With dozens of demo rooms and more than 500 booths, it’s hard to see everything at NSCA in just three days. Here are some highlights that you may have overlooked.
WEBster, from Alcorn-McBride (www.alcorn.com), lets users remotely control nearly any device with a serial port via the Internet, using an ordinary Web browser. WEBster can also automatically send e-mail or data if a fault condition is detected during a show, and an onboard real-time clock permits triggering show control events based on time, date, month or year. Retail: $995.
After too many years away from pro circles, Altec is back as Altec Lansing Technologies (www.altecpro.com). The company’s first release includes a line of high-performance ceiling speakers, ranging up to the CD912-8A, a coaxial, cast-frame, 12-inch with 125W power handling. Welcome back!
Gibson Labs (http://labs.gibson.com) previewed its scalable MaGIC high-bandwidth protocol using standard Ethernet interfacing at last year’s AES in New York. Now, Gibson Guitar’s technology division debuts its first products, including 8×8 and 16×16 audio distro systems (with up to 64 channels of bi-directional audio over fiber or CAT5 cable), a line of high-end flyable speakers (including the MA215-3 three-way, double-15 line array with optional DSP control) and a range of power amps with lightweight switching supplies.
It’s still a few months away from shipping, but Hosa (www.hosatech.com) showed its FireWire Extender, a compactreceiver/transmittercombo that allows users to send audio — and/or video — data 150 feet or more (much longer without video) over IEEE-1394 protocol.
No need to dim the lights! Mocom’s (www.mocom-screens.com/) line of ultra-high gain screens are up to 20 times brighter than white paper and 10 times brighter than conventional high-gain screens. Diagonal sizes range from 40 to 500 inches, in 1.33 or 16:9 aspect ratios.
Described as a “poor man’s Mediamatrix,” Peavey’s (www.peavey.com) DigiTool is a no-computer-required system that packs eight inputs and outputs, mic preamps, mixing and DSP into a two-rackspace box. A simple 4-button remote gives end-users easy access for selecting presets. Price: $799.
TC Helicon (www.tc-helicon.tc) debuted the VoiceOne “voice pitch and modeling tool,” a one-rackspace unit combining the power of TC’s popular Intonator pitch fixer with single-voice harmonies and voice-modeling effects from the VoicePrism Plus. It’s $1,299, with line in/out and S/PDIF I/O. In other TC news, TC has purchased high-end Swedish amp manufacturer Lab.gruppen (www.labgruppen.se).
Famed for its studio DSP plug-ins, Waves Ltd. (www.waves.com) showed MaxxBass™ Pro101, a hardware version of its popular Maxxbass LF enhancement in a single-rackspace chassis. Priced at $299, Maxxbass extends the apparent LF response of bass-limited speakers in commercial installations, without endangering drivers.
