In Broadcast - October 2012 - 52

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WWW.INBROADCAST.COM | ISSUE 13 - OCTOBER 2012

InREVIEW PLASA Exits Earls Court In True Style
Although the show attracted fewer visitors than last year, following a quiet - and gloriously sunny - Sunday, numbers picked up again for Monday and Tuesday, and after an unusually busy ﬁnal day the overall visitor attendance reached 11,500 (subject to ABC audit). Despite anecdotal reports of reduced international turnout, the overseas attendance was in fact a robust 25% of the total footfall, compared with 26% in 2011. It was also clear that the seminars, presentations and debates taking place in the purpose-built theatres in Earls Court 2 had been a success with exhibitors and visitors alike. Registration for seminars showed more than 100% increase on last year. In all, more than one third of the attendees saw one or more of the sessions. The variety of topics, the quality of the content and the enthusiasm and professionalism of the presenters provided a ‘something for everyone’ experience. The presentations that celebrated the industry’s involvement in this summer’s extravaganza of events proved, not surprisingly, to be the highlights of the programme, with more than 550 people seeing the sessions on the Olympics Ceremonies presented by Technical Director Piers Shepperd. by AED Rent and Lighting&Sound International, there was a strong emphasis on ground-breaking technology. The Gold Award went to CAST Software for their BlackTrax 6D Tracking System, an Ethernetbased, software and hardware solution that tracks objects or people in a deﬁned 3D space and delivers the dynamic positional data in realtime to other entertainment systems like 3D audio, moving lights, robotic cameras and media technologies. Phil Ion of Core Lighting whose new Worklight was an entry in the Innovation Awards and who distribute their products through White Light, echoed the feedback of many exhibitors: “PLASA 2012 has been really good for us. We’ve got a lot of high quality leads and have seen a large number of international customers from as far away as Hong Kong and Australia - more this year than in 2011.” Speaking on the ﬁnal afternoon of the show, Nexo’s Sales Director Denis Baudier said the show had been “very good”, for the company with a particularly strong international attendance. He added: “A lot of our export customers are coming here, so with PLASA coming six months after ProLight&Sound in Frankfurt it’s a great opportunity for us to talk with them about their view on the second part of the year. In fact, we have possibly seen more international visitors than UK this year.” The decision for PLASA to relocate eastward to ExCeL London for 2013 was not surprisingly a hot topic of conversation on the Show Floor. “ExCeL is a c u t t i n g - e d g e, purpose-built exhibition venue with the infrastructure to attract international markets,” commented PLASA CEO Matthew Griffiths. “It’s world-class facilities are the perfect match for PLASA’s planned investment in content and growth and an exciting prospect for the entertainment technology markets worldwide. “PLASA is the Industry’s own show where everything goes back in to the industry. The whole PLASA ethos is about trying to get people to put the money they create back into the industry,” continued Grifﬁths. “This has been a great summer to be in London. The Jubilee and the Olympics have been a fantastic showcase for technology and proves that we can punch well above our weight. And the PLASA show continues to be a major showcase for the industry’s rapidly changing technologies.” On the exhibition ﬂoor, among the smoke and the strobes, there was much that is new. Competition has never been keener in the pro audio sector, with potential end-users spoilt for choice. The major players continue to launch new models, product developments and the proverbial replacement for sliced bread at a seemingly alarming rate.

Jim Evans

PLASA 2012 saw a high-quality of visitor attendance, a popular Professional Development Programme and a vibrant out-of-hours social schedule - a ﬁtting end to an era before the show begins anew at ExCel London in October 2013. Jim Evans reports…
ﬂagship”. An STM system can be conﬁgured at will from four discrete loudspeaker elements – M46 main, B112 bass, S118 subbass and M28 ‘omni’ fill modules. Pride of place on RCF’s stand was the new HDL20-A, D-Line active line array system, since the company will be ﬂying a complete rig at its booth. Fast and easy to set up the HDL20-A is powered from a 1200 Watt (peak) two-way digital ampliﬁer, and processed from a powerful inbuilt DSP. The processing includes cluster and HF projection correction and special new presets for indoor and high curving situations. Martin Audio, meanwhile, majored on the MLA and MLA Compact systems and launched the XD Series, while new developments from the US-based Renkus-Heinz and the UK’s Funktion One also featured. Another long established UK loudspeaker manufacturer, Turbosound was recently purchased by the ever-expanding Music Group which also includes Klark Teknik and Midas in its newly established professional portfolio. Music Group CEO Uli Behringer stated: “Our new pro division brings together three of the most respected brands in professional and touring sound under one roof. Our goal is to offer exceptional pre and post-sale support with a team of dedicated professionals who operate at the elite level of our most demanding customers, while maintaining the independent character of each individual brand. At the same time this division will accelerate the development of new technologies that will better integrate all components of the signal chain.”

Speaker Arrays
Loudspeakers are a prime example. While not actually attempting to rewrite the laws of physics, new systems embracing allegedly new technologies are regularly being brought to market backed with much hyperbole, PR and reasons why you should buy. The line array system in various conﬁgurations continues to be a favoured flavour. At Earls Court, Nexo took the opportunity to promote its STM Series of modular line array elements. ‘Scale Through Modularity’ is Nexo’s strapline for this system design that can be scaled up or down to suit event audiences from 1,000 to 100,000. Nexo claims to have “turned its back on the dominant line-array trends, taking modularity as the central design principle for its new

Show Buzz
Out on the exhibitor ﬂoor there was a vibrant buzz. Over half of this year’s exhibitors were displaying worldwide product launches and with 47 entries in the Awards for Innovation, sponsored this year

Digital Sound
The swing to digital mixing continues apace with the accent now on more compact, affordable models. At Earls Court, Midas’ new compact digital PRO1 Live Audio System made its European debut. Also on display was the XL48 which packs eight
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Roland’s RSG R-88 eight-channel recorder

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