HARMAN’s Studer VistaMix Breaks New Ground on ITV’s The Chase

LONDON, United Kingdom — Brought into the production for the seventh series of ITV’s popular game show, The Chase, sound supervisor Adrian Harding-Jones used HARMAN’s Studer Vista 1 digital console with VistaMix automatic mic mixing to great effect.

This was one of several innovations for the popular game show, which for this series relocated from its traditional home — the London Studios on the South Bank — to Teddington Studios. Harding-Jones’ company, Audio Design Inspiration, joined forces with Tony Revell Sound, and in addition to VistaMix, it was also the first time a Cedar DNS8 Live had been used as a mic noise suppressor on individual microphones.

Explaining his preference for the Vista 1, the television sound specialist said, “I was looking for an easy to use and intuitive desk that would easily fit into a tight control room without the need for a hard wired installation. Having all connectivity on the desk, along with the small footprint, made the Vista 1 an ideal solution.”

The integration of VistaMix available in software version 4.9 that the Vista 1 was running —proved a real bonus. “The Chase studio has a large videowall and as a result fan noise is an issue. VistaMix has enabled me to clean up the mix dramatically.”

VistaMix was designed for just such an unscripted multi-microphone live event as this, since game-shows inherently suffer from both microphone spill and background noise. As active mics are successively added to the mix, so the overall sound quality deteriorates, leading to decreased intelligibility and phase distortion.

Instead of needing to manually adjust all the faders each time, VistaMix automatically mimics the action of a human operator so that 'talking' mic gain can be increased at lightning speed while reducing gain for all others — ensuring a clean balanced mix.

Having heard about VistaMix, Adrian Harding-Jones was treated to a demo at the recent BVE 2013 expo by Studer’s Director of Product Strategy, Andrew Hills. “As a result of this I agreed to trial it — and was so impressed with the results, when offered the choice of which desk I could use for The Chase, the Vista 1 was my first choice,” he stated.

The digital console, along with all his mics, recording and sound accessories, was provided by rental company, Terry Tew Sound & Light Ltd. VistaMix immediately proved its worth, with access to the VistaMix settings and routing made extremely easy. “It is highly intuitive and follows the Vistonics logic very well. In use, the speed it offered over manual fader adjustment was remarkable — no human could make that large a fader adjustment so quickly and with such accuracy!”

“It also allows a great reduction in the amount of background noise — a huge problem in studios these days — by effectively only having the mics of people talking open,” he confirmed. “It allows quicker than human reactions when recording unrehearsed and ad lib sequences when the sound supervisor will have no idea who's going to talk next. The overall result is a better listening experience for the viewer and potentially a reduction in post production time by lessening the need for edits requiring noise reduction.”

Already long familiar with the Studer topography from working extensively on the Vista 5 and Vista 8 Adrian Harding-Jones mixes eight radio mics, three stereo channels of music playback/grams and two channels of VT on The Chase. A further 15 channel sends to VT allow sample accurate timing of all elements being recorded.

The Vista 1 itself is configured with 32 analogue line ins, 32 analogue line outs (some assigned to monitoring), eight AES ins and outs and 64 channel optical MADI in and out. Harding-Jones also specified a Studer D21 AES card — to provide a further eight AES ins and outs. With three shows recorded each day, it endures a heavy duty cycle.

Summing up, Adrian Harding-Jones notes that: “The Chase keeps all dialogue firmly in the centre of the stereo image,” and points to the ability to ‘weight’ the main presenter as being one of VistaMix’s main attributes. Explaining this, he says, “When everyone is talking, which often happens on lively panel shows, the weight control always allows the presenter to cut through the noise.

“I see this being a very useful tool in future and already have other projects I would be interested to start using VistaMix on.”

VistaMix is part of the new V4.9 Vista software, and is available as an upgrade for existing console owners, who should contact their Distributor for more information and system requirements.

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of audio, lighting and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity9, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson®, and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with Harman audio and infotainment systems. Harman has a workforce of about 14,300 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.4 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012.

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Ultra Equipment Supports The Catholic University of Eastern Africa’s Multi-Lingual Conferences With HARMAN’s AKG CS5 Conference System

VIENNA, Austria – The Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) provides classes ranging from religious studies to scientific research, with a significant emphasis on community service to its students. Hosting international conferences, world leaders and groundbreaking educators throughout the year, the highly respected research and teaching institution was looking for a high-quality, reliable conferencing system for its newly constructed auditorium. It was important any messages relayed to an audience or panel were clearly heard and understood, so Nairobi-based Ultra Equipment, Ltd. designed and installed a HARMAN AKG CS5 conferencing system to ensure excellent communication for all meetings.

The CS5 system is primarily used for multi-lingual conferences and voting, which were the clients’ priorities when searching for a large-scale conferencing system. The space can also be rented out for students, staff or private companies who wish to use the facilities.

One CS5 BU base unit controls 261 CS5 VU units programmed to be either chairman or delegate stations, and six CS5 IU Interpretation Units are installed in interpreter booths surrounding the room. AKG’s GN Gooseneck modules with CK31 capsules, a total of 267, are installed on each unit and 535 K77 headphones are available for all of the speakers and audience members.

The auditorium was exclusively fitted with HARMAN Professional audio products, including AKG WMS4500 wireless systems, JBL Venue Performance VP7212 loudspeakers and SB7118 subwoofers, VP stage monitors, AE Front Fill Speakers and Control 8128 ceiling speakers for corridors, meeting rooms and the basement; Crown CTS multi-channel amps for the ceiling speakers; BSS BLU-160 networked DSP; dbx outboard gear; Lexicon effects processors; and a Soundcraft GB8 48-channel mixing console.

“The CS5 installation at CUEA was the first deployment in the region and was easy to set up and configure to their complex needs,” stated Ultra Equipment Director Irfan Merali. “The clients have had no complaints in regards to the performance of the entire HARMAN system and have quickly adapted to understanding the user-friendly conference control software. Their sessions have been easy to configure, with minimum fuss.”

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of audio, lighting and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson®, and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with Harman audio and infotainment systems. Harman has a workforce of about 14,300 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.4 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012.

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White Light Deploys HARMAN’s Martin MAC Viper Profile For The Spice Girls’ “Viva Forever”

LONDON, England — When it comes to the Spice Girls, no performance is too bright. When searching for the perfect spot luminaire system to enhance “Vive Forever,” the West End musical based on the songs of the Spice Girls, lighting designer Howard Harrison held a light shootout. The HARMAN Martin award-winning MAC Viper Profile was chosen to light the stage.

“The Viper is a very good unit, very bright. It’s as simple as that,” Harrison says. “We use Vipers in every scene – they are the workhorses of our lighting rig for ‘Viva Forever.’ Throughout the show’s running they’ve been reliable and have maintained their brightness very well.”

Harrison’s rig places the Viper Profiles on the stage’s overhead truss with additional units at the FOH position. White Light, the London-based lighting contractor, supplied the Viper Profiles. The company debuted MAC Viper in the West End in late 2012 on another Harrison-designed musical, “Loserville.”

“Viva Forever” has been playing in London’s Piccadilly Theatre since December 2012 and will run through June 2013.

For more information on White Light, please visit http://www.whitelight.ltd.uk

As a world leader in the creation of dynamic lighting solutions for the entertainment, architectural, and commercial sectors, Martin lighting and video systems are renowned the world over. Martin also offers a range of advanced lighting controllers and media servers, as well as a complete line of smoke machines as a complement to intelligent lighting. Martin operates the industry’s most complete and capable distributor network with local partners in nearly 100 countries. Founded in 1987 and based in Aarhus, Denmark, Martin is the lighting division of global infotainment and audio company HARMAN International Industries. For more information please visit: http://www.martin.com.

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of audio, lighting and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson®, and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with Harman audio and infotainment systems. Harman has a workforce of about 14,300 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.4 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012.

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Pick Of The Hits - Soundcraft in Lighting & Sound International, June 2013

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Films In The Fast Lane: HARMAN’s Martin RUSH Series Hits YouTube

AARHUS, Denmark — HARMAN Martin’s new line of affordable lighting effects, RUSH, will be starring in a series of YouTube videos aptly titled, Films in the Fast Lane. With a complete demonstration of the technology’s capabilities, each video will showcase the vast range of features and benefits each RUSH product offers.

Subscribing to the RUSH by Martin YouTube channel by visiting http://www.youtube.com/user/RUSHbyMartinPro, viewers will be in the driver’s seat, able to discover new and creative lighting deployments using the RUSH lighting series.

Martin’s RUSH Series includes:

· RUSH MH 1 Profile: A super bright LED profile moving head that punches out a variety of effects and colors.

· RUSH MH 2 Wash: A fast and agile LED wash light moving head with RGBW color mixing and a 20-degree fixed beam angle.

· RUSH MH 3 Beam: A powerful beam moving head with gobo and color wheel that blasts an intense and narrow long-throw beam.

· RUSH Strobe 1 5x5: This white strobe/blinder is a 5 x 5 LED matrix panel with individually controllable LEDs and preprogrammed effect, letter and number macros.

· RUSH PAR 1 RGBW: A bright LED PAR Can with premixed RGBW color mixing and 20o fixed beam angle.

· RUSH Pin 1 CW: This bright, white-LED pin spot comes with two beam options and is the ideal mirror ball spot light or decorative table spot.

As a world leader in the creation of dynamic lighting solutions for the entertainment, architectural, and commercial sectors, Martin lighting and video systems are renowned the world over. Martin also offers a range of advanced lighting controllers and media servers, as well as a complete line of smoke machines as a complement to intelligent lighting. Martin operates the industry’s most complete and capable distributor network with local partners in nearly 100 countries. Founded in 1987 and based in Aarhus, Denmark, Martin is the lighting division of global infotainment and audio company HARMAN International Industries. For more information please visit: http://www.martin.com.

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of audio, lighting and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson®, and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with Harman audio and infotainment systems. Harman has a workforce of about 14,300 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.4 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012.

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HARMAN’s Soundcraft Vi6 Consoles Help Mario Biondi Groove at Royal Albert Hall

Robin Leggett, Monitor Engineer for Incognito

LONDON, England – Italian singer Mario Biondi, accompanied by UK-based jazz-funk band Incognito and other guest musicians, held a unique concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall for the world premiere of his new album, SUN. SSE Audio Group provided a pair of HARMAN Soundcraft Vi6 consoles for FOH and monitor mixing for the event.

With a capacity of over 5,500, the Royal Albert Hall hosts more than 350 events year round including classical, rock and pop concerts, ballets, operas, and much more. With 18 supporting musicians onstage, plus four guest appearances, Biondi performed the entire album SUN together with his greatest hits. “With a show such as this, I needed a console that could handle a large number of inputs and outputs and which would also give me flexibility and speed with minimal pre-production,” said Robin Leggett, Monitor Engineer for Incognito. “With 28 mixes onstage I needed to be able to access functions quickly, but having worked with Soundcraft’s Vi6 previously, I knew it would do the job.”

Chris Lewis, FOH Engineer for Incognito and who handled the FOH mixing for the Mario Biondi concert, has also enjoyed working with Vi6 consoles for several years. “I’ve used the Vi6 many times and it’s built solid, like Studer consoles,” Lewis said. “I really like the user interface and for a gig like this the user layer is really beneficial, I can get where I need very quickly and easily. We had 56 channels of audio, so I edited a user layer so that I could have every channel I needed to adjust on one layer; very useful.”

Royal Albert Hall was specifically designed to host unamplified productions, “The space is very reverberant,” stated Leggett. This made mixing for Biondi’s concert challenging. “Keeping the onstage levels under control is more of a challenge in this kind of venue, but fortunately the level of consistency we received from the band and guest musicians was excellent.”

“I was able to program the desk during rehearsals the previous few days before the show and I already have a Vi6 setup for Incognito concerts, so I was able to use our base setup and build on top of that for this concert,” Lewis added.

“With the Vi6s, the show was a real success,” Leggett concluded. “I find that with this console I don’t have to dig around when I’m mixing. Its intuitive functionality is ideal for demanding shows, especially when I’m under time pressure.”

Soundcraft is distributed in the UK/ROI by Sound Technology Ltd.

 HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of audio, lighting and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson®, and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with Harman audio and infotainment systems. Harman has a workforce of about 14,300 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.4 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012.

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Pick Of The Hits - Crown in Pro Sound News, June 2013

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HARMAN’s Martin VC-Dot LED Lighting On Tour With Benjamin Biolay

AARHUS, Denmark — Traveling through France for a two-month tour, singer, songwriter, musician and producer Benjamin Biolay entertains thousands of fans every night, lit up with the help of nearly 2,000 HARMAN Martin VC-Dot LED’s for a stunning backdrop.

For this fast-moving tour, Barcelona-based Dushow and Alabama lighting companies developed a video and lighting system, designed to be quickly installed for efficient execution. Using strings of Martin VC-Dot 9’s for backdrop lighting, the product’s versatility allows for the use of various lighting arrangements for each number. More than 1,700 VC-Dot 9’s shine behind the stage to accentuate Biolay’s performance.

VC-Dot 9 is a lightweight string made up of individually controllable LED pixels, designed to create LED video solutions with maximum artistic flexibility and minimum effort. The lighting system was designed with proficiency in mind, to make assembling and dismantling the stages quick and efficient. The VC-Dots are stored in five different flight cases and when the covers are removed, the products are unrolled and directly mounted onto the set.

Mapping video on the VC-Dots is handled intuitively with Martin’s P3 LED video protocol via a P3-100 System Controller. No configuration or complex addressing is needed as the P3 protocol avoids using DMX-based solutions with multiple universes.

In addition to the backdrop, various Martin MAC Aura LED luminaires are deployed to add to the high-performance lighting kit.

As a world leader in the creation of dynamic lighting solutions for the entertainment, architectural, and commercial sectors, Martin lighting and video systems are renowned the world over. Martin also offers a range of advanced lighting controllers and media servers, as well as a complete line of smoke machines as a complement to intelligent lighting. Martin operates the industry’s most complete and capable distributor network with local partners in nearly 100 countries. Founded in 1987 and based in Aarhus, Denmark, Martin is the lighting division of global infotainment and audio company HARMAN International Industries. For more information please visit: http://www.martin.com.

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of audio, lighting and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson®, and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with Harman audio and infotainment systems. Harman has a workforce of about 14,300 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.4 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012.

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Pick Of The Hits - dbx in Church Production, June 2013

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Arctic Monkeys Rock Sasquatch Festival With HARMAN’s Soundcraft Vi1 Monitor Console

GEORGE, WASHINGTON — The Arctic Monkeys are back with a new tour and a HARMAN Soundcraft Vi1 console, recently kicking off at the Sasquatch Music Festival at the renowned Gorge Amphitheater in George, Washington.

New York-based Firehouse Productions provided the desk for Monitor Engineer, Will Doyle, who has great experience with Firehouse and Soundcraft’s line of consoles from prior tours with the group.

“The Vi1 was a great choice, especially for a massive and spectacular venue like the Gorge,” stated Doyle. “It has a small footprint meaning it’s easy to travel with and there is no hassle fitting it anywhere; but it still has nearly all the features of my usual Vi6.”

As an English indie rock band formed in 2002, the Arctic Monkeys have released four studio albums and are currently working on their new album. In May 2013, the band debuted a new song titled “Do I Wanna Know?” at the Majestic Ventura Theater in Los Angeles.

“We’re excited to get this tour underway,” continued Doyle. “It’s a Soundcraft Vi desk, so it sounds just like the others in the range and feels like mixing on a sound desk or console rather than a computer. With custom user layers and VCAs for each mix, I found there’s a lot less button pushing than some other consoles, which means more time looking at the band!”

Doyle, who continues to deploy the desk for stereo ears, wedges and side fills, is still amazed at how much the board feels like an analog desk and how easy it is to manage all the channels on each layer. “The board responds beautifully and is extremely user-friendly,” he said.

While festivals can sometimes be hectic with limited changeover time between acts, Doyle mentioned that the ViSi Remote iPad app is really useful and can eliminate many challenges before a show. “With Soundcraft, I am always confident in what I need to do. This was a great show and I look forward to continuing our journey with Soundcraft.”

For more information on Firehouse Productions, please visit: http://www.firehouseproductions.com

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of audio, lighting and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson®, and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with Harman audio and infotainment systems. Harman has a workforce of about 14,300 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.4 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012.

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HARMAN’s Martin Releases v3.0 Software For M-Series Range Of Lighting Consoles

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Just in time for the shipping of HARMAN Martin’s new flagship lighting console, the M6, Martin has released a new software version for M-Series consoles with hundreds of improvements and a stunning new user-interface, built from the ground up to make programming performances easier and more efficient.

The new v3 software is all about speed with faster start-up time, show loading and more efficient access to functions. The clean and modern user-interface has been optimized for touch and gesture technology, which allows the user to work in an environment where everything is accessible from a single finger touch. Users can simply swipe to move from view to view, access other playback banks quickly or change parameter selection. Double tapping on playback status accesses its functions and options. Additionally, users can enlarge the quick slide out for visual parameter control.

“Our goal for this new interface was to simplify the workflow by giving access to many functions without the need to constantly change views or access sub menus,” stated Steven Vanspauwen, Head of User Experience Design, Martin. “Users will find themselves programming faster than they ever did on any console before with v3.”

Martin’s M-PC v3 is no longer a simple hardware emulator, but a real PC-based controller with a user-interface optimized for any Windows 7 or Windows 8 PC equipped with or without a touch screen. Using the same concept as the console interface, the M-PC v3 allows anyone to program shows for free. M-PC Free Edition is available for one universe over Artnet as well as the popular ENTTEC DMX devices.

It is also possible to use the M-PC with two universes using any Martin Duo-DMX box. When using its One-Key dongle license, the universe count can be increased to 8 and even 64, making M-PC one of the most powerful lighting PC controllers in the industry.

The new v3 release is available now at http://www.martin.com/controllersupport/.

As a world leader in the creation of dynamic lighting solutions for the entertainment, architectural, and commercial sectors, Martin lighting and video systems are renowned the world over. Martin also offers a range of advanced lighting controllers and media servers, as well as a complete line of smoke machines as a complement to intelligent lighting. Martin operates the industry’s most complete and capable distributor network with local partners in nearly 100 countries. Founded in 1987 and based in Aarhus, Denmark, Martin is the lighting division of global infotainment and audio company HARMAN International Industries. For more information please visit: http://www.martin.com

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of audio, lighting and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson®, and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with Harman audio and infotainment systems. Harman has a workforce of about 14,300 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.4 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012.

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Pick Of The Hits - HARMAN in InfoComm Daily, June 2013

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HARMAN Professional Licenses Oxford Digital Filter Technology and Patent Portfolio For Professional Audio Applications

NORTHRIDGE, California — Reaffirming its commitment to provide audio professionals with the most advanced and powerful digital signal processing options available, HARMAN today announced a comprehensive technology licensing agreement with Oxford Digital Limited, granting the rights to use Oxford Digital’s proprietary filter technologies in AKG, BSS, Crown, dbx, JBL, Lexicon, Soundcraft, and Studer professional audio products.

"Internationally recognized as a DSP technology leader and innovation powerhouse, Oxford Digital brings many unique filter and EQ feature sets which will augment the capabilities of products across our portfolio. The user interfaces they have developed for these complex processing algorithms are remarkably intuitive to use," noted Mark Ureda, Vice President, Strategy and Technology for the HARMAN Professional Division. “We are very pleased to be working with Oxford Digital to provide our customers with new filter and EQ options for the installation, broadcast, cinema and tour sound markets.”

John Richards, CEO, Oxford Digital Limited said, "We are delighted to enter into this agreement with HARMAN and look forward to working with their team as we help them integrate these technologies across their professional audio product platforms.”

“HARMAN’s determination to provide audio professionals with professional-grade tools that couple excellent sound and improved productivity drives us to partner with category leaders like Oxford Digital. We are pleased and proud to announce this exclusive licensing agreement in the professional audio marketplace,” Ureda concluded.

About Oxford Digital Limited:

Oxford Digital Limited spun out of Sony Corporation’s Pro-Audio Lab, Oxford in 2006 as an innovative technology company providing IP solutions to major international organizations. Oxford Digital specialises in digital audio signal processing for the mobile and consumer equipment sectors including a complete end-to-end solution for audio processing for semiconductor manufacturers. Recent awards include the British Engineering Excellence Award for Product of the Year (http://www.beeas.co.uk/winners/beeas-2011-winners.pdf) and the National Microelectronics Institute Award for Innovation (http://tinyurl.com/NMI-Innovation-Award).

For more information about Oxford Digital Limited, please visit: www.oxford-digital.com.

About HARMAN:

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of audio, lighting and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson®, and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with Harman audio and infotainment systems. Harman has a workforce of about 14,300 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.4 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012.

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HARMAN’s Studer VistaMix Offers Ideal Automatic Microphone Mixing Solution for Houses of Worship

ORLANDO, Florida – Mixing sound for houses of worship poses a unique set of challenges, particularly when services involve large choirs, musical ensembles and multiple worship leaders. These scenarios feature multiple open or active microphones, which leads to microphone spill, increased background noise and greater possibility of system feedback. As each active microphone is added to the mix, intelligibility decreases while unpleasant comb filter effects (phase distortion) become more common.

Manual fader control can miss cues when speakers speak unexpectedly, plus changes in fader positions can quickly lead to disturbing changes of the total ambience/noise level in the mix.

HARMAN’s Studer VistaMix is a software upgrade for its range of Vista digital mixing consoles that offers a solution to these problems. VistaMix automatic microphone mixing removes the need for an operator to manually adjust all the faders all the time, leaving the microphones of talking participants open, while closing the microphones of silent participants in order to reduce spill and background noise.

VistaMix offers the solution by mimicking the action of a human operator: increasing gain for ‘talking’ microphones and reducing gain for all others, but doing it very quickly and keeping the amount of total gain constant, so a clean live mix can be created.

In addition, VistaMix switches on only those microphones that are in use. Several nested VistaMix groups can be set up so that individual areas can be managed separately and then combined.

This significant new feature is available to all existing Vista systems with SCore Live DSP engines and the Vista 1. By simply upgrading to software version 4.9 and adding the special VistaMix channels to the DSP configuration, VistaMix is ready to go. No additional hardware is required to the Vista surface, the new controls are fully implemented within the standard Vistonics™ screens and controls.

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of audio, lighting and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson®, and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with Harman audio and infotainment systems. Harman has a workforce of about 14,300 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.4 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012.

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HARMAN’s Soundcraft Announces Enhancements for Si Compact Consoles

ORLANDO, Florida – Providing continued support for its global base of Si Compact users, HARMAN’s Soundcraft® has announced a software update for Si Compact consoles. The update includes several new features designed to provide Si Compact customers with even greater performance and ease of use, and includes support for the new Soundcraft Mini Stagebox 16 and 32, as well as the forthcoming option cards; the Soundcraft Dante™ and BSS BLU link interface cards.

“This latest software update to the Si Compact line demonstrates our commitment to our large customer base of Si Compact owners,” said Keith Watson, Marketing Director, Mixing, HARMAN Professional. “As a company, we know that industry-leading customer service and a willingness to listen to the demands of the market are what separate Soundcraft from the competition, this revision reflects that.”

The new Dante card will handle 64 channels in and out onto an Audinate Dante network, while the BSS BLU link card provides a 32 x 32 interface to the BSS digital audio bus, so can be easily integrated with dbx’s PMC Personal Monitor System and BSS Soundweb London devices. Further software updates for the Si Compact are planned, which will include functionality currently available on the Si Expression and Si Performer consoles, which already support the BLU link card.

The update also includes other improvements so updating existing consoles is highly recommended.

The new software may be downloaded from http://www.soundcraft.com/downloads/software.aspx.

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of audio, lighting and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson®, and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with Harman audio and infotainment systems. Harman has a workforce of about 14,300 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.4 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012.

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HARMAN’s Soundcraft Announces Multi-Track Recording Expansion Card for Si Series Consoles

ORLANDO, Florida – HARMAN’s Soundcraft has announced a new option card in the ViSi Connect series of expansions for the Si Expression, Si Compact and Si Performer consoles, providing users of the console with a multi-channel, multi-format interface for live and studio recording to DAWs and other recording systems.

The Multi Digital card provides 32 output channels (fed from the console channel direct outputs or other feeds) and 32 input channels for playback/monitoring from the recording system, often PC or MAC based DAW’s. The card has connections for USB and FireWire, plus another eight channels of ADAT interface on TOSLINK optical connectors. A second FireWire port allows the connection of an external hard disk as well as a computer, which provides a more stable recording solution than using the computer’s internal hard drive.

The new card extends the applications for the console as live performances can now be easily recorded for later mixdown, or used for virtual soundcheck and setup using multi-track playback.

In the studio, the console can become a more powerful part of the system utilizing the exemplary sound of the mic preamps for recording, providing up to six stereo latency-free artist headphone monitor feeds, control room monitor outputs and of course physical fader final mix-down.

The card also allows expansion of inputs and outputs to the console as any of the ports can be used to connect external equipment such as multichannel mic preamps or audio interfaces which have USB, FireWire or ADAT connections.

Soundcraft has developed an application note and set of simple guides which can be viewed on the Soundcraft website, www.soundcraft.com.

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of audio, lighting and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson®, and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with Harman audio and infotainment systems. Harman has a workforce of about 14,300 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.4 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012.

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HARMAN’s Martin Lighting and HARMAN Professional Audio Components Go on a Sea Cruise with Royal Caribbean International

MIAMI, Florida — Royal Caribbean International is one of the world’s largest cruise lines, with 21 ships to its name that sail to the most popular destinations in the Caribbean, Europe, Alaska, South America, the Far East, and Australia and New Zealand. The compnay goes all-out to give its guests the ultimate vacation with world-class restaurants, designer shopping, and entertainment including Broadway hit musicals – lit by Martin lighting with audio provided by a host of HARMAN Professional audio components and loudspeakers.

Royal Caribbean does things in a big way, with ships as large as 225,282 gross tonnage. Each vessel is equipped with several thousand Martin intelligent lighting fixtures, notes Paul Riley, Fleet Technical Operations, Sound, Lighting and Rigging. The ships use all types of Martin lighting including MAC Wash, Entour, Profile, Aura and many other LED, short-arc discharge and tungsten halogen lamp models. In addition, Martin’s LightJockey2 software-based control system is used in nearly all of the ships’ discos and smaller entertainment spaces.

On each ship Royal Caribbean has at least two shows in the main theater, one generally a higher-energy show with a rock edge, and the other a more theatrical production. “Three ships have actual Broadway productions on them, ‘Hairspray,’ ‘Chicago’ and ‘Saturday Night Fever,’” noted Riley. Shows on several ships also feature ice skating rinks with international skating stars, aerial acrobats and AquaTheaters, high-dive and water shows that are held in large amphitheaters at the back of the ships.

Riley likes Martin because of its value per dollar, rugged construction and easy serviceability. Like many pros, he’s specifying more and more LED lighting. While Royal Caribbean has been using LED lighting for years on its pool decks, adult and teen discos and smaller entertainment spaces, Riley felt that LED wasn’t viable for theatrical applications until a few years ago, but moving forward they’ll be using LED almost exclusively. “For us, LED is a no-brainer. Fuel prices are still quite high and since LED uses less power, it uses less fuel.” LED eliminates the need for large, expensive and power-consuming dimmer racks and saves a lot of money on lamp consumption, which is a big factor for Royal Caribbean as their larger vessels have more than 1,000 fixtures per ship. Riley notes that all outdoor lighting is IP-rated and that “all equipment that’s considered for shipboard applications must be robust and able to operate with power that can be inconsistent at times and fluctuate a bit.”

On the audio side, Riley points out that dozens upon dozens of JBL Control 23s series speakers and JBL Control 1s are installed in discos, lounges, sports bars, centrums and other areas. Royal Caribbean uses various Crown amplifiers almost exclusively in all the entertainment venues on its Vision Class ships and the Majesty of the Seas, and Riley points out that the Crown Macro Tech and Micro Tech amps that were installed in the fleet’s Majesty and Vision Class ships in the early 1990s are still in service today. A selection of dbx compressors and Lexicon effects units are employed everywhere from the largest theaters to smaller venues.

“BSS Soundweb London signal processors and audio networking products are the only DSPs we use in the main theaters, secondary lounges, studios and larger entertainment venues on all 21 of our ships,” Riley said. “The newer, larger ships use BSS products almost exclusively in every venue and all those systems are networked to provide extensive centralized audio control capabilities throughout each vessel. Royal Caribbean has been using BSS extensively on ships built since the early 2000s and nearly all older boats have been retrofitted with BSS gear.

“I think the primary aspect of the ships’ lighting and audio that might surprise many people is the sheer amount of equipment we have in use,” Riley concluded. “Many people think of a cruise as a laid back vacation on a ship that might have some entertainment offerings, but they might not think of the entertainment as a key feature of the vacation as it is on our ships. In reality, our guests are surprised to see the size of our venues, the intensity and quality of our productions and how technologically advanced our equipment is. Most any equipment you’d find in a major concert venue or the more modern showrooms in Vegas, you’ll find in use on our ships.”

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of audio, lighting and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson®, and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with Harman audio and infotainment systems. Harman has a workforce of about 14,300 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.4 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012.

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HARMAN’s Martin Lighting and HARMAN Professional Audio Components Provide Compelling Sight and Sound At Biltmore Baptist Church

ARDEN, North Carolina — Biltmore Baptist Church serves its 7,500 members with three houses of worship in North Carolina. In addition, the church maintains a strong online presence with live streaming video services, podcasts and original video productions. Its main Arden location has a 2400-seat worship center equipped with full audio and video facilities and has been using Martin lighting and HARMAN Professional audio gear for more than a decade for its sermons, concerts, church activities and theatrical and video productions.

The church utilizes a variety of Martin intelligent lighting fixtures to illuminate its main platform area, which is 110 feet across and 45 feet deep with a 80-foot stage between the video screens which are located at each end of the platform. The church’s lighting array includes four MAC 500 floor-mounted spot luminaires with dual color wheels, dual gobos and a rotating prism for uplighting, two MAC 500s used as overhead wash fixtures and a number of MAC 575 Krypton 575-watt lights positioned throughout the church. The MAC 575s each feature two eight-position color wheels, six indexable rotating gobos, nine static gobos, an interchangeable rotating prism and built-in strobe effects. During the holidays, additional MAC 101 and MAC 301 Wash LED lights and MAC 700 Wash lamp lighting is rented to add festive colors and special effects to the church’s interior spaces.

“Our lighting requirements run the gamut from simple to highly elaborate,” noted Eric Alexander, the full-time Technical Lighting Specialist at Biltmore Baptist Church. “When the pastor is giving his sermon we just need some basic wash lighting to cover him as he walks around the platform – we want the focus to be on him and not the lighting and a couple of Martin wash lights are all we need to provide uniform and effective illumination.”

“For the praise band and choir we’ll get more creative and complex with effects and colors. In theatrical productions and concerts we’ll use the full array of colors, effects, movement and backlighting that Martin lighting provides, for a more powerful and exciting presentation.” Alexander has plenty of help from Zach Brady, the church’s audio specialist and front of house mixer, Technical Director Dave Duncan and a cast of volunteers that can number up to 20 during a Sunday morning service with choir, orchestra and praise band.

Alexander points out that, thanks to the variety of uses he needs from Martin lighting, he uses everything the church has, all the time, on occasion moving the fixtures from room to room. “I don’t keep anything in the back room.” Because all the fixtures are used constantly, dependability is paramount, and Alexander finds that with regular maintenance, cleaning and changing out lamps, motors and igniters on a regular schedule he can count on using the luminaires “until they fall off the truss.”

Asheville, NC systems contractor Real World Audio installed the audio for the Biltmore Baptist Church. Three columns of eight JBL VerTec VT4888 line array elements each are hung at stage left, center and right, and four VerTec VT4880 dual-18-inch line array subwoofers are placed underneath the stage. A variety of additional JBL VP (Venue Performance) and other speakers are installed throughout the church in the fellowship hall, youth area, gymnasium and other rooms, all powered by Crown amplifiers and connected via HARMAN HiQnet System Architect software. In addition, the church uses a variety of JBL VRX Series loudspeakers and Crown amps in its Swannanoa and Franklin campuses.

“My main consideration is that the lighting and sound must serve the message the pastor and the people on stage want to deliver without drawing too much attention to itself,” said Alexander. “The Martin lighting can provide an incredibly wide range of looks, colors and effects and the JBL loudspeakers provide stunning concert-quality sound, so we could really dazzle the congregants if we wanted to but that’s not what we’re about. We use lighting and sound to enhance the message we want to convey and if you do it right, it has a big impact.”

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of audio, lighting and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson®, and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with Harman audio and infotainment systems. Harman has a workforce of about 14,300 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.4 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012.

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Church On the Move Doesn’t Stand Still With HARMAN’s New Martin Lighting and HARMAN Professional Sound

TULSA, Oklahoma — The term “mega church” might have been coined to describe Tulsa, Oklahoma’s 12,000-member Church on the Move. At services, the church’s message is delivered on a scale that rivals major rock concerts, with full-scale lighting, sound and video in a sanctuary that’s bigger than many top music venues. The rock concert analogy is appropriate in more ways than one – the church’s audio and video staff rent rather than purchase most of their lighting, giving them access to the latest HARMAN Martin lighting gear to complement the church’s HARMAN Professional sound system.

“We rent 90 percent of our lighting and it gives us the freedom to change frequently and try new ideas and technologies. We don’t want to be left behind when the industry makes a major shift, ” said Andrew Stone, Church on the Move’s production manager and audio director. Renting also cuts down on the need to retain additional maintenance staff – the church can handle all its lighting needs with two technicians. “The rental model also lets us use high-quality gear without spending a ton of money. We can rent more equipment as needed for bigger events.”

Church On the Move utilizes a host of Martin intelligent lighting products including MAC III Profile lighting, MAC Viper Profile high-output 26,000-lumens fixtures, MAC 700 Wash 26,000-lumens lighting and TW1 tungsten wash lights. Stone and crew will buy equipment when it makes economic sense, and recently purchased a number of Martin VC-Dot 1 fixtures, individually controllable LED dots that are used to create customized video displays. The VC-Dot 1 provides new ways to integrate video technology into stage designs, ceilings and other structures. Church On the Move lighting designer Daniel Connell states, “We can use the VC-Dot 1 as a design element, as a backdrop or split it up for use in several auditoriums.. It’s amazingly versatile and enables us to easily add dramatic visual impact to a space.”

Lighting designer Daniel Connell notes that music is a key element of Church On the Move’s services and that along with the HARMAN JBL, Crown and BSS-based audio system, a major part of the Martin lighting is to create a modern concert looking feel. He doesn’t want “a lot of flash” but the ability for the lighting to set a mood or tone on stage and throughout the sanctuary. “We don’t have a backdrop or a physical stage set so the lighting is our set,” Connell said. “Other house of worship lighting designers don’t do it this way but we feel it’s an interesting and powerful way to do it.”

Connell finds Martin fixtures provide superior color range and saturation; while some fixtures fall off toward the saturated end of their range and some moving lights aren’t the best at delivering a certain color, Martin handles the full light spectrum equally well. Stone agrees, noting that the church has tried every brand of high-end moving light in the six years Connell’s been on staff and that he and Connell prefer Martin’s richer colors and better look and “feel.”

Reliability is paramount, especially with rented gear. “I don’t want rental fixtures dying in the middle of a service,” Connell states. “After a year of use you can start to have problems but I’ve never experienced that with Martin.” Like many organizations, Church On the Move is bringing in more LED lighting for its reduced maintenance and energy costs.

Since 2010 Church On the Move has enjoyed the sonic benefits of a large-scale JBL, Crown and BSS Audio sound system, comprising 38 JBL VerTec line array element hung in four clusters and complemented by 16 JBL ASB6128V subwoofers, 10 flown and six under the stage. Seven JBL AC28/95 speakers behind the perimeter of the stage provide front fill and the speakers are powered by 49 Crown MA5000i and 10 CTs 3000 and CTs 2000 amplifiers. The speakers and amps in the sanctuary and other JBL speakers and Crown amps throughout the church are linked by BSS Soundweb London BLU-160 digital audio processors, and all A/V is networked using HARMAN HiQnet System Architect software.

“We recently had a conference with 2,500 worship and creative directors from around the country, and have held many major events and big services,” Stone said. “Many people came just to hear the JBL VerTecs because of everything they’d heard about them, and that says a lot. Like the Martin lighting, the audio system has performed admirably.”

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of audio, lighting and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson®, and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with Harman audio and infotainment systems. Harman has a workforce of about 14,300 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.4 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012.

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HARMAN’s JBL CBT Series Column Loudspeakers Provide Powerful Outdoor Sound for the Prophet’s Mosque In Medina, Saudi Arabia

ORLANDO, Florida — The Prophet’s Mosque is one of the largest and oldest mosques in the world, built by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the year 622 and enlarged over the centuries to where it can now accommodate up to one million worshippers during peak periods. Many devotees listen to services on the piazza outside the mosque, which is an integral part of the Prophet’s Mosque and was recently renovated with a number of upgrades including a HARMAN’s JBL loudspeaker system comprising more than 200 CBT Series column loudspeakers.

The previous loudspeakers had limited frequency response, especially in the low end, but had delivered adequate speech reinforcement until a series of canopies were installed around the outside of the mosque to shield worshippers from the heat and sun. These canopies were placed in front of the existing speakers and blocked the sound from them, resulting in the need for a new loudspeaker system. Ahmad Tekin Topuzdag, owner of Istanbul, Turkey-based A/V systems integrator Topuzdag, who is currently employed by Saudi Bin Laden Group (the company contracted to handle the operations and maintenance of the Prophet’s Mosque), was tasked by SBG to supervise and execute the system upgrade.

Topuzdag saw the opportunity to improve the system’s frequency response, coverage and overall sound quality. Because the piazza was more than 2,760,000 square feet in size, a large-scale loudspeaker system had to be deployed with amplifier power to match. After conducting an acoustic and architectural evaluation, Topuzdag determined that JBL CBT 70J-1 column loudspeakers and companion CBT 70JE-1 low frequency extension columns were ideal for the Prophet’s Mosque’s requirements. “The CBT 70J-1 and CBT 70-JE1’s specs indicated they would provide the full frequency response and bass performance we were looking for, along with powerful, intelligible sound over the entire area, which is very important,” said Topuzdag.

SBG installed 140 CBT 70J-1 loudspeakers to cover the piazza, along with 85 CBT 70-JE1 extension columns in areas where additional bass reinforcement was required. A key aspect of the CBT loudspeakers is their asymmetrical vertical coverage pattern, which sends more sound toward areas that are farther away than areas that are closer, resulting in more consistent sound levels at the various listening distances. Topuzdag noted that worshippers who are standing near the speakers don’t get overwhelmed with volume, while people who are more distant can still hear the speakers clearly. In addition, the CBT Series’ slim profile and white finish make them less conspicuous in blending in with the appearance of the mosque.

The speakers are driven by 32 Crown CDi 6000 amplifiers, connected to a BSS Audio BLU-160 Signal Processor with Digital Audio Bus, which provides system control, gain adjustment, delay compensation over the large outdoor area and control of other parameters.

The system has not only met but exceeded Topuzdag’s expectations. “The JBL CBT loudspeakers provide exactly what they were designed to deliver, with an excellent balance of volume and even coverage throughout the entire vast space of the piazza. Now, everyone who comes to the People’s Mosque can hear every word that is said clearly, whether they’re inside the mosque or worshipping outdoors,” he said.

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of audio, lighting and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson®, and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with Harman audio and infotainment systems. Harman has a workforce of about 14,300 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.4 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012.

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HARMAN’s JBL Professional CWT128 Loudspeaker Provides Extremely Wide-Angle Coverage

ORLANDO, Florida — At InfoComm 2013, HARMAN’s JBL Professional is showcasing its CWT128 loudspeaker, featuring an all-new design that delivers extremely wide-angle coverage. The CWT128 features JBL’s CWT Crossfired Waveguide Technology, designed to provide seamless horizontal coverage across a full 160 degrees.

The CWT128’s relatively compact size and small footprint (31.94 inches H x 10.22 inches W x 11.84 inches D) take up about a third of the footprint of two speakers arranged side by side. The CWT128 is ideal for performance spaces, houses of worship, auditoriums, transportation facilities, theme parks, sports facilities and other indoor and outdoor applications. Because one speaker can be used instead of two, installation costs can be lowered by reducing the number of cabinets, cabling, labor and other costs. The CWT128’s clean, rounded look blends well with contemporary architectural spaces.

The CWT128 is based on JBL’s patented Crossfired Waveguide Technology, which essentially splits the waveguide in half and utilizes two compression drivers loaded in different directions. The waveguide provides exceptional off-axis response and by eliminating multiple sets of speakers that interfere with each other, overall fidelity is greatly improved and intelligibility is increased.

The CWT128 employs two of JBL’s proven 2408H-1 1-inch neodymium-magnet compression drivers, renowned for their high-power-handling and smooth response. A pair of 8-inch JBL SFG™ (Symmetrical Field Geometry) low-frequency drivers each features a copper-clad aluminum edge-wound 2.5-inch voice coil and copper-clad pole piece that improve performance by reducing voice coil inductance and distortion for smoother response, extended bass and extremely low distortion.

The durable multi-ply enclosures offer multiple mounting options and feature JBL’s textured DuraFlex™ finish and a powder-coated steel grille backed by acoustically transparent foam. Four M10 attachment points are built in across the top and sides, and four M8 points on the rear panel accept OmniMount® wall-mount brackets. The CWT128 includes covered barrier strip speaker terminals and an internal passive network and 110W 70/100V transformer. A variety of optional finishes are available including white, and JBL’s WRC and WRX weather-resistant versions.

“A challenge of many sound reinforcement situations is to provide high-quality, full-bandwidth sound over an area greater than 100 degrees,” said Jon Sager, Senior Manager, Installed Sound, JBL Professional. “This typically requires the use of two speakers that are arrayed side by side and in a splayed configuration. However, this approach produces interference where the coverage patters overlap, causing uneven sound fields and compromised intelligibility. The CWT128 is an ingenious space- and cost-saving solution.”

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of audio, lighting and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson®, and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with Harman audio and infotainment systems. Harman has a workforce of about 14,300 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.4 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012.

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HARMAN’S JBL Professional Expands In-Ceiling Loudspeaker Lineup With New Control 10 Series

ORLANDO, Florida — At InfoComm 2013, HARMAN’s JBL Professional is introducing its Control 10 Series—three new in-ceiling loudspeakers that combine installation-friendly features with superior sound quality and value. The Control 16C/T, Control 14C/T and Control 12C/T are designed for applications where lower- to medium-volume music playback and paging is appropriate, including retail stores, restaurants, music/paging systems, airports, waiting rooms and many other areas.

“Blind-mount speakers tend to be the easiest and most cost effective speakers to install for projects that don’t require pre-installed backcan. The Control 10 Series models broaden our lineup with a new series of cost-effective blind-mount ceiling speakers, letting customers choose exactly the right loudspeaker for their requirements,” said Rick Kamlet, Senior Manager, Installed Sound, JBL Professional. “These are some very nice sounding speakers at excellent price points.”

The 2-way, 6.5-inch Control 16C/T coaxial loudspeaker, 2-way, 4-inch Control 14C/T coaxial loudspeaker and 3-inch Control 12C/T compact loudspeaker can be used in 70/100V distributed audio systems or with low-impedance direct operation. All models are available in either white or black. Each model has a blind-mount backcan for quick, easy installation and includes dual conduit/cable strain-relief clamps and removable locking speaker terminal connectors with screw terminals and loop-through terminals.

The Control 16C/T, 14C/T and 12C/T are designed to deliver clean, detailed, high-quality sound over a wide coverage area. The 16C/T and 14C/T’s woofers feature a lightweight, anodized aluminum voice coil former and high temperature voice coil for stable performance and reliability even under constant use. The woofer cones are made of water- and humidity-resistant polypropylene, with a butyl rubber surround that provides long-term durability and sonic damping. The woofer’s computer-optimized motor construction, cone geometry and linear suspension design enable an even frequency response and more consistent off-axis performance.

The Control 10 Series loudspeakers all feature an ABS baffle with a UL94-V0 and UL94-5VB fire rating and a zinc-plated backcan and all are UL1480 and UL2043 certified, with transformers that are UL1876 registered.

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of audio, lighting and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson®, and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with Harman audio and infotainment systems. Harman has a workforce of about 14,300 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.4 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012.

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Quick-Change Artists: Puresound Masters the Art of Fast Setup and Breakdown at Breakaway Ministries with HARMAN’s JBL VERTEC® Line Arrays

ORLANDO, Florida — Breakaway Ministries, a non-denominational weekly Bible study organization on the campus of Texas A&M University, began in 1989 when 12 students came together to worship, and has grown to where thousands of college students gather every Tuesday night primarily in Reed Arena basketball arena or Kyle Field football stadium. Houston, Texas sound contractor Puresound supplies a HARMAN’s JBL VERTEC® line array sound system for the weekly gatherings, which are more challenging than a usual house of worship gig for Puresound owner Wes Mathew and crew— they have to set up the entire system in an hour and break it down in an hour.

“It’s like setting up a portable mega-church,” said Mathew. “From one week to the next we could be in either Reed Arena or Kyle Field so we’re constantly on the move. The logistics of both locations give us just about an hour to set up the system, from pulling in the truck to handing the worship leader a live microphone. When the service ends we have an hour to break the system down.”

To facilitate such a speedy setup, Mathew and a special team of Breakaway volunteers rely heavily on JBL VERTEC VT4888ADP midsize and VT4887ADP compact powered line array elements, along with VT4881ADP powered subwoofers. Because they only have an hour, building rigging and flying speakers is impossible. The loudspeakers can be quickly and easily ground-stacked, thanks to their quick-release pins, end-mounted metal frames, front and rear hinge bars and other features that enable fast, stable setup.

Another major plus is the VERTEC built-in DrivePack™ amplifier module. “With the powered VERTEC loudspeakers it’s literally plug and play,” Mathew said. “It also makes it much easier to bring more or fewer speakers depending on the venue and the event—we can just add or subtract arrays as needed without having to deal with bringing extra amps or figuring out how many amps to leave behind.”

In Reed Arena, Puresound uses four VT4888ADP powered line array elements per side to cover the center section of the court or stadium, and six VT4887ADP powered line array elements per side to cover the sides of the facilities. Six VT4881 powered subwoofers and four JBL SRX728S subs placed along the ground by the portable platform stage handle the low end. Crown XTi4000 amplifiers power the subwoofers. At Kyle Field, Puresound uses a similar configuration with the arrays spaced apart every 25 yards.

“The VERTECs work well in a ground-stacked configuration in these applications because the height of the platform stages we put the line arrays on and the curved stacking configuration of the arrays place them in positions where they cover most of the seating really well and deliver clear, intelligible sound,” Mathew noted. “We don’t really need to fly any of the speakers.”

As Breakaway Ministries grows, Mathew expects the system to grow with them, and JBL VERTEC’s modular, powered design and Puresound’s “portable mega church” approach will help ease any growing pains.

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of audio, lighting and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson®, and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with Harman audio and infotainment systems. Harman has a workforce of about 14,300 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.4 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012.

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