Yet we live in interesting times, and the lines between pro and MI continue to blur, with one such example being the acquisition of Midas and Klark Teknik by Behringer's parent company last month. This year also marked the first time Peavey exhibited its MediaMatrix line at the show, and with other top-end companies at NAMM—such as Aviom, Community, Crane Song, DPA, JBL, Manley, Neumann, Renkus-Heinz, Solid State Logic, Studer and more—most audio pros would feel right at home walking the exhibit floor. Read the rest of this show report.

Slate Digital Virtual Console Collection
The Virtual Console Collection—bringing the sound of six analog consoles inside your DAW—comprises two plug-ins: Virtual Channel (applied to mixing channels) and Virtual Mixbus (applied to master fader). Each plug-in allows the user to choose from one of six meticulously modeled consoles. When using the Virtual Console Collection, the DAW instantly takes on the personality of a real analog mixing desk with all its subtleties and nuances. The imaging and depth improves, instruments sit better in the frequency spectrum, and mixing becomes easier and more musical. Users can push the DAW faders up to find each mixer's sweet spot. The collection is available as a 14-day unlimited demo and can be downloaded from www.slatedigital.com and purchased at audio dealers worldwide.

Steinberg C12 Advanced Integration USB Studio
High-quality audio hardware offering both recording and controller features combines with the included Cubase AI5 and Advanced Integration technology to offer a complete production solution engineered specifically for newcomers and mobile production environments. The USB audio interface features two mic preamps with XLR/TRS combo connectors and 48V phantom power, as well as a hi-Z input. Designed in cooperation with and built by Yamaha, CI2 also offers the AI Knob controller, which assumes control of any parameter by simply hovering over it with the mouse. The “Cubase Ready LED” indicates that Cubase is connected and the system is ready to use. CI2 supports both Windows and Mac OS X. MSRP in North America: $249. Find out more about the C12.

Check out the NAMM New Products Guide.

Serious Ivory Update
Ivory II, the latest version of Synthogy’s flagship software, is easily the most realistic sampled piano I’ve ever heard. Ever since Kurzweil released the K250, authentic-sounding sympathetic resonance has been the holy grail of digital-piano designers, and the folks at Synthogy have finally hit the mark, doubling the realism of an already fine virtual instrument in the process. In fact, I’m probably as excited about Ivory II as anything I’ve seen or heard at NAMM. Read more of this blog.

Big Names Intro New Waves Plug-Ins
Eddie Kramer Waves plug-inAt the Waves press conference this morning, plenty of new products were unveiled. My favorites were the Signature-Series plug-ins from Chris Lord-Alge and Jack Joseph Puig. Each features dedicated plug-ins for vocals, guitars, drums and more. They’re due out in March and will cost $800 each. Puig and Lord-Alge were both present at the press conference and talked about and demoed their plug-ins. Read more of this blog.

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