Wild & Marr is in the process of transforming from a predominantly audio company to a complete solutions company covering disciplines ranging from AV, conferencing and delegate systems, room booking systems, video distribution, and professional displays.
Existing and potential clients, freelance engineers, institutions of learning, houses of worship, system integrators, rental companies and others descended on the tour to see our wide range of Harman professional brands.
JBL Professional, Shure, Crown, Soundcraft and BSS Audio formed the pillars of the systems developed for the tour. Integration was supported by products from DirectOut Technologies, Avid Pro Tools, RME and TASCAM. In addition, various technologies were used in the integration and connection process, including Dante, MADI, AES3, BLU-Link, and MIDI with triggering aligned using timecode and clocking.
Gabriel Le Roux of Audiosense, a highly respected monitor and recording engineer in the industry, and Soundcraft’s brand ambassador in South Africa, pointed out that the goal of the tour was to showcase an advanced degree of audio integration, which was achieved by utilising an audio infrastructure where all source and playback audio remained in the digital realm.
“The attendees were impressed by the main speaker system consisting of the 2x JBL CBT1000 and 2x JBL CBT1000E bass extension arrays. This latest addition to the CBT range of column line array speakers created an incredible impact in each venue. Sub-bass was augmented with 2x JBL VTX G28 Subwoofers to create a very well-balanced and cohesive frequency response with various music genres that formed part of the listening experience.” says Juan Soothill of In-Harmony Productions. Amplification and processing were provided by Crown I-Tech HD, with control and monitoring through Performance Manager by Harman.
Harman’s business development manager, Lyle Tarby, added: “I think the session had a good turnout and presentations were seamless. The attendees were very engaged, asked lots of questions and were impressed overall. Attendees were taking photographs of the model numbers so they can go back and do some research. The JBL VTX A12s were well received, and the audience was impressed with the ability to rig them and adjust them to varying degrees. It’s an impressive system, and from a rigging perspective it’s very easy to set up with minimal effort.”
Shure has a rich history of being a globally trusted quality product and leader in microphone technology. Andrea Granata, systems solutions manager at Shure EMEA, introduced the audience to Shure’s Axient Digital Wireless Microphone System during the tour. She focused on the ability to enable Quadversity mode, the patented technology which allows for extended coverage of a microphone channel. With the ability to achieve a high density of channels into a single “white space”, with the limitations being placed on RF engineers, is a major selling point for this system. The Axient Digital systems were complemented by KSM8 capsules with patent pending dual-diaphragm design.
“The tour was successful. Most of the interest was derived from the very basic foundation of Shure with its reliability when it comes to wireless microphone technology. There was a fortune of interest generated by the listening station, and it certainly piqued the interest of what I’ve seen”, observed Granata. The Soundcraft Ui24 digital mixer coupled with the Shure PSM300 system and Shure SRH840 headphones, with touchscreen control via the Sharp Professional Touch Screen Display was intuitively operated by the attendees at the listening station, who got to compare a range of Shure microphones.
“The response has been very positive. What got the attention of the attendees was the fact that we are not running any analogue audio between the various devices. Most of the attendees had not seen this level of integration in the digital realm before, and that was one of the three key drivers behind this tour, being connectivity, integration and innovation. By focusing on the technology in the solution whether audio or data as opposed to the individual products, allowed the attendees to use their own creative thinking in solution concepts based on their relevant applications. From that perspective it’s been an amazing success, bringing the innovation not only in the products but in the complete design process too.” concluded Wild & Marr’s sales director, Gary Furman
Wild & Marr, recently being appointed sole distributors of Harman Professional’s AMX Control Systems and SVSI Video Distribution, are well positioned to bring your complete solution to fruition.
