Heading out to the NAMM show tomorrow.

[Harvey Gerst]

I'll be leaving tomorrow morning, driving out to the Anaheim NAMM show. I'll have my camera, and hopefully some news for everybody when I get back. Should be a fun time.

 

[kid klash]

See you there.

Check out The Ventures at 5:15pm Friday in the lobby of the convention center...

 

[Adam P]

I'd love to hear what your feelings about that new Toft console are, if Alan and Malcolm have it there (which I'm fairly sure they do).

 

[notCardio]

Damn! Tomorrow?

That's a long haul, ain't it? You sure you wanna drive that?

 

[Harvey Gerst]

It's only 1400 miles - easy trip.

 

[notCardio]

Harvey Gerst - Master of the Universe!

I suppose that's another hush-hush thing you worked on that hasn't seen the light of day yet - teleportation!

I knew it all along! Harv's an alien!

Good luck, have fun, and be careful, willya?

 

[Harvey Gerst]

Well, it looks like our first stop for tomorrow night is gonna be .....













Roswell, New Mexico.

 

[Harvey Gerst]

I'd love to hear what your feelings about that new Toft console are, if Alan and Malcolm have it there (which I'm fairly sure they do).

It's a planned stop, since I'm really interested in their new 32 channel board.

 

[mshilarious]

If it's anything like the wine industry conventions I used to attend, bring us back some free sample microphones!

 

[Harvey Gerst]

If it's anything like the wine industry conventions I used to attend, bring us back some free sample microphones!

I wish!! I usually wind up with a canvas tote bag, a couple of tee shirts, and those damn badge neck straps. This show is bigger, but AES is better.

 

[c7sus]

If you want some good Mexican cruise down Harbor past the (Outback? or some other big ugly chain) and on the RHS as you're heading south, across the street from Target is about the best damned Mexican food in SoCal.

I hadn't been there in about 10 years, went there in 01 and the same guy was there wearing the same gold chain.

Couldn't believe how much they built up the freeway around there either. It's insane.

Be safe driving around there Harvey. Say hi to the guys from Greyhound Exposition. I worked a few shows at the CC. Even did NAMM in 92.

 

[PhilGood]

Drive over to downtown Disney. There's a little Italian place there that makes the best Gnocchi! I don't remember the name, though I've eaten there a bunch of times. Starts with an 'A'. Not too far from the Anaheim Convention Center.

Maybe I'll see you there!

 

[mjm620]

I'll be heading out fairly soon(from san diego to convention center). I set up the Nady and Yamaha booths, and will be taking them down, as well as browsing the whole show, yet I doubt I will see even half of the show..

 

[Harvey Gerst]

I've already visited some of my favorite eating places (Norm's on La Cienega, Pink's, and Cantor's).

I've had a chance to hang out a bit with my friends from PMI, MXL, ADK, GT, Heil, and a few other places. As usual, it's a monster size show. Got a chance to really listen to the Adam S-3's and they're really impressive for a small monitor. They should be at that price ($2,100.00).

Software, DAWS, and control surfaces are a big part of the show, while Asian guitars are all over the place. Lots of Chinese mic companies showing all the usual models, but I haven't seen anything spectacular yet from the independents that are looking for distributors. The big three (MXL, SP, and ADK) continue to dominate the quality Chinese market by doing their design work in house, then having them made abroad.

All three companies are working on lowering noise and reducing the high end harshness in some of their models, by changing to better components and using transformers more.

Haven't seen Behringer or Nady yet, but Mike Rivers tells me they have a Mackie Onyx knockoff. Surprisingly, SSL was showing here (they normally just show at AES), but I guess they're looking for MI dealers for their new S900 board.

Speaking of boards, the new Malcom Toft board from PMI looks like it might be a real winner and the first really pro board out of China. All the channels are individually removeable (but share an 8 channel face plate), and ALL the chips are socketed. We're talking Trident sound here, folks. This thing could be a real killer.

More later.

 

[whyseye]

I've already visited some of my favorite eating places (Norm's on La Cienega, Pink's, and Cantor's)....

.....glad you got back to the 'hood, Harvey!
Too bad Ship's is finally gone, and that DuPar's on Fairfax is being renovated (by the Tiny Naylor's family). If you're hankering for more old-school L.A. though, I work across the street from Farmer's Market, and they haven't changed those old tables or chairs since the opening in 1934....

Thanks for being our eyes and ears at the show....eagerly awaiting more updates....

 

[noisedude]

It's all sounding pretty cool ... I'll be interested to see what Behringer have come up with for their latest cloning exercise. If they've gone after Onyx then whatever they make should be a big step up from their existing stuff (particularly pre-amp and EQ-wise) so they could be a good product as long as you ignore the Onyx associations? (unlike the guitar stomp boxes, which are rubbish even without the Boss comparisons )

The Toft board ... I really must save up for one of these and hopefully the details on the digital/firewire features will be available by then!

And I'm glad there's no new companies we need to worry about on the mic front. I'd rather the companies that are already doing it concentrate on maturing their product lines so we can eventually see which are the real keepers ... rather than all going mental over another new manufacturer only to find out that you can't get a Brauner for $99.

 

[warble]

And I introduce to you the Behringer Onyx knock-off (at least they removed one letter and added two letters to the front of the name):

http://www.behringer.com/XENYX-SERIES/index.cfm?lang=ENG

USB audio though - not Firewire. I'd like to hear one before passing judgement.

 

[noisedude]

Bloody hell ... that really is a disgraceful-looking knock-off. Jeez ... could they not have at least made it a bit subtle??

USB audio makes it useless to most users but I guess it's still worth hearing one first.

The copy on that page reads like it was lifted straight from the Mackie adverts:
"The new XENYX Mic Preamp matches the sound quality, transparency, headroom and even the dynamic range of boutique-style, stand-alone mic preamps."

Please!

 

[ozraves]

Software, DAWS, and control surfaces are a big part of the show, while Asian guitars are all over the place. Lots of Chinese mic companies showing all the usual models, but I haven't seen anything spectacular yet from the independents that are looking for distributors. The big three (MXL, SP, and ADK) continue to dominate the quality Chinese market by doing their design work in house, then having them made abroad.

Harvey, before you leave town you should go over to the sE booth and talk to Bob Reardon.

 

[kid klash]

Speaking of Behringer, they had lots of guitars this year, and they even had two digital pianos, which looked remarkably like another well-known digital piano brand, only in a drab, satin black cabinet. They sounded pretty dated too. The people manning their booth seemed pretty agressive and a bit edgy too, especially if you were taking photos or using a camcorder (like me).

I agree with Harvey regarding the Toft mixer... it looked like it's going to be a real winner. Alan and Justin were there, as were other staff members, and it was great to talk with them.