Winter NAMM 2016 Overview - Part 1

Winter NAMM has come and gone once again, and left us with a lot to talk about. Once again there was nothing so new and revolutionary that everyone at the show was talking about (as expected), but there were some cool new things that were shown, as well as some disappointments, and some that were downright absurd.

Here are a few things that jumped out at me during my walk around NAMM. I covered it from a slightly different angle and more in depth on my Inner Circle podcast.

Shure KSM8 Dualdyne - This is a dual diaphragm condenser mic that reportedly gets rid of the 3.5kHz bump and the proximity response. The problem is that after 50 years of SM58s, I think we all like that sound. It's expensive at $499.




Manley Nu Mu - Here's a less expensive alternative to Manley's famous VariMu compressor with a new HIP control that allows lots of compression without losing any detail. Around $2,300 on the street.




Mackie AXIS - This is a remote controllable mixer with remote preamps that's intended for installed sound systems. It can use up to 3 iPads as displays. Available in 16 and 32 input versions. No word on prices yet.






Dave Smith OB6 - One of the sounds of the 80s is the Oberheim OB6 synthesizer and now Dave Smith Instruments has brought the unit back in collaboration with Tom Oberheim. Complete with effects and a sequencer, it sells for around $3k






Slate Raven MTi2 - I think I'm softening on my position to touchscreen controllers after playing with the new Raven MTi2. All of the most used parameters are at the bottom of the screen so you don't have to lift your arm that much. Plus, there are a ton of useful add-ons that will work with any DAW. A bargain for a 27" touchscreen monitor/controller at $1k






Solomon LoFreQ -  Many engineers won't record a drum kit without using a subkick mic, but up until now the commercial ones have used 8 inch drivers instead of the 6 1/2" NS10 driver that we all grew to love. The LowFreQ uses that same diameter driver, and compensates for the level differences between subkick and regular kick mic as well. Priced very reasonably at $199.







Subwoofer Pros - There hasn't been a company since M&K that specialized in subwoofers, but that's exactly what Brad Lunde's new Subwoofer Pros does. The cabinets are not ported so there's a smoother frequency response, they have a lot of power, and a built-in crossover and bass management. Two models available, either a 12" or 18" starting at around $2k









GTC Revpad - This is one of the coolest things I saw at the show. It's a wireless touchpad that velcros to a guitar's pickguard. From there you can wirelessly control and crossfade between a variety of onboard or external effects with the greatest of ease. Around $1200.








Fostex Headphones - I love Fostex headphones and have used T20s in various versions for more than 20 years. Now the T models are back in circulation. From about $120.

Part 2 tomorrow.

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Introducing The New MIDI HD Protocol

MIDI Creator Dave Smith

The MIDI standard is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, so let's take a minute to appreciate just how cool an invention this really was.

For many of you reading this, you don't remember a time before MIDI, but the rest of us remember it as a time when hardware synthesizers, sequencers and drum machines couldn't talk to one another if not from the same manufacturer. You chose a manufacturer if you wanted all three, and usually at least of these were not to your liking.

MIDI, originally proposed by Sequential Circuits founder Dave Smith (now with Dave Smith Instruments and pictured on the left), solved this by suddenly making not only these devices interchangeable, but controllable via external switches, pedals and, a little down the road, computers.

The standard hasn't changed much over the years, but definitely needs some updating, and that's exactly what the newly proposed MIDI HD does. Some of the new protocol's features include:

• Plug and play network connectivity over USB and Ethernet
• Thousands of channels for handling complex systems
• More precise pitch control and articulation for expanded expressivity
• Tighter timing thanks to time stamped messaging
• More controllers and parameters
• Room for future expansion
• Backwards compatibility with MID 1.0

That sounds pretty cool, but don't get the wrong idea - MIDI HD is not a replacement for the standard MIDI that we're all used to. MIDI 1.0 is really cheap to implement and MIDI HD isn't, at least at the moment, and it's not an industry standard yet either. The added cost of MIDI HD means that many low cost devices just won't have it for a while.

That said, it's exciting that MIDI is stepping into the future. I can't wait to check it out in person to see just what it can do.

For more information, go to the MIDI Manufactures Association's office site at midi.org.

New Music Gear Monday: Dave Smith Instruments Pro 2 Synth

When the Minimoog and Arp Odyssey first came on the market as the first mass-manufactured portable synthesizers way back in the 70's, they were pretty limited in the number of voices available. As a result, polyphonic synths couldn't get here fast enough as we all wanted the ability to play chords with our favorite non-traditional sounds.

Today there's a trend back to monophonic synths and the new Pro 2 by Dave Smith Instruments is really one of the kind. It contains 4 oscillators, two classic analog filters, a 32 step sequencer, a load of control voltage inputs, and what the company is calling a 4 voice "paraphonic" mode that lets you play up to 4 notes, albeit without the big multi-oscillator synth sound.

There's also an audio input that allows you plug another instrument like a guitar into it for some killer sounds, or use the filters to process external audio. Add to that 3 digital delays and an analog "bucket brigade" delay, and an output section of the instrument is also entirely analog, and you have one fat sounding synth.

The Pro 2 retails for $1,999. The video below shows Dave Smith explaining just what the unit can do.

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