www.prosoundnewseurope.com
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NTP Technology DAD AX24
seats, and there are five additional concert spaces. The Genelec inventory is part of seven recording studios, complemented by edit studios, rehearsal spaces, picture control rooms and four entry points for OB vans. The equipment list is uncompromising: d&b audiotechnik, L-Acoustics, DiGiCo, Riedel, Sony and Yamaha all feature. A further broadcast studio has six remote controlled HD cameras, and there’s a direct fibre-optic link to the HQ of YLE, the Finnish Broadcasting Company. Contemplating a €160 million investment, plus another €20 million for audio, AV, broadcast, stage, lighting and video, project manager Antti Rehtijärvi recognises the symbolism. “It was joint- funded by YLE, the Finnish government and the City of Helsinki,” he says, “so it’s 48% government-owned, 26% YLE and 26% Helsinki. That’s a confident gesture, but there is some political uncertainty: just yesterday the Finnish Parliament voted against a proposal to build a Guggenheim Museum here, and that’s a direct result of the European economic situation. Being in the euro makes it all seem very real…”
EXPORT ADVICE The very first customer for Martin Audio’s new MLA Compact system, unveiled in London recently, was DM Audio AB, the Stockholm-based mainstay and itself part of the EM Nordic Group. Founder Lars Wern explains why DM’s long- term investment was immediately sub-hired to Norwegian rental company Rubicon for use as an outfill system at the 9,700- capacity Oslo Spektrum. “It’s a natural synergy,” he says.
“We’ll help each other out, of course, as we already have fellow MLA users in Norway and Denmark. But we’re not isolated: even though we’re not in the euro, we’re still part of the European economy. Our government very much wants to be a part of the current discussions.” The government has another
agenda that will affect pro audio, says Wern. “There’s a lot of talk in the Swedish Parliament right now about legally reducing all SPLs by another 3dB, which could be a nightmare for sound companies. Organisers are under a lot of pressure. It’s already very strict, and even more so for any audiences containing under 13- year-olds. It would affect all the festivals, tours and concerts, and if it happens here it will spread to the rest of Scandinavia. But that’s
NORTHERN EXPOSURE
Allan Holmberg with the DPA 4017
studiofeature
Danish electro rock band Carpark North are using DPA d:vote 4099 instrument microphones and DPA 2011C cardioid microphones on their drum
where the MLA system will be a real godsend: it will help us to keep ambient levels under control and much more constant.” Three years after Copenhagen- based NTP Technology acquired converter specialist Digital Audio Denmark (DAD), making it a wholly owned business unit within NTP, DAD founder Mikael Vest sees no specific differences in business performance between Nordic clients and elsewhere – although there is a sense of family. “Scandinavian broadcasters tend to regard each other as a reference,” he says, “exchanging ideas and to some extent influencing each other’s buying patterns. The same is true of the independent studio market.” As for the euro, Vest is typically detached: “Easy moving of merchandise is an obvious administrative advantage,” he says, “but otherwise the eurozone situation has not directly affected our business in Europe.” More defined is the region’s
Genelec’s Lars-Olf Janflød
Harpa co-owner Sverrir
Hreidarsson
attitude to green issues, he says. “Scandinavia has a tradition of social welfare, more so perhaps than in Germany or the UK. That inevitably makes the region inherently sensitive to green issues, though the precise level various from one country to another. This is also dependent, to some degree, on available natural energy resources.” Technology continues apace, though. The new NTP Technology Penta 725 IP audio router has aroused a lot of interest, Vest reports, given the heavy investment being made by Scandinavian telcos in wired networking. Internet bandwidth is increasing in many countries, giving broadcasters and studio operators the option of using far more cost-efficient IP- based networking in place of traditional leased telco lines. “The Penta 725 IP combines standard
“The eurozone situation has not directly affected our business within Europe” Mikael Vest, NTP Technology
time-division multiplex routing with the ability to interface audio via Gigabit Ethernet,” he says. “It can route the audio in the networks using standard switches. Additional Penta 725 IP systems can be combined to handle a total of 512 channels on a 1Gbps network.”
DANE AND ABLE DPA Microphones recently appointed Susanne Seidel as executive VP of sales & marketing, succeeding co-founder Morten Støve as part of “a new strategy,” according to DPA CEO Christian Poulsen. New or not, Seidel’s sense of heritage is very strong. “DPA itself is a result of changing business conditions in Europe,” she believes. “DPA draws on more than five decades of world-class microphone design experience going back to the first range of measurement microphones created by our progenitor, Brüel & Kjær, in the 1950s. In 1992, B&K had financial difficulties and took the decision to spin off its pro-audio division. Two former employees formed Danish Pro Audio and carried on the division. “In 2005, DPA merged with sub-supplier and business partner of 10 years, Muphone. It was a way for both companies to stay competitive. The result was in- house production, OEM business and a new world of R&D possibilities. We have to be extremely efficient when we manufacture microphones in Denmark in order to compete.”
Home manufacturing means a
lot, therefore. “We have definitely had a spin-off effect from our relation to B&K here in Denmark. It helped us a lot in the beginning. Of course we learn a lot from our home market and from the close co-operation with our local customers but, on the other hand, with a network of 50 dedicated distributors and customers around the world we feel well represented and established. And we still see a lot of potential for the DPA brand worldwide and even here in Denmark.” Last word on the relationship
between Scandinavia and Europe goes to Peter Bager, CEO of TC Group International (TCGI). TCGI is a sales organisation under the holding company TC Group, of which TC Electronic is also part. “Most companies hold strong positions in their domestic markets, and we are no exception,” he reflects. “However, being based in Denmark, the domestic market has obvious limitations – which forces us to take a more international focus. Also, being part of TC Group that holds brands like
Lab.gruppen and Lake in Sweden as well as Tannoy in Scotland, it’s natural for us to consider Europe our domestic market.”
www.avab-cac.no www.dpamicrophones.com www.genelec.com www.ntp.dk www.starlight.se www.tcelectronic.com
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