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Articles January-February 2025

TOP 50 Products in Global Pro Audio and Lighting New!

The year 2024 has seen a surge of groundbreaking innovations in pro audio and lighting. The PALM Expo Magazine Team presents the Top 50 Products of 2024, in no particular order, highlighting standout technologies across rental, install, studio, PA sound, and professional lighting in the Indian subcontinent. read more

Illuminating the Magnetic Fields Festival New!

The 10th anniversary of the Magnetic Fields Festival in Rajasthan showcased an immersive lighting design powered by Martin Lighting. read more


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11 QUESTIONS With Dom Harter

Managing Director, Martin Audio



Dom Harter, Managing Director, Martin Audio


Since its founding in 1971, Martin Audio has been a leader in professional sound, dedicated to delivering immersive, high-quality audio experiences. Built on David Martin's vision, the company continues to innovate while staying true to its heritage. In this exclusive PALM Expo Magazine interview, Managing Director, Dom Harter discusses Martin Audio's commitment to innovation, sustainability, and market expansion. He explores key trends like immersive audio, networked systems, and AI while highlighting the company's strategic growth in emerging markets like India. He also shares insights into Martin Audio's latest product developments and how they reinforce its position as an industry leader.

1. What is the core philosophy driving Martin Audio, and how does it differentiate itself in the competitive pro audio market?

From a technology perspective, Martin Audio has a fixation on its full frequency signature sound in combination with coverage, control and consistency to ensure the entire audience has a great and involving experience. We match that with a family approach to our customers, listening, engaging and in partnership to move forward together. In addition, to this Martin Audio is part of the Focusrite Group and as the last year has shown we also bring additional brands into that structure – like Linea Research and TiMax - that can both support Martin Audio and flourish.

2. David Martin's founding principles emphasised the audience experience as the top priority. How has this philosophy evolved over the years, and how does it continue to guide the company's direction?

It's remained at the forefront of our thinking, hence our "Unite Your Audience" philosophy that is central to the products we develop. Naturally, technology has moved on from Dave Martin's time, both in terms of hardware performance but also software. The ability to manipulate sound for improved coverage, consistency and control is something we are considered experts at. However, techniques such as paper diaphragms and multiple small HF driver usage in large format boxes that were pioneered by Dave Martin still reproduce a richer, more detailed sound than large compression drivers used by many of our competitors.

3. With 50 plus years of history, how do you ensure that new products and technologies align with the brand's heritage while pushing the boundaries of audio innovation?

We believe that Martin Audio's unique history gives the low-distortion, clean sound that has always been associated with the brand. So, we balance the needs of the modern sound system with the voicing and heritage that our long pedigree gives us. Whilst modern mathematical optimisation techniques enable us to deliver that sound to every seat in the house at the same level. No other manufacturer can do this.

4. What are the key trends shaping the global pro audio market, and how is Martin Audio positioning itself to capitalise on these trends?

Integration of Digital and Networked Solutions

There's a growing shift towards digital audio consoles and IP-based workflows, offering enhanced flexibility and seamless integration with IT infrastructures. This is in part why Linea Research was brought into the Focusrite Group, to enable, alongside our software engineers, the building of platforms and workflows better suited for the decade ahead.

Immersive Audio Experiences

The demand for immersive audio solutions has been on the rise, and again this is why TiMax were added to the Focusrite Group's stable. In our opinion, TiMax SoundHub is the most powerful and flexible platform on the market today and while TiMax will retain its loudspeaker independence, it naturally provides Martin Audio and its customers with a ready-made solution.

Sustainable and Eco-Friendly Practices

There's a growing emphasis on sustainability within the industry. While it's still at its relative infancy, its clear manufacturers are developing energy-efficient devices and adopting eco-friendly production practices to minimise environmental impact. This is no different at Martin Audio, and by example we have recently made significant strides in reducing our environmental footprint through the strategic use of recycled materials, particularly post-consumer recycled plastics. By switching to 85% post-consumer recycled ABS plastic, away from standard ABS plastic, the carbon emissions per kilogram of material drop from 4.6kg CO2e to just 0.8kg CO2e.

AI

The use of AI in audio devices and processes moving forward is undeniable. However, in the short term this is most likely to be around boring stuff like business practices and systems. These don't affect sound but do help us to be a better company everyday which is better for our customers.

In audio terms we will see increased intelligence around things like Stem creation in the studio. In time we'll see, in the live market, the 3rd party integration of other systems which effect performance, like forthcoming weather for example.

As it stands today, AI would be using the same audio processing techniques a human does, so it might streamline content creation or help an inexperienced user but I am not sure it will fundamentally change the processing world yet.

5. How do trends like immersive audio, networked audio systems, and sustainability influence your product development and market strategy?

The Focusrite Group, our owners, have long felt we need to invest in solutions that strengthen the whole group, so in Immersive we are TiMax, in networked audio we have Linea Research and Focusrite RedNet etc. Core technology within the same family as Martin Audio. In terms of sustainability, our approach extends to our complete operation, aiming to embed us within the circular economy, requiring collaboration with the entirety of our value chain and beyond. We believe the only way to make sure we're doing the right thing is to look at our products in detail across the whole lifecycle, starting with production, then logistics, energy consumption and end of life treatment. We've mapped the lifecycle and footprint of every product and through detailed analysis we've started to uncover the environmental hot spots in our products, and what actions can be taken. The adoption of recycled plastics is an example of this change and thinking.

6. What do you see as the biggest challenges facing the pro audio industry today, and how is Martin Audio addressing them?

Against the backdrop of the incredibly disruptive last 5 years we've all experienced, we're growing and, in many regions, very quickly. India is in fact one region where many new partners are becoming involved all the time.

Stability is returning following the global pandemic. We're seeing partners have everything in stock after a relatively frustrating time when no one had anything in stock, so that's a really positive change we've addressed successfully and quickly. We also conduct brand surveys twice a year, to better understand and formalise where we need to improve and where there are opportunities in the market for us to exploit. This combination helps us to be honest with ourselves and informs management strategy and influences product development too. When our customers see us responding to feedback, this demonstrates our commitment and partnership with them and therefore fosters long term loyalty.

With such dynamic growth it is important that everyone who experiences our systems has a great result. As an example, over the last couple of years, Vardhaman Megatech Pvt. Ltd., our partners in India, have played a big part in making sure our customers have the support they need. This is backed up by our own teams. There are some incredible sound engineers in India so building a network to support and training them in how our systems differ, is a big challenge for us. But we rise to it with great partners and the best part is that's a lot of fun.

7. What are the key areas of research and development at Martin Audio, and how do you ensure your products remain at the cutting edge of technology? How does Martin Audio incorporate feedback from sound engineers and end-users into its R&D process?

Well in the modern world I think people can see and in some case guess what we are working on! At Martin Audio we are the world leaders in optimised line arrays and we intend to keep this position. So, there is always lots of work to support this, increasingly around our software platforms making our optimisations better faster and the sound smoother, cleaner and louder. We are also known for taking a novel approach to our designs like the driver work in CDD and FlexPoint for example. We always like to see elegant and efficient design but that is not what drives our R&D team. In our hearts we are problem solvers. We try to understand the limitations of current market solutions then figure out ways to improve the offering for the customer. Solving real problems and thus improving the result for the audience, Unite Your Audience rings true through the whole company.

8. What are Martin Audio's key growth markets, and how do you tailor your strategies to meet the unique demands of these regions? How does Martin Audio adapt its products and services to cater to emerging markets like India, where live events and installations are growing rapidly?

Globally, a one fits all strategy is not realistic, equally too much diversification leads to inefficiencies. Hence, we keep a close eye on the market, speaking regularly to customers around the globe and dive deep into local market trends as necessary. This might see us up step activity in a given sector, refine product solutions, or develop exclusive products. With India, understanding the dynamics of the market, developing strong relationships and building a local strategy to win in each sector is highlighted by the work of our Generation AV team. Over the last eighteen months, they've worked hard to hone resources and develop successful regional rental partnerships.

9. How important are partnerships and collaborations in Martin Audio's growth strategy? Can you share any recent collaborations that have been particularly impactful?

Very. Our strategy is relatively simple. Develop Martin Audio's core strengths to ensure we have class leading products; do what we are good at; and continue to invest internally to do this. Ultimately, we want to offer products for permanent installation and touring, and to be the best in class at both. The Focusrite Group has allowed us to acquire brands that have core technical competencies we do not have, launch brands to open new addressable markets. We purchased Linea Research to ensure DSP and amplifier competencies, TiMax is the world leader in immersive technologies, and we started Optimal Audio to address entry level contracting markets. The might and infrastructure of a larger group also boosts the capabilities and presence of those brands.

10. What are the unique challenges of operating in the Indian market, and how is Martin Audio addressing them?

Well without stating the obvious, the market is huge, growing, and a long way away from the UK! As with any growing market, there is a wide range of technical expertise and understanding, so our approach really is about our partnerships. Whilst some customers appear new to the market and to the Martin Audio brand, the reality is that the people we do business with are people I have known for at least a decade. In the case of Generation AV's leader, Dave Mckinney, since university, embarrassingly nearly 30 years ago! Our partners are an extension of us and very much part of the Martin Audio family. Generation AV and its staff behave effectively as an extension of us in the region. Prashant Govindan has a local office and understands the culture. Our main distributor in the region, Vardhaman is very well established and known by everyone. We firmly believe in having local cultural knowledge in any region, delivered through people we have known for a long time and entrust our brand to. This has been proven to work elsewhere and I am delighted to say, though it is relatively early days, it is working in India. A close relationship between sales channels and end users is very important to us. We like to think of ourselves as big enough to matter and small enough to care. We are in frequent communication, at all levels of the company, with customers, so that the human interaction is not lost as we grow.


Dom Harter with Dinesh Mandot and Jeff Mandot, Vardhaman Megatech Pvt. Ltd. At ISE 2025

11. Can you tell us about the products launched here at ISE. Is Martin Audio planning to expand into other segments?

For the last 8 years, Martin Audio has been on a strident march to expand the portfolio and refresh product ranges. We are very proud that across the spectrum of technology we can offer a tiered approach to solutions and that we now have our strongest ever line-up of product catering for a diverse set of applications.

As a result, this year is more around consolidation of our position as represented with the addition of the A80T to our existing ADORN commercial series of on-wall, pendant and ceiling speakers. Comprising an 8" (203mm) LF driver and a 1" (25mm) polymer dome HF compression driver on a 90° x 50° horn, A80T handles 200W AES, 800W peak and can produce 120dB peak output at 1 metre. It has a smooth frequency response and strong bass reproduction that extends down to 63Hz. It also incorporates a high-quality transformer for 70V/100V line operation, with transformer taps selected by a rotary switch.

Obviously, there are plenty of areas for future exploration, but we're not ready to reveal our hand just yet. Martin Audio, alongside its sister brands, are well positioned to thrive within the challenges and opportunities that the pro audio industry will face in the next decade.

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