Renkus-Heinz Introduces CTS Accredited RU Audio Training

Renkus-Heinz is launching two InfoComm CTS accredited RU training programs for audio technicians in the fields of intelligibility and digital beam steering. The senior course instructor is well-known pro audio developer, instructor, AES moderator, author, and journalist John Murray.

Both courses will be hosted at multiple locations across the US, including one at the Renkus-Heinz factory in Foothill Ranch, California.

The intelligibility (non-manufacturer) course -- worth four RUs -- covers lLine-source vs. point-source, technology theory and intelligibility. Topics include understanding line-source versus point-source behavior and their fundamental characteristics; understanding STI (speech transmission index) and how it can be used to assess a sound system's intelligibility; and understanding the relationship between high-Q line-array directivity and the resulting intelligibility in difficult acoustic spaces.

The manufacturer course -- worth two RUs -- is the Renkus-Heinz Iconyx certification course, which covers creating a network of Renkus-Heinz Iconyx steerable line arrays with a TCP/IP control interface via a laptop computer; optimizing an Iconyx steerable line array system via active beam steering for maximum evenness of coverage; and using EASERA SysTune to equalize an Iconyx steerable line array and assess its intelligibility using STI.

Murray's career began with a B.S. in radio-TV production and engineering from Ohio University in 1975; he spent 13 years as an A/V integrator, designing, installing, and commissioning sound systems of all types, and 13 years working for three audio manufacturers in product development and dealer training for electronics, speaker systems and DSP products. An AES member since 1980, He has presented papers and moderated panel discussions, in addition to his role as a Syn-Aud-Con seminar and workshop graduate, presenter and creator.

An InfoComm adjunct faculty member who has taught several classes for NSCA; in 2007 he was awarded Instructor of the Year for NSCA's Technical College for his Line Arrays: Separating Reality from Marketing Hype class. His second audio-educational DVD, Levels, Metering and Gain Structure, is the basis for the NSCA's first on-line accredited training course.

Currently, Murray is the principal of Optimum System Solutions (OSS), his new systems-optimization and intelligibility-measurement consulting firm. He also runs regional Renkus-Heinz Iconyx steerable line-array certification seminars and performs system commissioning and trouble-shooting for Renkus-Heinz dealers. He is also the senior technical editor for Live Sound International.

Margie Ulm, marketing manager at Renkus-Heinz, said: "We are very pleased to offer these new RU courses to audio professionals throughout the country, especially with the high caliber of instruction that delivers each course."