 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source .(May 2020) |
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| Founded | 1949 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Reggio Emilia, via Raffaello 13, ITA |
| Products | Professional Audio |
Number of employees | > 250 |
| Parent | RCF Group |
| Website | www |
RCF S.p.A. (formerly Radio Cine Forniture - R.C.F. S.r.l.) is a widely recognized Italian manufacturer of high performance audio products including power amplifiers, loudspeakers, digital mixers and digital signal processors (DSP).
RCF is an Italian audio products manufacturer founded in 1949 in Reggio Emilia. [1] [2] The first products sold were microphones and electroacoustic transducers (loudspeakers). In the late ’60s, concert sound was going electric, and many loudspeaker pioneers were searching for high-powered devices to use in their designs. RCF was one of the first European OEM suppliers for international brands, thanks to the experience built on high power transducers. After a few years, thanks to the in-depth know-how in loudspeaker technology, RCF began to develop and produce sound reinforcement systems under the same brand.
The introduction of the ART Series, in 1996, has established RCF among the few global manufacturers of active loudspeakers. The TT+ High Definition - Touring and Theater series equipped with DSP, introduced in 2004, and the RDNet Networked Management technology, gained RCF full recognition in the professional audio market. Since 2017, all DSP active speakers incorporate FiRPHASE technology, which allows achieving a 0° linear phase playback. RCF is the first audio manufacturer to have a complete catalogue of 0° phase-compatible sound systems including line arrays.
RCF gave its name to the RCF Arena, the largest permanent outdoor concert arena in Europe.
A loudspeaker is an electroacoustic transducer that converts an electrical audio signal into a corresponding sound. A speaker system, also often simply referred to as a "speaker" or "loudspeaker", comprises one or more such speaker drivers, an enclosure, and electrical connections possibly including a crossover network. The speaker driver can be viewed as a linear motor attached to a diaphragm which couples that motor's movement to motion of air, that is, sound. An audio signal, typically from a microphone, recording, or radio broadcast, is amplified electronically to a power level capable of driving that motor in order to reproduce the sound corresponding to the original unamplified electronic signal. This is thus the opposite function to the microphone; indeed the dynamic speaker driver, by far the most common type, is a linear motor in the same basic configuration as the dynamic microphone which uses such a motor in reverse, as a generator.
A mixing console or mixing desk is an electronic device for mixing audio signals, used in sound recording and reproduction and sound reinforcement systems. Inputs to the console include microphones, signals from electric or electronic instruments, or recorded sounds. Mixers may control analog or digital signals. The modified signals are summed to produce the combined output signals, which can then be broadcast, amplified through a sound reinforcement system or recorded.
A sound reinforcement system is the combination of microphones, signal processors, amplifiers, and loudspeakers in enclosures all controlled by a mixing console that makes live or pre-recorded sounds louder and may also distribute those sounds to a larger or more distant audience. In many situations, a sound reinforcement system is also used to enhance or alter the sound of the sources on the stage, typically by using electronic effects, such as reverb, as opposed to simply amplifying the sources unaltered.
JBL is an American audio equipment manufacturer headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. JBL serves the customer home and professional market. The professional market includes studios, installed/tour/portable sound, cars, music production, DJ, cinema markets, etc. JBL is owned by Harman International, an independent subsidiary of Samsung Electronics.
Powered speakers, also known as self-powered speakers and active speakers, are loudspeakers that have built-in amplifiers. Powered speakers are used in a range of settings, including in sound reinforcement systems, both for the main speakers facing the audience and the monitor speakers facing the performers; by DJs performing at dance events and raves; in private homes as part of hi-fi or home cinema audio systems and as computer speakers. They can be connected directly to a mixing console or other low-level audio signal source without the need for an external amplifier. Some active speakers designed for sound reinforcement system use have an onboard mixing console and microphone preamplifier, which enables microphones to be connected directly to the speaker.
LOUD Audio, LLC is a professional audio company based in the United States, operating in the U.S., Canada, and Shenzhen, China. Originally founded as Mackie Designs, Inc., the name was changed to Loud Technologies Inc in 2003 to differentiate its founding subsidiary, mixing console manufacturer Mackie from its eponymous brand name.
Foster Denki KK is an electronics company that manufactures loudspeakers and audio equipment for other companies or sells them under the trade name Fostex. It is traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Meyer Sound Laboratories is an American company based in Berkeley, California that manufactures self-powered loudspeakers, multichannel audio show control systems, electroacoustic architecture, and audio analysis tools for the professional sound reinforcement, fixed installation, and sound recording industries.
Digital speakers or Digital Sound Reconstruction (DSR) system are a form of loudspeaker technology. Not to be confused with modern digital formats and processing, they are yet to be developed as a mature technology, having been experimented with extensively by Bell Labs as far back as the 1920s, but not realized as commercial products.
Viscount International SpA (Viscount) is a musical instrument manufacturer based in Mondaino, Italy. The brand Viscount was registered in 1969 by Marcello Galanti, but the company was established in the late 19th century by his forefather Antonio Galanti. After 1969 Viscount's primary focus has been on classic organs and digital pianos. Several alternative brands were formed in the 2000s to aim at expanding into other markets: VERSE and Voice Systems, respectively, for the high and low-end Pro-Audio markets and Physis for digital organs using Viscount's physical modeling technology. The company also used the Oberheim brand for several years, to market vintage organs, synthesizers and guitar effects. Currently, Viscount's manufacturing and R&D activity is based in Italy. The company has been continuously owned by the Galanti family since its inception.
QSC is an American manufacturer of audio products including power amplifiers, loudspeakers, digital mixers and digital signal processors including the Q-Sys networked audio, video and control platform. QSC products are used by professional installed, portable, production, corporate and cinema customers worldwide.
KEF is a British company specialising in the design and production of a range of high-end audio products, including HiFi speakers, subwoofers, architecture speakers, wireless speakers, and headphones. It was founded in Maidstone, Kent in 1961 by a BBC engineer Raymond Cooke OBE (1925–1995).
A coaxial loudspeaker is a loudspeaker system in which the individual driver units radiate sound from the same point or axis. Two general types exist: one is a compact design using two or three speaker drivers, usually in car audio, and the other is a two-way high-power design for professional audio, also known as single-source or dual-concentric loudspeakers. The design is favored for its compactness and behavior as an audio point source.
A matrix mixer is an audio electronics device that routes multiple input audio signals to multiple outputs. It usually employs level controls such as potentiometers to determine how much of each input is going to each output, and it can incorporate simple on/off assignment buttons. The number of individual controls is at least the number of inputs multiplied by the number of outputs.
David W. Gunness is an American audio engineer, electrical engineer and inventor. He is known for his work on loudspeaker design, especially high-output professional horn loudspeakers for public address, studio, theater, nightclub, concert and touring uses.
Cliff Henricksen is a musician, inventor and audio technologist. He is self-taught as a musician with a graduate degree in mechanical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Throughout his career Cliff has found innovative ways to apply engineering basics to electro acoustics and to audio technology as it applies to music and in particular to live music performance. He has invented and engineered a wide variety of technologies and products well known in the world of professional audio. Today he balances work in audio and work as a performing musician.
A professional audio store is a retail business that sells, and in many cases rents, sound reinforcement system equipment and PA system components used in music concerts, live shows, dance parties and speaking events. This equipment typically includes microphones, power amplifiers, electronic effects units, speaker enclosures, monitor speakers, subwoofers and audio consoles (mixers). Some professional audio stores also sell sound recording equipment, DJ equipment, lighting equipment used in nightclubs and concerts and video equipment used in events, such as video projectors and screens. Some professional audio stores rent "backline" equipment used in rock and pop shows, such as stage pianos and bass amplifiers. While professional audio stores typically focus on selling new merchandise, some stores also sell used equipment, which is often the equipment that the company has previously rented out for shows and events.
Monitor Audio is a British company that specialises in designing and manufacturing loudspeakers and sound systems.
K-array is an Italy-based manufacturer of loudspeakers and amplification products for the professional audio market. K-array’s products are sold in over 50 countries around the world, and have been used in a variety of environments including major concert tours, cathedrals, stadia, theatres, restaurants and hotels.
Fulcrum Acoustic is an American manufacturer of professional loudspeakers, including permanent-installation loudspeakers, portable loudspeakers, subwoofers, line arrays, stage monitors, and studio reference monitors. Their research and development offices and production facilities are located in Whitinsville, Massachusetts while their administrative offices are in Rochester, NY. Fulcrum Acoustic products are sold through an international distribution network and are deployed in houses of worship, sports venues, hospitality venues, concert halls, music festivals, theaters, and nightclubs.
