New headquarters, 40th-anniversary celebrations and much, much more!

Dataton, the world-renowned manufacturer and developer of presentation and show-control products, ushers in a new era of innovation and creativity at the 2013 edition of Integrated Systems Europe. The company’s latest products, marketed as additions to the WATCHOUT suite of multi-display production and presentation software, will be showcased on Dataton’s biggest ISE stand so far.

While the exact nature of the products to be showcased at ISE remains a closely guarded secret until the show opens its doors on January 29, Fredrik Svahnberg, Dataton’s marketing director, comments: “We have continued to update WATCHOUT this year with new features such as 3D stereoscopic playback, live video streaming, interactivity, and multiple languages. What we are going to show at ISE marks the start of a major move forward.�

On the first day of ISE 2013, Dataton will host a booth party at 17:00 on stand 7-K175 to celebrate its 40th year in business and the Swedish-based company is promising plenty of Scandinavian hospitality.

Maintaining its support for education programmes in the pro-AV space, Dataton will also present an InfoComm University™ session in ISE’s Education Zone. Titled ‘Multi-Image Projection Techniques’, the session will be delivered by Svahnberg and will be held at 10:00am on Wednesday, 30 January. Like all InfoComm University content, thesession will be vendor-neutral and free of sales pitches.

Finally, ISE 2013 will be the first major AV tradeshow that Dataton has planned from its new corporate headquarters at Mjärdevi Science Park in Linköping, Sweden. Construction of the purpose-built HQ, designed by award-winning architect Petra Gipp, commenced in the summer of 2012.

Dataton will exhibit on Stand 7-K175 at Integrated Systems Europe at the Amsterdam RAI from 29-31 January 2013.

www.dataton.com

BUENA PARK, Calif.—Known for his vibrant pop/rock/soul mix and free-flowing vocal delivery, Andy Grammer is an acclaimed singer, songwriter, and musician who reached the Top 10 at Adult Pop Radio with his first two singles, “Keep Your Head Up� and “Fine By Me�.

Nearing the close of his 2012 tour, Grammer recently performed at North Central Illinois College in its 825-seat Wentz Concert Hall. Sound Works Productions (Frankfort, Ill.) provided a NEXO GEO S12 system, ground stacked on the stage with the sound company’s custom carts. The house rig consisted of ten GEO S1210s, four RS18 Ray Subs, four PS10s and three 4×4 NXAMPs. For monitors, the company provided three RS18s for sidefills/drum subs, two 4×4 NXAMPs, and a Yamaha M7CL digital console.

“Anytime I’m remotely close to Chicago and need production elements, I want Sound Works there with the GEO S12,â€� states Kevin Flasza, Grammer’s front of house engineer. “Andy puts on a very dynamic show, and the NEXO rig remains transparent through our entire set and easily allows me to reproduce the delicate details I need to highlight at times. What more can I ask for? The GEO S12 reigns supreme when it comes to that size format.â€�

For more information the Sound Works Productions, visit www.soundworkspro.com.

For more information the NEXO and Yamaha products, visit www.yamahaca.com.

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About Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems, Inc.:
Celebrating 125 years of Passion and Performance, and 25 years in the manufacturer of high quality digital audio consoles, Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems, Inc. (YCAS) provides a full line of integrated professional audio products offering complete systems solutions for the broadcast, sound reinforcement/installed sound, touring, commercial recording, and post production markets. With the addition of NEXO to the product line, the company remains the official U.S. and Canadian distributor for all NEXO speaker models. YCAS offers comprehensive in-house and field product training for its customers, a dedicated dealer network, and 24/7 technical support.

Albuquerque, NM – December 2012….. For nearly 60 years Milne Stadium has been home to generations of Albuquerque’s local sporting events. Recently the 6500-seat arena received a wide-ranging makeover, including a new playing surface, new paint and stucco, and a new audio system featuring Community R-Series loudspeakers.

As Sound and Signal Systems’ William Hartley explains, the stadium’s previous sound system had been problematic for some time. “A few years ago they installed a new scoreboard behind the end zone, complete with a long-throw, single-point line array system. A lot of sound was reflecting off the concrete and glass press box. The problem is, the stadium is surrounded on three sides by the city and the freeway, but the side opposite the press box faces a residential area.”

One of two municipal stadiums serving the Albuquerque School District and surrounding community, the park is busy throughout most of the year. “Sometimes they’ve got two or even three events in a single day,” says Hartley. “So they were getting a lot of noise complaints. It got to the point where they had to turn the system down so low it could barely be heard in the park. It was a compromise that served no one.”

It eventually became a safety issue as well when stadium officials tried to evacuate fans during a lightning storm. “A lot of people couldn’t hear the announcement,” says Hartley. “That’s when the city approached us to find a solution.”

Hartley continues, “We decided to put the speakers on the press box, closer to the audience, and direct the sound down toward the seats and the field.” A pair of R.5-94Z loudspeakers and an R.5SUB subwoofer are mounted on either side of the press box, covering the main seating area and the field. A single R2 long-throw loudspeaker covers the smaller visitor side bleachers. “We took an R2 with a 50 by 20 coverage pattern and flipped it on its side to give us 20 degrees of horizontal coverage and 50 degrees of vertical. We angled it down the field so it’s hitting just the top of the bleachers and none of the houses behind it.” Another R.5SUB augments the R2′s coverage area.

“They’ve got a separate volume control for the R2,” adds Harley. “So they can turn it down if they’ve got a small crowd and don’t need coverage to those seats.” The system is powered by a Bose Power Match amplifier, with a Bose Control Space DSP unit handling system processing.

Hartley says the new sound system has virtually eliminated the neighbors’ noise complaints, while offering a dramatic improvement inside the stadium. “They just love it. They can play music and they can hear the announcements without bothering the neighbors. They’re able to run the system at 100 or 110 dB and you can’t hear it outside the stadium. It’s a really, really full sounding system.”

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ELKHART, Indiana – Located at Florida’s Pensacola Christian College, the Dale Horton Auditorium (DHA) recently underwent a complete audio system upgrade featuring HARMAN’s Crown CTs series amplifiers with PIP-BLU programmable input processor cards. The DHA, one of the largest performing arts venues in the Southeast, has a seating capacity of 3,500 and features a stunning interior that artfully blends angular and curved surfaces, fabric and wood and multi-level seating and houses a full working stage and orchestra pit.

“The Dale Horton Auditorium is an absolute gem – with one glaring exception,� said John Fuqua, vice president of Pensacola commercial audio and lighting contractor All Pro Sound. “The sound system was the original one that was installed when the Dale Horton Auditorium was built in 1986. It needed to be completely replaced.�

The facility needed a system that was versatile and could accommodate its wide variety of activities including theatrical and musical productions as well as the college’s own productions, lectures, and worship services. The college uses the DHA continuously for all types of events.

When it came to specifying the amplifiers Fuqua’s team knew they didn’t simply need raw power – they needed flexibility and control. “Crown CTs Series amplifiers with BLU-Link cards were ideal for this application.� Crown CTs amps feature programmable input processor cards that provide BLU-Link functionality. In addition to multiple digital audio bus channels to and from the amplifier, the PIP-BLU card offers an RJ-45 Ethernet jack for remote configuration, control and monitoring and analog input and output connectors.

Twenty Crown CTs 3000, 10 CTs 1200 and seven CTs 600 amplifiers, all with PIP-BLU cards are installed in the auditorium. The amps operate in conjunction with two BSS BLU-160 signal processors with digital audio bus, two BLUCARD-IN input cards, six BLUCARD-OUT output cards and two BLU-BOB2 break-out-boxes.

“The Crown CTs Series amplifiers with BLU-Link cards have remote monitoring and control capability, so we can operate, control power sequencing and configure them from a central location,� Fuqua noted. “We’re using the BSS Audio Soundweb London platform because we already have it deployed in several other areas on campus including the Crowne Centre auditorium, which is another large facility. Using BSS throughout Pensacola Christian College ensures compatibility and familiarity with the equipment and programming by everyone who uses it.� In addition to the Crown and BSS components, a Soundcraft Vi6 digital mixing console is used in the Dale Horton Auditorium for front of house mixing.

“The Crown amplifiers and BSS components work flawlessly together. Actually, the biggest challenge in the DHA installation was the fact that it was labor intensive – we had to completely replace the existing 26-year-old system and put in a new one that was ready to go in the space of five weeks. The result was worth it – the new system is far superior in overall sound quality and speech intelligibility, and the amps are much more adaptable to whatever kind of program they want to hold in the DHA, from a single lecturer to a complete theatrical production,� added Fuqua.

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.

DPA Microphones’ new hand-held d:facto™ Vocal Microphone delivered fantastic results for Sting, who used four of them on his recent Back to Bass tour throughout Europe and the Far East.

Sting’s front of house engineer Howard Page says: “The d:facto’s definition and clarity was a huge update on our Sting shows and worked just as well for the in-ear monitors that Sting listened to. It is an absolutely unique microphone that has an amazing transient response and just the right amount of proximity without the normal problems of on/off tonal differences.�

Page, senior director of engineering at Clair Brothers in the USA, was recommended the DPA d:facto Vocal Microphone by recording engineer Donal Hodgson, who had been using it with great success to record Sting in the studio.

“Donal knew that I had been looking for a later technology microphone for Sting on our live shows,� Page says. “If Donal was happy with it in the exacting environment of a recording studio, then I knew I certainly would be as well.�

Sting’s long working relationship with Howard Page meant that he was also happy to try the d:facto in a live environment. “Sting and I have a very good relationship and he trusts me on all things audio, so when I asked him to try the d:facto he was more than willing to go with it,� Page says.

Four DPA d:factos were ordered from DPA’s UK distributor Sound Network and these were delivered to Clair’s European office in plenty of time to be included in the equipment packages for the tour. Sting has ‘A’ and ‘B’ simultaneously touring systems, each containing two d:factos – one as the main microphone and one for back up.

“We did shows in France, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Lebanon, Korea, Hong Kong, Manila, Bangkok and Jakarta, so it was a huge amount of travelling,� Page says. “On this most recent leg of the tour I have been in some venues with real long reverb times and the d:facto just cuts through perfectly without losing the tight, natural (real!) full range tone I need for Sting’s voice.�

Page adds that even without Donal Hodgson’s recommendation, he would have been happy to try the DPA d:facto Vocal Microphone because he has previously had such good experiences with DPA technology.

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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

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.

COOL OVERHEAD RACK ENCLOSURES OFFER SOLUTIONS FOR CLASSROOMS, BOARDROOMS AND MEETING ROOMS

Woodland Park, NJ – FSR, manufacturer of audio and video switching, control products, and connectivity boxes, is debuting its new CORE family of products to help solve the challenges of today’s classrooms, boardrooms and meeting rooms where floor space has reached an all-time premium.

With FSR’s Cool Overhead Rack Enclosures (CORE), which consists of the Ceiling Box family of above ceiling rack enclosures, and the brand new Top Shelf wall mounted rack enclosure, the company can offer viable options to facilities which can no longer afford to devote floor space to equipment racks or credenzas.

“Let’s face it, many facilities today just don’t have the same amount of floor space any longer to devote to large equipment racks,� says Jan Sandri, president, FSR. “With our new CORE family of products, FSR has the solution. We are thrilled to be able to introduce these powerful options to the industry, which includes the Ceiling Box family and Top Shelf wall-mounted rack enclosure, that target today’s challenges of space constraints.�

The Ceiling Box family is installed in a standard 2’ x 2’ or 2’ x 4’ drop ceilings and provides from 2 ½ rack to 4 full rack spaces for equipment mounting. Optionally, the Ceiling Box family can be equipped with a projector pole mount adapter so that the projector can mount directly to the ceiling box and cables can disappear through the pole.

The newest member of the CORE family is the Top Shelf wall mounted rack. Top Shelf mounts to a wall just below the ceiling in installations without a drop ceiling or where space above the drop ceiling is limited. The Top Shelf provides four rack units of mounting space and the plastic cover allows RF and WiFi signals to pass unobstructed between the equipment and the room.

About FSR
FSR, established in 1981, manufactures a wide variety of products for the audio / video, education, hospitality, government, and religious markets, including AV floor, wall, table, and ceiling connectivity boxes, as well as a full line of interfaces, distribution amplifiers, matrix switchers, seamless switchers and CAT-5 solutions.

FSR complies with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and is a woman owned business. FSR offers live 24/7 technical and sales support throughout the country from expertly trained technicians and sales representatives. For more information visit www.fsrinc.com.

FSR Contact: Jan Sandri
973-785-4347 • sales@fsrinc.com

Press Contact: Desert Moon Communications
Harriet Diener
845-512-8283 • harriet@desertmooncomm.com

San Francisco, CA – December 2012….. The Lincoln Highway was the first automobile road across the United States, stretching from New York’s Times Square to San Francisco. Marking the road’s western end, high on a hill overlooking the Pacific and the Golden Gate Bridge, is the California Palace of the Legion of Honor. The building, a magnificent three-quarter-scale reproduction of Paris’ Palais de la Légion d’Honneur, is home to a wide and varied collection of ancient and European art spanning more than 6,000 years.

The Palace is also home to the Florence Gould Theater, an ornate 333-seat jewel box auditorium designed by museum architect George Applegarth. Opened in 1924 as the Little Theater, the venue hosts a regular calendar of concerts, lectures and theater performances.

The theater’s massive columns, rounded walls, and domed ceilings create a breathtaking environment, as well as some legendary challenging acoustics. “The room has no acoustic treatment whatsoever, and an abundance of hard surfaces,” offers Joe Orlando of Atwater, CA-based Commercial Media Systems. “It’s highly reverberant, and spoken word intelligibility is pretty much non-existent.” Commercial Media created the system design and assisted the Museum’s production department with the installation.

“The room works great if you’re onstage and you have a good, theatrical speaking voice,” observes John Anaya, Production Manager for the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. “But for amplified sound, the room has some very problematic reflections. In fact, we found that the best seats in the house for sound were in the very back of the theater, while the front rows had terrible sound.”

Over the years, a succession of audio systems has failed to make a significant impact on the problem, until CMS recommended an upgrade to four Community ENTASYS high-performance column line arrays. A pair of ENTASYS full-range columns are mounted on either side of the proscenium, powered by the museum’s existing Hafler amps.

“Due to the room’s architecture we had to mount the speakers much higher than what would have been the optimal height,” Orlando explains. “But the ENTASYS columns enabled us to angle the arrays and focus the sound downward to the seating area, and off the walls and domed ceiling. ENTASYS is really the only system that would have worked in that space.”

“Of course, we were not going to put anything in here that affected the aesthetics of the room,” adds Anaya. “The ENTASYS speakers blend into the space perfectly; they match the walls so well, we find we have to point out to people where the speakers are.”

Anaya sums it up: “It has been like night and day. The clarity in the room is phenomenal.”

Click here to view the video.

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Community Professional Loudspeakers is a manufacturer and supplier of professional audio equipment. Since 1968, Community has led the pro-audio industry with technological innovations which have become industry standards. Today, Community offers over 150 professional loudspeaker products, including installed loudspeaker systems, weather-resistant outdoor loudspeaker systems, ceiling loudspeakers, high level voice paging systems, and portable entertainment systems. Visit www.communitypro.com for more information.

Extron Electronics is pleased to introduce the new FOX T USW 203, a three input switcher with an integrated fiber optic transmitter for long haul transmission of HDCP-compliant HDMI, RGBHV, or HD component video, stereo audio, and RS-232 control signals over fiber optic cabling. Engineered for exceptional high resolution image performance, this three input switcher uses Extron all-digital technology to deliver perfect pixel-for-pixel transmission of video images at resolutions up to 1920×1200, including HDTV 1080p/60. Analog AV input signals are digitized to ensure that a high quality signal is transmitted to the final destination. To streamline installation and system operation, the switcher includes integration-friendly features such as buffered HDMI output and VGA input loop-through, EDID Minder®, Key Minder®, audio embedding, auto-input switching, RS-232 control, and real-time system monitoring. The FOX T USW 203 is ideal for a wide range of applications requiring long distance transmission of high resolution content with the highest quality. more

Boom, Belgium – December 2012….. The Heilig Hart (Sacred Heart) church in Boom, just South of Antwerp in Belgium, has recently had a new Community audio system installed by communication and integration specialist, Zelzate-based Tevean nv.

With capacity for up to 700 people and contemporary architecture, the large open space required good pattern control loudspeakers to avoid the reflective surfaces in the highly reverberant environment. Community ENTASYS three-way, full-range, column-line-array systems were chosen for their ideal wide horizontal and extremely narrow vertical dispersion. As the system is used for music and small concerts, in addition to its prime function of speech reinforcement, compact dual 12-inch Community VLF212 subwoofers were incorporated to extend the low frequency and add powerful bass performance.

Providing flexibility with simple control, Tevean installed a Symetrix Solus 8 open architecture 8×8 DSP with control via a Symetrix ARC-2e menu-driven wall panel remote. A variety of Clockaudio and MIPRO ACT-5 wireless microphones meet the fixed and portable requirements of the church.

Mario Clabots, managing director of the equipment supplier, M-Pro, commented, “The client and visitors are very pleased with the excellent audio quality, wide coverage and sound levels the system provides. It achieves very high intelligibility right to the back of the church and delivers the ideal solution for both speech and music.”

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