Syn-Aud-Con Update: "System Optimization & Design" will be held on April 26-30, 2004 (Grand Rapids, Mich.). "System Optimization" will be held June 6-7, 2004, at InfoComm (Atlanta). A "Hands-On" Seminar will be held May 24-25 and 27-28, 2004, in Greenville, Ind. www.synaudcon.com

The Mix Foundation for Excellence in Audio has announced that The 20th Annual Technical Excellence and Creativity Awards will be held on Saturday, October 30, 2004, at the Marriott Hotel in San Francisco. The TEC Awards honors outstanding achievement in professional audio production and product design. For more information, visit mixfoundation.org.

Audio-Technica UHF Antennas, Distribution Systems; AT898

Architectural Acoustics Impulse 2652

Aviom A-16I, AN-16/i-M

Celestion CDX1-1430; KR-S/ST, KR-WP

Community I/O 5, I/O 8; WET Family

dbx iEQ Digital Graphic Equalizers; ZonePro 640, 641; AFS 224; ZC-Wall-Mounted Controllers

Digigram miXart 8 ES

Furman Sound PowerFactor Pro, IT-Reference, Series II Power Conditioners

JBL Control 126W, 128W; JRX100 Install; Precision Directivity PD5000 Series

MC2 Audio E45

Middle Atlantic Fan Control Top Series

Peavey Sanctuary Series SSE Enclosures

QSC ModularDesign Series

SLS Loudspeakers Updates LASS

Tannoy TDD, V6

Yamaha Adds to DME DSP Processors, MLA8

Musikmesse: Behringer UltraBass Series Bass Cabinets
Behringer launched the high-performance UltraBass cabinet series, comprising four cabinets with aluminum-cone loudspeakers (BA "Hard Attack" Series) and four cabinets with paper-cone speakers (BB "Classic Tone" Series). MORE

Midas Celebrates 500th Legend 3000 Consoles
Since the Legend 3000 started shipping in March 2002, the 500th console rolled off the production line and into the company's Musikmesse booth and then off to Palestine, where it will be installed in The Ramallah Cultural Centre on the West Bank. MORE

Wi-Fi Alliance Launches Wi-Fi ZONE Finder Portal Program
The Wi-Fi Alliance has launched a new Web portal program to promote public awareness and use of Wi-Fi ZONE™ hot spots around the globe. Partners that join this free program can offer online visitors access to the official Wi-Fi ZONE Finder directory of public hotspot locations that use Wi-Fi-certified equipment. MORE

NSCA 2005 to Hit Orlando
The NSCA Systems Integration Expo will celebrate its 25th anniversary next year, March 11-13, 2005, in the Orlando Convention Center; pre Expo education opens March 9, 2005. MORE

Ernest Holt Jr., 1927-2004
Ernest Howard Holt Jr. passed away on February 13, 2004, at the age of 77. A member of ICIA, Holt once held the position of chairman of the Board for the National Audio Visual Institute of Indiana University. He was owner of Audio Visual Film Service in Birmingham in 1958; the name was changed to Holt Audio Visual & Video in 1987. Still in business, the company is now owned and operated by his two sons, Michael and Patrick. He owned the first franchise for Lava Lights in Alabama, co-founded Action Film Labs and established the Cory Coffee Company in five Southeastern states. MORE

AB Licht und Ton Joins Alcons Ribbon Network
Bremen, Germany-based AB Licht und Ton is the next company to join Alcons' The Ribbon network. Andreas Beer and Andree Nows, of AB Licht und Ton, are now the proud owners of a system that comprises 18 LR16, six ALC2 controller/amplifier, SDP processing, cables, racks, AC distribution and transport cases. MORE

QSC Hires New Field Systems Sales Engineer
Jon Graves has joined QSC as the company's new field systems sales engineer. With more than 30 years of wide-ranging experience to his credit throughout the industry, Graves will report to live sound market manager Brian English and be the road immediately. MORE

A Perfect Circle Mixed With DiGiCo D5 Live
Monitor engineer for alternative metal band A Perfect Circle, Michael Mulé, has 22 years of hands on experience in live music. He's been working with a DiGiCo D5 Live digital mixing console on the band's latest tour, traveling around America, Europe, Australia and Japan. He only had one day prior to rehearsal to get to know his way around the console, but he found an almost instant affinity with the interface. MORE

TC Electronic EQ Station Passes Michael McDonald Road Test
Veteran monitor engineer Mark Drale was the first engineer in the U.S. to use the new EQ Station and MotoFader 64 from TC Electronic on a live show while mixing Michael McDonald's sold-out event at Florida State University in Tallahassee. Show Systems (Orlando) supplied the sound system for the Ruby Diamond Auditorium show, pairing two 8-channel EQ Stations with a Yamaha PM5000. MORE

Joan Baez and Band Miked Via Sennheiser, Neumann
Joan Baez is currently playing to packed houses across the country. At front-of-house is Woodstock, N.Y.-based engineer George Cowan, who reveals that he's packing an all-Sennheiser/Neumann lineup of microphones to capture Baez and her four-piece band for the audience and nightly archival recordings. MORE

Wigwam Acoustics Takes Lake Contour on the Road With Radiohead, Westlife
Wigwam Acoustics, located close to Manchester in the north of England, has taken delivery of a pair of Lake Contour digital loudspeaker processors for use initially on major tours by Radiohead and Westlife. Wigwam is a sister company of Eighth Day Sound (Highland Heights, Ohio). MORE