ApexPro and Sound Reference join Genelec’s global distribution network.
Genelec has significantly strengthened its distribution network in the MEA region through the signing of two new distribution agreements. Johannesburg-based ApexPro are handling the distribution of Genelec’s Pro and AV loudspeaker ranges across Southern Africa, while Dubai-based Sound Reference will be servicing the Home Audio market throughout the GCC group of countries. Both appointments signal Genelec’s commitment to what has become an increasingly important region in the global loudspeaker market.
ApexPro is part of South Africa’s well-established Prosound Group of companies, which over the last fifty years has established a close affiliation with clients in the professional broadcast, music production and Pro-AV verticals. The distribution agreement covers the Southern African region – comprising South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe – and with satellite offices in Durban, Cape Town and Gaborone, ApexPro will focus on the distribution of Genelec Professional loudspeakers via the dealer channel, while AV Worx – part of the same Prosound Group – will provide value-added distribution by concentrating on supplying Genelec Professional and AV solutions to system integrators working in audio-visual production, music production, AV applications plus education and research.
Founded in Dubai in 2021 by Muhammed Amras, Sound Reference will be supplying Genelec loudspeaker systems to the Home Audio market across the GCC nations: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. Supported by General Manager Suresh Thadani – who himself has over 25 years of audio distribution experience – Sound Reference will be working with a network of dealers across the region, while supporting sales in the UAE via its impressive Genelec Experience Centre in Dubai.
“Genelec is the standard by which all other loudspeakers are judged by professionals in the global audio industry,” comments ApexPro director Mark Malherbe. “Ensuring reliable and supported access to Genelec’s class-leading products is an essential part of delivering on our commitment to provide world-class technology and solutions to our growing pro audio industry in Southern Africa. We’re confident that our extensive network of broadcast and production professionals, AV integrators and end users in the entertainment, commercial and education markets will embrace all that Genelec has to offer in the years ahead.”
Sound Reference’s Muhammed Amras adds: “We have a very close relationship with Farooq Pasha, who’s company – Audio Video People – has had great success as a Genelec Home Audio dealer in Bangalore, India. Working with Audio Video People, we recognised the opportunities that representing Genelec in the GCC region would create – it’s a fast developing market, and the booming tourism industry is generating significant demand for high quality loudspeaker solutions in the Home Audio and AV segments.”
Genelec International Sales Director Ole Jensen concludes: “We can see the growth potential that the MEA region represents, and we’re extremely excited about working with ApexPro and Sound Reference, both of whom have high levels of experience and professionalism. It also showcases the fact that Genelec’s strong studio & broadcast customer base is now being supported by a growing number of discerning customers in the AV and Home Audio markets. This really underscores the fact that exceptional sounding, sustainable, aesthetically beautiful loudspeaker solutions are in demand everywhere – whatever the application.”
ETC’s flagship Eos lighting control family grows more powerful with every free software release, introducing features that streamline and revolutionize the design team’s workflow. Eos v3.2 – the latest major update – is no exception, bringing powerful tools to quickly adjust fixture-, device- and session-level settings, as well as massive expansions in the Augment3d programming environment.
As modern lighting systems grow to encompass more and more controllers and devices, easy access to network configuration controls is paramount. Eos v3.2 brings several key settings from the shell into the Eos application proper, allowing them to be saved in the show file and adjusted in real-time without leaving your session or stopping output. Device settings are also now stored in profiles within the show file, allowing you to bind devices for quicker configuration. With the template file feature, easily starting from a known point is as simple as starting a new show. Output protocol settings have also been brought into Eos and have been significantly expanded to support advanced configurations for dynamic and static systems large and small – laying the groundwork for future system expansion.
Color control has also received significant upgrades in the new software. You can now set color configurations for your fixtures, allowing Eos to control them with ease. As you use and build LED fixtures, Eos dynamically generates a gamut, giving you use of the color tools with any fixture — from two-emitter white light fixtures to eight emitters and beyond. The software also adds native and virtual CIE XY controls via the color tools and command line to keep you up to date on any communication path your fixtures and your team may use.
The most dynamic new control feature can be found in Augment3d, the award-winning 3D-programming and visualization environment built into the Eos software. The new Zones feature offers a revolutionary way to let your 3D environment affect your lighting. Don’t want moving fixtures to land on the projection screen? Would you like the lights to turn blue every time they move offstage or go dark when they pan over the audience? Zones allow you to define regions in your model space and automatically affect fixture behavior when they intersect with the zone – turning intensity off or on, triggering macros, or applying presets or palettes. You can even attach a Zone to a moveable scenic element in your model – allowing the Zone to intersect and affect the behavior of static fixtures as well as movers. Programming complex behaviors has never been simpler.
A 3D programming environment is only as good as its model, and Eos v3.2 makes getting started in Augment3d easier than ever. ETC teamed up with Vectorworks to implement direct MVR import for fixture and model data — no more plug-ins. In addition, you can import glTF from other drafting suites, as well as the 50+ file formats Augment3d already supports. And with the upcoming Augment3d Scanner app for iOS & Android, you can use your phone or tablet’s built-in AR tools to scan your space and instantly create an Eos-compatible model.
Eos v3.2 adds a massive suite of tools that elevates your design and programming, letting you work not just faster — but better. With additional quality-of-life improvements system-wide – including new features like macro search, cue alerts, and focus palettes that follow Augment3d objects – the new software is bound to be a game-changer, no matter which Eos Family console you use.
Listen to Dennie Miller talk about his experiences using DPA mics with Volbeat:
Coming from an audio system engineering background, Dennie Miller, FOH for Volbeat believes in the importance of the microphone. “In my background, we say choose the right speaker put it in the right place and point it in the right direction. Well, a microphone is also a transducer, just like a speaker so the same rule applies.” He continues: “If you choose the right microphone, put it in the right place and point it in the right direction you’ve done a big part of the job before you ever get to your console.”
Sound Designer Kai Harada Credited on Two Nominees for Best Musical
New York, New York – The Company | Paul Kolnik
The 76th annual Tony Awards celebration, presented by The Broadway League and the American Theater Wing, will be held on June 11 at the historic United Palace in the Washington Heights district of New York. Two productions nominated for Best Musical — New York, New York and Kimberly Akimbo — employ main reinforcement systems of Meyer Sound loudspeakers. Both systems are the work of noted sound designer Kai Harada, and his personal contribution to New York, New York is recognized by a nomination for Best Sound Design of a Musical, an award he garnered in 2018 for A Band’s Visit.
New York, New York – The Company | Paul Kolnik
Two productions receiving Best Sound Design of a Play nominations, Life of Pi and Prima Facie, also benefit from an audio system predominantly from Meyer Sound. The respective Sound Designer nominees are Carolyn Downing and Ben & Max Ringham.
The two Tony-nominated musicals with systems designed by Harada share similarities despite significant differences in both the venue sizes and the content of the productions. To craft the ideal balance of coverage, power, and bandwidth for each show, Harada was able to draw on a broad palette of 15 different Meyer Sound loudspeakers, both current and legacy models, with nine of those models specified for both productions.
Kimberly Akimbo: Victoria Clark, Justin Cooley, Michael Iskander, Olivia Hardy, Nina White, and Fernell Hogan | Joan Marcus
“Kimberly Akimbo is playing at the Booth Theater, a relatively small Broadway house seating around 800, while New York, New York is at the larger St. James, with a capacity of over 1700,” says Harada. “Kimberly is more of a chamber musical, with a smaller cast and smaller orchestra, but still the show’s score still requires a big dynamic range so there are a lot of loudspeakers in the space. I scaled up the same approach for New York, New York, which is a bigger and brassier dance-oriented show. Although the orchestra is in an uncovered pit — a rarity these days! — it was important to me to have a system that gave me a lot of dynamic range and complete coverage for all seating sections.”
When selecting loudspeakers for his designs, Harada places a high value on consistency. “When I spec Meyer Sound cabinets for my main PA, I know what to expect with the sound quality and coverage,” he says. “We had done Kimberly Akimbo off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theatre — also with a Meyer Sound system — so we knew what the show was, musically speaking, and had a sonic goal in mind. For New York, New York, we had done only one workshop of the show, so there were a lot more unknowns. In that case, I needed to know that the system I specified was going to sound good so that I could concentrate on all the other variables.”
Current Meyer Sound products used in both productions include the LINA® very compact linear line array, ULTRA-X40™ compact loudspeaker, and UPM-1P™ ultra-compact loudspeaker. Legacy loudspeakers used for both include M1D™ line arrays, UPQ-1P™, UPA-2P™, UPJ-1P™, UPJunior™, and MM-4™ loudspeakers as well as the 500-HP™ subwoofer.
Meyer Sound’s discreet LINA line arrays are major contributors to the sound for both productions. “The LINAs just sound good, and they are small,” summarizes Harada. “That makes it easy to collaborate with the visual designers to get good speaker locations because they don’t take up much space — but I still get a lot of granular control.”
His most recent favourite is the ULTRA-X40 compact loudspeaker. “It’s such a smooth-sounding box that requires so little EQ. I can’t imagine doing a show without ULTRA-X40s anymore!”
The system for Kimberly Akimbo encompasses a total of 77 full-range loudspeakers plus nine subwoofers. A total of 108 full-range loudspeakers and seven subwoofers are deployed for New York, New York. The complete audio systems for these two productions were supplied by Masque Sound of East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Other productions currently running in New York deploying Meyer Sound loudspeakers as their main systems include Tina, Monsoon Wedding, A Transparent Musical, Dancin,’ Once Upon a One More Time, and Gatsby. Major tours with Meyer Sound Systems include 1776 and Les Miserables. All of these systems were supplied by Sound Associates of Yonkers, New York.
Electro-Voice EKX and ZLX loudspeakers provide the ideal combination of professional sound quality and compact form factor
Dynacord L series DSP amplifiers allow user-friendly system management.
The system serves double duty for daytime BGM and nighttime live sound.
A new Electro-Voice loudspeaker system with power and processing from Dynacord is delivering state-of-the-art sound quality in a compact format for patrons at Naimuang Station, a leading regional restaurant known for its live music scene, in Chai Nat, Thailand.
The restaurant’s management was determined to elevate the audio experience at the venue to the next level. In addition to top-notch sound quality, a key prerequisite was controlled coverage to keep the output contained in the venue and minimize any noise pollution into neighbouring properties. In step with this consideration, the system also needed to sound great at lower volume levels for daytime guests. And, of course, it all needed to be reliable and easy for the staff to manage.
To deliver on this vision, a system comprising passive EKX and powered ZLX series loudspeakers was specified. The main PA includes four EKX-15 and four EKX-12 full-range boxes to cover the dining/audience area, with low-frequency support from four EKX-18 subwoofers. Four ZLX-12BT boxes serve as stage monitors. Both the EKX and ZLX series models feature Signal Synchronized Transducers (SST) technology, which, in addition to allowing for a more compact speaker enclosure, helps to time-align the low- and high-frequency drivers and allows for a larger waveguide and port to fit inside the enclosure, yielding enhanced pattern control and bass response.
The main EKX system is powered by Dynacord L Series DSP amplifiers, designed for live/mobile applications: three L3600FD (2x 1800 W) and two L2800FD (2x 1400 W). Dynacord’s remote control software allows Naimuang Station to wirelessly manage and monitor system settings such as volume and EQ without the need for additional speaker processing. For example, the audio can be adjusted to provide the perfect ambience with background music for diners during the day, with higher output for live shows at night. Being able to configure the system quickly and easily completes a solution that combines user-friendly convenience with professional performance.
ApexPro is the premium distributor of Electro-Voice and Dynacord equipment and services in sub-Saharan Africa.
The “King of Wheels” BMX contest held on March 11th at the “Stuttpark” skatepark in Stuttgart, Germany, was a huge success. With riders from all over the country competing in three different classes – Kids, Amateurs, and Professionals – the competition was fierce, but in the end, it was all about the skills, the stunts, and the fun! The incredible atmosphere of the event was ensured by Electro-Voice sound systems.
Two EVOLVE 50M column loudspeaker systems served as the main PA, with a further two EVERSE 8 battery-powered loudspeakers deployed for the adjacent areas and as a DJ monitor to blast out the perfect mix of cool beats and tunes, while announcements were made crystal clear via a wireless RE3 microphone system that was connected to the EVOLVE 50Ms.
The DJ also used a Dynacord CMS 600 mixing console for signal processing and to keep the party going, making sure that every rider’s trick was accompanied by the perfect sound.
ApexPro is the premium distributor of Electro-Voice products in sub-Saharan Africa.
