For Immediate Release
Contact: Colleen Goodsir
(973) 835-5000
info@zaxcom.com
Zaxcom Enters Theatre Market With Success
of “Sunday in the Park With George” and “Cabaret”
POMPTON PLAINS, N.J. — Nov. 1, 2006 — Zaxcom, a provider of professional audio equipment for the television and film industries, can now add theatre to its target market, thanks to the successful use of its wireless microphone systems on “Sunday in the Park With George” at The Wyndham’s Theatre in London’s West End. Everything Audio Ltd., Zaxcom’s U.K. distributor, and Orbital Sound worked closely to ensure the show’s successful integration of a large installation of TRX900 systems.
This project proved to be so successful that Orbital has been appointed as Zaxcom’s exclusive U.K. dealer for the theatre market. Roger Patel, sales director for Everything Audio, commented on the new arrangement, saying: “We have worked with Zaxcom for 6 years now and know only too well the advantages of the company’s groundbreaking product range. The new Deva IV and V are now the machines of choice in the U.K. for location sound recording. While we will continue to sell these systems in the film and broadcast markets, we felt that Orbital would be an ideal partner to help establish the Zaxcom range in the theatre market, as well.”
“The TRX900 systems add enormous potential both to our rental fleet and our sales inventory, as they have been designed from the ground up for use in contemporary theatre applications,” said Tom Byrne, Head of Sales for Orbital Sound. “Gone is any sense of compression, noise reduction, companders or de-emphasis.”
“Sunday in the Park With George” used the largest set of wireless mics together to date — 16 channels all in one block. Normally, clustering such a large number of microphones in one block would cause interference problems that can lead to audio dropouts. The show’s producers and technicians saw no instances of this because Zaxcom systems are extremely resilient to interference. This is an increasingly crucial benefit now that more of the wireless transmission bandwidth is devoted to mobile phones and other applications.
The show’s TRX900s were loaded at the front end of the theatre and connected with the orchestra feeds to a Yamaha MC7L console. Using a LCS VRAS system, the producers created virtual acoustic spaces using multiple-speaker and multiple-microphone setups, making the theatre’s auditorium sound larger than it is. To accommodate scenes set in small rooms, the VRAS effect was taken out to revert back to The Wyndham’s natural acoustic sound.
Orbital also has supplied a 32-channel TRX900 system to the new London West End production of “Cabaret,” now showing at The Lyric Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue. The system was specified by freelance sound designer Ben Harrison and has met with universal praise and provided unparalleled reliability.
Orbital Managing Director Chris Headlam enthused, “We’re absolutely delighted to have been appointed as the exclusive U.K. dealer for the theatre market with a product that is set to change the way radio mics are perceived in the musical theatre environment. It’s a major product in our sales portfolio, and we’re delighted at the support offered by all concerned. Obviously we have tremendous experience in the use of multi-channel radio systems in the theatre environment and are hugely enjoying bringing this experience to the Zaxcom brand.”
“We’re very pleased with the success of our wireless microphone technology at ‘Sunday in the Park With George’ and ‘Cabaret’ and the excitement it has created in the theatre market,” said Glenn Sanders, President of Zaxcom. “With sound quality that’s indistinguishable from that of a hard-wired microphone, the TRX900 is especially well suited for theatre productions. Because our systems don’t require intermodulation, users can fit a lot more channels together in the same frequency block without interference. This creates an optimal sound-quality environment for theatre productions, and we look forward to seeing our systems in action at many more theatre productions in the future.”
More information about Zaxcom’s TRX900 is available at www.theultimatewireless.com.
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About Zaxcom, Inc.
Zaxcom, Inc. designs and manufactures innovative professional audio equipment for the television and film industries. A pioneer in audio technologies for the sound mixing and ENG professionals, Zaxcom engineered the first digital wireless microphone and the first wireless microphone to feature integrated audio recording. More information about Zaxcom, Inc. is available at www.zaxcom.com.
About Everything Audio Ltd.
Everything Audio Limited is a distributor and reseller of professional audio equipment. The company’s principle markets are film and television broadcast. Everything Audio offers complete turnkey packages including design and build. More information about Everything Audio is available at www.everythingaudio.co.uk.
About Orbital Sound
Orbital is a leading supplier of sound and communications systems to the theatre and live-event market in the U.K. and Europe with a broad portfolio of product distribution and sales. The company specializes in providing latest and future technology solutions to a wide range of theatres and end users alike. More information about Orbital Sound is available at www.orbitalsound.co.uk.