 Let’s start by getting the obvious out of the way. With NSCA folding their trade show into InfoComm there is now really only one install show of real interest to the FOH crowd (CEDIA doesn’t count). And there were a number of marketing-type references to that fact including a big sign outside touting the “One Show.”
Now I have made it pretty clear for a long time now just how much I “enjoy” trade shows. So you would think I would be doing some version of the Happy Dance that there is one less show to go to this year. But it ain’t quite that simple. It is all about timing. First, the timing sucked because Summer NAMM moved back to Nashville and had to move to June to do so, which meant that it overlapped by a day with InfoComm. That meant almost zero presence for audio companies in Nashville and, say what you may about musician-oriented events, but musicians grow up to be sound guys, and it’s important to learn ‘em right while they are still learnable.
The other timing issue is that InfoComm is in June. It always seemed
like there was a lot more audio attendance at NSCA in March and that
InfoComm was more of a video show. There has been an increasing amount
of audio at InfoComm, but someone should have taken a look at the
calendar with a production eye before scheduling this. As noted up
front in the Editor’s Note, there are fewer and fewer strictly live
audio companies out there, and fully 83% of the FOH audience makes at
least some of their living doing installs. But 56% of the total income
seen by FOH readers comes from live event audio, and June is what? Um,
can you say, “The middle of the summer touring season?”
 It may explain why I saw so few familiar production audio faces on the
show floor and why the few locals I talked to who went to the show at
all told me that they had gone for maybe an hour or two at most. There
is just too much going on during the course of a Wed-Fri run during the
summer.
Also notable was the slowdown in the pace of new gear introductions. A
few years back, a wise live-audio guy working for a major mfg told me
that the pro audio industry had adopted the product cycles of the
computer industry. This was likely both a comment on the pace of
technological change as well as an observation on what it takes to hold
the attention of an Attention Deficit Disorder-riddled industry. But
while there was new stuff to be seen, it was nowhere near the onslaught
of years recently past.
Not sure what the answer is, but someone needs to take this scheduling
bull by the horns. Maybe a REAL pro audio show-within-a-show at Winter
NAMM in January? AES has tried to “get live’ for several years, but it
is still Recording Geek Central, and if our only other choice is the
audio “shootout” at LDI (which is, lest we forget, a SQUINT show!),
then we’re all screwed.
Here is a look at some of the stuff from the show for those of you who missed it because you were too busy working…
Starting at the beginning of the signal chain, dbx showed some new
affordable and apparently indestructible DIs with more than a passing
resemblance to the ones made by another now-Harman company with a curve
in the bottom that allows cables to pass underneath or lets you stack
multiple boxes to keep them neat and tidy. RapcoHorizon was showing the
LTI-1, a nifty little box with a stereo 1/8-inch input, ground lift
switches and a -20 dB pad. It also features left and right XLR outputs,
perfect for hooking that iPod up so you can play squashed MP3s through
the million-dollar sound system. It’s actually very useful, and I told
them I am keeping the review unit and to just send an invoice. They
also make a smaller version in the Soundblox series that sums the
stereo signal down to a single XLR out and fits in your back pocket. As
far as actual mics, Audio-Technica had a couple of new side-address
condensers that offer nice performance at a non-bank-breaking price.
The AT2035 Cardioid Condenser Microphone is intended for a wide variety
of miking applications, including overheads, acoustic instruments and
guitar cabinets. It features high SPL handling (148 dB, 158 dB with the
10 dB pad) and a wide dynamic range as well as a custom shock mount.
The AT2050 Multi-Pattern Condenser Microphone offers similar specs with
three switchable polar patterns: omni, cardioid and figure-eight. My
favorite part was the price — AT2035: $249 MSRP and AT2050: $369 MSRP.
So once you have sound you need to send it somewhere. The wireless
world was noticeably quiet with a couple of exceptions (digital
wireless pioneer X2 was acquired by MI giant Line 6 in a very smart
move, and a new company that features the involvement of former EAW
honcho Ken Berger was showing a wireless snake that uses microwave
spectrum making it immune to white space issues). But a couple of cool
things went down in cable world. Wireworks is making the AV2000
MultiMedia Cabling System that swings all possible ways, carrying
audio, data, video and anything else you can throw at them on a single
snake. And up the row a bit, Neutrik caught every tech’s eye with a new
XLR connector that can be either male or female by simply sliding the
casing forward or back. Throw three or four shorties with these on both
ends into the workbox and solve any one of 100 problems onsite without
having to think twice. I LOVE these things. Although the “diva” XLR
housing with the hand-placed Swarovski crystal bling was a little too
gay for my tastes.
While we are on the subject of cabling, unconfirmed rumors have it that
at least three big speaker makers used the Gear Box Pro to save time
and cable runs in their demo rooms. The Gear Box is a kind of Speakon
splitter/combiner first seen in the New Gear section of FOH just a
month or two ago. Cool.
So, we have arrived at the console, and most of what was happening
wasn’t REALLY new, although there was some cool stuff. Allen &
Heath released new software for the iLive that should go a long way in
making the desk more competitive. Yamaha unveiled a novel packaging
approach called the PM5D-EX, which combines a PM5D work surface with a
DSP5D Expander resulting in the I/O and processing of TWO PM5Ds on one
desk. If there was a trend to be seen, it was the further lowering of
the entry barrier to the digital console world with RSS continuing to
develop and expand their mix/snake system and Mackie offering a package
of the TT24 Digital Live Console with digital signal routing and Dolby
Lake EQ and speaker processing all controllable from the desk for about
what you would pay for a large-format analog mixer without a major
pedigree. But mixers land was not all digital as both APB and Crest
offered new rack-mountable analog mixers and A&H expanded its ZED
line to include more I/O including USB for direct recording of shows.
Processing had a moment or two to shine with a new DriveRack offering
from dbx aimed specifically at users of powered speakers. With presets
for most major brands and configurations, and even an included RTA mic,
this one looks like a winner for the local soundco and band crowd. At
the same booth was a new reverb from Lexicon that had the notably hard
to impress dbx tour sound guy tripping over himself to show me how cool
it was. In a move that may become more common, it has Firewire I/O as
well as the usual analog and digital audio connections, which means
that if you are using a digital board you can treat the PCM 96 as a
plug-in. Tres cool.
And just when we thought power amps had gotten all DSP on us, Crown
resurrected the Macro-Tech line with a meat-and-potatoes,
built-for-battle package that all but dares you to drop it off the
loading dock just to see what will happen. We are betting on maybe some
bent rack ears and not a lot else.
Finally, we arrive at speakers, and there was plenty to see and hear.
Most of the major players introduced new or expanded lines and —
remember, this is an install show — most including new offerings from
EV, Martin and Renkus-Heinz that sport every mounting option you can
imagine, but no handles or pole mount or any of that other stuff
installers don’t care about. In the live world, JBL debuted full-size
versions of the VerTec line powered by the Crown/dbx pedigreed
DrivePack and fully compliant with the HiQNet control system. All cool,
but the one that stood out to me was the W8LM from Martin, which had
been around for a while, but I had never had the chance to actually
hear. Astounding bass extension from a compact line array and the kind
of clarity and presence you expect from a Martin box. Also Renkus-Heinz
has extended its interesting Iconix digitally steerable array into the
live world with Iconyx Live. This small system turned a lot of heads
and when we found out they were only running half of the array it got
really interesting. Can’t wait to get a pair of these out to try and
break them.
Of course, there was some cool ancillary stuff like some great install
rack options at Middle Atlantic, including a contact-mount fan that you
are sure to see popping up on overheated stages keeping finicky digital
gear from going into meltdown mode. But as usual, the most fun was had
just finding out who was working for who and what companies had scored
what installs and tours and catching up with pals in the biz. That’s
what these convention things are really all about, after all.
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