SOUNDS DISTRIBUTION

10/19/07

ATLANTIC CITY – They’re mixing more than drinks these days at 32 Degrees, a stylish European-style bottle-service lounge in The Quarter shopping-entertainment complex at the Tropicana Hotel & Casino. Since undergoing a renovation in Summer 2007, the popular club can mix and change the colors of its lighting at the touch of a button to modify its atmosphere, thanks to new color-mixing LEDs from Elation Professional.

Premium liquor, served by the bottle for patrons to mix at their tables, along with VIP treatment and high-energy music, keep upscale crowds packing into this sophisticated, compact space (under 1600 sq. ft.). Still, 32 Degrees co-owner Barry Gutin wanted to stay a jump ahead of the city’s fierce competition, so he commissioned Scott Kemly of Powerhouse Sound (Cherry Hill, NJ) to give the lounge a lighting makeover.

Having done the original installation, Kemly had ideas on not only how to update the room, but how to do so with minimal structural modification and expense. Previously, there had been a huge sphere in the center of the ceiling, lit by purple neon. Surrounding the sphere were dangling strands of glass beads, interlaced with a fiber optic lighting system. Around the sphere, in the ceiling itself, were recessed lights that were used during the daytime for down lighting.

Kemly removed the sphere, neon lights and recessed lights, replacing them with Elation’s Alkalite Riva 80 color-mixing LEDs. Three Riva 80 systems, consisting of 8 recessed LED pods each, were installed in the ceiling holes where the recessed lighting had been. Each of the 24 pods features 80 red, green and blue LEDs, providing full 100% additive color mixing.

The original glass bead strands remain, only now instead of being lit with neon, they reflect the ever-changing rich colors of the LEDs. “Typically, lot of people used neon together with rope lights, but the problem with the old lights was that they were stuck with a single color – purple,” said Kemly. “I told them that Elation made this recessed LED light that gives you the ability to change the room’s colors, which would look great reflecting off the glass strands.”

Best of all from a cost standpoint, the Riva units fit perfectly into the existing ceiling holes, requiring no costly construction work. “We didn’t have to cut or reconstruct anything,” Kemly said. “We just ripped out the old cans and put the Rivas in.” Most of the lighting renovation was done in a single day when the club was not normally open, so there was no interruption to business.

In addition to the Rivas, Kemly added 8 Elation Design Spot 250 hybrid wash-spot moving head fixtures, which provide motion and gobo patterns. Among the reasons this 250-watt fixture was chosen were its compact size and “the Design Spot’s internal colors, which are rich, vibrant colors that go well with the LEDs,” Kemly explained.

Another new addition was Elation’s Alkalite PZ-720A color-changing LED flat panel, which was installed on a platform in the center of the room, where a dancer performs. Here again, the panel fit right into the existing platform, without complicated construction work.

Between the recessed Riva LEDs, the Design Spot’s moving lights and gobos, and the color-changing dance panel, “there’s a lot going on for a small room,” said Kemly. The entire lighting ensemble, including the club’s original fibre optic strands, is controlled by an Elation Show Designer 2CF DMX console. The controller has “banks and banks of presets which we’ve recorded, but they can also go into manual,” noted Kemly. “But if they don’t feel like messing with the lights, they can just push a button and go with the pre-sets, which will take them through different color changes and moods all night long. For instance, they may start out early with darker reds and blues and subtle, slow-motion gobos, then heat things up later on.”

Along with the hands-off control system, 32 Degrees’ management likes the maintenance ease of not having to replace the long-life LED lamps. Other benefits of LEDs, such as low heat production, minimal power draw and energy savings were also big pluses with the Atlantic City club, as they are “anywhere these days,” said Kemly.

The price of the lighting package, which was obtained from The Healy Group, LTD (Richmond, VA), was another convincing factor. “We sent a (Riva) demo to Scott, and the club was impressed by the price point as well as the actual fixture,” said Craig Dains of The Healy Group.

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09/25/07

Edison, NJ – September 25, 2007: GCI Technologies is proud to announce Sounds Distribution, one of Canada’s top suppliers to the Club/DJ market, as the newly appointed Canadian distributors of our Cortex and iKEY Audio brands.

In less than a year, our digital music controller brand, Cortex, has become the originator in USB-compatible digital music controllers, revolutionizing the digital DJ world with its award-winning, patent-pending USB-compatible technology. By October 2007, the line will have expanded to a total of seven exciting, groundbreaking products including the HDTT-5000 Digital Music Turntable and the dMIX Digital Music Control Station series. Click to www.cortex-pro.com for information on the full line of Cortex digital music controllers.

iKEY-Audio, our digital recording and digital recording accessories brand has set the standard and changed the way audio is recorded forever with its portable USB Recording product line that features the iKEY and newer sibling iKEY Plus. At this year’s Winter NAMM show, the brand also debuted a line of Professional Active Studio Monitors, the M-Series , due to ship to retailers this summer. For more information on iKEY Audio and its products, please click to www.ikey-audio.com

08/26-27/07

TORONTO, ONTARIO - On August 26 and 27th, 2007 the music world in Canada converged at the International Centre by the Lester B Pearson airport. The PAL/MIAC tradeshow featured the latest entertainment and musical products in the industry. In the MIAC section of the show, the LED revolution was in full swing. Many exhibitors were showcasing LED products of all kinds. Sounds Distribution was one such distributor who exhibited many new American DJ LED light effect products. They also displayed their hot selling Microh LEDP64BII as well as their Microh LEDBAR. Their booth also featured many Microh lasers including a 270mW full colour RGB laser called Pegasus RGB. Sounds Distribution also exhibited their new innovative Show Solutions Stage System. This system is a snap to setup yet remains strong and stable for those small to medium duty applications. Although heavy in lighting products, Sounds Distribution also showcased many new audio products from American Audio, including the MX-1400DSP mixer and the CK-800MP3 & CK1000MP3 all in one players. Mixvibes DVS2 digital vinyl system software was also demonstrated to the attendees.

On behalf of Sounds Distribution, we would like to thank all our dealers for their continued patronage and look forward to working together for a prosperous 2008.

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04/16/07

Sounds Distribution will be hosting an Elation training seminar on May 23rd & 24th. Dealers are welcome to sign up. Spaces are limited, so register your spot today! For more information please contact Elmer ( elmerc@soundsdist.com ) or check out the flyer below!

04/13/07

We are happy to announce that Sounds Distribution Inc has been appointed the exclusive Canadian distributor for Odyssey Cases! Please visit their website for more information, or view the PDF below for a few hot products.

Odyssey Cases