| NSCA
Expo Day Three:
The “big boys” have
been busy, while a
networking solution takes shape
 By
Keith Clark
Editorial Director
ProSoundWeb |
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Pro
wrestling at the Gibson Labs booth. Proof positive that you should never say you’ve
seen it all.
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Some things leave you speechless… like a professional wrestling match
suddenly breaking out on a trade show floor. The folks at Gibson
Labs provided the action, even if we were all at a bit of a loss to explain
what it’s supposed to mean or how it ties into the Gibson contracting products
I’ll be referring to a bit later. Perhaps the meaning lies in the fact that
I mentioned them first in today’s report….
| Anyway,
the day began with an early stop at JBL
to get the scoop on the new Application Engineering (AE) Series of loudspeakers,
specifically for fixed install applications. There are only 33 – yes, only
33 - new loudspeakers in this line, certainly not enough to offer contractors
any type of real flexibility or options… (!)
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Rick
Kamlet unveiling the new 33-box AE line.
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"The AE Series is a stair-stepped approach to allow contractors to select
just the right solution for each job," JBL’s Rick Kamlet, senior director
for installed sound, told us. Yes, we nodded. Briefly, AE product categories
include 20 two-way and three-way systems in high and medium-power models, with
rotatable horns, also with six compact 12-in and 15-in loaded enclosures, two
low-frequency enclosures, and five subs, one horn-loaded with a 18-in driver.
The cool thing is that the series has been very well conceived to meet the specific
criteria of fixed installation – a good amount of forward thinking. |
JBL also introduced the Control 30 surface-mount loudspeaker, and -
surprise! - two Control Series (Models 26-DT and 24CT) ceiling loudspeakers. The
Control 30 is three-way with a 10-in woofer in a weather-resistant package. All
three look like very good additions in increasing the depth and flexibility of
the Control line.
Next stop – and really, let’s be honest, it
was a pretty short walk – was a quick introduction to what Crown
has tagged as it’s new flagship amp line, the CTs Series. This line of six
amps, which will be replacing the venerable Com-Tech Series (all hail Com-Tech
for its years of valued service!) in contracting applications, includes four 2-channel
models, a 4-channel model, and even one with 8 channels.
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A
closer look at the CTs Series – nice aesthetics on the front panel.
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Crown’s Jerry Stutzman with the new flaship line.
| A
CobraNet digital audio
input option is currently available for each of the four 2-channel CTs models,
and the company has future plans along these lines for the multi-channel models.
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Michael
Akrep’s new Polar Focus Zbeam.
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A quick stopover to meet for the first time, in person, Michael Akrep of Polar
Focus, who’s done wondrous things in developing the Zbeam universal rigging
beams. Michael’s proof positive that there’s almost always a different
and better way of doing things. He gave me the nickel tour on his new 110-pound
rated Zbeam.
It’s made of folded steel sheet instead of extruded
aluminum and offers the same holes in the structural elements as on the ZB-20-880.
It also offers a new feature in the form of an optional locking bar, which can
be attached to the holes at the ends of the Zbeam structural elements. This prevents
unintended change of pan angle. | Meyer
Sound’s been busy – way busy. Mark Johnson showed me the new line-up,
which includes the new M2D mid-sized line array and the very cool looking M1D
small line array. At first glance, I thought the M1D was some sort of trade show
mock-up – at one-third scale – of the flagship M3D line array. No, no,
no, Mark notes, the M1D is the real thing, designed to provide venues like churches
with a viable line array solution.
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Cool
groundstacking from the flybar on the M2D.
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It’s the M3D’s “mini-me”: the M1D ultra-compact line array.
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The M2D also has some pretty neat stuff going for it in addition to
Meyer sound quality. Arrays can actually be constructed ahead of time and then
simply loaded into a truck, and off-loaded at the venue. The rock-solid steel
frame construction of the hardware makes this possible, along with a nifty flybar
that also serves as a secure base to attach to in ground-stack apps.
More
on other new Meyer products soon, and check PSW WebExpo News for the latest on
this and other products.
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Sandy
Mac wearing the look of success.
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Meyer also had a big announcement. Sandy MacDonald (Sandy Mac) has joined Team
Meyer to head up U.S. Northeast Regional sales. Best known for his international
work with EAW, Sandy’s a
real pro – in addition to being a good drinking buddy and a darn fine keyboard
player. Congrats to both sides on this deal. | Things are
busy in Yamaha world, with several new products headlined by networked amplifier
technology. New models include PC Series amps, a control unit and a Cobranet hub
bridge. |
Yamaha’s
Mike Nicoletti at the front of an all-digital chain.
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Yamaha Applications Specialist Mike Nicoletti explained to me that the ACU16-C
amp control unit is capable of monitoring up to 32 Yamaha PC amps via RS-232 or
USB, while the NHB32-C network hub bridge allows 32 channels of AES/EBU to be
converted to Cobranet. Cool stuff. | Cobranet has been
on the move – we could finally (dare I say it?) have an emerging “industry
networking standard.” Peak Audio’s got more than 30 licensees on board,
with more coming soon, and a lot of them are not only major players, like Yamaha
and Crest Audio, but a
lot of them are already hitting the floor running with real, working Cobranet
compatible products.
As mentioned, Crest is another player in this scenario,
and they’ve been quietly busy, getting their act together over the past two
years. The result is a new series of amps, and new NexSys 4 control with Cobranet
compatibility. Richard Spina explained to me that NexSys 4 offers both control
and audio signals to be routed to compatible amps on the network in conjuction
with both Ethernet and CobraNet. Always nice to have choices…
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Crest’s
Richard Spina (right) and Mark Yeck with Crest’s cool NexSys 4 and new contractor
amp package.
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TheCrest CKi line is a premium line of power processing amplifiers intended
specifically for the contracting market. Would it shock you if I pointed out that
they are designed to be used in conjuction with NexSys 4? I thought not.
Speaking
of networking, I popped by the Gibson Labs booth to see what’s up with their
MaGIC (Media-accelerated Global Information Carrier), a system offering 32 channels
of 32-bit 48 kHz uncompressed digital sound in both directions (64 channels total),
with a control stream 100 times as powerful as MIDI. The product is due in mid
summer, I was told, so we’ll have to check back and find out how it’s
working. | Gibson is making a bid to compete in the pro
sound market with several new loudspeaker and amp models, and they showed a new
three-way system that makes up vertical line arrays.
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Didn’t
hear it, but it looks good – the new Gibson MA215-3 line array system.
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Called the MA215-3, it’s got dual midrange and high-frequency drivers
that combine into the slot of a single horn, which is rotatable. Looks like a
promising kickoff, and it’ll be quite interesting to see how Gibson fares
in their foray on the pro side of things. |
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