In what has become a staple of the industry’s annual events calendar in the UK, in mid-January, hundreds of audio professionals descend on a hotel just outside Wolverhampton for a full day of discovery, hearing from some of the leading manufacturers operating in the world of pro audio and get hands-on time with some new pieces of kit. This year, the Core Pro Show took up residence in a brand-new location – Hogarths Stone Manor, a stone’s throw from Core Pro Audio’s office outside of Kidderminster. The day saw demos from the likes of L-Acoustics, Meyer Sound, DPA Microphones, Sennheiser, Shure, Sound Devices, DiGiCo, Allen & Heath, Yamaha, KLANG Technologies and Fourier Audio.
“We had around 250 people come along, which is 50% growth on last year,” began Tom Pickett, Operations and Marketing Manager at Core Pro Audio. “The goal is to provide a training and networking event for engineers to get their hands on equipment when we were coming back from the COVID-19 pandemic,” stated Tim Bamber, Director of Core Pro Audio.
“We don’t see this as a tradeshow. It’s a personal, intimate event where everyone gets a little snippet of all the brands we deal with and gets them up to speed.”
On top of brands sharing time with attendees, visitors got an exclusive look at the company’s brand-new L-Acoustics L-ISA Auditorium – the first of its kind in the UK, meeting the specification outlined by L-Acoustics. “We didn’t want to provide a truss box in a warehouse but maximise the opportunity by providing a space that is unique,” stated Bamber. “The end result is a full spec L-ISA Auditorium, which means any engineer can roll in their control setup and start working on a mix for an upcoming show, or use the in-house system.”
The space also offers several recreation areas and a boardroom available to incoming productions. The space has also been set up to provide training for engineers using the L-ISA system, with a few members of the Core Pro Audio Team now certified to guide engineers through working with the L-ISA technology.
“With the L-ISA system, it’s easy to understand once you’ve got your head around the basics,” stated Bamber, highlighting the need for facilities such as this one for engineers to get their hands on the technology.
The Director admitted that the benefits of creating the space will be somewhat of a “slow burn,” as the use of immersive technology in the live space is still in its early stages.
“Some engineers are nervous about getting into immersive as they haven’t had the time to use it in rehearsals, and it’s understandable that people are reluctant. Also, productions are somewhat nervous about any potential cost increase, so the ability to showcase what is even possible with an immersive system and give them that confidence is what the studio will hopefully provide,” he continued. “We already have engineers who have booked in over the next few months who are taking out an immersive project this summer and want to start working on their show files.”
The studio has been designed in line with L-Acoustics’ auditorium specification, which usually has a minimum of five points, though Core’s has the full offering to match all L-ISA Auditoriums worldwide, featuring X8i, X6i, and Syva subwoofers, all mounted in the wall, creating the ideal environment for engineers to develop and test immersive show workflows before heading out on tour.
“The feedback we’ve had from L-Acoustics has been fantastic,” added Pickett.
“They’ve often said, ‘no company has done what you’ve done.’ For us, it’s important that it’s done to the right standard, and it’s not just a high spec studio but a nice environment we’ve built for everyone.”
Rahul Samuel, Head of Application, Northern Europe at L-Acoustics, gave his thoughts on the opening of the new facility.
“Bringing an L-ISA Auditorium to Core Pro Audio’s home in the West Midlands puts spatial audio creativity right at the heart of that ecosystem. Tim Bamber and Joe Jackson have been exceptional partners in working with us to design a space that genuinely serves the artists and production teams moving through this region. These are the creative teams who will define live music’s future, and this is where we meet them.”
Bamber continued: “Audio loudspeaker development hasn’t seen many step-changes since systems like L-Acoustics’ V-DOSC. Technology has, of course, got better as it is more efficient, and everything sounds better, but the principles are the same. Then, when you compare that to the visual world, technological innovation has gone through the roof. With ticket prices increasing, I think that the industry is going to have to look at providing something better and investing more in audio.”
With that, Core Pro Audio hopes its new studio will play a part in this next chapter of audio innovation.
Words: Stew Hume
Photos: Core Pro Audio
