News

MEMPHIS, TN — FOH was on hand for the start of the annual Memphis event called the Beale Street Music Festival, hanging out with Allstar Audio’s president Mike Borne and the rest of the crew. (You can see the video interview at www.fohonline.com under FOH Press.) As part of the Memphis in May International Festival, the Beale Street Music Festival, along with the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest and the Sunset Symphony, are all spread across 33 acres overlooking the Mississippi River. This year’s rock portion of the festival hosted over 45 national acts from Steely Dan to Corinne Bailey Rae over three large stages. Contractor Allstar Audio Systems, Inc., along with crew chief Tony “Coop” Cooper selected D.A.S. Audio equipment for the event.

Powersoft introduces the K20 digital amplification system, measuring only one rack space, yet capable of producing 20,000 watts. Powersoft’s regulated Switch Mode Power Supply with Power Factor Correction (PFC) is designed so that 95% of the power goes to the speakers, and less than 5% is dissipated in heat. Because the K20 is a single space design and intended to run cool, no spaces are required between amps. The amp’s reduced size should also result in space-efficient racking and cost-effective truck pack.

TOA Electronics Inc. is launching two new models for their DA Series multichannel digital amplifiers at the 2007 Infocomm trade show June 15 – June 21 in Anaheim, Calif.

Nady Systems has introduced two new powered subwoofers — the PSW 18A and the stereo powered SSW-15A.

LAS VEGAS —Shure microphones took the stage for a majority of the performances at the 2007 Academy of Country Music Awards. For the event, Randy Faustino was at the FOH mix position, and there were an array of Shure microphones onstage. ATK Audiotek of Burbank, Calif., managed sound reinforcement for the star-studded gathering, supplying Shure UHF-R Wireless mics.

MEDFORD, OR — Joy Christian Fellowship in Medford, Ore., announced that it is one of the first houses of worship to install Meyer Sound’s M’elodie ultracompact high-power curvilinear array loudspeaker. Music minister Jake Schmelzer chose the Meyer system because of his experiences at the Britt Festivals in nearby Jacksonville, for which George Relles Sound of Eugene, Ore., has provided a Meyer Sound rental system every summer since 1985.

NILES, IL— Sandy LaMantia, President and CEO of Shure Incorporated, today praised several legislators who are supporting H.R. 1320, The Interference Protection for Existing Television Band Devices Act of 2007. The bill, introduced by Representative Bobby L. Rush (D-IL), seeks to protect users of wireless microphone systems and other devices that transmit in the television band from harmful interference from new devices. Representatives Mark Steven Kirk (R-IL), Shelley Berkley (D-NV), Jim Cooper (D-TN), Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL) and Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) have pledged their support for the bill.

NASHVILLE, TN — A galaxy of Sennheiser and Neumann microphones and a TRUE Systems Precision 8 mic preamp system were on hand at the Memphis, Nashville, and Atlanta Sister Hazel shows for the band’s all-acoustic "The Hard Rock Park Road to Myrtle Beach Tour." Sister Hazel headlined a traveling exhibition of the Beatles' famed Magical Mystery Tour Bus in support of the future 140-acre Hard Rock Park in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The tour hit Hard Rock Cafés between New York and Atlanta before a finale at the Myrtle Beach site.

The three new Martin Audio MA Series models — MA18K, MA12K and MA9.6K — are designed to use Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) technology to achieve higher efficiency. Martin says these amps can deliver 95% of the input power into the speakers, with a 5% loss dissipated as heat. They are reduced in size and weight and also contain patented design features to control parameters such as distortion, frequency response, slew rate, damping factor and bandwidth. The amps use switch-mode power supplies and power factor correction to maintain a steady current draw on the mains supply.

DALLAS —The latest addition to the successful House of Blues brand opened in Dallas on May 8 with an inaugural performance by Dallas native, Erykah Badu. The new venue includes a 1,625-capacity music hall, a 400-seat restaurant, special events facilities, a company store and a Foundation Room consisting of a private lounge and fine dining area for members. The sound system features the latest XLC DVX line arrays from Electro-Voice, along with a full compliment of EV P and CP series amplifiers, Midas mixing consoles and Klark Teknik Square One signal processing.

MIAMI — The Ultra Music Festival, an outdoor electronic music event, was held this year at Bicentennial Park in downtown Miami, Fla., and attracted 50,000 fans from around the world. Over the two-day period, the nine outdoor stages featured performances by The Cure, Carl Cox, Fatboy Slim, Paul Van Dyk, and Tiesto, among others.