HARMAN’S Soundcraft and AKG Combine to Make Wireless Mic Monitoring in the Mixer a First

ORLANDO, Florida — Every engineer has been there. The radio mics check out fine on the RF Tech’s laptop, but that’s before the talent walks onto the stage. Reception black spots, drained batteries, accidental mutes--anything can happen once the show gets underway.

Thankfully, HARMAN’s Soundcraft and AKG now make the FOH engineer’s life easier. Now it’s possible for the first time to monitor the status of any HARMAN HiQnet™-compatible AKG radio mic directly from the Soundcraft Vi Series console surface, courtesy of VM2 (Vistonics Microphone Monitoring). VM2 provides real-time visual displays of battery life, RF status, mic muting and internal clipping directly on a channel strip on the Vistonics™ screen, so it’s possible to see a problem long before you hear it, right there on the relevant channel--with expanded information instantly available just by touching the screen.

System configuration couldn’t be more straightforward, and uses Harman’s proprietary HiQnet network--simply plug in the mics, patch them to the related console channels, and you’re done. You can even identify the relevant mic receiver in the rack by pressing the Locate button, causing the receiver front panel display to flash.

It all adds up to much more efficient workflow and one less thing for the hard-pressed engineer to worry about.

VM2 will be available for all Soundcraft Vi Series consoles in V4.5 software, including Vi1, Vi2, Vi4 and Vi6.

Compatible AKG Wireless mic systems are WMS 4000, WMS 4500 and DMS 700 (optional HUB 4000Q HiQnet Ethernet interface required).

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets – supported by 15 leading brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® and Mark Levinson®. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 20 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 11,800 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported sales of $3.5 billion for the twelve months ended December 31, 2010. The Company’s shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NYSE:HAR.

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