Overcoming a Towering Acoustical Challenge at  North Carolina’s Museum of Natural Science

Raleigh, NC, December 2012.… Already one of the largest facilities of its kind, Raleigh’s Museum of Natural Sciences recently completed work on an impressive new addition: the 80,000 square foot Nature Research Center (NRC). Featuring state-of-the-art labs, research opportunities, and numerous interactive exhibits, the crown jewel of the new NRC wing is surely the SECU Daily Planet, an intensely immersive, three-story multimedia space that engages visitors with a flurry of sight and sound, while offering a powerful message about the wonders of science in our daily lives.

Designed to facilitate both pre-recorded and live content, the Daily Planet’s massive, three-story visual display runs continually-projecting a variety of poetic and informational content to excite the senses. A small stage at ground level also allows for occasional live presentations. The entire Daily Planet exhibit resides in a massive, dome-shaped room with two balcony levels extending seven feet into its center. The three-level design allows visitors to choose from three unique vantage points as they take in any of up to 50 powerful presentations that run throughout the day.

With its unique ellipsoidal shape and vantage points from a main level and two balconies, delivering impactful and immersive audio consistently to all three levels presented numerous obstacles. Rising to the challenge were AV integrators Electrosonic, in partnership with Milford, CT-based SH Acoustics, who created a system centered around Renkus-Heinz’s Iconyx series steerable column arrays.

“Unlike similar spaces – for example, an Omnimax Theater – the Daily Planet needed to accommodate a variety of different formats, including lectures and live performances,” explained Steve Haas, Founder and President of SH Acoustics. “The room’s unique design and its numerous reflective elements created some unique challenges right from the beginning. We knew we couldn’t simply apply tons of sound-absorptive materials because deadening the room too much wouldn’t work well for lectures.”

As Haas observes, the Iconyx steerable beam technology would allow them to more effectively direct the output and avoid unwanted reflections, while at the same time addressing the unique acoustic requirements at all three levels.

The complete Renkus-Heinz loudspeaker complement includes eight Iconyx IC8-R-II steerable arrays for mains, augmented by ten SG61-2R powered two-way systems for surround, with three PN112SUB 12-inch powered subwoofers providing powerful low-end reinforcement.”We decided very early that we wanted to create three different audio experiences on each of the three levels,” explained Haas. “In addition, each level needed to be surround sound, and most importantly, needed to ensure minimal interaction between adjacent levels and the rest of the room. This is where the Iconyx system was a no-brainer.”

Haas elaborates, “The first and second levels each include left, center, and right, as well as four surrounds. On the third level the dome is much tighter, so we opted for just left and right with two surrounds. For low frequencies, we placed all three subwoofers on the second level. There simply wasn’t enough room for discreet subs on each level, so we configured each one as the point sources for the adjacent levels, and delayed the LF signal appropriately from the first level, second level and third level. It actually worked quite well.”

Once installed, Haas and his team were able to take full advantage of the Iconyx system’s beam steering capabilities to dial in the perfect output at the ground floor and both balconies.

“We needed to make sure that we had a very tight pattern-at least vertically-so that the experiences at each level did not interact with each other in any appreciable way.” Haas explains. “We were able to get the second and third levels sounding fantastic with little difficulty. The first level was a bit more challenging, but the Iconyx beam steering, combined, with the careful addition of diffusion materials, made all the difference.”

After the system was configured, Haas worked with the museum production staff to save a number of unique output presets that could be easily retrieved to accommodate different program types.

“There are several different modes including a presentation mode and a media mode,” says Haas. “We even gave the producers the opportunity to have a secondary beam from some of the upper arrays-like from the second level down to the first level-in case they wanted a spot effect or some other secondary sound source.”

In the end the results speak for themselves. The new NRC wing and Daily Planet exhibits are big hits with museum attendees and management alike. And for Haas, this is yet another seemingly impossible acoustic challenge conquered through a synergy of great technology, real-world know how and savvy partnerships.

Haas sums it up: “We like challenges, and we have a very long history of working successfully with Electrosonic on unique projects like this. We absolutely love coming up with unique solutions, and as a technology partner, Renkus-Heinz has always been there with fantastic tools. They’re just great to work with.”

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Headquartered in Foothill Ranch, California, Renkus-Heinz, Inc. is the worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of audio operations networks, digitally steerable arrays, powered and non-powered loudspeakers, system specific electronics and fully integrated Reference Point Array systems.

Chilliwack, BC, Canada – For an audio professional, creating a sound system for a large aquatic center is not a simple task. The combination of high walls, corrugated metal roofs, and an abundance of concrete, glass, and water makes for an acoustical environment that is far from pretty, even before it’s packed with noisy revelers.

Rising to the challenge was Chilliwack-based Go Audio, the company behind the audio installations at both Cheam Leisure Centre and cross-town neighbor Chilliwack Landing Leisure Centre. Both projects employed a very novel design approach featuring the Renkus-Heinz Iconyx digitally steered array.

Unlike most applications where the steered array is used as a vertical column line array, the approach at the aquatic centers involved suspending the Iconyx from the roof overhead, and steering the beams to focus the sound away from the walls and other highly reflective surfaces.

The Cheam project came first. Go Audio’s Mike Evans called Fred Gilpin of Renkus-Heinz distributor Contact Distribution, and asked him to have a look at the project. “We’ve worked with Fred on other projects, including a church in Vancouver that had very challenging acoustics,� says Evans. “We installed Iconyx IC16 and IC8 there and it worked great, so we were confident that Iconyx would be the best choice.�

The Cheam system includes six IC7-WR powered column arrays, with a Rane processor handling system DSP. “Because of the Iconyx’s very narrow vertical dispersion, we positioned four IC7’s horizontally over the outer walkway, aimed slightly inward,� Evans explains. “We were able to keep the sound completely off the walls and cover just the walkway and a bit of the pool. Two more IC7’s suspended at 45 degrees cover the water with minimal overlap. The coverage is seamless wherever you are, with no need for delays.�

Based on the success of the Cheam project, Go Audio was called back to revamp the audio system at Chilliwack Landing. “That project was a bit more challenging,� says Evans. “The space is configured a bit differently, and there was some ductwork we had to work around as well. We ended up using a total of ten Iconyx boxes to cover everything.� With an existing rack of Crown CTi-series amplifiers and wiring already in place, the decision was made to go with unpowered ICX7-WR units.

Evans reports that management and patrons alike at both venues have been very pleased with the results. “The primary objective was spoken word intelligibility for safety announcements and such,� he says. “But the Iconyx has been great for background music as well. Typically in this sort of environment, it’s just too reverberant to run background music at the levels necessary to overcome the ambient noise. But with the Iconyx, the music is exceptionally articulate, even at lower levels.�

Evans concludes, “I was amazed the first time I stepped out of an Iconyx steered beam and immediately recognized how useful this speaker system would be! It’s very gratifying hearing the clarity Iconyx delivers in these challenging environments.�

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Headquartered in Foothill Ranch, California, Renkus-Heinz, Inc. is the worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of audio operations networks, digitally steerable arrays, powered and non-powered loudspeakers, system specific electronics and fully integrated Reference Point Array systems. 

After putting DPA Microphone’s new hand-held d:facto Vocal Microphone through its paces on her recent tour, Dutch singer and vocal coach Margot Giselle says she is delighted with the natural sound it gave to her voice.

“For the first time ever I was able to hear my voice as it really sounds because the microphone only amplified the sound – it didn’t change my voice in any way,â€� Margot Giselle says. “It was bright, clear and warm – and by allowing me to create all the vocal colours I wanted, the DPA d:facto microphone made singing really easy.â€�

During her recent tour of the Netherlands, Margot Giselle worked with sound engineer Roel van Zeelst, from Dutch rental company IDAK, which has a large stock of DPA microphones. In conjunction with DPA’s Dutch distributor Amptec, van Zeelst arranged for Giselle to test the new DPA d:facto Vocal Microphone as he felt it would be ideally suited to her voice and her singing style.

“I was performing with four musicians and singing a lot of acoustic material, and wanted a microphone that would allow me to recognize my own voice, even when it was amplified,� Giselle explains. “The d:facto did exactly what I wanted and sounded so much better than any microphone I had used in the past. I was really delighted with it. The clarity and naturalness of the sound meant that I could relax on stage and just enjoy the performance.�

Margot Giselle, who trained as a classical vocalist at the Conservatory of Utrecht in the Netherlands, has worked on many musical theatre productions including Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Cabaret, Annie and Cats. She has also worked as a backing vocalist for artists such as Petra Berger and in 2011 she recorded and produced her first solo album Same Girl, which combines songs from various musicals with easy listening tracks and light pop covers. When she is not recording and performing, Margot Giselle offers vocal coaching from her private studio and at the Frank Sanders Musical Academy in Amsterdam

Margo Giselle is undertaking another tour for Spring 2013 and plans to include the DPA d:facto Vocal Microphone in her equipment list.

“The d:facto is a wonderful microphone that makes it easy for singers to sing their hearts out without straining their voices,� she says. “It also helps that Roel van Zeelst is a fantastic sound engineer who knows just how to make the microphone work for me in the best possible way.�

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Editors’ information:
DPA Microphones is the leading Danish Professional Audio manufacturer of high quality condenser microphones and microphone solutions for professional applications in studio, broadcast, theatre, video/film and sound reinforcement environments. All DPA microphones and components are manufactured at the company’s purpose-built factory in Denmark.
For more information on DPA Microphones, please visit www.dpamicrophones.com

At the CineGrid International Workshop 2012 in La Jolla, California, Czech academic association CESNET, as a partner of the common project with leading multimedia solutions provider Visual Unity, will be demonstrating a new version of its award-winning product – 4K Gateway for the next generation of 4K content distribution supporting low-latency internet video up to 3D 4K.

Hailed as the latest step in the evolution of online video, 4K digital video offers approximately four times the resolution of the most widely-used HD television format, and 24 times that of a standard broadcast TV signal. The cost-effective 4K Gateway streaming device allows film, post production and visualisation companies to harness the power of 4K over unlimited bandwidth/distance in collaborative environments.

The 4K Gateway is currently being integrated into Visual Unity’s vuMedia™ solution. vuMedia™ is a PaaS (Platform as a Service) that includes a comprehensive suite of modules, enabling content owners to deliver video through the internet.

The current version operates in uncompressed mode providing bit-by-bit precise 3D 4K transmission with very low latency. JPEG 2000 compression with a DCI profile and subframe latency will be available in the forthcoming release.

“With the broadcast market discovering 4K format, and 4K taking off in the worldwide film industry, there is an increasing call for ‘faster-than-software’ based compression solutions,� says Jakub Kabourek, CEO of Visual Unity. “Working in conjunction with our partners, we have now integrated JPEG 2000 FPGA-based compression technology into 4K Gateway so that we can meet the new challenges of this growing market.�

At CineGrid, CESNET will demonstrate a collaborative clearing of scanned film tape in a high speed PC network environment. The demonstration will show how 4K Gateway device can facilitate the transfer of 4K video content from a post-production facility in Prague to a cinema in San Diego, through a high speed GLIF fiber infrastructure.

This clearing process is often used by film creators who want to digitize old movies but don’t want to physically move them from the archive where they are stored because of environmental damage concerns and health of the master film stock. Using this process, directors can be remotely located from the archive yet still access the film content. Transferring the content via high speed 4K networks makes the whole process much faster and cheaper and reduces the need for directors and their film to physically travel long distances.

4K Gateway has been developed in cooperation with Visual Unity, an international systém integrátor and Czech academic association CESNET and Prague-based independent post-production facility ACE.
Operating over dedicated photonic networks or shared Internet, 4K Gateway offers very low latency of less than 1 ms plus networking delay, thus ensuring a truly interactive experience. Higher buffering can be optionally selected to compensate for high network jitter or for special applications.

4K Gateway uses industry standard HD-SDI interfaces for eight video inputs and eight video outputs, all working simultaneously in multi-channel full-duplex operation to deliver 4K video. Each HD-SDI channel can operate in full mode (all areas of a frame transmitted) or view mode (only selected areas of a frameare transmitted). The latter allows the transmission of eight HD-SDI channels over a single 10 Gigabit Ethernet interface, thus enabling uncompressed 3D 4K or 4K RGB (4:4:4) transmissions.

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About Visual Unity

Visual Unity is an international Systems Integrator bridging the gap between linear broadcast, IT and IPTV to help clients reach and engage audiences on any screen. Since 1991, the team has been designing and delivering turnkey broadcast and complex multiscreen solutions worldwide – from HD Outside Broadcast vehicles and major playout facilities to live internet streaming and Video on Demand services.
Visual Unity’s award-winning vuMediaTM platform helps broadcasters and content owners control how their brand and assets are managed and monetized in the multiscreen environment. Highly scalable and flexible, vuMediaTM delivers a cutting-edge live viewing experience on the web or any mobile or connected device, comprehensive VoD services, social network integration and secure robust content distribution – all of which can be deployed into existing workflows and business processes.

Visual Unity is based in Prague, London, Cologne, Moscow, Bratislava, Belgrade, Nairobi and Dubai. For further information, please visit www.visualunity.com

NORTHRIDGE, California – New York City’s Birdland is one of the most legendary jazz clubs in the world, an intimate room where aficionados can enjoy the world’s greatest jazz artists in an up-close environment. Perhaps more than most venues, the sound system at Birdland is a vital part of the musical experience. Birdland has taken its in-house audio to new heights with a host of HARMAN’s JBL loudspeakers including six VRX932LAP powered Constant Curvature loudspeakers, a pair of ASB6112 subwoofers, two Control 29AV loudspeakers and six PRX612M powered portable PA speakers used as stage monitors.

“As the engineer at Birdland, the most important thing for me to be able to do is amplify the musicians’ stage performances in the most naturally sounding way so that the system is almost invisible,� said Birdland house engineer Richard Bernard. “The legendary musicians who perform at the club almost always have their own very distinct sound and that’s what people want to hear—‘that sound’.�

A sound system that needed to be heard while not drawing attention to itself was quite a challenge. To achieve this goal, Birdland hung six JBL VRX932LAP loudspeakers directly above the stage facing the audience—two facing downstage towards the main house, two located stage right towards one side of the room and two on stage left facing the rear side of the bar. In addition, two Control 29AV loudspeakers are hung at the far side of the bar, giving total coverage for the room. The two ASB6112 subwoofers are hung downstage on the left and right front corners.

“I’m running the system in mono, and the subwoofers are connected to the spare aux send on the mixing desk, so I’m free to choose which channels I send to the subs,� Bernard noted. “I used to have to mix for the house and the bar would basically get what they would get. That’s no longer a problem as we’ve had many compliments on being able to hear from that side of the room.�

That said, the most noticeable improvement in the system is the level of clarity, Bernard noted. “This is a massive help because the response of instruments and vocals is very true and I’m not forced to just keep turning up an instrument in order for people to hear it—once everything is in its own little pocket in the mix, it just sounds great!�

In addition to JBL loudspeakers, Birdland installed a variety of additional HARMAN equipment, including AKG microphones, dbx processing and Crown amplifiers.

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets — supported by 15 leading brands, including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® and Mark Levinson®. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 13,900 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported net sales of $4.4 billion for year ended June 30, 2012.

Christie® is bringing the past to life at Tillicum Village, a Native American cultural experience, with holographic images powered by two Christie HD10K-M Series 3-chip DLP® projectors. Using built-in Christie AutoStack™ and Christie Twist™, the projectors cast holographic images onto a Musion screen of a storyteller interacting with live actors and drummers throughout the performance on stage, helping capture unique tribal traditions. Located on Blake Island in Puget Sound, Washington, Tillicum Village and its Long House Theater present the history, tradition and culture of the Coast Salish tribes located along the state’s western border.

Tradition Meets High Tech
The 50-year-old, 450-person wooden theater – complete with dirt stage and 18-year-old soundtrack – needed a complete makeover that included the installation of a new Christie projection system.

According to Maureen Black, marketing director at Tillicum Village, “The theater is magical because of its age and rustic setting, but we needed to bring it up to modern standards. Part of this meant revamping the entire live performance to better showcase the traditions and culture of the Salish community in a way that is more relevant to today’s more tech-savvy generation. We wanted to bring the vibrant and ever-changing nature of native culture to life on stage, and technology would help us do that – but the show had to remain authentic.�

Tempest and Christie Partner for Precision
Integration partner Tempest Technologies chose Christie HD digital projectors as part of its 3D hologram system to deliver Tillicum Village’s vision.

“Tillicum Village really wanted to get that ‘wow’ factor in there, rather than just have people performing. When they decided they wanted 3D holographic technology, we didn’t hesitate to steer them toward Christie and its Christie Twist technology,� said Bart Black, audiovisual technology consultant, Tempest Technologies.

“The only way we could achieve the right contrast and align the images perfectly was to utilize Christie Twist. It allowed us to adjust where the images hit on the bounce surface to create a perfect, seamless image. Another important aspect was the tech operators having an easy mechanism to realign the images before each show. With one button, Christie AutoStack allows them to realign everything in 90 seconds without calling a projectionist to the island.�

Christie AutoStack is a camera-based solution and intuitive user interface that achieves accurate blending of multiple projectors. Used in conjunction with the Christie Twistâ„¢ warping and blending solution, AutoStack supports various screen sizes and aspect ratios, utilizing screen points for quick geometric calibration. In addition, it supports horizontal and vertical blending, with a live camera preview to aid in quick setup.

Christie Technology Thrills the Crowd
“The Christie HD projectors have become part of the magic. Audiences often want to know why the storyteller won’t come out and take a bow after the show! That’s how real he seems on stage,� said Kevin Clark, CEO of Tillicum Village. “By blending the live actors with holographic technology, we get better, richer performances, with great quality and consistency. And the technology allows us to easily update and modify the projected content.�

“The technology we used before was out of focus and dark and the images weren’t aligned. Tillicum Village is not only excited to promote the venue, but to stand behind the Christie product line,� Black concluded. “There hasn’t been one service call since the show started, and during high season it runs twice a day, seven days a week – we are extremely pleased.�

About Tempest Technologies, LLC
Tempest Technologies, LLC, is a Pacific Northwest based design, engineering and integration firm specializing in presentation, control and unified communication technologies. Since formation in 2003, Tempest has leveraged the extensive industry experience of their team to become a leading integration solutions provider in the Puget Sound region, and across the nation. Tempest provides consulting, design, custom programming, installation and post-installation services for systems found in a wide variety of environments such as boardrooms, classrooms, auditoriums, conference and training facilities, video teleconferencing , network operations and command and control centers. Tempest’s commitment to excellence and their ability to offer clients innovative and cost effective solutions has resulted in successful collaborations with the region’s top corporate, healthcare, technology, government, and educational clients, and has allowed them to become a trusted partner who makes a positive and lasting impact on how these businesses communicate and conduct their day to day operations. Tempest Technologies, LLC places the highest value on developing and maintaining strong customer relationships, and is committed to providing quality products and services that result in complete customer satisfaction and strategic and lasting partnerships. Tempest Technologies is headquartered in Issaquah, Washington. For more information, visit www.tempest-av.com.www.tempest-av.com.

A Martin Audio OmniLine® system has been specified and installed at Central Railway Station in Sydney, the largest in Australia, to conquer a speech intelligibility problem that has persisted for years.

The Country Trains Concourse, measuring 360 ft x 196 ft x 32 ft with a challenging RT60 time of 5.5 seconds in the mid-band, has long defied attempts to get intelligible announcements heard by commuters. Over the years, many brands have successively tried and failed to tame the inherent reverberation caused by a combination of terrazzo floors, sandstone and plate glass walls and a high arched steel roof.

Last year Glenn Leembruggen, principal of Acoustic Directions, became the latest specialist to do battle with the acoustically hostile environment.

Since acoustic treatment of the inside of the roof was ruled out as being financially untenable, two members of the Acoustic Directions team, David Connor and David Gilfillan, decided to trial several software-driven systems and different steerable line array solutions.

They ultimately concluded that a Martin Audio OmniLine system, with DSP processing, would produce the best quality and best speech clarity. They duly specified 120 steered elements supplied by TAG, Martin Audio’s Australian distributors.

Modular and scalable, this particular OmniLine installation used a special version of the Martin Audio Display software (operating under an FIR filtering scheme that addressed every element in the array with its own processed channel). The intelligent software enabled the array to be configured to deliver sound precisely over the venue’s vertical profile without spillage. Furthermore, elimination of high-frequency side-lobes gives OmniLine an advantage over conventional DSP steered columns making it suitable for high quality speech and music reproduction even in reverberant spaces such as railway station concourses.

Acoustic Directions were thus able to simultaneously optimize the direct field over the listening area, keep the sound off reflective rear walls, and minimise reverberant sound power. The result is remarkably high intelligibility throughout the concourse, even at rush hour, when as many as 3,000 passengers are adding to the cacophony of noise resonating around this vast cavern.

With the amps situated as much as 650 ft away from the speakers, a 100 Volt system was required, and Acoustic Directions worked with Harbuch Electronics to develop a 100V loudspeaker transformer that was ultra-flat and with only 10 degrees of phase shift at 20kHz. The FIR filters that beam control the array are implemented in Nion processors with the loudspeakers being driven by 8-channel 2.4kW amplifiers (to provide 120 amp channels).

Acoustic Directions optimized the frequency responses over the listening area using time-windowed impulse responses.

The installation also picked up a coveted Rutledge AV Industry Award (an AVIA) with the judges commending Acoustic Directions’ meticulous implementation of the modelling, installation and commissioning of the system.

As a result, for the first time not only can amplified speech be easily understood in any part of the concourse, but music and pre-recorded messages sound natural and clear—and roaming hand-held wireless microphones can function without fear of feedback.

In fact, such is the confidence inspired by this new solution, that special events, promotions and even live music events are being hosted at Sydney’s Central Railway Station, using the house system!

For more about Martin Audio, please click to www.martin-audio.com.

About Martin Audio®
Founded by audio engineer David Martin in 1971, Martin Audio pioneered the use of all-horn-loaded bass designs in world-class touring loudspeaker systems for groups such as Pink Floyd, ELP and Supertramp. Located outside of London, Martin Audio now embodies a sophisticated mix of acoustic design, research, mathematical modeling and software engineering for a wide range of products in the installation, cinema and touring sound markets.

About OmniLine®
OmniLine is a versatile, micro-line array designed for installation in a wide variety of architectural environments. Its modular approach and scalability extend its use from foreground applications to sound reinforcement in large acoustic spaces. Intelligent software enables an array to be configured to deliver sound precisely over any vertical angle to fit the venue profile without spilling onto surfaces where sound is not required. Additionally, elimination of high-frequency side-lobes gives OmniLine the advantage over currently available DSP steered columns, making it suitable for high quality music reproduction as well as speech in large, reverberant spaces. Each array is constructed by connecting multiple modules. Up to 32 modules can be connected where both high output and vertical focusing down to low/mid frequencies are required. Smaller number of modules (down to 4) can be used for shorter-throw applications, where vertical focusing of the low/mid frequencies is less important. This scalability means that OmniLine can be used in a variety of applications. Visually, an OmniLine array is slim and unobtrusive, with soft lines that minimize its visual presence in an architectural environment.

Prairie Sun Live (PSL) sprung from Prairie Sun Recording—a high-end recording facility in Sonoma Country that’s produced music with legendary artists from The Doobie Brothers to Van Morrison and Tom Waits in its 35-plus-year history. Owner/engineer Mark “Mooka” Rennick wanted to diversify his business to provide a superior sonic experience at live events. In searching for a console to more

When Russian guitarist Roman Miroshnichenko was booked to play a Jubilee concert with legendary guitarist Larry Coryell at the Moscow International House of Music, he knew he would need a first class microphone to truly capture the sound of this prestigious event.

DPA Microphone’s Russian distributor I.S.P.A arranged for Roman to test a DPA d:vote™ 4099G Instrument Microphone for Guitar, which proved to be exactly what he was looking for.

“I heard that Paco De Lucia’s sound engineer rated DPA microphones very highly so on that basis I decided I had to try them out,â€� Roman Miroshnichenko says. “I was in need of a really good microphone for my upcoming Jubilee concert with Larry Coryell so I spoke to Maxim Kupryakhin at I.S.P.A who arranged for me to try a d:vote 4099G clip mic. The concert was a great and important test-drive for the microphone and from the very first time I used it, I was hooked. The beauty of the DPA 4099G is that it is compact, has no feedback problems on stage, and has the same tonal quality as the more expensive studio microphones. This DPA microphone gives me incredible quality in an extremely compact package and that was why I decided to buy it.â€�

Widely considered to be Russia’s top guitarist, Roman Miroshnichenko holds a number of prestigious international music awards, including the US Annual Independent Music Award. His virtuoso performances in the contemporary instrumental jazz-fusion field have led him to collaborate, perform and record with world-renowned musicians such as Al Di Meola, Djivan Gasparyan, Frank Colon, Joao Donato, Marco Mendoza, Dominique Di Piazza, Saskia Laroo, Augusto Enriquez and Richie Cole. In 2002 Roman founded his own band, RMProject, which has been touring Russia, Europe and the USA on a regular basis.

“2013 will also see me recording a new album using my d:vote 4099G instrument microphone and I’m really excited about that,� Roman says. “Since buying my 4099G, I’ve used it in a number of different concert halls and also on radio, TV and in the studio. For many years I have been searching for the perfect microphone and now I’ve found it. DPA really does make great microphones!�

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Editors’ information:
DPA Microphones is the leading Danish Professional Audio manufacturer of high quality condenser microphones and microphone solutions for professional applications in studio, broadcast, theatre, video/film and sound reinforcement environments. All DPA microphones and components are manufactured at the company’s purpose-built factory in Denmark.
For more information on DPA Microphones, please visit www.dpamicrophones.com
For more information about Roman Miroshnichenko please visit: http://romanmiroshnichenko.com/

Visual Unity and its mobile division Visual Unity Mobile is delighted to announce that it has been selected as a 2012 Red Herring Top 100 global award winner. The award recognizes the achievements of leading private companies from North America, Europe and Asia, and celebrates start-up innovations and technologies across their respective industries.

“Winning the Red Herring Top 100 award demonstrates that Visual Unity Mobile has invested in product innovation. Moreover, we are proud to be recognized amongst such a strong group of participants,� says Visual Unity CEO Tomas Petru. “The mobile market is taking off and Visual Unity Mobile is playing a key part in its success by enabling customers and partners to participate in this growth through its innovative platform. With the smart phone market nearly doubling in the past year, there is a very real need for businesses to include a mobile strategy. Visual Unity Mobile helps partners and SMB’s to deliver a cost efficient and fully integrated mobile services that generate revenue and deliver value.�

Red Herring’s Top 100 Global list has become a mark of distinction for identifying promising new companies and entrepreneurs. Red Herring editors were among the first to recognize that companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yahoo, Skype, Salesforce.com, YouTube, and eBay would change the way we live and work.

“Choosing the companies with the strongest potential was by no means a small feat,� said Alex Vieux, publisher and CEO of Red Herring. “After rigorous contemplation and discussion, we narrowed our list down from hundreds of candidates from across Global to the Top 100 Winners. We believe Visual Unity Mobile embodies the vision, drive and innovation that define a successful entrepreneurial venture. Visual Unity Mobile should be proud of its accomplishment, as the competition was the strongest it has ever been.�

Red Herring’s editorial staff evaluated the companies on both quantitative and qualitative criteria, such as financial performance, technology innovation, management quality, strategy, and market penetration. This assessment of potential is complemented by a review of the track record and standing of start-ups relative to their peers, allowing Red Herring to see past the “buzz� and make the list a valuable instrument of discovery and advocacy for the most promising new business models from around the world.

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About Visual Unity Mobile
Visual Unity Mobile, previously UNITY Mobile, is a leading mobile-web solution provider delivering custom mobile-web solutions, mobile-web solutions for small and mid-sized business as well as a cloud-based platform for creating, publishing, managing and marketing mobile websites. The Visual Unity Mobile platform is licensed by the leading hosting providers globally, including Parallels and Hostopia making it available to over 1000 hosting providers and their customers worldwide. Visual Unity Mobile enables hosters, enterprise and brands to rapidly build on core digital media investments and processes and seamlessly develop for new mobile audiences. You can learn more at: www.unitymobile.com.

About Visual Unity
Visual Unity is an international Systems Integrator bridging the gap between linear broadcast, IT and IPTV to help clients reach and engage audiences on any screen. Since 1991, the team has been designing and delivering turnkey broadcast and complex multiscreen solutions worldwide – from HD Outside Broadcast vehicles and major playout facilities to live internet streaming and Video on Demand services.
Visual Unity’s award-winning vuMediaTM platform helps broadcasters and content owners control how their brand and assets are managed and monetized in the multiscreen environment. Highly scalable and flexible, vuMediaTM delivers a cutting-edge live viewing experience on the web or any mobile or connected device, comprehensive VoD services, social network integration and secure robust content distribution – all of which can be deployed into existing workflows and business processes.
Visual Unity group is based in Prague, London, Cologne, Moscow, Bratislava, Belgrade, Nairobi and Dubai. For further information, please visit www.visualunity.com