A fresh look at the products that grabbed our attention at the MI industry's premiere trade show.
It was a bright and beautiful day in Southern California, with a gentle breeze billowing through the palm trees on a balmy 75-degrees day...not!
"It was a bright and beautiful day in Southern California, with a gentle breeze billowing through the palm trees on a balmy 75-degrees day”… said absolutely nobody in attendance of this year’s NAMM Show, where it poured almost every day, and the show concluded with gale-force winds and flash-flood advisories.But the damp weather outside couldn’t dampen the spirits of this gathering of the music community, as this was a super positive show, full of hope and optimism. And despite taking place during Coronation Day… err, Inauguration Day, the only politics up for discussion were the usual heated debates: EL-34 vs. 6L6 power tubes, analog modeling vs. true analog poly synths, guitar finishes with bold, ‘80s flair vs. ‘60s distress, analog studio gear vs. the latest preamp and microphone modeling, and more.
In-Depth Reports (i.e. the cool gear details):
| Guitar | Bass |
| Drums | |
| Recording & Pro Audio | |
Although this year’s show was another evolutionary year in terms of gear, we do have to comment on one piece of gear that proved to be revolutionary: the Behringer DeepMind 12 synthesizer. No, the revolutionary bit isn’t that Behringer has released a new and original entrant into the synthesizer market, nor is the sound it makes revolutionary, but rather, it’s the integration of augmented reality that is poised to blow peoples’ minds and forge a new direction forward.
Donning a pair of VR goggles, with DeepMind 12, users can interact with their sound in a visual manner. Imagine being able to manipulate waveforms or envelopes by reaching out into the air and touching them. We’re sure that EDM folks will be chomping at the bit to have a technical reason to wear goofy goggles on stage during a performance, but truly, this could be the start of a new interface revolution. We are very curious to see where this goes.
There were tons of new product releases sure to satisfy the most diehard gear junkies, and we came away with a lot to talk about. So enough of this rambling… let’s check out the new toys we found most exciting at the Winter NAMM Show 2017:
