Winter NAMM 2000 Report
Part Two
With bags of sleeplessness under our eyes and bags of literature under our arms, the NAMM report staff continued their survey of this year’s finest and most interesting. Once again, we couldn’t get everything, and everything we got may not be completely accurate – we were often rushing off to the next thing before we had satisfied our curiosity on the new toy in front of us – but consider this a “taster” of the cool new gear you’re going to be hearing a lot about in the near future. So…
YAMAHA: Yamaha introduced their CDR1000 professional CD recorder ($1799), a very impressive machine that seems destined to become the “must-have” recorder for any professional recording facility. Features include CD-R and CD-RW recording capabilities, sample rate converter and word clock input. Perhaps best of all, the CDR 1000 includes an Apogee Electronics UV22 Super CD Encoder, which allows 16-bit encoding of sources originally recorded at higher bit rates, even 24-bit, without additional equipment. The word clock input allows the CDR1000 to be professionally connected into the digital studio. The sound quality is superb.
They were also showing off their very fine AW4416 Audio Workstation, a top-of-the-line recording workstation that combines elements of Yamaha’s popular 02R, 01V and DSP Factory. Features on this fine machine include 16-track recording at 16/24-bit, 44 inputs during mixdown, editing, and an excellent 8 sample trigger pad that lets you sample up to 90 seconds of sound. There are two versions of the AW4416, one with a CD burner ($3799) and one without ($3399). There are tons of other great features, but the bottom line is that this is one of the most convenient, flexible, and most powerful recording workstations that we’ve seen in its class.
It wouldn’t be Yamaha without keyboards, and the new edition to their distinctive PSR keyboards takes this innovative series to a whole new level. The PSR-9000 ($3495) seems like a perfect live performance keyboard for the solo musician. The speaker system is incredible, and the PSR-9000 also boasts some of the best voices and voice effects Yamaha as ever had in a keyboard of this class. There is a huge range of sounds on this keyboard, from country to swing and more, and all deserve the highest praise. The stereo drums are especially good.
Another beautiful keyboard was the S30 Musical Synth ($1295), a 61-note version of their award-winning S80. It’s identical in every way, except it includes only one expansion slot and fewer jacks. But the great sound and easy playability were all there.
Guitarists we’re also included! The DG digital amps – the DG60 ($599) the DG80 ($999) and the DG130 ($1499) boast first-rate sound modeling and guitar effects, with an extremely easy, smooth operation. The amps are noise free, and contain no noise gate, so the audio is crisp and clear. Even cooler, the amps switch sounds instantly. The transition from one tone or sound to another is seamless.
And the entries from Yamaha continue! The A5000 ($2295) and A4000 ($1595) samplers looked very exciting. The A5000 features 126-note voice, 6 effects processors, and a 9 disk CD library. The A4000 is just like the A5000 “cut-in-half.” Both units include graphic editing with realtime control, loop divide functions, and a cool feature called loop remix, which lets you shuffle the sample and manipulate it by throwing in reverses, changing pitch, and much more. You can burn CDs directly from the samplers to an external CD burner. Both samplers are compatible with all the major manufacturers.
By the way, all the Yamaha gear was being played through their MSP5 speakers – hardly a new product, we know, but the sound was excellent.
MARTIN: Martin’s Special Edition guitars are always a NAMM highlight, but this year they outdid themselves with the Eric Clapton signature guitar ($15,000). A curvy acoustic of Brazilian Rosewood, the 00042ECB (its “official” name doesn’t do justice to such a fine looking instrument) has already caused quite a stir among collectors and connoisseurs. There are only 200 of these beauties in existence.
Still think a young man ain’t got nuthin’ in the world these days? Think again. For the Young Man Blues there’s the Johnny Lang signature guitar, a jumbo 14-fret full access Venetian cutaway equipped with a Fishman Prefix Onboard Blender system. The face of the guitar has an aged, amber hue for that “dues-paid-in-full” look and feel.
Martin was also showing off two Jim Croce limited edition guitars. The D-21JC (see Clapton comment) features back and sides of Indian Rosewood; the D-21JCB has back and sides of Genuine Brazilian Rosewood. Each guitar has a mint condition 1973 dime inlaid at the third fret fingerboard position, in honor of Croce’s tune “Operator” (perhaps an inlaid image of a mutilated pimp in honor of Croce’s hit “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” was rejected in the early planning stages). Martin is limiting the number of Jim Croce special edition guitars to 73 in reference to the year Croce died.
There were a number of other special editions we liked, such as the 00-1750 “Sing Out” guitar, honoring folk groups and artists who came to prominence in the 30s and 40s, and an acoustic Dreadnought guitar honoring George Nakashima – the founding father of the contemporary American woodworking movement – and designed in the woodworking style of the artist, just to name two. But one that definitely caught our eye was the Custom D-45 Dreadnought, an incredibly ornate instrument featuring pearl inlay Chinese icons and symbols. The neck boasts an ornate double dragon motif, while the keys have beautifully intricate symbols of the Chinese calendar. The serial number is #700,000, and you can pick one up for a paltry $15,000. It’s a beautiful guitar, though this probably isn’t the acoustic you’d use to play your Violent Femmes medley.
AUDIO-TECHNICA: We love “packs” and “bundles,” and know a lot of budget-minded working musicians feel the same way. Audio-Technica has four great new, inexpensive microphone kits we think you’d like. The KP Series consists of an assortment of mics for specific tasks, held in a durable, travel-friendly case. The KP-Drums ($499.95) include four custom-engineered cardioid dynamic mics – 2 “Snare/Tom” mics and 2 “Kick/Tom” mics. The KP-Vocals ($209.95) comes with 3 dynamic vocal mics with stand clamps and cable ties. The KP-Studio ($299.95) provides two cardioid condenser mics and a pair of ATH-M3X stereo headphones. Finally, the KP-Worship ($419.95) handles the diverse needs of sound reinforcement in churches and other places of worship, with 2 hanging “CHOIR” mics, 1 gooseneck “PODIUM” mic and a bonus handheld cardioid dynamic “VOCAL” mic.
Audio-Technica also released their 1400 Wireless Series, featuring true diversity reception with two completely independent RF sections.
DENON: Among their selection of excellent and reliable CD players, Denon had a couple of new products that will surely raise the beats-per-minute of any serious creative DJ. The first was the latest version of their DN-2600 dual CD player, the DN-2600F. Along with features like authentic scratching, the DN-2600F brings some exciting new functions to the tables (pun fully intended). Each drive has “Hot Start”: the DJ can instantly and seamlessly change a track or cue point with the touch of a button. “Strutter” mode plays momentary audio as the buttons are pressed down, and then “recues” to the original point upon release. Also, the “Effector” features offer fully customizable frequency filter, reverb and flanger effects.
Then, there was the VJ-Controller, a cool controller console that lets DJs select and change video images and sync them to music. Club DJs will love it, but the potential of the VJ-Controller goes far beyond that. Any multimedia presentation in the business world, or broadcast applications, will benefit from the VJ-Controller. We’ll be bringing you more about this in the coming months…
MOTU: There was a really exciting development at Mark of the Unicorn’s booth. We got to go behind closed doors to see their brand spankin’ new 1296 audio workstation for Mac and Windows. It’s a new addition to their 2408 family, and boasts 24-bit/96 kHz. It’s ideal for surround sound mixing and is available as a core system and as an expansion I/O. You can connect up to three 1296s for 36 channels. We’ll have more on the 1296 VERY soon.
EMU: Coolness was running rampant at the EMU booth. First up was their brand new sound module, the B-3. Just like the name says, the B-3 sound module delivers jaw-droppingly realistic B-3 tonewheel organ sounds. This includes all the effects, like loads of authentic drawbar settings, distortion, and percussion features that sound just like the real deal. The B-3’s realtime controls give you tremendous rotary speaker control. It’s expandable, too.
Also strutting its stuff was the Xtreme Lead-1 ($895), a very cool single rackspace sound module/synthesizer. Designed as an all-in-one instrument for techno/electronica/dance artists, the XL-1 offers a very powerful and diverse set of features. There are just too many highlights on the XL-1 to go into detail (like 32 MB Sound ROM with 512 ROM & 512 User Presets; 16 simultaneously synced arpeggiators, etc), but one of its most impressive features was the SuperBEATS Mode, which allows you to trigger, latch and unlatch synced loops and grooves from separate keys on your keyboard. If grooves and BPMs are your musical currency of choice, you’ll want to check this module out.
But the shakin’ doesn’t stop there. EMU has more. Or Mo’, to be precise. The Mo’ Phatt Urban Dance Synth picks up where the legendary Planet Phatt left off. Just like the name says, Mo Phatt gives you more. More sounds, more grooves, more creative options and a more powerful processor. Like the XL-1, Mo’ Phatt features the SuperBEATS mode. Best of all, you can add your own unique touch to the grooves via a cutting-edge synthesis architecture and effects processor.