Galileo and Galileo Callisto loudspeaker management systems, including functions such as snapshot recall, level control, muting, and more. Developed and tested by Crestron, the modules will fully support Crestron 3-Series control systems via an Ethernet connection.

"As applications of Meyer Sound products continue to broaden across connected AV environments from corporate boardrooms to arenas, this new partnership will allow us to further simplify workflow for

USA - Artcoustic Loudspeakers have been chosen by Roc Nation, the American entertainment company founded and owned by Jay-Z, for their New York offices. Spitfire 24-12 are installed in the vice president's office and the main boardroom.

"Everyone wants to book the main boardroom as they're all so impressed with the system installed in there," says the office receptionist.

Founded by Jay-Z in 2008, Roc Nation is a full-service entertainment company, inclusive of artist management, music publishing, touring, merchandising, film, television and an independent record label. It has an impressive roster of musicians and sports stars signed to either the record label or management services, including Rhianna, Kanye West, Kylie Minogue, Rita Ora, Matthew Dear, HAIM, Santigold, Shakira, Timbaland, Calvin Harris, Deadmau5 and Frank Ocean, as well as Jay-Z himself.

(Jim Evans

Europe - Californian band, Of Mice & Men, recently supported Linkin Park on the European leg of the Hunting Party arena tour, with Allen & Heath GLD-80 mixers performing both FOH and Monitor duties.

This was the first experience of using GLD for both FOH engineer, Dave Nutbrown, and monitor engineer Ian 'Squid' Walsh, who needed a system that could handle large arena shows whilst keeping to a compact footprint.

A GLD-80 connected over Cat 5 to AR2412 and AR84 AudioRacks provided 32 XLR inputs for stage sources and delivered five in-ear mixes, side-fills and a pair of centre wedges. Both GLD-80s were fitted with Dante cards and mic preamp signals were split digitally via Dante over Cat 5 to FOH. The analogue gain was set at the start of the tour, with the engineers using the consoles' digital trim (+/- 24dB) to independently make adjustments during the shows.

Ian 'Squid' Wals

Germany - For decades, the name Sennheiser has been synonymous with high-quality products, "true" sound and numerous innovations that have set new standards in audio technology. This year, the audio specialist is celebrating its 70th anniversary. It remains a family-owned and -operated enterprise, now headed by a third generation of the Sennheiser family: Today's CEOs, Daniel Sennheiser and Dr. Andreas Sennheiser, are the grandchildren of the company's founder, Prof. Dr. Fritz Sennheiser.

The list of product innovations from Sennheiser is as extensive as it is impressive. Sennheiser has made a significant impact on the evolution of audio technology over the past seven decades, from the world's very first open earphone, the HD 414, and the wireless stage technology pioneered by the Digital 9000 system to present-day innovations such as MobileConnect, an inclusive audio-

USA - CREC Public Safety Academy opened their modern new facility in Enfield, CT, in September 2014 with audio systems that support the school's career-oriented education for grades 6 through 12 in law enforcement, fire sciences, emergency medicine and other safety and security fields.

The school's large and attractive new facility serves 700 students and includes classrooms equipped with the latest technology, a gymnasium and fitness centre, a cafeteria and multipurpose room along with a theatrical auditorium.

Jorge Guillén of Guillén Technology Consultants provided building technology, AV, audio systems and safety and security consulting services for the new school. The building's many different spaces presented Guillén with numerous challenges in his audio system designs. The school's goals included intelligible voice paging and high-quality sound reinf

UK - Having appeared at some of the UK's favourite festivals during the summer, Lily Allen took to the road at the end of November for a two month UK tour, which culminated at the Edinburgh Hogmanay celebrations on the 31 December. Sennheiser microphones and in-ear monitors, provided by Skan Audio, sound company for the tour, are with her every step of the way.

Both front of house engineer Shan Hira and monitor engineer Francoise Le Moignan have worked with Lily since her 2009 It's Not Me, it's You tour, where they first specified Sennheiser mics and in-ear monitors.

"We had used a Sennheiser SKM 500-935 G3 935 in 2009 and were very happy with the way they worked," says Shan. "Mark [Saunders, Sennheiser UK artist relations] very kindly offered to support us again and brought a prototype MD 5245 capsule down to rehearsals for us to try out. We really liked it and

UK - Since launching back in September 2014, over 250 rental businesses in the AV, lighting, events and broadcast sectors are now signed up to Current RMS, quickly identifying the benefits of cloud rental management software.

At the end of January 2015, Current RMS officially became a partner of the popular cloud accounting software Xero, offering seamless integration with this easy to use product, streamlining the rental cycle that one step further.

Prior to launching Current RMS, rental experts came onboard to test the system, working with the team to ensure it was entirely ready for launch. The same process took place for the Xero integration. One of the testers, Steve Lucas, owner of Soundbite Productions, has quickly seen the benefits of operating his rental business entirely in the cloud.

"Current is a must have for rental and hire companies, especially for those

USA - British loudspeaker manufacturer PMC played a key part in ensuring that the US Recording Academy's Producers & Engineers Wing got the 2015 Grammy Week celebrations off to a flying start.

PMC is a Silver Sponsor of the P&E Wing's annual party at The Village Studios in Los Angeles, an event that traditionally kicks off Grammy Week and regularly attracts over 500 industry VIPs.

All sponsors are given the opportunity to host a technical demonstration and in PMC's case this took the form of a joint presentation with Auro Technologies, which showcased its Auro-3D audio format. Five PMC twotwo.8 monitors, four twotwo.6 monitors and a twotwo.sub2 active subwoofer were positioned around The Village Studio's Studio A live room in an Auro 9.1 configuration to create the Auro-3D effect of an enveloping cocoon of sound. The flagship AV processor Auro-3D Mensa was on hand to create th

The Netherlands - Digital fibre solutions specialists, Optocore has entered into an agreement with fellow German manufacturers Fohhn Audio AG, to provide multi-channel digital connectivity to their pioneering Linea Focus electronically steerable loudspeakers.

Explaining the background to the partnership, Fohhn's public relations & marketing manager, Daniela Bohl, stated, "We were looking for a solution to provide our speaker systems with a digital signal and control data; up to now we only had an analogue solution.

"We chose Optocore because they are the pioneers of that technology and there is a perfect fit between our two companies, as we are both innovation-driven and German based."

In order to provide integration onto the Optocore networks, the fibre specialists have created a special card, while Fohhn has developed a purpose enclosure, which can be attach

The Netherlands - tvONE launches the CORIO matrix mini at ISE 2015 this week. The new, 1 RU, routing switcher is more than just a matrix router, it provides a 12-port matrix router, scaler, format converter, audio router and HDBaseT extender all in one unit. The C3-310, CORIOmatrix mini uses modular hardware with five (or 16 with the larger 4 RU, C3-340) configurable AV module slots that offer a wide mix of top-quality signal management options plus two fixed, universal inputs.

The CORIOmatrix mini is also equipped with a powerful new web browser user interface (also now integrated in the larger, 32-port C3-340), which allows users to choose from 4 different views and be able to drag and drop inputs or outputs to these views to monitor and adjust the video and audio routing from an accessible, networked remote location.

"In today's world, A/V installations and BYOD enviro

The Netherlands - Outline has chosen ISE 2015 as the global launch event for their new large-scale permanent installation product.

The Outline STADIA100 LA range combines key principles of line-source theory with well-established proprietary Outline technologies to produce a range of products which provide the perfect 'toolbox' for those engaged in audio installations in very large spaces such as sports stadia, says the company.

The new loudspeakers are an original design created specifically for purpose. Capable of delivering up to 149 dB with a peak input power handling of 8kW, coupled with pin-point accuracy of directional control over long distances, the STADIA100 LA delivers the power and accuracy to provide perfectly intelligible full-range audio throughout the largest spaces.

Construction and finishing techniques developed specifically for long-term outdoor installati

USA - At this year's NAMM Show in Anaheim, Studiomaster showed its latest offerings for the pro audio retail market. The Vision and ultra-compact ClubXS mixing desks debuted alongside Drive, the company's new high spec injection-moulded powered PA cabinets, and an uprated replacement for the existing VPX and VSX series.

The Drive series is a two-way, active, portable injection-moulded PA cabinet. Best-in-class performance and build specifications, and a highly competitive price tag, greatly improve on the VPX and VSX series Drive replaces. Premium competitive features include exemplary weight-to-power / SPL ratios; making the Drive smaller lighter and louder than most leading comparable PA series.

The new Studiomaster ClubXS is a price / specification competitive portable mixer series, aimed at gigging musicians, sub-mixing, small venue install, corporate and other enterprise

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