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Monday, March 08, 2010

Community Gives The Bard A Modern Makeover

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust chose Community speakers to provide audio for their new exhibition.

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust has opened a new exhibition and visitor centre In Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England.

The attraction is set within the grounds of the house where Shakespeare was born and is entitled Life, Love & Legacy: A New Introduction to William Shakespeare.

It takes visitors through five zones in an immersive experience, bringing the history of Shakespeare to life.

The Trust appointed UK creative design and AV specialist Sarner to redevelop the visitor center and give the Bard a modern makeover.

Utilizing its in-house creative and AV departments, Sarner designed a fully automated ‘walk through’ experience and “has presented fascinating Shakespeare-related artifacts in a dynamic way that encapsulates the excitement and passion of the man himself”.

Sarner chose Community loudspeakers to provide quality audio within the exhibition, including a combination of Community I/O5s, I/O8s and VLF208 subs.

These were used throughout the installation for both the program surround audio, feature presentations and the many spot effects.

Lincoln Clarke, Head of Tourism and Marketing at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, said, “This project has been extremely important to us as it’s the centerpiece of the five houses that The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust opens to the public in and around Stratford.”

“We’re thrilled with what Sarner has created to give visitors a spectacular new experience and insight into the life of our greatest playwright, William Shakespeare”.

Community Website

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Bosch Communications Systems Division Announces Official Release Of IRIS-Net V2.3.0

Provides significant expansion of EV NetMax N8000, new loudspeaker protection algorithm for RCM-26 and Tour Grade Series power amplifiers, and much more

The latest release of IRIS-Net software (version 2.3.0) provides a significant expansion of the Electro-Voice NetMax N8000 digital matrix controller task engine by adding a variety of new logic blocks, including delay, timer and debounce, as well as newly added functions for control of RCM-810 modules.

These additions allow a greater level of flexibility when programming complex logic sequences for custom applications.

Additionally, the inclusion of the RCM-810 functions allows a user to configure the GPIs and GPOs of the RCM-810 module to interact with the logic functions of the NetMax task engine, which provides the ability to expand the existing GPI/O ports on the N8000 hardware for remote digital control interface.

IRIS-Net v 2.3.0 also includes a new loudspeaker protection algorithm for RCM-26 and Tour Grade Series power amplifiers.

The Thermal Energy Protection and Management Limiter (or TEMP Limiter) is an advanced DSP algorithm that is able to calculate and track the voicecoil temperature and apply specific gain reduction as needed to maintain the temperature of the components within safe margins.

This is a different method to simply applying RMS limiting or peak limiting, because it is a dynamic behavior that has been tailored to how the program material, DSP and amplifier interact with the actual transducer components, as opposed to simply applying a set of control rules to the drive level based only upon the electronics.

The TEMP Limiter actually works with the specific characteristics of the transducers it is driving, based on a behavior model derived from specific transducer characteristics and parameters measured and created by Electro-Voice loudspeaker engineering.

The combination of the TEMP Limiter with the Existing Peak Anticipation Limiter (PA Limiter) provides the industry’s most advanced and best-sounding loudspeaker protection package.

New in IRIS-Net V2.3.0:

NetMax

New features of Electro-Voice N8000 Task Engine
- Timer block
- Analog delay block
- Logic delay block
- Debounce block
- Calendar entry block
- Using common CobraNet parameters as inputs/outputs is now possible
- Using following RCM-810 parameters as inputs/outputs is now possible: GPIState1, GPIState2, GPOState1, GPOState2, Power, Out1.Mute, Out2.Mute, Out3.Mute, Out4.Mute, Out5.Mute, Out6.Mute, Out7.Mute, Out8.Mute

Reduced DSP cycles for EQ of N8000 with more than eight bands
Supervision of RCM-810 remote amplifiers using a N8000

RCM-26
Compressor in output channel is replaced by TEMP limiter
The maximum allowed amplifier output voltage is now used as additional value of the Peak limiter threshold parameter

Notes on the new TEMP limiter (Thermal Energy Management and Protection) in RCM-26
Firmware in RCM-26 MUST be upgraded to make use of the new function.
Old projects using the Compressor parameter should be checked for proper function, as this parameter will be removed after update. Project and GUI may need to be updated due to this change.
Projects created with IRIS-Net V2.3.0 cannot be used with RCM-26 devices with old firmware.
Projects created with the Project Generator are NOT affected by this change, and these projects can be used with IRIS-Net V2.3.0.
Currently existing SPS files may be used with new RCM-26 firmware.

REV
Electro-Voice REV firmware update is now possible within IRIS-Net, via the UCC1 firmware update dialog. Standalone REV update utility no longer needed.
IRIS-Net V2.3.0 includes these changes and numerous other improvements and enhancements. Please see the Read Me file for a complete list and details.

Minimum System Requirements:
Processor: Intel Pentium III 1 GHz or equivalent (better is recommended)
OS: Windows 2000, XP or Vista (32 Bit versions only, Vista users: see installation note)
RAM: 512 MB (more is recommended)
Hard Disk: 300 MB of free space
Video: 1024 x 768, High Color (16 Bit)
Network: Ethernet port and/or 1 USB port per 100 amplifiers

Bosch Security Systems Website
Electro-Voice Website

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Clear-Com Launches Enhanced Version Of “Concert” Intercom Software

The dynamic and scalable Concert now interfaces with four-wire systems.

Clear-Com Communication Systems today announced the launch of an enhanced version of the company’s Clear-Com Concert intercom software, which now offers external audio interfacing capabilities.

This allows Concert to interface with external audio systems, including partyline systems, paging systems, program feeds and other matrix systems using a four-wire interface over a standard IP network.

This enhancement allows authorized users with Internet access to easily communicate with other crew members using hard-wired panels and wireless beltpacks on the partyline and/or matrix intercom circuits who are using hard-wired panels and wireless beltpacks.

In addition, Concert can now accept and send audio through a facility’s public announcement system, program feed, and other 4-wire audio devices via most commercially available audio interface boxes.

“Unlike many IP intercom products that just transmit audio over an IP link, Concert has truly defined Intercom-over-IP with its ability to seamlessly integrate with traditional intercom systems and external audio interfaces over standard IP networks,” says Patrick Menard, Product Manager of Concert at Clear-Com.

“With the revolutionary I.V.Core technology at its core, Concert is inherently dynamic and scalable to manage communication connections of any size or quantity without sacrificing audio quality.”

Clear-Com Communication Systems Website

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Renkus-Heinz Appoints Middle East Sales Representative

Norbert Bau will serve as Middle East sales representative for Renkus-Heinz.

Dubai based Norbert Bau has worked closely with Renkus-Heinz for the past four years as part of its Middle East distribution network and has now joined the company to help Renkus-Heinz continue growth in the region.

Said Bau, “We have been working together for nearly four years and the relationship became stronger and closer with the success of the Iconyx product line in many very prestigious locations including major airports and auditoriums.”

“At the end of the day we found there is a fantastic chemistry between us and, for me personally with a background as a professional sound engineer, the opportunity to meet new acoustic challenges with Renkus-Heinz, and in particular a product as innovative as Iconyx, was unmissable…I foresee a very strong future for the brand and I’m excited to be part of it.”

Renkus-Heinz Export Sales Manager, Karl-Gustaf Kahlau stated, “Bringing Norbert on-board is a natural evolution to further boost our success in this region.”

“Now through Norbert’s expertise and with him joining us as our Dubai-based sales representative, we are able to provide our devoted customer network with local sales know-how and even shorter response-time; benefits which we anticipate will bring our clients closer to us and feel even more comfortable in the promotion of our systems.”

Renkus-Heinz Website

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St. Pius X Catholic Church Upgrades Audio Backbone With Networkable Ashly Amplifiers

Ashley affords St. Pius X the ability to spread their message with an easy to use system.

Established in 1954, St. Pius X Catholic Church in Rochester, Minnesota followed much the same path as other houses of worship.

Their first public address system was installed in the 1970’s to provide reinforcement for spoken word, however, as the church moved towards live music, the system was asked to reinforce far more than its intended purpose.

It only made sense, then, when the church undertook a massive renovation that their audio needs be addressed at that time.

Intermedia Systems Group (ISG) replaced the old sound system with a modern one that provides even coverage across the audible spectrum.

View the video tour by ISG.

At the center of the new system are Ashly NE-Series amplifiers delivering reliable power, along with easy network access allowing ISG to monitor and adjust the system remotely from its offices.

Josh Jagdfeld, ISG vice president worked closely with principal architect Carter Hord of Hord Architects (Memphis, Tennessee), parish administrator Denise DeRienzo, and director of liturgy Katie Stinson to design and install an easy-to-use system for the newly-renovated church.

The church is split into four main seating areas, and Jagdfeld arranged four EAW co-axial speaker cabinets to cover them seamlessly. RCF loudspeakers provide delay coverage for the balcony and cry rooms, and BIAMP Nexia DSP provides intelligent control of the system.

For example, if the church is hosting a smaller event, unused zones may be muted so as not to unnecessarily excite the acoustics of the room. Four new Audio-Technica 4000-series wireless microphone systems provide modern inputs that combine the convenience of wireless with fidelity worthy of the rest of the system.

“We love the feature set and price of the Ashly amps,” said Jagdfeld. “At ISG, we pride ourselves on avoiding ‘cookie-cutter’ designs. Everything we do is very intentional, and as a result we are very choosy about selecting specific equipment for particular applications. If it doesn’t fit, we look elsewhere.”

“That said, the Ashly amps have proven to be so flexible and reliable that they find their way into almost every job. Since Ashly introduced the PE-Series a year ago, we’ve put in a huge number of Ashly NE- and PE-Series amps, and we have yet to have a single problem with any of them.”

View the video tour by ISG.

Ashly Website

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