It's January and that means it's time for the annual NAMM show in Anaheim! We have sent our very own Jay Lison and Chris Van Den Berg to get the scoop on the latest and greatest gear that will soon be available. During the show the manufacturers from the best names in pro audio reveal their newest products and latest innovations. The holidays are over for the season, but when NAMM opens its doors we receive gifts all over again!
While meeting with some of the best companies in the business, our guys on the ground have shared a few of their favorite products so far!
As you may know, Chameleon Labs announced the 7603 preamp and EQ and the 7730 VCA stereo compressor last year. They've spent the last few months perfecting their custom-built transformers and thoroughly testing these units so that they will be held in high regard in the most famous studios but also affordable enough to be racked in your home studio. Personally, I can't wait for the 7730. I would love to run drums and my mix bus through it.
MOTU has announced the release of a bunch of new portable interfaces. We're just going to cover a few of them here. The 624 is a 16x16 interface with two preamps, four line inputs, two guitar inputs and ADAT I/O. It utilizes the famous DAC found in their flagship 1248. The other that really caught my eye was the LP32. I don't know that I have ever seen 32x32 digital I/O capability in a half rack box with more than one connectivity option!
Last year, Golden Age Project released the Comp-3A, a very faithful reproduction of the vintage FET leveling amplifier from many years ago. I really fell in love with this compressor and will soon have a stereo pair in my studio. This year, they raised the bar again by releasing the Comp-2A. This is a compressor based on one of the most famous tube compressors of all time. The best part is, it takes up less than half the space!
Blue Microphones have just announced the new essentials series. It takes their famous microphones like the Spark, Bluebird and Baby Bottle and puts them in a new, more robust body, upgrades their sonic qualities and adds filters like a low cut and a pad for getting the tone right before you have to fix it in the mix.
Another from Golden Age Project is the Comp-554 compressor. This is the 500 series format of the Comp-54 MKII with some additional features. This is a fully discrete unit (just like the Comp-3A and Comp-2A) with no IC's in the audio signal path. It delivers the sonic qualities of the famed 2254 compressor designed in 1969 but at a fraction of the cost. The 554 alone is worth investing in 500 series, but you can also add the renowned Pre-573 and EQ-573 for a rack full of colorful tones at a great price.
These are our favorites so far, but stay posted. We'll be having much more coming for you soon! To stay updated visit our
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