— 231st Guitar Center location features on-site lessons and repair services, along with GC’s vast inventory selection —

Westlake Village, CA (July 25, 2012) – On the evening of Thursday, July 12, 2012, Guitar Center held the grand opening of its new location in San Mateo, California, located at 53A W. Hillsdale Blvd., San Mateo, CA 94403. Guitar Center San Mateo is Guitar Center’s 231st retail location.

Guitar Center San Mateo’s grand opening introduced customers to a vast selection of products and a dedicated staff with unparalleled musical knowledge and experience. To celebrate the store opening, Guitar Center hosted a Grand Opening Weekend celebration featuring exclusive savings, gear giveaways and free events catered to local musicians. The grand opening events also included a free performance, in addition to ongoing workshops throughout the next two months.

Guitar Center’s newest San Mateo location features showrooms equipped with the latest products for musicians – from guitars, amplifiers, percussion instruments and keyboards to live sound, DJ, lighting and recording equipment. The new store features Guitar Center Studios, an in-house, state-of-the-art lesson facility, which is creating unrivalled opportunities for San Mateo musicians of all ages and skill levels. Guitar Center Studios provides music lessons from beginner to advanced featuring certified instructors teaching world-class curriculum as well as one-on-one courses on Pro Tools, Logic Pro and GarageBand. Guitar Center Studios is now the most modern and affordable lessons facility in the area. Guitar Center San Mateo also features GC Garage, Guitar Center’s on-site guitar repair service.

As part of Guitar Center’s initiatives designed to educate and inspire artists nationwide, Guitar Center San Mateo is offering unique opportunities for musicians to craft their skills, maintain their instruments and experience many other aspects of the music industry first-hand. Musicians interested in learning about the industry will be able to come to the store to interact with and pick the brains of several industry leaders.

San Mateo shoppers are also able to enjoy Guitar Center’s new multi-channel “endless aisle,” which includes multiple combinations of product options to conveniently choose from. Not only does the “endless aisle” include San Mateo inventory, but it also provides easy access to $400 million in new and used inventory located in hundreds of stores and warehouses across the nation. Customers have the ability to combine a myriad of in-store, online and phone options to purchase music equipment from anywhere they may be, allowing for a personalized and convenient shopping experience.

In addition to special programs at the new San Mateo store, Guitar Center offers nationwide programs designed to spearhead creativity and highlight the nation’s most promising undiscovered talent. San Mateo residents will now be able to participate in these ongoing national events from their hometown:

Guitar Center On-Stage is an annual competition that provides unsigned artists the chance to open for established artists such as Motley Crüe, KISS and Jane’s Addiction.
Guitar Center Singer-Songwriter is an artist discovery program that aims to find the nation’s best unsigned singer-songwriter. The winner receives a career-altering prize package including recording 3 songs with accomplished GRAMMY® Award-winning Producer John Shanks, recording time at Converse Rubber Tracks studio and $10,000 cash.
Guitar Center’s Battle of the Blues is a nationwide amateur guitar skills competition with the goal of finding the next great undiscovered blues guitar player. This year’s winner, Jonathon “Boogie” Long, performed alongside GRAMMY-winning guitarist Warren Haynes at the Grand Finals in LA, and won an incredible prize package valued at over $50,000.
Guitar Center’s Drum-Off, entering its 24th year, is the nationwide search for the next great undiscovered drummer. Drummers from across the nation compete in the world’s largest drum competition, vying for thousands of dollars in prizes and the coveted title of Guitar Center’s Drum-Off Champion. The grand prize package is valued at nearly $50,000.

Guitar Center San Mateo is open seven days a week. Store hours are 10:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. Monday-Friday; 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. Saturday; and 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Sunday.

STOW, OH, July 24, 2012 — Audio-Technica is pleased to announce that Wadsworth, Ohio-based Online Marketing has been presented with A-T’s prestigious President’s Award, for their work representing Audio-Technica in Indiana and Kentucky. Additionally, the firm sells Audio-Technica professional products to retailers and sound contractors in Ohio, Michigan, Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Online Marketing Sales Associate Steve Grigdesby accepted the award, which recognizes a leading manufacturer’s representative for outstanding commitment and dedication during the Audio-Technica 2011/2012 fiscal year. The award was presented by Philip Cajka, Audio-Technica U.S. President and C.E.O., and Michael Edwards, A-T V.P. Professional Products. Also in attendance were Brian Strong, A-T Territory Manager, Professional Products; David Marsh, A-T Director of Sales & Marketing, Installed Sound & Broadcast; along with Online Marketing personnel Mike Wuellner, Principal; and Jon Johnson, Sales. The A-T President’s Award was presented at a ceremony during the 2012 InfoComm Expo on June 13th in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Michael Edwards commented, “Online Marketing has been presented with this honor for their strong dedication to sales performance, customer care and the marketing of the A-T brand. The Online Marketing team has a vast base of knowledge and experience, in addition to their fierce work ethic. We are proud to give them this honor, and extremely grateful for their continued service.”

For more information, please visit www.audio-technica.com.

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL, July 16, 2012 — Waves Audio, the industry-leading developer of professional audio digital signal processing technologies, has announced that it has become a new member of the AVnu Alliance, an industry forum dedicated to the advancement and certification of Audio/Video Bridging (AVB) devices. As part of this relationship, Waves will be a presence at AVnu events and will encourage industry adoption of AVnu’s standards campaigns. By associating with AVnu, Waves is joining such leaders as Avid™, Cisco™, Dolby®, Gibson®, GM™, Harman, Intel®, Meyer Sound®, Sennheiser, Texas Instruments, Yamaha and many more.

AVnu promotes the adoption of the IEEE 802.1 Audio/Video Bridging (AVB), and the related IEEE 1722 and IEEE 1733, standards over various networking link-layers. The organization works to create compliance test procedures and processes that ensure AVB interoperability of networked A/V devices, helping to provide the highest quality streaming A/V experience. The Alliance will promote awareness of the benefits of AVB technologies and is collaborating with other organizations and entities to make use of this work in their respective efforts to provide a better end-user A/V experience. The Alliance is focused on applications of these technologies in the Automotive, Professional and Consumer Electronics markets.

Specifically, Waves is planning to collaborate with AVnu in the following ways: by having a strong presence at industry trade shows; by participating in AVnu’s flagship “Plug Fest” events; by encouraging AVB adoption by crossing platform boundaries (when Waves SoundGrid technology runs AVB, it is immediately available to all SoundGrid users); and more.

“AVnu Alliance is pleased to announce Waves as a member,” said Lee Minich, marketing chair for the AVnu Alliance. “Waves’ hardware and software signal processing spans the studio, live sound and broadcast markets, all of which will benefit from the adoption of standards-based, truly interoperable networked audio solutions.”

“We at Waves strongly support AVnu’s goals to provide the practical means to identify equipment conformity and test interoperability, and to educate our customers as to the values and benefits of AVB-based networked systems,” stated Gilad Keren, Waves CEO and Co-Founder. “Waves is dedicated to non-proprietary and standardized interoperability between systems, allowing our customers the freedom to use their plugin products anywhere and everywhere.”

Visit www.waves.com and www.waveslive.com for more information.

BURBANK, CA, July 18, 2012— Aphex®, the leader in sound enhancement technology, has introduced HeadPod 4™, a compact, portable headphone amplifier capable of driving four separate stereo outputs with individual level controls from the selected input source. HeadPod 4 combines four independent Aphex stereo amplifiers and high quality converters in a rugged metal case and offers ultra low distortion and wide frequency response with headroom to spare.

Headphone amp designs built on a single channel of amplification suffer from degraded sound quality and volume levels when multiple, mismatched headphone loads are connected. HeadPod 4 overcomes the limitations of typical headphone amps through the use of four completely independent stereo amplifier channels that ensure minimum distortion and crosstalk regardless of the headphone loads connected, resulting in consistent volume levels, crystal clear audio and no clipping.

Top panel controls include a separate level control for each of the outputs together with a master level control, and an input source selector. The rear of the unit houses a pair of balanced quarter-inch jacks, a single stereo headphone extension input and a digital S/PDIF connection.

HeadPod 4 is suitable for a variety of applications, including desktop audio production, recording and broadcast studios, language labs, quality assurance listening stations, rehearsal and tuition rooms, and live sound venues such as houses of worship and schools.

—V9 functionality expands to include compatibility with Yamaha, Allen & Heath, DiGiCo, Venue and MultiRack Native hardware —

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL, July 11, 2012 — Waves Audio, the industry-leading developer of professional audio digital signal processing technologies, has expanded the capabilities of its acclaimed V9 (Version 9), and it is now available for live use with Yamaha, Allen & Heath, DiGiCo, Venue and MultiRack Native. Featuring 64-bit support, faster scanning, faster loading, and faster processing, Waves Version 9 opens up new dimensions of high performance plugin power.

One of Version 9’s most highly anticipated features is 64-bit operating system support. Now Waves users can unleash the power of massive amounts of RAM memory in the DAW hosts of their choice. V9 also marks the introduction of Waves’ new easy-to-use authorization system, Waves License Center, which eliminates use of the iLok, ushering in an era of simplicity, flexibility, mobility and security. Waves License Center offers users authorization activation straight to their computer or any USB flash drive; easy license management; license mobility via USB flash drive or users’ License Cloud; and one-click license recovery in the case of lost or damaged devices. V9 also allows users to run V8 and V9 plugins side-by-side. New features for live use include 64-bit support and hard drive or USB flash drive activation for Yamaha and Allen & Heath consoles as well as MultiRack Native. No D-Show enabler is needed for Venue consoles.

With new V9 plugins added to Waves’ Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Horizon, SoundGrid pro and Live bundles, there’s never been a better time for users to renew their Waves Update Plan coverage. New plugins in Horizon: Kramer Master Tape; PIE Compressor; HLS Channel; Bass Rider; CLA Guitars; Maserati Drums; OneKnob Filter; and OneKnob Driver. New plugins in Diamond: GTR3 Software; OneKnob Filter; and OneKnob Driver. New plugins in Platinum: GTR3 Software and OneKnob Driver. New plugins in Gold: GTR3 Software. New in SG Pro – NLS Non-Linear Summer. New in Live Bundle – GTR3 and compatible version of PuigTec EQs for Venue.

Waves V9 is now available. Visit www.waves.com and www.waveslive.com for more information.

— Company augments current personnel as part of long-term business strategy —

INDIANAPOLIS, IN, July 10, 2012 – Auralex® Acoustics, Inc., the world’s leading brand of acoustical treatments and soon to celebrate its 35th anniversary, has appointed noted singer-songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Saul Zonana to the position of Artist Relations Manager. In his new capacity, Zonana will spearhead a new artist relations program, with a focus on expanding and maintaining brand equity within the community of accomplished and emerging artists, engineers, producers and musicians. The announcement was made by company founder and president Eric Smith and is part of Auralex’s long-term strategic business plan, which includes providing Auralex dealers and end users additional personnel in the field.

Aside from being the main contact for all Auralex artist and end user activities, Zonana will provide valuable information to Auralex’s marketing department for creating market-driven products and artist-oriented promotional materials. He will also oversee a new artist-centric portion of the Auralex website highlighting key and unique applications of Auralex sound treatment products.

Currently based in the Nashville, Tennessee area, after spending much of his life in New York City and on the road, Zonana has a rich and colorful, decades-long career in the music industry. His past projects include notable 1990s bands No Heroes and Luv Junkies, time spent in KISS guitarist Ace Frehley’s touring band, collaborations with guitar virtuoso Adrian Belew, a stint with Crash Test Dummies and ten solo albums – the latest of which, Fix the Broken, will soon be released on Zonana’s own label.

“Saul’s background in various corners of the music industry makes him a perfect asset for our organization as we reach out to artists who are loyal Auralex users and those who could benefit from our products,” stated Eric Smith. “Aside from his impressive resume, he is a class act, and we are thrilled to have him on our team. As Auralex looks at our long-term business strategies, creative minds like Saul will help us realize our goals.”

For more information, please visit www.auralex.com.

— Pro audio technology innovator Aphex releases the Audio Xciter™ music player app, providing unprecedented sound quality on mobile devices through its proprietary Xciter digital signal processor (DSP), previously available only in pro audio equipment —

BURBANK, CA, July 10, 2012 — Aphex®, a leader in audio enhancement technology for more than 35 years, is proud to announce the availability of Audio Xciter™, the first audio app that dynamically improves the quality of digital music (as well as audiobooks and podcasts) on your Apple iOS devices through a proprietary Xciter digital signal processor (DSP). It has been the career-long dream of Aphex Chairman & CEO David Wiener to help musicians and music lovers make the most of every music experience, and Audio Xciter is a great testament of Wiener’s drive to end the debate about poor audio quality in digital devices. Audio Xciter uses patented Aphex DSP technology to improve the quality of your music by analyzing and enhancing the audio signal in real time. The iOS app is available today with an Android version to follow next month.

Legendary musicians such as Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen and Led Zeppelin have relied on the Aphex technology behind Audio Xciter for years and used to rent Aphex products for thousands of dollars for audio mastering. Now music lovers can experience the original sound quality created in-studio through the Audio Xciter app (available as a free demo download).

“Heavily compressed digital music files reduce sonic performance in music recordings,” said David Wiener. “We’ve leveraged our professional studio technology and created Audio Xciter to restore the detail, richness and spaciousness to your audio experience. The result is a more immersive sound that more accurately reflects the original intentions of the artists, engineers and producers. All the musicians and producers we work with think this is a revolutionary product for mobile music.”

“The Audio Xciter app brings musical detail to life, no matter what style of music you’re listening to. You will hear increased clarity, along with space and detail, that will impress anyone,” said Alan Parsons, GRAMMY® Award-winning record producer and engineer.

The free Audio Xciter app allows 15 minutes of enhanced playback per day. Users have two upgrade options: Audio Xciter Basic removes the time restriction and Audio Xciter Studio allows users to fine-tune the Xciter DSP settings for a truly custom experience. The launch pricing is $2.99 for Audio Xciter ($4.99 after July 31st) and $7.99 for Audio Xciter Studio ($9.99 after July 31st). Audio Xciter can be purchased through iTunes for iOS and will soon be available at the Android Store and Amazon.com for Android devices. The app is available at http://bit.ly/AudioXciter-for-iOS.

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of Audio Xciter will go to Respect the Music, Aphex’s foundation supporting music and arts education.

Additional information including demo videos and screenshots are available at http://AudioXciterApp.com.

BURBANK, CA, July 9, 2012 — Aphex®, a leader in audio enhancement technology for over 35 years, has appointed a series of additional manufacturer’s representatives as part of the company’s ongoing growth and expansion. These firms will join Aphex’s current sales force in representing Aphex’s line of pro products in their respective territories, fostering sales and increasing market share.

The following firms have been appointed, listed with their regions and principals: Warman Marketing: Rocky Mountain territories (Harry Warman); Sound Vision Marketing: Florida (Tim Yates); Audio One Marketing: Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota (Tim Van Bargen); ASR Enterprises: Mid-Atlantic region (Pat Foley); and Marketing Concepts: Texas (Bruce Marlin).

The appointment of new and additional dedicated reps in these regions underscores Aphex’s commitment to meeting the rising market demand with a network of experienced, knowledgeable manufacturer’s representatives. Aphex Chairman & CEO David Wiener stated, “Aphex is totally on a roll! With new products and technologies showing off our strengths and delighting customers old and new, we’ve been firing on all cylinders. The appointment of our newest manufacturer’s reps is part of our long-term strategic business plan, and we look forward to each of these valued partners helping us as we prepare for continued expansion.”

For more information, please visit www.aphex.com.

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (July 5, 2012) — A highlight of GRAMMY® FutureNow, a day-long conference produced by The Recording Academy Los Angeles Chapter on Saturday, June 23, 2012, at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica, Calif., was the presentation led by GRAMMY-winning engineer Andrew Scheps (Adele, Audioslave, Linkin Park, Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers). Titled “Lost in Translation,” the presentation guided attendees through an auditory experience examining the difference between an artist’s mastered track and different consumer formats including vinyl, CD, MP3, AAC and streaming.

Photo Caption: Pictured L-R: Andrew Scheps, P&E Wing Senior Executive Director Maureen Droney and P&E Wing Steering Committee Co-Chair Mike Clink. Photo Courtesy of The Recording Academy® /Wireimage.com © 2012. Photographed by: Maury Phillips.

— Lowell adds new built-in thermostat option for 19-inch panels with whisper-quiet or turbo fans —

PACIFIC, MO, July 5, 2012 — Lowell Manufacturing Company recently introduced a new built-in thermostat option for 19-inch panels with whisper-quiet or turbo fans. This thermostat is actually built right into the cord, activating and deactivating fans when ambient temperatures reach pre-set points. The thermostat automatically turns fans on when the ambient temperature hits 86?F (30?C), and off when the temperature is 72?F (22?C). This power-saving feature ensures efficient fan operation, while saving rack space. The bright green cord highlights the energy-savings benefit to customers.

Whisper fans (Model Series FW):
Each fan has a 4.7″ diameter, 50 cfm airflow rating, 28 dB noise rating, and requires 5.5 Watts of power. Includes fan guards and power cord. Whisper fans are available in two formats: 19-inch E.I.A. Fan Panels, 3U (with 2 or 3 fans) or 7U (with 4 fans); as well as a single fan kit for spot cooling.

Turbo fans (Model Series FT):
The single 10″ diameter fan (19″ E.I.A. 7U panel) has 550 cfm airflow rating and 50.8 dB noise rating, requiring 61 Watts of power. The package includes front/rear fan guards and cord.

For more information, please visit www.lowellmfg.com or e-mail Lowell at sales@lowellmfg.com.