NAMM 2016: Top Picks and Pics from the Showroom Floor

January 27th, 2016 by SonicScoop

Taking up the entirety of the 813,607 square foot exhibition space in Anaheim Convention Center (and then some) Winter NAMM 2016 sits like a testament to thousands of years of progress in musical tools and technology, on display in hall after massive hall, row after row after row.

SonicScoop can’t claim to have seen it all at NAMM, but we did try to stop by as many of the pro audio booths as possible in search of new releases and big announcements.

As much fun as the gear is, the truth is that the people that populate the floor each day—whether company reps at their booths or the many thousands of visitors —are secretly there to see each other. The crazy crush of faces are a huge part of the appeal. NAMM is exhausting. It can also be productive, dense with discovery, and filled with new friendships.

We may not be able to give you the full experience of being there, but we can at least share our NAMM gallery below, filled with all the latest releases we could find. And if you saw something new that we didn’t capture with our cameras, please feel free to fill us in by leaving a comment below!

Now without further ado, some notable NAMM new releases:

: Catherdral Pipes unveils a new all-tube preamp made of high-polished stainless steel.

: A new compressor from SPL, called “Iron” makes an unforgettable debut at the Audio Plus booth.

: Convention-goers demo an array of Pocket Operators, including the brand-new Robot, Office and Arcade units

: Arturia had one of the most buzzed-about booths thanks to its new analog synth, the MatrixBrute.

: Arturia also announces its compact, high-performance AudioFuse interface.

: Roland shows off its new 500 series of modules for the Eurorack format.

: A new 49-key version of the Seaboard “Rise” controller from Roli. This silicon keyboard offers new dimensions of expressivity, including continuous glissando, vertical movement, and aftertouch.

: They’re baaaaaack….

: An army of new Auratones, back in production for the first time in decades.

: ADAM also returns, but with all-new designs in tow.

: UK-based Unity Audio has a new high-end modular speaker system on display.

: New speakers from Keith Klawitter (KRK) and his company, Klawitter Designs.

: Eve Audio and Audient team up to make for some high-quality desktop options.

: JBL unveils its new Sub18 for the M2 Reference system.

: ATC represents.

: Performers show off a new BOSS Vocoder pedal and a new Electric Cajon in Roland’s room.

: Fab Dupont and Mick Guzauski present at the Universal Audio booth.

: New digital DriveRacks from dBx, including the portable, simple-to-use goRack for musicians and small PA systems.

: 5 new 500-seires units from dBX.

: Some shockingly affordable (and well-built) DIs and cable testers from dBX.

: A whole slew of high-quality, low-to-mid-priced headphones from AKG.

: The new K182 headphones from AKG fold up super-small for travel.

: New drum mic kits from AKG make use of the AKG D112 MKII, AKG 314 and other recent releases.

: Soyuz releases a FET version of its Russian-made LDC.

: Another view of the new Soyuz.

: Sennheiser gives a sneak peak to its new venue-modeling system, complete with 4-capsule immersive audio microphone.

: Antelope Audio shows off new Thunderbolt interfaces, its DSP processing and amp simulation capabilities, and gives a sneak peak of a prototype for the upcoming Goliath interface.

: New 500-series modules from BAE were nominated for TEC awards.

: Augspurger releases a new “MF” version of the Solo 12 to accompany the Duo 8.

: Sontronics shows off the new Corona microphone.

: Simple, musician-friendly interfaces from Waves to support the DigiGrid format.

: Focusrite fleshes out the Clarett line with a new 4-channel version.

: Mackie integrates iPad control for large systems…..

: ….And small.

: Burl unveils the B16 Mothership, a new, more compact Mothership for studios that want the Burl sound with fewer channels and a smaller fooprint.

: Even when Burl goes small, they do it big.

: Bristin Millard from Burl Audio shows us around the booth.

: The latest version of the “Colour” kit from DIY Recording Equipment includes saturation knobs for each of the colour modules slots.

: An inside view of the CP5 preamp and Colour saturator from DIY Recording Equipment.

: Peterson Goodwyn from DIY Recording Equipment shows off a completed DI kit.

: Louder than Liftoff debuts the Silver Bullet, a new kind of hardware saturator.

: Brad from Louder Than Liftoff displays his pre-built tone modules for the Colour system.

: Another view of the SPL Iron Mastering Compressor, because why not?

: How could we resist?

: The latest from Lauten.

: New Digiracks from PreSonus.

: New Studio RAIDs from Glyph, pictured at the far left and right.

: An array of new plugins from UAD.

: 4 new plugins from Plugin Alliance, including modules from SPL, Dangerous and brainworx.

: The new Manic Compressor from Boz Digital (Pictured at right.)

: Soundtoys in full effect, demonstrating what Soundtoys 5 can do.

: Mytek announces the new “Brooklyn” line of mastering-grade DAC and ADCs.

: Decks from Pioneer looked shweet – for the DJ in ye.

: Immersive 3D Audio mixing tools are on the rise, including the Auro 3D Audio mixing suite.

: The new Audio-Technica AE2300 cardioid mic, with double dome construction, is awesome for amps.

: Black Lion has a hit on its hands with the MicroClock MKIII…

: And a patch bay in a 500 module — as yet unnamed but coming sooooon.

: Waves totally turned our heads with Nx, the $49 “mix room over headphones.”

: The battery-powered, speaker-sporting Cricuit from Novation.

: Aston Microphones had their NAMM debut! Their mics, including the innovative Origin ($249), shown here, marks the 1st-ever condenser line manufactured in the UK. The Halo mic reflection filter is made of 70% recycled materials.