ProAudio Review - May 2008 - (Page 21) Live | Feature LINE ARRAY Continued From Page 19 CHALLENGES AHEAD With such a wide range of customer and industry demands to consider, loudspeaker designers have much to consider when sitting at the drawing board. “Our team is now multi-disciplinary, with specialist acoustics, electronics, DSP, software and mechanical engineers,” says Webb. “Patents are also a big issue and can take up an increasing resource. Time is the other challenge: balancing new research projects alongside medium and short-term projects. Good problems to have, really, but challenging nevertheless.” Webb and his multi-disciplinary team are currently focusing on Martin Audio’s OmniLine micro-line array, which is aimed at architectural environments such as churches, transport terminals, and confer- incredible because it’s powered by 48 volts.” Whether it’s creating smaller, lighter boxes, updating software, or building a network, loudspeaker designers continue to raise the bar in line array systems. And no matter what approach they take, the listening public reaps the benefits. “When you boil a speaker down to its basic parts, the transducer hasn’t really changed much—it’s a piston moving air driven by a coil of wire,” says Butler. “Given the most common means of generating sound, manufacturers have come up with different ways of packaging systems and making horns, phase plugs, and other components, which is pretty exciting. We’re all shooting for the same target, but we’re all taking different ways to get there.” Heather Johnson is a San Francisco-based journalist and author whose books include "If These Halls Could Talk: A Historical Tour Through San Francisco Recording Studios" PRORACK™ Large Console Performance In a 10-Space Mixer Variable High-Pass Filter On All Input Channels High-Quality Burr-Brown Mic Preamps Insert Points On All Mono Input Channels and Primary Outputs Rotating 3-Position Rear Connector Panel Field-Replaceable Power Supply ProRack-House (H1020) 12 Mono Mic/Line Input Channels with 4 Band EQ 4 Dual-Mono/Stereo Mic/Line Input Channels 6 Aux Sends with Pre-Post Fader and Pre-Post EQ Switching Yorkville U15 Unity Series array ence centers. “With the OmniLine, we focused on eliminating the side lobes which can plague such applications and developed new software techniques to target the sound on the audience and keep it away from the roof or back wall.” EAW rebuilt the popular Smaart sound system measurement/optimization software from the ground up, a lengthy project that involved providing both Mac and PC compatibility. They’re also putting a solid focus on their U-NET digital audio network. JBL continues to look at stronger, yet lighter weight materials, as well as more powerful component transducers. Meyer Sound recently developed the diminutive MM-4XP 4-by-4 inch miniature self-powered loudspeaker. “The fact that we were able to make the MM-4 self-powered is pretty remarkable,” says Meyer. “We had to incorporate an amplifier that was the size of the package, and while the finished product was two inches deeper than the MM-4, it’s pretty L-R, Center, and Mono Buses + 4 Subgroups 100mm High Quality Input Faders ProRack-Monitor (M1016) 16 Mono Inputs with Built-In Passive Splitter and Pin 1 Lift Switch 8 Stereo Mixes, Each with Rotary Level and Fader Pan control 2 Additional Mono Aux Sends Switchable Pre or Post Fader 8 Separate Stereo Line Inputs with Fader For Each Mix Detailed Product Info Available at www.apb-dynasonics.com www.proaudioreview.com May 2008 | ProAudio Review | 21 http://www.apb-dynasonics.com http://www.apb-dynasonics.com http://www.proaudioreview.com
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