A serious number of major product launches are scheduled for this year’s four-day event. Jim Evans looks at what’s on offer
The Prolight + Sound and Media Systems Prolight + Sound trade fairs in Frankfurt from 24 to 27 March 2010 will be characterised by a number of important changes, say the organisers. For the first time, the two fairs will occupy the new Hall 11 of the Frankfurt Fair and Exhibition Centre, while the ‘Portalhaus’ adjoining Hall 11 will house the Media Systems fair. The Portalhaus will also act as the new main entrance. Many manufacturers are keeping their cards close to their chests with regards to product launches but the organisers are bullish, confidently predicting a healthy turnout.
Audio
Frankfurt will see the world premiere of Camco’s V8 high-performance Class H amplifier, delivering 8,800W of power in 2-ohm or 4-ohm mode. The first of three planned additions to the Vortex Series, the V8 shows off a new design aesthetic and streamlined user interface.
Italian loudspeaker manufacturer dBTechnologies is ensuring it has a strong presence at this year’s show with 780sqm of booth space to showcase its products and multimedia updates to be beamed around the world during the event. dBTechnologies will be exhibiting with associated brands RCF and recently acquired SGM Lighting and will be launching an array of new products from under the RCF Group umbrella.
Denon Professional is set to launch the DN-F300, the first in a new series of solid-state players for the sound contractor and AV integrator markets. The DN-F300 is an advanced professional solution for the playback of MP3 and uncompressed WAV music libraries stored on SD and SDHC flashcards (up to 32GB), portable USB flash drives, and self-powered HDDs. With no moving parts, it offers virtually maintenance-free operation, and is configured as a replacement for carousel CD players in BGM applications.
Funktion-One promises “some exciting new product releases” including “state-of-the-art self-powered enclosures and two revolutionary stage monitors”. The self-powered enclosures are the result of a four-year collaboration between Funktion-One and XTA Electronics. The versatile Resolution 2 biamplified 3-way fully horn-loaded enclosure will house the newly developed A4 two-channel amplifier.
Link will feature the DGlink, multi-protocol modular digital snake. DGlink is a modular touring grade digital audio distribution snake (48 kHz/24-bit) for live applications leveraging the architecture of traditional stage boxes.
Mackie will present a number of new powered subwoofers. When paired with an SRM450v2 (now clad in all black), the new TH-18s subs deliver “real-world power at extremely competitive pricing”.
“Our SRM450v2 now has a powerful ally,” says Mackie brand director, Greg Young. “When paired with our new TH-18s, you have a complete system that comes in at a street price of nearly $400 less than competitive systems, and that’s per side.”
Nexo has a new 2x18in sub to release, and the PL+S show will also see the international debut of NEXOSoft, an all-new release of system management software for Nexo systems from the Geo to PS Series.
Ohm (UK)’s Ersa Major, the latest addition to the Planet Suite, is an integrated line array system intended for large-scale concerts, festivals and sports events. The system is run in four-way active mode with the amplifiers flown in the array. The matching dual 18in PUKK sub-bass units can be flown or ground stacked.
The mid/high cabinet has dual Ohm 10in mid-range woofers with a 2in + 1in coaxial compression driver mounted on a proprietary horn flare. The mid-range drivers are mounted at the rear creating a fully horn-loaded cabinet with a compact size of 700mm wide, 600mm deep and 300mm high.
Equipson-distributed WORK will feature the SLA series, which has been designed for fixed installations that require high-quality audio, and features a Class D amplifier. The three models available differentiate themselves with their output power: 2 x 25W for SLA 50, 2 x 50W for SLA 100 and 2 x 100W for SLA 200. Their small size also means they can be screwed on walls or DIN rails.
Also from WORK, the IC 6 Pro A is a ceiling speaker that features a Class D amplifier. It is controlled by DMX, allowing an independent control of each zone (up to 512 zones per universe).
Movecat will be presenting the new I-Motion Basic Show Controller. The compact system controls kinetic drives for mobile and flexible project applications. Suitable for up to 72 drives, it is capable of controlling and supervising any application involving D8, D8 Plus and C1 drives, whether fixed or variable speed, as well as supporting mixed operation of all kinds. With it, depending upon the drive and controller specifications, entire systems can be realised from safety integrity level (SIL) 1 to SIL 3. Integrating existing drives and other stage machinery is also possible.
PA/VA
Visitors to the Baldwin Boxall stand will be able to preview the Eclipse2M wall-mountable, stand-alone, voice evacuation/public address system. Other products on show will include the Unitouch touchscreen paging station, BVRD microphone controller and the OmniCare disabled refuge and fire telephone system.
Combining an emergency voice alarm system with digital audio PA, paging and BGM functionality, the VM-3000 Series from TOA brings new levels of flexibility to the deployment of PA/VA in small to medium-sized commercial projects, all at an affordable price, the company says.
Lighting
ETC will feature the latest additions to the Selador Series of LED fixtures. Tuned to provide colours in either the warm or cool side of the spectrum, Vivid Fire and Ice offer colour brightness levels that rival or surpass the outputs of tungsten lighting fixtures, using up to 90% less power. With Fire and Ice delivering double or triple the light output of gelled conventional fixtures and fading smoothly from colour to colour, you can move from afternoon to sunset or from twilight to romantic moonlit nights using fewer fixtures and less power. A large part of the stand will also be taken up with ETC’s control desk range, including the Eos, Congo and SmartFade families.
GDS (Global Design Solutions) will showcase the newest addition to the LiteWare range, LiteWare HO (High Output). Following the success of the LiteWare wireless RGB uplighter, launched in 2009, LiteWare HO is a high output version offering 80W of LED power. Designed to be completely compatible with the existing LiteWare range, the LiteWare HO product is the same footprint as the standard version and is calibrated to deliver colour-matched output.
Andy Duffield, European sales manager, GDS comments: “LiteWare has achieved enormous success since its launch in February 2009, with over 20 of the leading live events companies in the UK holding inventory and many more units sold worldwide. Building on its success we have built an even more powerful unit, which is now double the output with an operational run time of 12 hours. We will launch LiteWare HO at Prolight + Sound and stock will be available from the end of March.”
Multiform Lighting will be showing the new AmbiLED range of products for the architainment market. The AmbiStrip is a medium-sized RGB LED strip light, designed to provide colour mixing outline/edge illumination to suspended ceilings, bar counters and other indirect lighting applications. It is available in lengths of 1,000, 500 and 250mm. Also on show is the Multispot ECO-II, a medium-power RGB LED light source; the Multispot HP LS1009 (pictured), a versatile 685-lumen LED lighting fixture; and the MultiBeam HP LS1018, which provides twice the light output of the smaller MultiSpot HP unit.
Show details
Where? Messe Frankfurt, D-60062, Frankfurt am Main
When? 24-27 March 9.00 – 18.00
How much? €27 in advance (or online), €40 on arrival, €14 reduced-price day ticket for students
