Industry News

We have just had an update from JFMG that the current wireless microphone frequency bands of 550-606MHz (channels 31 to 37) that were planned for auction later this year will not be auctioned off at this time. The email states the following

“Use of the 600 MHz band was due to finish at the end of 2012 for PMSE because of the planned auction of the band. Following recent international developments relating to the possible future use of spectrum that neighbours with the 600 MHz band, Ofcom will not be proceeding with this auction for the time being.

Therefore, in the absence of a 2012 award, Ofcom has decided that PMSE can continue using the spectrum until it is released for an alternative use. Consequently, access to the band 550 – 606 MHz for PMSE will continue until at least 1st April 2013 and might carry on beyond that time subject to Ofcom’s conclusions about the approach to releasing this band.
JFMG will continue to issue 12-month licences but with a condition allowing for revocation with a minimum of six months’ notice. “

This band is directly below channel 38 which is the new shared band for people on the move. Channel 70, the free to use band, will continue to be free. As far as we have been told, channels 61-69 will still be going from PMSE use in December of this year.

EAV Pro Audio are one of the UK’s biggest sellers of Wireless microphone units and are happy to chat about your wireless needs. If you are unsure of which frequencies you should be using, just give us a call.

The new iPad 3 was revealed at an event in San Fransisco on the 6th March. Although I call it the iPod three, apparently it has no specific numerable suffix and will simply be called the iPad. At the moment, Apple themselves are tagging it as the “resolutionary” model!

As expected, it has improvements all over the shop such as a quad core processor, retina display, capable of 1080p video, 4G LTE connectivity, a 5MP iSight rear camera and many more. The release date of this new Ipad will March 16th and the UK pricing is yet to be confirmed. Apple state that the new unit will still have the 10 hour battery life of the iPad 2 even with these improvements.The new iPad has actually gained a little in the weight and size category. The thickness of the unit has increased by a “whooping” 0.4mm and the weight by 49g. Hardly noticeable really.

For those people that already own the ipad 2 or an iPhone or ipod, EAV pro Audio have a great range of products that are designed to integrate with your Apple devices and allow them to become part of your professional Audio world. Products such as the Samson XP308i and Alesis Multimix 9R simply have an ipod dock built into the mixer. Taking it a step further would be the Tascam iM2 stereo microphones, this little adaptor turns your iphone or ipad into a professional portable recorder. Even more out there is the new Digitech iStomp which turns your iphone or ipod touch into any digitech guitar pedal.

No doubt the new iPad will bring with it a whole plethora of new products that take the concept to a new level. Click this link to view our section on ipod, ipad & iphone professional audio equipment.

A breakthrough has happened in the world of Live music. Both the UK music industry and the MIA (Music Industry Association)are happy to announce that small venues do not now require a “local Authority entertainment licence”. This hopefully means that more small venues in the UK can get back to hosting live music.

In the past, small venues have had to jump through hoops and pay-out for a license to host live music events and thanks to Live Music Bill passing its third reading in the House of Commons, this is no longer the case.

The CEO of the MIA, Paul McManus states “This is wonderful news and a great day for live music”.
As a musician who relies on small venues and their live music nights, I and the rest of the EAV Pro Audio team (who are also musicians) got a little excited this morning on reading the news.

So to all the pubs that are in need of updating their PA speakers or require a new mixing desk ready for the onslaught of bands that are queuing up at your doors, give EAV pro Audio a call.

JHS have just announced that they are now the UK distributers of Carlsbro & Studiomaster. It comes a few weeks after the announcement that they no longer distribute Allen & Heath which, as of February 1st, will be distributors by vocal Microphone & instrument mic giants, Audio Technica.

It’s been a while since Carlsbro have been a name on the Pro Audio scene and JHS are tasked with reminding dealers why it was once such a strong brand of PA speakers and backline. Studiomaster seems to be their replacement for Allen & Heath and their mixing consoles.

Like the loss of Allen & Heath, the distribution of Carlsbro and Studiomaster will officially come in to place on February 1st 2012.

EAV are JHS dealers and will be able to provide their customers with the full range of Carlsbro PA speakers and Studiomaster mixing desks. Give us a call if you are interested in any of the ranges.

JFMG have announced that the Ofcom have extended the use of Channel 69 wireless microphones until December 31st 2012. This will allow radio microphone users who current tune to one or more of the 14 shared UHF channels within channel 69 to continue their use for another 11/12 months.

As most of you know, channel 69 will eventually be unavailable to wireless mic users and the new channel 38 will completely replace it. Channel 38 is currently available to use in most areas in the UK. If you want more information regarding wireless microphones and the 2012 changeovers, give EAV Pro Audio a call and we will advise you on what is best.

We have a massive selection of channel 38 wireless microphones from nearly all of the top manufacturers. We also have a great range of channel 70 wireless microphones which is a small free band that will remain after 2012.

Audio Technica to distribute Allen & Heath in the UK were the headlines EAV Pro Audio received this morning via an email from Allen & Heath.

As some people may know, Audio Technica already distributes Allen & Heath in Germany and it seemed a logical idea to have them distribute A&H in the UK also. Allen and Heath state “We are very keen to continue to provide great service to our UK dealers and customers, and we know that Audio-Technica’s experience of our brand will be invaluable when it comes to understanding the specific needs of this market”
The current distributors of most A&H mixers is JHS and this will come to an end ready for AT take over on February 1st 2012.

EAV Pro Audio are excited by the news and hope in will further their already strong relationship with Audio Technica. EAV are main dealers with Audio Technica and supply their full range of Wireless microphones and vocal microphones and this change over of distribution now allows EAV to provide you with the whole range of Allen & Heath's mixers.

An interesting article has just come into our inbox's from Audio Technica. The article focuses on their headphones or rather fake headphones that are becoming a massive problem. You can read the article here -http://eu.audio-technica.com/en/news/release.asp?id=407
You will notice that it's not just Audio Technica. Shure, Sennheiser and many other big pro audio manufacturers are being hit by this.

Audio Technica have also provided a list of websites that are selling fake headphones and also websites that are not authorized dealers of Audio Technica headphones. see below

The following websites are known resellers of fake Audio-Technica headphones

headphones-best.com
headphonestore.org.uk
headphonesale.co.uk
headphoneshop.uk.com
kingspecssd.com
soundsgreatuk.com
traders-market.co.uk

The following websites are non-authorised resellers of Audio-Technica headphones and Audio-Technica strongly recommends European customers do NOT purchase from these stores:

accessoryjack.com
eeepcssd.com
hammerjack.co.uk
iheadphones.co.uk

EAV Pro Audio are proud to be Audio Technica main dealers and have been for many years. We have a great relationship with the UK team and provide nothing but genuine products. All our products are bought from the manufacturers themselves or through the official UK distributers.

A couple of months back, Alto Professional was bought by Numark. Normally, this type of thing matters very little to you as a customer and has very little effect on the products available to you, however, in this case it actually means quite a bit. What’s more, it’s all good news.

Now I don’t know the in’s and out’s of why they have done this, however, Alto seemed to have ditched their old range of products and brought out a complete new range of gear. EAV Pro Audio have some of these products listed on our site and are very excited about the price points of some of this gear. Take the Alto TS SUB15, it’s a 15” active subwoofer with crossovers, stereo ins and outs, compact wood cabinet and it’s available for just £299. The 18” Alto TS Sub18 is only coming to you at £399. EAV have also put together some full band PA rigs using the new Alto TS115A active PA speaker and the TS112A Active PA speakers. Get two active 15” tops and two active 18” subs for just £1199 in our Alto Truesonic Active PA Bundle 18. Or do you fancy two active 12” tops and two active 15” subs for less than a grand at £999 with our Alto Truesonic Active PA Bundle 15

They also have a new range of mixers that feature Alesis FX and a basic USB interface. The Alto ZMX224 FXU mixing desk is the largest of them with 18 mic inputs, this followed by the ZMX164 FXU Mixing desk with 10 mic inputs and finally the small but mighty ZMX124 FXU with 6 mix inputs.

What makes this change of hands even better is that EAV thought ahead and bought a load of stock of the old Alto distributors at clearance prices. This means we can offer you some amazing deals on the now discontinued range of Alto products. Don’t let the ‘D’ word put you off as it is all brand new and boxed and comes with a full warranty. Check our full range of Alto Professional products.

HK Speakers have once again been picked for John Peel Stage at this year’s Glastonbury festival. Great artists such as Noah and The Whale, The Coral and The Streets will be blasting their tunes out through HK Audio speakers.

EAV Pro Audio deal with the complete HK range that includes great products such as the HK Actor DX and the HK Premium Pro12MA Active monitors. In fact, we trust the brand so much we have two Actor DX systems on our hire stock.

The sound at Glastonbury is a touchy subject with artists and festival goers alike and any manufacturer putting their speakers up for show must take the rough with the smooth. In 2007 The Killers suffered a huge reduction in sound levels in order to adhere to licensing regulations. Michael Eavis, the festival organiser claimed the problem was a result of "unusual meteorological conditions" the sound levels were eventually raised to calm the crowd. Big rock stars such as Liam Gallagher has claimed in a News of The World article regarding Glastonbury "The sound is really shit and quiet." He goes on to say he wouldn’t ever play the festival again.

Dolphin Music has gone into administration as of yesterday (17th May 2011). For many it may come as a surprise that a company that was in the ‘Sunday Times Fast Track 100’ in both 2006 and 2007 because its turnover peaked at about £10m could be in such trouble.

The news didn’t come as a shock to those keeping an eye on the online press over the last few days, as an earlier announcement that their last high street store in Liverpool had been closed. This itself follows on from the sale of its Huddersfield store previously to Dawsons Music. Then it was announced yesterday that Dolphin Music was placed into administration by the director Jason Travaria with the Manchester firm, Beevers and Struthers, handling affairs.

It has now been reported that PMT owner, S&T Audio, have purchased the business. According to MI Pro news, Simon Gilson, the S&T director has requested to its suppliers to allow up to 30 days for get the initial stages of the administration complete. It is the views of PMT and S&T that they can keep Dolphin Music trading and keep the business moving forward where other companies in the industry, that have gone into administration, have failed. Only time will tell if this happens.