Amplifiers and microphones continue to dominate this promising segment.

The professional audio market in India seems to finally coming out of its slumber. Sales are picking up and products seem to back in demand. The slow period brought about a shift in preference toward high technology, high quality equipment. The manufacturers are rising to the occasion and last year saw the launch of several new products, most of them premium quality at competitive prices. The Indian market however continues to be catered by foreign brands, with barely any indigenous products on the shelves. Advantage is also perceived in turnkey solutions rather than just buying various products as boxes. This also adds to the revenues of the audio equipment suppliers.

Major customers continue to primarily be broadcasters, auditoriums, multiplex, film & audio production industry and home entertainment industry. Last year saw the addition of many multiplex theatres all over the country. The frequency of concerts and reality shows saw increasing popularity too.

The industry is anxiously waiting for the go-ahead for FM Phase III, where 600 licenses are expected to be issued. This would go a long way in providing impetus to the pro audio market.

It is estimated that in 2008-09, the organized market for professional audio equipment is Rs. 500 crore. This includes amplifiers, microphones, speakers, processors, mixers, headphones, earphones, consoles, extended racks, patch panels, cables and connectors. Amplifiers command a 65 percent market share. 25 percent is constituted of microphones and the balance 10 percent by others accessories.

The major players in the professional audio segment include Aditya Infotech, Audioplus, AVF, Cat 5 Broadcast, Cinecita, Cineom, Daxco Digital, Electro Dynamics, Hi-Tech Audio Systems, MRH Digital Systems, Rivera International, Sennheiser, Setron, Soundcraft, Sun Infonet, and Yamaha Music India Pvt. Ltd.

The foreign brands available are Adam, Allen&Heath, AMS NEVE, Apogee, Audio Preision, Audio Technica, Audix, Behringer, Beyerdynamic, Bosch, Camco, Cerwin Vega, dB Technologies, EAW, Euphonix, Fostex, Gefen, Georg Neumann GmbH, JBL, Klien & Hummel Vertriebs-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft GmbH, Klark Teknik, Kling & Freitag, Korg, Lab.gruppen, Lectrosonics, Lynx, Mackie, M-Audio, Manley, Marantz, Midas Consoles, Mipro, Nexo, PCS, Plischasia, QSC, Quest, Renkus&Heinz, RCF, Rode, Samson, Schoeps, Shure, Sonifex, Studiomaster, Tapco, and Zaxcom.

Marketers are eagerly awaiting the revival of the economy. Their fates are closely linked to the new installations planned, yet to be executed and demand emanating from replacement. The grey market continues to be a major threat in this segment, albeit, complete dependence on cash transaction, does have its own 
limitations.

Aditya InfoTech Ltd. represents M-Audio, Rode, MACKIE, Tapco, Audix, Apogee Digital, Adam, and Tango. M-Audio provides digital audio and MIDI solutions for electronic musicians and audio professionals with firewire audio interfaces. Mackie Loud Technologies Inc. offers amplifiers, processors, powered mixers, and mixers. Tapco is a subsidiary of Mackie. Rode offers studio condenser microphones. Apogee Electronics is a manufacturer of digital audio hardware systems and related accessories for audio professionals. The new products offered by them are ONE, a pocket-sized music interface, and Duet a portable audio. Ensemble is the multi-channel audio interface that is fully integrated into Logic Pro. Yamaha manufactures mixers, processors, power amplifiers, speakers, interfaces, and PA systems. EAW is a manufacturer of high performance audio equipment including loudspeakers, amplifiers, and digital products. Smarrt is software for system measurement.

AudioPlus offers amplifiers, conference systems, intelligent solutions, microphones, mixer amplifiers, and speakers. Amplifiers are from Studiomaster, RCF, and Beyerdynamic; intelligent solutions are from Renkus & Heinz; conference systems are from RCF and Beyerdynamic; microphones from RCF and Beyerdynamic; mixer amplifiers from Beyerdynamic and Behringer; active speakers and wireless microphones from dB Technologies; keyboards from Korg and speakers from RCF.

Intelligent solutions have recently been introduced, catering primarily to auditoriums, conference rooms, and universities. Eight speakers are installed in a single column. These speakers are 6 inches wide, slim and can be provided in customized colors. They use a beam of sound which prevents sound from scattering thus maintaining the voice clarity and taking care of acoustical challenges.

Cinecita represents Crown for amplifiers, Euphonix for mixing consoles, and JBL for speaker systems. Major clients of Cinecita are post production studios.

Cineom offers authentic acoustics solutions. The company provides large format analog and digital consoles from AMS NEVE for music recording and mixing, final film mix and broadcast applications. The company provides complete location Sync Sound set-ups with combination of equipment from Zaxcom Audio Limited, and Pro Tool set-ups for recording, pre-mixing or final mixing. The company clients include Yash Raj Studios, AR Rahman Studios, T-series, Gaurav Digital, Sound One, Dharma Productions, and Mukta Arts. The company represents Audio AMS Neve for analog and digital mixers, SQN Electronics Ltd. for stereo portable mixers, Tieline for audio codec solutions, Zaxcom for recorders, Audio Ltd. for transmitters and receivers, Cooper Sounds for mixers, Sanken for microphones, and ADC Krone for patch panels.

Comcon manufactures amplifiers, audio mixers, converters, meters, switchers and phones in hybrids. The company represents Sonifex for amplifiers, digital recorders, convertors and switchers and Audio Precision for analyzers.

Daxco represents Plischasia for television transmitters and FM trans radios, Adam for speakers, Schoeps for microphones, KS Beschallungstechnik for PA systems, Gefen for switchers, amplifiers and cables, PSC for mixers, Euphonix for audio consoles, and Manley for compressors, microphones, limiters and amplifiers. Major customers include Prime Television for antenna and transmitter systems, Bali Television for transmitter systems, ESPN Sports for two Euphonic Max Air broadcast consoles, Perbadanan Kemajuan Film National Malaysia for 2k/4k digital intermediate workflow and a complete radio station, A.R. Rahman Studios for a new recording and mix stage with Euphonix digital control audio mixing consoles, and AVM Recording Centre, Chennai for digital multi-track recording system.

Electrodynamics represents Lectrosonics for wireless microphones, Klotz for digital consoles and studio condensers and microphones for Audio Technical.

Real Image offers software from ProTools 8, consoles and audio interface from Digidesign, decoders and audio processors from DTS.

Sennheiser has established a reputation for itself in the development and manufacture of high-quality microphones, RF wireless technology and headphones. In the professional sector, wired or wireless microphones, headsets and professional systems for broadcast and music industry are the most important products. Besides Sennheiser's branded products, the company also represents the other 3 group brands, Georg Neumann GmbH, Berlin (studio microphones), K+H Vertriebs-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft GmbH (Klein+Hummel studio monitors, installed sound) and the joint venture Sennheiser Communications A/S (headsets for PCs, offices and call centres). In June 2008, Sennheiser India successfully launched one of its group brands, Klein+Hummel, its product range consists of studio monitoring speakers, installed sound speakers and PA systems.

Sennheiser customers in India include renowned names from the music industry, Sandeep Chowta and Shankar Ehsaan Loy, bands- Indian Ocean and Karma 6, as well as the most sophisticated broadcasters, rental companies, corporate and educational institutions as Adlabs, DDK, Star TV, Zee TV, INX, Sun TV, BAG TV, Times TV, Infosys, Sound.com, Electrocraft, and Whistling Woods Institute. Channel partners in professional systems are Advanced Telemedia, Premier Radio & Electronics Corp., Pace Communications and Telerad.

Sun Infonet represents Camco, Germany for amplifiers; Quest, Australia for speakers and amplifiers; Nexo, France for speakers and microphones, Shure, USA for microphones, and Allen&Heath, and UK for audio mixers. Major customers are Reynolds Sound & Lightening, Bangalore; Sound.com, Zee TV, NDTV, and Auditorium of SRM Institute at Chennai; and Vigyan Bhavan, Reliance, Godrej. 60 percent of the company's business accrues from installation and the balance from retail services.

Major Projects (2008-09)

• Vikasa Saudha, Bangalore Assembly
• Vigyan Bhavan. Its impressive facilities include computer-controlled conference system with simultaneous translation capability upto eight languages. The loudspeaker system specifications include 10xGEO S805, 4xGEO S830, 2x NX242 TD controllers, 4xPS15, 6xLS1200, 1xPS15 UTD-U2, and 2xGEO S bumper. In partnership with Elgin Electronics, they have proposed the first major installation of a NEXO tangent-array system in India. The sound system, which uses NEXO GEO S Series tangent-array cabinets, is used for speech reinforcement in the long and wide 1200 seat hall.

There is a chain of equipment involved, which is responsible for delivering professional audio. A single error in selection of equipment and configuring the same can effect the quality of audio. While setting-up professional audio infrastructure it is important to give special attention to:

• Earthing: Improper grounding of audio equipment can lead to noisy audio ;
• Studio acoustic: Acoustic work also plays a major role in delivering good quality audio. Improper acoustic treatment can generate echo in the audio; and
• Studio equipment: Most important is the selection of audio equipment, starting from microphone, mike processor, console and sound card to play audio.

In case of FM radio the music quality heavily depends on the sound card, audio ripping quality and proper audio levelling. There are various kinds of professional microphones, digital processors and digital consoles available in the market, which help in the delivery of good quality professional audio. The infrastructure for FM radio is divided into two parts, studio site and transmission site. Studio transmitter link is used to carry the audio stream to connect the two sites. To ensure proper transportation, best quality audio CODECs with proper configuration and links with required bandwidth, preferably on circuit switching are required. Configuration of the final audio processor at the final part, the transmission end requires tuning of transmitter and antenna. Avoidance of over modulation and appropriate power backup of equipment are other issues that need to be addressed. A large variety of pro audio equipment is available. Careful selection suiting every budget is important. Planning and testing also plays a vital role.