Recording - April 2015 - 14

A meeting of minds:
Empirical Labs' Dave Derr and
Chandler Limited's Wade Goeke.

The VTI tube direct box from
Baer Amplification offers
interesting tonal tweaks.
Sound Radix (soundradix.com), and the
UNCHIRP digital artifact removal software from
Zynaptiq (zynaptiq.com). Reviews coming soon.
Fluid Audio (fluidaudio.net) came to its first
NAMM and showed some very interesting new
monitor designs, including the FPX7 DSP, a coaxial
monitor with a ribbon tweeter inside its woofer.
Focusrite (focusrite.com) and Novation (novation
music.com) had big announcements at the show:
the new Clarett Range of Thunderbolt audio interfaces ($499.99-$1299.99) and Red 2 & Red 3
Plug-in Suite ($299.99) from Focusrite, and the
LaunchPad Pro ($299.99), a playable performance grid for Ableton Live featuring pressuresensitive multicolor backlit pads, from Novation.
Look for reviews as soon as they're shipping.
FXpansion (fxpansion.com), in partnership
with Sabian, announced the BFD Sabian Digital
Vault ($125), a huge collection of multisampled
Sabian cymbals for BFD.
Gibson Brands (www2.gibson.com) showed
the Les Paul Reference Monitors in three woofer
sizes (4", 6", and 8" for $599/$799/$999)
with carved flame-maple fascia in three guitarinspired finishes, as well as monitors by KRK
(krksys.com). Cakewalk (cakewalk.com) premiered a new "membership" model for SONAR,
along with three newly differentiated versions,
Artist/Professional/Platinum ($99/$199/$499)
and added ProChannel support for the David
Bendeth Compressor by Boz Digital Labs (boz
digitallabs.com). Last but not least, an entirely
new Gibson company debuted at NAMM: Neat
Microphones (neatmic.com), founded by Blue
founders
Skipper Wise and
Martins
Saulespurens, with a striking line of mics, headphone amps, accessories, and more.
Grace Design (gracedesign.com) demoed its
first guitar product, Felix ($1095), a 2-channel floor
pedal dual instrument preamp with blendable dual
14

RECORDING April 2015

DI outputs, EQ, level boost, a built-in mic preamp,
tuner output, and much more. Yes, we're going to
be reviewing it!
Harman (harman.com) showed-in addition
to new mixers from Soundcraft (soundcraft.com)
and products from JBL Professional (jblpro
.com), Lexicon (lexiconpro.com), and Studer
(studer.ch)-the new 676 tube channel strip
and a new series of five 500 Series modules
($299-$499) based on classic processors from
dbx Professional (dbxpro.com), and the new
K533 PRO headphones and 7-piece Drum Set
Session I mic kit from AKG (akg.com).
Hosa Technology (hosatech.com) showed a
new set of Hosa Pro Stereo Breakouts, with
Re'an connectors and high-quality cable. The
three breakouts go from TRS minijack to dual
XLR, 1/4" TS, and RCA.
iConnectivity (iconnectivity.com) showed the
new iConnectAUDIO4+ (price TBA), a comprehensive audio/MIDI interface and router that
offers four high-quality mic preamps, two line
level inputs, two instrument inputs, headphone
out, MIDI I/O, USB MIDI networking, and the

ability to connect two computers at once
(Windows, Mac, and/or iOS) without conflicts
and seamlessly pass audio and MIDI back and
forth between them. Look for a review very soon.
IK Multimedia (ikmultimedia.com) announced
new products with reliable low-latency performance on Android devices, including the iRig
UA guitar in/headphone out interface ($99.99)
and the iRig Mic Studio large diaphragm digital
condenser mic ($179.99).
Independent Audio (independentaudio.com)
showed the Hapi recording solution by Merging
Technologies (merging.com) and new 500 Series
and rackmount processors by Malcolm Toft's new
firm, Ocean Audio (oceanaudio.co.uk).
InMusic Brands (inmusicbrands.com) showed
the new Advance keyboard controllers from Akai
(akaipro.com), which offer extensive plug-in control via special software that also allows virtual
instruments to be played in standalone mode. MAudio (m-audio.com) showed its own Code controllers, M40 and M50 headphones, and the
Deltabolt 1212 Thunderbolt audio interface. Also
at the booth: new soundware from AIR (air
musictech.com) and SONiVOX (sonivoxmi.com),
and products from Alesis (alesis.com).
iZ Technology (izcorp.com) demonstrated
RADAR Studio at the PMI Audio Group (pmi
audio.com) booth. It combines the company's
long-standing RADAR rackmount digital audio
recorder with full support for Avid Pro Tools, marrying reliable multitrack recording to full DAW
edit/mix capabilities.
iZotope (izotope.com) was on hand with
releases first seen at AES: RX 4 and Ozone 6,
both with reviews on the way.
JZ Microphones (jzmic.com) showed the GTR1
($99), its first cardioid dynamic mic intended for
use on guitar amplifiers.
Keith McMillen Instruments
(keithmcmillen.com) introduced the K-Mix

Benchmark's new DAC2 DX offers sweet listening.

Dan Kennedy of Great River Electronics
shows us how it's done.

Charles Dickinson of Cathedral Pipes
seems to like the issue of Recording
being handed out on the show floor.
We wonder why?

http://www.ikmultimedia.com http://www.independentaudio.com http://www.merging.com http://oceanaudio.co.uk http://www.inmusicbrands.com http://www.akaipro.com http://www.harman.com http://www.m-audio.com http://www.soundcraft.com http://www.jblpro.com http://www.jblpro.com http://www.airmusictech.com http://www.lexiconpro.com http://www.airmusictech.com http://www.sonivoxmi.com http://www.alesis.com http://www.izcorp.com http://www.pmiaudio.com http://www.dbxpro.com http://www.pmiaudio.com http://www.soundradix.com http://www.akg.com http://www.hosatech.com http://www.zynaptiq.com http://www.fluidaudio.net http://www.izotope.com http://www.iconnectivity.com http://www.focusrite.com http://www.novationmusic.com http://www.jzmic.com http://www.novationmusic.com http://www.keithmcmillen.com http://www.fxpansion.com http://www2.gibson.com http://www.krksys.com http://www.cakewalk.com http://www.bozdigitallabs.com http://www.bozdigitallabs.com http://www.neatmic.com http://www.gracedesign.com

Recording - April 2015

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