NEW GEAR IN INTEGRATE’S RADIUS
8 September 2016
There’s always pressure to impress at the Integrate trade show, the visual suppliers have a bit of an advantage when it comes to dressing up a stand, with curved OLED mega panels a surefire way to draw eyeballs. On the audio side, probably the biggest splash was PAVT’s launch of EAW’s new affordable line source system, Radius. PAVT rolled out the craft beers on tap, and had a full band perform on the top deck of its double-storey stand to showcase Radius’s sound.
The basic pitch is that Radius includes most of the processing smarts of EAW’s flagship straight-hanging array triplets — Anya, Anna and Otto — with a bit of a curve thrown in. It will hang like a ‘traditional’ J-Curve array (if that’s the coverage you require). There’s only one three-way line source module at present, with a flown 12-inch sub, and ground stacked single 18. There are also eight- and 12-inch point source options, with two horn throw coverage options in each size, and a stage monitor too. But back to the line array. Some of the smarts include intelligent coupling between hanging boxes via infrared, optimising instantly for detected hanging angles. The boxes also accept Dante (on Ethercon) and standard Ethernet, so you can control, tune and optimise your system via the EQMosaic app. We’ll definitely be looking into it more, especially considering the price. PAVT says you’ll be able to walk out of the warehouse with a fully-powered line array system comprising eight top boxes a side, and four 18-inch subs a side for around $90k. PAVT also had Audix’s new Performance wireless systems on display and in operation on the band. You can read our review later this issue.
CMI also had almost the entire AKG range on display — having recently acquired the distribution account — including a full complement of C414s. However, the most saliva-inducing piece was Peter Trojkovic’s vintage AKG C12. It was the only mic the CEO of CMI kept from his days running Troy Balance. He’s resisted the urge to sell it multiple times and is feeling the love come back now that the companies are linked once more (get Peter’s full video story on our Facebook page). Jason from Mackie was also back in town, showing off the new mini-digital mixer ProDX series (review next issue) as well as running plug-ins on the Axis digital mixing system, via Plogue Bidule on his laptop — very clever.
At the front of Australis’ stand, in front of the huge amount of gear on display from much of the Music Group’s catalogue, were a couple of new Turbosound stick PAs. Later in the day, Australis also unleashed the booze and demo’d the iP series with a neat acoustic performance that could be heard well into the hall.
TAG was once again demo-ing Allen & Heath’s flagship D-Live console, now with Waves Soundgrid integration. Simon Stav had the full complement of Rat Sound problem solvers on display, including the neat ethernet linked mini-stage boxes and tails, which can save you running looms for small-capacity runs. Jands had a sexy new wireless contender of its own, with Shure’s high-end dual diaphragm dynamic capsule, the KSM8, mated nicely to the curves of a Shure wireless body. Amber, on the other hand, was showcasing something a little less showy. It had some new DPA MMP-GR/GS modular active cables that miniaturise the mic preamplifier even further for wireless systems. Previously, the preamp used to be split over the mic attachment and XLR connector, now its all in the screw-on adaptor, with only a tiny Microdot connector at the tail end. It allows engineers to up the size of their mic to something like a 4018 capsule and plug directly into a wireless pack.
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