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Are You Listening?

George Petersen, Editor, FOH Magazine

Are You Listening?

We spend a lot of time listening; in fact, it’s a process that continues during most of our waking hours — unless you happen to be a college student dozing off during a lecture on 17th Century Planar Existentialism, in which case, all bets are off. However, according to research, we also even spend a fair amount of time listening while sleeping. So, unless you put in some hours in a sensory deprivation tank or possibly sleeping in anechoic chambers, listening is a 24/7 thing.

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Eric Church’s “The Outsiders” World Tour

Eric Church has a reputation for putting on rowdy, high-energy shows that were relatively simple. This time he went out with all the energy and all the frills. The country star puts on a rock act, almost like a southern Bruce Springsteen, though an encore can include just him and an acoustic guitar (at a show that spans almost two and a half hours, he doesn’t always need one).

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TC Furlong provided a DiGiCo SD7T console for the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, IL.

Theater Installation Showcase

Once considered a dying art, live performance theater today is a thriving and growing industry. And where once a simple sound system would suffice in a theatrical setting, venues have been upgrading, expanding and enhancing their audio capabilities. This stems not only from the high standards set by Broadway-caliber productions — both in established theater centers such as London, and New York, but also from myriad touring casts that bring recent hit shows and original casts to secondary markets.

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Studer Vista consoles have new features

Harman’s Studer Announces Major New Features For Vista Consoles

POTTERS BAR, U.K. – HARMAN’s Studer today announced the release of significant new features for the Vista X, Vista V, Vista1 and Vista 5 M3 digital consoles. This new software update includes the ability to assign Strip Setups as CUE events; support of the Soundcraft Realtime Rack (UAD plug-ins); support of Lexicon PCM96 Surround reverbs with Infinity Core; Input Gain unfold for multi-format channels; Spill Zone for contributing channels; GUI enhancements and new patch groups; A-Line embedded Ethernet; and contribution PAN in stereo channels to mono Aux busses.

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Neutrik AG CEO Werner Bachmann and president of Neutrik USA Pete Milbery at the company’s anniversary party during the 2015 NAMM show

Neutrik – 40 Years of Making Connections

Founded in 1975, today Neutrik AG, is recognized globally as the leading supplier of robust, reliable professional connectivity solutions for audio, video, and data, and this year, is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Ironically, if you ask most people in the pro audio industry, it’s probably a safe bet that few are familiar with Neutrik’s home country of Liechtenstein — a tiny nation that’s about the land area of Washington, D.C., and bordered by Switzerland and Austria. Far better known is the Neutrik name, as the leading provider of audio, coaxial, power and circular connectors.

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FOH March 2015 Buyers Guide - DSP Amplifiers

DSP Amplifiers

No doubt about it — amplifiers are smart and keep getting smarter, with recent models offering an increasing amount of onboard DSP to handle system setup/engineering chores.

To download a PDF of the FRONT of HOUSE March 2015 Buyers Guide, CLICK HERE

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Ultimate Ears Pro Sound Guard

Ultimate Ears Pro Sound Guard

In-ear monitors are becoming more and more ubiquitous every day and wireless hardware systems are coming down in price, opening the market to a wide range of users, some fairly sophisticated about audio and other not so knowledgeable. In the hands of a trained pro monitor mixer who understands the needs and limitations of IEM systems (and users) the need for an in-line brick wall protection limiter may not be so important.

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Blue Mo-Fi Headphones

Blue Mo-Fi Headphones

One of the most essential, yet often overlooked items in the toolkit of any live sound pro is a good set of headphones. And if truth be told, there are a lot of headphones on the market, ranging from less expensive options to some awful-sounding, yet very pricey models that come emblazoned with the name of some famous music celebrity. However, the headphone needs of a sound reinforcement mixer (FOH or monitors) are quite different from those of a typical consumer — or for that matter, a studio engineer.

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Arena Sozopol in Bulgaria installed Community Professional loudspeakers.

New Stadium Audio for 2015 UEFA European Under-17 Soccer Championship

SOZÒPOL, Bulgaria – Arena Sozòpol is one of the four venues that will host the 2015 UEFA European Under-17 soccer championship. Completed in plenty of time for the championship, set for May 6-22, 2015, the 4,000 seat stadium has undergone full reconstruction with new grandstands and amenities. Burgas based Pro Audio Ltd. installed Community Professional loudspeakers.

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Reverberation and RT60

Reverberation and RT60

In this month’s tech column, we unpack the concept of reverberation, and the measurement known as RT60. Commonly bandied about by audio professionals, these terms are frequently misapplied or misunderstood. Often when we say reverberation, we mean discrete echoes. Leading into the discussion of reverberation, we will review some general acoustics concepts, and then apply those concepts to the dictionary definition of reverberation. Then we’ll talk practically about applying equalization, and the effect of volume on our perception of reverberation.

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The earpieces on the CM-i3 provide more comfort than an over-the-ear design and are interchangeable.

Point Source Audio CM-i3 Comm Headset

If you ever needed to use a communications headset in a loud environment, you know that any headset that provides isolation is usually rather bulky. These aviation-inspired headsets do a great job for followspot operators working a loud performance, but they can be heavy and cumbersome. Point Source Audio offers a lightweight alternative with its new CM-i3 intercom headset.

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Operations manager Gary Ferenchak and studio manager Sarah Zeitler outside the Rock Lititz monolith.

Inside Rock Lititz

In close proximity to Lancaster, PA, there is Lititz, a town of about 9,000 that’s home to The Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery and the Wilbur Chocolate Factory. Surrounded by dairy farms and cornfields, Lititz is also located in Pennsylvania Dutch country, an area closely associated with the Amish, known for their simpler way of living, horse and carriages, quilts, suspenders and the shunning of the public power grid and modern appliances.

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