It was with great interest that we heard about the acquisition, by Focusrite PLC, of UK based Martin Audio, one of the leading manufacturers of high-end loudspeakers and amplifiers for the live, installation and touring sound markets. Focusrite has been on a charge recently having also acquired German studio monitor designers and manufacturers Adam Audio.
This started us thinking about what products and developments might be coming next from such a powerhouse of pro audio design and innovation.
Focusrite Group
The Focusrite group of companies is now six strong including Focusrite, Focusrite Pro, Novation, Ampifi, Adam Audio and now, Martin Audio. Within these brands, they have almost every audio base covered everything from introductory consumer-level audio interfaces, controllers and keyboards. Professional studio-level interfaces and networking connectivity. High-end studio monitoring and now a world leader in sound reinforcement systems used by everyone from small touring and pub bands up to major festival rigs for playing to tens of thousands of people. There can’t be many companies that have such a broad range of top-end products which got us at Production Expert thinking about how all these technologies could be brought together.
REDNET Live
The REDNET range of interfaces and AoIP peripherals is already well-positioned in the studio installation and education markets and there are plenty of top acts who are touring with major REDNET systems. Martin Audio’s iKON range of power amplifiers already has Dante connectivity so it does not take much imagination to see that there is an obvious opportunity to integrate the REDNET protocol into Martin’s amplifier range allowing easier distribution of studio-quality audio across a Martin Audio speaker array.
It would also be great to see these, currently, very high-end features trickle down into the smaller more portable end of Martin Audio’s range like the Blackline X series of self-powered speakers. Even smaller touring show bands are starting to embrace AoIP and audio networking technologies so it would seem a natural progression to get REDNET and Dante connectivity into Martin’s more affordable speaker systems.
Immersive 3D Sound
Martin Audio has been working with Astro Spatial Audio who have their own software and SARA II audio rendering engine hardware to install full 3D immersive sound systems into West End and Broadway theatres as well as opera houses, night clubs and art installations. Again it does not take much to see how it could be easy to integrate the REDNET protocol into this workflow to give a full end to end solution for a live environment.
At this stage, these are purely speculative ideas about how Martin Audio could be neatly integrated into the Focusrite family workflow and no doubt the teams at both companies have also have dozens of other ideas about how they can port technology from one company to the other. We are very much looking forward to seeing how this pans out and look forward to some amazing new developments in live and studio sound.
You can find out more about the Focusrite range of products at their website and dive deeper into the full range of live sound, installation and 3D immersive speakers and amplifiers at the Martin Audio website.