Lab.gruppen has joined the Crestron Integrated Partner Program (IPP), announcing that it has become a fully certified member.
The announcement follows the co-development of a Crestron Integrated Partner control module which allows Lab.gruppen amplifiers and Lake products to operate seamlessly with other hardware in an open-platform Crestron systems environment, consisting of audio/video, security, HVAC, lighting and other controlled devices.
The module is a custom control protocol developed for Lab.gruppen by Crestron. It is currently available at
www.labgruppen.com for Lab.gruppen C Series and FP+ model ranges, and will be available shortly for the PLM Series of Powered Loudspeaker Management systems that feature Lake Processing inside. Access to the C and FP+ Series amplifiers is provided via the NLB 60E NomadLink Bridge & Network Controller, which allows control and monitoring of up to 512 amplifier channels within a single network. The Crestron module features full amplifier fault reporting, muting, and soloing at the per-channel level, as well as power on/off and real time metering, of both individual channels or user-defined groups.
According to Lab.gruppen product manager Doug Green, the new Crestron module is an essential tool for all Lab.gruppen users working in the installed sound sector. “With our entry into the Integrated Partner Program, our products can be seamlessly integrated into any Crestron-based, and Crestron-controlled system anywhere. As one of the world’s leading providers of third party control hardware and touch panels to the installed sound sector, this is a great way of making Lab.gruppen products even more usable. It’s also good for Crestron, as it offers them greater choice of hardware when developing their network solutions.
“Installed systems are growing ever more complex,” continued Green, “and often the biggest headaches faced by system designers and specifiers are about getting pieces of equipment to communicate and integrate effectively with each other. Ideally we’d like as many manufacturers as possible to be able to control our products – indeed, we already have a generic version of our own protocol on our website that allows users to custom design their own control software so that they can incorporate our products into their systems. Crestron’s control module is another part of the puzzle, and particularly important for large scale, complex projects that require remote control, fault monitoring and integration with Voice Alarm systems. Crestron is already in the process of developing a similar module for PLM, which we look forward to announcing in the very near future.”