By Clive Young.
San Francisco (October 8, 2008)–If you were one of the unlucky people who didn’t make it to the 125th AES Convention this past weekend, you missed sorting through the hundreds of exhibitors to find the “must see” new sound reinforcement products on hand. While there were plenty of great items and innovations onsite, here’s a handful of the convention’s new SR offerings:
• DiGiCo was giving folks a sneak peak of the new SD8 digital mixing desk at Adamson System Engineering’s booth.
• Soundcraft introduced its Si3, a mid-market, digital live desk designed to be dropped into an existing system to replace an analog desk.
• Meyer Sound showed its brand-new 500-HP compact high-power subwoofer, a self-powered box aimed for use with M’elodie line arrays.
• Powersoft had its new K3 power amp, which produces 2,800 watts per channel at 2 Ohm, taking up 1 RU and weighing less than 18 lbs.
• Hosa Technology showed off Da-Cappo’s new DA07, a dual folding ear micro microphone that is aimed at stage and broadcast use.
• Allen & Heath debuted both the iDRO, a new processing unit for its iLive digital mixing system, and its new iLive V1.2 system software.
• JBL unveiled the next generation of its self-powered, lightweight EON molded power loudspeakers with its new 500 and 300 series.
• Sennheiser introduced its latest clip-on mic, the MKE 1, which is already seeing use in the Canadian production of Les Miserables.
• Renkus-Heinz presented two new loudspeaker systems–its VERSYS VLX3 line array, and IC Live-RF digitally beam steerable array for installations.
• dbx revealed its new DriveRack PX powered speaker optimizer, as well as the new SC 64 (System Core) and SC 32 digital matrix processors.
• Cirrus Logic had CobraNet LE, a low-cost, stereo implementation of its CobraNet networked digital audio technology that lowers power consumption.
• House Ear Institute was on-hand, once again providing hearing conservation education and screenings and showing people how to take care of the most important audio gear they have.
