Monitors from British company Bel Digital Audio are finding favour with broadcasters in Thailand, as state broadcaster NBT takes two four-channel BM-AV2 audio/video monitors and Channel 7 installs four BM-A1 audio monitors in its new outside broadcast vehicle.

Multiple Bel 7150 digital delays have also been installed by both radio and satellite TV stations across the country.

The expanding range of Bel monitors and delays now includes multichannel analogue and digital audio monitors, plus 3G SDI digital audio/video monitors and de-embedders featuring comprehensive I/O. The range of delays includes industry standard audio synchronisations devices and profanity delay units.

More: www.beldigital.com

With the SD9 provided by B&R Medientechnik, owner Bernd Kugler struck up a friendship with Joey de Maio, founder/manager and bassist of Manowar. This developed over the recordings, festivals and productions around Europe. ‘Joey is a techie and enthusiast, and I am obsessed with the same things,’ says Kugler. ‘Death to Infidels was a big and new challenge for us. Set-up times were tight and had to work around the backline of the band, especially with the guitarists. A redesign of backline and the stage performance was necessary.’

Nova Distribution has reported the sale of a pair of Eve Audio SC208 monitors to drum ’n’ bass producer and DJ, Break, for his studio in Bristol, UK.

‘If I close my eyes when listening through the SC208s, it sounds like I'm in a large mastering studio,’ he says. ‘I open my eyes again and cannot believe these speakers only have 8inch cones, the depth and clarity is phenomenal for the price.’

The SC208’s 36Hz low end is well suiteed to dance music production. They are the last in Eve’s two-way system series, offering a larger woofer and more powerful amplifiers.

Recognised for his DJ skills, Break maintains a consistent touring schedule that sees him playing across the globe on a weekly basis on the stages of the world’s biggest drum ’n’ bass institutions –Fabric, Detonate, Bedlam, Warning, Metalheadz and Hospitality in the UK, as well as clubs in the US, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and across Europe.

After launching his own label, Symmetry Recordings in 2006, Break honed his sound with each single and released his first album, Symmetry, in 2008. Two years later, a second LP, Resistance, brought further collaborations a wide variety of artists.

More: www.eve-audio.com
More: www.nova-distribution.co.uk

Hidden in a unremarkable back alley, EMI Publishing Studios is part of London’s best established recording facilities. Rrecently updated, the studios house two UAD-2 powered Pro Tools mixing rooms, which surround an intimate live room. The consoles are flanked by a selection of outboard effects, assorted in-house guitars, amps, drums and a classic Moog Little Phatty. However, as well stocked as these studios were, welcoming the biggest producers and artists in the world, the monitoring wasn’t up to scratch.

EMI Engineer Scott McCormick called in Source Distribution to help out: ‘We’ve always struggled a touch with the acoustics in our studios here, but the Genelecs that Source allowed us to trial made a massive improvement,’ McCormick says. ‘We now have the 8240s in Studio B and a set of 8250s in Studio A. Both studios can be acoustically difficult but the Genelecs were a massive help, they just work.’

Genelec’s 8240A bi-amplified monitoring system provides a compact yet powerful set-up that is well suited to a space such as EMI’s Studio B, and able to out-perform many larger systems. The DSP function helps the monitors adjust to the room.

‘We are getting great levels of bass out of them comparable to our big, flush mounted three-ways and they are worth three grand and are twice the size,’ McCormick reports. ‘Even with the DSP on, we aren’t getting any fatigue, the frequencies are full and it makes mixing easy, we are now able to fully trust in what we are listening to.’

With a high turnover of producers workin in the studios, it was important for McCormick to find a monitoring system that was both accessible and could deliver on performance. A big draw for producers when working with calibrated 8240 monitors is their accuracy. In a multi-user environment such as EMI, this accuracy is not to be underestimated: ‘It’s a huge concern with a lot of the producers we work with,’ he says. ‘If they work on a really bassy set-up, for example, when they play their tracks on an outside system it sounds terrible. A great thing about the DSP on these is that it doesn’t flatter the sound. We know that when we export tracks recorded here, the sound that is produced will be accurate to the recording.’

Equally happy with the trial of the 8250As in the Studio A, McCormick welcomed the ability to jack straight from Pro Tools into the monitors. ‘Being able to bypass the desk in this way means we get the purest path possible. Mixing like this allows us to establish a direct mixing chain and a more analogue chain for vibing, tracking and writing.

‘In this studio they do a better job than any set of speakers we’ve ever used.’

More: www.genelec.com

The announcement was made by MD Lisa Kaufmann, and will see Conard managing Genelec’s pro audio sales force in the US and implementing dealer sales and support programmes for the full line of Genelec stereo and multichannel applications. A veteran of the professional audio industry, Conard previously held sales and/or management positions at Yamaha Commercial Audio and Westlake Audio, and was most recently Territory Manager for Bose Corporation.

‘I have been an ardent Genelec fan for many years,’ he says. ‘When I served at Westlake Audio, we were one of the largest Genelec retailers. I am very excited about the product line, and thrilled to be onboard.’

More: www.genelec usa.com

Currently enjoying the approval of much of the pro audio indusry, the James Bond film Skyfall has given up another of its secrets – that Hollywood composer Thomas Newman relied on a pair of PMC IB2S XBD-Active loudspeakers during his work on the film.

Newman, who was offered the job on Skyfall by Director Sam Mendes, moved to London temporarily from to write the score and in preparation – having used PMC loudspeakers in his Los Angeles writing room for more than 15 years – auditioned the recently launched active IB2s in LA before departing.

‘Recently I started to get more of a relationship with PMC through their US sales guys, and they offered to set me up with some speakers for my writing room in London during the Bond project,’ he says. ‘But for the first 15 years of using PMC speakers, I had no real relationship with the company; I was just a user of their loudspeakers. That’s always the better way for it to be. I haven’t just started using PMCs because I’ve got to know the guys from the company; I’m a genuine advocate of their products.’

Skyfall – Newman’s first Bond score – turned out to be one of the most intensive projects he has worked on: ‘I don’t think I’ve ever written as much music for a movie – there’s 95 minutes of it. Much of it was action cues, where there are a lot more notes. And of course, it’s the 50^th anniversary Bond film, too…’

With time to complete the score running out, most of the music for the film was composed and arranged in Avid Pro Tools, together with MOTU Digital Performer. ‘I did have another room with a piano – but most of the music for this film was created at the computer,’ he admits. The PMCs in the writing room were therefore an essential part of the early composition process.

‘I’ve always been impressed with the ability their speakers have to handle kick drums and the low end of things – sounds that hit a speaker hard,’ Newman says. ‘But the main thing about them, for me, is that they make speakers that I forget are there. You stop thinking of them as speakers – they’re a conduit for music and sound, and you just believe what you’re hearing.’

With Skyfall the most successful Bond film to date and calls for Sam Mendes to return to direct the next instalments in the franchise, does Thomas Newman think he might be back with Bond next time too? ‘I’ve not even thought about it,’ he says. ‘It would be lovely to be asked – but I would never want to assume that I would be.’

More: www.pmc-speakers.com

Having come to fame with the internet posting of their acappella version of Beyond’s ‘Under a Vast Sky’, the Metro Vocal Group took to the stage in the Music Zone of Kowloon Bay International Trade & Exhibition Centre for Metro No Borders Live recently. As title sponsor, Sennheiser Asia provided the live sound system for the event.

With their internet debut viewed more than 13m times on YouTube, Tudou and Youku, the group performed further acappella classics in Mandarin, Cantonese and English at the concert.

Sennheiser’s support included G3 wireless microphone systems and a K-array speaker system. ‘Sennheiser is provided top quality in-ear monitors and even put our logo on the microphones,’ the band said. ‘Thank you Sennheiser, it makes our job easy – too easy.’

More: www.sennheiser.com

Genelec has taken the wraps off its Smart Active Monitor (SAM) concept. Part of ‘a new streamlined marketing effort’, the loudspeaker specialist has incorporated its line of DSP monitors under the SAM classification, which now includes all 82xx Genelec monitors.

Models in the SAM range are capable of automatically adapting to acoustical environments for effective use in broadcast, postproduction and music studio applications. A SAM system can be controlled with digital networking, enabling users to build highly flexible computer-controlled systems of monitors.

‘Smart Active Monitoring is a concept that bundles all the benefits of Genelec’s advanced monitoring systems to a single, easily understandable and descriptive term,’ says Genelec R&D Manager, Dr Aki Mäkivirta. ‘SAM is also a concept that describes perfectly the current technology leap pioneered by Genelec in the evolution of the active monitoring loudspeaker – the transition from the analogue to the digital world, where digital technologies, along with software features, increase quality and bring unique user experiences to the customers, and enable seamless integration of monitoring speakers and subwoofers to a well-calibrated and correctly aligned reproduction system.’

The acoustical features of SAM systems can be optimised with automatic calibration for different working styles or client demands. This includes aligning levels at the listening position, adjusting delays from the signal input to the listening location, and compensating for the acoustical room influences in the frequency responses (equalisation). One of these proprietary tools is AutoCal, Genelec´s acoustic calibration solution that is supplied alongside the Genelec Loudspeaker Management software package, GLM.

SAM capabilities can be adapted with software upgrades both in the monitoring speakers themselves and in the system management software.

‘The SAM launch marks the beginning of a new era in audio monitoring for Genelec, thanks to the rise of digital technology and evolving market expectations about the possibilities of audio monitors,’ says Will Eggleston, Genelec USA Marketing Director. ‘Also, designers of systems have shown that digital monitors have some notable capabilities beyond the analog realm.’

Using GLM software and AutoCal, a monitor can be turned into the reference it needs to be in today’s demanding environment for engineers. This promises to improve performance and achieve a flat frequency response at listening position, as well as handling phase alignment in between monitors and subwoofer and time-of-flight compensation.

More: www.genelec.com

An important stop on the European jazz circuit, the 2012 Jazz à Vannes line-up featured the likes of Marcus Miller, Malia, the Kyle Eastwood Band and the Jacky Terrason Trio. Co-starring at the event, rental company and jazz specialist Studio Sextan took care of the audio requirements for the French festival.

‘I’ve been doing this festival for 23 years now,’ says Studio Sextan’s Vincent Mahey. ‘On the one hand it’s very familiar; on the other, it’s exciting to witness and to be a part of all the changes and developments that have taken place over the years, not least amongst the sound systems we have supplied, to make the festival what it is today.’

‘Today’ found an APG Uniline system serving as the PA for the main stage in the Jardins de Limur, complete with a DX Series stage monitor system and two Innovason Sy48 consoles at FOH and monitors. The system comprised LR hangs of seven UL210, three UL115s and a UL210D downfill each, supplemented by four TB218 subs under the front of the stage and two DX15 front fills. Mahey placed a further two TB218 subs below the seats about two-thirds up the rake for extra sub-bass reinforcement.

Mahey reports that this is the fifth year that Studio Sextan has supplied an APG system, the last three of which have been with Uniline. The past two years have also seen a DX Series stage monitor system.

‘Every year we make a few minor adjustments to the configuration, but we’ve basically hit on the right formula now,’ he says. ‘As I’ve said time and time again, Uniline has proved to be an excellent system for us. I like the natural, transparent sound and the complete lack of distortion, even when driven hard. Frequency response and directivity control are both excellent and the modularity of the system makes it easy to design a configuration that will achieve smooth and even coverage throughout the listening area, whatever its shape and size.’

The Jardins de Limur stage at Jazz à Vannes features unusual depth and steep rake of its seating. ‘The seating area isn’t very wide, but it’s long,’ Mahey explains. ‘The seats furthest from the stage are a good 60-70m away, and quite high up, so we opted for a fairly big configuration to make sure that we could comfortably achieve the coverage and sound quality we were looking for.’

In terms of stage monitor ing, Sextan supplied 12 APG DX12 wedges and six DX15s. ‘The DXs are now a fundamental part of our inventory,’ Mahey says. ‘The artists we work with regularly are always pleased to see DXs on stage – and it has to be said that jazz musicians are amongst the most difficult to please when it comes to monitors - and those that haven’t come across them before are quickly converted. Excellent sound quality, compact, versatile – what more could you want?’

More: www.apg.tm.fr

German loudspeaker specialist EVE Audio has begun shipping its three-way SC305 and SC307 critical monitor systems. Both models are designed to be equally precise in stereo and surround set-ups – and both can be used as a centre channel speaker.

The SC305 and SC307 designs use one of their woofers to deliver sound up to 350Hz and 300Hz respectively ‘as a kind of bass woofer’, while the other woofer is used up to the 3000 Hz crossover frequency as a bass-midrange driver.

Both models are completed with EVE Audio’s air motion transformer and feature high-resolution DSP electronics to tailor a system to different applications and operating environments.

The systems are distributed by Nova Distribution in the UK.

More: www.eve-audio.com
More: www.nova-distribution.co.uk