Tag: Avantis

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Allen & Heath

Avantis Wins Fifth Consecutive MMR Product of the Year Award for Allen & Heath

For the fifth consecutive year, Allen & Heath has earned the Dealer’s Choice Product of the Year award from Musical Merchandise Review magazine. This time, for the company’s 64-channel Avantis mixing console, which recently received a major feature update to version 1.2.

Avantis features 64 channels of 96kHz FPGA processing, 42 fully configurable busses, 12 dedicated FX racks, two large full-HD touchscreens, and a strong but lightweight metal chassis.

Avantis is currently on tour with major artists such as Celtic rock group The Red Hot Chili Pipers, The Oak Ridge Boys, and LA Opera; and is also being implemented for unique broadcast needs like those of streaming platform Volume.com. Avantis has additionally been installed in several large houses of worship such as Calvary Chapel High Desert in Hesperia, CA, as well as many rental houses, dealers, and installations of all sizes in the last year.

The V1.2 update adds to the console’s already powerful capabilities – which now include a next-generation RTA that can be overlaid on the parametric EQ, integration with Sennheiser wireless microphone systems, and improvements to the console’s wireless control applications.

Consoles with the additional dPack processing package also now have access to even more sophisticated processing tools; such as a dedicated Bus Compressor, Source Expander, and a Dual Threshold Expander. All dPack plugins incorporate powerful tools from Allen & Heath’s flagship dLive series mixers.

This year’s award extends Allen & Heath’s domination in the category, with the company’s SQ and Avantis series consoles taking the honor every year since 2018.

“I believe the initial MMR Product of the Year win for SQ was a first in the history of the award for a mixing console,” noted Jeff Hawley, Marketing Director for Allen & Heath USA. “We were certainly feeling the ‘it is an honor just to be nominated’ vibe that year with the long odds for a win — right up until the results of an actual win came in. But we’ve seen amazing support from the dealer and rental and touring community, from engineers working in just about every genre out there that year and every year since. I’m sure the product team in Cornwall and the various service and support and distribution teams around the world will keep on doing our collective best to continue the trend of new products and product enhancements in 2023 and beyond. Thank you!”

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Allen & Heath

Allen & Heath Celebrates Multiple NAMM 2021 Believe in Music Week Wins

Cornwall, UK based audio mixer company presents nearly two dozen live sessions and continues winning streak

Allen & Heath stepped up and went big for the 2021 NAMM Believe in Music Week virtual trade event, hosting engaging interactive events, sponsoring key sessions and extending their award-winning streak. Taking place the week of January 18th, Believe in Music Week was a new online event and global gathering to unify and support people who bring music to the world. With the goal of providing a bit of something for everyone, Allen & Heath was highly visible throughout the week through their mix of product-focused demo sessions, ‘behind the scenes’ development stories, sponsored musical events and content premieres. 

Highlights within the calendar of twenty different live-streamed video events included sessions with veteran FOH and monitor engineer Michael Bangs (Aerosmith, Eric Clapton, Katy Perry, et al.) discussing how to successfully transition to broadcast mixing, a special Signal to Noise podcast episode with NAMM President & CEO Joe Lamond, ‘Dante in Worship’ case studies co-presented with Audinate, and Spanish language sessions showcasing the full Allen & Heath product range as well as a deep dive into its popular Avantis digital mixing console. Company representatives were also on hand during the show delivering tailored video chats and private product demos. 

“We were frankly blown away by the interest and the number of live viewers we saw throughout the week,” notes Allen & Heath USA marketing director Jeff Hawley. “Every session we hosted had many times the attendance we’d traditionally see for similar events held during in-person shows. Overall, we clocked well over ten thousand highly engaged live video views in our virtual booth alone — and many more beyond that when you count our sponsored events like Worship Musician Chapel TV with guest artist Lincoln Brewster. And of course this platform let us have fun with 1-on-1 video product demos to anyone who reached out for one, too. Totally cool.”

In addition to events for the general NAMM audience, Allen & Heath USA hosted their annual sales and marketing virtual awards ceremony which kicked off the 2021 theme, ‘REIMAGINE’. This year’s Rep of the Year distinction was bestowed upon Lawrenceville, Georgia-based HWPco. Outstanding Performance Awards went to firms which exceeded 2020 sales goals, including Brownestone, Excellence Marketing, Highway Marketing, HWPco, John B. Anthony Company (JBA), Mainline Marketing, Online Marketing, Richard Dean & Associates, and Samuel K. Macdonald (SKMac). Recipients of the Sales Bulldogs Award included Kevin Duthu (HWPco), Dennie Edwards (Highway Marketing), Joe Kokal (Excellence Marketing), Marco Marroquin (Mainline Marketing), Shawn McLoughlin (AudioBiz), Gilbert Perales (Brownestone), Zak Rickard (AudioGeer), Enrico Ruotolo (JBA), and Willy Seltzer (Image Marketing West). Enrico Ruotolo (JBA) was also honored with the 2020 Marketing Excellence Award. Sales Support Awards went to Sean Estrella (Richard Dean & Associates) and Julie Boatright (AudioBiz).

Allen & Heath was among the technical achievement winners at the 36th Annual NAMM TEC Awards, which celebrates the best in professional audio and sound production. The Avantis 96kHz 64 channel / 42 configurable bus console nabbed the top honors in Small Format Console Technology, netting a win for the third year in a row for Allen & Heath in the highly competitive category. Not to be left out, the company’s flagship dLive Digital Mixing System scored a big win in the SOS Awards as the ‘Best Live Sound Product’ of 2021, announced during Believe in Music Week and chosen by the readers of Sound on Sound magazine.

“We set out to look at the different format for NAMM Believe in Music Week as being an opportunity instead of a challenge,” adds Hawley. “This was a great chance for us to connect and share and support the industry we all love. We did our best to generate a lot of positive vibes and listen to our all-important sales partners, chat with the best fans on the planet, and get the Allen & Heath word out to more and more potential customers. Based on the numbers and the feedback I’m hearing, I think we can call Believe in Music Week a success!”

Allen & Heath was a proud sponsor of the Worship Musician Chapel TV livestream, featuring Lincoln Brewster.

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Allen & Heath

Allen & Heath Announces Plans for Expanded Winter NAMM 2020 Presence

Allen & Heath is diving into 2020 with a showing of its growing product line-up in booth #18219 that includes SQ, dLive, and the new Avantis. The company’s extensive array of I/O hardware will also be featured, including dedicated solutions for Dante integration.

A number of AES Academy live sound classes will be offered by the manufacturer at this year’s show as well, with veteran FOH and monitor engineer Michael Bangs (Aerosmith, Eric Clapton, Katy Perry, et al.) hosting hands-on Masterclass training offering insight into mixing techniques for festival, house of worship, broadcast, and other live applications. A special ‘Modern Front of House Mixing’ Masterclass will be presented by Parnelli Front of House Engineer of the Year Nominee Drew Thornton, FOH engineer for six-time Grammy Award nominated pop phenom Billie Eilish. Daily dLive certification courses round out Allen & Heath’s extensive AES Academy training offerings, with those enrolled earning CTS International Renewal Unit (RU) credits.

Allen & Heath dLive, SQ and Avantis

For those anxious to hear an Allen & Heath system in action, a compact dLive Wings rig comprised of a C1500 control surface and DM48 MixRack has been selected as the console of choice for the NAMM Loudspeaker System Showcase, mixing loudspeakers from 14 different companies in the Anaheim Convention Center Arena. Participating companies will be featured in multiple demos per day, during show days on Thursday, January 16 through Saturday, January 18.

Allen & Heath begins 2020 following a successful year of awards and new product introductions last year. Custom Control—a cross-platform control app for dLive mixing systems—added to the company’s laurels with a New Product Award at WFX in September, while Avantis took home its first award win October at AES with a Best of Show nod. Parnell Awards voting opened in November with dLive named as an Indispensable Audio Technology nominee. The SQ Series received news in December of its selection as Product of the Year for the second year running among MMR’s 27th annual Dealers’ Choice Awards. TEC Award nominations for 2020 were announced last month as well, with the SQ getting a repeat nod in the Small Format Console category, and dLive named as a competitor in the Large Format Console group. Not to be left out, the new DT168 Dante Expander also received a Music & Sound Awards nomination for Console Hardware of the Year before 2019 ended.

Looking back on all the company has accomplished in the last 12 months, Allen & Heath USA Marketing Manager Jeff Hawley is ready to call it a wrap and prepare to ring in 2020 with appropriate aplomb. “We’ve had a great time celebrating our 50th anniversary throughout 2019,” Hawley remarked recently. “It’s been a notable year for us on many fronts. Here’s to everyone in our industry for a sensational run going forward. We’re looking forward to seeing you all in Anaheim!”