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Legendary Italian Club Upgrades with Martin Audio

Legendary Italian Club Upgrades with Martin Audio

RIMINI, ITALY – One of the few clubs in the world able to boast a 50-year history, the stylish Paradiso club offers clients a breathtaking view from its unbeatable vantage point overlooking the Adriatic Riviera. The legendary venue’s new owners — Luca De Simone and Alessandro Volta — announced their intention to reopen the Italian venue exactly 50 years after its original inauguration and restore it to its role as one of Europe’s leading clubs with a Martin Audio sound system.

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Drummer Boy Sound Hoops It Up with Dynacord Cobra

MIAMI – Miami’s Drummer Boy Sound, 99 JAMZ WEDR, Powerade and the City of Miami Gardens recently teamed up to sponsor and host the national touring Hoop It Up 3 on 3 basketball challenge at Calder Race track in Miami Gardens, Fla. DBS deployed their portable Dynacord Cobra line array system for the event, with additional equipment from Electro-Voice, Midas and Klark Teknik.

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Power Distros

Stop and think about it — given all of the nightmares that can happen on a typical audio gig, it is astounding that so many revolve around insufficient, inconsistent or just plain crappy power. And as the Digital Revolution marches on, it becomes even more crucial when you remember that an old analog console will handle inconsistent power levels a lot better than that shiny new digital board.

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Distro Taps

I am going to flirt with disaster and show the licensed and unlicensed electricians/sound persons the basics of tapping feeder wires into venue switch boxes and subpanels. Those of you who do not have a professional license can at least understand what is happening, and what could happen if done incorrectly. So, if you think your ego trumps your unlicensed status, I want you to thoroughly understand people could die (including yourself), if done incorrectly.

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Too Much God?

As I sit here writing this piece, it occurs to me that I really should be writing an article like this prior to the holiday onslaught. By the time you read this it will be spring and most of us will be looking forward to the busy summer season. But it wasn’t until this past Christmas/Hanukkah season that I had the types of experiences I will be sharing with you here.

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QSC GX5 Power Amplifier

When I first heard that QSC was going to offer a “low cost” audio power amplifier, my first instinct was how much lower from the RMX models could they go? Then they mentioned that they will adopt the new PLX2 cosmetics and limit the recommended load impedance to 4-ohms and up, and a “great idea” light bulb lit up in my head. And when QSC management said the amplifier would suit MI users and “oldsters” like me, I knew something good was afoot.

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Hear Technologies Freedom Back

As the use of personal monitoring systems has become more common, we have watched the price of earpieces come down substantially. You can get universal-fit models that rival the sound quality of customs that once cost more than a grand and can even find some custom fits for about ¼ of what was once the “standard” cost. While that has been happening with the earpiece side, the wireless transmitter/receiver part of the equation has remained pretty resistant to price reductions. Yeah, there have been some downmarket models introduced, but even those are fairly pricey and the “rider-able” ones remain in the “more than a grand per” category.

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Crossroads Audio: Don’t Mess with Texas

Ed Spoto made the big leap from touring life launching a live sound biz with a booming concert segment.

Ed Spoto laughs at the question of whether or not he misses the touring life. “Not one bit,” he says with a hint of laughter. “I am one of the few people who does not miss the road. I spent 10 years of hard touring and it was time to come home, have children and all that.”

While Spoto got off the road, he did not get out of the audio business. In fact, along with two partners — Stewart Bennett and Robin Magruder — Spoto has been running Dallas-based Crossroads Audio since 2001. The trio purchased the company, which had been open since 1972, after leaving Showco where they had earned their stripes. Bennett is the only one still out on the road, touring with Tom Petty whenever he goes out.
Spoto admits that they’ve retooled the company over the years and Crossroads Audio now includes a retail outlet, concert services department and rental division. Why all three? “It helps smooth out all the lumps,” Spoto answers. “When the concert department is a little slow then we have the retail department to make up for that.”

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Who’s the Headliner?

(One of my favorite funny/smart people is Dennis Miller, and I remember I used to watch his show no matter who was on just to hear “The Rant.” Well, Dennis is busy doing game shows and I haven’t heard a good rant in way too long. So, welcome to the FOH Rant Zone. Will this feature run all the time? Nope. But as often as we get really good rants, we’ll run ‘em as long as they won’t get us sued. To open this inaugural installment, we have one of my favorite hotheads. Take it away… —  ed.)

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Rascal Flatts Tour Still Feels Good

The chart-topping country sensation boasts the largest PA system on the road.

Rascal Flatts has been on fire for a couple of years and, according to Pollstar, the band’s 2007 tour ranked in the top 10 of the year. Rascal Flatts puts on a major show and to support it, Sound Image put together what they say is the largest PA system currently on the road in the U.S., featuring 90 JBL VerTec VT4889 full-size line array loudspeakers and 32 VT4880 arrayable subwoofers and two Studer Vista 5 SR digital consoles. Sound Image is also using dbx DriveRack 4800s for speaker management and Crown I-Tech 8000 amplifiers. For the first time on a major tour, all aspects of the system are controlled through a single interface  HiQnet System Architect.

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ProLight + Sound 2008

Here is our “virtual” show coverage of Europe’s major music trade show.
By Bill Evans

The ProLight and Sound show in Munich, Germany, is one of the biggest music trade shows in the world and there is plenty of audio there. So why don’t we at FOH attend? Well, truth is that if I am going to fly to Europe, I want it to be for more than another freaking trade show. Sue me. But we get lots of announcements of stuff that was intro’d at the show, so we have put together this bit of “virtual” show coverage. Just pretend we actually went…

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