Music Accessories at NAMM 2015

January 2015 – One of the major things filling the expo floor at NAMM is the accessories to the musical instruments. In this category, you have recording equipment, DJ gear and guitar accessories.

Leading off the show, with a preview at the Artist Relations event was the Tronocal team from Germany. Lead off by CEO, founder and lead inventor Chris Adams, they were showing their latest generation of auto-tuning guitar heads. The systems have now progressed to be completely self contained and also available as a retrofit product.

Tronical self-tuning knobs

First introduced as an OEM product on Gibson guitars, the self-tuning system is now available for Gibson, Fender and other guitars. The web site http://www.tronical.com/ has templates for the various models to fit most late model electric guitars with standard headstock shapes. The new generation tuners supports nylon strings in addition to metal strings. The tuners have settings for multi-string tuning, single-string tuning, custom tuning, reference tuning, 12 factory presets, 6 user presets, string up & down mode, calibration mode, accuracy mode, robohead delay and other features. The tuners can typically be retrofitted to a guitar in under 15 minutes. There are plans in the future to expand the tuners to bass guitars and 12 string guitar products, but no time frame was disclosed at the briefing.

Universal Audio was showing off a new expanded software line to support their TEC award winning Apollo Twin product. Being released in March 2015, is the Apollo audio interface as par the UAD Software v8.0. The Apollo Expanded interface over the Thunderbolt (TB) link to all the Apollo units. The software includes a new V2.0 Console and supports new plug-ins. These plug-ins include a Sound Machine Wood Works Plug-in, UA Distortion Essentials Plug-in Bundle, an Antares Auto-Tune Live Plug-in, and a Friedman Amplifiers Plug-In Collection by Brainworx.

Further support on the recording side comes from Yamaha which introduced the new AG series mixers. The 3 channel AG03 and 6 channel AG06 USB connected mixers support full 24bit/192Khz sampling and both Hi-Z and XLR, with phantom power, inputs. The devices are designed for podcasting, gamers and home studio mixingmusic streaming, webcasting/ podcasting, gaming, mobile music, music production, compact mixing, desktop audio, and educational applications.. Designed around an computer connection the devices have a simple to operate TO PC switch which allows easy routing of the digitized signal to the computer (PC or iOS) through the USB connection.

Yamaha AG06 and AG06 Mixers

While AG’s systems are compact and consumer priced, they include studio-quality sound with state-of-the-art Yamaha DSP and connectivity. The AG models have internal D-PRE mic preamps which were originally designed by Yamaha for use in high-end recording gear from their pro-audio line. They also features a loopback function that allows users to broadcast their musical, or non-musical content live online along with backing tracks or additional audio from PC or Mac computers or an iPad. In addition to the onboard 1-TOUCH DSP for realtime COMP/EQ and effects, on the AG06 which has an Amp simulator, there is a downloadable multi-platform software DSP Controller which allows users to access and edit the compressor, EQ, high-pass filter, reverb, and amp simulator parameters. The mixers also comes bundled with CUBASE AI music production software and an optional CUBASIS DAW app. To simplify the use of the mixers they are USB bus powered.

Casio DJ1 mobile DJ Controller

Extending into the DJ arena Casio has introduced the Trackformer products. This is a two piece set that is made up from the XW-DJ1 DJ Controller and XW-PD1 Groove Center, which allows for the EDM fans to create, mix and play or produce their favorite tracks. The XW–DJ1 DJ Controller is designed with a large 7-inch platter that provides the feel of an analog turntable, filter controls and cross fader, and supports ‘scratching’ DJ style when mixing and creating tracks. The XW-DJ1 integration with Algoriddim’s djay2 apps provides direct controls for cue points, tempo sync, effects, looping and more providing users a tactile experience for mixing and performing music.

Casio PD1 Groove Controller

The XW–PD1 Groove Center is equipped with the sound engine from Casio’s widely-popular XW series of synthesizers. The XW-PD1 has 16 velocity-sensitive pads and 4 knobs for fast real-time music production. The XW-PD1 is designed with an outer ring containing 16 buttons, allowing the user to check the current rhythm pattern at a glance. Users can create powerful rhythms and phrases with the pads as well as apply DSP effects such as roll, filter, bit crusher, break, and pitch shifter. The XW-PD1 includes drum sounds along with a synthesizer engine and a variety of effects. Additionally, it can record Pad tap sequences in real time or store sampled sounds from the mic or music player on the pads. The audio output of the XW-DJ1 can be connected to the audio input of the XW-PD1 so the two units can be used in tandem. Both units are battery operated for maximum portability.

Neat Microphone KingBee in Shock Mount

Neat Microphones is a new division at Gibson. Organized and operated by former founders of Blue Microphones, they have taken the studio and computer recording marketplace to a new design focus. Based on theme of Bees, the King Bee and Worker Bee are the first two models. Shipped in a hive shaped container, the King Bee is a studio microphone with a removable wind screen and a shock mount. The King Bee microphone is a large diaphragm condenser design with integrated Class A pre-amp electronics that connects to the optional Beeline quad-conductor XLR mic cable. The Worker Bee is a medium diaphragm version of the same microphone. In their product line they will be releasing small diaphragm, conference room and podcast application microphones.

Neat Microphones Creative Director Ken Niles with Neat Family of Microphones