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Natalie Claussen
2024 Audio Biz Roadshow | Save The Date
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Allen & Heath

2024 Audio Biz Roadshow | Save The Date

Audio Biz is going on the road once again for the 2024 Audio Biz University Roadshow!

Mark your calendars and save space in your day to visit the roadshow May 6-7th in Chicago and May 8-9th in Milwaukee!

We're bringing our top-of-the-line brand partners along for the ride, giving you access to the very best in the industry!

This year’s show will feature the latest and greatest products as well as training courses and CTS classes led by industry experts, designed to sharpen your skills!

Mark your calendars, spread the word, and get ready for registration on our events page soon.

Allen & Heath, dBTechnologies, and EAW takeover Milwaukee Irish Fest

For 42 years, Milwaukee has hosted the world’s largest Irish music festival right on the shores of Lake Michigan, and this year wasn’t a year to forget (provided you didn’t drink too much Irish whiskey, if there is such a thing). With over 93,000 attendees, 110 bands in the lineup, Irish cultural activities such as currach races along the lagoon, and plenty of Jameson to go around, this years festival brought something to celebrate for the Irish and non-Irish alike.

With a such a big festival, comes even bigger audio needs. That’s where we came in with our kilts around our waists and scally caps on our heads. Audio Biz and Irish Fest partnered with Allen & Heath, dBTechnologies, and EAW on all 18 stages to bring the power of good sound to the ears of every attendee. Audio Biz also had the pleasure of inviting our dealers and end users for special early access to demo the gear or hear it in action during the festival.

The full range of Allen & Heath consoles lit up from the first soundcheck to the last encore on every stage including Zed, QU, SQ, Avantis, and dLive. Allen & Heath National Sales Manager Pat McConnell and Central Regional Sales Manager Christopher Melendy joined us in Milwaukee helping drive the success of the festival with deployment and technical support.

Veteran engineers from IATSE Local 18 welcomed the chance to work on Allen & Heath desks again at the fest. Many bands also brought along touring engineers that were just as excited that we had partnered with Irish Fest again to provide the consoles. After working on them at Milwaukee Irish Fest in previous years, many engineers have been touring with dLive, Avantis, and SQ and felt right at home with their mix.

Driving the sound at The Ciderboys Stage was the dBTechnolgogies ViO rig. This powerhouse was the driving force for headlining Irish rock bands such as Hermitage Green, Skerryvore, and The Coronas. National Sales Manager Matthew Whitman and US Applications Engineer Chris Wilson helped deploy the rig and system tech for the weekend.

The rig was made up of 18 VIO L212 (main pa), 6 VIO L1610 (down fill), 4 VIO X206 (front fill), 18 VIO S218 (subs), 6 VIO W15T (wedge monitors), 1 VIO S118 (drum sub), 4 VIO C12 (side fills), and 4 VIO S118 (side fills).

Bringing the sound for acts on the Coors Parkway stage and The Snug stage were EAW rigs ranging from the RS series up to EAW Adaptive line. Having so many music stages brings in an equal amount of audio challenges, and thanks to EAW this year, we were able to get creative solutions for the biggest set-backs.

We chose the Adaptive series for the Coors Parkway stage (24 EAW Anna, 8 EAW Otto, and 4 RSX208L) utilizing its ability to adapt the coverage area to prevent sound bleed into the traditional music stage (The Snug). The Coors stage was about 270 feet from The Snug venue, which in previous years was in the coverage pattern of the main PA. The deployed Anna system allowed EAW System Tech Josh Anderson to dial in the coverage area and control the sound. The level 20 feet from the stage was 104dB SPL; at the front of house position, it was 94.9dB SPL; at The Snug, the sound was 81dB SPL. This is a drastic reduction of sound bleed onto the smaller tent stage.

The Snug also had an Adaptive rig deployed to provide even coverage and keep energy off the back wall in a tent stage home to Traditional Irish music performances including 2 EAW AC6 (main pa) and 2 EAW SBX218 (subs).

Production manager for Milwaukee Irishfest Rick Bauer said, "Milwaukee Irish Fest had been attempting to resolve a sound bleed issue on grounds with closely packed stages. We were looking for a way to better "steer" audio and EAW was a suggested solution from the team at Audio Biz. Not only did EAW meet expectations but our entire leadership team expressed their delight in finding a solution that truly worked. Couple that with easy setup and strike, and I couldn't be more pleased with this solution. EAW and Audio Biz delivered."

Audio Biz is so grateful and proud of the partnerships we have with these three brands that have continued to be a driving force in the success of the Milwaukee Irish Fest. Safe to say a great time was had by all involved. We are already looking forward to and making plans for Irish Fest 2024. Sláinte!

Join us at Infocomm ‘23!

Are you heading InfoComm this year?

Many of our Brand Partners will be there showcasing tons of NEW and best products of the year! Take a look at which of our partners will be there and where you can find them:

Are you interested in a personalized booth tour with us and our brand partners? If so let us know by contacting 815-271-3000. See you there!

2023 Audio Biz Roadshow Recap

For the 2nd year in a row, Audio Biz hosted a multi-day trade show and training event with many of our top-notch brand partners!

Check out this brief overview of the event and the photo gallery at the bottom of this page!

We kicked off the Roadshow on March 6th in Chicago and proceeded to travel to Madison, Milwaukee, Detroit, & Grand Rapids.

Each location featured product demos, training workshops, and classes worth CTS credit renewals. With us were representatives directly from the manufacturer to show the newest and most noteworthy products, teach classes, and answer any and all questions.

And to bring in all the gear, we packed a 53ft semi-truck to the brim!

A special thank you to all attendees, brand partners, and the Audio Biz team for making this a successful event this year! If you missed it, be on the lookout for more events to come in the near future!

2023 Roadshow: Audio Biz is Hitting the Road!

Audio Biz is hitting the road with our brand partners for another BIG training and trade show event!

In just 1 week from today, Audio Biz will kick off the event in Chicago and Milwaukee!

Join us this year in 4 different locations for training workshops, live product demos, and classes worth CTS credit renewals. (Register Here)


Along with new product demos, this year's roadshow will feature training sessions with presenters directly from the manufacturer. You will receive the most accurate and up to date product information along with CTS credit where applicable!

Audio Biz University - Classes Include:

  • Shure - RF Basics, RF Troubleshooting, WWB Basics, Intro to RF Coordination, MXA920 Tips & Tricks

  • Allen & Heath - Designing with AHM-DSP, Mixing Tips and Tricks, Monitors and Personal Monitoring Tips and Tricks, Compression Demystified

  • Draper, Inc - How to Design A Projection System

  • Chauvet - ChamSys Programing with MagicQ Basic-Intermediate

  • Salamander - Designing Comfortable and Efficient Meeting Spaces

  • EAW - Adaptive Technology / Resolution

  • Listen Technologies -  Assisted Listening and ADA Compliance

  • dB Technologies -  Line Array System Design and Deployment

  • Pliant Technologies - Intro to Wireless Coms

  • Audio Biz -  Basics of Lighting Design for Install, Networking for AV

Come out and network with the manufacturers, other AV specialists, dealers, and end users in your area. Feel free to invite others!

See you on the road!

The Biz Beat: August, 2022

“an event is not over until everyone is tired of talking about it” -Mason Cooley

With all the events that took place in August, it’ll be a while until we are done talking about them! Here’s a brief recap of what went on with Audio Biz and our Brand Partners in August. Stay for the end to get a look ahead of what’s to come in the shorter days of September!

SHURE MXA920 DEMO VIDEO

Shure released this live demo recording of all you need to know about the MXA920! Recorded at the Shure Customer Experience Center, it includes live interactive demos requested from the audience. Take some time to check it out as soon as you can!

IN OTHER BIG SHURE NEWS…

Shure announced that the MV7 Microphone is the first-ever Zoom Certified Pro Mic! Read more about Shure’s Zoom Certified products here.

Irish Fest 2022 is in the Books!

We were joined by Allen & Heath, dB Technologies, and EAW on the nation’s largest Irish Fest! We gave demos of the products from our brand partners, and powered many of the stages! Some quick stats about the event: 4 show days, 16 stages, 22 desks, 2 full speaker rigs, 235 performances, 149 miles walked, 113 guests from 22 companies, and “some” whiskey. Read the article from Allen & Heath here, and from dB Technologies here.

UC User Experience with Salamander Designs

At this event, we spent the day with Salamander Designs and met with manufacturers and suppliers to give them hands on experience with their products. We had tons of productive convos with AV professionals about their projects and wowed attendees with the new Cabinet Designer software!

Chamsys magicq training in chicago

ChamSys hosted a 2 day MagicQ training in Chicago! During the training, participants learned a wide variety of skills for operating these consoles including editing, using dimmers, programming, patching, file management, and more! Head here to check out the full line of MagicQ consoles.

Tascam Portacapture X8 Firmware update

Tascam just released Portacapture X8 firmware update V1.30! This update includes the support of 32bit float USB transmission as an audio interface, storage of user settings on app and input presets (up to three for each), and the ability to save your own presets for onboard apps and input settings, plus USB mix-minus on PODCAST app. Download the update here.

Plus, two maintenance firmware updates from Allen & Heath

Allen & Heath released two new maintenance firmware updates! The updates include dLive V1.94 (download here) and Avantis V1.21 (download here).

SKB Released two new cases

The 3i-2421-IMAC is for the new Apple iMac, and the 3i1813-7-RP2 is a product specific case for the new Rode PROCaster II. These cases are part of SKBs iSeries Injection Molded Mil-Standard Waterproof Cases. These cases are in stock now!

eaw’s new line array- the kf210

The KF210 is a medium format 2-way passive line array designed to support a wide range of applications in a small and easy to deploy package. Check out the specs here.

So with all of that in only August, what’s to come in September, or should we just wake you up when it ends? Stay tuned and don’t forget to follow us on social media for daily updates!

NAMM and InfoComm 2022 Recap

From New products, trainings, awards, and more, Here’s a “Biz Eye VIEW” OF all the Exciting takeaways from The NAMM Show and InfoComm this year.

We kicked off the first week of June by leaving the humidity of the Midwest and landed ourselves in sunny California! Our first stops included factory tours with SKB and Hosa, as well as meetings with many of our brand partners where our very own Redbeard was awarded with the A&H Bulldog and the dB Technologies Top Gun Maverick Awards. A big and well deserved “Congrats” went out to him for his extensive knowledge and hard work this year!

Once The NAMM Show was in full swing that Friday, we spent our time demoing this year’s hottest new gear, networking with our customers, and giving tours of our brand partners’ booths.

By the time Sunday rolled around, we packed up our bags again and hopped on a flight to the beautiful (and scorching hot!) Las Vegas where we attended trainings at Chauvet’s Experience Center and had meetings with some more partners including LEA, Salamander Designs, and Listen Technologies. Once the trade show floor opened in the Las Vegas Convention Center, we were back at it networking, giving tours, and demoing gear (one of us clocked over 50 miles of walking over the two tradeshow runs!).

To say we had an absolute blast on and off the tradeshow floor would be an understatement, and we can’t wait until both of these shows kick off next year again.

Here’s a glance at some of the newest and best products that were highlighted at this year’s shows from our brand partners:

(Click the bold words for links to learn more about each product.)

INNOVOX AUDIO

NAMM

HLA Series Hybrid Line Arrays