ProAudio Review - March 2008 - (Page 28)

2OO8 Tour ing Gear Manufa cturer News By PAR Editorial Staff f the following stories are any firm predicate, 2008 should be a great year for good gear amongst tour audio professionals: Aphex Systems (www.aphex.com) is building an ever-increasing presence in the digitalfor-live-sound realm, and 2008 promises to be a great year for the firm. Its Model 828 Anaconda 64-channel bidirectional snake is a point-to-point snake built to cost-effectively connect the lauded Aphex 1788A remote controlled preamplifier system to industry standard consoles, DAWs, and recorders. New in 2008 from Audio-Technica (www.audiotechnica.com) are M3 and M2 Wireless In-Ear Monitor Systems, perfect for low- to mid-level touring acts who’ve had it with wedges — and, after the show, ringing ears. Both the M3 and M2 feature AT’s Personal Mix Control, offering independent control of volume and mix at the receiver, thrilling both house guys and frequently ignored musicians always requesting “more me.” Both feature a small, lightweight body pack receiver, a stereo transmitter with two 1/4”/XLR combo input connectors, and A-T EP3 earphones. The Slowdown is a new 470-capacity bar and club in downtown Omaha that hosts live performances by regional and touring artists of all genres. Saddle Creek Records — co-founded by Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst — owns the club. A/V installer SoundCom installed three sound systems at the venue, including main and small club systems featuring the Electro-Voice (www.electro-voice.com) XLD line array. The main club system is comprised of 14 XLD281 enclosures and 4x QRx218S dual 18” subs; the monitor system features eight Xw15A stage monitors and a FRi181S single 18” sub; and the small club offers four FRi+152/64 enclosures. DiGiCo (www.digico.org) has introduced the CS-D5, a specially packaged digital mixing system featuring a streamlined version of the D5 live/install digital mixer. The CS-D5 comes with an effects package of reverbs, graphic EQs, and multieffects processing along with a 328-foot digital snake, DiGiCo’s DiGiRack with 56 inputs and eight outputs, and a local mini-DiGiRack with eight analog and eight digital I/O. CS-D5 is plug-in and recording ready via third-party recording products such as the relatively new ADK Pro Audio (www.lyvetracker.com) LYVETracker DAW (reviewed in the May 2007 issue of PAR). For those who love their loud wedges, but just wish they weren’t so darn big, EAW (www.eaw.com) and the legendary Dave Rat of Rat Sound (www.ratsound.com) have teamed up to offer the MicroWedge Series with switchable passive and active modes. Three coaxial models offer choices of 8-, 12-, and 15-inch LFs. Once again, Harman (www.harmanpro.com) cohorts Crown International (www.crownaudio.com) and JBL Professional (www.jblpro.com) have joined forces on 44 new JBL loudspeaker presets specifically tailored for use with Crown’s XTi Series of power amps. These System Architect device files are available as free downloads from both Crown and JBL websites; they comprise six presets for JBL JRX Series loudspeakers, six for MRX, 19 for SRX, and 13 for VRX. Together, dual Sy48 consoles from INNOVASON (www.innovason.com) and a LX6464EX card from Digigram (www.digigram.com) captured the hip sounds of the Warped Tour on the Union Label Stage in Montreal. The dual Sy48s handled FOH and monitors while feeding — for live recording purposes — a Samplitude-running PC loaded with the LX6464EX card. Distributed by TC Electronic (www.tcelectronic.com) in the United States, sound reinforcement innovator Lab.gruppen (www.labgruppen.com) now offers its PLM 10000Q model from its Powered Loudspeaker Management Series as a four-channel amplifier with dual Dolby Lake Processor modules, Dante low-latency networking, and notable features for load verification and perwith Lectrosonics acclaimed UT Series Digital Hybrid Wireless transmitters. At locales across the country, a LightViper audio transport system (www.lightviper.com) by Fiberplex, Inc. (www.fiberplex.com) has been delivering the message and music of superstar Contemporary Christian act, Third Day. Two standard Model 1832 “plug ‘n play” LightViper fiber optic audio systems provide a total of 64 channels of transport (32 sends by eight returns each). Martin Audio (www.martin-audio.com) has launched its new Blackline+ Series of installed loudspeakers, surely to the joy of club owners (and club FOH engineers) nationwide. Martin Audio, well known for quality, ups the ante with this upgraded Blackline Series; its plusses now include redesigned and improved drivers and crossover networks; all Blackline+ LF drivers in its two-way systems now feature “aluminum demodulating rings to minimize variation in voice coil inductance as the coil moves in the gap. The result is improved midrange clarity and reduced intermodulation distortion at high excursions.” Midas (www.midasconsoles.com) and Klark Teknik (www.klarkteknik.com) recently accompanied The Verve through venues across the UK; both FOH engineer Ian Laughton and Monitor engineer Tristan Farrow used Midas XL8 digital mixers. After starting with a Midas H3000, Farrow’s great comfort level with the XL8 became apparent; at that point, the switch to digital Midas was a nobrainer for him. Sister companies Neumann and Sennheiser (www.neumannusa.com, www.sennheiserusa.com) are not only on tour with a large share of world class artists, their products are on the mic stands and in the ears of the biggest artists in the business — often on the most watched stage in the world. Case in point: in February, Tom Petty’s voice was captured and transmitted to the world while singing his hits at the Super Bowl XLII half-time event. Petty crooned into his favorite live microphone, the Neumann KMS 150, while hearing via a Sennheiser G2 wireless personal monitoring system. Peavey (www.peavey.com) now offers its biggest line array system ever, the VersArray 212. This year it will hit the road courtesy of the Jagermeister Mobile Stage, supporting the Rockstar Mayhem Tour to feature such hot, heavy and musically intricate acts as Slipknot, Disturbed, DragonForce, Mastodon, and Trivium. QSC (www.qscaudio.com) not only supports acts on tour, in 2008, the company itself is on tour: the QSC Wideline Systems Tour hits the road this month to offer hands-on demos of complete multichannel WideLine8 and WideLine 10 line array systems. See more information about the tour at QSC’s website, then catch a show at a scheduled stop in Atlanta, Las Vegas, New Orleans, or Chicago. Electro-Voice XLD line array formance monitoring. L-Acoustics (www.lacoustics.com) offers the new LA8 4-channel amplified controller DSP unit for its KUDO highperformance multi-mode line source system. The LA8 brings processing, control, and monitoring within one network system; new features include linear phase filters, dual action limiter, and L-Net network topology via standard 100T networks. KUDOs are three-way line-source enclosures incorporating two high-power 12” woofers, four 6” mids, and two 1.5” compression drivers. For more on these products, Network Manager software, and the SOUNDVISION 3D predictive environment, visit the L-Acoustics website. Teaming up to develop new, innovative products for demanding professionals, two giants in high-quality pro audio manufacturing — Lectrosonics (www.lectrosonics.com) and Heil Sound (www.heilsound.com) — have rolled out their first collaborative effort, the Lectrosonics UTPR20. It combines the capsule from Heil Sound’s acclaimed PR20 dynamic microphone 28 | ProAudio Review | March 2008 Subscribe to the Digital Edition of Pro Audio Review http://www.proaudioreview.com/subscribe www.proaudioreview.com http://www.jblpro.com http://www.aphex.com http://www.lightviper.com http://www.fiberplex.com http://www.innovason.com http://www.digigram.com http://www.martin-audio.com http://www.audiotechnica.com http://www.audiotechnica.com http://www.tcelectronic.com http://www.tcelectronic.com http://www.labgruppen.com http://www.midasconsoles.com http://www.klarkteknik.com http://www.electro-voice.com http://www.neumannusa.com http://www.sennheiserusa.com http://www.digico.org http://www.l-acoustics.com http://www.l-acoustics.com http://www.peavey.com http://www.lyvetracker.com http://www.qscaudio.com http://www.eaw.com http://www.ratsound.com http://www.lectrosonics.com http://www.heilsound.com http://www.harmanpro.com http://www.crownaudio.com http://www.proaudioreview.com http://www.proaudioreview.com/subscribe

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of ProAudio Review - March 2008

ProAudio Review - March 2008 Contents Publisher's Page Studio News and New Products Sennheiser MKH 8040 Microphone Digidesign Mbox 2 Micro Studio Spotlight Upsampler X/Audio Live News and New Products Touring Gear From the Road Broadcast News and New Products ION Audio Tape2PC Cassette Archiving System Brauner VMA Large-Diaphragm Microphone Audio Ltd. RMS 2040 Series Post News and New Products First Look NAB Showcase Buyers Guide Single Slice

ProAudio Review - March 2008

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