Yamaha have released a firmware update for the M7CL digital console.
V1.15 firmware is available from the Yamaha download site at
http://www.yamahaproaudio.com/downloads/

An updated M7CL Editor (V2.1.2; Win Vista/XP) for Studio Manager is also available.

LMC recommend that console owners update to the latest firmware version and check that they are running the latest versions of Studio Manager and the M7CL editor. All are available from the download site.

"Rap-a-Ramp" is the ultimate portable flexible ramp solution.

We are very impressed with this and thought we'd share it with you.
Constructed of high tensile anodised aluminium Rap-a-Ramp is both
lightweight and strong with a maximum load capacity of half a ton.
It’s unique folding design allows the ramp to be wrapped for storage and rapidly deployed for use, whilst individual treads can be removed or added to customise the length.

Rap-a-ramp makes loading small to medium vans a breeze and is ideally suited to the audio visual production industry. It can even be utilised as a bridge over obstructions.

Standard 8ft Rap-a-Ramp in stock now - only £649 ex VAT

Download the full brochure

LMC are exhibiting at the ABTT 2008 theatre show on the 11th and 12th June at The Royal Horticultural Halls, London SW1.

The show attracts exhibitors from a wide range of suppliers and services necessary to stage a theatre production or equip a building.

The show is aimed at working technicians and administrators from all aspects of working theatre, as well as their managers, architects, consultants, mechanical engineers and services engineers involved in the planning and building of new facilities.

LMC have hand picked some exciting products to show and look forward to seeing you on stand 72.
More information about visiting the show available at the ABTT website

Yamaha have released the following updates

Studio Manager V2 Host
Studio Manager V2 Host (V2.1.7; Win Vista/XP/2000, V2.2.1; Mac OSX)
Mar.4.2008

PM5D V2
PM5D V2 Firmware (V2.20)
PM5D V2 Editor (V2.2.0; Win Vista/XP, Mac OSX)
Mar.4.2008

DSP5D
DSP5D Firmware (V1.20)
DSP5D Editor (V2.2.0: Win Vista/XP)
Mar.4.2008

LS9
LS9 Firmware (V1.12)
Apr.2.2008

LMC recommend that console owners update to the latest firmware version and check that they are running the latest versions of Studio Manager and the latest editor. Check that you also have the latest USB-MIDI or DME-N network driver as applicable. All are available from the download site.

Yamaha Downloads

Tascam have launched two new audio recorders.
SS-R1 and SS-CDR1 are single-rackspace solid state recorders for the installation market. Designed for applications that currently use a cassette or MiniDisc recorder, the SS-R1 records to CompactFlash cards in WAVE format – or in MP3 format to achieve extended recording times. The SS-CDR1 adds a slot-loading CD recorder for direct audio CD creation, direct MP3 recording to CD as well as additional audio transfer functions.

Each model is equipped with balanced and unbalanced audio inputs and outputs, SPDIF coaxial digital in and out with sample rate converter, RS-232 serial and parallel control, a wired remote control and a computer keyboard input for folder/file naming and remote control. And, of course, users don’t need to do without traditional features like pitch control and key control, auto cue and auto ready, instant start, fade in/out on playback, auto track increment (level or time based), power-on play and sync recording.

Solid State technology provides hours of recording to affordable and secure CompactFlash media, and recordings can be transferred quickly to computers for editing, archiving or publishing on the internet. With fewer moving parts to break down, these products are designed for years of trouble-free use.

See the full specification at the Tascam website

Scala nightclub is a multi-purpose venue in King's Cross, on the north side of central London. In its current incarnation, the building has four main levels and accommodates events for up to 1,145 people. There are three bars, two dance floors and a stage for live performances.

Last year, the owners of Scala decided the sound system in the main area needed an upgrade, so resident sound technician George Gregori contacted LMC Audio Systems to design a system using new Turbosound products that would work with the lively acoustics of the room.

The building that houses Scala has some history behind it. Construction started in 1914 but completed only after WW1, during which it was used to make aeroplane components.

In 1920, it finally became the King's Cross Cinema. The following 70 years saw it change names a few times, as well as its focus, screening films ranging from mainstream to art-house to adult. In the summer of 1972, the King's Cross Cinema played host to the only UK concert by American rock band Iggy & The Stooges and the famous cover shot for Raw Power album sleeve was taken on that night. In 1974, following a petition from local residents to revoke its late night license, the venue closed.

Some five years later, it reopened as Britain’s first Primatarium – an audio-visual ecological experience – but this venture proved unsuccessful and in 1981 the cinema returned to Scala. However, in the early 1990s the Scala Film Club went into receivership as Warner Brothers sued it for screening Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange without his permission.

The venue closed down in 1993, but re-opened in 1999 as Scala nightclub. The cinema had been refitted, with the lower seating area incorporating the new stage, DJ booth and dance floor, while the upper seating area incorporated a second room and a DJ booth.

To bring it bang up to date, Scala's 21st century sound system needed to be capable of sound reproduction for dance music and live bands at high SPL with low distortion. "When considering a new sound system for Scala, the venue needed a system both versatile and robust across all music genres for both live and club events, and most importantly one that delivered clarity and quality," explains Gregori. "Since most of our week is taken up with quality live music and the weekends with high profile club nights and also with a brand name like Scala, it was very important we got this right. The new Turbosound system has delivered all of this and more."

The original Turbosound Floodlight loudspeaker system was stacked on the stage so for the new system, a flown array was the way forward.

Working on this basis, Jeff Woodford of LMC Audio Systems specified the Aspect® TA-500 three-way point source enclosure with the two-way mid-high TA-500HM hung underneath as a down-fill. "This combination gives great front to back coverage with the TA-500HMs focused on the sunken dance floor and the mid/HF section of the TA-500 focused at the raised FOH position and elevated dance/viewing area at the back of the room," said Woodford. "Low bass for both areas comes from the TA-500’s punchy low frequency section. Sub bass for the FOH system is delivered by six TSW-218s stacked on stage three per side."

As part of the new sound system, Scala was keen to provide the back of the room with additional sound reinforcement for the club nights that play dance music. A weighty, all round sound was required. So in both corners of the rear raised dance floor area, a single TSW-218 subwoofer with a self-powered TA-500DP are deployed to give the full, deep and rich sound required around the room.

The loudspeaker system is controlled by a pair of Turbosound LMS-D26 digital processors positioned within the FOH booth for easy system monitoring and adjustments. Output from the in-house Midas Verona console is taken into one controller for left, one for right, with the six outputs controlling the FOH - sub, bass, mid, high and rear fill subs - and full range to the TA-500DPs. Amplifiers for the system are the Turbosound T-Series, placed in a separate amp room behind the stage. A rack of two T-25s and five T-45s power the FOH system, and in the FOH booth a single T-45 powers the rear fill TSW-218 subs. Total system peak power is 27kW with 18kW of sub-bass.


.
Woodford said of the install, "When approached by Scala to design a new system, I knew that keeping with the Turbosound name the club would benefit from a high audio quality and well designed product range. The Aspect series Polyhorn™ provides a point source array with the kind of controlled dispersion that Scala required, so this was my first choice for the venue. The Aspect TA-500s coupled with the TSW-218 subwoofers deliver an engaging, passionate sound, just what is required for one of London's leading music venues."

Since installing the system in February 2008, the likes of Sheryl Crow, Roni Size, Nouvelle Vague and Spoon have held sell out shows at Scala. "The feedback from both industry and customer has been amazing," concluded Lee Hazell, operations director at Scala.

The Aspect Wide sound system at Scala:
Main FOH Speakers
4 x Aspect TA-500 3-way
4 x Aspect TA-500HM 2-way down fills
6 x TSW-218 subwoofers

Amplifiers and processors
2 x LMS-D26 digital loudspeaker management systems
2 x T-25 amplifiers
5 x T-45 amplifiers

Flying hardware
2 x FK-500/2T Top row kits for 2-wide TA-500 array
2 x FK-500/2H Hinge kits for 2-wide TA-500 array

Rear fills
2 x Aspect TA-500DP self-powered
2 x TSW-218 subwoofers

The University of Surrey Students’ Union in Guildford is the home to Rubix, the campus based nightclub, which recently had a new £80,000 sound system installed that included a full Turbosound loudspeaker system.

The multi-levelled nightclub has a capacity of up to 1,500 students and sits directly on top of the Students’ Union building. There are five areas: the main dance floor, Haris, the Bottle Bank, PJDs Bar and the main foyer and walkthroughs.

Rubix is also used as a social space during the daytime. On Thursdays it is turned into a bustling market place selling fruit and vegetables, cakes, bread, jewellery and numerous other campus essentials. The Harubix International Café is open every day selling snacks and drinks.

The venue has hosted many a top DJ and band in the past, with the likes of The Darkness, Rachel Stevens, Carl Cox, Scott Mills, Tim Westwood, James Hyman, John Digweed, Travis, The Twang, DJ Yoda and Paul Oakenfold.

Ian Lipp, technical manager of Rubix explains the reasoning behind the new install: “The previous system was 10 years old and sounded like it needed replacing. The old one was a cross between an installation and a touring rig that we used in our other venues. We wanted to get a rig installed that was designed purely as an install for our club without the requirement of needing it to be used elsewhere.”

The Turbosound products that make up the installation are seven Aspect® Wide TA-500 three-way loudspeakers, five Aspect® TA-500HM two-way downfill loudspeakers, six TSW-218 high power subass, three NuQ12s, two TCS-101Cs, two TCS-081-CW weatherproof loudspeakers, eight Impact 50s, five T-45 amplifiers, five T-25 amplifiers, two Turbosound LMS-D26 controllers and an LMS-D24 controller.

The system was designed by Jeff Woodford of London-based LMC Audio Systems, in collaboration with Turbosound. Jeff introduced the University to the Turbosound range when they initially approach him to specify a system for the venue. He comments, “I specified products from the Turbosound range for the entire venue; they have a good variety of well designed and constructed products.

“The Aspect TA-500 was first choice for the main FOH system, the controlled dispersion of the Polyhorn™ technology made directing sound around the odd shaped room very easy, and coupled with the TA-500HM as downfills, the dancefloor and balcony/FOH position both have ample sound coverage. Then using the Nu-Q and Impact ranges to distribute sound to the other areas, the venue has a good, well-defined sound throughout. From low level lobby areas to high volume front of house, the Turbosound system delivers exactly what I expected from the design.”

Lipp added: “Turbosound is a well known brand to engineers, DJs and audiences. Because our club has a unique layout it is not suited to a line array system and we wanted an up-to-date, cutting edge product. We tried Aspect at GuilFest and then again in our club. We were very impressed with both the volume and the clarity over a wide range of material from quiet acoustic acts to loud rock bands and club nights. Also, with Turbosound being a local company, it fitted in well with our environmental policies.



“The Turbosound speakers are well built, have high SPL with good clarity and faithful reproduction,” continues Lipp. “It’s a vast improvement over the old system. We didn’t think that many audience members would even notice we had a new system, so we have been very pleased by the number of people that have commented favourably or have been overheard commenting on it.”

Aspect Wide

The Turbosound Aspect® TA-500 loudspeaker is a trapezoidal three-way full range enclosure designed for touring and fixed install applications. The cabinet contains an HF driver on a Polyhorn™ device, a 10" MF driver on a Polyhorn™ device and a Turbo-loaded 15" LF driver. The box is constructed of birch plywood and finished in black textured paint with perforated steel/reticulated foam grille. It has an external flying system, Speakon NL8 and NL4 sub-out connectors.

The latest addition to the Klark Teknik Square ONE range is a high quality analogue audio splitter.

The Square ONE Splitter features Midas XL8 design inspired pre-amps, packaged in a 2U, eight channel format with a third set of transformer-isolated independent (fixed gain) outputs. The Square ONE Splitter has the ability to function as a 1-16 media split.
The full specification is available on the Klark Teknik website.
Please call us at LMC for information on pricing and availability

Since its introduction, the Blackline Series has set the standard for portable professional loudspeaker systems. Synonymous with exceptional sound quality and reliability, they have become the benchmark for premium live music venues, nightclubs and installations worldwide.

Martin Audio has now incorporated significant improvements throughout the range to take the Blackline Series to a new level of performance. Drivers and crossover networks have been improved and all low-frequency drivers used in two-way systems now benefit from the addition of aluminium demodulating rings to minimise the variation in voice coil inductance as the coil moves in the gap.

The result is improved midrange clarity and reduced intermodulation distortion at high excursions, ensuring that the sound balance and quality are maintained even at high levels. In the development of the Blackline+ Series special attention has also been given to matching the directivity of the low frequency drivers to the HF horns in the crossover region. This has been achieved by careful choice of LF cone profiles, together with improvements in crossover design.

The new design ethos has been applied to eight full range cabinets and four complimentary sub-bass which will begin shipping this December.

For more information about Blackline+, take a look at the Martin Audio website or give us a call here at LMC, where we will be happy to help!

Good news if you are considering Soundweb for your audio installation.
The UK distributor of BSS, Harman Pro UK has announced a programme of training courses.


As of October 2007 Harman Pro UK will be offering BSS Audio Soundweb Original & Soundweb London training courses for potential and existing Soundweb users.

The courses will provide training to ensure the attendee leaves with a good knowledge of how to use Soundweb Original or Soundweb London.

Both courses will be free of charge and will be held at the Harman Pro UK offices in Potters Bar.

One of each course will be held per month with a maximum of 8 attendees per session. The places will be allocated on a ‘first come, first serve’ basis, so please book early to avoid disappointment!

Book Training Course

Amongst the equipment we displayed at PLASA 07 were two new offerings from Yamaha, the NAI48-ES and the DSP5D.

The NAI48-ES is a 48 I/O channel AES/EBU and EtherSound interface. We were demonstrating a system using one NAI48-ES, an M7CL 48CH console with all 48 inputs mapped via Mini YGDAI Ethersound cards in the console slots to a remote bank of AD8HR head amps and 16 of the outputs mapped to a pair of DA824 DA converters.

All of this was down one 80 metre drum of CAT5 cable with remote head amp control from the M7CL tunnelled through Ethersound.

We were also able to run a second drum of CAT5 cable from the NAI48-ES and patch into an LS9 32 console with 32 of the head amp sources mapped using a pair of Mini YGDAI Ethersound cards in the slots. Our system was designed to demonstrate a FOH / MON setup using the M7CL and LS9 digital consoles.

The DSP5D is an inconspicuous piece of kit but it is certainly feature packed. It provides essentially all the functionality of a PM5D-RH - minus the control surface - in a rack-mountable unit that can be seamlessly
controlled from a PM5D (RH) console. For the full specification see the DSP5D Digital Mixing System page.

There is also an informative FAQ published at FAQ: PM5D V2, DSP5D

Recommended reading.

So hopefully everyone has recovered from September's big event, Plasa 2007, and yet again there were no disappointments to be had. As usual there were plenty of new product launches, with some of the bigger manufacturers launching some amazing products, Yamaha, Lab Gruppen, Beyer Dynamic, Turbosound and KV2 just to name a few.

Of course, where would we be without some pictures?















Finally, LMC Audio would like to thank all those that attended for their hard work and effort to yet again, pull off a fantastic show for trade and consumers alike. See you all in 2008!

LMC Audio Systems are honoured to have been awarded UK Dealer of the Year by Martin Audio at their annual distributor awards held during PLASA 07.

LMC Audio have had a long standing relationship with Martin Audio, having developed and maintained a strong base of clients together over the years, LMC is proud to have received this award once again.

Cheers!

Yamaha announce the latest version of their DME-N Network Driver software.
To control the DSP5D, M7CL and LS9 from your computer via Ethernet you will need to install the driver.
Version V1.2.0 now supports Windows Vista.
Additionally, a number of bugs have been addressed.
For full details visit theYamaha website

Sunday 9th to Wednesday 12th September 2007, at Earl's Court the biggest Pro Audio event of the year is taking place once again. Dubbed PLASA07, it is THE international event attracting buyers and specifiers within the entertainment, event, corporate, architectural and installation industries from all over the world. If you work professionally with lighting, sound, rigging or staging, then PLASA07 is the event where you can see the latest innovations in one place at one time.

LMC Audio Systems will be there as always, this time displaying at stand E36. This time we will have a wide display of gear to show off, as well as a huge range of brands and a dedicated team of people to deal with any and all queries you have. With the philosopy to be the 'one stop shop' for all your Pro Audio needs, LMC Audio will happily supply anything from a radio Microphone to a 64 Channel Mixing console, all with the after sales support that you could need to make sure that you are satisfied.

So if you're there, fancy coming down to buy something, or just say hello to that voice on the end of the phone, take a look over to stand E36 and we'll be happy to have you!