More companies took the show as an opportunity to make announcements, such as the agreement between Yamaha and Audinate. As of this month, Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems will handle North American distribution of Audinate’s Dante-MY16-AUD networking card. The Dante-MY16-AUD card is compatible with a wide range of Yamaha products and fits in the MY16 slots of processors and power amps, providing bi-directional audio and networking functionality.

More signs of springtime for the economy: Peavey, which was showing touch-screen wall controllers, I/O cards and auxiliary processing systems to augment its MediaMatrix NION digital signal processing system, doubled its booth size to 2,000 square feet, up from last year’s 1,000.

New Products:
• Crestron’s new TPMC-12, a 1-inch touchpanel with an embedded PC engine for Web browsing, streaming audio and video, and viewing / presenting digital multimedia with interactive annotation. Isys i/O delivers built-in Windows Media Player and RealPlayer, Internet Explorer, Adobe Acrobat Reader, and Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint document viewers. Both Cresnet and high-speed Ethernet connectivity are standard. Two USB 2.0 ports are also included on the rear panel to support a mouse and keyboard, and external storage devices. The tiltcase housing allows tilt adjustment from 45 to 90 degrees, and four backlit pushbuttons provide access to commonly used functions. Native annotation technology enables presenters to write or draw over video images directly on the touchscreen. Built-in amplified speakers enable 2-way intercom in combination with the integrated microphone, and customized WAV files, such as personalized sounds, button feedback and voice prompts, can be loaded on the touchpanel to enhance the touchscreen experience. www.crestron.com

• JBL Professional New CBT Series passive line array columns feature JBL’s patent-pending Constant Beamwidth Technology circuitry: coverage pattern of the CBT models can be adjusted between Broad Mode (designed for mid-throw situations) and Narrow Mode (for long-throw applications). The CBT 50LA is a compact 50 cm high column that utilizes a straight line of eight 2-inch drivers; the taller CBT 100 LA is a straight 100 cm high column utilizing 16 2� drivers and handles 325 Watts continuous pink noise for high output levels. Combined with Constant Beamwidth Technology circuitry, both provide constant directivity coverage. Both also contain low-saturation transformers, so they can be used on 70V/100V distributed speaker lines or as low impedance speakers. The J-shaped CBT 70J is a 2-way coaxial line array utilizing 16 soft dome tweeters and four high power 5-inch woofers at a 70 cm height. The J-shape of the array works in conjunction with the Constant Beamwidth Technology circuitry to provide asymmetrical coverage similar to that of expensive line arrays commonly used in concert systems. The column’s top half projects highly concentrated sound toward the back of the venue, while the bottom half down-fills a broader, less concentrated sound to the front of the venue, resulting in more consistent sound levels from front to back. www.harman.com