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PLASA said farewell to Earls Court with the site now due to be redeveloped


December 2012 l 15


reviewoftheyear


ON THE ROAD In the UK, it was the second- worst ‘summer’ since weather records began, which contributed to the cancellation of a large number of festivals including Creamfields and Bloc Festival (well, sort of). Others pulled out early fearing they couldn’t compete with the Olympics (Big Chill) while poor ticket sales forced some events to be abandoned (Sonisphere). Despite the weather wreaking


havoc in the UK, it wasn’t all bad for the festival industry in Europe. Marc Maes reported on the massive growth of Belgium’s Tomorrowland (PSNEurope, October 2012), echoed by Germany’s Reload Festival (PSNEurope September 2012). Reports from both Phil Ward


and David Davies in PSNLive revealed that both big and boutique events are more than capable of holding their own, illustrated in Dave Robinson’s write up (PSNEurope, October 2012) of Mama Group’s chic and eclectic Wilderness Festival. What’s more, after something


of a hiatus, festivals (and other events) suddenly had a wealth of large-format PA systems to choose from. PSNEurope had the scoop on Nexo’s modular STM Series (February 2012), which launched at Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt, where JBL’s VTX system also made its European debut. Martin Audio’s MLA Compact system was introduced around the same time. Later in the year, Meyer Sound


rolled out its newest large-format PA at the Way Out West festival in Sweden (PSNEurope, September 2012), followed by Coda Audio’s ambitious ViRAY system, which the company hopes will lead it into one of the “top five” pro-audio loudspeaker brands (PSNEurope, November 2012). Fingers crossed that the weather picks up next year, so rental houses get to buy and use this stuff! The year for studios was a good one if you were Abbey Road (happy 80th birthday!), Livingston (which just opened, see page 17) and East Point, hidden behind a secret door disguised as a bookcase inside Osea Island’s Manor House (PSNEurope, October 2012). Studios sporting ‘for sale’ signs in 2012 include Air Studios (PSNEurope, June 2012), while Garden studios has shut its doors and David Gray’s Church Studios risks being turned into flats next year (PSNEurope, September 2012).


MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENTS Other ‘big’ news this year included more than a few companies expanding, starting with Uli Behringer’s Music Group dominating the headlines on the opening day of InfoComm in Las Vegas, with news of the acquisition of UK-based loudspeaker brand Turbosound. New consoles including the X32 (Behringer) and the PRO 1 (Midas) are keeping the marketplace lively. Soundcraft, meanwhile, took the bold move of launching the Si Performer, the first hybrid audio/lighting desk. At IBC2012, TSL Professional


Products announced it had acquired surround sound microphone and audio processing technology manufacturer SoundField. In the 3D audio sector, Dolby Laboratories bought Spanish developer Imm Sound in July, and DTS responded in August buying out SRS Labs, taking competition in the niche market up a notch. In Berlin, EVE Audio was


created by ex-ADAM Audio employees (would you believe it?). Coming soon in PSNEurope, more revelations! Dolby Laboratories Jeffrey Riedmiller has also been a vocal advocate for best practices for loudness, as reported by Kevin Hilton (PSNEurope, March 2012). The year, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria began using the EBU R128 loudness standard for television loudness control while at IBC2012 David Davies reported that the focus of anti-loudness activity is beginning to shift towards radio, cinema and streaming services. AED has flexed its muscles


more than ever this year. In January, its rental division made a massive investment in both Sennheiser and JBL’s VTX system. AED Rent then celebrated its 25th anniversary by launching its financing division, AED Lease, in July. Company


SPECTRUM SAGA


After a series of delays earlier this year, the UK regulatory body Ofcom’s 4G spectrum auction is about to begin, with bids being accepted as of 11 December.


As mobile services eye UHF


access, the European Commission announced that member states must allot 120MHz worth of bandwidth at the 2GHz band – currently used by 3G networks – to the new 4G service. Meanwhile the UK’s first 4G network,


Everything Everywhere has already been granted permission by Ofcom to use its existing bandwidth for 4G services, putting them ahead of the 4G service rollout race in the country.


The deadline for this new


allocation is 30 June 2014 and the Commission has also outlined harmonised technical conditions to allow both technologies to share the radio spectrum. This may be a further sign that the


European Commission is proceeding with its proposal that there should be harmonisation of all wireless spectrum across Europe. Around the same time as


the European Commission made its announcement, ‘rabbit ears’ in the UK were officially made a thing of the past when Dame Mary Peters (gold medalist, 1972 Olympic pentathlon) turned off the last analogue television transmitter in Belfast.


This was followed by a flurry


of Dante-enabled products released at Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt. Audinate’s technology, built on AVB standards, is seen by many as a seamless ‘upgrade’ path to AVB. Meanwhile, AVB’s industry


Air Studios was put up for sale earlier in the year


CEO Glenn Roggeman took home an official Olympic torch from this year’s PLASA show in September, only to have the company’s Willebroek, Belgium headquarters go up in flames in early November. “Total damages are estimated


at some €800,000 worth of video equipment, €1.5 million in lighting and audio kit, €0.5 million in specialised machinery, computers and materials, plus an estimated cost of €1 million for the damaged buildings,” Roggeman told Marc Maes, who reported the story on PSNEurope’s website.


“We managed to recuperate some 70 hoists with water damage, but discovered over 200 units that were melted in the heat of the inferno.” On a final Olympic note, we’re


already in much better shape to report on the Sochi 2014 Games with the first piece of news already in from Relec SA (PSNEurope, November), who will be supplying 25 pairs of PSI Audio monitors to be used in the broadcast booths. Feel free to let us know about your contribution to the “Winter of Sport”.


NETWORKED AUDIO The standardisation of networked audio chugged along in 2012, with an emphasis on ‘interoperability’ among its key players with two protocols in particular dominating the headlines: Audio-Video Bridging (AVB) and Ravenna. AVB set the tone early with


The Midas PRO1 was launched at InfoComm


some key product releases including Biamp’s Tesira; the company’s first DSP-based networked media system to employ AVB as the primary digital media transport, launched at ISE.


forum, AVnu Alliance, picked up two new members in Waves Audio and Dolby Laboratories, and formed a council to begin work on the second generation of AVB standards. AVB product certification testing is to begin next year at the University of New Hampshire’s InterOperability Laboratory. Testing was supposed to begin


in August of this year but has been pushed back to early 2013. AVnu Alliance’s Ellen Juhlin spoke to PSNEurope in September about AVB’s ongoing development. Ravenna, meanwhile, made such a strong showing at IBC2012 (19 of its 21 partner companies were exhibiting) that David Davies couldn’t help but wonder whether or not the technology was approaching a ‘tipping point’ (November). Earlier in the year Ravenna


partnered with the Telos Alliance (announced at NAB), including Livewire manufacturer Axia, bringing interoperability to a total of 70 combined broadcast partners. A string of further global partnerships were also announced. And what of our year? Well, PSNEurope took on a new staff writer (that would be me) but more importantly, the magazine got a whole new look in March. We’re now smarter and sexier than we’ve ever been (I’m talking about the redesign, of course). Hairier too, it seems. Have you noticed all the facial furniture? We did, so we decided to put a contest together…. n NOW TURN TO P49 TO WIN AKG K167 HEADPHONES!


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