Top 10 Products from Winter NAMM 2009
Feb 10, 2009 3:30 PM
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This Month in Mix
Under sunny skies and unseasonably warm weather, Winter NAMM 2009 opened to an economically cautious, yet enthusiastic, audience. Attendance was well below the record-setting crowds of previous years, although traffic—particularly in the high-tech Hall A—was surprisingly brisk. Following the CES show, where this year’s attendance plummeted, NAMM looked pretty good in comparison. True, the guest and visitor badges walking the show outnumbered the coveted blue “buyer” badges by about 10 to one, but those who did attend were serious about business and NAMM officials seemed genuinely relieved by the respectable turnout.
Any industry trade show offers a trend in products, ranging from the resurgence in ribbon technologies to plug-ins for live consoles. NAMM had a bit of that, from Royer Labs' new active stereo ribbon mic, to Waves’ announcement about creating a new division to create plugs for sound reinforcement applications. This year’s NAMM seemed to focus on "value," as many new-product debuts catered to the end-user seeking gear slanted to the low-cost/max-performance approach. One example of this was JBL’s new LSR2300 studio monitor line, priced from $249/each, yet offering the Linear Spatial Reference criteria of the award-winning LSR6300 and LSR4300 Series.
Bling was well represented at NAMM. Everywhere we looked, there were guitars with flashing LEDs in the bodies and necks. And pro audio wasn’t immune to the bling thing. Neutrik showed its new CrystalCon XLR and ¼-inch connectors, with rhinestones inset into the metal bodies; Sennheiser unveiled interchangeable mic “skins” that pull over wireless mic bodies for a new multicolored look; Audix had versions of some of its popular handheld mics in stylish camo schemes ranging from desert tan to hot pink and beyerdynamic now offers the M(y) 88, with custom finishes for its classic M88 vocal mics.
This time around, there was no single “gotta see it” hit, but there were plenty of updates of existing products—such as Universal Audio’s UAD-2 Solo/Laptop, an ExpressCard version of its breakthrough UAD-2 Solo DSP plug-in host. Throughout the show, there was plenty of good news in the form of gear that’s finally shipping—such as http://www.presonus.com/products/Detail.aspx?ProductId=52 PreSonus’ StudioLive console or Hagstrom's 8-string bass reissues—but as always, and there were lots of “almost-dones,” i.e., “N.A.M.M's:” Not Available—Maybe Musikmesse.
From a pure technology standpoint, this was a great NAMM, with lots to see and hear. Making our selections for the crème de la crème was tough, but here (listed alphabetically) are our selections for the Mix Certified Hits—our editors’ choices for the Top 10 products from NAMM.
THE CERTIFIED HITS
Akai APC40
Akai APC40
Akai Professional worked in partnership with software developer Ableton to create the Ableton Performance Controller APC40, an awesome stage or studio hardware control surface for Ableton Live. Designed specifically for Live, the unit is plug-and-go—no mapping required, although advanced users can tweak the controls to their individual tastes, if desired. The APC40 communicates bi-directionally with Live, enabling the controller to display information from the software on its clip matrix of 40 triggers and on LED rings surrounding each knob. And the APC40 is the ideal match for Ableton’s hot new Live 8 software, which also debuted at NAMM. Click here to watch an exclusive video demo of the Akai APC40.
Allen & Heath iLive-T112 and iDR-48
Allen & Heath iLive T Series
Keeping with the movement toward more powerful, compact digital consoles for sound reinforcement, Allen & Heath’s T Series comprises the iDR-32 (32 mic/line inputs, 16 outs) or iDR-48 (48 mic/line ins and 24 outs) MixRacks with either the iLive-T80 or iLive-T112 mix controller. The mix surfaces boast touchscreen control and add another 8-in/8-out and 16-in/12-out, respectively, providing 40-in/24-out to 64-in/36-out systems with eight stereo FX engines and full dynamic/EQ/delays on all channels and a single Cat-5 cable-linking controller and MixRack. Check out this video of the iLive-T features.
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