Volume 6, Issue 12 — December 18, 2017
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Editorial House of Worship Trends The Future of HOW
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The Sound of the Word
By Dr. Frederick Ampel President & Principal, Technology Visions Analytics
Words. We use hundreds, if not thousands of them every day. In a plethora of languages, dialects and forms, words are the building blocks of our verbal communications.
Every sermon, homily, blessing, oration or prayer is made from words. Instinctively we “reach” for the right words to speak in any situation or moment. It is words that we look to and rely on to convey our message, feelings, ideas, meanings, concepts, and thoughts, to persuade and motivate, encourage and most importantly express our emotions.
It is often said that words cannot effectively convey emotions, but it is to words that we turn to do so, for we have no other path.
Words convey power and grace. It is through words that we seek to build our relationships with our faiths and our fellow worshipers.
So it is words that we must consider the essence of any religious observance. Of course, there are the familiar and comforting rituals, visuals and physical actions that are a part of any worship experience. But it is upon the building blocks of our words that we depend on.
Delivering Word
Within the HOW technology space, we rely on our sound reinforcement systems to ensure that the spoken word is heard by all. But let’s be extremely precise and absolutely clear here — we are using the available technologies to support, enhance, expand and strengthen the spoken word, not create it.
This distinction is often blurred and unclear to non-technologically fluent users, and clients/buyers.
It is absolutely essential that we as the ‘experts’ in this area make every conceivable effort to ascertain the level of understanding with each client, and resolve and fulfill the expectations we create.
Far too often we make assumptions about the level of cognition and knowledge that our HOW customers have about sound systems and acoustics. I have written several articles on these topics in the last few months. But no article, book or whitepaper can assure that you are communicating with your HOW clients. Thus it is crucial that you ask questions and ensure that what you are saying and trying to communicate is being understood.
Why? Because hearing and sound are a lot more complex than you might imagine.
The Brain and Hearing
For most of modern medical history, the way in which various senses operate within our brains has been only superficially understood. In fact, a lot of the early assumptions about how things worked have proven to be totally false. It is only in the last few decades that neuroscience and technology have combined to present a far more detailed and precise map of how the amazing capabilities of the human brain combine and overlap to produce our sensory capabilities.
When we talk about hearing, it would be logical and reasonable to assume that the part of the brain called the auditory cortex would be “in charge” of processing the information coming in through your ears. You would be both right and wrong in that assumption.
As you can see from the graphic, many additional parts of the brain related much more than just auditory processing are involved when you are listening to someone speak. All of these various “sub-systems” are interconnected, interlinked and collectively responsible for your ability to ‘hear’ and process sounds, especially speech and music. As the diagram and PET scan image below shows areas devoted to vision, motor control, emotion, speech, memory, organization and planning, all get turned on or activated when listening to the spoken word. This astonishingly complex but correlated processing structure is active, automatically and thus we need to be aware of how we can help the brain use all this processing power by insuring proper inputs and stimulation.
To better illustrate how complex this process really is let’s explore a little deeper into how your brain hears.
To examine links between specific psychological processes and brain activity science medical researchers use the fields centered on neuropsychology and cognitive neuroscience. But the basis of this research and its application to practical purposes is focused through the scientific discipline of psychoacoustics, i.e., the study of sound perception by the human auditory system.
To do this, researchers use a unique imaging technology called PET scanning (Positron-Emission Tomography*), which produces astonishingly detailed images of electrical activity in the living brain. (For more on pet scanning, go here.)
For example, the image below is a normal brain listening to a JFK’s famous “Ask Not” speech (audio only).
Psychoacoustics has become an invaluable tool in designing hearing aids and cochlear implants and in the study of hearing generally. Psychoacoustics is fundamental. We need to know how the normally functioning auditory system works — how sound relates to human perception.
That field’s origins date back more than a century, to the first efforts to quantify the psychological properties of sound. What tones could humans hear, and how loudly or softly did they need to be heard?
Pitch could be measured in hertz and loudness in decibels, but other phenomena were not so easily quantified. Human hearing can discern the movement of sound with a surprising degree of accuracy. It can distinguish timbre, the difference between a clarinet and a saxophone. It can remember patterns of speech, to immediately identify a friend in a phone call years after last hearing the voice.
Finally, there are the imponderables, things we do with our hearing simply because we can. For example, everyone in the developed world can easily identify the sound of a train passing. But, what is it about that sound that we can identify? How can we do that almost instantly?
Research seems to show that we can do this because our acoustic environment, such as the speech we hear, changes much faster than our visual environment, so we have to and have been constantly adapting to new situations. This is in all likelihood why the ability to localize and identify sounds was and is such a critical survival factor, and why it remains a built-in skill. It is how you are able to identify and focus on one voice in a babble of sounds in a crowded room.
What We Hear
Given the technology at our disposal, designing and installing a sound system that is distortion free, has excellent dynamic range and delivers intelligible speech is well within the capabilities and frankly the budgets of almost any HOW facility.
But judging the system’s capabilities, strictly based on technical specification, measurements and similar scientifically quantifiable data is NOT enough to ensure that the spoken word is delivered with its full emotional breadth and impact.
Let me illustrate this by offering the following examples of a system for a typical 200 to 400 seat worship space. That size range encompasses more than 60 percent of the HOW spaces in N. America — so its a ‘standard’ size and complexity.
System 1: An inadequately designed and but properly installed system that meets all the basic specifications for coverage, level, quality, and budget. However, it is bandwidth limited to around 80-100 Hz because there was no provision for LF support (subwoofers). Or the opposite, where it is band limited in the upper-frequency ranges because the components cannot reproduce sufficient level above 8kHz. And the system has a maximum output limit (dynamic range) of say 95dB due to design vs. audience sizing miscalculations.
System 2: The same space but now covered by a system in which full bandwidth, extended dynamic range (+3dB above expected maximum output needs) and coverage uniformity are built into the design and execution. By the way, the difference in total budget between the two based on hundreds of examples is probably less than 10 percent total.
The minor cost differential coupled with intelligent and thoughtful design will make System 2 deliver dramatically better emotional impact and create a much higher level of congregational involvement and focus on the words and the ideas being offered.
Listen to Your Work
Perhaps the single most overlooked and ignored aspect of sound system design and installation is a final step that should be automatic but surprisingly is not. After all the mechanical, electronic and calibration work is finalized and tested and the system is deemed functional — TAKE THE TIME TO WALK THE SPACE AND LISTEN!
Over the last 30+ years of being called in to fix systems, or solve problems, it is still amazing to find how many systems were tested, to the “is this on” level and deemed finished. Just because it seemingly works and measures appropriately does NOT mean it is doing the job intended — to fully and impactfully deliver the word.
Whether that word is being created by a powerful, highly energized deep voiced worship leader or a quiet soft spoken pastor, the nuanced cadences, subtle dynamics and modulation of their voices are what make them successful.
If those are not conveyed in full detail to the congregation then the system has failed to provide the final and crucial emotional impact triggers that make the brain light up all its sensory processing and deeply involve the individual in the service and the message.
The only way to verify this aspect of any sound system is to use the same judgment tools the congregation will use — their EARS! You must listen to the system, in various locations, at various SPL’s and with variable content that matches the worship style and program.
Only then can you determine if the non-scientifically quantifiable aspects of the systems design goals have been met. Does it deliver the power of the word? Does it make the listener pay attention; does it create a sonic environment that reinforces the worship experience?
After all, what is the point of the system if it cannot meet that basic need?
So, LISTEN! Listen again and ensure you are providing all the emotional content that the services create. Then you have succeeded. Leave a Comment
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The Future of Selling Service to Churches
By Anthony Coppedge House of Worship Technology Consultant
It’s all in the fine print. Most people won’t open up new gear and grab the owner’s manual and warranty information and spend the next two hours pouring over that fascinating documentation. For those of us who do, we will find myriad legal terms that outline our options should we need technical support or have a warranty issue. It’s often well after the fact that we learn about what is — and isn’t — covered when it comes to our audio, video and lighting (AVL) systems. And sometimes, it’s too late.
But what would happen if service contracts and preventative maintenance were combined with world-class repair and equipment loaner services? I submit that the future of selling AVL to churches would become more profitable and result in much happier church clients.
In the church market, larger purchasing decisions often only focus on the cost of materials and the installation of AVL equipment. But it’s important to know what churches can expect from the manufacturer and from their systems integrator when it comes to service, warranties and ongoing support. The opportunity here is for vendors to help churches review the practical concerns and day-to-day operational considerations that churches should consider before they purchase in order to keep their investment performing consistently.
My time working on staff at churches taught me to build relationships with people who know more than I do. With that in mind, I intentionally got to know other church tech leaders, consultants, architects, design-build systems integrators and manufacturer representatives serving the house of worship market. I also learned that DIY (Do It Yourself) is possible in some situations, but that for consistent results and good stewardship, most projects required the help of other professionals.
So many churches want to “do it themselves” under the guise of cost-savings and confuse stewardship with free and/or cheap. Good stewardship has far less to do with how much money is saved and far more to do with how much isn’t wasted. DIY only to later pay to have it done well is not good stewardship of the resources churches are entrusted with through the donations of their congregants.
And even when entire AVL systems were done by hired professionals, I learned (over years) that what was covered and what was optional simply didn’t get captured in the contract, leaving the church to spend additional funds that were not budgeted to keep our AVL systems ready for weekend services.
It is from the experiences that shocked me as well as those that delighted me where I learned valuable lessons on how I as a church technician needed to present plans and options that took into account things like limited lifetime warranties, loaner programs, repair programs and ‘acts of God’ when budgeting for upgrades, replacements and new systems.
No two warranty programs are the same and service contracts are still seen as ‘price gouging’ by the jaded or uninformed. The AVL industry, headed by the newly minted AVIXA, would do well to propose open standards for warranty programs and service contracts. Though varying technologies obviously require varying levels of support and maintenance, churches — heck, every client type — would benefit from a standard starting place to define common post-sale expectations for components, consumables, and maintenance. Failing that, it would be a huge differentiator for systems integrators to take the lead and create ‘the-buck-stops-here’ warranty and service agreements that made them the single point of contact for clients dealing with these types of issues.
Learning from the past, I’d suggest that AVL dealers and systems integrators add these options into their service and support packages.
- Cross-Ship Loaner Service: When the defective component is shipped (with tracking number), the loaner component is shipped to the church.
- Three-Day Repair and Ship: When a defective component is shipped out on a Monday (overnight), premium repair ensures the equipment is fixed and shipped (overnight) within three business days so that the church can get it up and running before the following weekend.
- On-site Loaner: The vendor goes on-site and handles the labor of removing the defective component(s), the installation of temporary replacement components and the shipping of the unit to their repair bench or to the manufacturer.
Churches will pay for these additional service contracts because of the reality that Sunday comes every seven days. It’s a ‘cost of doing business’ that is easily understood by church leaders. As I’ve written about previously, when the overall cost of maintaining a system is calculated annually or over the lifetime of a component, the ‘cost per service’ is easy to understand — and budget for — before the sale is even made.
Here’s how it’s possible to make more money and serve churches better. Stick with me through the simplified math.
For example, if a system costs $100,000 (equipment and installation), then that cost is divided against the total number of weekends, multiplied by the number of services per week/weekend for the expected number of years of service. So, for a church running three services per weekend at 52 weekends per year, that’s 156 services per year. Over 10 years, that’s 1,560 services at cost of $64 per service.
But what would it cost per service if preventative maintenance and support service was included for 10 years? If the service contract progressively changed by only one-half of one percent per year starting at .05% in year one to 5% in year 10 on that original $100,000 system, that equals $33,500 in service and preventative maintenance over 10 years.
This means the total cost per service including preventive maintenance and support for 10 years comes out to only $84 per service! That’s the original system plus 10 years of maintenance and support to maximize the investment and ensure the system works every single weekend.
In all my years working for churches, I’ve seen firsthand what could happen when there was only manufacturer support. In some cases, the church came out OK, but all too often, the lack of having a dealer/integrator relationship cost the church time, aggravation and more money than they would have spent if they’d had the relationship and service contract to see them through technical issues.
Take it from someone who’s ‘been there, done that’ — find yourself a qualified systems integrator that has the service personnel available to you in case of an emergency. The future is profitable for the vendors smart enough to make this crucial shift in our industry. Leave a Comment
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Top House of Worship Ads of 2017
By Anthony Coppedge House of Worship Technology Consultant
You’d think that here at the end of 2017, the AV industry would learn to not waste marketing co-op and advertising dollars. But, no. In this industry, advertising and promotional efforts generally continue to pander to no one in particular with no hope of tracking a return on investment (ROI). 2018 should be the year for vendors to ensure their advertising and marketing funds yield measurable results. I submit that should start with the house of worship market.
All too often, generic ads focused on self-promotion dominate the online and publishing landscape, yet it may not be any more pronounced than it is in the house of worship vertical market. While there are a few solid exceptions (see below) that should stand as examples of what targeted advertising can aim for, I must confess myself more than a little disappointed with the advertising aimed at churches.
Now in its fourth year, this end-of-year issue at rAVe includes a scored and rated review of the top church market ads of 2017. It also includes something I began last year: examples of what doesn’t work in HoW advertising. The purpose of this issue is to inspire, not condemn, so when looking at both the best ads as well as those I believe miss the mark, my point and desire is to help you improve your marketing for the church market.
Because there continue to be a mere handful of solid, effective ads aimed at churches, it’s worth reviewing past winners from 2016, 2015, and 2014. You’ll see some companies continue to shine year after year, but even the best of those didn’t make it to this year’s list. There is always room for improvement.
Top House of Worship Ads of 2017
Elation — LED New Generation
Creativity – 3 stars
Copywriting – 4 stars
Memorability – 4 stars
Elation is new to my annual list of the best house of worship ads of 2017 and for good reason: They presented a unified message with a unified product lineup with the focus on reaching a new generation. While the product shot behind the three products demonstrates each of three technology solutions presented in one venue, the choice of exclusively promoting LED — seen as a new technology in the vast majority of churches using incandescent fixtures — speaks indirectly to the new generation of technical users.
Churches using or aspiring to this level of production will see the value of having a single manufacturer for a solution that not only can replace or augment their existing fixture infrastructure, because LED is the technology represented, savvy church buyers will recognize the added value of reducing heat, saving on energy costs and extending the life of their lighting instruments.
The reinforcing text is targeted specifically at how churches use technology. This isn’t a repurposed generic ad in a church publication, but a focused advertisement aiming at the largest growth segment of the church market in Western countries. In this regards, they are strategically choosing to focus on the segment of the house of worship market most likely to value their products.
This ad does need a stronger call-to-action, as the unique email address feels like an afterthought. Unfortunately, the ad is missing a specific landing page URL for their marketing and sales teams to track the click-through and response rates to the ad. It was smart to include both the WFX logo and booth number since this issue was right before the annual expo and to also include the NACDB logo, promoting Elation’s commitment to working with church design-build firms.
Hitachi — Cameras
Creativity – 4 stars
Copywriting – 4 stars
Memorability – 4 stars
New to the list this year is Hitachi. Their past ads have left me wondering if they were serious about selling specifically to churches, but this ad removes all doubt that they see value in the house of worship market.
Video venues and church online continue to be part of the fastest growing churches. And every video venue needs video capture, starting with a quality camera and lens system. Knowing the importance of this, Hitachi presents their camera control systems as a key selling point. This differentiates them from other camera manufacturers who are pushing the latest-and-greatest 4K resolution cameras to a market that will be quite slow to adopt 4k in large numbers. Hitachi’s play here is smart and they lead with a free offer to pique the interest of the reader.
In a day and time when remote operation and small footprints are keen selling points for portable churches, the inclusion of a Surface Pro with the Ross DashBoard for camera control is a strong value-add.
The ad copy focuses on the challenge of LED lighting environments — something that churches are moving to (see above) anyway and may not consider as a potential issue for older camera systems. However, in my opinion, the tech-speak of CMOS imaging and HDR (High Dynamic Range) is likely beyond all but the largest, most technically-savvy church buyers, but at least it doesn’t detract from the ad since it’s not the focus of the copy. It would have been nice to instead create a comparison to low-quality PTZ (Pan Tilt Zoom) cameras or even prosumer cameras that fail to provide the lensing and CCU (Camera Control Unit) options, especially when following a pastor around the stage on medium and close up shots requires broadcast-level gear.
As with most advertisers focusing on churches, what’s missing from this ad is a more useful and obvious Call To Action. The suggestion to “call your Hitachi representative for details” is unhelpful, as how many churches would even know who this is? A simple landing page with a contact form could easily remedy this and provide Hitachi with the ad tracking mechanism and automated method to dole our leads by sales territory/dealer.
Roland — V-1200HD Live and Broadcast Switcher
Creativity – 4 stars
Copywriting – 3 stars
Memorability – 4 stars
Roland has done well in past years (2015, 2014) on this annual list of best ads for the HoW market, so it was nice to see them resurface after missing the mark in 2016. For 2017, they used the niche application multi-site churches find themselves in, where the need exists for a feed for IMAG (Image Magnification) and a separate broadcast feed.
While IMAG is shot exclusively with tight and medium shots to reinforce what is happening live on the stage, a broadcast mix incorporates other content, including wide shots and other video elements not needed for visual reinforcement in the church venue. Perhaps this is most evident for churches using their existing video to try and feed overflow venues, satellite campuses, and even church online for website viewers. The Roland multi-format switcher provides the flexibility to help churches currently stuck in this pain point with an ideal solution, which is nicely summated with their positioning statement: “One solution for live events and broadcast.”
The visual flow diagrams also represent a quick reference confirmation for churches facing these unique challenges. The ad works because it is so specific, boldly underscoring the premise that it is better to help readers self-qualify or disqualify themselves so that your sales team gets better quality leads from marketing.
While the ad does include a unique URL, it is simply a landing page for the product and not a unique page that would identify that this ad came from a particular technical magazine focused on the church market. Tracking matters, and this ad, like many others, missed the opportunity to track the ad spend to ROI (Return On Investment). Finally, while this ad did not directly specify churches, the alignment of the copy to the unique niche issue found in these types of churches was solid enough that the ad still worked; it simply could have been even better with both church-specific verbiage and superimposed images in the video monitor of churches using the device.
Sweetwater – Worship Sound Pro
Creativity – 5 stars
Copywriting – 4 stars
Memorability – 5 stars
Sweetwater, a large distributor that has found huge success in the music instrument and pro audio industry, took aim at churches with a brilliant strategy: Build an entire branch of their website exclusively created for churches. They even provide a free subscription to a highly targeted “Worship Sound Pro” publication.
The full-page ad leaned into the strengths of the retail-savvy company and found a unique way to catch the attention of the church technical user, who is a different point of contact from their typical church demographic: music pastors.
While I make much of creating unique landing pages specific to churches, Sweetwater took it to the next level with the creation of the sweetwater.com/worship site, which includes helpful resources, downloads, videos, how-to articles, and, of course, links to their products. This site is a treasure trove of good ideas executed well with a significant emphasis on being the one-stop portal for churches looking for box sales and the largesse of a company that includes a call center of technical support and advice in addition to sales. Their curated content of church-specific articles, posts and videos also upped the ante for their Search Engine Optimization game.
Following the link form the digital magazine ad, the first promotion was for a new worship connect educational workshop offering, a deft move to provide further incentive for the church technical leader to consider Sweetwater as a viable source for some of their A/V needs.
While many in the consulting and design-build space may take issue with a so-called ‘box house retailer’ focusing on being a one-stop place for church AV, the strategy and tactics of Sweetwater are sound and their advertising well considered and executed. Like their style of business or not, you’ve got to respect the full-on commitment they’ve made to make a major play in the house of worship space.
In particular, it is worth pointing out that Sweetwater found a way to promote their value proposition, promote targeted and relevant resources and create a trackable method for seeing the online click-through to the landing page from the online version of the magazine publications. For the print versions, the ad could have used a more specific landing page URL for tracking purposes.
To me, it’s interesting that one of the best ads came from a distributor and not a manufacturer or design-build vendor.
What Did Not Work in 2017
In the spirit of adding clarity to house of worship marketing, the four examples highlighted below are shown to highlight where they missed the mark in targeting churches with their products. My inclusion of these four ads is a subjective review of key points that I feel made these otherwise beautiful ads with a solid layout and copywriting miss the mark for the house of worship market.
Each of the above ads are professionally produced by companies with significant experience in marketing and advertising. Candidly, I admire each of these companies. But what’s missing here is not their quality but their content. At best, each are merely generic ads that fail to resonate with churches. At worst, they each represent an expensive, full-page, swing-and-a-miss that completely fail to identify with the church market or the church buyer.
The first three (AJA, BlackMagic and Canon) tout the benefits of high-end production at 4K resolution. To date, there is exactly one church — one — that I have found in my extensive research of churches worldwide that has gone 4K from end-to-end. One church does not a market make. And while it could be argued that 4K has a place in the future of church video production, these ads fail to build the bridge from where churches are today to where they could be with the massive infrastructure requirements of a 4K workflow, which I wrote about in my articles here on rave entitled “The Four Uses of 4K Video in Churches and “The HD and 4K Video Storage Issue Facing Churches.”
But it is the generic aspect of these that really makes it hard to see why these ads were chosen for church-specific publications. They simply either do not meet the needs or present themselves as viable to 99 percent of the HoW market. They do not resonate with the workflows or budgets of most church buyers. They do not add value to the viability of the brand for the average church reader as it relates to their applications and venues. They’re simply beautiful eye-candy that these readers would expect to see in a magazine like “Film and Video Magazine” or “Professional Lighting Design Magazine,” not in a church trade publication.
Know thy audience. Stop throwing good money at bad advertising. In the house of worship market, what is your brand known for? Advertise that.
Summary
As always, I challenge your firm to compare this year’s ads to what your firm and others are doing. What the house of worship market needs is specificity, target copywriting, high-quality imagery and focused landing pages/sub-domains so that you can help church market buyers find value in your offerings.
Each year I provide this helpful advice for marketing to churches:
- Define your personas.
- Sell your value proposition over your product’s features and benefits.
- Identify felt needs.
- Connect with the user’s pain points.
- Provide a solution, not just a product.
- Don’t talk at the reader; talk to your prospects.
- Learn which images and photographs server your best target demographic in the house of worship space.
- Use compelling landing pages that invite the prospect to learn more with a non-existent barrier to entry.
- Track your marketing efforts and measure what’s working — and why.
Will you create a strategic and focused advertising push to the huge HoW market(which boasts over 300,000 unique churches in North America alone)? Make 2018 the year to ensure your advertising and marketing funds yield trackable, measurable results with a solid ROI.
What do you think — are these the best ads of 2017 or do you have another you’d like to have seen listed above? Share your views and links in the comments below. Leave a Comment
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Epiphan Video Launches Post-Production Cloud Service Epiphan Video announced their new post-production service, AV Studio. AV Studio is a SaaS product that streamlines post-processing of recorded video through remote operation and monitoring of simple on-site capture hardware. AV Studio doubles revenue for AV service companies by enabling ultra low-cost recording and post-production of live seminars and conference breakout rooms using cloud-based infrastructure.
AV Studio minimizes the total number of on-site personnel required for production of large numbers of video materials, including full-resolution ISO files and engaging PiP layouts.
AV Studio uses Epiphan’s Webcaster X2 product as the on-site capture appliance. Current Webcaster X2 owners can apply a free firmware upgrade to enable pairing to AV Studio.
Here are all the details. Leave a Comment
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Bittree Launches ProStudio PS9625i Audio Patchbay Family Bittree’s latest introduction is the ProStudio 9625i 2×48 TT audio patchbay.
Like other ProStudio models, the PS9625i is designed specifically for pairing with transportable 500 Series modular chassis. Listing for $1,095, the ProStudio is in a 1RU rackmount form factor.
The PS9625i offers 96 TT (bantam) jacks in a high-density 2×48 configuration, with DB25 rear interfaces for Avid ProTools and Tascam connectivity. The unit’s metal front panel and sturdy, fully-enclosed, seven inch-deep chassis provide superior durability, while its full-frame jacks, gold cross-bar switching contacts and internal digital AES wiring deliver solid connectivity, lower noise, and the cleanest possible signal paths.
Circuit normalling, grounding and bussing on the PS9625i can be easily reprogrammed via internal, professional-grade shunts accessible by opening the top of the 7.6-pound units. Front designation strips over each row of jacks (‘over/over’ orientation) enable easy circuit identification. The designation strips can be reconfigured to ‘over-under’ orientation, revealing silk-screened numbering between the rows or augmented with an optional third strip.
The ProStudio 9625i is available now. Here are all the specs. Leave a Comment
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Attero Tech Ships AES67 Networked Audio Products Attero Tech is now shipping its recently-announced line of AES67 networked audio endpoint products. Built from the ground up, these AES67 products enable Attero Tech’s innovative audio connectivity technologies to interface with the AES67 enabled Q-SYS Platform from QSC. The new AES67 enabled products are also designed for interoperability with all Dante AES67-enabled technologies, providing maximum flexibility for systems leveraging AES67 as a bridge between modern audio networking platforms.
In addition to basic audio interoperability, all Attero Tech endpoints will offer control integration into Q-SYS Designer software using Q-SYS plug-ins, developed and supported by Attero Tech. Some of these plug-ins are already shipping with Q-SYS Designer v6.2, with additional plug-ins made available through Attero Tech’s customer portal for download. Attero Tech’s new plug-ins provide the ability to configure parameters, including preamp controls and I/O levels, routing configurations, and device status updates. Real-time control of Attero Tech product parameters can be easily added to Q-SYS native touchscreen controllers and other Q-SYS enabled software user control interfaces, eliminating the need to integrate and program costly third-party controllers. Attero Tech’s AES67 solutions offer 48kHz, 24-bit uncompressed digital audio with 1-millisecond end-to-end latency and system-wide sample synchronization, support for PTPv2 master or slave operation and SAP (Session Announcement Protocol) based stream identification for use with applications supporting SAP Stream Discovery (Dante Controller, Q-SYS Designer, unIFY Control Panel v3.0 and greater). Available now and included with Q-SYS Designer v6.2 are plug-ins for Attero Tech’s audio wall plate and flange mount products, including:
- unA6IO: AES67 Networked Audio Wall Plate – 4×2 Multi I/O
- unAX4I: AES67 Networked Audio Wall Plate – 4×2 Mic/Line I/O (4 Mic)
- unAX2IO+ : AES67 Networked Audio Wall Plate – 4×2 Mic/Line I/O (2 Mic)
- unA6IO-BT : AES67 Networked Audio Wall Plate – 4×2 Multi I/O with Bluetooth
- unAIO2x2+ : AES67 Networked Audio Interface – 2×2 Mic/Line I/O
Here are the details. Leave a Comment
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Christie Expands D Series, Its 3LCD Value Line Christie is expanding its D Series lineup with three new value-priced single-lamp models, which are available with up to 8100 ISO lumens and both WUXGA (1920×1200) and HD (1920×1080) resolutions.
The new Christie D Series projectors offer 65,000:1 contrast ratio, 3,000 hours of lamp life, and easy integration – designed for higher education, business, museums, houses of worship, government facilities and selected rental and staging venues where they seamlessly integrate into any environment.
The new LWU720i-D, LWU620i-D and LHD720i-D projectors are lamp-based projectors.
The new Christie D Series models come with a three-year parts and labor warranty and ship in December 2017. Here are the details. Leave a Comment
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Extron Introduces Compact Two-Channel Dante Audio Interface Extron Electronics just launched the new AXI 02 AT, a compact audio interface that extracts two channels from a Dante audio network. This 1/8 rack width Dante audio interface provides two channels of output to devices without Dante connectivity. It features two line level analog outputs and a mirrored two-channel S/PDIF output. The AXI 02 AT interfaces with any Dante-equipped audio device, such as an Extron DMP 128 Plus C AT, over a standard local area network and is powered through PoE. The AXI 02 AT is also compatible with Extron Rack Shelves and ZipClip mounting solutions.
“Dante is the preferred audio networking solution deployed by AV integrators across all professional AV environments,” says Casey Hall, vice president of world wide sales and marketing for Extron. “The AXI 02 AT provides a compact, cost-effective solution for taking two channels from the Dante network and providing the signal to local devices.”
Dante enables audio system scalability over a local area network using standard Internet protocols. The family of Dante-enabled products from Extron work together as part of a complete networked audio system solution and integrate with other Dante-enabled products to create efficient, scalable system designs. They accommodate a wide range of audio routing needs in a variety of applications.
All the specs on the AXI 02 AT are here. Leave a Comment
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Optoma Intros New Line of High Brightness Projectors for Classroom and Corporate Environments Optoma today announced five new projectors designed to bring high brightness into classrooms, corporate boardrooms and multipurpose offices: the WU465, EH465, EH460ST, W460 and X460.
The Optoma WU465 and Optoma EH465 are WUXGA (1920×1200) and 1920×1080 HD resolution projector spec’d at 4,800 lumens of brightness, a 20,000:1 contrast ratio and a 1: 1.5x zoom ratio. Pricing is $1,299 and $1,199, respectively.
The Optoma EH460ST is 1920×1080 HD resolution and also spec’d at a 20,000:1 contrast ratio but at 4,200 lumens. It’s priced at $1,099.
The Optoma W460 and Optoma X460 are WXGA (1280×800) and XGA (1024×768) resolution respectively, are also 20,000:1 contrast ratio and have a 1:1.2x zoom. The Optoma W460 is spec’d at 4,600 lumens of brightness, and the Optoma X460 4,500 lumens and they are available for $849 and $799, respectively.
All of the new Optoma 460 and 465 models feature two HDMI inputs (with MHL as well as VGA-in/out, audio-in/out, RJ45, USB reader and RS232C. These projectors also provide both USB display screen mirroring and wireless screen mirroring capabilities for Android, iOS, PC, Mac OS X and Windows devices.
Here are all the more detailed specs. Leave a Comment
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Extron Introduces Architecturally Discreet Pendant Speaker Extron has entered the pendant speaker market with their new SF 3PT, a pendant loudspeaker with a 3” full-range driver for speech reinforcement and music playback in high-ceiling and open-ceiling applications. The SF 3PT is available in black or white and is paintable to fit in with any décor. Included with the SF 3PT is Extron’s exclusive PendantConnect speaker cable that combines the speaker wires and a steel safety cable within a single outer jacket, providing for a finished installation that is clean and secure. The UL listed SF 3PT offers both direct 8 ohm and 70/100 volt operation and is voiced similarly to the Extron SF 3CT LP for sonic consistency in mixed ceiling environments.
The SF 3PT pendant speaker comes with everything needed for a finished installation, including 20 feet (6.1 meter) of PendantConnect speaker cable, an Extron exclusive hybrid design incorporating the speaker wires and a steel safety cable into a single outer jacket, allowing for a secure and seamless integration using only a single cable.
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Epson Ships Seven New Pro L-Series Laser Projectors and Ultra Short-Throw Lens for Live Events and Large Venue Applications Epson today announced it is now shipping its seven new Pro L-Series laser large venue projectors and the ELPLX02 ultra short-throw lens. Epson’s Pro L-Series laser projectors are intended for use in large venues, including rental and staging events, lecture halls and digital signage installations.
The new Pro L-Series includes seven new models – six WUXGA projectors with 4K Enhancement ranging from 12,000 to 15,000 lumens of color and white brightness and one SXGA+ resolution projector with 15,000 lumens. The projectors feature BT.709 color space, flexible connection options, high native contrast ratio, and 360-degree installation. In addition, the three 15,000 lumen laser projectors operate from a standard 120V power outlet and feature the same compact cabinet as the rest of the line – this is a big, big deal for the rental market.
All six models are spec’d for up to 20,000 hours of laser light source operation. Epson is the first manufacturer to combine inorganic 3LCD panels with an inorganic phosphor wheel to achieve this level of brightness and colorimetry in a laser projector.
In addition, the new ultra short-throw ELPLX02 lens that projects from 100-inches up to 1000-inches is now available alongside Epson’s extensive selection of lenses. The ELPLX02 ultra short-throw lens is the perfect solution for space-constrained environments and rear-projection applications. It also enables the 12,000 and 15,000 lumen Pro L-Series laser projectors to deliver large-size images from very short distances. With a 0.35 throw ratio, negative offset and impressive lens shift range.
Each projector uses a solid-state laser light source and electrostatic air filter and inputs include HDBaseT, 3G-SDI, HDMI, VGA and are compatible with Crestron RoomView, AMX, Extron XTP, Control4 and Art-Net. There are nine optional interchangeable lenses including the new ultra short-throw ELPLX02. And, because they are SSD, you can install at any angle (full 360-degree installation flexibility). The new Epson Pro L-Series projectors are currently available and the ELPLX02 ultra short-throw lens (list $13,999) will be available in January 2018.
Here are the full specs on the projectors and here are details on the lens. Leave a Comment
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Biamp Now Has Dante Wall Plates for Tesira — Built By Attero Biamp Systems has announced a new line of Dante wall plates specifically available for Tesira. Developed in collaboration with Attero Tech, this new offering enables audio connectivity and control, as well as individual device monitoring. The wall plates are available in three models.
The Tesira 3.4 software allows customers to control specific wall plate elements, such as audio input signal types, mute state, volume level, invert state and source selection. The platform also features a locate function, which enables programmers or IT to identify the location of a specific wall plate within the software.
The software can also act as a single point of connection for third-party control systems using Biamp’s control API, Tesira Text Protocol (TTP).
Tesira 3.4 also monitors the communication connection to each individual device, and a fault is triggered if communication from a device drops for any reason. A fault message will identify the specific wall plate in the device logs, in the software’s fault reporting window, and on the front panel of Tesira server-class devices.
Specifically designed to interact with the Tesira platform, the new wall plates from Attero Tech are available in three models, identified with a “-B” at the end of each part number. The unDX2IO+ model features two XLR inputs, two XLR outputs, and two line inputs; the unDX4I includes four XLR inputs and two line outputs; and the unDX6IO boasts two XLR inputs, two RCA (3.5-millimeter) inputs, two 3.5-millimeter outputs and two line outputs. Each model is available in either a black or white finish.
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Comprehensive Intros New CHE-HDBTWP230K — HDBaseT Wall Plate Extender Kit Comprehensive Connectivity Company launched its new HDBaseT Wall Plate Extender TX/RX Kit (up to 70 meters) with HDMI, VGA and audio (CHE-HDBTWP230K).
This kit includes one wall plate and one receiver and extends HDMI, VGA and stereo audio signals up to 230 feet with a 1080p resolution over a single Cat5/Cat5e/Cat6 unshielded twisted pair network patch cable via HDBaseT technology. Connection to the wall box uses 90° cable connectors. Auto switching displays the last connected device, use the front button for manual switching or serial RS232 switching option from a control device. Supports any OS and requires no driver set up. Bi-directional power allows easy connection to either the wall plate end or receiver end. HDCP and EDID are supported via HDBaseT.
Features:
- Transmit HDMI / VGA with analog audio signal up to 70 meters
- Bi-directional power from either TX or RX
- Includes one transmitter wall plate and one receiver
- Auto EQ adjustment for optimal signal clarity
- Input source sequence selectable via Auto, Manual and Serial RS232
- Support resolutions up to UHD (3840×2160) and Full HD (1920×1080)
All the detailed specs are here. Leave a Comment
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For all you REGULAR readers of rAVe HOW out there, hopefully you enjoyed another opinion-packed issue!
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