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Peter Papageorge & CDR300.
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A few months ago, I posted on the LAB
asking how to burn CD’s at FOH. People came back with
probably a dozen different answers, recommending many different
brands. At NAMM, I saw an interesting one-box solution from
Marantz
. The CDR300 lists for $849 and has XLR inputs that are switchable
between mic and line level, as well as a mono on-board mic,
which actually sounds pretty good, ideal for ENG work and
reporters’ interviews.
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Peter Papageorge also showed me the PSD300, which lists for $1099,
and has the same basic equipment, with the addition of a second
CD player, so that custom discs can be burnt, from a CD source.
The PSD also has karaoke-style features during playback, including
changing keys and tempo, looping, and vocal removal.
Okay, I’ll admit it, I went into the BGW
booth because of the smell of fresh popcorn. Once that had successfully
lured me in, I spotted a familiar face,
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PAS RS-2LA
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David Lewty, who is now working in sales
for BGW after many years mixing on the road. I’m not
sure which band I met him with, but I am sure he passed through
one of the venues I have worked in.
BGW is offering multi-channel amps, eight
channels apiece. The VX208 is three rack units high and delivers
300 watts per channel into 4 ohms, while the VX108 takes two
spaces and produces 150 watts.
PAS
has a new line array, the RS-2LA enclosure. This is related
to their previous RS./2.2 cabinet, which has the same drivers,
two 15’s, one with a co-ax 2”. PAS is selling the
line array in a package of 16 boxes with six amps, processor,
fly hardware, racks and cables.
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Pat Connor and Greg Shadoan
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Two of the most cheerful people I met
during the entire four days in Anaheim were Greg Shadoan and
Pat Connor of Eagle Works
Speaker Systems, located in beautiful distant Portland,
Oregon. Eagle Works makes two co-ax passive wedges, the M-115
with a 15” and the the M-112 with a 12”.
Sharing the booth space with them were
the products of EWI, and I recognized W. Mark Hellinger of
A.P. Distributing. It was fun to meet him and talk about the
big controversy on the LAB about our
review of the E&W amp. At NAMM, EWI was showing a
snake on a reel, that has male and female XLR’s right
on the side of it, with male and female XLR’s for 24
channels and four returns.
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Eagle Works M-115
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Snake on a reel!
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There are stage boxes, and XLR cables, and 1/4” cables, in
all different colors, metal-wrapped, glow-in-the-dark, you name
it. I saw quad d.i.’s, both passive and active, and a tester
that really impressed me, called the Bug Catcher. This lists for
$56, and can test mono or stereo 1/4”, XLR, NL4, RCA, BNC,
1/8” mini, and MIDI.
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Samson Expedition Express
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Over at Samson
, I asked marketing director Pete Moe what they were pushing
for the live market. Their DB500A cabinet is competing against
the active molded cabinets from JBL and Mackie. For someone
who is going to make a presentation or speech, the Expedition
Express stacks and locks for easy rolling. The top box is
passive and is driven by the cabinet it rides to the gig on,
which has an amp and cassette player, with inputs for mics
and lines.
 There
are a couple of attached bags, kind of like a bicyclist would
have, that have a mic and cables, so that someone can buy
this set-up and actually go use it without additional accessories.
There is definitely a market for items like this, sound gear
for salesmen and managers, and other people who are not audio
professionals.
Samson is also selling the CO1, an inexpensive
large-diaphragm condenser mic.
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EAW EP2.
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At EAW,
Jeff Mason told me about his background as a live mixer and
how he has personally used the E-Powered Series on the gig,
and was very happy with it. I saw what I thought was a normal
NL4 cable jack on the EP1 subwoofer, that would connect it
with the EP2 (15/1.4”) or EP3 (15/8/1.4”) tops.
 But
I discovered that it was a trick Speak-on with a special plug
shape, meant to carry AC power to the active top boxes. It
will not accept a standard NL4!
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Jeff Mason of EAW
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Stopping in at Shure,
I ran into War mixer Armando Tavares, talking to Richard Stockton.
Richard pointed me at the new ULX receivers, the Standard
ULXS4, and the Professional ULXP4. I had heard about these
units, which feature automatic channel selection, and look
forward to hearing more about them from people who use them
in the field. Shure had some water bottles available with
custom labels, I need to find out how to get some made - your
official Chris Kathman Sound Design water.
Everybody needs water! And, everybody
needs to buy tons of musical items, according to the
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manufacturers who make NAMM a successful convocation
of top professionals, absolute amateurs, and every shade of gray
in between. On the PSW side of this year’s NAMM, Keith and
Julie Clark have returned home to Michigan, Ken Berger and Rob Carey
have flown back to Massachusetts, and I drove the fifty miles back
up to my place.
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Shure ULX wireless systems
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On a more serious note, in closing here,
I would like to mention an organization called Ethos, in Portland,
Oregon. They work to give kids music
lessons who would otherwise not receive them. Music education
has been highly compromised in many states, certainly here
in California, and apparently up in Oregon. Rob Schnell of
Audix told me about Ethos, which he is involved with.
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Ethos has a digital recording studio that they
make available at low cost,
and even send a bus into the backwoods with instruments and teachers
on
board. They have gotten some Americorps people assigned to them,
this is a
very active, and admirable program.
Many of us do not give a lot to charity, or volunteer to help out
with anything like this. I applaud Rob Schnell (and do not mean
to embarrass him here.) There are many old sayings about how we
need to give back, when we have received a living from a given community.
Hearing about Ethos made me think. I hate it when that happens!
I would rather just keep strolling around,
talking to people, taking pictures, getting some swag here, a back
rub there, a little macchiato, some Krispy Kremes, you know?
Cheers –
- C.K.
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