This is our first year attending the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) show, and it has been an amazing experience for us. Upon arriving at the Anaheim Convention Center, we were greeted with rocking live performances. The organisers did a really great job of directing the crowd, and there were always helpful people from NAMM available to answer our questions. As we entered the massive exhibition halls, we were met with endless rows of booths showcasing gears and musicians. After we make our round in the convention hall, we proceed to our work meetings. It was truly inspiring for us to meet and talk to so many incredibly passionate people who are at the forefront of the music and audio industry. By the end of the show, we were filled with excitement by what everyone was doing. There are so many new and up-and-coming brands that have so much to offer. Almost every established brand we know seems to have new innovative products to offer throughout 2024. So here are a few photos and our observations from the event.
1. Mix With The Masters
Mix With The Masters has been around for a while now, but what they offers are still as insightful as ever. Throughout the entire four-day event, you can visit their booth and listen to some of the biggest world class producers and engineers discuss about their latest works, delve into their approaches and techniques for crafting some of the biggest hits in the world. Conversations range from mixing in immersive audio formats to improving your workflow. There were also discussion about using analog gears and plugins in music production. You have the opportunity to ask them any questions about music production. It's the best place in the convention to gain valuable insights in music production.
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2. Solid State Logic
Over the last few years, Solid State Logic (SSL) has been taking steps to offer a complete music production eco system for smaller studios that can't accommodate a large-format mixing console. The addition of the 360 Link is a fine touch to their existing line-up of controllers. We attended a demo session conducted by Sam Bath from SSL, where we witnessed the ease of integrating 3rd party plugins into their eco systems. When combined with the complete set of tactile control surfaces, it can truly bring you closer to the feeling of working in an analog environment. It was quite impressive to see the entire line-up of digital and analog products, ranging from affordable simple audio interfaces to their most sophisticated System T. It's hard to find another brand in the market that offers such comprehensive solutions today. To top it off, we had the opportunity to witness Chris Lord-Alge work on a mix with the SSL Origin console!
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3. Heritage Audio
The company has been around for a while now and they are known for their high-quality analog gear. However, this year they took a different approach by introducing the i73 PRO series audio interfaces.
There are three models of the i73 PRO: the i73 PRO One, i73 PRO 2, and the i73 PRO Edge. Each of these models offers different I/O setups, but at their core, the converters are the same, and the preamps are all Class A transformer-coupled 73-style preamps. Additionally, the interfaces have DSP capabilities that allow you to use their plugins for low latency tracking. You can also utilise their internal mixer to record both processed and unprocessed signals simultaneously. The knobs on the interfaces feels really high-end, and the build quality of the interfaces is very sturdy and impressive. Overall, the interfaces are definitely more than fairly priced. We are looking forward to adding these interfaces to our online store soon!
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4. Quagliardi Pro Audio
This Argentina-based company started in 2020 but already has a relatively complete catalogue of interesting audio gear. During our first interaction with their product, we were impressed by every aspect of it: from the build quality and sound to the price point. We believe that they will be an upcoming brand everyone should keep a close eye on. Below are some pictures of their product line.
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5. Black Lion Audio
Just before the NAMM 2024 show, they launched a series of high-quality and affordable analog patching solutions. It is a welcoming range of products for studios or live sound rigs that require quality and affordable patching solutions. They have also released an impressive new audio interface and standalone AD/DA converters, the Revolution 6 x 6. After chatting with people around the Black Lion Audio booth, we gathered that they have even more cool and interesting gear lined up for the rest of the year! So, we highly recommend everyone to keep a close eye on them.
6. PMC
Since PMC launched their new line of studio monitors in 2021, they have been stronger than ever. They are now right in the center of the growing market for immersive audio systems. Many prolific engineers and producers are already using their systems for mixing. We attended a couple of interesting talks about mixing in Dolby Atmos environments, as well as talks by world-class mixing and mastering engineers on their workflows and techniques for immersive audio. Additionally, PMC showcased improvements to their ATL™ bass-loading and Laminair™ airflow technologies in their monitors, along with the SOUNDALIGN network interface, which can be accessed through any web browser on a PC, Mac, or tablet.
Links: PMC Active Monitors
7. Harrison Audio
Just around the corner from the Solid State Logic booth, we encountered the impressive Harrison Audio 32C large-format console. Although it was released late last year, this was the first time we had the opportunity to see this historically important console in person. The feel and build quality of the console are rather impressive. The workflow appears intuitive and flexible, and when combined with the AOIP (Dante) integration, this console offers a complete solution for any recording studio
This year, Harrison Audio released a few 500 series modules, namely the 32Cpre+, MR3eq, and Comp. They feature a pretty straightforward design and deliver exactly what you would expect from a well-designed channel strip on the console. We will have these available on our online store very soon, so stay tuned!
Link: Harrison Audio
There are much more updates that we want to bring it to you, so stay tuned on this article. We will be updating it as soon as we can.
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