NAMM 2023 is all over but we’re still excited about the products that linger! We’ve been kept an ear out for the most interesting and future sailor products, here they are.
What is NAMM you say? Well, the National Association of Music Merchants is a yearly event — usually held in the U.S of A — where brands get to flaunt their latest designs, often holding off on their releases in time for the NAMM show.
While we’re on the other side of the world — and have had a few sneaky previews from brands we know and love — we’re got a few products that we think you’ll love as much as us. Think weird synths, microphones you’ll drool over, keyboards made for the year 2023, and many more musical products you wish you’d thought of.
Here’s a low down on what’s caught our eye from NAMM 2023, Check these out!
Myburgh M28
Have you heard of this new company from Berlin who previously only had 1 product? Myburgh (now with 2 products!) is a fairly new company by producer/engineer Andrew Myburgh with the help of world renowned audio designers Andreas Grosser and Eckehard Dux. It’s with a heavy heart that we inform you the master microphone technician and repair specialist Andreas Grosser passed away last year — but his legacy lives on in their second microphone the M28.
Choosing NAMM to announce that they have dropped their second product, Myburgh’s M28 is a FET multi-pattern microphone with a German-made CK12-style capsule and transformer from Pikatron hand-built in Germany with zero-compromise. We reviewed their first release, the M1, and it’s stunning. It’s a large-diaphragm tube condenser microphone featuring a German-made Mylar M7 capsule made by Siegfried Thiersch and a Russian military-grade long-life tube.
The M28 is just a prototype being shown at NAMM 2023 but it’s set to come in at around the $3000 USD figure, just a little cheaper — but with the same standard of excellence — than the $6,495 USD price of the M1.
Audioscape 1178 and ASA-6A
It’s definitely not the newest thing to build vintage clones, but when you do it with the skill, forthright gusto, and price point of Audioscape, it’s more than socially acceptable. In fact, it’s a necessity for the world of slobbering audioheads craving classic, well-built outboard equipment imbued with the quality they might actually deserve.
This year at NAMM Audioscape revealed the AS78 – their take on the UREI dual 1176 unit. Now, this is not a piece I ever really gave a shit about, but I’m glad someone’s cooking ’em up again. But most importantly, Audioscape brought forth the ASA-6a, their take on the thick, juicy, unobtainable 1950s RCA BA6A vari-mu compressor.
Find out more about these pieces and this rad company at Audio-scape.com
T Rex Binson Echorec
Oh shit, it’s ANOTHER vintage clone. No surprises, but c’mon, T Rex out of Denmark spent about 8 years trying to prototype from scratch a brand new version of the Binson Echorec.
What’s so special about another delay? Well, besides it being the fave echo unit of some old 1960s guitar fart-heads, and being used for the delay on the When the Levee Breaks. The piece itself was/is a revolutionary design; a magnetised rotating metal drum providing the storage medium for your audio to bounce off of. Sounds different to tape, and now doesn’t cost you $10k to pick one up.
Find out more and see all the people drooling over this on T Rex’s Instagram.
Death By Audio Disturbance Lockable LFO Modulator
You know what it’s like, when ya pick up a DBA piece you know it’s gonna be an extreme unit; something that can push the pure limits of sound, and taste. In short, they’re always killer, and always interesting.
Like the Disturbance, a Filter/Flanger/’Fazer’, an outta control modulator with a freeze function on the LFO to really wrench the kook outta your guitar, and makes other manufacturers look like wimps. You can also play it nicely too, if ya really must.
You can pre-order yourself one and find out more at Deathbyaudio.com
Eventide Audio SplitEQ — honourable mention as winner of NAMM’s 38th TEC awards
It’s not an easy feat to create something new in audio that people will actually care for, but Eventide Audio has done it with their SplitEQ that took out the top prize in the TEC Awards category of Signal Processing Software (Dynamics / EQ / Utilities).
The SplitEQ is a corrective and creative tool that processes audio into two parts: Transient (noise, pops, mic plosives, vocal sibilance, attacks) and Tonal (sustained notes, harmonics, tone, ambiance). For example, you could remove the ‘plosives’ from a vocal whilst keeping the warmth. (…if you low cut to remove plosives with a standard EQ, you’ll loose that silky warmth!)
You can buy this forward thinking EQ — or within a bundle or subscription — direct from Eventideaudio.com
SSL 500 series B-Series 611B Dynamics Module
We all love filling up our 500 series racks with quality pieces, so we were stoked to hear that SSL has dropped a new 500-series module, the B-Series 611B Dynamics Module. It’s got the sound of the legendary 4000 A and B series consoles, that will be sure to add a layer vibe to your recording or mixing.
It’s got two sections being Compression and Gate/Expander, with an onboard De-esser, Auto-release, fixed ratio points, and a link button to link those units. It’s also got those classic green and yellow SSL meters and a sleek design. If you’ve got no idea who SSL is you really should know about their incredible legacy and consoles, and also you should know they just bought Harrison – another maker of game-changing consoles.
No finer details just yet, but check it all out on SSL’s website: Solidstatelogic.com
SOMA laboratory Terra Synth
Here’s a synth made from a block of wood! Yes, a unique synth embedded into a unique block of wood. SOMA laboratory first hinted that they would be producing this product way back at Superbooth last year and now have finally made it a real thing.
The Terra has a simple interface that has a complex polyphonic, microtonal synthesizer under the hood. We’re talking the full range of a grand piano with the possibility to tune each note with an accuracy of 125 steps per semitone.
SOMA laboratory make weird and wonderful products like pedals, synths, Eurorack modules, and stringed instruments, that redefine and rethink how we interact with technology and the Terra is a perfect example.
Nord Stage 4
With hints back in mid February that Nord were going to drop another one of their flagship keyboards with the Stage 4, we were excited. It really is the instrument for 2023 with its triple sensor keybed, new effect section, new preset library and a brand new panel design with dedicated LED faders for each layer.
Keyboardists around the world put all their trust into that iconic red keyboard that has you sorted for Piano, Synth and Organ sounds — and the Stage 4 comes in 3 models the Nord Stage 4 88 (88-note fully weighted), Nord Stage 4 73 (73-note fully weighted), and the Nord Stage 4 Compact
(73-note Semi Weighted).
This looks like seriously one of the best keyboards you can buy, and there’s new accessories too! Check out more at Nordkeyboards.com
Hammond XK-4 Portable Organ
Speaking of keyboards, how about this brand new — and direct from Hammond themselves — XK-4 Portable Organ. It’s classed as having the B3 experience you’ve always wanted.
Often musicians find themselves in awe of the wonderful, but massively heavy, Hammond B3 so now you can take that around the world with you. This lovely, and portable organ is equipped with the new sound Modelled Tone Wheel 2 (MTW2) engine to exact the 91 tone wheels at the heart of all vintage Hammond organs — and it’s got a Leslie 11-pin terminal connection.
Check out more at Hammondorganco.com
Blipbox Mytracks
I know this looks like it doesn’t belong in the ‘Pro Audio‘ category, but this easy-to-use, 5-track music creation station is actually pretty cool — and hey, artists across the ages have used instruments that present as toys to create serious music (we’re looking at you Phoebe Bridgers with the use of an Optigan in her song Scott Street).
There’s a built-in microphone that you can sample with, you (or your child!) can use the sampled sounds to create melodies and beats and you can modify them with the in-built effects.
While it’s not going to be available until 2024, you can check out more at Blipblox.com
