Stepping up my blogging game in 2011

So one my New Years resolutions was blogging more. So since my last post was back in August here we go.

Starting off 2011 I’m ready to see what new shows up at NAMM. For anyone who wasn’t ready to show off what they had at AES now is the time. I’m probably most looking forward to hearing (and seeing) what the new Slatepro Audio Fox will can do. Something tells me the final version will be as sexy looking as their Dragon compressor, which is also on my wish list.

Right now I’m in the market for a good mic pre or channel strip. I’m leaning heavily towards the empirical labs mike-e right now, but considering the Vintech x73i, the Fox, and the Miktek mpa-201. My favorite channel strip I’ve ever used is the Avalon 737. The pre on there is sweetest I’ve heard on vocals. If I get a 737 I have to have the black anniversary edition one, and I’m not ready to spend $2250 on a channel strip right now.
Back to NAMM. I’m hoping to see some new stuff from Lynx and Apogee. I’ve decided I’m going with a Lynx aurora 8 for converters for my studio, but I wish Lynx would make an actual interface with flexible connectivity and a couple mic pres. As far as Apogee I really wanted to get an Ensemble, but with it only having 1 adat I/O it just wasn’t enough for me. The new symphony i/o really had my attention but cost nearly $6,000 to put two modules in it. So I wish Apogee would release something in between the ensemble and the new symphony i/o. Really an ensemble with an extra i/o of ADAT is fine with me.
Will we see this NAMM? Probably not, but hey, I can dream right?

summer namm 2010

Summer Namm was held here in Nashville and for the first time it was open to the public so I had to go. I had a great time. Got to see some cool products and attend some interesting seminars. MXL new channel strip was very nice. It was a transparent mic pre and compressor in a 1U rack space. The rep said it would cost around $500 when it was released. MXL also had some new mics they were showing off.

Rackwriter definitely caught my eye with their product. It was a rackmountable dry eraser board for your rack. This was brilliant! No more using masking tape on your rack. I have to get me a couple of these. The Yamaha Terion was pretty cool, but I couldn't see myself using for serious production, and it was a pricey. Beamz interactive music system made my jaw drop. Hand activated triggering of music samples. I was even more blown away when the rep said I could load in my own samples. Think this product would cost a $1,000 I was shocked when he said it was only $200. I vision kids having fun this but then I could see DJ's using this to trigger songs.

I'm not a guitar player but guitars is mostly what Summer NAMM is all about. The show is I would say 70% guitars. Below are some pics and videos of my visit to Summer NAMM 2010.